Kristie & Jeff's Blog

They Call it Longs for a Reason

2011-08-04T15:39:00.010-04:00

Weeks before we left on vacation to Estes Park, I had spent hours upon hours of researching one of the most famous 14'ers, Longs Peak. At 14,255 feet, this 14 mile round trip hike draws hikers from near and far. Most of the articles or blogs I found mentioned things like "high degree of exposure" and "not for those who fear heights".

I had it in my head that I was going to do it, or at least attempt it. That is until we took Macy on a 6.6 mile round trip to Estes Cone. After finishing that 5 hour hike with a 20lb baby on my back, I was telling myself that Longs Peak was probably not in the cards this year. But the thoughts of tackling this peak flooded my head for the next day until I finally made up my mind.

I was doing it. If I didn't do it now, I would surely have to come back and do it some other time. So why wait?

I set my alarm for 12:30 a.m. and after what was probably only two good hours of sleep, I woke and ate some oatmeal and finished packing up before giving Kristie a kiss goodbye and heading out to the Longs Peak Ranger Station which was about nine miles south of Estes Park on Route 7. I was the only one on the road at that time of night. Not even a wild animal made an appearance.

I arrived at the trailhead parking lot at about 1:45 a.m. They suggest leaving for this hike between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m. so you can be off the summit before noon which is when thunderstorms tend to roll in quickly. My plan was to join up with another group of hikers so I wouldn't have to make the trek alone. I grabbed my Camelbak, which had about 132 oz of water, four protein bars, four pouches of trail mix and two energy gels. I also had a drawstring vinyl bag filled with a jacket, a water filtration pump system and a banana - turns out that banana should not have been in there - more on this later. About five minutes into the hike, I caught up to a group of four hikers (two guys - John and Ilia, two girls - Laura and Miranda) that were stopped on the trail. I took a quick breather and then asked if they minded if I joined them. "Sure, if you don't mind hiking with some flatlanders," said the shortest female hiker. Turns out, most of them were from Chicago, with one of them living in Cuyahoga Falls area. What were the chances?

It was good to have company on the trail. We took a lot of breaks, mostly to catch our breath or to add or remove layers. It was surprisingly warm to start the hike - in the low 60's. But as we climbed, the air got thinner and cooler. During one of our breaks, I shined my flashlight out to the horizon and in doing so, discovered that there were 20 to 30 elk in the field right next to us, with one about 20 feet away!

Laura was having some problems with the elevation and was belching about every minute. It was really funny. She was quite embarrased by it, but I told her that it would make for great blog material! Our conversation helped the first four hours breeze by and before we knew it, the sun was rising over the horizon and we no longer needed our flashlights. We were quickly approaching the first difficult obstacle of the final approach: The Boulder Field.

Miranda doing a handstand in the Boulder Field.

The Boulder Field is just that, a HUGE enormous field of boulders. It looks like a giant explosion happened and threw these enormous rocks everywhere. It's tedious hiking as you need to watch every step carefully. A rolled ankle at this point could end your day. After what seemed like an hour of boulder hopping, we finally reached the Keyhole. This is the most recognizable feature of the Longs Peak hike and you can just make it out in the photo above.

Once you cross through the Keyhole, everything changes. Before I even got up to the Keyhole to catch a glimpse of the rest of our journey, I heard other hikers gasping and discussing whether they were going to continue. As soon as I crossed through the Keyhole, the temperature dropped and the wind picked up. I decided that I needed to sit down and put on my jacket before I made my decision on whether to press on or end the hike here. After standing up and getting a good look at the next stage of the hike "The Ledges" I realized this is something I could do. My group was eager to tackle "The Ledges" and actually pressed on a couple hundred feet in front of me. I found myself standing with a few other hikers at this point - two guys in their early 40's - Dave and Ed. They were having some second thoughts about the treacherous road ahead and I convinced them to come along with me. During the next 10-15 minutes, we saw about a half dozen people turn around because they got pretty rattled and decided it was not for them.

The Ledges is a section that hugs the side of the mountain, typically giving you six to eight feet of rocky path and then a significant dropoff on the other side. At some points, there is only about four feet to work with, but at no time did I feel like one wrong move spelled the end. I've been there before with Angel's Landing and I did not feel nearly as intimidated. There are red and yellow bulleyes painted on the rock that give you a general direction to point yourself as you negotiate the rocky terrain. After working through The Ledges for a good 20-30 minutes, we reached the next phase of the hike: The Trough.

I didn't get any photographs, which probably tells a good story of how much I was focusing on my footwork and eliminating distractions. I included a photo I found online above. The Trough is a long steep climb up a narrowing section. I stress the word "Long" because it takes forever. If the exposure and heights don't get to you, surely the physical toll of climbing this never ending rocky steep incline will. To make matters worse, there are a lot of very loose smaller stones the entire way up which makes each step a gamble. If you do happen to knock a smaller rock down the incline, the proper ettiquette is to yell "Rock!" so that those below you can either brace for impact or try to avoid the incoming trajectory. I probably yelled "Rock!" a half dozen times in this section. At some point, I passed my original group of John, Laura and Miranda (Ilia decided the pace was too slow and pressed on earlier in the morning). After what seemed to be an eternity, we reached the top of The Trough.

The next section was called "The Narrows" and if "The Ledges" were not intimidating enough for you, then this surely would take care of that! The Narrows was very similar to The Ledges, just , well, narrower and shorter. And since we were much higher up now, close to the summit, the drop offs looked even more menacing. At this point, I had come up behind two hikers from Japan. One of them appeared to be in his 40's or 50's while the other one looked a little older. They didn't speak english very well, but I tried to give them universal signs of encouragement like thumbs up and big smiles to let them know they were doing just fine. Once past "The Narrows," I turned the corner to see the final obstacle: The Home Stretch.

The picture above is from more than halfway up The Home Stretch. Don't let it deceive you as it kind of looks like the whole thing is only 10 feet tall. Click on the picture and look at those little people way up there. It's steep and insane. It also felt very long and never ending and honestly, there were times I would look up and think that I might not be able to do it. It had been nearly two hours since we went through the Keyhole and I felt exhausted and finally the altitude was starting to get to me. But sure enough, we pressed forward and by about 10:00 a.m. - eight hours after starting from the trailhead parking lot, we made it to the summit!

Below is a picture of Dave and I on the actual highest point of the summit.

And here is a picture with one of the Japanese hikers I mentioned before. It turns out, he was 72 years old!

Below is a picture of my original group - from Left to Right: Laura, Miranda and John.

And one final shot of me before heading down.

As I mentioned before, the altitude was finally getting to me. I had a slight headache and food did not sound good to me, although I did eat a protein bar at the top just to make sure I replaced some of the many calories that were burned off on the hard climb up.

Dave, Ed and their other friend, John-Michael also wanted to head down, so we began the descent. Going down The Home Stretch is actually a lot more difficult than going up. Most of the time, I found myself sliding down on my butt to the next foothold. As Ed cleverly stated "The South Face of my pants were struggling." I wasn't sure if my new North Face hiking pants were going to survive the hike down with all of the butt-sliding I was doing, but at this point, I just wanted to get down safely. If they were a one-and-done purchase, so be it.

Ed and I led the way down and at one point, I ran out of water so Ed let me have some of his. I learned the hard way that I packed too much food and not enough water. It took about the same amount of time to get back to the Keyhole as it took to get up to the summit from the same point. Mostly because every step needed to be placed with extra caution. A lazy move at this point in the game could mean a serious fall.

