To the window, to the wall

‘Til the sweat drip down my sub-contractors.

That’s right, folks. Inspired by chilly mornings, road noise, and Barack Obama’s new energy plan for America; Michelle and I decided to replace the windows in our new home. You wouldn’t believe how much they charge for pieces of glass stuck between vinyl, but we sure do feel warm and cozy knowing we’ve contributed our part of the planned $150 billion investment in freeing us from our dependence on foreign oil.

Before:

After:

Speaking of foreign oil, we recently spent the afternoon at a vintage car picnic held at an 18th century mansion in Chester County. The gathering consisted mostly of older model Peugeots and Fiats with a few surprises mixed in. We ended up riding down with Jamie and Laura who brought the ’82 Polo and ’65 Cub. I freaking love any car or motorcycle that’s older than I am, but the real excitement came when we toured the 300 year old house. Our host, Dan, purchased the property several years ago and has made it his life-long project to restore the colonial mansion to it’s original glory. (He better stay healthy!)

I wish I could have shot a few pictures of the interior of the house, but not falling through the floor quickly took priority. I did manage to get a few of us outside though:

Scooters are ridiculously fun until your friends see how silly you look on one.

Now I had these grandiose plans of writing a nice long entry to articulate all of our recent adventures, but inspired by a joke I read yesterday I’m going to save the three-legged pig and split everything up into exciting bite sized pieces. This way, you’ll have a reason to visit our blog everyday!

8,017 Words

As promised, here are some work-in-progress pictures to spice up your Friday afternoon:

Have a great weekend!

a wedding update you say? ok.

Two lovebirds, a wedding, and a bunch of bikes… Add a house to that!  Obviously the house has become the top priority right now in our lives.  Cycling season is over (I think) and my feet having hit the pavement since August.  On September 17th, not only did we sign up for 30 years of debt, we also threw diet, exercise, and sleep out our drafty windows!

Although interior decorating internet browsing, making project checklists, and budgeting for all the home projects has become the norm, I can’t help but still find myself typing theknot.com, projectwedding.com, or weddingbee.com into my internet browser.  I am so happy we finally found our house, but I am yearning to set a date for our wedding.  We are still hoping sometime in September-December 2011 will seal the deal.  Since I am on the topic of weddings, why don’t I just let it all out.

Some of you have seen my lovely wedding inspiration binder that I had started, oozing with shades of plum purples, lime greens, and chartreuses that would work for most times of the year.  Then the house came on the forefront and the thoughts of pushing back the wedding date came up.  Genius idea, yes, but that means waiting to be husband and wife maybe even until 2012! So what about a Decemeber wedding? Save on venue- yes.  Get deals from vendors for off season- yes.  Cheap holiday decorations, winter wonderland theme- NO. NO. NO.  There is a thin line when it comes to a holiday time wedding atmosphere.  Our motto for our wedding day: simple sophistication.  My decorating idea if we marry in December:  subtle and beautiful.  Our worst nightmare for creating the atmosphere: Oriental Trading! Before everyone thinks I have lost the meaning of our wedding day and have gone bridezilla, please refer to this blog I have been visiting Bride Junk to understand my erraticism. My comment on her post regarding her DIY projects:

…I keep telling myself that I will create an atmosphere on our day that sets the mood, ambiance, and is as intoxicating as my love for my fiance. If no one else catches the love in the air or appreciates all the detail, I know my senses will be heightened and make the day that much more memorable and fantastic!

All in all, if we were to wed in the month of December, I don’t want to have a festive holiday party where we are celebrating our marriage.  No matter the month, I want the day to scream our personalities, I would just like to be sooner than later, because I can’t wait to marry my best friend!

Letting the days go by

You may find yourself behind the wheel of a large automobile,
and you may find yourself in a beautiful house, with a beautiful wife.
And you may ask yourself – Well… How did I get here?

So.. we’ve been rather vacuous as bloggers recently, but I promise it’s not because we don’t care. With everything going on recently it’s been hard to find time to sit down and write (as well as internet/computer to write with). Some days it feels like just yesterday we signed the paperwork while other days it feels like years. However, whether it’s been days or years I can’t believe how much we’ve tackled so far as new homeowners.

Here’s a short list just off the top of my head:

– Clear heat lines
– Scrub out refriderator
– Scoop out gutters
– Re-attach broken gutters/downspouts
– Clear basement sink
– Paint every room
– Build shelving for pantry/closets
– Caulk kitchen counter
– Install 3 prong grounded receptacles
– Install family room dimmer switch
– Install driveway spotlights
– Program garage door remotes
– Install garage shop lights
– Re-wire garage power supply
– Order new windows for the whole house

What hadn’t occurred to me until recently though is how terrible a job we’ve been doing at recording all of our progress. I mean that’s the whole idea behind the damn blog in the first place! So in the meantime, here’s some pictures from our recent adventures in OCMD: