tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-56983802707139580122024-03-13T23:13:25.868-05:00New and ...Improving?LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.comBlogger345125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-65596482939902306272012-09-14T13:23:00.001-05:002014-08-11T00:34:11.075-05:00Vacation Part 3: Las Vegas<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Our very first stop driving into the city was at Pawn Stars location. Of course. Because we love that show! The guys weren't in that day, which I wasn't surprised by. It was really cool though seeing all the places that they are during the show but in real life. </div>
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Then we went to our hotel room. We stayed at the Trump Hotel. We booked through Hotwire and I purchased a 5-star hotel because it was so inexpensive and it said that it was on the Strip......on the Strip It Was Not. It was WAYYY north of the main strip, no possibility of walking, but the hotel itself and the amenities were above par. Incredible experience.<br />
The room:<br />
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What you can't see here, because the bathroom was so large, is that there was a large walk in shower out of view on the left of the photo (you can see the entrance to it in the reflection on the mirror), and a large jacuzzi tub to the right of the picture. Amazeballs!!<br />
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After we got settled in, we were out on the town! Friends of our through Bechtel, Jen and Paulie, now live in Las Vegas working on a Solar project, so they came and picked us up to go out to dinner. We ate in Mandalay Bay at Hubert Kellers Restaurant, <a href="http://www.mandalaybay.com/dining/fleur/" target="_blank">Fleur</a>. He has a restaurant in St Louis, and I've <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2011/07/hubert-keller-and-riverboat-cruise-with.html" target="_blank">actually met him</a> twice, so I thought it was a good idea to visit his restaurant while we were in Sin City. Silly me though did not take a single photo with them while we were together. I was too caught up in catching up. :-) The food did not disappoint (again, post to come on the food), and it was a wonderful evening with good friends.<br />
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After dinner, we walked over to one of my bucket list items: Seeing the wine and the wine angels at Auereole. There were no angels flying because the restaurant had closed, but it was still as awesome as I expected the wine rack to be. I wished I was an angel in there. Ha<br />
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Jen and Paulie had to call it an early night since they had to be at work the next day, so we wandered the strip. We walked in and out of a few hotels to get the feel and vibe of the different themes. I just can't get over the excess in that town. Everything is so over the top and to the extreme. I mean, I should have expected it, but actually seeing it and being immersed in it is such a different experience. It makes perfect sense how people could get addicted to being there; it is a definitive escape from reality.<br />
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The next day, we actually ended up going back to Mandalay Bay to go through their Aquarium.<br />
Gilla Monster!<br />
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Reflections. Nerd Alert.<br />
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Nerd Alert Take 2: I love this photo because it looks like we're in the water. Sharks swiming all around us.<br />
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Love this shot.<br />
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We stopped for dinner in Todd Englishs Pub. Again, great food in a low key atmosphere. I think that I was just still full from the night before where it looked like I hardly touched my plate. (It was great the next morning for breakfast though, ha)<br />
Then we walked to see the Water Show in front of the Bellagio. It was SO HOT outside, so once the show started, there was a continuous mist from the water that was delightful! It was beautiful to witness, regardless of the heat.<br />
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We did a bit more wandering through the Bellagio and the Venetian, and then headed home to get ready for what turned out to be one of the most exciting parts of the trip and a meal that made both of our Top 3 meals of our lifetime; dinner at CraftSteak by Tom Colicchio. Out of this world experience. Next post will be me droning on about how exquisite the experience was. Pictures abound!<br />
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We rolled ourselves out of dinner and made our way across the street to the Tropicana to attend a comedy show at The Laugh Factory. It was very low key, a small crowd, and just what we needed after dinner. <br />
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No, that's not a Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, or Saks 5th Avenue bag I'm carrying.....that's leftovers from dinner!! Priceless!! <br />
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The next morning, we headed back to San Diego to catch our return flight back to the mayhem of moving out of our house and driving half way across the country to good ol' Dallas Texas. It was a wonderful and much needed break from reality, and I'm so happy we had the time to share together.<br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-76569402700766607462012-08-14T18:44:00.001-05:002012-08-14T18:44:15.027-05:00Vacation Part II: Visiting the Family at Grampa's house<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Grampa lives just outside of Los Angeles in a town called Oxnard. It was a very scenic drive up along the coastline from San Diego to get to his house, and it's always so wonderful getting to spend time with family.</div>
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With the seafood that we picked up in most amazing market ever in Santa Monica, we put together a homemade dinner for them that A) mom didn't have to cook and that B)we could have more time to spend together. </div>
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While the fish and shrimp were marinating, we all spent time in the backyard. Grampa crushed cans.</div>
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While I admired all of this flowers.<br />
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And fruits.<br />
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And then I admittedly went a little crazy with the tree trimmers on the lemon tree. There were some lemons that looked more like grapefruit in size. It was also just fun to slice them down out of the tree. I cut two dozen. <br />
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This was photo op number three. I think I finally figured out who Terry got his "scowl" face from. Its remarkable especially when the scowl is side by side. ;-)<br />
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Always so happy to see Mom! <br />
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We spent a good bit of the evening together, and then we came back in the morning to have breakfast together (which reminds me Mom that I still need to get that quiche or egg bake recipe from you...so good!). Aww man and now I'm not going to be able to get that Cinnamon Bread Loaf out of my head. Stomachs growling now. Go figure.<br />
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It was a quick trip with the family, but it seems more often than not that's how it goes these days unless you're coming here to visit in Dallas. Speaking offfffff..... Who's coming to visit us in Dallas?!?! Anyone??!!?<br />
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Up next: Vegas<br />
Up after that: it wouldn't be a vacation without a post about all the food and wine ;-)<br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-30874973938689156352012-08-12T10:34:00.000-05:002014-08-11T00:33:47.383-05:00Mid-chaos Vacation Part I: San Diego and Laguna Beach<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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In the middle of transferring from St Louis to Dallas, we figured it'd be as good a time as any to hop a plane and decompress for a few days. My last day of work was July 6th, and that night we drove to the airport en route for California. We got into San Diego a little later than anticipated as we got hung up on the tarmac in Denver waiting for a storm to clear, so we didn't see any of the city Friday night. We were up bright and early though (yay for time zone changes but body clock not changing) Saturday to take on the day. We hopped back in our car and headed over to Coronado to get some beautiful views of the city. Highly recommended!</div>
