Hawaii!!

Well we had an awesome time in Hawaii. We had quite a few travel woes on the way out there and on the way back, but that's a whole other post. Let's just say we got to spend an unexpected night in San Fransisco that turned out wonderful thanks to the flexibility of our friends. Justin got home from Africa on December 15th at 5:30 pm and we headed out for HI at 8:30 am on the 16th. Poor guy! At our stop in SF we got to hang out with Kevin and Nikki and Jill and meet Preston.
We had a great time of catching up. I forgot how deep and thought provoking Nikki's questions can be. :)

We finally arrived in Honolulu on Thursday at 2:00 and hit the beach. We had a great view from our hotel balcony. You sort of had to lean over to see, but it was still great. It was a very relaxing trip with not much planned which was great!! Thursday night we went to the best sushi place ever! You basically let the chef bring you whatever he decides to make. We ended up eating a 13 course meal! It was amazing. best. sushi. ever.

Friday we got up early and went on a 5 mile hike on the north shore. It was so cool and very pretty. Whitney, Bob (WB radio rep), George (WB radio rep), Laura (George's fiancee), Justin and I all made it the whole 5 miles. It was Bob's first hike and we were proud of him. The path was pretty steep at times, but worth it for the view at the end. That night, Justin played an acoustic set with Whitney for about 30 minutes. Not a bad trade off for a free vacation, I'd say! We also went to Benihanna, one of those Japanese steak houses where they make the food in front of you. Justin had never been to a place like that, so that was fun. We both had pretty much the best steaks of our lives. So yummy!

Of course, I can't go anywhere without getting hurt. Before our hike we stopped at a grocery store to get some supplies. Across the street from the store was the beach and a small tide pool with a bunch of big rocks. Justin, Whitney and I decided to go climbing out on the rocks. I was jumping out to where Justin was standing and slipped on a wet rock and went down HARD! My left hand/arm was all bloody and my leg and lower back had some pretty huge bruises. I was soaked too. Luckily between me Justin and Laura, I was able to change clothes and make the hike anyway, but still it was pretty rough. (This picture is from the end of the day when I took the bandaids off. Most of the blood had dried by then.)

Saturday we just lazed around and hung out on the beach. The fruity drinks and fresh pineapple sure did spoil us! Justin and I walked around the beach in the morning and did a little shopping. The Hilton was crazy, you pretty much would never have to leave if you didn't want to. So many shops and stores. That afternoon Justin and Whitney rented kayaks and I took a spin in Whit's. I couldn't do too much though, because my hands were still messed up and the salt water stung!

Sunday was supposed to be our last day (thanks to United, we stayed an extra night) so we just lounged around on the beach. Justin got a snorkeling mask and some flippers and said he saw some pretty cool fish. I snorkeled for a bit, but again, couldn't stay in the water long because of my hands. We got all packed up that night and headed to the airport. En route, we found out one of our flights had been canceled so the shuttle driver brought us back to the hotel. (After picking up a few more passengers and going all the way out to the airport.)

We made the most of Monday and took the public bus out to Pearl Harbor. We spent most of the morning out there touring the USS Bowfin (a submarine) and the USS Arizona memorial. The USS Missouri was dry docked for repairs for the first time since the memorial opened so it was closed. (Just our luck!) It was pretty amazing and quite sobering to tour everything and remember what happened and all the lives lost. That afternoon we headed out to the beach for our last few hours. We walked out on the rock pier to watch the last sunset and it was beautiful!!

world traveler

I thought I'd give you all a taste of Justin's travels. Here are a few excerpts from some of his emails and a few pictures I stole off facebook. Enjoy!

This is next to the hotel they actually stayed in. The English Channel is just to the left.

that town (amsterdam) is awesome. i heard so many european languages there. there is an ugly side to it--the red light district. our hotel shuttle driver was telling us that it is basically behind this big church. he thought that was really funny. i told him i thought that was a really great location for a church building, actually. he didn't get it. i wish we could have seen that city in the daylight--the buildings were so awesome. so much history here!

