Again... The Talk of the Neighborhood

Looking at the outside of the house, Craig and I felt something was needed... something other than landscaping to repair the shrubbery fiasco from a few weeks ago. Ever since Craig bought the house we have both felt that the white shutters were too much. So, last week Craig took down the old shutters! As with many other parts of the house that were repaired and maintained in a half-assed way by the previous owners, so were the shutters. There was almost as much paint on the bricks as there was on the shutters themselves. So Craig has been using a combination of grafiti remover and a "brilo pad"-like attachment on his drill to clean the paint from the house. With all of his hard work he has still only made a slight difference. I can't wait until we get our new shutters to put up and disguise the mess!

As usual, the neighbors have been commenting about Craig's hard work. One neighbor again told Craig that he was "ruining the neighborhood"! Another neighbor commented that Craig must have finally gotten his letter from the neighborhood association telling him to fix up his house. Well, here are my thoughts on that... they should be happy! Afterall, our house is making the rest of the homes in the neighborhood look pretty good right now!

Again, Craig's house before... with the monster shrubs and awful white shutters.

Craig's house after

Married Alive!

Last night Craig and I went back to beautiful Abingdon, Virginia for another night out on the town! We went to dinner, walked around town, and then went to see another play at the Barter Theatre. Yet again we chose a musical comedy... Married Alive! The play just seemed appropriate considering what we're about to get ourselves in to. The play talked about everything--having the "perfect" wedding, surviving holidays with the in-laws, sex (after 1, 5, 10, and 20 years), babies, raising teenagers, viagra, etc. Anyway, it was hilarious and we both very much enjoyed ourselves!

The historic Martha Washington Inn

Barter Theatre

April Showers...

This weekend my mom and my sister Erin threw me an "around the clock" bridal shower. As is tradition when at my parents' house, there was a ton of food! Probably the most impressive dish was the cake that Craig's mom made that looked like a bride. It was almost a shame to cut it. Thanks so much to those of you that were able to come... for those that couldn't make it, we missed you and hope you can make it to the next shower!

We're Still Here...

It's been a few weeks since I've posted anything new, so I figured I would just let you all know that we are still here. Craig and I have been busy with work... both during the week and at his house on the weekends. This past weekend we devoted most of our time to completing several small touch-up and finishing jobs in the rooms that we had already worked on. We finished painting the closets, touched up the trim, began repairing the closet doors, and touched up the paint on the front door. It was a lot of work, but unfortunately there's not a whole lot to show for it. Here is a picture just in case you've forgotten what Craig looks like.

Weekend Visitors!

This weekend I had a couple of guests come to visit! My sister Erin (who is a teacher) decided to spend a few days of her spring break hanging out in Tennessee. She, of course, brought her baby along with her... her dog Sasha. I really enjoyed their visit and hope they'll come back again soon!

Yes, those are bows in Sasha's hair

Sasha discovered Fred (my goldfish)... they became fast friends!

Picture Time!

Yesterday Craig and I FINALLY had our engagement pictures taken. We decided to go down by the river for most of the pictures. The river is so pretty this time of year, so it provided a great backdrop for us to use. Here's a sample for you all to enjoy!