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They had a cute market area with art galleries and boutique shops that we wandered through a bit. Then we started driving down the coast to Imperial Beach. Full disclosure, we drove there because I wanted to go to the most Southwestern part of the US without being in Mexico (nerd flag flying and I don't even care), and Terry found reviews for a fresh seafood restaurant out on a pier (done and done! Will write about it in a food post about the trip).<br />
Obligatory feet in the Pacific photo.<br />
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He joined us for lunch on the pier.<br />
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We drove back into the city later in the day and went out around the gaslamp district to various restaurants and bars. </div>
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The next day, we did the downtown tourist scene all day and had a blast. We walked through a farmers market, we strolled through Seaport Village and the San Diego Marina, oh and we did a lot of fresh seafood eating while we could.</div>
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Monday we were up early to start our drive up to visit Terry's family. His grampa lives right outside of Los Angeles in a town called Oxnard, so we drove up the coast and made a few stops in Laguna Beach and Santa Monica. The views in Laguna were beautiful and we were the only ones on the beach. <br />
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I'm a lucky girl.<br />
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We stopped in to Santa Monica to walk up on the pier and get some lunch. We found a fish market on the way out of town that had us both drooling and wishing we didn't have to leave. <br />
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We did happily pry ourselves out of the market though because we had family to visit. I'm going to write up a full post about our visit, but here's a preview. <br />
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Until tomorrow :-)LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-35730673621478779432012-08-06T12:00:00.001-05:002012-08-06T12:00:28.974-05:00Oh My, July!I feel rusty in drafting a new post. Its more of just having no idea where to start. To stay in chronological order of events? To post about our move and the new house and all the updates of our old home? To just vent for a minute about my job opportunities (or lack thereof)? Don't get me wrong though, choosing how to get back in the groove of blogging is not even close to how overwhelming this past month has been. <br />
So here's a few photos. I'll explain them (hopefully) individually soon. For the record, thank you to the few who have noticed the blogs absence and are calling for updates. I've been off the radar, just in doing my best to keep my head above water. We're creeping towards being back at the shallow end of the pool though, so communication will commence shortly. <br />
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<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-30627903108281321952012-06-27T12:07:00.001-05:002012-06-27T12:07:36.223-05:00The 2-year old Cabinet Chronicle<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I took this first photo in July of 2010....yes.....<b>2010. </b>While the shot was intended to catch the headboard Terry put in to provide the necessary support over the French Doors, it also now has a second purpose because it's the only photo I could find as a "before" shot of the large cabinet. We bought it (a LONG time ago) to help make our entire kitchen a bit more cohesive, not to mention provide us with some form of pantry space. </div>
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And then it just turned into our unfinished wine cabinet for 2 years. Ugh </div>
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Putting your house of the market is certainly a motivator to get things finished. And our cabinet ranked high on the list. This past weekend, yes, two years later, we finally get er' done.<br />
Excuse the mess in the next photo. It was a bit of a war zone for a while just juggling where things needed to go and, er, hide.<br />
It was a free-standing unit that we bought from Home Depot. Previously the space was just empty, and we felt like putting in a unit there and staining it as we did our cabinets would complete the look of the space.<br />
So, we hauled it out of its 2-year happy nook and started finishing it up.<br />
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The sides were just material board, non finished, I guess just assuming it would be a piece in a large set of kitchen cabinets where it wouldn't matter that the sides weren't finished.<br />
Terry bought some sort of wood finishing siding, and extra heavy duty glued it down. That board isn't going anywhere anytime soon. Once the glue was set, Terry trimmed off the excess, we stained and polyurethaned it over the course of almost a week, and then... <br />
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Voila!<br />
We love it. Woulda been nice to actually use it ourselves over the past 2 years with it looking like this, but ehhh, it served the same purpose I guess (just a lot more homely.....and that does not mean homey!) Originally (as in the past week, not 2 years ago "originally") we decided on adding matching handles to the rest of the kitchen, but now we like it as it is. No muss, no fuss. <br />
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As a reference, here's our full kitchen from when Lara came over to take photos. It wasn't finished for this shot, it was actually getting it's glue down on in the garage, but it's not perched in the far right side of this photo smiling with all it's new friends. <br />
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<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-2354945540492123182012-06-20T16:54:00.002-05:002012-06-20T16:55:09.234-05:00Our House is officially listed for sale!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />I can't really explain how bittersweet it is. I want to sell, and I hope that it goes quickly and smoothly. Then the other side of me is not wanting to see it go. So much of our lives put into that house over the last 3 years. <br />
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If you're interested in seeing all the pictures, here's the link from Zillow:<br />
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/225-Winthrop-Dr-Belleville-IL-62221/5269220_zpid/<br />
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I'll be posting professional photos that my friend Lara came and took for us in a few days. They turned out so beautifully. LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-49387802578584186482012-06-19T15:16:00.002-05:002012-06-20T16:54:59.421-05:00Bahamas Cruisin' with Kristen<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For graduation, Kristen and I went on a vacation for 4 days to the Bahamas. This is actually the third cruise that <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2011/05/bermud-ahhhhhhhh.html" target="_blank">we've been on together</a>, but the first cruise for Kristen without her parents (cue 18 year teenager jumping for joy). This trip was just what the doctor ordered as far as relaxation and unwinding. Not to mention that it was wonderful bonding time with Kristen before she heads off to college.</div>
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We flew out of Baltimore, arrived in Orlando, and hopped an hour long shuttle over to Port Canaveral. We got the lay of the land on the ship and then promptly found 2 lounge chairs, sat down....and fell asleep until the bull horn went off that we were pulling out of port. </div>
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At the Theater Show before Dinner night one.<br />
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Our teeny tiny room that actually was perfect.<br />
