Welcome Home Admiral!

Admiral made his first trip out to the house since the house got walls. We let him off the leash and he did some exploring. He definitely likes going up the stairs and seems to have mastered the art of going UP but is still pretty awkward going DOWN.

Exterior Photos

I just realized I never posted these "finished" exterior pictures. Okay, so it's not finished yet. The metal roof over the porch will be installed after the painters stain all the cedar and paint the fascia. We are also still waiting on the shutters to be installed. But for the most part... this is it. I still can't get a good picture of the whole front of the house due to the trees, port-a-potty and dumpster. But, I think these are better than anything I've previously posted.

More Trim Work

Here are a few more pictures of the cabinets that are currently being built. I haven't been to the house since last weekend but Ryan's been taking lots of pictures. It is really coming together.

This is the hutch that is being built into the breakfast room. The backing and the doors will have a bead board look.


The master bathroom vanities. My big request here was lots of drawers. I'm pretty happy about this. And, I also have a "drawer plug" installed so that I can leave my hair dryer plugged in but still put it away. VERY EXCITED about this feature.

Closet and vanity for the downstairs bedroom/bathroom.

Cabinet Progress

The first picture is of the wine racks in the wine room. Looks great! I've got a lot of wine buying to do!

The second and third pictures show the base to the Island.

Have I told you how much I love Ryan's Blackberry (because he can send me pictures while he's at the house) and that Blogger has this email posting function? Well, I love both. And, of course I love Ryan for keeping me updated while I sit in my cubicle.

Gone Country in Nashville!

Since we were headed to Nashville for Ross's wedding, we decided to make a weekend out of it. The last time I went to Nashville was sometime in elementary school. Dad was some sort of Officer in the Optimist Club and Nashville was the location of the national convention. I remember that they messed up our reservations and we got a really fancy room for the cheaper rate at the Opryland Hotel. It was pretty cool. The only other thing I remember about that trip was going to Opryland and riding my first roller coaster that went upside down. Well, I think I rode it. I know my brother and dad rode it and I have this memory that I rode it too. Mom?? Dad??? James??? anyone want to verify?

As we planned the trip, I was pretty sad to find out that Opryland doesn't exist anymore. It has been torn down and replaced by a mall I think. So sad.

I had to come up with alternate plans. What do you do in Nashville? We aren't big country music fans so we were a little worried. I was so busy at work the weeks before our trip that I didn't have much time to plan like I normally do. For me, that means stalking Tripadvisor, reading all the reviews on the hotels, restaurants, events, etc. All I did for this trip was to book a hotel with good reviews and a good price and rent a car on Priceline for $20 a day -- full size!!

Okay, I knew a FEW things about Nashville. I knew there were a couple of breweries and that there was a street in downtown that was lined with bars that almost always had live music. So, here are some places we visited....

First... the Big River Brewing Company. We each enjoyed a flight of their beers... 8 samples in all and I drank all 8 of mine, including the darkest, nastiest one. :) Ha, I'm not much a beer drinker. Surprisingly enough (okay, not surprising at all), my favorite was the Sweet Magnolia. I am sure part of it was because of the name but the other part was that it had similiar flavor to my favorites Southern Pecan, Shiner Bock and Amber Bock. Good Food, Good Beer. Good start.

We then hit Broadway to see the "Honky Tonks". Our first two stops were great. We learned that you should go in and see if you like the music before you buy a beer. It took us a couple of places to learn this as we suffered through our beers with some "just okay" music on the stage.

Legends Corner -- Good band though the more the guy drank the worse he got. :(

Tootsies... per recommendation of my friend Barb. The band was really good and the singer really put on a show. It was 3pm on a Friday afternoon and the bar was packed and he was working the crowd...up on the bar... just fun.

On Saturday we decided to try the Country Music Hall of Fame. We walked over, took our picture...

...walked inside and learned it was $20 EACH to go in. We decided against $40 and headed back to Broadway for more honky-tonkin'. :)

The Stage (also recommended by Barb) and Second Fiddle were cool bars but the music was just okay that afternoon. I guess this is really when we learned the "don't buy a beer first" rule.

We made a quick stop into Hatch Show Print. This is where all the cool concert posters and such are made. They still do everything old school style. It was neat to go in and see it.

Sunday afternoon our friends Brad and Rachel met us in Nashville. They live in Knoxville and came for the weekend to see us and some of their other friends that recently moved to Nashville. I somehow convinced everyone to go to Arrington Vineyard for the afternoon. Ryan was giving me a little grief about it but I love wine and didn't want to pass it up. Plus, my mom called to tell me that my cousin (Mom's cousin's son) Tyler worked there. So off we went, about a 30 minute drive from Nashville but well worth it. Good Wine. Awesome Scenery. Just a really cool place.

Tasting with Brad and Rachel.
Cousin Tyler and me. So fun to see family!
Opening the cheese and crackers we bought to go with our wine.
Beautiful view!

Sunday night we hit downtown with Brad and Rachel. We also met up with our friend Emily but I don't have a good picture with her. We hit the dueling piano bar and The Stage for a second time.

The band at The Stage on Sunday was super fun and the singer (Chris Weaver) was pretty darn good.

We headed home on Monday/Memorial Day/Ryan's Birthday. It was a fun weekend of friends, family, music, beer and wine! :)

Planning to bake...

This will be my next baking challenge. Ryan and his brothers are all pretty big cheesecake fans. I think I'll make some for Eric's graduation weekend and hope they survive the plane ride.

Cheesecake Pops

It felt like home

Over Memorial Day weekend, Ryan and I flew to Nashville for my dear friend Ross's wedding.
The wedding was beautiful and the reception was a blast. It was great to have the gang from Murrah back together again. Not much had changed!

As I left the reception tears welled up in my eyes. I exchanged hugs and "I Love You's" with Ross, his parents, Ann and Taylor. Something just hit me about how much I do love those people, how much we had been through together and how hard it was to leave them all again. We don't see each other much since we all live in different cities but when we do, its just like old times. They are my family. The friends I was always myself with, the friends that always made me laugh. Their families opened their homes to me on soooo many occasions (as my family did for them.) And oh, the stories we have shared. I think it just hit me how hard it is to "grow up", to move away from home, to leave the people who lived through the events of my life that made me ... me. Its part of life... we move away, we get jobs, we get married... but man, do I miss you guys. Ah... I'm crying again.

Back to the wedding... Here are the few pictures I did take. As I said, it was a beautiful wedding. The food was great. The cake was awesome and the band played all night.


Ryan and Ann at the Kids Table. He really fit in that chair! :)
Ross playing a couple of songs (with his band, Telephant)
Congratulations Ross and Mandy!