Amsterdam Central Station

there were no arrival cards to fill out at the airport (in south africa), and the customs didn't even stop us to rifle through our bags. the airport was really nice and modern and clean. a major change for the better from the lagos (nigeria) airport.

we got in around 6:30am, and were taken to the house we are staying in...it's called the travel lodge in auckland park, which is a suburb of jo'burg. the house is AMAZING. it has 12 bedrooms or so, most of which have two twin beds (not pushed together, thankfully). the neighborhood resembles newport beach or even maui with the style of the homes and the vegetation. it's a bit confusing hearing everyone speak the queen's english here. and it doesn't feel like africa at all. my room is on the bottom floor next to the driveway, and i can look out of my window and see the old-fashioned tennis court in the front yard. further up the hill on the side of the house, there is a small pool and a neatly manicured yard enclosed in a brick walkway. the whole place is a blend of england and the tropics. the city is very modern as well. it'll be nice to be here for a few days before going to ghana.

we are at the studio in jo'burg waiting to get everything set up and plugged in. this really nice older gentleman named kevin brought in a bunch of guitar gear--some old fender amps, a marshall cab, and a few guitars--a mexican tele (pretty cool), a les paul anniversary edition (meh), and a REAL 1961 STRAT (UNBELIEVABLE)!!!! it sounds so good, plays great. worth about $30k...

the studio that we are tracking in here in jo'burg is in the national tv/radio broadcasting studios. it's a huge complex, and i guess it's the only place that broadcasts south african tv. during apartheid, it was where the oppressive white regime would spread their propaganda.

on that note, there is a bit of darkness about this place that comes from its crazy history. there are still townships, which are basically huge fenced-in slums where blacks were forced to live and given little to no rights. the crazy part is that apartheid didn't really end until 1994. can you believe that? most of the country is still not very safe for whites. you need to be aware at all times even in the major cities (which are the safest areas for sure).

all in the family

i'm famous

and a little silly... check it out staring at the 3:25 mark. :)

pumpkin carving etc

Justin had a busy week this week/end. He left Wednesday morning and hit Phoenix, San Jose, Orange County, and Phoenix again before getting home Sunday night. Lucky for him, he got to catch up with some great old friends. Sadly, he leaves again tomorrow morning. I'm ready for all this traveling to be over.

I started my weekend off by dropping my phone in the toilet. Fabulous! (And to all you sickos wondering, there was nothing in the toilet when I dropped it.) Luckily after towel drying and blow drying it seems to be working fine. Ask me again in a couple weeks. Saturday I went to the farmer's market and got my pumpkins and also the flea market with Alison and Susie Beth. So much fun! I found almost everything I wanted! Woohoo!

coffee table: $15
old lantern: $15
2 picture frames: $5

Last night we had our pumpkin carving party. Sadly, Justin was only there for the last half. We had a great time and I'm always amazed at the designs people come up with. Check us out!

the rest of the story

well you've already seen pictures of the beautiful maggie pauline. but now for the rest of the story...

we had one of the most whirlwind trips to kansas i think we've ever had. we touched down in KC around 6:30, rented a car and drove into wichita. we were hoping to see maggie that night, but 10:45 was a little late for her and adam and abbe. we got up the next day and got to play with dakota and creyton for a while. those boys are hilarious. here's creyton and me having a little too much fun with balloons! :)


we headed to the hospital in the morning with nana, gigi and grandpa. we got to stay and snuggle with maggie and catch up with adam and abbe for quite a while. the evening we all trooped over to their house for dinner after everyone was released from the hospital.

sunday we made our way to manhattan to see terri, jesse and josh and to meet the precious tucker duell. josh had to work, so we ate at chili's to experience his world famous service. the service was great, the food? not so much. (more on that later.) we got to see ben and kristin for a while and catch up with them. tucker looks just like big sis!we headed on to KC that evening to stay the night with kirk and marisa before catching an early flight monday morning. unfortunately on the way there we have to stop a few times for me to use the bathroom. i spent the whole night in kirk and marisa's bathroom. not fun. let's just say i hope to never experience liquid coming out both ends of my body at the same time ever again. yuck! when we finally got home monday, i called in sick and justin took good care of me while i bummed on the couch. it was a great trip, even if it didn't end as planned.

sweet maggie

we just can't get enough of this girl!

i can't wait

justin and i are going home together this weekend. it's the first time since moving to nashville that we'll be in kansas at the same time and it's not christmas! (well, there were a couple other times, but he was working so it doesn't count.) we are going home because my niece will be born today!! as of right now (8:54 am) abbe has had her epidural and we'll get to meet little doll baby soon! this calls for lots of exclamation points!!!!!

also, we will get to meet little tucker duell and miles thiessen. babies everywhere! stay tuned for more pictures and info...

there's no place like home

I went home a couple weekends ago courtesy of my lovely mom. Justin was 10,000 miles away and Abbe was having a baby shower, so I decided to surprise her and make the trip. Fun times were had by all. But first....

