Goodbye Carpet, Hello Grass!

Chad and I purchased and built our home back in 2005. We were excited about all that we were going to do to the new place. I've learned over the years, home is always a work in progress around these parts.


We had plans to pull the carpet up and replace it with wood floor before we moved in but we decided to get our money's worth out of the carpet first. It was cheap builders carpet. How long could it possibly take to wear it out? Five and a half years apparently. We could of dragged it out longer but after stepping on one of the tack boards where the carpet had pulled away from I had it. Our carpets were in great condition minus the few cat barf stains and the traffic wear. I still was happy to seem them go though.

For the last 4 years we have been trying to find a wood and color we liked. We picked a Engineered Bamboo Flooring with a dark, cherry color stain. The engineered bamboo is harder than the other bamboos. It is also less susceptible to scratches and dents because of it's hardness. It is comparable to Oak, looks like an exotic wood but for half the price and the best part is that it is Green! Bamboo is actually a grass! It grows very quickly and does not need to be replanted so it only takes 3-5 years to harvest good quality bamboo whereas wood usually takes decades. It is an easy-to-maintain resource. This is a double winner in our book! Affordable and Green!

The Georgia Sense of Direction

Last weekend the Hubs and I went to spend some time with my parents in Georgia. They own a vacation home near the Blue Ridge Mountains. It was just what we needed. Four days of lounging around in our pajamas, watching movies, and getting lost ... a lot.

Getting lost wasn't our plan but Georgia has some pretty bad signage. Even the airport was horrendous. You would think that the large international airport in Atlanta would have the best directions and signage for all the different kinds of travelers but no, they don't. We walked the wrong way to the main terminal (maybe our mistake), had to look at the directory to find the car rental area which didn't help because we couldn't figure out where we were on the directory, walked passed the car rental agency, and spent about an hour trying to figure out how to get back to the airport arrivals to pick up my parents. We didn't bring our GPS so we used our iPhone maps application. It couldn't figure out where we were. It was an adventure to say the least.


On Saturday, the guys and I went on a hiking adventure. Of course we got lost again. The first time we missed the exit off the highway and after that it was at the ol' fork in the road which really wasn't a fork; it was a backwards fork. After finding the correct fork in the road and about about half way up the hill to the hiking trail we here BING. Car is low on gas. Fabulous. As we are chuckling away and joking about being stranded in the middle of the Georgia mountains with no gas or cell service we hit a patch of ice and the little rental yelps out another BING. This day is getting better by the minute.


We finally made it to the Bear Creek trail and started hiking. This is a fairly easy trial so it was more like walking at a slight incline. Easy-peasy. Crossing the little streams? Not so easy. I was trying so hard not to slip off the rocks that I ended up putting my foot in the water 3 times. Thank goodness I was wearing Dryfit socks. They dried out before we reached out 1.5 mile marker ... the Gennett Poplar.


The Gennett Poplar is the 2nd largest tree in the state. I forgot to mention, this is the whole reason we came-a-hiking. Getting lost, possibly stranded with no gas, and almost careening off the hill - all for a tree.

We came, we saw, we conquered. Another 1.5 miles back and we hit the road and headed on home. We got lost again. Gotta love Georgia.

Holy Shish Kabob!

24 days into the new year and I'm really struggling with one of my resolutions. I vowed to curb my cursing but I've found it is much easier said than done. I've tried to replace my vulgar words with more kid friendly verbiage but, Sugar just doesn't have the same zing that S@&# does. With that said, I'm trying to find some inoffensive language with some pizazz and this is what I've come up with:

• Asterisk
• Biswankay
• Blowhole
• Frack
• Stuff
• Turkey

New Year - New Project

I was inspired by a friend's 365 photo project so I decided to start one of my own this year. Stephanie is a pro and has all the cool equipment and software and is mighty talented. Me, well, I carry a nice camera but I don't have the time or patience to mess around too much with editing and and I also don't carry said camera around with me everywhere. I do, on the other hand, have my iPhone with me all the time. So here is to a picturesque 2011, iPhone style!

Check out the rest here!

New Years Resolutions

There is no better way to ring in the new year than compiling a list of things you plan to resolve in the coming year and in most cases failing or giving up within the first 30 days. Here are mine:

• I will try driving closer to the speed limit or learn to sweet talk my way out of speeding tickets.
  
• I will not tell the same story at every get together. By now everyone knows about the tartar sauce in the key lime pie.
  
• I will really start working out again... honestly. No joking. Really... I will.
• I will stop considering other people’s feelings when they so obviously don’t consider mine.
• I will save my husband's money by spending less cash by using credit cards instead - just kidding Chad!
  
• I will learn the actual words to songs instead of making up my own or replacing every unknown word with "hmm" and "something".
• I will start a project and finish it before starting a new one, and then another, and another.

Happy New Year!

Newlywed Christmas

May your holidays sparkle with moments of love and laughter.

Merry Christmas!

Love,
The Newlyweds

Gobble, Gobble!

May your stuffing be tasty
May your turkey plump,
May your potatoes and gravy
Have nary a lump.
May your yams be delicious
And your pies take the prize,
And may your Thanksgiving dinner
Stay off your thighs!

Happy Thanksgiving!