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Arriving at Cococay, which is a private island of Royal Caribbean. Much larger straw market than I was expecting since I can't figure out where they lived to run the stores.<br />
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The majority of the day on Cococay was spent lounging. There was some pretty serious overcast, so it was perfect snoozing weather. Kinda glad for the overcast because when the sun did come out, it was fierce!<br />
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Our Ship, the Monarch of the Seas.<br />
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Formal Dinner Night </div>
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On to Nassau! Arggg!<br />
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Nassau Straw Market. Definitely a change from when <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2011/12/trip-to-carribbean-lindsey-and-allison.html" target="_blank">Allison and I were there</a> in December!<br />
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The waters were so crystal blue, this photo doesn't do it any justice.<br />
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On our boat ride over to Paradise Island to roam around the Atlantis.<br />
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Back on the ship, Kristen napped the rest of the day away, while I went rock-climbing.<br />
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Our last night at dinner with our dinner mate. <br />
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We had such a fun trip together. I hope that there are many more to come for us!<br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-57351622057403567302012-06-19T12:52:00.002-05:002012-06-20T16:54:59.423-05:00Delaware, also known as "don't stop 'til you drop"<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was in Delaware from Thursday May 31st until Sunday June 3rd. It was a whirlwind, even more than usual. Just non-stop. But it was great seeing everyone and feeling like I really got in quality time instead of the typical rat race and 1 hour stop-ins. </div>
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Thursday Lunch with my Grandmother. We ordered a strawberry shortcake to split for the dessert; the strawberries for her and the shortcake for me :-)</div>
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I had a little time free Thursday afternoon so I stopped in to my sis-in-laws job to see her new swanky office. Then we drove down to Maya's horse-riding lessons. Was a big surprise! Also did the big surprise to Alexa and Jenna when I stopped in to their house on the way to the beach. Alexa, your face was priceless!</div>
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I stayed the night at Megan and Jasons. It's so nice having one of those longtime friends that you don't see for a while but it feels like you didn't miss a day. She's such an amazing friend. Of course we stayed up way to late and talked way too much and it was freaking glorious! </div>
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The next day was Aunt Lindsey and Chloe day. It took a little time for her to get comfortable with me around, and who can blame her when she hasn't seen me in almost 6 months. Once I mentioned going and playing at the park though, whoa she was ALL ABOUT Aunt Lindsey! We played forever, and I got elbow burns from using them as my brakes going down some of the slides to prove it (OUCH!). Don't worry though, Chloe bandaged up my "Boo-Boo's" with Dora Bandaids. We went shopping (at Wawa), we rented a movie (Barbie Mermaid), made lunch together (Grilled Cheese...YUM), we made art (she colored bookmarkers for me), and had such a blast together! Was such a fun day! I miss all my girls!!</div>
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I headed out from Chloe day to go cheer on Kristen in her State Championship Soccer Game. This picture is not fuzzy below....it was just pouring down rain. We were scared the majority of the game that it was going to get postponed, which would have been horrible considering her graduation was the next day and we were leaving for the Bahamas on Monday. The weather cooperated, but unfortunately they didn't win the championship. It was 2-1 in double overtime. Kristen had a great game! (Number 22 below)<br />
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The next morning we woke up bright and early for Kristens High School Graduation!!!<br />
The proud parents. Notice Tims tie is a picture of Kristen in her soccer gear from many years back. Loved it!<br />
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She's officially a graduate!!<br />
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Yay!!<br />
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After graduation, I hung out with my nieces for a while carting them around to their different birthday and going away parties for their friends, then Jenna and I got Rita's Water Ice and came back to jam out to some Wii party games for a while. <br />
I went and met up with my Mom for her Birthday that evening. We went to a really nice restaurant called Abbotts Grill and had a really nice dinner together. My mom makes 64 looks good!<br />
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The rest of the time in Delaware was with the crew in Lincoln. Lots of time with Alexa, Jenna, and Maya with the Wii and board games and swimming in the pool and just being crazy together. The time is never long enough it seems!<br />
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Maya had my phone for an hour or so in the afternoon an was up in her room taking videos of herself dancing. They were absolutely hilarious. If I could figure out how to upload them on here I would. There were a few dance moves that need to be on So You Think You Can Dance!! :-) </div>
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I'll probably not be back in Delaware until new baby niece is here! Oh, maybe I haven't mentioned that on here yet; Jeff and Kim are pregnant with baby girl #2 due mid October! Niece Count: 5 Nephew Count: 0 How about those odds!!! So excited!</div>
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<br /></div>LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-75674051677042595762012-06-18T16:24:00.002-05:002012-06-18T16:24:11.593-05:00I finally have a free minute, so lets catch upEver since I've returned from vacation, life has been "non-stop go go go hustle lets move" to get the house completed and in a show-worthy status. That's a lie; I did finally stop yesterday, but our home computer I think has a virus as it takes an hour to boot up. So no posting for almost three weeks. Whoa!<br />
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Short winded: Going to Delaware was chaotic. Wonderful to see so many people during the trip, but it was just go go go get to the next person rush rush sleep go go go. The cruise was amazing. So relaxing. We had no plans the entire trip and it was perfect to just unwind. I needed it. My anxiety levels thanked me. Getting back to Terry was/is always exciting (distance makes the heart love deeper), and then we worked on the house for 10 hours two days in a row. Then we worked on the house every night after work until it was time for bed. All the rushing with the house is that we finally listed it for sale on Saturday. Sunday we pretty much played Wii Bowling and reveled in having no house chores. GLORIOUS!<br />
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Will elaborate in future posts about previous paragraphs highlights. For now, just finally able to get back on here.LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-43269988248475511572012-05-30T11:11:00.002-05:002012-06-20T16:54:59.418-05:00A much needed vacation and celebrationI haven't been on a vacation since <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2011/12/trip-to-carribbean-lindsey-and-allison.html" target="_blank">December with Allison</a>. And chaos is very quickly about to ensue in the Gibbons/Stamps household. What better time to get away!<br />
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Actually, I've had this trip back to Delaware planned for a while now, because Kristen is going to be graduating high school! So excited for her, and wouldn't miss being there to support her! And of course while I'm in Delaware, there's 10 other visits I have to make with family and friends. Not gonna lie, Delaware is going to be chaotic. That pretty much seems to be the trend though these days.<br />
