Paint, Paint, Paint

Some more fun before and after pictures to remember this crazy process of home remodel. 

Here is the kitchen, before...

and after a few coats of paint. Kitchen won't really be finished until January, counters and new sink to come!

The next view is standing right next to the front door, looking towards the kitchen. Pardon the mess. 

Before...

After...

Bedroom time! Our master bedroom is a bit small, but has a gigantic closet! 

Before...

After...And tomorrow some carpet will be installed! Hurrayy!

A fun remodel, more to do, but it is getting close to being livable for Brian and I. Come visit and you will have a place to sleep and stay! 

Home Sweet Home

The day we received our keys: December 8, 2013.

Then the work began. Cleaning, painting, ripping up carpet, removing trip, laying tile and soon new carpet. 

The living room when we moved in...

The almost finished living room! 

My wonderful husband has spent many, many hours pulling up carpet (actually that was the easy part) and laying tile. This tile is awesome (thanks Kevin and Melanie for introducing it to us!), it looks like wood floors, but obviously isn't. It will go best over our floors since we have radiant floor heating. 

At this point, Brian is finished laying the tile and is starting to add the grout. He is spending a lot of energy and time on this floor. and it is greatly appreciated by his wife (me). 

It is a lot of fun, and there is a lot more work to be done. 

Seaside Arcade

We went to Seaside this Thanksgiving weekend with Brian's family. And when in Seaside, one has to go to the Arcade. Because, there is no better fun than spending money on silly little games and winning tickets. 

See below: L-R Brian, mom-Karen, cousin Michelle, Aunt Kris, cousin Kyle, and Uncle Dave.

Brian's sister Sarah, (below) had a big win finally on Deal or No Deal!

Beautiful Michelle, waiting around with Kyle's gecko. 

It was a nice three nights at the beach visiting with family and enjoying the holiday AND the beach. Thursday was absolutely spectacular and sunny! And Friday wasn't bad either. Then Friday night we enjoyed the Seaside Holiday Lights Parade and tree lighting ceremony.

Christmas season has begun!

Our Pumpkin Tradition

This year for our traditional carving party, we had about 15 more guests than normal. It was fun. A few families came out and all carved pumpkins with us. It might have to be a new tradition: invite everyone!

We had some artistic people this year. WOW

Enjoying the candle-lit evening. Nice pumpkins huh?

A Kite Festival

A few weeks ago there was a kite festival in Lincoln City, Oregon. And, wow did we luck out because the weather was amazing. October 5th in Oregon is not always the best month, but this day was superb. 

This was the first kite we saw in the air. Brilliant colors and huge!

Then, for about 3 hours there wasn't enough wind to keep the big kites up in the air. So, we enjoyed a nice walk down the beach.

And then the bubble man came. Creating some awesome bubbles for us all to enjoy!

We were about to leave around 3 in the afternoon and the wind started up again! So we saw many large kites up in the sky before we left.

Random happenings...

The "eagles" of Oregon. Well, we do have real eagles here, but don't see them very often. These turkey buzzards, we see all the time! I thought it was funny to see these four sitting here like this. 

Russian pancake time! I had to make sure I could make them still. They tasted great!

Brian had his first day of work today. And I was accepted for a position at Salem Hospital! So, we are both finally employed after having a lovely three month vacation. It was a great holiday but we are glad to start work again. Next up: finding a place to live!

Warrior Dash 2013

When wanting a challenge, why not run a crazy race full of obstacles? Brian and our good friend, Adam decided to conquer the Warrior Dash this year. Here they are at the start of the race, nice and clean, full of energy.

About half-way through, this is how we found them. Still having fun of course. 7 obstacles completed, 5 left to go. 

You wonder, what kind of obstacles? Well, here is an example of an obstacle in this race. 

The last slide to the finish!

They are true warriors now. Good job guys!

Russian Visitors

A few weeks before we went to Alaska, two great friends came to visit. This was their first visit to the West Coast and their first time in America! We did a number of things while they were here, first off a beach trip. 

Roma, Danik and Brian. 

Next up: camping. We headed out to Central Oregon to camp with my sister, her kids and our two friends. What we didn't know: torrential showers were headed our way.

There were a few hours of nice weather to enjoy the lake, campfire, the tents. It didn't rain all night the first night and we even had some sunshine for the first few hours the next morning.

The next day, Becky and I went to a wedding just 20 miles away so we didn't experience the rain, hail and winds that came. 

It was a hard afternoon for everyone left at camp. The rains came in waves. A few of the tents were flooded and there were rivers running through camp. Normally August is a good month to camp in Oregon. But this was just a special weekend!

Meanwhile at the wedding...

It was an outdoor wedding and we were all a little nervous the rains would come, but they never did!

Above is a great friend, Elia. We have been friends for about 23 years and many more to come.

My sister, looking lovely.

After the wedding, we drove back wondering what the day had held for the rest of our group who was camping. Soon we would find out they had a very wet and soggy day. Two of the Sisters mountains we camped near.

Glacial Wonders

A hike to the Mendenhall Glacier was a must for our trip this summer to Juneau. We hadn't been there for probably 2 1/2 years and needed to find this AWESOME ice cave everyone was telling us about. So, off we went. Took a little over an hour to hike out to the glacier and to the ice cave.

It is hard to describe the beauty found in these caves. This one is the best I have been in here in Juneau. A small creek ran down the mountain and into the glacier forming this cave. We followed it down, stepping on many rocks that have just recently been covered by a glacier, for who knows how long. At the end of the tunnel or cave, there is a large opening/hole that goes up to the sky. Tons of water was dripping down the sides and once in the center, under the hole, it felt like you were getting dumped on by rain. 

Nice blue huh?

I have a the best husband. He goes on all these hikes with me! 

Here is the dirty part of the glacier, Brian is on it right now, looking for the hole that goes down to the tunnel. Fun times!!!