After going through the Keyhole, I was getting desperate for water. Ed's supply had run dry too so I knew I had to find a water source that I could pump from. I zeroed in on a big patch of melting snow to the left of the Boulder Field and followed what would likely be the path the melting snow would take down through the Boulder Field. I could hear the water running underneath me, but could not see it quite yet due to the mulitple layers of boulders beneath me. After chasing it for about 20 minutes, I found a nice water hole that had a pretty good stream of water coming through. I summoned a nearby camper to help me and within about 5 minutes, I filled my Camelbak hydration pack as well as a 16 oz bottle of water.

I caught up to Ed and gave him the bottle of water, although by this time, they found another friend of theirs who had Gatorade left. I insisted he take the bottle of water as a repayment of what I had borrowed. He accepted but I think he was a little uncertain about the filter I was using and rightfully so as Giardia can be a nasty, nasty thing to pick up from a water source. Just to assure him and me for that matter, I pulled out the little instruction book and it stated that the Katadyn Hiker filter was 99.9% effective at eliminating bacteria and 99.99999% effective at removing protozoa. I liked my chances so I drank away and man did it taste amazing. Maybe it was because I had gone the last 45 minutes of a strenuous hike without water, but it seriously tasted so pure with no aftertaste.

At this point, I realized it was getting close to 1:30 p.m. and I wanted to get back to Kristie and Macy by 4:00 p.m. if possible so we could do dinner that night. I said my goodbyes to Dave, Ed and John-Michael and took off down the path.

I flew down very quickly. In fact, the section that had taken us four hours early that morning only took me about two on the way down. By 3:45 p.m., I was cruising into the Ranger Station with a huge sense of accomplishment.

14 hours, 14 miles and 4855 vertical feet (9710 if you count up and down) later...I did it! I hiked my first 14'er!

So about that banana in my vinyl bag. I forgot about it and it got smashed up and all brown from getting banged into the rocks. It ripped open and I had brown mushy banana all over my jacket and inside the bag. Gross.

Looking back, this was by far the most physically challenging thing I have ever done and I am so glad I attempted it and never gave up. If anyone reading this is thinking about doing it, I highly recommend it.

P.S. - John, Ilia, Laura and Miranda - if you are reading this - I never got to say goodbye. Thank you very much for allowing me to join your group. It was a pleasure hiking and sharing an awesome experience with you.

P.P.S. - Make sure to click on all the photos to see an enlarged version to really get the sense of how high this peak was!

Checking in as Macy Grows...

2011-06-01T22:16:00.000-04:00

It's been a few months since we blogged, so we thought we'd provide a few videos and pictures to show how Macy is doing. She looks quite a bit different now with big chubby cheeks, big beautiful eyes and very long eyelashes.

She must have confused the swing with a crazy carinval ride and decided she better hold on for dear life!

Macy ate her first solid food last week. She's tried avocado, banana and sweet potatoes. She is a fan of bananas, but not so much the other stuff.

I also discovered that Macy loves when I smother her in kisses.

The Great Flying Macy

2011-03-19T22:56:00.004-04:00

We are really enjoying life with Macy. She is a very sweet baby and keeps us busy and entertained. A few weeks ago she started smiling and also laughing. Seeing that just makes my day. I've been back to work for 3 weeks now and that is going pretty well. It's definitely busy but we are keeping on a routine and that definitely helps. Macy is sleeping between 4-6 hours when I first put her to bed and then gets up maybe one other time before I get up to feed her before I get ready for work. I feed her right before I leave for work and then Jeff is responsible for taking her to daycare. We are pretty happy with her daycare and Macy seems to have settled in. She isn't napping as well as I would like her to there but I think she is still getting used to it. She is the smallest baby there and all the kids are excited to see her. A week ago I took this video of her.

Things with Macy are great. She is getting baptized with her 2nd cousin, Cora, on April 10 in Stone Creek. We are looking forward to seeing family and it will be Macy's first trip to Stone Creek!

Macy is Here!

2010-12-08T22:14:00.001-05:00

Our family just got a little bigger. Here is the full story on how Macy Doll Lillibridge entered our world.

In week 37, Kristie's belly was pretty big...along with her swollen feet and ankles. In fact, the week prior, her doctor thought she could be developing Preeclampsia which would have resulted in Kristie being induced on Wednesday, November 24th. Her follow-up appointment that Monday showed no signs of Preeclampsia, so we had the green light to continue on and let nature take its course. We were both hoping Kristie would be a little early, but Dr. Simmons shurgged that off and said "First time babies are almost never early."

On Thanksgiving, we always go over to my parents house in Painesville where we enjoy a great Thanksgiving meal with about 20+ of our relatives. They all marveled at the size of Kristie's belly and a few of my cousins got to feel the baby kick. We left that night around 8:00 p.m. and got home a little after 9:00 p.m. I gave Kristie a foot rub to help work some of the fluid out to get rid of the swelling and we went to bed around 11:30 p.m. that night.

At about 2:15 a.m. that night, Kristie got up to go to the bathroom and that's when it happened. Her water broke. She woke me up and we called the doctor who told us to come in to the hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 3:45 a.m. and while Kristie was sitting down at the Emergency Room front desk, her water continued to come out...making it look like she peed her sweatpants. The security guard who was sitting in that chair before Kristie wasn't too interested in returning to his chair after that. :)

We got into the maternity ward pretty soon after that and they hooked Kristie up to a bunch of monitors. The nurse asked Kristie "Are you feeling that?" to which Kristie responded "Feeling what?" "You are having a contraction right now," the nurse said "And as the mother of four children, I am very jealous." So it appeared Kristie had a super human tolerance to pain! This was great. For all I knew the baby could slide out any minute and it would all be over with! Well...not so fast I guess. By about 8:00 a.m., things changed...

She seemed to get hung up on 6cm dialated for a while, so the nurse got Kristie out of bed and let her go through a few contractions standing up leaning over the hospital bed. That seemed to work great as she jumped to 9cm within about 30 minutes. At this point, I could see Kristie was in some serious pain as she hadn't received any medication yet. I asked Kristie if she wanted anything and she said she would like something...maybe an epidural. I asked the doctor for something for her, but he explained it was too late that point and she would have to continue without any drugs.

After two hours of pushing during each contraction, Macy finally arrived at 12:07 p.m. on Friday, November 26th. She was 7 lbs 11oz and was 20.5 inches long.

How did we come up with Macy Doll you ask? Well, behind every name there is a story and here is how we came up with that one. For months, we really couldn't agree on a name. I liked Lilly and Kristie liked Reece. One night, I was browsing through baby names on a Baby Name app on my Droid and the name Macy came up. I thought to myself that it was pretty unique and cute for a girl and I chatted Kristie one day at work and after thinking about it for a while, Kristie said she liked it. So, we put it on our short list. Kristie's Mom's maiden name was Doll, so we incorporated that as her middle name. So there you have it, Macy Doll Lillibridge.

Enjoy the pics!

Conquering Half Dome

2010-09-23T21:08:00.001-04:00

I was lucky enough to return to Yosemite National Park this past weekend. I was scheduled to go out to Sports Marketing 2.0 in San Francisco so I figured I would try and fit in one last weekend in one of the most beautiful places on Earth.

While Kristie and I were there back in July, the one hike I didn't get to try out was Half Dome. Half Dome is one of the most recognized peaks in Yosemite because it looks like a dome that literally got split down the middle. It rises 4,800 feet from the valley floor and the hike is about 17 miles round trip. The last 400 feet of the hike include a 45 degree slope up a granite wall with steel cables to help pull yourself up.