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Kristen at her Senior Prom. Wish I could have been there. She looked stunning! </div>
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The relaxing, calmer part of the trip that I only planned, oh, 2 weeks ago or so, is that Kristen and I are going to go to the Bahamas on a cruise for 4 days!! We leave out on Monday from Port Canaveral and will be visiting Cococay and Nassau on the trip. Before she heads off for college (!!!), it will be a really fun way for us to spend time together. And she's always wanted to go to the Bahamas, so it's a win-win.<br />
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Much much needed calm before the storm! <br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-25097499617717230012012-05-30T10:28:00.000-05:002012-05-30T10:28:56.807-05:00Turning in the Good Ol' Resignation LetterWelp, today's the day. I'm turning it in. It's going to officially start feeling real. I know that's silly, considering we've been working on the house all this time in preparation of the move, but it still just doesn't feel like reality.<br />
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Our real estate agent is coming to look through the house on Sunday to see if any changes need to be made before we finalize listing our work of art over the last 3 years. That's going to be the kick of reality setting in. I'm going to be out of town, which is probably for the better for Terry to handle the start of this process, as I have a sneaking suspicion my emotions are going to be a rollercoaster in this upcoming month. <br />
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LOTS of wonderful but major changes happening, and quickly. Buckling up now.LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-89802304434051107002012-05-24T12:01:00.001-05:002012-05-30T10:28:48.992-05:00The Kitchen: Final wallpaint and we're happy!Refreshing the memory; we've had horrible luck with painting our kitchen.<br />
<a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2012/01/mlk-day-and-why-i-hate-our-kitchen-wall.html" target="_blank">Memorial Day was a doozy</a>.<br />
We've gone from Tan to primed white to green, to darker green, to Miami Orange, to mellow orange, to our final product. Ugh! <br />
Here's the best photo I could find of a blank canvas for the color. Pre-backsplash and pre-gas stove and matching microwave. <br />
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The kitchen color fiasco was all solved when Terry brought home this color palette one evening after a Home Depot trip. <br />
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Of course, me being me, I immediately said, "Purple?!" (although to be fair I think I had a little reason to think that was far-fetched). He stuck with it and we went and bought little paint samples to test it out.</div>
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We started with T painting the ceiling. It was looking pretty dingy,
and when we put up the new paint, it made it almost look gray up there. Oops. Then we tried out the three colors to see if it would work. Elephant Skin would go around the main band along the ceiling, Burnished Clay would go on the main wall with the french doors, and Darkest Grape would be our accent coloring behind the refrigerator and in the nook leading down the main hallway.</div>
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I was a little hesistant about the purple still, so we went and bought another paint sample to ease my worries. You can see that we put that up next to the original purple in the photo below, and it was just too dark. It was a major help in my concern, and well worth the $2.99 for the sample.<br />
Next, Terry trimmed in the Burnished Clay over the dreadful Orange. <br />
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We Love it! It works well in all lighting , and with that space getting all light-options of the day, it was a win!<br />
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So much of a win, that we opted to paint the main hallway and entrance-way the same color. It has made our home look very crisp and more contemporary. <br />
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Another shot leading down the hallway, and base trim and french door trim!!! It is all finally coming together!<br />
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Here's all three colors in a night shot, and it doesn't get too dark and washed out.<br />
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Here's in the daytime, and it still looks crisp (There's painters tape up still along the cabinet in the photo below. Oops)<br />
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Last photo when we first painted behind the entryway into the dining room next to the refrigerator. Later, I ended up pulling out the fridge and painting the entire wall so that there wasn't the tan cutoff like you can see in this picture.<br />
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We love how the space looks now! Finally colors that coordinate and bring life to the kitchen, and that aren't neutrals to fade into the rest of the neutral space. <br />
And, yes, our kitchen has purple......and it rocks!<br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-25992161815487168862012-05-22T16:45:00.000-05:002012-05-22T16:45:15.986-05:00Hall Bathroom Update ContinuedSo we left off <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2012/05/master-bathroom-i-dont-know-where-to.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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What is up with the half painted wall, you may say? Well, we opted to install wainscoting! (bad picture, sorry)<br />
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Adding on the trim and base boards. Mind you the vanity came in and out roughly five times so we knew proper cuts and edges. Putting my puny little arms to work. </div>
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Another angle </div>
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Which I guess is a great segue into how the vanity has turned out.<br />
We sanded all the previous stain away and started from scratch, applying Jacobean wood stain. It took several coats, but we were happy with the outcome. <br />
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I think that it looks a bit dark in this photo as far as the color goes, but you can see that it's super glossy with the polyurethane layers we added to it so it would be durable in a bathroom setting i.e. high moisture area.<br />
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One last check before we brought it in with the vessel sink on top to set it firmly in place and glue it in place.<br />
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Again, from the picture above I think it looks so dark, but the true shade is closer to the picture below.<br />
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We brought in the sink to measure exactly where it would sit on top of the vanity. We marked it off, then shimmied the vanity out to have a little extra room, spread a silicone bead all over the bottom of the sink, and set it back down in place. What a stinky mess! But the reward paid off.<br />
<b>Note</b>: I think that from this angle, the sink looks tiny. So tiny that it makes it look silly to have two faucets on it. <br />
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In actuality, it's a very long sink. I made Terry model a 280'ish lb man on one side using the sink comfortably and he's still not close to the center of the sink. (Bad picture again, but I didn't have time to fool with it when he agreed that he'd model for me. These chances happen so infrequently)<br />
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The final step in securing the vanity permanently into the bathroom was to silicone it to the wall. FYI, this stuff smells like concentrated white vinegar, so I took this shot and then was coughing for 5 minutes. <br />
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Voila! Oh, and we just hung the mirror. Double Voila!! Oh and the mirror gives away that we've hung a shower curtain and framed in the laundry area, but we're not complete with that part yet.....so you're gonna have to wait until after this weekend!<br />