Note to self: always check to be sure your flight is on time. My flight out of nashville was delayed 4 HOURS!! UGH. Plus, since I had a friend drop me off, I didn't have a ride back home. So instead of chillin with Riley for a few extra hours I tried to make myself comfortable in the freezing airport. We finally landed in KC at 12:25...AM! My poor parents had driven up to get me so we started the trek home. I think we pulled into the driveway at 3:45 am. Not so much fun.

Saturday morning, I surprised Abbe and took her to get pedicures for her birthday, which was also that week. It was fabulous!! Massaging chair, ice water and a small Asian woman massaging your feet and legs. Doesn't get much better. After our pedis we went and grabbed lunch and stopped off at Hobby Lobby. Fun afternoon. I was pretty much pooped after that. I headed back to Mom and Dad's to hang out with Aaron and Jessie. That evening we had a big ol family dinner and just hung out and talked. The little boys are so much fun and we had a blast.

Sunday we went to church and then Mom, Dad, Aaron and Jessie and I went to Picadilly for lunch. So yummy!! Abbe's baby shower was that afternoon and the girls all went to that. Best baby shower ever. No dumb games, just yummy treats, cute gifts and a prayer time. Abbe's so excited for a girl and I think the boys might be a little overwhelmed by all the pink. :) Sunday night, Mom and Dad drove me back up to KC. I stayed the night with Kirk and Marisa in their awesome new house and Marisa took me to the airport first thing Monday morning. I was super tired at work Monday and came home and crashed. Poor Riley, I wasn't much fun. Anyway, fabulous trip home!

justin in jakarta

well, for those of you who aren't in the loop, justin has been in indonesia for the last 10 days. he finally comes home tonight! i'm so excited!!

he's playing with don moen, who's pretty much wrote every worship song ever. they left on the 11th and flew from nashville to la, la to hong kong and hong kong to jakarta. they played multiple concerts and each musician also hosted clinics to teach the students who signed up how to play their various instruments. it took him a while to adjust to the time change. jakarta is exactly 12 hours difference from nashville. they also traveled to batam, which is on another island in indonesia and took a day trip over to singapore. this trip has been difficult because for us to be able to talk, justin has to have an internet connection and those have been spotty at best. needless to say, i'm so pumped he will be home tonight.

here's a view of jakarta from justin's hotel room

this is surabaya, another city they visited from another hotel room vantage point

randomness

Well...I just have a bunch of random thoughts.

1-- I bashed my shin really really hard tonight on one of the dumb stools in the dining room. In my defense, it was dark! I'll take a picture of what I'm sure is going to be a heinous bruise.

2-- Justin leaves on Friday for almost 2 weeks to Indonesia. Sad for me. :(

3-- Dale finally has a new home. I dropped him off with his new family on Saturday night. YAY!

4-- We had a Labor Day BBQ and I made home made ice cream and it was awesome.

5-- I realized I forgot to blog about my amazing trip to New Hampshire to visit my best friend, so check out Meaghan's blog. She posted here and here.

6-- I got poison ivy...AGAIN!

7-- Today at work we had a one minute party today at 9:09 on 9/9/09. Fun!

That's all. I hope you enjoyed this session of random thoughts.

don't mess with justin, he's smarter than you

so justin is trying to sell an amp on craig's list. here's the exchange between him and a potential buyer. no part of the email has been changed:

I live in southern Illinois. If I paypal you, could you securely
ship it to me? If not, could you meet me half way??
Would be Paducah since I live in Mt Vernon, IL. Say either add the
price of shipping or $50 bucks for meeting me to the final price.
Let me know if you're interested. Been looking for Princeton Reverb
for awhile now..
thanks
-Ryan

Ryan--

I'm sorry man, but I don't have any time to drive four hours to meet
you, and I bought it new in town, so I don't have a box to ship it
in. I can really only sell it locally.

Thanks,
Justin

It's actually two hours, 139 miles, but I understand.. Also, you
really must not be that sharp if you aren't aware that USPS has
boxes.. How did you figure out how to plug the guitar in???? Did
someone show you? haha
Good luck selling, buddy. You made my day.
-ryan


Let's do a little simple math: 2 hours to Paducah + two hours back to
Nashville = FOUR HOURS worth of driving.

