Flashback Friday: Construction Zone

Last year I had the tile in my house extended out so my dining area would not be over carpet. I also had my hallway tiled as well. However, as luck would have it, the tile I had already in my house was no longer being made, so I had to get it completely ripped out and start afresh. So for several weeks, my house was a construction zone. Luckily, all of the work was being done while I was out of the house at work, so I just got to come home and see the progress every night.

Here are the before pictures of the construction area:

You can see how my dining set is over carpet. I always hated that!

Here are pictures of the destruction of my house:


Next, on to the construction. I had a couple of very large cracks in my foundation, so the purple stuff is to fill in the cracks and allow some flexibility for the tile.

The blue tape told me where I could and could not step. It got a little fun once he started down the hallway. I felt like I was playing hopscotch on some nights. :)

No cooking for a while week with my stove displaced!

Pausing now to show you my living area during construction. I uncovered the area at nights so I could watch a little TV squished up in my chair, and then I had to cover it back before I went to bed so it would be ready for the next day's construction.



Now back to the construction. While they were already there, I also had them put pull out drawers in some of my cabinets. Oh, do I LOVE those pull out drawers!


The real fun came when they started down the hallways. It was very interesting getting around at nights with so much blue tape telling me where I could and could not walk.


Once the tile was laid, they started grouting. My one regret of this whole project is I chose too light of a shade of grout. But once he started applying the grout, I couldn't change my mind. Oh well. It still is a job well done. I love how the tile is on the diagonal. And how it curves around to my hallway.



There were some areas where I didn't want to change the tile, like in the bathroom and laundry closet. To transition between the bathroom and the hallway, they put this decorative tile threshold. I think it turned out really nice.


After the grout was completed, the carpet guy came in to lay the carpet back down.


I was then able to put my furniture back to appropriate places.


However, this didn't last long because my house was FILTHY from all of the construction dust. I spent the next several weeks pulling everything out of my cupboards and washing them inside and out. My dishwasher was very busy washing every dish in the house.

I also had the carpet cleaners come and give my carpets a good scrubbing, including my bedrooms.


And of course my furniture was displaced again.



But in the end, it turned out SO GOOD! I am very pleased with the results!

Flashback Friday: Meeting the Captain

In July of 2011, I was sent to San Diego on a TDY trip (business trip). On my return trip, I had a layover in the Phoenix Airport. I found my gate, and sat down near the terminal.

A few minutes later, a man sat next to me. I didn't want to stare, so I took a couple of sly pictures with my phone and studied those pictures to make sure the person I thought it was really was sitting next to me.


The people on the other side of me looked at me VERY STRANGELY wondering why I was taking pictures of a random man. Haha!

Let me pause here to tell you about my complete obsession. I am COMPLETELY 100% obsessed with The Deadliest Catch. I own every season on DVD and I watch it religiously when the new TV seasons start. I also follow the boats on blogs to make sure everyone returned home safely after their fishing season. This obsession is so weird for me because I am completely opposite from these crab fishermen. But the stories are so compelling and the danger is so real, that I cannot get enough of this show!

Now the rest of the story...

I texted Kelli that she would NEVER believe who I was sitting next to at the PHOENIX airport! Johnathan Hillstrand! She was like "NO WAY!" I can't find our text conversation, or I would transcribe it for you, but it was pretty funny.

Then my flight began boarding and I knew it was now or never for me to talk to him. I was SO NERVOUS!! I could barely breath and my hands were shaking SO HARD! I felt like I was going to faint, but I somehow got up the nerve to ask:

Me: In a very weak voice because for some reason I couldn't talk louder than that, I was so nervous, "Are you Johnathan Hillstrand?"

Him: Very politely, "No..."

Me: I almost passed out from embarrassment

Him: "... I'm his brother Andy."

Me: Wide eyed and embarrassed..."Oh my goodness. I'm so sorry I mixed up your names. I am such a huge fan of the show, though it probably doesn't show because I called you your brother's name. I just love the Time Bandit and all the fun you guys have."

When I mentioned his boat, his eyes lit up and he finally knew I was a fan of the show. I asked if I could take a picture with him and he seemed very pleased to do so. I gave my camera to a guy sitting across from us, and he took a picture, but it seemed like he was having trouble. After a little while, he gave the camera back to me to see if he got a picture. I saw on the little screen what seemed to be a picture, so I thanked the picture taker, and I thanked Captain Andy, said goodbye and boarded my plane.

It took me HOURS to calm down from that experience. My heart would NOT slow down. And I felt very light headed. I still think it's weird I reacted to that experience the way I did. So funny. So odd.

Many months later I finally took the pictures off my camera and the picture with Captain Andy and I was NOT ON MY CAMERA! I was so upset! Then I realized, it is possible that the man was struggling to take the picture because he was actually taking a video instead.

Yep, that's what happened! Here is my very own Harry Potter-style photo with Captain Andy:

Hahah! Anyone have a program to be able to take a frame from this video so I can have a picture?

Holy Cow!

I was on my way to work one morning when I passed a little ditch right behind my house and saw this:



This is NOT a typical scene around my neighborhood. I was very confused how three cows could be anywhere near my house, but there they were.


And of course I had to stop and take pictures.

And talk to the cows because they looked very concerned with me standing so near them taking pictures with my phone. It was pretty funny and I had to laugh at myself for talking to cows.

Flashback Friday: My first 5K

I ran my first 5K race on November 19, 2011. I did the Couch to 5k program to train for this event. Actually, I've been doing that program for over a year, off and on, but this time I decided to sign up for a Saturday 5K so that I had a goal to work towards.

This 5k race was called "How the West was Run". We ran around the West End of Sierra Vista. When I arrived to sign in, the ladies asked if I was walking the course. I said, "NO! I am running. I've been training for months." They looked really surprised that a 200+ pound person would run the whole 3.2 miles. But I was determined. And they seemed very happy that I would try it.

Before the Race -- I am SUPER excited! And nervous.

My mom came with me to take pictures and cheer me on. It was fun to have someone there to support me, because I was running the race by myself.

Listening to the final instructions before the race began

There were a lot of people running the race, but there were also a lot of people walking the 5K. There were some very serious 5K racers, and then there were a lot of people like me who were there to challenge themselves to get healthier. I didn't feel like the odd man out at all.

And we're off.

This was the First Annual West End Run. They had teenagers with red vests at every turn directing us to where to go. It was a pretty nice course. My goal was the run the entire course, but during the 3rd mile, there were this little hill that looked like a steep mountain. I was already extremely exhausted and I didn't think I could make it up there, so I walked it. And then I couldn't get myself to start running again for about 1/2 mile. At that time, I was fairly close to the finish line, so I took every ounce of energy I had left, and forced myself to run the last 1/4 mile.


I finished at 41 minutes. My second goal was to run it in under 45 minutes, so I was very pleased with my time. And I wasn't even the last runner to cross the finish line. There were still two people behind me!

Now I have a time-to-beat when I run my next 5K. And I will run another one (or two) in 2012!

Embarrassing Moment

On Friday, I went to a farewell party of a German federal employee who has worked here a year and is now returning back to Germany. We were at his German Liason officer's house and they made us the most wonderful dinner! I really love German food and man, oh man! did I indulge!

During the course of the evening, the other members of the group drank wine, beer, and then they got out the harder stuff. They each tried a shot of something I'd never heard of, but as they were pouring the drink, our host set each shot glass on fire before passing them out. It was weird, but it was funny to watch the people taste this drink.

I didn't want to be rude and just leave, especially since it wasn't a rowdy or rambunctious party. It a nice dinner party to say farewell to our German co-worker.

I started feeling really tired about 10:30PM and finally asked for my coat to leave. Our host stuck out his hand, so I took it and shook it while saying...to our host... in his house... "Thank you for coming, um...I mean, thank you for letting me come." What did I just say?! He was probably thinking "Are you sure you didn't drink?" Haha! I was so tired I didn't even know what was coming out of my mouth. I guess I get drunk by proximity because everyone else there seemed to hold their liquor quite well.

Haha! That was embarrassing, but I always seem to do something like that. Makes life more entertaining. :)

Flashback Friday: The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

This is my first Flashback Friday. I thought this post was appropriate for Friday the 13th!

Welcome to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter! Enter Hogsmeade with Kelli and I...

See the Hogwarts express...

Walk the street of Hogsmeade...

Look through the windows of Honeydukes....

(Buy lots and lots of chocolate frogs for your friends and family)

Look in Zonkos Joke Shop...

(This Puking Pastilles display was pretty gross...the girl was continuously puking that blue shiny stuff)

Play around with all the fun stuff...

Continue window shopping at the Owl Post...

And at the Book Shop...

The pictures of Gilderoy Lockhart really moved, like in the books and movies. Pretty cool!

Withdraw some gold from the Gringott's ATM...

But be on the lookout for Sirus Black!

Choose your wand in Olivander's...

(Kelli got the Elder Wand and I got Hermione's wand)

And meet Mr. Olivander himself...

Try out a couple of spells along the way...

Eat lunch at the Three Broomsticks...

And try your first cup of Butterbeer...

YUM!!
It tastes like butterscotch and short bread cookies. Very, very yummy! We had to go back and get seconds later in the day. :) There are two kinds, cold and frozen. I recommend the frozen. It's more like a butterscotch slushy with froth on top!

Finally, enter Hogwarts and walk through the coolest queue you have ever experienced!

Unfortunately I did not bring my camera inside the castle, but it really was a cool line into the ride. The ride itself was very innovative, but it made me really motion sick, so I didn't really pay attention to it because I was trying to keep myself from being really sick. But the queue! The queue was just amazing. Let me try to explain...

You first enter the queue out in the gardens. Then you enter the castle through the dungeons. You pass Snape's office and classrooms. You meander through the great hall and the moving staircase area with portraits floor to ceiling that talk to each other. You walk into Dumbledore's office where he is talking to his visitors (and it looks like he is actually there...no animatronics, it's more like a life size hologram). Then you pass by the fat lady portrait while she tries to break glass with her voice and enter into the Gryffindor's common room where a life size Harry, Hermione, and Ron are making plans and mischief (same hologram effect). Ron even makes it snow on everyone by doing a spell gone wrong. Finally you pass the sorting hat that explains the ride a bit and then you enter the ride itself.

We went when there wasn't a long line (they opened that part of the park an hour early for people who stayed on property, so we were able to avoid the main crowd), so we basically ran through the castle with no wait to get into the ride. I bet if we had to wait, it wouldn't feel very long with all the detail and things to look at and be entertained by along the way. I liked the queue way more than the ride itself, can you tell?

If you EVER get a chance to go to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter inside the Orlando Island of Adventure theme park, DO IT!! It was tons of fun and the goodies we bought there were just as amazing as you would imagine.