Trusses and Framing

This weekend, Steve's brothers and sister came to help frame and put up the trusses on the roof. It was so nice of them to come, and Steve really appreciated the help. Just to give you an idea of how tired he is- by 4:00 on Saturday, he had to lay on the ground... he immediately fell asleep and couldn't get up for 45 minutes. I felt so bad for him.
We also had a couple of friends come too- thank you so much! It takes a village...
Here are some pics:

Steve and Maddie in our future kitchen...

Maddie loves the worksite, because she knows she will always get a granola bar.

The house framed with the external walls. This is what it looked on Friday.



The big truck came with all the trusses for the roof. All of the neighbors came out- and were bringing lawn chairs to watch the show. It was so funny.

The big crane that lifted them on.

The two beverages that fueled the crew.

Why anyone goes into contstruction, I don't know. It is seriously hard work. These are Steve's brothers taking a break after 10 hours of work?

Moving ladders...

The house with most of the trusses up.

The front with the trusses.

The crew dolled up.

A summer of weddings

It seems as though a lot of people always go to weddings. But- I haven't been to THAT many weddings. So, I am PSYCHED that 4 of my friends are getting married this summer.

1) Wedding #1 is at the end of May- she was one of my best friends in high school, and it's going to be at La Caille in Salt Lake City. This place is beautiful. Amazing food, amazing grounds. Imagine the little town in Beauty and the Beast... in real life. Dinner and dancing!! Yippee. I am so excited for her.

2) Wedding #2 is in July for my best friend in Law school. They are throwing it at the Thomas Fogerty winery in Woodside. (It's a small world, because Steve used to work for Fogerty). This place is beautiful- overlooking the bay area. This picture doesn't do it justice. This will be bitter sweet for me- because she is moving to Texas after the wedding.

3) Wedding #3-- I just was e-mailed that another best friend from high school is marrying her law school sweetheart (they have been dating for seriously forever?!!!). They are getting married in August- I'm not sure of the details yet-- but I AM SOOOO EXCITED FOR HER.

4) Wedding #4-- Friend from church who found the perfect guy for her after a long time of searching. I actually have no idea when it's going to be, but I'm sure it will be a very sweet/beautiful wedding. IT WILL BE SO GREAT to celebrate with her.

Dont' get me wrong- I LOVED my wedding, but it is nice to be a guest at a wedding- where you don't have to have permagrin the entire time, and you can just sit back and relax and have a good time. You can relive the moments of your wedding, but without the stress.

My day of pampering

I spent an afternoon at Juut spa in Palo Alto. I went there in college, but I haven't been there for 10 years! I had such a great time. I had my hair cut, and then I got a makeup lesson. Yes- it was over indulgent, and I was eating up every minute of it.



This is what I look like now:

Hee hee. Don't I look great? They can do amazing things at this place.

Ok- seriously- my haircut kind of looks like this:

A friend wants me to post a picture of myself, and I say "no way dude." It's better to just imagine it!!! Even though it's not a huge transformation, it was nice for a little change. Lighter, a longer bang, a part... I like it.

For the makeup session, I was eating up everything she said (well, she was gorgeous, so that was easy). I got a lot of good tips... it was so well worth it.

I would highly recommend the hairstylist and the makeup artist. It was a great afternoon. After it was over, I wanted to ask them where the massage room was! I didn't want to leave.

Flexibility

THIS PICTURE IS SO FREAKY! I can't even look at it- AHHHH!

I recently read an article about how women in their 30's lose almost everything- their muscle mass, their bone density, flexibility... it was semi-depressing given that I'm approaching that magical age! But- I am going to fight it! My dad picked up running in his early 30's - and he is winning trophies in his 60 age category... so if he can do it, so can I!!!

I have been working on my flexibility for the past month at the gym. I am NOT a flexible person- you can call me the tinman, because I seriously envy my friends who can manipulate their bodies in so many directions (well, not like this picture!!)

But- I can say... I am getting so much better! After each run, I devote around 15-20 minutes stretching. I used to dread it each time, but now I look forward to it- because it feels so good. I can see my muscles improve dramatically- it is amazing what our bodies can do.

Sadly, my running is getting worse- though. I used to be running so fast when I was training for races, but now I'm just slow and steady. But- I think working out ebbs and flows. I'm just glad I get myself up in the morning and go.

I want to take this killer advanced pilates class, but it is so intimidating... and people take it so seriously. Maybe I'll buy myself a little mat and sit in the back and pretend what I'm doing. Any takers?

Decisions

Sorry I haven't posted in a while-- Our lives are pretty predictable these days. Steve is working on the house 130% of his time when he's not at work. And, I am trying to keep my sanity while researching/picking out every little detail for the house.

After I picked the windows, I did research on doors, then I tackled the kitchen. I am trying to narrow down a cabinet maker right now, which has been utterly frustrating. Does it really cost 20K to make cabinets? Maybe I should get in the buisness!!

Most of all, I'm trying to make sure I'm set on the color scheme of the entire house, so that things fit together and don't look haphazard. Steve thinks I'm going way too white- but I think it will work. I'm very excited about it! My biggest decision was whether we were going to wood floors in the kitchen. The layout of our house is not completely square, so that tile would be easily put in on the floor. I think we've decided to continue the wood floors in the kitchen!

After watching "Jon and Kate plus eight," I decided that if their family (of 10 people) can have wood floors in their kitchen, so can we.

Yesterday I went to this fabulous tile store-- and am pretty sure that we are going with quartz for our countertops! Many interior designers say that marble/granite is out- and quartz is in-- not that I care!? The reason we will probably go with quartz is because it's as durable as granite- but we can get the color we want (white of course). If I could- I would get marble, but marble is not good for stains etc. So, quartz can look like marble, but act like granite! Yipee!!

I also think we have picked out the roof tiles and contractor and siding... AH!

Steve is working like a madman to frame the house this week, because the trusses (the basic skeleton of roofs) are coming on Saturday! Steve's family is also flying out on Saturday to help...

So with a lot of luck, we will have the house framed, including the roof done by Saturday?! Will it be possible?

I am most looking forward to Wednesday because Steve is giving me an early birthday present- an afternoon of pampering. I can't wait :)

The Weekend

The last couple of days have been a blur really. Poor Steve has been working around the clock. He invited some of his friends to come help start framing the house on Saturday. In order to be ready, he was up until 11 every night checking codes, buying wood, making sure we had all of the tools etc. He couldn't sleep Saturday morning because his mind was racing, so he went to the "job site" at 6:00 am.

He was really grateful for all of the help, and we were excited to see some walls go up. But- for the faint hearted, please don't build a house on your own! I don't think I will ever embark on this adventure again ( I guess I shouldn't say never). It is very stressful and will take up every waking moment of your life!! I hope when this is all over, I will say "it was all worth it!" For now, I'm trying to be supportive, and to keep a good attitude.

The job site at 9 am.

One of our very nice friends who was there all day and night.

Thank you for everyone's help!!!

While Steve was transfixed with 2 x 4's, I tried to keep myself busy. The highlights of the past week were:

1. Designing my friend's baby announcement with the pics I took when he was around 2 weeks old. It is so darn cute- I can't wait to see all of her pictures and announcements come back from the printers. I want to post it-- but I also want it to be a surprise for those of you who will get it!!

2. Picking our front entrance door. Although this was incredibly stressful/agonizing to pick from 1 million designs and try to keep within our budget, I'm excited to see the door in the house. I'm a craftsman style lover (for those of you who know what that is), so I stuck with that style... It's very linear, boxy. I think I'm going to paint the entire entryway white...

3. Swimming. Friday and Saturday were the hottest days this year, and I couldn't keep myself away from water. On Friday, we went to the Stanford Pool, and on Saturday we went to the YMCA. So fun! With some coaching from my friend, I started teaching Maddie to put her head under the water. The idea is that she will start holding her breath, but for now she's just swallowing gallons of water!

4. Church. Sunday was a good day for both of us, and we are greatful for the many blessings we have.

When many things go wrong

Yesterday was one of those days you are greatful to have, so that you know that it can get better!?

Maddie woke up on the wrong side of the bed for some reason, and was very pouty and emotional, so that everything that didn't go her way was the worst thing in the world. I tried to ride the waves all day, but my patience was getting thin...

I won't bore you with the details of what else went wrong, but it was nice to put my head on my pillow by the end of the day and look forward to the next day.

I really need to work on 1) breathing and 2) patience. These are my new goals for the rest of the year. Mostly- patience. Like Steve Martin says "I come from a long line of over reactors."

On a happy note!! I am starting to plan and scheme about my 30th birthday party!! A friend suggested something that sounds like so much fun, but the details are still being worked on.

Wish I were...