I am not a huge fan of heights, so I knew it would be a challenge. I did some research before hand and I decided the best thing to do would be to buy a climbing harness and some sewn runners and clip onto the cables with a carrabiner clip. That way, if I fell, the worst that could happen would be a few bruises and scrapes.

Keith, my old college roommate tagged along on the trip. We stayed in Curry Village and ended up waking up at 4:00 a.m. We checked out at the front desk and we were on the trailhead by 5:30 a.m. It was still very dark outside so we used a flash light for the first hour.

People were very friendly on the trail. Especially on the cables. I think with the traffic jam and it taking about 45 minutes to get up, it really made people band together even more than usual.

It took me about 11 hours and 30 minutes round trip and it was so worth doing. I thought I would be nervous and have a hard time, but once I got on the cables, it was really easy. Below is a video that chronicles the whole journey. P.S. - My creepy whispering in the beginning is because we were in canvas tents and at 4:00 a.m., I didn't want to wake up my neighbors. You could hear someone drop a pin 50 yards away which made sleeping pretty difficult!

Basement update

2010-09-19T14:09:00.007-04:00

We have been remodeling/renovating to get ready for the baby. We added a closet to the old office upstairs which will become the nursery and have painted that green. We also moved the gym from the one corner of the basement and are almost done with the new office. It looks terrific. Dave and Jeff started working Sept 1 and we are almost done! The only things that are left are putting up the trim and baseboard and a few other small touch-ups. I can't believe how quickly it all came together. This will be the nursery - paint is done, now we just need some furniture!

Here are some pics of the basement from the beginning to where we are now. This is the corner of the basement with the sump pump where we put in some closets.

This is that same wall, the door on the right is where the sump pump is. The 3rd picture is taken from a different angle and was taken after the floors and ceiling were put in. We have two closets with pocket doors to the left of the sump pump door. I finished up painting the baseboards and french doors today and Dave will probably be back this week to put the trim and baseboard up. I just can't believe how great everything looks.

Other than the remodel, we're doing well. I am at 28 1/2 weeks and feel good. My feet started to swell this week so I have been putting those up when I get a chance. The rest of today will be filled with laundry and some cleaning up of the basement from the dust that was created from our basement project. I'll be glad once we get everything put back in it's place. Jeff is hiking in Yosemite. He went out on Friday with Keith and has a conference for work on Tuesday. They are staying in Curry Village in a tent cabin. I don't think I would like to do that at this point in my pregnancy.

What's In a Name?

2010-08-31T20:50:00.000-04:00

On the baby name front, this pretty much sums it up.

Our California Vacation

2010-08-07T14:30:00.019-04:00

We just got back from vacation on Wednesday night and it was a blast. We flew out to Oakland, CA on Tuesday, July 27th. I always seem to attract the strangest people on flights, and this one wasn't any different. A woman who owned a bar in Oakland started talking to me about everything from her ill mother to how she and her boyfriend liked to go to Yosemite in the late 80's with a cooler of beer and sandwiches....totally naked of course. A little too much information for the first conversation, but I could tell she was really having a hard time dealing her recent visit to see her mother who isn't doing so good, so I tried to listen and be a good seat neighbor.

Our first stop when we landed was the rental counter at Budget. I could tell the guy who was helping me was still in training, so his manager was trying to assist, but the bottom line is they didn't have a compact car. I felt like busting out a line from Seinfeld.

They offered some upgrade options of a convertible or a sports car for about $200 more, but I respectfully declined. After waiting a few more minutes, they went ahead and upgraded us for free to a better vehicle...

A brand new 2011 Red Chevy Camaro!

We packed up our shiny new sports car, which barely fit our luggage, and headed to our first destination: Yosemite National Park. We arrived at about 5:00 p.m. on Tuesday and got situated in our tent cabin in Curry Village.

Our tent cabin in Curry Village at Yosemite National Park.

Now it might not look like the ideal accomodations for a vacation (or for a woman who is 21 weeks pregnant), but it was actually an awesome experience. Our tent cabin had two twin beds, a light bulb, a shelf and safe inside. Outside there was a bear locker that was for any food or toiletries. We lucked out and got tent cabin #1 which was located about 50 feet away from the bathroom and a few hundred feet away from the lounge, the dining options and the public showers. I found some good advice online before we left about bringing some ear plugs to help with the noise (there are 300+ tent cabins in the area and canvas walls don't block the noise) and a light bulb socket to outlet adaptor to help charge our cameras and cell phones. The best part is that Curry Village is right in the middle of Yosemite Valley and close to all the different destinations and hikes. We were able to hop on the park shuttle and go to our stop within about 10-15 minutes each time.

We woke up bright and early on Wednesday morning ready for our first hike. I wanted to get the longest hike out of the way first, so we tackled the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. Round trip distance of this hike was 7.6 miles and a total climb of 2,600 feet, or the equivalent of climbing over two Empire State Buildings. We started around 9:00 a.m. up the mountain.

Approximately half way up the trail, with Half Dome in the background.

We took it nice and slow with many breaks along the way to catch our breath, to eat a quick snack or to just simply take in the views. We did run into several other hikers along the way. There was one family with three kids that we caught up with several times. We'd chat with the parents along the way during some of our breaks and were suprised to discover the mother of the family was originally from the Canton, OH area. We also witnessed an angry hiker that was yelling at his socks for not going on quite right. All walks of life on the trail at Yosemite!

After four hours or so of climbing the steep switchbacks and battling the sun which was creating a pretty hot hike for us, we finally reached the top.

There were a couple of guys that were jumping into the river just above where the falls started. It is definitely not the smartest thing to do as that is how most people die in Yosemite.

We spent some time resting at the top and soaking our feet in the cool rushing water before we headed back down, which was much quicker. We ended up getting back down around 5:00 p.m. and headed back to Curry Village to share a pizza and some ice cream before calling it a night.

The next day we tackled the Mist Trail heading up to the top of Vernal Falls. This was a much shorter hike than the Upper Yosemite Falls hike at a total of 3 miles with a total elevation change of 1,000 feet. There were a lot more hikers on this trail as it was a little more tourist friendly (shorter hike, occasional paved pathway and restrooms).

We actually saw a rainbow along the way. No, not a double rainbow, although we were hoping for one.

On Friday, we took the bus up to Glacier Point which offers amazing views of the Yosemite Valley.

We only purchased the one-way ticket up to Glacier point and decided to hike the Four Mile Trail back down to the valley. The Four Mile Trail is actually 4.7 miles, but it was exactly four miles back when John Conway constructed it in 1872. It's since been extended to take out some of the steeper sections. There were great views of Yosemite Falls and El Capitan along the way.

It took us a little over three hours to get down to Yosemite Valley. We made a quick stop over to the Lower Yosemite Falls area to snap a few photos and then went back to our tent cabin to get showers before heading to dinner at The Ahwahnee Dining Room.

The Ahwahnee Dining Room offered fine dining and it was a nice change from the pizza, sandwiches, trail mix and protein bars we were eating over the past three days. Kristie got a steak filet and I got the Arctic Char.

We got up early Saturday morning, checked out of Curry Village and were very happy to discover that the bears had left our Camaro alone during our four night stay (apparently if a bear decides to rip your door off and check out the inside of your vehicle, insurance does not cover it because it is an "Act of God."). We drove over to Sequoia National Park for a few hours to check out the giant Sequoia trees. General Sherman (pictured below) is the largest non-clonal tree in the world.

From there, we headed to our friends' house in Exeter, CA. Jason and Torey were married a little over a year ago and they just welcomed their son Otis into the world on July 4th, 2010.