I don't have the original manufacturer's box (because I bought it new
locally), and I don't have the time to go find both a box and packing
materials, pack the amp up properly, and ship it out. Hence the
phrase, "LOCAL SALE ONLY" in my ad on Craigslist.

And which one of us isn't that sharp?


check mate, ryan!!

hard headed

So, the other night I was working out in the back yard. Our garage is about 5 feet away from the side fence and there's a little pond back there and some overgrown bushes that desperately needed to be pulled out. I was minding my own business, bending over weeding, when...WHAM!! Riley plowed right into me at full speed, closely followed by Dale. I think they were playing keep away and she wasn't paying attention to where she was going til it was too late. She got me right in the temple and knocked me completely over. dumb dog. It hurt to open my mouth wide for 2 days!

tom's shoes

for my birthday, justin got me two pairs of tom's shoes. they are awesome. if you don't know about the "tom's movement" it's awesome. for every pair of shoes you buy, they give an identical pair to a child in need. it's a pretty cool deal and you get cool shoes too. cute shoes and helping the world? it's win win! check them out.

p.s. i swear i will blog about my parent's visit and give you all before and after house pics. really i will!

bulls and blood, dust and mud

Well we didn't see any blood, but plenty of the others. Justin and I went to the PBR (professional bull rider's) rodeo the other weekend. It was AWESOME! I love rodeos. Justin had never been so it was an experience for him for sure. We had so much fun and it was cool to recognize some of the riders' names. It's televised live and I had Aaron watch to see if he could see us, but since we didn't pay $100 for our seats, they didn't feel the need to show us on camera. Oh well. :) Here's a little taste of the awesomeness. Sorry I don't have the very beginning, they started before I was ready.

the dale saga

well, last wednesday, the 5th, my birthday (another post) justin's bleeding heart caused him to take in a stray dog. i almost hit this dog on my way to work that morning and when he showed up on our porch, justin fed him and then he wouldn't leave. this mangy basset hound was probably the grossest dog i'd seen in a while. poor guy had the worst case of fleas i've ever seen and his ribs were showing and his eye was all gunky-lovely. anyway, even though we were throwing the first party in our new house that night, justin decided we needed to care for this guy so we could find him a good home. justin called all around and found out he did have owners and was neutered and up to date on shots. we were not about to give him back to people who would mistreat him so badly. so, we gave him 2 flea baths, a capstar pill (to kill fleas) and some frontline (to repel them in the future) and took him to get his stitches out from being neutered. (he was 2 weeks overdue to have them out.) he cleaned up pretty good and we were hoping he would capture one of our unsuspecting friends' hearts and they would take him home. no one bit.

well, justin sent out an email hoping to find him a home. (oh, by the way, justin decided to call him dale. i wanted belvidere, but dale won out.) we had a few people answer that they wanted him and before we could work out the details, justin left to go out of town. friday, dear dale decided he had enough of paradise (clean fur, no itching, food, water and a warm, dry place to sleep) and busted out. he somehow pushed open the porch gate and moved a cinder block in front of a hole in the fence and escaped. oh well, i thought, it's not like he's our dog and hopefully someone else will find him and love him.

fast forward to this last wednesday, the 12th. justin was still out of town and he texted me that i needed to call bob spencer because this man had dale. what?! so i did. bob had dale and was hoping we could take him back and find him a home. i drove a few streets over to where bob lives and picked dale up. apparently, bob uses the same vet we had taken dale to and when he stopped in to see if they had heard anything about a lost dog, they gave him our number. so random. so now he's back and we're looking for a good home for a very floppy basset. any takers?

justin's awesome weekend

I'm trying to convince Justin to blog about his weekend. Maybe if enough of you bug him about it he will. Here's a teaser...

week with the fam

Terri, Jesse and Josh came to visit last week. It was so good to see them and I'm so glad they got to see our new house (even though we're not completely moved in yet). They got here on Tuesday night after a long drive and a minor detour because of a major accident. We were glad to see them safe and sound. We all decided we needed some sushi, so we headed down to our local sushi bar, Wantanabe. Wonderful! So yummy.

Wednesday while I headed to work, everyone else headed to the aquarium in Chattanooga. They had a lot of fun. Sorry I don't have any pictures. They got home kind of late and when they got back I had kebabs waiting. We got into the habit of eating pretty late, but it was good times.

