Kitchen - Done!

Phil and i are all done with the kitchen! Last week was a bit of a rollercoaster, so i couldn't post this as soon as we were finished, but here it is! Cozy and clean-able, and all in one piece! Yay, thank you, Philly!

The beginning...

Progess...

After

More from the beginning...

More progress...

Done, done, done!

Of course, there is always more to do, but we draw the line here! It's hard not to keep going, but we're here for a year, and we think this may help my parents sell the place when they're ready to do so. Thanks for letting us live here, mom and dad!

just a little drama

So, no photos for this post - Sorry, but we thought it would be in everyone's best interest. We had an interesting day on Monday, to say the least. Apparently, we don't have enough drama in our lives - I had to spice things up a bit. We went to give blood at one of the area hospitals on Monday, and all was well until about 15 minutes after they pulled the needle out of my arm. I felt totally fine, and blood and needles have never, ever been an issue for me, so that wasn't the problem. We made it out of the blood bank, up the stairs and onto the sidewalk, when I collapsed like a bag of bricks. Poor, poor phil. He says that I just flopped to the ground, my head hit the sidewalk, lips started turning blue and eyes began rolling around in my head. When I do it up, folks, I do it up good. Nurses came running with a wheelchair, and somehow managed to stuff my limp body into the thing (legs and arms flailing aimlessly). They then ran me down to the ER. It was on this quick trip to the ER that I began to feel myself coming around. I was trying so hard to tell phil that i was alright, and that i was sorry for making such a scene, but apparently (and sadly for panicking phil) all i was doing was moaning very loudly for all the world to hear. All the while, my head is lolling around uncontrollably with every turn that the nurses take with the wheelchair. Phil recalls that my skin was the color of white clay, and that there were dark purple circles around my eye sockets, and that my lips stayed an eerie shade of blue for way too long.

To make a long story short, we spent about 3 hours in the emergency room, 1 of which was spent hooked up to an IV, and all of which was spent feeling like a big idiot. My blood pressure, they tell me, is far too low even on a good day for me to be eligible to give blood. When i was wheeled into the ER, it was 80/60....hence my blue lips and lolling head. Poor phil. We are both recovering happily from our scene-making episode at Mercy Hospital, and are ardently persuing the idea of never giving blood again....at least i am.

A New Niece!

Uncle Phil and Aunt Shelley are proud to introduce our newest little niece - We're so sad that we can't be there to see her in person!

~ Micah Joy Svoboda ~

Everyone looks a bit tired out - Even Papa Tim (yes, that's right - i said Papa Tim)

Here's the whole crew - Micah is the youngest of Tim and Michelle's 5 kiddos - Our little buddy Titus looks particularly excited about the whole thing. :0)

summer fun

Here are some fun pics from our fun day out at the Fuess' lake house! Thank you Bill and Anne!

Mom smiling and hoping i only take one picture of her :0)

Phil with his tough face...

me hanging on for dear life...

p.j. (baby brother) dealing it up...

Dad wiping out in a major way - you can see his silloutte in the spray :0) Go Dad!

good times with old friends

This past weekend, Phil and i had a chance to travel down to Lancaster, PA to take part in the wedding of an old friend. We also were able to meet up with my best friend Julie Harr-Dephue, from high school - as well as her family, whom i love dearly - It was so very good to see them all!

From left to right - mom Harr in the back with Kailee Rose (Kelly & Bryan's little one), Kelly Harr, myself and Jules.

Phil and Will

Will wrote and sung a song to his new wife, Lauren (of whom we have no pictures, for some reason!! Sorry, Lauren!) - The song was beautiful - as was the whole day.


I tried my best to sit up straight and play well - thankfully there were no glaring mistakes, despite my dreadfully nervous fingers. 2 hours of classical was a bit daunting for me, but i just tried to hide behind the piano and play well enough so that no one noticed me.

Phil looked so good in his tux :0) - We were both really glad that he had the opportunity to be a part of his good friend's wedding. It was a long, sleepless and tiring weekend, but it was worth it!

Congratulations, Will and Lauren!

Day Trippers

Last weekend we got the chance to go away together to celebrate our first anniversary. We chose to go see Salem, MA. Neither of us had been there before, and thought we owed it to History to at least see what there was to see. We had fun being away together, just taking time to enjoy one another .... as well as stopping to smell the roses.

In 1692 a group of young girls, "inspried" by a Jamaican slave's stories of voo-doo and rituals, made a series of wild (and false) accusations directed at many townspeople - The girls threw fits, screamed, howled, and threw themselves on the courtroom floor in their effort to accuse them of witchcraft. In the end, 24 people were either hung, starved or "pressed to death" in Salem, MA based on these girls' accusations.