Jason's parents, Rob and Gwen, and Torey's father, Reed were at their house when we arrived. We spent some time in their awesome backyard pool with everyone, including their dog Brutus. Then, we went to dinner with Jason and Torey and Jason's parents. We had a great time and it was nice to see some friends during our trip.

The next morning, we headed for our next destination: Avila Beach. Avila Beach is located near San Luis Obispo, about halfway along the the Central California Coast between San Francisco and Los Angeles. We stayed at the Avila La Fonda Hotel. It was a great hotel offering many nice amenities such as a complimentary snack basket, free use of beach towels and chairs, free laundry, free wifi, a chocolate pantry and other fun daytime snacks, etc. It was a nice way to pamper a pregnant wife after roughing it a bit at Yosemite.

The beach was really nice, but a bit cool with the temperature hovering in the mid 60's to low 70's.

After a few nights in Avila Beach, we headed back up towards Oakland on Tuesday, August 3rd. We stopped in Monterey for lunch and had a visitor outside the window.

We decided to spend our last night in San Francisco before heading over to our hotel room near the Oakland Airport. First, we checked out Golden Gate State Park and walked around a bit. It was COLD in San Franciso, approximately in the low to mid 50's. It felt like the fall was upon us and we were looking forward to coming back home where the weather would surely be warmer.

We went down to Fisherman's Wharf and got Ghiradelli Sundaes which, at $8.50 a piece, are worth every penny. We took a final picture of Kristie near a cable car and then headed to our hotel in Oakland, which was kind of shady. Shady enough that I returned our rental car the night before our flight, fearing that we might wake up to our vehicle being on cement blocks and missing its wheels.

Overall, a GREAT vacation! If anyone has not been to Yosemite National Park, I highly suggest you go and make sure to give youself at least three days and stay inside the park in the valley. It is truly the most beautiful place on earth.

20 Week Update!

2010-07-23T00:15:00.004-04:00

Just yesterday, Kristie reached the 20 week mark. She's starting to feel the baby move so it's becoming very real now!

This past weekend, Kristie's Dad came up to visit for a few nights. We took care of a small project around the house...which I always seem to rope Chuck into :) ... and then we went to dinner at Arrabiata's in Bay Village. After dinner we headed over to Avon to catch the Lake Erie Crushers game that night. We had first row seats on the first base side and it was a great night for a ballgame.

The garden is coming along nicely despite noticing we had a security breach as a rabbit somehow made its way through our fence. We've picked about 10 cucumbers so far as well as some lettuce and cilantro. Both the corn and broccoli is just about ready. And once the tomatos start, we are going to have hundreds, if not thousands.

And finally....the news you've all been waiting for! Kristie had her second ultrasound tonight and they were able to analyze much more this time. They gave us a slightly updated due date of December 7th. We also decided to find out the sex of the baby despite having some last minute thoughts about changing our minds. We found it we are having a baby girl! We are both thrilled!
We will check back with another blog in a few weeks.

Summer is flying by

2010-07-17T14:37:00.003-04:00

So we let everyone know that we are pregnant but I don't think it has really sunk in for me as much as I would have expected at this point. I am 19 1/2 weeks along and we went to the Dr last Thursday morning. She said I'm on track with my weight (up about 4 pounds) and we got to hear the heartbeat again. We go in Thursday the 22nd to hopefully find out the sex of the baby. Jeff is in a race against time to get the living room in order and then we need to get the nursery in order. Keith came over and they moved all the living room furniture to the basement. We have that set up now as a family room or den. It's nice down there and very cool in this heat.

He started painting the living room on Thursday and we will be working on it some more tomorrow. My dad is here this weekend. The two of us went out to El Rodeo last night for dinner. Jeff went to the Indians game with some Cavs folks. Today we hit Costco and Pettiti's. Tonight is dinner and then to the Avon Crushers game. We went a few weeks ago to one of these games with our neighbors Ed and Jenise and had a great time. $9 tickets and we were practically in the bullpen.

It's about 93 degrees today. There is a slight breeze which is helping matters but still very warm and muggy.

I may sneak in a quick nap before we head out to dinner tonight. I'll try to keep things better posted on here and hopefully some pictures soon.

Big News!

2010-06-29T12:29:00.004-04:00

It's definitely been a while since we've blogged, so this little tidbit of news should be a great way to jump back in...

Kristie is pregnant!

Let me take you back to the beginning of the story. We've been trying since last fall and we were starting to doubt whether or not it was going to happen or if we were going to need some help. We planned a last minute trip to Niagra on the Lake on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate our 10 year anniversary. Niagra on the Lake has many wineries and just to be on the safe side, Kristie took a pregnancy test and sure enough, it was positive! No wine tasting for Kristie that weekend, but the excitement of this news made up for that many times over.

We were able to get in to see the doctor on Tuesday, June 15th. The doctor asked us how far along we thought she was. We were not quite sure and guessed 4-6 weeks. She started pushing on Kristie's belly and said either there are twins in there or she's further along than we thought. Then she got the Doppler thingy out and was able to hear the heartbeat. This led her to believe that she was 10-12 weeks along which would put the due date as December 27th. With that still as an unknown, she had us schedule an ultrasound appointment for Monday, June 21st.

At this point we were dying to tell our families and our friends, but wanted to hold off until we were sure of the dates, etc. At the ultrasound appointment, the technician called me back once she was ready. I was so surprised to see the baby on the screen moving around, with an occassional hand visible. She told us at that point, she believed Kristie was about 16 weeks along and her due date was December 8th. The baby at this point is 4 ounces, but it was just a few weeks too early to determine the sex.

We could hardly believe our ears! Kristie was all the way through the first trimester and had no symptoms whatsoever! The last few weeks have been a whirlwind of telling our families and friends and starting to plan for this new addition to our family.

We'll be sure to update the blog along the way!

My Nephew, The Dancer

2009-06-19T20:23:00.006-04:00

My little nephew Benjamin Scott can really bust a move...check him out at a wedding we went to last weekend.

My Cousin Is Famous!

2009-06-18T12:09:00.002-04:00

My cousin Stephanie Durant won the "Love at First Sniff" contest sponsored by Gain and she got to take the stage with Mandy Moore at a private concert in Chicago. Check out the video below!

Lots of Shoveling!

2009-05-17T21:51:00.011-04:00

Kristie and I have been talking about putting in a garden for a long time and with the Cavaliers still waiting for their next opponent, I was lucky enough to have this weekend off. So...we ordered up 5 yards of top soil and 5 yards of mulch and it was delivered on Saturday.

Okay...two things. 5 yards of top soil is a LOT of top soil. And 5 yards of mulch is a LOT of mulch. 1 yard of mulch too many, but we found places to put it eventually...plus we put it on a little thicker than normal. We actually used some of the leftover topsoil to build up some of the flower beds in the backyard and we added a River Birch tree and a few other plants.

Once we finished the garden, we added some deer fencing around it to protect our crops and then planted all of our seeds. Hopefully, in a few weeks we will see onions, peppers, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cantaloupe and more sprouting up. We also have a bunch of tomato plants that have come back from last year.

We are glad we are finished so we can give our feet and backs a nice break! Pictures below.

