Lots of progress

Here is our weekend update for the Smith home on Tahlequah Street. Pictures Galore!

Here is our front wall going up.

The view from inside.

Our rooms are getting framed!

I am standing on the loft, that's our cute little diamond window. If you are tall enough to look out the window, you can see all the way to the library.

Justin's turn!

I am sitting at the top of the stairs leading to the loft. This is probably the only time I'll ever see the sky looking up from the stairs.

You can see the house now with walls and they are framing the roof getting ready for the decking. The decking is the boards they put on top of the roof.

Here are the steps I was sitting on earlier, leading up to the loft. We like the "landing" area
before the bottom step.

This picture was taken of the bedroom in the loft (nice view out the window!) You can see Donnie working on the zip board. We learned that zip board is really strong board put on the side of the house meant to withstand 100 mile per hour winds. We are learning a lot during this process. It's really cool!

This is the east side view of our house. Those little slats on the roof are where Donnie was standing to put up the decking on the roof. Yikes! You can also see the dormer on this side of the house.

The west side of the house with no decking on the roof.

This is called a pony wall, an extra space for storage in our loft area. It will have a little baby door. It will also be a good hiding spot for kids.

Again, the west side of the house but with decking. It really looks like a house now!

The plan for next week: our roof, plumbing, and Justin will be pre-washing the windows that will go in our house. Soon our house will be completely enclosed!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Showers of Halloween Anniversaries in a House

I wanted to post some Halloween pictures, but those somehow got deleted from my camera before I had a chance to post them. They are on my other computer (that's not hooked up to the internet). We had a fun Halloween. Justin, Amy, Vu, Brian and Jenny all met up at Common Grounds for some yummy food and hot chocolate. There were some scantily dressed people there and some very *fun* costumes. Justin and I were pirates and Jenny was a cute lil' polar bear. Amy and Vu dressed as a Medieval knight and princess. Brian's band performed a Tom Petty cover show all dressed as Tom Petty. My parents came to watch and we all enjoyed a very in depth makeout session right in front of our table. I mean really "going at it".

We had a great weekend with Carrie and Josh being here. I hope Carrie is less stressed about her wedding than when she came. It was great to get everyone together, and I'm really happy that we had such a fun shower. After the shower some of us went to stand on top of our newly built 1st floor. Here are some pictures to prove it.

Here's our garage/basement getting framed.

Here's our deck getting built on our 1st floor.

Here's our 1st floor getting placed.

Here I am standing on our 1st floor.

Here is our first floor starting to get framed. You can see the stoop off the back, that will have stairs coming down from it eventually.

Here are the stairs leading up to the 1st floor from the garage/basement.

We also celebrated our 2 year anniversary last week (Nov. 5). We picked up a decadent ice cream cake from Coldstone. Delicious! We also went out to Mary Maestries for an elegant meal the weekend before. At least it would have been elegant, had the Razorback game not just dismissed and all the people flooded the restaurant drunk and loud and excited about the win. Otherwise, it was very romantic! To further celebrate our anniversary, we are going to see on of our favorites, Jeremy Enigk, in concert in Lawrence, KS the day before Thanksgiving. I am very excited about it, and we might get to sneak in some KC shopping as well. Can't wait!

Before going on our romantic evening out:

I hope everyone is have a wonderful week so far. Tonight is such a dreary, cold Monday evening.

Mi Casa Bonita

Pictures, pictures, pictures! Our house in progress:






In front of our lot


































The first dig

I know it just looks like a bunch of dirt, but that's where our house is going to be.


































Walls!


































I'm sure they're whistling while they worked.

The concrete basement walls

Justin is very handy and decided to make a model of what our house will look like once finished. Here it is:


Well, that's the much anticipated picture update of our house coming along. Things are going pretty well right now. School has been keeping busy but my class is doing fine. They can get a little chaotic at times but really sweet kids.

Last weekend Justin and I took a mini-getaway to Branson. Much needed. We stayed in a cute little hotel called The Savannah House and I think we were the only ones there under 65 but it was so much fun. We played 3 rounds of mini-golf, went shopping, and ate out at some fun places. If anyone ever wants to know what the best mini-golf course in Branson is, Justin and I would agree it's Pirate's Cove. If you haven't been to the Branson Landing, I was really impressed. Of course, I hadn't been to Branson in many a moon.

Have a great weekend!

Free Plates and Flaming Queso

So..three weeks under my belt. My class has grown in size since I last posted as I had expected. I feel like I can just never quite get everthing done in my classroom. Eventually, I'm sure I will get my groove and feel a little more on top of everthing but for now it's kind of hectic. I have a hard time figuring out how to balance my personal life and still be a good, organized teacher. The last three weeks, I have been coming home completely exhausted. How do you guys do it when you have kids?? Seriously!!??!!