On the Amalfi coast in Italy driving this little Fiat car. Little cars and Italy are two of my favorite things on earth! It seems like too long ago that we were at this exact spot-- staring at the moons reflection on the water.

(please indulge me in this daydream)

Buying pants for a toddler

Maddie has a huge belly. It is utterly adorable, but impossible to find pants for her, because her length of legs are not proportional to the width of her belly!

This weekend, Steve and I were trying to put pants on her, and noticed that her belly has outgrown all of her pants... so we had to put them on without zipping and buttoning them up. I have done this before, and it doesn't bother me, but when it's happening with all of her pants, I realized that I should probably replace them.

I went to the usual stores this morning to buy her some new pants, but still ended up pretty frustrated because most of the pants these days have elastic bands at the top-- which is exactly the opposite of what I need.

I ended up buying really big pants and will just have to fold them up 4 times! I hope they work.

Random thoughts for Thursday

I love this bouquet. I am really into different shades of green right now. And, I love this picture. I secretly stalk this photographer- Jessica Claire. I love her colors/angles/style. She is very talented.

Ok- and talk about talented, I just finished the last of the Twilight books. This last book was my favorite. It was so good- perfect in every way. I thought Harry Potter fans were a little crazy when they waited at 1 in the morning for the next book, but you better be sure that I'll be doing the same for the next book in August.

I checked out Stephanie Meyer's website- and read the first chapter of the remake of the 1st book from Edward's perspective. It was very interesting.... and then of course had to see who they casted in the next movie... (*yes, I am obsessed)

My friend just showed me the coolest link-- http://www.imdb.com/-- the internet movie database. You probably have already seen this (since I'm that slow), but I searched for Twilight in the database, and the pictures of the actors there are better than on her website. I think they are pretty well cast. I can't imagine having the job of casting people- that would be very intimidating, especially if the screen play came from a book.

Filoli

I have found my new favorite place in the bay area: Filoli. I have been wanting to go there for seriously 10 years (no kidding here), and I finally went yesterday.

OMgosh. It is so beautiful. I could stay there for the rest of my life. The tulips were blooming and so perfectly planted everywhere, and the air was full of scents of all kinds. It was heaven on earth.

My photos don't do justice- I wasn't really concentrating on the photography to be honest. I was just trying to take it all in (we were only able to be there 1 hour)... make sure you get there early-- they don't let new visitors past 2:30 and they close at 3:30.


Aren't these amazing?

One of my favorite spots.

The pool was so inviting. Maddie was just waiting to jump in.

I think I could spend an afternoon here sipping lemonade!

This reminded me of the secret garden...

I give it two thumbs up

I recently posted that I was reading "Twilight." I was hesitant to start reading it, because everyone was.... but let me say that it has been like heroin for the last couple of days. I really could not put it down. When I finished it in 1 day, I had to go and buy the second one. And then I read that one in 2 days.

I need to take this day off before I read the third one. It is starting to become ridiculous.

I am a hopeless romantic, and I think this is why I love it so much. (With a lot of "adventure on the side?!) For those who haven't read it, it isn't like Anne of Green Gables romance, but more like Buffy the Vampire Slayer/Harry Potter/Indiana Jones?

I refuse to look at any pictures of the actors who are going to play in the movie until I finish...

San Francisco

This last weekend, Steve's brother and wife came into town. They have never been here in the 11 years that we have- so it was so fun to see them here.

We went up to San Francisco and I played tour guide for the day. (Unfortunately, I forgot my camera, so here is my best attempt)...

My favorite spot in the city is Crissy field because of the fabulous walk, and view of the bridge. We started walking from Crissy field, walked towards the bridge, walked up the stairs, walked half of the bridge and then walked back.

I just love it. It is breathtaking. There is nothing else like it on earth.

Then, of course we had to take a trolley. I am also in love with these! We hopped on it across from Nordstrom, and took it to the warf. Maddie was laughing and jumping the whole way. I have to admit, so was I!!!

Steve's brother is also a chocolate lover, so of course we stopped at Ghirardelli square. There was a huge line, but we braved it... I didn't think it was going to be worth it (I haven't been in a long while because I hate the warf), but when I put that carmel in my mouth, I thought I was going to die.... WHOO HOO. That stuff is delicious.

Then, we took the trolley back and walked around some more, until we were all exhausted.

When all my kids are grown, I tell Steve that we should move into one of those swanky condos on top of the highrises with a view of the bay....