Time flies

2009-03-15T21:38:00.002-04:00

I can't believe it's been so long since we posted anything. Maybe a blog isn't really for us... :)

I have been swamped between work and school. I had my midterm for my Operations class on Saturday and I am sure that I did poorly on it. Oh well, at least there are other items that I will be graded on for that class. I had a group project in there already and that is turning out great - too bad it's not worth more points. I have a big paper due in my Negotiations class the end of April. I know what I will write on but now I just have to do it. I'll be done with classes April 25. I'll have all of May off before I start my summer class. I feel like I am just going through the motions now. I just want to be done with my degree as soon as possible. Don't get me wrong, I am getting a lot of out these classes but I feel like it's been going on forever. In about a year, I'll just about be done. And I cannot wait for that.

Jeff is keeping very busy also. The Cavs are doing so well this year (again) so that takes a lot of his time. He is also really good about helping with everything around here. He makes our lunches for us usually each Sunday for the week. That is so helpful.

I survived my 33rd birthday this week. Doesn't seem possible and I don't feel it. Well, OK, so I am getting some more gray hairs that I keep having to hide. That makes a little more real. We went to The Melting Pot in Fairview Park for my birthday - it was SO good. If you have never been, I highly recommend it. It is on the expensive side but it's nice for a special occasion.

We went to Jeff's parents house today. They had us over for my birthday which was really nice. Great dinner and lots of fun with our nephews Mikey and Dominic. They are so cute.

Winter time

2009-01-23T11:58:00.003-05:00

We are surviving winter in Northeast Ohio. Over the last few weeks, we have gotten about a foot and a half of snow at our house. Living on the west side of Cleveland, we didn't anticipate getting this much snow, but we are dealing with it. The snow plows are running out of room to put the snow.

Jeff and I are continuing our work out schedule. Usually every other day there is cardio and some weights. Jeff keeps us rotating between arms, back, stomach and legs so that we aren't over-working any one part. I feel much better and my clothes are fitting better, I just haven't seen the scale move much yet. I am going to increase my vegetable consumption, I'm sure that will help. We are eating more fish. OK, I am eating more fish. Jeff has been eating a lot of fish for awhile now. I'm just trying to keep up.

My classes seem to be going well so far. I think I will get some good information out of both of them. I'm sure when the exam for Operations rolls around, I'll be nervous, but that's a given. A lot of the people that I first started in the program with are graduating in May. They have take a few more classes than me so they will be finished sooner. I'm jealous but I know that my time will go by quickly. I've met a lot of really great people in the program so far.

Getting back to reality

2009-01-11T18:59:00.002-05:00

Well, it's clearly been awhile since I have given any updates. The holidays were full of uncertainty as we attempted to celebrate our holiday "firsts" without my Mom. She was sorely missed, most notably at the Christmas eve candlelight service at the church. We survived them as best that we could. My Dad is doing as well as can be expected at this point.

We spent time with all of the family over the holidays. I even got to see Amy, my best friend from high school. She is living in Florida now with her husband and two sons. They came up for a few weeks and Jeff and I went to dinner with them on Jan 3 in New Phila. It was so good to see her.

As for most of you, the new year brings resolutions. For me, it's no different. I have been trying to lose weight for awhile now and have made a vow for 2009. It didn't help that I found out I had high cholesterol in December when I went to the doctor. Now I have a really good reason to lose weight, as if I didn't before. It has actually been great motivation for me. Jeff has been coaching me. We are working out together 3-4 times a week and I have really been watching what I am eating. I'm a sucker for sweets, chocolate, breads, you name it. If its not in the house, I won't eat it. So, as long as I make sure there are other options for me in the house, I won't try to make anything I'm not supposed to be eating. I've lost 2 pounds so far, which doesn't seem like much, but I can tell a difference. Plus we are doing cardio and weights so I am getting stronger and probably gaining some muscle mass.

In addition to getting healthier this year, I am also going to get back to taking classes. I took off the fall term because I just wouldn't have been able to focus on anything. For the spring term, I am taking a Negotiations class as well as Operations Management. Negotiations starts tomorrow night. I think it will be a worthwhile class. I'm not sure what to expect out of Operations. I guess I'll find out soon enough.

I took Jeff to the airport this afternoon. He is flying to Phoenix for some NBA meetings. He gets home early Wednesday morning. I'll be hanging out with the two kitties in the meantime. They are good company to have. Happy New Year!

Vegas, Baby

2008-12-11T22:54:00.007-05:00

Kristie and I spent last week in Las Vegas. Kristie had a Federal Student Aid conference at Bally's / Paris, so I thought I'd tag along for some fun. Kristie went on Monday and I ended up getting there Tuesday night.

Kristie's conference sessions were during the day, which left us the evenings to do dinner and sightseeing. Wednesday night, we took a cab down to Fremont street which is old downtown Las Vegas. For those of you who have not been there, I highly recommend you make the trip down there. There is a canopy over the entire street where they do a video light show each hour on the hour in the evenings. The casinos are older, but the gambling is different than the strip. During the day you might very well find $1.00 Black Jack tables.

The week we went, the National Rodeo Championships just happened to be in town, so there were tons of cowboys on Fremont street. There were a few free country acts performing on the street as well. We saw Lady Antebellum for a song or two.

The ride back from Fremont Street to the Strip was entertaining. We decided to take the double-decker bus (aka "The Deuce") since it was only $2.00 per rider. We were not quite sure how it worked, so when the bus pulled up and its sign read "SSTT" as the destination, we were hesitant to get on. We asked the bus driver where he was headed and he told me he didn't know. I proceeded to ask him this question a few more times, hoping for a better answer, but he kept telling us he didn't know. He did so as he tore our tickets and closed the bus door behind us and started moving. Eventually he led on that he was heading towards the Strip. Just a few moments later, some girls tried to get on the bus...they had hurricanes (Giant alcoholic drinks) and the bus driver wouldn't let them on. The one girl kept asking why not and the bus driver explained that open containers are not allowed on the bus. She then asked "Are you serious?" and then the bus driver replied "Are you serious?" and then the girl asked again..."Are you serious?"to which the bus driver replied "Are you serious?" This went on for a good minute. Kristie and I were bursting with laughter. Finally the bus left, without the drunk girl. A few miles down the road, we overheard the bus driver talking to himself. He was repeating "Are you serious?" over and over. So funny.

The next day we went up to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The view is really amazing up there. Especially when the fountains at Bellagio are going off. There is a HUGE construction project going on just to left of Bellagio.

Later that night, we went to the Treasure Island buffet which was amazing! They had ever type of food you can ask for, plus great desserts. We were super excited to go to see "Le Reve" at the Wynn that night. A friend of mine knows a girl who performs in that show so we were able to get half price tickets. We've never really seen a show before in Vegas. It was unreal. From what I hear, it is similar to Cirque du Soleil. There was a center round stage that was all water. There were probably a total of 40 performers that did amazing acrobatics and dance...the stage came out of the water. It was about 70 minutes long.

Oh...and gambling. We did okay. I lost a bunch at Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, but made some back on Roulette, the Sports Book, and Black Jack. Kristie was hot on the slots so we ended up + $15 on the trip. Can't complain!

Adjusting to Life's Changes

2008-09-09T22:02:00.005-04:00

It's been a while since we blogged. August was a rough month for us.

Kristie's Mom passed away on August 22nd.

She had been in the hospital for 37 days battling pneumonia, breathing problems, and some newly discovered cancer. It was a roller coaster of ups and downs, and just when things were looking up, she took a turn for the worse and things snowballed from there. Judy had beaten cancer twice in her life at this point, and she had put up a courageous fight, but this was a battle that could not be won. She chose to avoid what could have been years and years of suffering and died peacefully with all of her close family with her.

Judy's obituary can be found here: http://obit.linnhertgeib.com/obitdisplay.html?id=572749&listing=Current

The last few weeks have been a time of adjusting to the uncertain days ahead. We appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers.