Some exciting news...I think Justin and I have decided to build. We have been searching for the right house since last February but we just haven't fell in love with any of them that are in our price range. We have the opportunity to purchase a brand new house and it really seems like the best step for us. We really like the neighborhood that it's being built in. Yes, it is rather not the best area in Siloam Springs (I call it Little Mexico) but super great location as far as being in walking distance to downtown and a beautiful park and walking trail as well as another playground up the hill. We are so psyched and it will be so much fun to have a some say in our colors and other little decisions about our house. I will be posting pictures of the building process. It looks like they will be breaking ground in the next week or so. If anyone wants to be our neighbors you can buy one of the other 3 houses being built next to us. *Hint, Hint*

Justin's parents were visiting over Labor Day weekend. They are the best in-laws anyone could ask for. I have always heard horror stories about in-laws but I am very blessed. We went antique shopping and Jenny happened to buy the only free things in the store. We found 3 square plates that had little chips on them and the price tag said free. Jenny snatched them up, we are really good at finding bargains. I really don't need any plates, we get 3 sets of dinnerware from our wedding and haven't even opened 2 of the sets. No room. My mother in law is very inventive in the kitchen and after we went out to eat at The Marketplace she figured out how to make our own flaming queso dip. Yum! I will have you guys over to our new house and make it for you.

Have a good weekend, and everyone needs to update their blogs!

'Till the Heavens Burst...and the Word Don't Rhyme

This morning I was listening to the radio on my way to school. I don't particularly like listening to the radio but it's all I have because my c.d. player is broken and my really old version of an ipod decided to die. The song "Always" came on by the ever so classic Bon Jovi. It reminded me of driving around in the car with Carrie, Jenny, and Amy while we made up really cheesy motions to the song. It brought a smile to my face.

So, I survived my first week of school. I have a really sweet class but for some reason 5 of the kids on my list never showed up so that makes it where I have a super small class compared to everyone else. I feel kinda guilty about it but I know I will be getting all the kids that move in. I am crazy tired, my body is not used to my new schedule particularly the part about getting up at 5:30 in the morning. I am not and have never been a morning person.

Thank you for all of the kind words on the last post. Justin was my rock during our time in California. He constantly encouraged me and listened to me cry to him at night. I know it was a learning experience and I know there was a bigger purpose for that job than I realize. Otherwise, we had a great time in California. It was an extreme growing time for Justin and my marriage, we had to learn to depend only on each other because we didn't have family close by. We learned how to find fun things to do that didn't cost much. I remember driving down Sepulveda with our windows down listening to The White Stripes, you can't beat that kind of scurry that you feel in the city. It's a really fun feeling.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Obsession unlike the perfume

Why is it that I have the tendency to focus on (no, obsess) about my failures? And when it comes to my successes, I sweep right over them. I guess when it comes to me, I am not used to failure, so when it happens, I have a really hard time forgiving myself.

When Justin and I lived in California, I worked for The Devil Wears Prada and it was extremely hard on me. It is the only job in my whole life that I feel like I was completely misrepresented and unsucessful. I thought being a nanny would be easy and fun but it turned out to be the opposite, stressful and it put me on an emotional roller coaster. Nothing I ever did was good enough for this family and I went home crying to Justin one too many times. Actually this quote from The Devil Wears Prada sums up exactly how I felt working for that family:

" I don't know what else I can do because if I do something right, it's unacknowledged. She doesn't even say thank you. But if I do something wrong, she is vicious. "

Well, I did something wrong that was the unforgiveable sin and I knew if I didn't quit, I would never hear the end of it and my life would be miserable. Even though I know I did the right thing to quit, I can't help but think about the situation and feel guilty and get down about it. I think it is my obsessive nature to continue to relive and torture myself about these kinds of things.

I dont' know if I'm the only one to do these kinds of things but it is definitely a weakness that the devil has found especially now that I am about to start a new job. The beginning of the year is a nervewracking time for a teacher. I am also very excited and looking forward to teaching again. This will prove to be a very busy week for me. I have been working very hard to get my classroom ready before Thursday night when we will meet our new students and their parents.

I hope everyone enjoyed this beautifully rainy weekend as much as me! This weather is such a nice break in the middle of August!

I'm finally here...

Hello Blogger world. I am happy to say that I have officially started my own blog. I promised Leah I would, now it's xanga resurrected, yay!

Well, I started my first official day back to school as a teacher in the Gravette School District. We had a full day of listening to a speaker and I remembered how boring that can get. You start getting the feeling that you just have to get out of your seat and run around or something. You resort to doodling and thinking of all kinds of "to do" lists you can jot down, and you think of all of the other important things you could be doing at that exact moment if you weren't stuck sitting there. I know I should take that feeling and have a little mercy on my students when they are sitting for too long. Yes, I will do that.

Justin is off practicing with the worship band tonight. He stays really busy playing drums for the church which is wonderful and he loves it. He is so talented and dedicated, I am really happy to see that God is using his talents. When Justin gets home, we have a date to watch Project Runway (or PR as some of us say). Getting back into a regiment really takes a toll on me, so I'm going to have to get my body used to this schedule again. I have to say I love sleeping in a little TOO much for someone my age. Haha!

Love to all!