Houston, we have a sidewalk!

This post is long overdue. So long in fact that I can't even remember when this actually took place. Back in April, I think. Oh well, what's important is that we finally have a completed sidewalk and approach to our driveway!! I am in love and super happy with the finished product. This was just another project where my handy husband could show off his talents. I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Here's one last before...
Jeremy and Reese (a friend of ours, fellow fireman, and concrete installer!)


Ta-Da!Ooops! How did that one get in there? You're welcome.

And just because I was outside with the camera...an update on the house behind us (which is already outdated!) and a pic of the new window sign Jer had made for the company truck.
It took over a year to come to an agreement with our neighbor and the city. But the stars aligned and the project is finished. Now, if our tax return would just get here...we would get that front and side yard in!

So, this one time...

our furnace stopped working. We're not quite sure how long it had been. We realized we were making the "it's kinda cold in here!" comments more and more often. After a couple days of the temperature not raising above 62, the husband sprung to action. When something like this occurs, I usually stay far away in an effort to not add to the frustration and/or cursing. So, I was safely inside snuggled under a blanket (because our house was freezing in April), watching t.v. After a good half hour of him banging around in the garage, I hear, "I think I just figured out the problem!" He yelled for me to grab my camera. Reluctantly, I left the warm blanket behind and headed for the garage to see what could possibly need the attention of my camera. That's when I saw it.

When Jer had taken the last possible pipe apart, this is what he found.
So, he grabbed some gloves and pulled it out.And found that a bird had somehow managed to either fly or be sucked down the very small tube on our roof that takes in fresh air for the furnace. And that's where he met his fate and turned our house cold.It was the funniest/grossest/craziest outcome, but the moral of the story is our furnace is now working and we didn't have to pay a repairman to come out and see why!

Egg-citing Easter!

Thought I'd do a quick post with pictures from the Newberg Easter Egg Hunt that the fire dept. puts on every year. The egg hunt is set up at Jacquith Park which is right across the street from us, so I walked down to visit with Jeremy and take some pictures of the event.

Jeremy directing parents and kids on where to go.
Carson and Uncle Jeremy. Notice Carson has his own set of turnouts on :)Carson and Papa searching for eggs.McKenzie brought Hayden down...the boy we've babysat for since before he could talk and now he's 6!Another one of Carson and Uncle Jeremy in front of the ladder truck.

Hope you all had a wonderful Easter Sunday! Ours was busy with church, lunch, and visiting Grandma Quinby, who happened to be celebrating a birthday on that day.

twenty-four

I celebrated my twenty-fourth birthday a week ago today. Actually, it was more of a birthday week. My actual birthday was uneventful as I had to work and Jer was at the fire station all night. I did celebrate with some cake and a bubble bath though, so I can't really complain! :)

Holly was in town for an extended weekend and we had a "girls night" with Linds; except for the fact that Jeremy crashed our dinner. We got cupcakes and rented a movie to celebrate all three of our birthdays.

I rounded out birthday week with family dinner at Chevy's. I got a yummy strawberry margarita and fish tacos....and we had more cake! ha! I've had enough cake to last me quite a while!

With birthday money in my pocket, I made a trip to Ikea with my friend Brittany. We recently purchased a really inexpensive side table at Fred Meyer and I was looking for a cute and inexpensive lamp to place on it. Mission accomplished!

Close up of the lamp shade with the light turned on...I also found the perfect curtains for our master. I'm planning a post on our bedroom updates, but for now, here's a sneak peak of our curtains...I have mixed feelings about turning 24. While I know it is by no means "old," I feel like there's no more messing around. My list of life goals to hit by the big 3-0 is becoming even more real. I REALLY hope to check off a big one on the list this spring/summer and finally get a full-time teaching job.

I've done a lot of reflecting in the last week on where my life is at and where I hope to be a year from now. I am very blessed to be married to my best friend and the most amazing man I know. We are fortunate to own two houses...one of which we are lucky enough to rent out and cover the mortgage payments. We own two vehicles. We have both found the professions that we feel called to do. Now, we just have to get those jobs! I'm really looking forward to the year ahead and knocking out some of those goals!