Beach Ballin'

2008-07-18T16:57:00.005-04:00

So today, I played in the Corolla Light 3-on-3 basketball tournament. Apparently it is a pretty big deal as about 16 teams played. The rules were simple: the first team to score 5 points wins....or whichever team is leading after 5:00 minutes wins. I hadn't planned on playing early in the week, but Jirrell, one of the guys I met earlier in the week, convinced me to play. However, both his friends were still sleeping off a late night of partying, so we had to pick up a few other guys. We picked up Gary and Mike, both of them seemed to be in their 40's. When it was time to come up with our team name, it was simple, we were to be known as "Three Old Guys and One Young Guy."

Our first game went into overtime and we took a quick 2 point lead and hung on for the victory. In our second game, we played a team that had one athletic guy, one fat guy, and one little young guy. We were able to hang on and beat them 3-2.

We were on to the Semifinals! However, this team was stacked. One of their guys was about 6'6" and later I found out he was going to be playing at Virginia Tech this coming season. I was able to sink a jumper, but they ended up beating us 2-1. The problem with the timed-game format is if a team has the lead with a minute to go or so, they just hold onto the ball and prevent the other team from getting a chance to tie it up. However, it was a good run and we were happy with how we played.

Some exclusive video coverage of our game below! I'm the guy in the white shorts and grey shirt.

Checking in From Corolla

2008-07-17T11:04:00.005-04:00

I have not blogged in a few days, so thought I'd provide some bullet points of interesting things that have happened in the last few days.

I took Kristie back up to the Norfolk airport on Tuesday so she could fly back and go to class and take her exam on Thursday.
We stopped at Morris Market on the way to the airport to pick up some peaches. If you ever make your way to the Outer Banks, hitting Morris Market is a must. They have tons of great fresh produce and the peaches are amazing.
Yesterday, I ran about 5.5 miles...logging a lot of miles down here.
There was a "family" volleyball tournament at Corolla Light yesterday, so I went and proclaimed myself a free-agent and joined up with some other guys and formed a team. None of them had played organized volleyball, so I did my best to coach them. We made it out of the first round, but suffered an agonizing 15-13 defeat in Round 2.
A few of the guys I played volleyball mentioned that Wednesday night is European night at the Tomato Patch in Corolla. There are TONS of European exchange students working down here in the summer and apparently they all gather together at the "Tomatio Patch" (as they pronounce it) and get really dressed up and dance very seriously to techno music. Stephanie, Jon, and I went for a few beers and to people watch. It was really fun.
Today, Stephanie and Jon are leaving. They are driving to Raleigh and then flying back to Chicago.
There are a few fun activities planned today at Corolla Light that I'm going to try and participate in. The chipping contest takes place at the pool where there is a floating putting green with velcro. The goal is the chip the whiffle balls lined with velcro to stick to it. Also, there is a horseshoe contest as well. Tomorrow, there is a free-throw contest and a 3-on-3 Bball tourney that I'm probably going to play in.

A Day in Photos and Video

2008-07-14T17:01:00.010-04:00

Today at the beach, we had an unexpected visitor.

We also had to vacate the beach quickly as a storm was moving in fast!

We also saw some kiteboarders at dinner while we were at Miller's restaurant in Nags Head. We were able to capture some video of this guy take off.

We also caught another kiteboarder when he went airborne.

Sunday on the Shore

2008-07-13T22:48:00.006-04:00

We had a fun-filled first full day down here in Corolla. We started off by going out to the beach in the morning. Kristie and I were very excited to get out into the ocean. We took two Boogie boards out into the surf, which was very a little rougher than normal. Waves were breaking a few hundred yards out due to Tropical storm Bertha wreaking havoc a few hundred miles away out in the Atlantic. At first, we saw the waves and were very excited. It appeared it would be good conditions to ride waves a good distance.

We were wrong.

After about 20 minutes of trying to get out far enough to catch some good waves, we realized the current was just too strong. Waves were breaking further out, but some were coming in and breaking right on top of us. We both managed to "wave jump" most of them, but every now and then, one of the waves would be too powerful and take us under. I managed to ride a few waves in. I looked over at Kristie to see how she was doing. Earlier when I looked at her, she had a confident and determined look on her face as she paddled out to the waves. Then, a short while later, that look on her face turned to frustration as she battled the waves and struggled to inch out towards the waves. The last time I looked over at her, the look on her face had changed to desperation. I was not sure if she was going to be able to get back in. She had just been toppled by a giant wave and she was recovering when another one got her. I started swimming her way as she got up, I signaled to her that another was on its way right behind her. She managed to duck under, but I knew when she surfaced, I was going to have to help push her towards the shore.

We both decided that we should save Boogie boarding for another day and went up to our towels and relaxed for a while. Later we went on a walk up and down the beach. There were TONS of people out enjoying the nice, sunny day.

We saw a Chinook helicopter go by, following the shore, most likely from the Norfolk base. We also saw a few engine-powered hang-gliders take off and circle around. After a few hours, we made our way back to the house to swim. I checked out the rec center weight room while Kristie studied Economics while sitting poolside.

Closer to dinner, Stephanie and Jon arrived. I drove over to the beach with them for about an hour and when we came back, we all sat down for a nice dinner. We had London broil, boiled shrimp, salads, potatoes, and corn on the cob. After dinner, we headed over to the natural grass Miniature golf course which is just a short walk up the road. All 8 of us made the trip, dodging the swarms of bugs on the street which sent many of us running. Right when we started golfing, someone saw a fox about 50 feet away. Jon crept up and got a few photos.

Par for this miniature golf course (which had 20 holes) was 80. I had a 60 and Kristie had a 72. We are usually very competitive, so I will definitely hold this over her head for a while!

Tomorrow we are expecting some thunderstorms because of the tropical storm off the coast. Will check in later in the week!

Cruisin' in to Corolla

2008-07-12T19:05:00.011-04:00

We arrived at our beach rental house in Corolla, NC today just before noon! This is the second year we've gone down to the Outer Banks for a summer vacation. My parents and Uncle Dave and Aunt Joyce rented the house and convinced us to come down for the week. Kristie can't stay the whole week because of classes and exams, so she will ship out a little early, taking a flight back from Norfolk on Tuesday. My cousin Stephanie and her husband Jon will be coming down here tomorrow night.

We actually left yesterday afternoon around 3:30 p.m. from Painesville and drove together in my parents' vehicle. It was pretty packed, but we survived. We stayed in Norfolk last night and got up early this morning to make the rest of the trip (about 2 hours) to the Outer Banks. We strategically planned this out since last year, traffic was crazy for my parents during the afternoon and early evening on Saturday because of all the other vacationers making their treks.
We made a stop at the welcome center as we entered the Outer Banks. Had to get a photo with the giant fish.

They let us check into our house on 1083 Hampton at Corolla Light early and boy, is it amazing! It has its own pool, there are 5 bedrooms and this place could basically sleep 19! We've only been here about 8 hours and it feels like we've been here a week already. Since we've been here, I went out and ran a little over 4 miles with my iPod Nike+ adapter, then we went swimming here at the house, played a few games of pool (yes it has a pool table!), went on a walk up to some shops and looked at the Sound, came back and went swimming again and now we are sitting down to eat dinner.

It's really beautiful weather down here, mid-80's and nice breeze coming in from the Atlantic. We'll be sure to check in again later in the week.

