Pinterest Party!

Monday night my sweet friend Nicole hosted a Pinterest Party! What was supposed to be a big group ended up being just a few of us, but it actually worked out best that way. We each made a food we’d seen on Pinterest. Nicole (well her sister!) made the main dish of amazingly fluffy grilled cheese and some fabulous crock pot soup. Nicole also made yummy cocktails! I made acorns for dessert and another friend Katie made kale chips as an appetizer!

Oh, and Katie even folded the napkins via a Pinterest tutorial! Impressive.

We really enjoyed sitting around yummy Fall food and chatting the night away. Well at least until 9:00 anyway

I hope this becomes a Seasonal get together! I seriously can’t wait to have a house again to start hosting these fun get togethers.

Thanks again for having us Nicole!

Me, Nicole, Katie, Lauren

 

And how can I make a cute food without doing a photo shoot of it?

I can’t.

Acorn idea found on Pinterest and borrowed from Six in the Suburbs Blog.

These little babies were in the fridge before I took them outside…

…then they got sweaty on me.

Presentation is key. Toting them in this locking jar was perfect!

Aren’t they so cute? And great because you can eat one or twenty depending on your level of dessert hunger.

Lot(s) of Excitement!

I guess all it took was me going out of town, but the day after I left for Beach Bunko I got a text from David that lot clearing was to commence that day. WOO HOO!!

He rode by after work and sent me pictures. I was absolutely giddy. This is really happening!

When I got back on Sunday I had to go see it for myself and take progress pictures.

10-14-12

Since then I’ve now been out two more times during work hours.
Thankfully I have a boss who recently built a house and understands you may be needed on site without much notice. We had to resolve a tree conflict and to “sign off” on the lines for the house placement!

They still had a bunch to clear as of Sunday but they’ve since made great progress and had the lot completely cleared off when we went out yesterday!

10-17-12, whoa, clearing shock.

10-18-12. Setting lines to place the house.

Earlier this month. I can hardly believe it looked like this a week ago.

So a quick tangent…I’m not a self proclaimed Tree Hugger, but I was definitely sad, and felt bad for all the trees coming down. I even verbally apologized to them. Who are we to come in and decimate something that’s been standing longer than we’ve been alive? I kept thinking of Ferngully and the big mean bulldozer taking out the Forest. It makes me sad. But that’s life I guess. The show goes on. I wish they could just be uprooted and replanted somewhere else…

With that being said, the people clearing the lot and the builder said they have been dealing with some very nasty neighbors. They’re mad about the space being cleared and the abundance of trees that were removed.

Great.

I feel bad because it’s not our people’s fault. They’re just doing their job. This probably means that everyone is going to hate us when we move in because we wiped out all the trees on the lot. I guess the people behind and around us thought that when they bought behind a wooded lot it would never sell and be cleared?

Although we did take out a lot of trees so I can understand. Pretty much 100% of them. We like trees. I love the coziness of them. But I’m also terrified of them falling on the house and the fact that it does make those parts of the yard not as usable. We plan to plant some to our liking and on a smaller scale. But we wanted every square inch of usable yard to be cleared. I think it doesn’t help that all the houses we’ve recently seen are in newer neighborhoods and have zero trees. Maybe we just got used to that look and it’s what we wanted. We like lush green space versus woodsy for our backyard. I guess the neighborhood peeps wanted only the trees taken out where the house is going and all surrounding ones left. I’m sorry future neighbors. I hope you forgive us and don’t egg our mailbox or leave us mean notes. I’ll bake you cookies and beg for forgiveness. I’m  having serious worries over the fact that there are grudges against us before we even move in.

Anywho, that’s the latest and greatest. It’s happening so fast now! I’ll refer to the builder from here on as BB for “Builder B”. B stands for Brad and his son Bradley. They’re tag teaming it.

So, when we left today, BB said that if all goes as planned, the slab will be poured next week. Then he says it’s all down hill from there!  

Yippeeee!!

Oh and scroll down to see the Beach Bunko post. Two posts today!

