Spontaneous Beach Day

David was sent away for work this past week. I understand why his company sends him away on trips (it's usually cheaper for them to pay for his lodging than to pay for him to drive to a far-away location 2 or 3 days in a row); I understand that he cannot help being sent away; I understand that he misses me... but I still hate being alone! So when I talked to David on Tuesday night and he said he would most likely be gone until Thursday evening, I decided to make plans to go away for Wednesday night.

I went to work early on Wednesday morning... crazy early! I was there by 6:30am! When my boss got to work I asked him if I could leave at 12:30pm, and thankfully he had no problem with that. David's mother, sister and nephew are staying in a condo one block from the beach in Atlantic City, and I drove there after work.

The rest of the day was wonderful! I went to the beach with Marney and Julian (my sister-in-law and nephew) and the cool breezes off the ocean made the weather feel nice. (It was 100 degrees at my house, but probably only in the low 90's by the ocean.) After dinner we went walking on the Boardwalk to Ben & Jerry's for ice cream, then just hung out at the condo for the rest of the evening.

I spent Wednesday night with them and commuted 1 hour and 15 minutes to work on Thursday morning. I worked a long day on Thursday to make up the time that I had missed from work, but it was worth it!

I'm thankful for inlaws that I enjoy being with and who truly accept me! I couldn't ask for a better family to be a part of.







Julian splashing in the waves.

Marney and Julian.

A Plethora of Pictures

I enjoy pictures... especially pictures of the people I love and wonderful memories... such as the memories I made last week during the Crosby Family Reunion, held this year in Sandbridge Beach, VA.

However, I was overwhelmed by the 1,500+ pictures I had to sort through when David and I returned home! Where should I even start?

Thankfully, using Picasa, I was able to create a collage of 60+ of my favorite photos from our week so I could post something to my blog (without spending a substantial amount of time). If you want to see more pictures or get the story behind some of the pictures, refer to Alenna's blog, Loucks Lounge.

A Functioning Living Room

Today at 9:30am our living room carpet was installed! David paid the installers some extra money to help him move the furniture back into the room. I haven't had a chance to hang anything on the walls (and I am hoping to buy some large indoor plants) but I was so excited that I couldn't wait to take pictures! The part of the living room that used to be so cluttered with the fireplace (as shown in this picture from 2007) is now the perfect wall for my piano. Also, last weekend on Craigslist (for a very reasonable price!) I found perfect high-backed chairs to make a sitting area next to the piano.

The 3 months of chaos have paid off... and I'm so pleased with our new room!

Lilacs!

Spring came early in NJ this year, and my lilacs are in full bloom! Carla and Alenna, this picture's for you!

Time Well Wasted

The clock is ticking. The clock that's counting down the arrival of our company, that is... not that other clock. We worked on painting the trim in the living room yesterday, but we still have a lot to go (baseboard, chair rail, crown molding and then the second coat of color on the walls)! So we should have gone home after church and spent the afternoon doing more painting.

But we didn't.

After church David and I got on the motorcycle and took an afternoon drive out to Lancaster County in Pennsylvania. It was 75 degrees and sunny. We couldn't have asked for better weather!

David had surprised me yesterday with a Harley-Davidson leather jacket. It stays cool on the bike, even during warm weather, so I was happy to try it out on the ride today.


I had done some research of the area we were driving through, and I found a route that lead us to 4 covered bridges. The first bridge we came to was Mercer's Mill Covered Bridge, built in 1880.
Driving around on the country rounds provided us with views of many animals - sheep, cows, chickens, goats and horses. Also, due to the warm weather we've experienced lately, flowers and trees are in bloom all over the place! (Does anybody know what kind of flowers are on that hillside?)

The second bridge we came to was Pine Grove Covered Bridge. It's the only double-span, double-arch bridge in use in Lancaster County.

5 miles down the road was another bridge, White Rock Forge Covered Bridge. Here we were able to walk underneath the bridge and next to the river.

There were many Amish buggies on the roads today.

The last bridge we came to was Jackson's Sawmill Covered Bridge. The original bridge was washed away by a flood in the 1980's, so it's replacement is younger than me!

We walked across this bridge and looked at the view of the river from the window.

After our bridge tour, we headed into the quaint town of Strasburg, PA for a stromboli dinner.

At the end of the day I was reminded of the Brad Paisley song, Time Well Wasted. Verse 2 says
"It was time well wasted and there's no way I'd trade a few more things that I could've crossed off my list for a day I'll never forget. No, I didn't get a thing done but I sure soaked up every minute of the memory we were makin' and I count it all as time well wasted."

That's how I feel about today. It was a perfect 31st birthday!

Looking Back, Looking Forward

I took a picture of the back of the house today to compare it to a picture from the summer of 2007.
(As you can see, the capping above the back porch isn't complete and we still need a light to be connected to the wires above the back door...)

Bryan has been working on another job for the last 3 weeks, so there hasn't been much progress around our house. But looking at old pictures tonight reminded me of how far we've come!

Another Girl's Weekend

All the construction on our house has kept us too busy for the every-other-month visits that we usually make to NY to visit Alenna and her family. Also, the current limited space in the house has made it mostly impossible for any visitors over the past month and there is no way Alenna, Dan and 3 young children could stay with us. So I invited just Alenna and Cora for a Girl's Weekend! I know Alenna missed being with Dan, Aiden and Seth... and I appreciate them letting Alenna come visit. The weather was terrible most of Friday and Saturday (lots of rain and some flooding), so it gave us the perfect excuse to stay inside playing card games, watching a movie and of course, talking!


Alenna and Cora on Saturday evening.

Cora got a bath in my kitchen sink. She was fascinated by the water!

Cora with her Uncle David and Aunt Alvana... both whom love her very much!

Thank you, Alenna and Cora, for driving to NJ to visit us!

Weekend Work

We just had another work weekend at our house! Here's some pictures of the work that was accomplished.

The first layer of tape and spackle in the living room.

The last of the Tyvek was put on the house. (Ok, be honest... who else is annoyed looking at Tyvek put on upside down?! Good thing that will be covered up soon!)

Bryan and David worked on installing the frame of the front porch roof.

Living Room Changes

Progress to the outside of the house has been delayed because of all the snow we had on the 6th and the 10th. However, there was plenty of work to do in the living room so Bryan and David have stayed busy (and warm!) over the last three weeks by working inside. First the walls and ceiling was completely gutted. We decided to take out the build-in bookshelf because it wasn't very attractive and we didn't like where it was positioned in the room.


This is the progress that was made as of this afternoon... the recessed lights and wall insulation are complete and the sub-flooring has been installed. Bryan will be putting up the drywall at the beginning of next week!

God's Humor

Well, I didn't like seeing the pile of old aluminum siding in our back yard, so God covered it up with almost 2 feet of snow on Saturday, February 6th!




Today, only 4 days after the first storm, we got another 11 inches of snow... and it's still snowing as I write this. It looks like it will be a while before I see that ugly pile of aluminum siding!