absent minded

Whoa. I think I forgot about this blog. I forgot about my photo-a-day project too! Things have been nuts. If I had time to day dream, I would dream of a time where I had less things on my to do list.

Work has been crazy. Our office moved about two weeks ago and I hardly remember anything since then!

We are making slow progress on the last two rooms of our remodel. Dave has been such a trooper. He took a couple days off a few weeks ago and got started on the painting and knocked out an old brick shower in the laundry room. It's amazing how much that opened the room up! We are going to put in a stackable washer and dryer to save even more space. We are so close to finishing, I can taste it! Whoo hoo!

I am giving up my photo-a-day project for now. I made it 100 days, and that seems pretty good to me considering my schedule. I'm looking forward to getting this remodel done in many ways, but the biggest one on my mind lately is to have space (and time) to scrapbook again. Or do anything creative that doesn't involve plumbing, ladders or power tools. That would be sweet.

Other things we've been up to:
Last Sunday was our Dragon Boat race. I'll post a couple photos when I get a chance. Dave put together a team through his work, and we had a great time. We came in fourth in our division. Which is awesome for only have 2 practices!

We are also on a new exercise kick at our house. (Like we didn't have enough to do already.) Running a couple miles every other day, and we started yoga yesterday morning. Believe it or not, I actually got up at 5am for that.

The big (for me) news is that we have successfully given up coffee. It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Of course, we are still slipping in a few decaf espressos once in a while. But that doesn't really count, right? :)

And how could I leave out...waiting for someone to have that darn baby already!

Love.

This post is called "no coffee"

What was I thinking?

Well, we've made it over 3 days without caffeine. I could tell you how many hours it's been, but that's just crazy.

This weekend was tough. I didn't feel like doing anything. It pretty much felt like I just woke up, except it was ALL DAY. Needless to say, we didn't get a lot done. But the weather has been crappy, so it was a good time to curl up with a movie...or two.

I think it will be good for us, and we'll probably feel better. But I sure miss that little escape now and then. I guess I'll have to find some other guilty pleasure to take its place. Hmmmm.

things to try once

1. Ride scooter when snowing...check. (don't recommend this one)

2. Eat breakfast in the kitchen of the house you live in...check. Hopefully this will be a "more than once" occasion.

That's right, folks. It snowed yesterday (and today). And unfortunately for me, I had decided to ride my scooter to work. It was snowing like crazy on the way home. I made it OK. But my fingers were FROZEN. It took me 5 minutes to warm them up enough to find my keys in my purse. I stood outside the front door blowing on them while the dogs were going crazy. Pretty funny...now that I'm warm.

But the BIG news is: we finished the sink, faucet & dishwasher last night. And we officially have a working kitchen. We broke it in this morning over coffee and cereal. I actually WASHED DISHES. It was fabulous. No, really, it was.

So, go Team Finnell. We are almost there, baby.

365/81

365/81, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

This was from Saturday night. We went to a wedding on Saturday for one of Dave's childhood friends. I got to meet almost everyone from his group of friends, and he reconnected with people he hasn't seen in 20 years. We all went out after the reception for drinks. They were all really neat people & we had the best time!

Things are coming along on the kitchen. We had a few issues with plumbing, but it's all coming together. I believe this weekend will be the magic kitchen move weekend. It's like a dream. :)

Things are good. I hope the same for you.
Love.

I think you can tell

What we've been up to:

Sorry for the long delay. Makes for a boring blog! We've just been so busy lately getting this darn remodel closer to done. We are VERY excited to be at the grouting countertop stage, which we should have done tonight. Yay! I'll post some photos of the finished project as soon as I can.



My dear friend, Shelly is at 34 [edit: 35!] weeks today (holy cow) and we celebrated with a baby shower last weekend. She is the cutest pregnant girl ever. I can't believe how fast it's gone. Seems like just a month or two ago when they first told us the news! Well, I am very excited to meet the new little member of the Massey family. But no hurry! ;)



This weekend we are heading North to a wedding for one of Dave's childhood friends. That should be fun. Then we are back to work on the remodel. No rest for the weary.

trash to treasure

365/70, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

Well, not trash really. I found this Easter egg holder at the grocery store for $4. I've been searching for something interesting to hold my necklaces, and this worked perfect! Plus it has a little tray at the bottom that I can put rings in. :)

How's life treating you these days? I've been feeling a little out of it. Not sure if it's the time change or what! I was going through some books to bring over to the "new" house and ran across one called Zen Keys. I've had this book for at least 10 years, maybe more and I've never read it. It happens to be written by Thich Nhat Hanh (notice the quote in the upper right corner of this page), and I've been interested in learning more about him. I didn't even know I already owned one of his books. Funny how that happens. Anyway, this book is about Zen Buddhism, which talks a lot about mindfulness... being present in everything that you do. I think it found me at a good time. As I get a little further into it, I'll try to share some of what I learn.

We are kind of in a process of cleansing, purging and regaining health in mind and body. We started back to the gym, are trying to eat healthier, and get enough rest. I've been doing a lot of thinking about caffeine, coffee to be specific, and working up to reducing or possibly eliminating it all together. That will be a tough one. I so enjoy our trips to Starbucks. Well, we'll see. I might have to think about that one a little longer.

surprise guests + birthday

justin + anna, originally uploaded by eklektic*photos.

My 31st year was ushered in by good times, family and friends. These two little sweeties showed up in the middle of the night all the way from NYC. We had a party on Sunday in our halfway remodeled house (no countertops!). What a great way to break it in though.

I am totally in love with my new camera lens (a gift from my adorable guy). And we spent Monday (my actual birthday) just hanging out at home in our jammies most of the day. I'd have to say that it was the best birthday yet. Thanks to all. Love you guys.