Fall Fun

Happy Monday! Isn't Monday so much better when it is a holiday?

We had beautiful weather here in Upstate this weekend. Despite the unseasonably warm temperatures, it still looks like fall up here. I took some pretty pictures of the leaves because they are just starting to change. We also took a trip to the local pumpkin place and picked up pumpkins, mums, cider, and donuts. I decorated the house, including the mantle. It's a little heavy on the orange, but this way I can leave it up through November. I just need to switch out the witch with something Thanksgiving themed. Shouldn't be too hard for this decorating novice.





It was a really great weekend! I am feeling refreshed and ready for the week ahead. Hope you are feeling the same way!

A Bare Fireplace

It is officially cold here. Well maybe not that cold, but it feels freezing to me. And I know it's only going to get worse. You'd think that spending my first 20 years up north would have prepared me for this, but those 5 years down south really thinned my blood. Or something like that.

We have a beautiful fireplace in our living room and although I didn't want the cold to arrive, I couldn't wait to use it. When we tried to fire it up yesterday, of course it didn't work. If there is one thing I've learned in this home ownership adventure, it's that nothing is as it seems. The gas insert was installed in 1993 (yes, they saved EVERY manual and date stamped each one) and obviously it needed to be replaced a lonnnnng time ago. Probably something we should have figured out before signing those papers.

Oh well, you know I was able to find a deal!

Yesterday we headed out to Lowes (Home Depot was ruined in the flood) and picked out a new one for $175, marked down by a manager because the box was a tad dented. Score!

AJ hooked it up when we got home and it works great!







My only problem now is that my mantle is bare. I had to move the picture frames that were previously up there because they were blocking the vent.







Doesn't it look so sad now? I need some fall inspiration! Suggestions??

(Also, the left wall is off white and the right wall is a gray-eige color....silly iPhone)

Advice?

Last week was a tough one. Our marriage was really tested and there were moments that I just wanted to throw in the towel. Not really, but I'm sure you know what I mean. Sometimes I think my life would be so much easier if we just gave up on trying to have a baby. It is so stressful and I hate that it has become something that we fight over. There are times when it kind of rules our life. We have to chart my temps, I have to take multiple medications, and we have to time everything based on my cycle. Ugh. The lack of spontaneity is definitely a mood killer. Any advice from others on how to deal?

Here's hoping we have a better week!

The Backyard Project

Before finishing our kitchen, we decided that our sagging and nasty deck should be replaced too. I don't have a picture of the old deck because it was covered in snow when we bought the house. I didn't take a before picture either, but believe me when I say it was bad.

Anyway, when the guy started ripping it out he found out that our hot tub room, which is an addition, was built on the deck and was the only thing supporting the room. Awesome. Our simple deck project quickly turned into a much bigger project. He had to build supports, jack up the room, and put the supports in place. During the process the drywall cracked and the door out to the deck broke. The door was gross too, so replacing that wasn't a huge deal. I was planning to paint it, but replacing it worked too. We are planning to repair the drywall when we install new, bigger windows in the hot tub room, but we're still saving our pennies for that project.

Back to the deck/backyard project... It's almost complete now. Just in time for winter ;)





Today AJ ripped out a randomly placed bush and a dead tree.





Now we need to fill in dirt (which is surprisingly expensive) and have the deck guy come back and install some stairs. After that we want to lay a patio and plant grass, but we'll probably have to wait until spring to do that. It's almost snow season!

The Home Improvement Snowball Effect

It all started when our kitchen faucet snapped in half. We stopped at Lowes to pick out a new one, and the next thing you know we have changed pretty much the entire kitchen.

This is what our kitchen used to look like (realtor photo):

Since then we have replaced the faucet, painted the cabinets white (using Rust-Oleum Kitchen Transformations), bought new hardware, installed under the counter lights, and replaced the light fixture over the sink. After painting the cabinets we realized the ivory wall color doesn't look so hot, so now we need to paint the kitchen walls too.
Here are some pictures of the work in progress:

The cabinets are back on, but we still have to paint the walls, touch up the ceiling where the previous light fixture was hanging (yuck, do you see that?!), and paint the pantry white. Did I mention we started this project at the end of July? Oh yes. Luckily, we finished all that stuff in early August, but the rest that needs to be done has been on our to-do list for two months.

Any paint color suggestions?

Where have I been?