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It really looks so amazing in person. Just still so hard to believe how it started and what it's become. <br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-40096043914587040732012-05-21T14:50:00.003-05:002012-05-21T14:51:21.060-05:00Hall Bathroom: I don't know where to start, so I'll start hereSince I've last posted about the bathroom, we are essentially a toilet and shower head installation away from a finished product. That being said, I clearly haven't done a good job of keeping up with posting. We've been busy. So rather than spend an exorbitant amount of time in attempting to figure out the best breakdown of posts, I'm just gonna go with it. It may be out of sync, it may be a little hard to follow. Sorry. Otherwise, I'll more than likely dawdle a few more days away before I start to post about it again.<br />
Here we go!<br />
From where I left off with finishing the floor in travertine tile, we decided to also run the travertine around the shower wall to make a more cohesive look to the space.<br />
We had to tear out the previous shower wall and backerboard due to mold growth. Pictures not necessary....lets just say it was black on some parts.<br />
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New backer board<br />
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Water sealant.<br />
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Midway through the shower tile install...</div>
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Shower tub to ceiling finish. I think it creates an illusion to the eye to make the room seem taller. Especially while standing in the shower.</div>
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And what you may or may not have caught two pictures before was that in the midst of tile installation, we started priming and painting! Yes, don't adjust your computer monitors, that is in fact YELLOW! Butter Cream to be exact. Picked out by the one and only Big Man of the house. This isn't a great picture, but it's the only one I can show at this time point and not give away a ton of the other fun that has happened.<br />
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Also in the midst of shower tile installation and painting: Installing the backsplash around the sink. We rented a tile saw, so we had to do things a bit out of order and mock up where we were going to place the sink, then pulled it back out to finish the vanity. I know this picture is a big giveaway (duh) of what to expect of the vanity, but its the only way I can show the backsplash and it make any sense. And the vanity looks entirely different since this photo.<br />
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And certainly a lot different from how we bought it when we moved in......<br />
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So here's how I'll leave it for today. I'm writing up the next post now (slow day) so there will certainly be a post for tomorrow. Continuing with "Why is the wall only half painted?" and "Whats the vanity really look like now?"</div>
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Again, one final reminder of where we started (below) and where we're headed (above). Crazy pants!<br />
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This was the same game that the Cardinals honored Tony La Russa on his retirement. They officially retired his number and put up a permanent sign of him in the outfield. Throughout the entire game, they had video snippets of players, coaches, staff, and friends wishing Tony well in his future. It was a very nice tribute to be a part of in the crowd. </div>
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The game went into overtime up to 12 innings. We left during the 11th inning to try and beat traffic, and because it was getting so late. The Cardinals ended up losing, <strike>so I feel bad that they may have lost because we as good luck charms left</strike> so it was good that we left early. ;-)</div>LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-56446966108937481322012-05-18T13:53:00.001-05:002012-05-21T14:12:57.319-05:00Mary PoppinsLast week, I went with a friend and her daughter to see Mary Poppins on stage at the Peabody Opera House. We went and had a quick dinner at <a href="http://welovelola.com/" target="_blank">Lola</a> before dinner, which was delicious! <br />
Excuse the horrible iPhone photos, but we weren't allowed to have cameras as they "could harm the actors". <br />
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The sets were remarkable. I wish I was able to show you what I can still visualize in my head. I just felt transported to my childhood. Singing along to "ohhh it's a jolly holiday with Mary" made my heart swell.<br />
This picture doesn't do any justice, but the way they manipulated this free-standing house was almost like magic on stage. <br />
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I'd never been to the Peabody Opera House before here in St Louis, and after seeing it inside, I wished we'd been more. Stunning space, everything an Opera House should be!</div>
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Who wants to go to the theater with me next??</div>
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</div>LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-17496874679345151552012-05-16T14:16:00.002-05:002012-05-21T14:13:06.259-05:00Dinner at HarvestMom wanted to celebrate our engagement with a nice dinner in St Louis. She has quickly recognized that the main path to our heart is through our bellies ;-)<br />
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We at a restaurant that is new to us; <a href="http://www.harveststlouis.com/" target="_blank">Harvest</a>. All of their food is from local farmers in the St Louis Region.<br />
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Mom and I both wore outfits that we bought during our shopping adventure for the <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2012/05/mother-daughter-photos.html" target="_blank">photo shoot</a>. <br />
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Boyfriend (yah yah, fiance, same thing) looked so handsome. <br />
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We took a bottle of wine with us that Mom got us for a Christmas present 3 years ago. She's been hounding us to open it, but we've always told her that it needs to lay down for longer and that we wanted to open it on a special occasion. We thought this was a good a time as ever to open it. Then we read the tasting note for the vintage....and it is stated to be in its best years through 2024. Opened 12 years too soon. Needless to say though, it was delicious. (It was a 2004 Silver Oak Napa Valley Cab Sauv for those curious)<br />
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Terry and Mom bonded over Oysters. Who would have thought. They ordered 2 of each different type of Oyster they had on the menu and they both said they could have sat and ate those all night for their entire dinner. Silly!<br />
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I didn't take any other photos during the evening, but we all enjoyed our main dishes. Mom and I each had Angus Hanger Steak, and Terry ordered the Fish of the Day. No one had any room for dessert.<br />
It was a wonderful and thoughtful gift from Mom. Much more than either of us every would have anticipated, and certainly nothing we expected. Good memories. <br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-26416077139235470202012-05-14T16:44:00.002-05:002012-05-21T14:12:51.828-05:00Springfield, IL: Frank and AbrahamMom and I spent the day in Springfield during one of her days on her visit. She found out that there was a Frank Lloyd Wright House in downtown Springfield (you may also remember <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2010/12/frank-lloyd-wright-and-hanley-houses-of.html" target="_blank">from this post</a> when we went to a FLW house here in St Louis) so she immediately wanted to go. I wasn't sure what to expect, but when we got there, I was amazed.<br />
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The home, the 72nd building designed by Wright, contains the largest
collection of site-specific, original Wright art glass and furniture.