Beach Bunko 2012

This trip marked the 4^th (I think) Annual Beach Bunko! It was great as always!

Before I get into our weekend, first let me explain Bunko if you’re not familiar. So our Bunko group is made up of 12 fabulous women. I am the youngest in the group so the ages range from 25 to about 76 (GMa that’s your marvelous age right?). On the second Friday of every month, our group gets together at whoever’s hosting (it moves from player to player) and we play Bunko! There’s tons of yummy food, alcoholic beverages, and more! Bunko is a dice game. We each put $5 in the pot and play the game. It’s really just luck but you play three rounds of 6 games. There are monetary prizes for most wins, most losses, travel, tie game, and most bunkos. If you want to know more about the technicalities of the game, you can google it. It’s sometimes spelled Bunco.

Our group has been playing Bunko now going on something like a decade. Or close to it. Or close past it. I can’t remember honestly but we’ve been doing it a long time. We’ve lost a few and picked up a few here and there, but we still probably have 80% of the original Bunko group. I definitely look forward to it every month! It’s funny but every house we looked at for sale I always based the kitchen on if it’d be good for Bunko hosting! I can’t wait to host next Summer because it’ll be in the new house!

For the past couple years now (4 I believe) we’ve been going to St. George every October for Beach Bunko. We rent a huge house, the same one every year, and go down for a long weekend. We play bunko usually on Friday night and then spend the rest of the weekend on the beach and eating leftovers! We really do have a wonderful time. A house full of 12 (some crazier than others! ) women is always a good time! You just never know what you’ll find in your bed. Or in your toilet. One year there was a dead fish left in somebody’s toilet. And this year someone (the mystery never was solved!) put weird stuff in beds. Mops, window screens, ping pong paddles, kitchen appliances, etc…It’s a weekend full of pranking so you tend to expect the unexpected. Hah! It’s all good fun though.

So I’ll leave you with pictures from the weekend.

Can’t wait til next year!

View from Mom and I’s room.

Momma’s new dark hair!

Love her.

Like paradise…

We missed you GMa!

Mom matching the sofa. It’s all the rage!

(Im)Patiently Waiting

Time for a house update huh? Well, too bad I don’t have anything new to report.

The day we signed the contract we were told they would be starting to clear the lot that week. Well, it’s now been about 4 or 5 weeks and the lot still looks the same.

So what’s been the hold up? Permitting.

When we decided to build on our lot, our builder had already gone through permitting for another house he was planning to build there. So at the last minute, we found it and wanted it which caused some extra work on his end. It’s taken several weeks to go through the permitting for switching the current permit to another one of his lots, and switching our permit to the original lot.

Whew.

So where are we? Same place.

But, we’re told (again) that clearing should start today. I’m not holding my breath, but I sure hope this is the case. I won’t believe it ‘til I see it.

So what does that mean for our “deadline”? I don’t know.

We have already suggested pushing it back so they don’t feel the need to rush the build just to meet it. So far we’re told let’s wait and see, but if I had to guess, I’d say we’re looking at mid-January. To be honest, this would be perfectly fine with me. Any other time? No. But since our original projected close date is during Christmas week, I’d be A-Ok with pushing it back. So we will see!

I’ll be sure to update soon once they get started which is fingers crossed today!

Abbigail’s Fall Shoot

Caution, cuteness overload ahead!

The Ray Family. Love them.

Flashback to Fall 2011…Hi Baby!

Fall 2012

The only thing cuter than a baby tush is a painted baby tush. Love it!

   

Chelsy’s talents are endless. She made this absolutely adorable peacock costume for Abbigail. I’d like one in my size please .

WW(d)F

That’d be the World Wrestling Dog Federation.

A few months ago I moved our big coffee table out of the living room. It’s just taking up room in my entrance now, but we’ve got a lot more room!

Or better yet, we’ve got a wrestling ring.

I am SO ready to have some more space!

No animals were harmed in the making of this blog post. A human probably was though.

My carpet and rug look absolutely disgusting in these pictures. I promise it’s not. It’s just the way the fibers lay that makes it look dirty!