Let's just get right to the elephant in the room. No, I'm not pregnant. I didn't take a long blogging break for any particular reason. After we moved up to NY, I started my new job (did I mention I got hired full time after 3 weeks of working per diem), we got settled into the new house, and life just got really busy. We had a lot of fun times with friends and family, we tackled a few home improvement projects, and AJ took the bar. He played golf for a few weeks and then decided to start working at the firm a couple weeks ahead of his original post Labor Day start date. Both of us working (my job is a 12 month position so I work over the summer) plus trying to maintain a house is a lot more work than we anticipated. Not in a bad way, but in a "it keeps us busy" kind of way.

Nothing particularly noteworthy happened this summer, but it was a lot of fun. It definitely will be remembered. I had a "last hurrah mentality" and drank/ate my way through the summer. I'm not going to lie, it was pretty awesome. We've fallen into a great group of friends here and have re-connected with some high school and college friends that are still in the area. This is such a relief because I was really worried that we would be lonely and that we wouldn't have any friends.

Now that summer is over and school is back in session, I plan to cut back on drinking, reform my eating habits, and exercise regularly so that we can start trying to have a baby again. We got all our infertility/recurrent miscarriage test results back in July and nothing was abnormal, so I just need to work on my mental health (I am very easily stressed and my not-so-new job is pretty stressful) and really pray that the third time's the charm.

That's pretty much it for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Hi

Hi,

I miss blogging. I'm going to try and make a comeback (for the 3735 time).

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

As you can see, I have to blog from my iPhone, because my MacBook has kicked the can. We'll see how it goes.....

Back in NY

A lot has happened since I last stopped by this little blog of mine. I returned to Maryland for a couple weeks, we went to the Kenny and ZBB concert, we celebrated my birthday last weekend, we had a consultation with the fertility doctor, I was offered job #2, we had blood work done for our fertility workup, I signed papers with the district for the per diem job, I decided to gamble and did not accept job #2, I left my job in MD, I finally moved back to NY, and I started working per diem. Despite all that craziness, life is starting to settle down. I am so happy to be back in New York, living in our new home, and working in a great district. I feel so much more relaxed already!

Job #1

Well, I didn't get the first job. The assistant superintendent called me this morning to let me know. She said I interviewed really well and that the team was impressed, but that the applicant pool was very strong and they decided to go with a different candidate. I still feel like poo, but her kind words did make me feel a bit better. I'm sure she said that to everyone, but I do feel like the interviews went well, so there really must have been someone a little better than me. Oh well.

Although I didn't get the full time position, she did ask me to do per diem work starting next week. This is actually a pretty sweet deal, because most of the positions in other districts in the area do not start until after Labor Day, so I can work as a substitute psych*ologist all summer and can continue to look for a full time position for the fall. Also, since it is a sub position, I can decline work if I want, which means we can officially plan a post-bar trip for August. We were hoping we would be able to spend a week or two in Pinehurst, and it looks like that will happen after all. When one door closes another one opens, right? I'm just trying to take it all in stride and be happy that I will soon be home with my husband and puppy!

Moving Weekend (And Before and After) Recap

Sometimes life is so crazy there is no time for blogging. It is sad, because the crazy times are usually the ones when I have the most to write about. Somehow that always falls by the wayside.

A brief recap is all I can muster right now, so here is what I have been up to for the last couple weeks....

I flew to NY on the 17th and had an interview on the 18th. I flew back after the interview, finished out the work week, and spent our last weekend in DC hanging with friends. On Friday night we had margaritas with Miss Mindless, the speech therapist at my school, and their husbands. On Saturday we had dinner in Annapolis with our close group of friends. On Sunday we visited a few wineries in Virginia.

Last week was spent packing up our house and getting our life in DC wrapped up. My mom drove down that Monday and was a huge help in getting our house packed. She and I then drove up to NY on Thursday night because I had an interview at 8:15 on Friday morning. That interview was a call back for the district I interviewed with the previous week. It actually ended up being two interviews; one with an administrative committee and one with the superintendent. I then drove about an hour away to another interview for a position in a different district. To say I was tired when I returned home is an understatement. AJ drove up to NY in our car that afternoon and arrived in NY at dinner time. Our moving truck arrived a few hours later. We spent the weekend unpacking and organizing our house. It's not completely done, but we've made a good dent in the boxes and the house is starting to look like our home. Oh, and did I mention that AJ started studying for the bar last week? Needless to say, life has been CRAZY.

Today I drove down to Maryland and am staying with our friends for the remainder of the school year. I'm so lucky that I have great friends that will let me crash for three weeks. I would not survive if I had to stay in a hotel or sublet an apartment for a month. I obviously wish I was back at home with my husband and dog, but being with friends is better than being alone right now.

AJ is coming down on Friday and we are going to the Kenny Chesney and Zac Brown Band concert on Saturday. Next weekend is my birthday and then the weekend after that I will be home for good and hopefully will be able to take a moment and just relax!