Wright’s first “blank check” commission, the home has 35 rooms in the
12,000 square feet of living space which includes <b>3 main levels and 16
varying levels in all</b>. Can you imagine living in 1900 and saying you had a home that had 16 levels. Also, another interesting fact; when she commissioned FLW, he was given a limitless fund for his design, and the owner was bequeathed her fathers estate and estimated $6 million dollars. FLW's total bill invoiced: $60,000. You couldn't hardly get an addition built on to your house in todays world for that money. </div>
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We weren't allowed to take any photos inside the home, but let me just say that the glass on the outside pales in comparison to the views of the glass on the inside. Sheer works of art. <br />
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Frank was in love with Japanese design and modernism in his time, so he added nuances to his home to reflect his respect and admiration of their architectural design. If you are ever randomly in Springfield, you NEED to go to see this home. It was amazing. <br />
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After leaving the Dana-Thomas house, we drove past the State Capitol Building (shame on me that I've lived in Illinois for almost 3 years and this was my first time there). Your random Capitol fact of the day (brought to you by my Mother): The Illinois capitol is the tallest non-skyscraper capitol, even exceeding the height of the United States Capitol in Washington, DC.<br />
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We ended the afternoon excursion with a visit to Abraham Lincolns Tomb. Again, I had no idea what to expect, but it impressed me. <br />
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There's a bronze statue in from of the monument that you're supposed to rub Abe's nose for good luck. Mom followed suit; I couldn't stop thinking of the germs and bacteria from all those hands. Blegh. <br />
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Inside, there was a roundabout walkway with several statues and busts of Abe over the years, and then you were able to approach his headstone. They told us that he's not actually buried directly below the monument, but 30 feet behind it and 10 feet into the ground. Apparently there were several successful attempts at grave robbing the President that they had to bury him that deep. Poor guy. There were a few interesting facts: there are no blood ancestors left of Abraham Lincoln. I find that fascinating. Also, all of his family (wife, daughter and younger son) are all buried with him except his oldest son. He was adamant to be buried with his family when he died, but his wife ignored his wishes and had him buried in Arlington Cemetery. <br />
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Very fun day together. Lots of history, but so many interesting things so close to home. Who knew?!<br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-24566294761726225922012-05-11T12:11:00.004-05:002012-05-11T12:14:34.871-05:00Mother Daughter PhotosMy mom came into town this past weekend, and I surprised her with a photo shoot of the two of us. A dear friend of mine is starting up her photography business, and I thought it'd be a great experience with her to try and capture our relationship.<br />
Mom and I went shopping for new outfits, which was a lot of fun. We each got a few new things, and after the huge yardsale the weekend before, it was nice adding a few new items to the wardrobe.<br />
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We had our shoot in Rock Springs Park in O'fallon, Illinois, and it was the perfect backdrop for our photos. Mom was a little tense at first, but as she loosened up in front of the camera, i.e. started forgetting we were getting our pictures taken at all, the outcome was beautiful.<br />
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Here's just a few from the day. Over 700 pictures were taken so now it will be figuring out which ones are good and which ones can be edited. I'd highly recommend this as an idea for Mothers Day / Birthday / Special Occasion. It provided great photos, but also great memories together.<br />
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<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-19064790525208841262012-05-02T16:07:00.000-05:002012-05-02T16:07:39.277-05:00What the Hail!!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Roughly 3 hours after I finished up with the <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2012/04/yardsale-of-century.html" target="_blank">yard sale of the century</a>, some of the worst weather we've had in about a year came tearing through St Louis. Mind you, all morning it was a bright sunny beautiful day, Terry even went to play golf if that's any indication!! I finished up all of my errands and had just got home to finish up my book (The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern...SO GOOD), and I heard the TORNADO SIRENS GO OFF. What?!?!<br />
I turned on the news, and this was my view. The picture came out blurry (grrr iphone), but our house is dead center of the red square. I took a picture and sent it to Terry, and within 2 minutes it went from sunshine and happiness to power out, limbs down, torrential rain, and me hunkered in our Hall Bathroom calling anyone I could in the area to see who had power and tell me if I was going to die. <br />
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When I got the all clear that tornado danger had passed me, the hail started. It sounded like 500 people were aiming for golf swing target practice on our roof. I went to the front room window because they were coming down on the back windows too hard where I was scared it may break on me to catch the action. </div>
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Then I went out on our front porch and grabbed a few that had bounced up close. There were so way larger ones out further in the yard, more like tennis call size, but I couldn't get to them without risking getting knocked out in the process. </div>
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In the grand scheme, we made out pretty lucky. Two of my coworkers live about 5 miles north of us, and they had softball sized hail and fully shattered windshields. Yikes!! What craziness through for a random Saturday afternoon. </div>
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</div>LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-51488164853437416392012-05-01T16:17:00.003-05:002012-05-01T16:18:05.379-05:00What became of Chunky Legs, and who won the betA year ago, <a href="http://gibbsspot.blogspot.com/2011/03/there-is-nothing-wrong-with-chunky-legs.html" target="_blank">we purchased</a> what ended up becoming our master bathroom vanity.<br />
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The thing is, pretty much for a year, I've left you hanging on what became of the other half of the table. See, we unhinged the top of the table from the base: <br />
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We chopped it in half length-wise....and yes, that was our former master bathroom vanity that our now current master vanity countertop is resting on. Wouldn't YOU buy a house with a single-sink, two-toned purple vanity in your Master too?!? Duh.<br />
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Then we re-assembled and poof!, it's our glorious master bath. <br />
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<br />So what became of the other half? (thanks for asking, since I know you're curious). We made a bet on whether or not we could sell it, just like any other loving and slightly competitive couple would do!!<br />
I admit that I was <strike>downright certain</strike> skeptical that no one would want to buy half of a table for 1/2 the price we bought it for. Terry was convinced it would be an easy sell. And so the bet was on!<br />
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We staged it in our living room and posted these pictures as well as our completed bathroom makeover up on trusty old Craigslist. And then we waited. <br />
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For a week, all that we got was one fraud email, and one insulting low-ball of an offer. The funny thing about staging it for us was that once we re-purposed it, we thought about actually keeping it for ourselves and taking it with us to the next house we went to. Sentimental in a way, but always being able to keep a little piece of our first house with us.<br />
I re-posted the ad again the next weekend, and it must have just been the timing of the post, but it got hit up like crazy with offers. We got full asking price and it was picked up the next day. <br />
