It's been a year already?

I have celebrated my one year anniversary at my new job in a new state ... whew! A year already? Time is absolutely flying by! It feels like just yesterday I was sitting in NC working at RMIC ... and then bam I was transported to VA! I cannot believe it.

I am still really liking my new job. It is such a different atmosphere. I think I can totally make it challenging and rewarding for years to come. I know so much more today than I did a year ago and that's just the tip of the iceberg. That's a bit exciting and intimidating at the same time.

We are starting to get settled into the house now. Josh's family has even come in for a visit. It was so much fun having people in the house! Having a one year old crawling and walking around is challenging, but boy was he fun! It was very sad and quiet when they left last Sunday. I enjoy the quiet but it's nice to have commotion every now an then!

Otherwise, things are the same for us. Work, home, sleep, repeat. I find comfort in the routine. It is very interesting as I keep seeing NC post where kids have started back to school and I can tell that my mind and body are longing for fall. Here in VA, most schools don't start until closer, if not after, Labor Day. I don't want to wish my life away, but I am looking forward to fall. I can tell the days are getting shorter as it is getting dark by 8pm and not the 9pm I was enjoying a month ago.

Running??? Oh, how I have fallen off that path! This past year has not been an exercise year for me. I'm hoping to get the motivation to change that, though it's not looking too good as I dream of pumpkin pie, hot chocolate, and Thanksgiving dinner :) But being as we still have some summer left, I think I'll go enjoy another delicious Chocolate Eclair ...

Aloha!

We did it! We actually went to Hawaii in 2012 to celebrate our 5 year anniversary!

The trip took us 16 hours to get there. We enjoyed 5 wonderful days in lovely Maui. Then, the trip back started ... it was long and took more than 16 hours due to storms in Dallas, TX but we eventually made it home. It was a fantastic beautiful trip that I will remember forever. I am so thankful that I was able to spend this time with my wonderful Trophyhus! Thank You Lord for putting us together and blessing us with these memories!

Ok, so here are some pictures. We took over 1800 but no worries, I didn't share them all!

Boarding the plane in Richmond on our long trip to Maui - so excited and fresh!

Josh loved driving the convertible all week ...

I enjoyed playing with my Father-in-Law's fancy camera. I'd love to have one of these, hint, hint.

The landscapes were gorgeous!

  The aquarium was very cool. I'm sitting in a tunnel and there are fish right over my head!

 We enjoyed some Hawaiin Shaved ice :)

 This is a picture of the resort we stayed at - three pools with ocean views. Very nice!

It's not too hard to wake up to this view everyday.

 The coast line was amazing!

 I felt like the Litte Mermaid ...without the fins ...

Even the McDonald's trash cans were Hawaain - Mahalo! 

 Even the restroom signs were cute (not at McD's).

 Palm trees everywhere!

 The sunsets ..

Fun in the hammock.

 Josh was afraid he'd get a little burnt so he wanted to cover up.

 One of the bays within the resort.

Luau 

 It took a while to get this picture right but it was fun trying. 

We saw a rainbow every day that we were on the island. They were just hard to capture.

Ahh ... paradise!

 

I was reminded this week that I am supposed to be running ... so tonight, I ran! I ran to get out som frustration and for a York Peppermint Patty ice cream bar. It was delish!

Aloha!

Making our house a home - Kitchen Reno

We bought our new house in September 2011 but where not able to get together (both me and Josh permanently) until February 2012. Since then, we've been working hard to make this house a home. Selling the NC house in May really helped with that and now more than ever, we want to get settled in. We've done a few things to get started such as some landscaping, painting, buying furniture, etc but we are just now starting to really "complete" rooms in the house. The first room we have "completed" is the kitchen. It didn't need much in our opinion but we wanted to spruce it up a little bit. We thought new counter tops and a little back splash would do it. I am so not good at visualizing! When we went to the store to pick out the stone, I was totally lost. So, we picked one we thought would look good and went from there.

A big unexpected thanks to Amber R for her help! Thankfully, she got a concussion and had to drink from a straw. When she posted a picture of this, I noticed her counter tops in the background and realized that our kitchens (cabinets and granite) were very similar and since it looked good in her house, it would look good in mine. All my fears eased up then, so Amber, your concussion had a great outcome! I hope that makes you feel better :) I know that probably makes no sense, but in my weird thinking, it's perfect - sorry it was painful for you Amber. Just know your pain was not in vain!

Ok, I know, enough already! Here are the pictures:

Before

Originally, the house was regular builder grade paint - you know the slightly off white paint - everywhere. We picked a neutral tan color. For the life of me, I can't remember the name but you'll clearly see that's tan (how exciting, I know! I promise as these "Making our house a home" sessions continue, you'll see pops of color!)

It wasn't a bad kitchen. We just weren't excited about the dark counter tops. They weren't dark enough to pull off the dark look so we changed it ... I think this stone we picked out looks like cookies and cream. There are several different specs of color in it: browns, blacks, purple/reds, golds/silvers, etc. It's so cool what people are digging up these days! If you have never walked through a "stone yard," it's very interesting.

Josh added the back splash himself. He did a great job! The title is a brown glass tile. It looks darker/lighter depending on the lighting.

After

So, what have I been running for this summer? It's so hot! But I did just discover this delish treat that might make me run a bit more ... Magnum ice cream bars ... below is a picture of the Carmel one. It's a an expensive treat but well worth it (I found mine on sale at Kroger for $2.99 for 3 bars). It's a layer chocolate, then a layer of caramel, then another layer of chocolate, then vanilla bean ice cream in the middle - pretty ridic!

SOLD!

We sold our NC house today! I thought this day would never come! Papers are signed and the house is no longer ours! We are so thankful and so thrilled to no longer have that debt hoovering over our head! It's sad to let go of your first home, but in this case, we couldn't be happier! We put the house on the market the end of July 2011 when we knew that we were moving to Mechanicsville, VA. Josh didn't move up here and join me until February so the house was only "empty" for about 3 months. You can read a little about all that in some of my previous blogs including this one. We got a real offer on the house (April) and closing was set for today May 31.

Here's a look at our first house:

Front View of House



Back View of House

First Floor:


Tiny Kitchen :)



Yep, it was small!

Living Room

Additional view of Living Room

 

Formal Living Room



Formal Dining Room

Second Floor:

Game/Exercise Room

Master Bedroom

Guest Room

Office

I'm only missing pictures of the three bathrooms (well, 2 full, 1 1/2 bath) but who really wants pictures of that anyway?



It was a great first home and I hope the new homeowners have a great time there. We had awesome neighbors beside us. We will greatly miss Constance and Jerome. We couldn't have asked for sweeter neighbors! Jerome even mowed our lawn for FREE this spring. I wish them the best!

Our Realtor was awesome too. Cathy answered so many of our questions and never got impatient or fed up with us, even when we asked the same question over and over and over again!

Thank You Lord for putting this great home and these great people in our lives. Thank You for helping us turn this page of our lives together! What an awesome God we serve!

What have I been running for these days? I am loving some Nutty Buddys! Maybe it's summer time calling my name? I don't know and frankly, I don't care. They are so good! Especially those that have the chocolate in the bottom tip :)