Thursday, Justin needed to do some recording so Terri and the boys headed over to Opry Mills to check out the gigantor mall (while I was at work). They only got about half way around when Justin met them for lunch. That night Justin played a writer's round at The French Quarter. They really enjoyed seeing Justin play. And I'm not a fan of writer's rounds, but it was pretty good. Josh cooked us all some fabulous fettuccine alfredo when we got home.

Friday they went to Centennial Park to walk around and see the Parthenon (while I was at work-see the trend?). Then they headed back to the mall and I met them after work and we went to see Harry Potter. Side note: I've heard a few people say it was boring and I see where they're coming from. I fell like they left some things out that would have made it more interesting and I wish end would have followed the book. Anyway, when we got home Terri made dinner-spaghetti in keeping with the pasta theme. We went to bed fairly early to be ready for our hiking trip.

Saturday we left for Fall Creek Falls. We had a blast! It was a beautiful day for hiking. We hiked from the Cascades to the Falls and back. The 3 boys went out to all the lookouts while Terri and I took our time on the regular trail. At one lookout you can go all the way out to this cliff with about a 300 foot drop. We were able to see them from the falls lookout across the gorge and it made me very nervous!! They're the white specks in the middle of the picture. After the hike, we went back to the car to grab some food and We headed down the cable trail for some swimming. Terri stayed in the car for some R&R. The water was pretty cold, but it was still so fun. We were pretty tired out that evening, so instead of cooking we went out for Thai food and hit the sack.

They headed home Sunday morning and made a stop at H&M in St. Louis on the way home. (I know Justin was jealous!) I was so good to have family come and stay.

THOkomo

We had a crazy party at work last week. Each team in the clinical trials department planned their own party and we were all judged. Whoever was judged to have the best party got a paid half day off. Well, of course, we won!! We're the best team and all the other teams are jealous of us. :) We're the thoracic team, otherwise known as the THO team. Since our theme was Caribbean, we named our party Thokomo. We're so clever! We went all out. We had one section of cubicles as the ocean. I hung 3 different shades of blue streamers up and we had a fan blowing on them as the ocean breeze. We also had a sound machine set up so people could hear the ocean waves. We had champagne with raspberries, mojitos, strawberry daiquiris and pina coladas. (All non-alcoholic of course-it was a work function!) For snacks, I made palm tree sugar cookies, we also had shrimp cocktails, bruschetta with basil butter (say that 5 times fast) and cucumbers with crab dip. So yummy! We pretty much blew everyone out of the water. This is our team. From top to bottom, left to right: Stephanie, Marisa, Brady, Gabe, Wendy, Amy, Harriet, me and Kurt.

the new house

I thought I'd do a quick picture post for those of you not on facebook. If you are on facebook just disregard because you've seen these already. I hope to have before and after kitchen pictures by the end of the week!




(quick side note: this room WILL be painted or white washed or something. paneling must go!)

locked out

i survived my first (and second and third) night in the house alone. i was going to have rana stay with me, but i was so tired, i just wanted to stretch out in the bed alone. in hindsight, it might have been a good idea. riley woke me up on saturday morning needing to go out. i went out on the back deck and sat in one of our deck chairs to enjoy the early morning. when i went to go back inside i realized i had shut the door all the way behind me (which you can't do because the previous owner's child lock had screwed up the door and if you pull it all the way shuts, it locks). well, crap! now i'm screwed. i'm locked out. i have no phone, no shoes, and no upper body undergarments (if you know what i mean) and justin is out of town. luckily, the next door neighbors were having a garage sale so they were up and around. i walked over there in my pajamas (t-shirt and green and white polka dot shorts) with my arms crossed. "hi! i'm your new neighbor and i just locked myself out. can i borrow your phone?" so embarrassing!! i called justin (pretty much the only number i know by heart) and woke him up.

A: i locked myself out.
J: are you kidding me?
A: ummm...no. i need you to call erich.
J: what's erich going to do?
A: i dont' know-help me! at least he's in town.

well, after multiple calls back and forth, a horrifyingly long time waiting at the neighbors and $60 later, a locksmith let me back in. later that morning erich did come over and fix the locking mechanism so it can't happen again. lesson learned, right? wrong!