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So I am here to announce, I lost the bet. Terry is the wisest of them all!! (But seriously, I know it really is such an awesome piece, but would YOU HAVE THOUGHT we'd get full asking price for HALF A TABLE?!?) The power of staging and free advertising. <br />
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<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-70769365172582616682012-04-30T17:00:00.000-05:002012-05-01T15:39:06.464-05:00Yardsale of the Century!!Not my quote, but from a friend mocking our yard sale goal this weekend. Turns out, it was a pretty hoppin', well beyond our expectations for success, out with the old and in with the new kind of good time. <i>Well, Terry says there was no good time about that, but I choose to look at the half full glass.</i><br />
(This is the only picture I took the whole day. It was during the only time in the day that there weren't people and I could snap a photo)<br />
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We'd been pseudo-prepping for this for months; i.e. we'd designated a large corner of the garage all the miscellaneous things we knew we had already replaced or that we weren't using anymore. With impending move on the horizon, it was time to implement the plan into action.<br />
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I wish that I could give a whole lot of advice on how it was as successful as it was. Here's how I opted to tackle the beast, and what worked best for us. Again, this probably isn't the best of scenarios for everybody, but it was a stud for us.<br />
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- <u><b>Pre-Planning:</b></u><b> </b>The weekend before the yard sale, I went through ALL of our clothes, as in making a pile for keep, a pile for what is traveling in the move with us but needs to be packed up, and what is yard saleing. <br />
- <u><b>Pricing:</b></u><b> </b>I had no idea how to price things. No Clue. I called my sister-in-law to get a gauge on clothes, and Terry and I discussed the rest and were pretty much on the same point. I had a mental roladex in my head of what was the lowest we'd be willing to go on each item, and stuck with that.<br />
- <u><b>Advertising:</b></u> My only advertising was one ad on Craigslist, and 4 neon pink posters, two of them being on main roads near our house, and two leading people into our neighborhood and pointing them where to go to get to us. From 7:45am until 1:15 when I was putting my last bins in my car and two 90yr old women and one of their over-talkative daughters came and rummaged through it (it actually worked out well, they bought all my purses, random but worthwhile), there was only one lull of about 10 minutes. And then lull was because the wind caught one of my signs and was pointing people the wrong way. Sure enough, with that fixed it was non-stop people again. I'd say buying and making the signs were the best $3.98 investment I've made in a while.<br />
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- <u><b>Greeting "Customers"</b></u>: Call it a drastic rookie yard-salers mistake or call it sheer luck, but one of the things that I think worked the best for me was that we didn't get price tags out on anything at the start. After reading a few blogs, I saw that was the big finger wagging faux-pas, that you should have everything laid out and priced the night before. Yah yah, whatever. I took it as an opportunity to say good morning to every person that walked up. It gave me an immediate connection with every stranger, so they knew who was running the sale, and who to talk with. If there was an item that someone was interested in on the tables, they usually threw out a price first, and 75% of the time, they were at our price we wanted or higher. If someone did ask for a price, it gave me an opportunity to say, "I was thinking $___, does that seem fair to you?" 90% of the time, they were happy. About 2 hours into the sale, Terry was able to put price tags on a few of the bigger ticket items, but even at that point I'd told him it seems to be working out well having no prices and being able to talk to someone interested in something specific.<br />
- <u><b>Eye-Candy:</b></u> If at all possible, have a 280lb man present during the morning to help load heavy items, carry 1lb bags for old ladies and let them fawn over him, and be there to be the jokester for the hagglers. He was such a big help for me; it was very much a team sport, and I appreciated it so much. <br />
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<b><u>Things I learned for future yard sales</u></b><br />
- <u><b>Neighbors:</b></u> Invite all of your neighbors to join in and give them a little extra time to get stuff together. I went and told our neighbors Friday morning what we were doing more as a courtesy so they knew why there may be people parking in front of their house in the morning. It turns out, had they had a little more time to plan, they would have joined in, which could have brought more interested buyers.<br />
- <u><b>Signs Down!:</b></u> While it is completely fine to let your boyfriend leave at the end of the yard sale to go golf on a gorgeous afternoon, make sure that all the signs for the sale are taken down before he goes. Otherwise, you are stuck trying to tear down, but people keep coming to look and buy. And you can't leave everything outside unattended to take the signs down for people to stop coming...because there are people still there.<br />
- <u><b>Off-Limits Zoning:</b></u> Create a back or a "finish" area to your yard sale. People, while I'm sure with good intentions, <u>are snoopers</u> if you let them. It should have been very clear that there were no tables set up in our garage, but people were still looking and trying to get up in our things because we didn't create a stopping point for them.<br />
- <u><b>Work on Skills:</b></u> Use the time people are wanting to haggle as an opportunity to work on your negotiating skills. I am awful at haggling. It makes me horribly uncomfortable. I let a few things go for a dollar or two under our set bottom price at the beginning, but as I got more opportunities to challenge myself with it, I got better and more confident in holding firm on a price. The worst they could do was set it back down on the table for someone else to buy it.<br />
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The rest of the items that we didn't sell (it ended up being about 4 boxes) went over to Goodwill. It was a great first time experience! I would challenge anyone who has a lot of stuff building up in their homes to take the opportunity to purge it and make a little (or a lot of!) money while you're at it. The de-clutter feels SO GOOD!<br />
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<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-52351023945967317892012-04-27T17:14:00.000-05:002012-04-27T17:14:53.516-05:00The EngagementThe long awaited post. I would usually at this point apologize for taking so long to write this up and give all the details, but for once, this was actually intentional. I've just been soaking in the "I'm engaged" rays for a month, knowing full well that this is the quiet before the "storm" so to speak of what planning this event is going to turn into. <br />
Hopefully the delay has not lead you to believe that the proposal was off-the-charts extremely thought out, and full of sentiment. Because, well, this story then is going to be highly anti-climactic. That being said, it was a surprise, both in the good and the bad way (I'll get to that in a minute), and after a little more explaining it was quite thoughtful. <br />
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So March 31th was just like any other Saturday morning. We woke up early. We got on our work clothes. We had coffee together, and we started planning out the House Work-day. The majority of the work was being down in the hall bathroom, including tearing out the flooring, realizing there was another layer of flooring, and then realizing that we were standing on a floor of nails that needed to be all pounded into the sub-floor. I was painting and homemaker'ing of cleaning the kitchen, changing out our winter to spring clothes, and starting the initial prepping for the Yardsale. (I did something else though, maybe mowed the yard, bc I was sweaty and gross, don't remember) The majority of the work in the bathroom was Terry intensive i.e. a 140lb girl was useless, but I would go in and clean out debri and scrap pieces as they were piling up. Around noon, I went in with some food and water and we took a break in the process just to see where we were and what the next step was going to be. We talked for a bit and then he told me that he forgot the Lowe's bucket out in the garage that we were using to carry out debri and dirt and asked if I'd go get it. I jumped up as normal and ran out to go get it for him. As I was approaching the bucket, I heard the garage door open and my first thought was, "well if he was planning on coming out here anyway, why didn't he just get the bucket himself?!?". But with two more steps, I saw that the bucket had been cleaned out, and there was a wooden jewelry box sitting inside. <br />