The summer is officially here

2008-06-15T21:56:00.003-04:00

OK, so maybe not officially if you are paying attention to the calendar, but with the weather that we have been having, I'm making it official in Avon Lake. The weather has been great lately. Our landscaping looks really nice and Jeff sprayed the plants today to ward off those darn deer. Last year they ate our lillies on July 4 just when they were at their absolute peak... as you can see.

The next day, gone. I refuse to allow that to happen this year.

I worked on some homework today. It's hard to do when the weather is so nice. I'm a quarter of the way done with my econ class already. Next week I have the midterm, not sure if it's a take home or not. I will be meeting up with my friend/classmate this coming weekend to study, either way.

We had some of Jeff's coworkers over last night for a cookout and had perfect weather. We had a fire going and had a nice time with all of them. I don't think the mosquitos were really out, either. Or maybe the fire just kept them away. This afternoon we went for a bike ride to the lake. Work will start to pick up soon, we are getting all of the summer and fall financial aid in order and closing out our fiscal year. Only 6 weeks of econ left and then a vacation to a yet to be determined locale...

Grandma's 80th birthday party

2008-06-02T22:13:00.007-04:00

We went down to Stone Creek this past weekend and helped celebrate Grandma's 80th birthday. We all got together at Red Lobster in New Phila and waited while Jim and Pam brought her to dinner. There were 40 of us there and we had a great time and I think she was surprised. Ben and Katelynn were cute as always. We had fun with them.

The entire family was there including Grandma's siblings and their spouses. I hope I look this good at 80!

Ben told us "My name is Ben, I love Jeff and Kristie, that's how I roll!" Adorable and hilarious.

I start my Economics class tomorrow night for the summer. Hope it goes well and quickly!

Long weekend...

2008-05-26T20:46:00.003-04:00

At the last minute last week, Jeff booked us at the Mountaineer Casino and Resort in West Virginia for a mini vacation and to celebrate our 8th year anniversary, which officially takes place tomorrow, the 27th. He had some extra time off last week because of the Cavs being done and did some extra golfing. I picked him up in Youngstown after work on Friday where he had golfed at the Youngstown Country Club and then we headed to WV. We did a little gambling Friday night (mostly me watching and Jeff playing video blackjack) and we were even steven. There isn't much around there so we ate at the resort both nights. On Saturday, we had breakfast, checked out the Fiesta outlet and golfed 18 holes at the resort's course, which just so happens to be 10 miles from the casino. It was up in the mountains and had some beautiful views, but was a tough course, in my opinion. I did get one par, but overall, had a pretty bad score. Jeff did better than me... which is what usually happens.

We planned to leave early on Sunday to head back but I woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well, so Jeff packed us up and we left before 6 to head back, a little earlier than we had planned. When we checked out in the lobby, there was an older woman (60-70) who was passed out on some bench. She apparently had a rough night. Overall, it was so nice to get away.

I recuperated yesterday and slept a lot. Jeff did a little shopping and came back with more plants for the house. He has a bit of a plant problem and we are up to 20 plants in the house now, if my calculations are correct. He does a great job taking care of them and making sure they all get watered appropriately. I don't have to do a thing and when we get company, they tend to think its me, but I can't take credit. We now have another one in the living room, a few more in the office and a few in the foyer.

We took a bike ride into Bay Village and Westlake this afternoon and stopped at Crocker Park and decided to catch a movie. (Don't worry, we took our bike helmets off in the theater) We watched Iron Man with Robert Downey, Jr. I don't know the history of the comic book, but I thought it was great movie and at the very end of the credits and I mean the very end, there was a short teaser for the sequel. Should be good!

My girlfriend Amy from high school called me tonight to tell me she just had her baby today! She had another little boy, Gavin Jack. How cute. Today was actually her due date. I don't know how often that actually happens. He was 7 1/2 pounds and was born around lunch time today. Congrats Amy!!

Happy Memorial Day to you all and thank you to all the veterans that have done so much for our country and still do.

Life goes on...

2008-05-21T13:27:00.004-04:00

My friend Chemenn is so interested in my life and checks my blog all the time... she is dying for some new information about us so here I go. :) Sometimes my life is boring, but I'll try not to put you to sleep.

As you might be aware, the Cavs lost on Sunday in Game 7 against the Boston Celtics. It was a good series and one that I thought we should have won. LeBron can't do it all on his own down the stretch and just didn't get the help he needed from the rest of the team. I have been impressed with Delonte West over the course of the playoffs. He out-hustles a lot of players and manages to grab a lot of rebounds for being one of the shorter guys on the court. It was fun to watch him play.

Now that the Cavs are done, I have my husband back! If my schedule at work wasn't so busy right now, we would take off for a nice vacation. It will have to wait until August when my summer class is over. We are talking about heading to Seattle, but aren't entirely sure yet where to go. Chemenn said that Nashville is nice that time of year... maybe she's guilting me into visiting her.

I'm really looking forward to the looong weekend ahead. The weather is supposed to be absolutely perfect. We may take a short trip somewhere or just stay home and relax.

I chatted with a few friends that I hadn't talked to in a long time the last few days. It was nice to catch up with Lisa (Happy 30th, Harris) and Julie (whad up G). Julie is heading to the Hamptons this weekend to help do hair and makeup for some major wedding. There is talk that Oprah may be in attendence. I told her to let Oprah know I'm sorry I missed our annual girls weekend. Maybe another time. It was good to talk to the two of them. My friends are scattered all over the place (Toledo, Columbus, Virginia, Michigan, Nashville, Florida) and I don't get to see them nearly as much as I would like to. It's nice to know that even though we don't chat often, we can still pick up where we left off.

Is this good enough Chemenn? I'll try to be a better blogger... or at least a more frequent one. :)

Productive Spring Weekend

2008-04-27T17:39:00.002-04:00

We had 3 yards of mulch and 3 yards of top soil delivered on Saturday. We spent all day yesterday building up some new flower beds on the south side of the house that still needed some. We also transplanted a few plants that were taking over. We had a lot of tomato plants last year and we wanted to plant some more fruit, so we bought a few blueberry plants and a peach tree. We spread all the top soil and mulch in about 6 hours. I don't even want to guess how many wheelbarrow trips we made. It all looks really nice and I'm looking forward to some fruit later in the summer! Today we went golfing in the morning in Westlake with Jeff's friends, Keith and Sopha. It was still really nice out and for the first time out, I don't think that I did that bad. After the upcoming few days of cold weather, let's hope that the spring weather returns!

I finished my spring semester classes this past week and am thrilled to have the next month off! I want to get into the habit of making regular meals for us, in between the Cavs playoff games. I am heading to Game 5 of the playoffs on Wednesday and am looking forward to that. Go Cavs!!

Bathroom Project Complete!

2008-04-13T20:29:00.011-04:00

Today, we FINISHED the basement bathroom. For the last week, each day our goal was to finish it, but we always had a few small things to do at the end of each day.

Dave came over on Tuesday night and he put up the crown molding. Then we put in the sink and toilet and finished up any other odds and ends.

Yesterday, I caulked the baseboard and crown, etc, then installed the wire shelving to the right of the shower. Today, I used all of our drywall scraps to cover up the exposed walls on the unfinished basement side and Kristie did some paint touch-ups.

It was a great experience and I take off my hat to Dave...who was awesome during the whole project. He knows how to do just about everything and if I would have attempted this project myself, I would probably still be framing it up at this point and would have cut down a small forest for the lumber I would have used! So thanks Dave...you are an awesome worker, teacher, and friend!

Below are some photos of the finished project!

We have a baby name!

