The Habitat State Conference

Well, I'm back in town after spending 3 days in Murfreesborough, Tennessee for the Habitat for Humanity State Conference. I must admit that I was pretty nervous about the conference... when people would go to the annual conference with my old job at Youth Villages they would normally do something stupid and end up getting fired shortly after getting back in town. Luckily, I don't think any of us (Tommy included) did anything too stupid or are at risk of losing our jobs. Hopefully I'll be able to make it to the National Habitat Conference in Atlanta in January.

Laura (executive director), Tommy (construction manager),

Lisa (administrative assistant), Michelanne (office manager, and me (family services coordinator)

Patio Redo--Phase II

This weekend my parents and Craig's mom came up to help us with the bulk of the pergola building project. We spent all last week pre-cutting most of the beams, so we just needed help putting all of the pieces together. Of course this is simply easier said than done. Anyway, the majority of the pergola is now complete. All that is missing is the detail work around the base of each post, the final row of small slats to go across the top, and a coat of cedar stain. Hopefully these details will be done in the next few weeks.

Here's a reminder of what our patio looked like before we stained the concrete, got new patio furniture, and built the pergola:
Here are a few pictures of us assembling the pergola:


Here's the finished product (minus some minor detail work):
I can not tell you how pleased I am with the way it turned out!!! Now we'll be able to enjoy the space as much during the day as we do in the evenings!

Building Project Part I

This weekend Craig and I began the first phase of our pergola project. We had the goal of making all of the necessary cuts this weekend so that when our families come next weekend to help all we have left to do it put all of the pieces together. I really think we underestimated this phase of the project. The saying "measure twice, cut once" was actually more like measure 4-5 times, cut once.

Plus, we had occasional distractions when Sydney would climb up and walk back and forth on the boards we were cutting/sanding... I guess he thought they were like the "dog walk" and "teeter totter" that he gets to play on in agility class.
Well, after all of the hard work we only managed to get about half of the cuts done... so I guess that means we're going to have to get busy this week. Anyway, the end product will be TOTALLY worth it!

Happy Graduation Erin!

My sister Erin graduated with her masters degree in divergent learning from Columbia College this past Sunday. I was so proud of her... I never, NEVER thought I would see the day! Anyway, I know she has worked very hard over the past year to earn this degree and I am so happy for her!

Girls' Weekend in Columbia!

This past weekend I met up with Rae and Holly in Columbia for a girls' weekend. I had a lot of fun. It was nice to be back in Columbia, even if only for a couple of days.

Us at Gervais & Vine

Can't wait until we get together again!

Too Funny!

A little background... Tree frogs are nocturnal, so when I cut on the terrarium light to feed him tonight I found him sitting in his water dish looking like this:
Apparently he had just woken up and climbed out from under his mossy bed. I couldn't help but laugh. He totally looks like he has an afro. And all this time I thought that White's Tree Frogs came from New Guinea, not Africa!

Shower in Greenville

Craig and I spent last night at a wedding shower for my friends Laura and Travis from grad school. We had a lot of fun hanging out with them and their families. We started the evening with a wonderful spread of food...

...followed by a couple rousing games of Apples to Apples... if you've never played this game you're missing out. It's great for parties or game nights. Anyway, the girls played first and then the boys. I totally sucked at the game, but I still had a lot of fun. Craig also sucked at it, but he managed to do a little better than I did.

All of the girls trying to help their guys win... At one point Travis made a comment to Laura about being a back seat driver... to which all of us girls reminded him that it would soon be for the rest of his life! Unfortunately we could only stay long enough to see Laura and Travis open our gift (which I didn't manage to get a picture of) before we had to head back home for the night. Anyway, we had such a good time and can't wait until the wedding!