Nashville!

This past weekend Nate and I headed to Nashville to visit my sister Erin....and Nashville is always a fun place to go anyway!

Saturday morning we met a friend of ours from high school, Heather, for breakfast. Nate opted to drink coffee and read the paper across the street at a coffee shop so we could all catch up...I have no idea why he wouldn't want to listen to 3 girls talk all morning! After that we met Mark and rode our bikes all over Nashville. It was such a gorgeous day and Nashville is pretty biker friendly so it was a great way to see the city.

Saturday night we went to a concert at the Ryman. Nate and I have always loved bluegrass music since we went to college in TN so this was something we've always wanted to do. Although the concert wasn't bluegrass, it was still great and we got to see the "birthplace" of bluegrass......

.....as documented by this picture.

Here's Nate by the Bill Monroe display...one of the best bluegrass pickers ever!

And what night in Nashville would be complete without a few stops to hear even more live music? This was taken from the back of the bar but Erin and Mark are somewhere up in the crowd dancing! That's one of the best things about Nashville is that if you are in the mood for live music you can find it about anywhere.

So this week was also my first week back to school...so far I have 3 awesome classes of kids. I do love my job but it is always hard to change your schedule when you've been off work for so long! I was spoiled this summer I guess. So far I am in the midst of grading over 100 papers that I collected on the first day of school...why, oh why did I assign a summer literary essay for my AP students and why did I make the summer reading tests essay format????? This is the only part I sometimes get discouraged with....GRADING! I'm trying to see it as the way my students communicate what they've learned! Right? Well either way, we're trying to get back in the swing of things. Nate starts his classes next Monday too....so sad that summer is coming to an end!

The last week of summer....

Well, this week in August marks the last week of my summer off at least. For most people, summer continues on until sometime in mid September, but for me it officially ends this week. School starts Wed. and while I am ready to head back, this summer seemed exceptionally short for some reason! Probably because school didn't let out until mid June! But I can't complain. Most people don't get that many weeks off... So naturally I tried to cram in as much stuff as I could this week in a desperate attempt to make summer last as long as possible! Here's me and 5 of the girls I teach with at Cheddar's. From left to right around the table, Annie, Norah, Heather, Noel, me, and Suzanne. They do help me maintain my sanity among the insane halls of a high school!
Every few months (although it should be more often) all of us girls who were friends in high school (and still are) try to get together for dinner. Ramsis is usually the best place for this! Annie has added Brooks to the picture and Rachel will soon be adding a little one of her own! From left to right here's Annie, Rachel holding Brooks, me, Jess and Jill.

Brooks was just so cute I had to take a picture of him with Rachel and Annie...he was so well behaved too!

Nate's and my summer would not be complete without a trip (or two or five) to Green River Lake. This was the view from where I was laying out...Nate tossing a stick and Sadie swimming an absurd distance to fetch it. We try to wear her out as much as possible. This dog LOVES the lake. When she sees us get the beach towels and cooler out she knows what's in store for the day.

Molly and Zach met us there also with the all important task of getting their new puppy Lily Belle used to the water. Zach had no need to worry...that dog was in the lake in two seconds! She is clearly a water dog just like her friend Sadie (okay, I'll stop personifying the dogs!).

Molly and me relaxing on the rocks...this was before the rednecks showed up. We saw some amazing mullets though! Green River Lake is a great place but it is true...central KY brings out the best of our state. Kind of like the KY state fair...which is a whole other story and will be posted on in a week after we go!

Sadie and Lily hanging out in the grass.

And a few other July/August happenings....

Our garden has finally grown (I consider this something that "happened" in July and August) and this has definitely taken up a bit of my time this summer. Best of all is the tomato plant where we can't eat them fast enough!












My mom also had her "30th" birthday in July (okay, well she doesn't look more than 30!). Her friend Marcia had us all over for dinner to celebrate.















Here's Nate and me at dinner also.



In August my dad had his 60th birthday! Now he doesn't look a day over 30 either but this was a milestone to celebrate! Nate and I got to have everyone over to our house for the first time. I figured it was only fitting since my dad did SO much work on this house that he gets to enjoy it now with us. Here's my parents, grandparents, and Erin and Mark who drove up from Nashville.




Meanwhile, here's Nate, Laura and Josh eating dessert. It's rare that we have everyone together at the same time so this was a fun night!









Paige came to Louisville for a visit! Erin and I have known Paige since 2nd or 3rd grade and now that she lives in Denver we hardly ever get to see her! I'm so glad she and her husband stopped by and we all walked up to the St. Joseph's picnic on Frankfort Avenue. It's an experience, that's for sure. If you've never gone, get ready to be claustrophobic because it is PACKED with people, but still fun!

Now Nate's parents came for a visit the first week of July to help us with the house. I am so mad because the pictures I took of their visit (along with all my others over the years) were on our computer (which crashed). Nate said he'll eventually be able to get them off though so I'll put them up whenever he gets around to that. They were so helpful though! Nate and his dad tiled the kitchen floor, which is no easy task, and made numerous trips to Home Depot with us. Dee Dee and I cleaned off the screened in porch/sunroom (which I need a picture of I guess) and that was an all day task. The lady who lived here previously had cats...and the porch was their litter box. I think you can visualize that now! We also went out to eat to the best pizza in Louisville...Impellizari's. Sometime I'll put up those pictures!

Dining Room and Living Room Pics

A few more pictures here....This is the living room before. We basically just repainted this room.











Here it is after paint...we definitely need some armchairs on either side of the fireplace but that might be awhile!



Here's another view of the living room looking into it from the dining room. Sadie randomly ends up in a lot of pictures!











This is the dining room before with the lovely red wallpaper. Not that bad actually but I love our yellow dining room now! It feels much brighter or something.

"After" the paint job, new light and a little furniture. We still need to put some paneling on the back of the breakfast bar but this works for us now!



Here's the dining room looking into the kitchen (wall was taken out).
















Here's the reverse side, looking from the kitchen into the dining room.









And although this isn't the best picture, I though Tom and Nate looked cute eating their ice cream!

Finished House pictures!

Well, our computer officially crashed and died last week so I haven't put up any pictures lately because of that. After Nate and I got back from Guatemala, we were able to finish up most of the big projects in the house, specifically the kitchen. It's definitely not easy living without one, that's for sure so I'm so glad it's finished! To the left is the before picture...ugly linoleum and one cabinet!





Here's the "after" picture....Nate and his dad did a great job tiling the floor, we put in new cabinets and appliances, and granite countertops. There are still a few things such as cabinet hardware and all the trim work that needs to be finished but I'm just happy that I can cook now!









Here's another angle I took of the kitchen before, prior to knocking out the wall for the breakfast bar/counter space (whatever you want to call it!)
















Here it is after renovations! Quite a bit different with the wall gone, and it makes the kitchen seem much bigger.
















Now while most people don't get excited about a hallway, this is the room/area of the house that gave me the most trouble. So I'm pretty happy with the results! LOTS of wallpaper scraping, pulling up that hideous carpet and then removing all those nails and staples from the floor....we also put in a light so you can actually see when you walk in the door!

Here's the after picture....luckily the wood floor was in great shape under all that carpet





The guest room "before"....pretty boring with the white paint on the wall and dark curtains.









So now it's ready for anyone who wants to come stay with us! Nate's mom made this quilt as a wedding gift to us...it went perfectly in this room!