2008-04-08T21:06:00.004-04:00

Yes, we have a baby name! They have decided to call our new nephew Dominic. He looks just like Mikey when he was born, lots of dark hair and very cute! When Jeff and I were at the hospital on Saturday afternoon, Mikey kept running back to Dominic saying "Hi Baby!" It was really cute. He LOVES his little brother and hates to have him out of his sight. I'm sure it will be a big adjustment for him to no longer be the only little one in the house.

Jeff and Dave are finishing up the bathroom tonight. We should have pics to post soon for that. It looks really good! We had some adventures in choosing paint colors but we are happy with what we decided on. Dave has been great through the everything and has done a terrific job. And Jeff has learned tons from him through the whole process.

I have been working diligently on a project for the System and Design Thinking class. It's torture and I can't wait to be done with it. The semester is almost overwith. I'll have the month of May off and then back to class in June... ugh

So, I am sitting in the kitchen tonight working on this project and I notice something outside moving. It's large and very close to the house. It's those darn deer again! I stood up and they were looking right at me, not scared at all. We had a bit of an issue with them on Saturday night. We saw them out the back and counted 10 deer. The next morning, we were out at the FRONT of the house and I noticed that my tulips were buzzed to the mulch... I wasn't happy about that. Fortunately they weren't out that much, so I'm hoping they still manage to come up. I sprayed some Liquid Fence around all of them and I hope that means no more tulip salad bar for the deer. This may mean war...

Baby Time!

2008-04-05T11:52:00.002-04:00

My sister and brother-in-law, Jen and Mike Arnone, welcomed a beautiful baby boy to the family last night at 11:48 p.m. He is 6lbs 14 ounces and a name will be decided upon soon...Dominic and Leonardo were front-runners. Mike was extra happy because yesterday was his birthday too...what a gift!

Kristie and I are planning to go make a visit this afternoon to see our newest nephew!

Adventures in drywalling

2008-03-25T22:02:00.005-04:00

Jeff started working on 2nd coat of mud the drywall in the new bathroom last night. We can thank Dave for coat #1 last week. Tonight came sanding and as you can see, was quite messy. Things are moving right along. Dave is coming back on Thursday and they are going to work on the ceiling and we will need to decide on a paint color very soon.

Easter

2008-03-25T21:35:00.006-04:00

We made the drive down to Stone Creek to celebrate Easter with my family. Church on Sunday was at Zion Lutheran and then off to my uncle and aunts house we went! They had a full house, I think there were about 30 or so of us there. The kids (our niece and nephew as well as my cousin's children) went out Easter egg hunting after dinner and had a great time. They were given a quota so once they reached that, the eggs they found went to the one that still needed to meet their goal. It was pretty funny watching them run all over the place. This is my brother Greg and his wife Monica. Our nephew Ben and niece Katie enjoyed themselves. They are so much fun and Ben always hams it up for the camera, as you can see...

After we left, we headed to Coshocton to see Jeff's Granny. She's such a joy, she updated us on all of the Lillibridge happenings. We hadn't seen her since Thanksgiving, so it was nice getting to catch up with her and see how she was doing.

The Kitties

2008-03-18T21:54:00.007-04:00

I should introduce our cats, our kids, the boys, whatever you want to call them. We have Mini Me, we just call him Mini, he's the tabby and will be 9 in May. I got him from my parents farm when he was a kitten. I brought him back to Toledo with me in the summer of 99 (he peed in Jeff's truck on that trip back). I was living with Claire at the time and she had a female cat, Xena, that was a much larger version of our little Mini. So, that's where the name came from. Mini is a real sweetie, he cuddles up with us in bed and if you are on the couch, he will be right on your lap in a heartbeat. He loves to be picked up and thrown over a shoulder and ride around the house like that. I lived with Claire for about a year with him, then Jeff and I got married and moved into an apt with Mini in Michigan. We lived in the apt for a little over a year and then bought a house. Mini was thrilled with more square footage to run around in. We moved back to Ohio, had a brief stint with Jeff's parents and have now lived in our house close to three years.

We were feeling like we needed to add a family member to our brood and started looking for another kitty in the winter of 2006. We looked at various adoption centers and honestly, I was ready to take any of them home, but Jeff made me hold off. We were in Elyria one weekend at a pet store that had an adoption center and we saw this little black kitty in a cage by himself with his front legs straight out in front of him. There were dogs barking and running around and he didn't seem phased at all. When we went over to him, he reached out and touched me with his paw. That just about did it. I held him, Jeff said, "Do you want to get him?". Of course, I said yes. And that was how we got Cole. The adoption agency had called him Takoda, but we decided on Cole because he is black as coal. He's such a sweety, likes to make little noises all the time and LOVES to play. He has really become more of Jeff's cat. He always sleeps on his side of the bed and pushes on his arm really hard right before he lays down next to him. It's really cute. We really feel lucky to have found such a nice kitty. He does fairly well with visitors, depending on who they are. Cole likes to growl at my Dad, but will rub up against others. I'm not sure if there is any rhyme or reason to who he likes and who he doesn't.

We love our little boys. They are really part of the family.

Unwelcome Visitors

2008-03-15T08:56:00.005-04:00

Each evening, our cats freak out and run from window to window looking at some mysterious critters that make visits to our backyard. Sometimes it is another cat, or geese, but in most cases, it is deer.

Last night it was still about an hour before sunset and we looked out the window and four deer were about 10 feet away from our house. They are fun to watch and all, but they've taken a liking to my landscaping...especially at this time of the year because they are really, really hungry. So, it looks like I'm going to have to plant some deer-resistant plants this spring or else I think we are going to become the local deer diner!

Birthday Time

2008-03-10T12:31:00.002-04:00

So, it's my 32nd birthday today! That seems so hard to believe... I keep locking myself in a specific moment in my life, and for a long time, I felt like I was 26. Since I broke into the 30's, I feel as if I should stay 30 for awhile and not get any older than that. That's my plan for now. Of course, it's getting harder to recover from some things which makes me realize I can't be 30 forever.

I'm excited to go out to eat with Jeff tonight! I wouldn't spend my birthday any other way. OK, with the cats, too, but we'll get to see them at home after dinner. We enjoy spending time with them and they are very entertaining. Happy Birthday to me!

Snowed In

2008-03-09T20:56:00.006-04:00

If you live in Ohio, then you know the last few days have been snow-filled. Luckily, we did not have anywhere to go and from the time we got home from work on Friday, we did not leave the house until Sunday afternoon. A huge front-end loader worked on clearing the snow from our street on Saturday night, which resulted in giant snow piles.

Kristie's 32nd birthday is tomorrow, so we are planning to go to Crocker Park for dinner to celebrate. I think we are going to try out Agave Tequileria & Cocina, the new Mexican restaurant that just went in.

The basement bathroom project is coming along. We are currently hanging drywall, so the end is in sight!

Blogging and Basements

2008-03-03T18:52:00.003-05:00

We finally took the plunge into the digital revolution and will be blogging periodically about our family and goings-on. To start things off, we are doing well in Avon Lake, OH in our new house...going on 3 years soon. It is a busy time of year for me with the Cavaliers headed towards the playoffs. Kristie is doing well in the Financial Aid department at Case Western Reserve. She is currently going for her MBA and should be done in December of 2009.

We actually took on a new project recently...putting in a full bathroom in our basement. It had a three piece rough-in put in during construction, so the hard part is done. My friend Dave is actually doing most of the work and I'm helping and learning as we go. At this point, we've been working on it for about 2 or 3 days over the last week and a half and we have it framed up and the electricity and plumbing is all done. Next up is installing the shower and then we start to drywall!

Before

During

Peeking In!

After