a few days later, justin changed our front door locks. all 4 doors to our house have different keys, so we're in the process of getting them all changed to the same one with new pretty door handles. anyway, i came home and my key would NOT turn the lock. justin was at a rehearsal and i was trying to hurry and get ready for a birthday party. the key that had the same name as the lock would absolutely not work. i called justin and he said to try all my other keys. now why would a key with a different brand name work in our new lock? pure irony. the key with the same brand name on it is actually the key to my parents house and the other key worked in the lock. saved!...or not. i rushed around to get ready and go pick up justin. as i locked the handle, closed the door and looked in my purse for my keys, i realized they were in the house. luckily i was fully clothed and had my cell phone on me. i called justin and he was able to come pick me up. we were a little late to the party and hopefully this time i really did learn my lesson!

craziness

sorry i haven't blogged in SO long! i was planning on blogging a long time ago about our anniversary trip to memphis, but justin deleted the pictures off the camera after he loaded them onto his computer, so i couldn't load them at work. and then i wanted to post about justin playing at CMA fest with Whitney and Sara in the same afternoon and how he had to literally run from one stage to the other in 90 degree heat to make it to both shows, but i forgot the camera. i don't like to post without pictures. now, thanks to our awesome iphones, we can use them to power our internet at home.

ANYWAY...big news...WE'RE HOMEOWNERS!! that's right, we bought a house. we moved in last weekend. our wonderful friends helped us move all of our stuff in under 2 hours! quickest move EVER. pictures to come.

4 years and counting

a day late, but it still counts...

justin and my 4 year anniversary was yesterday. i was just planning on eating at home, but justin surprised me by saving up some of his per diem so we could go out to dinner and a movie. we tried out a new sushi place in the village called zumi. we weren't terribly impressed. it was good, just not great for the price. the restaurant had a cool vibe and the staff was super helpful, but i just don't think we'll be going back. we went and saw "night at the museum II". it was ok. again, not great, but ok. amy adams as amelia earhart was completely getting on my nerves. we did have a fun night even though the dinner and movie were just ok. i'll leave you with some fun pics...

go big or go home

he did it!!so, justin got his tattoo started. the story behind it: he wanted to get all the flowers from my wedding bouquet. so the only one done now is the stargazer lily in the center and by far the largest flower in the tattoo and in my bouquet. those are also traditional japanese waves done in the old style of drawing (i guess). he'll need to do a few more sittings before it is finished. he'll get the inside of his arm done (double ouch!) with an orchid and some calla lilies coming up from his elbow to his upper inner arm. he's also getting color done at the end. so it's going to look pretty cool when it's all said and done. but what do you think? :)

flying sauced

justin's birthday was yesterday. he's 29 now. gettin old! ;) i threw a big party for him at the flying saucer. it's a really cool microbrew in downtown nashville. justin was joking that he didn't want to be "flying sauced" by the end of the night. he wasn't, but everything was a bit funnier to him i think. haha!! we had a great time. i think a least 40 people showed up. i'm really bad with estimating usually, but 30 people rsvp'ed and there were more than that, so i think 40's a pretty good guess. i made him a funfetti cake. he's like aaron with his cake tastes-boring. so i tried to spice up the white cake/white frosting combo by going with funfetti! i put strawberries in the middle and over the top. all the strawberries on top kept slipping off-really really frustrating! justin finally suggested to stick toothpicks in them-he's so smart! it worked and we were good to go. we were at the saucer from about 7-11 and hung out, talked, played pool and darts and generally had a good ol time. justin had bus call at midnight that same night so we were hightailing it outta there to make it in time. luckily, they were meeting just down the street from our house, so justin was only a few minutes late. thanks to everyone who came out to help justin celebrate!!

our house?

well... we were going to wait to post this until everything was completely final, but i can't wait. we have a house!!!!! (probably) the contract is set (we accepted their counter offer), but we're still waiting on some inspection details. as of right now, our close date is june 30. we're SO excited. everything happened so fast! we looked at the house (one of three) on the 5th and decided we really liked it. justin wanted to make an offer right away, but i was unsure. we had only looked at 3 houses-were we really sure we wanted this one? my fears were calmed, though, and we made an offer. we found out ours was the third offer and the house had only been on the market for 5 days! must be a pretty good house-huh? :) to add another element of stress, justin was in canada and unreachable by phone for this whole process. it was a lot of emailing, IM-ing and faxing forms to be signed. we got it all worked out and it was inspected on the 12th. we're waiting to hear back from them (hopefully today) about some of the repairs we've asked them to handle.

here's a link if you want to check it out and see some more pics. i'm also taking suggestions as to what color to paint that hideous paneling in the den. (sorry if you like paneling.)