So me being me, in my totally awkward nervousness, I turned around and said, "ohhhh, Jewelry from Lowe's eh?!". He just stood there smiling at me. I opened the box and my jaw just dropped to the ground. I looked at him and just stood there in shock. He told me that he loved me; that I'll never understand how much he loves me but he'll try his best to show me every chance he can, and would I marry him. And yes, he did get down on one knee. I wrapped myself around him still in shock and said Of Course! I kept telling myself in my head "remember this moment, this is it, take this all in", which is funny because I dont remember him putting the ring on my finger or what else was said after that, but I know we talked more. I was just all smiles. And then he tried standing up and almost fell over because he was so sore from all the work so far, and we laughed a lot. All a great surprise.<br />
What was the bad part of the surprise was simply that I looked like a train wreck. Maybe that was part of the conversation we had that I blurred out from my excitement. We were both gross! I never really pictured how he was going to propose, but I certainly always imagined looking pretty at least. WRONG! I was sweaty, I still had makeup on from the night before, I was in night clothes turned housework clothes. Just NEVER what I expected I'd look like that someone would actually propose to me like that. Turns out, it didn't matter to him. He'll take me anyway I am. <br />
It took about 5 minutes before the waterworks happened. And they hit hard. Terry had gone out into the backyard and was pulling weeds and maybe, possibly also ripping any enormous tree branch out of our oak tree. Yes, ok, that really did happen. I think it was his release of all the energy/excitement/holy smokes this is real. So I walked out sobbing to Big Bear terrorizing the backyard and just hugged him and sobbed. This was where I think what he had intended to say but got too nervous came out. As we were standing there he said, "we've been working on this house for over half of our relationship, building this together. I just thought it was fitting to propose here seeing as I want us to build the rest of our lives together". Clearly more waterworks. It was so touching.<br />
After a little more time hugging and talking and me pulling myself together, I asked who he thought we should call first. Back came funny Terry with, "Ohhhh no, I dont do the phone calls, that's on you, I've got a hammer to throw inside. Work work work; Busy busy Bee!!" Needless to say, we called our parents together, and then the rest of the phone calls came from me.<br />
I'm sure it's not everyone's idea of a beautiful, incredible, amazing proposal, and that's fine. It was everything I could have ever hoped for and everything that was so very Terry (well besides there being no food involved, I did for some time think it would be incorporated with food or wine....hence always thinking at least I'd look nice); it was private, it was sincere, and it had so much meaning after all the jitters went away and he could explain it. <b> I feel like the luckiest girl in the world to be his and he be mine. </b><br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-68090981980520451702012-04-23T13:11:00.001-05:002012-04-27T17:14:38.415-05:00My First Half-Marathon<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Yay for all the training being worth it!! I finished, for a first run I think I had a good time, and most importantly, I ran the entire 13.1 miles!! Sarah flew in from D.C. to run the race as well, which was such an enormous help. We paced well with each other considering we've never run together before. At mile 10 though, Sarah's ankle and back were giving her grief, so she had to stop and she told me to keep going. The last 5K was my mental challenge, and I suceeded!!!</div>
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Here were my official stats:</div>
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To say there were a ton of people downtown was an understatement. It was just a swarm.</div>
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Please don't mind the no-makeup face. Kinda silly to get pretty to go run 13.1 miles for 2 and a half-ish hours. <br />
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Just before we were set to take off. Sarah's focused!<br />
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Our view right before we started the 1/2 marathon. Love that Arch!</div>
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Mile 7. This wasn't intended to be a artsy photo, although it turned out that way. Terry was holding his sign up for us, had our drinks at the ready, was telling up our 10K time, and trying to take a photo. Needless to say he hit a wrong button on the camera and it came out bright blue (it was in manual mode from taking photos in the house), so this was the best I could change the image. <br />
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Terrys sign he was holding for us. We actually made it (clearly), but he was easy to spot, and he told us after the race that he got a lot of laughs from other runners for it. Win!</div>
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Just after the finish. We sat for about 10 minutes here, and no joke we must have looked like 90 year old women when we stood up. Still so worth it!<br />
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Some stolen photos off the half-marathon website. NOT paying $16 for one photo. This was around mile 11. How I'm still this enthused is beyond me. <br />
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Crossing the finish!!!! (super-vain side note; can we please address how skinny my left leg looks in this picture. The next photo down is more representative, but thank you Mr/s. photographer for the self-esteem boost!)<br />
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Such an awesome experience!! Not sure that I'll do it again, but happy that I trained well and accomplished a goal I set out for myself. <b>Woohoo 1/2 Marathoner!!!</b><br />
<br />LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5698380270713958012.post-44414566514001303152012-04-20T16:46:00.004-05:002012-04-27T17:14:43.890-05:00Laundry Closet Upgrade<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Cue my gasp that we bought this house this way. I still laugh looking back at these photos. Not that our "in progress" photos of this bathroom currently are any better, but Mannnnnn it's gonna be SWEET when we're finished....which will be very soon! :-)</div>
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We purchased a storage cabinet to go over our washer and dryer, oh I dont know, 2 years ago or something close to that. It's just been hanging out in our garage all this time waiting to be useful. Poor inanimate object that I feel sorry for.</div>
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The Before (Useless tidbit; I believe that was the Lowes bucket that I found my Engagement Ring in. Still haven't posted that story yet.....aren't you anxious?!):</div>
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The After! (The washer and dryer were temporarily moved to our entryway while we were putting the floors down. It's also a good before and after of our new floor)</div>
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We made a few errors when attempting to drill into the "studs". We believe that there was some wonky business going on behind those walls from when they installed the water lines and the electric outlet for the dryer, but no extra wall is coming down on our watch. Just keep drilling holes til we find something!<br />
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We still need to trim in the frame and hang a curtain (we're going to match it up...hopefully...with what we pick for a shower curtain so it will have a nice flow) and that will be complete.</div>
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Now that it's hung, all that we have said is that we wished we'd put it up sooner, so we could have enjoyed the clean finish and not all our stuff sitting on the top of the dryer. Lessons for the next house I suppose.</div>LGibbshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16341005545982452329noreply@blogger.com1