Christmas Tree

Here's our Christmas tree finally:

Those blubs are not black and clear. The darker ones are actually a purply/grey color and the ones that look clear have glitter and snowflakes on them :). You have to see it in person to really know what it looks like but the picture gives you an idea.



I haven't taken a picture of the outside lights yet because theres a big chunk of them that died so we're going to replace them and THEN I'll take a picture.

Alright, Sarah's here to scrapbook, gotta run!

Quickie

When I was saying yesterday about Jon going hunting, I totally forgot to say that he really enjoyed hunting even though he didn’t get anything this past weekend. He’s excited about going again. He keeps teasing me that when he gets something he’s going to get it mounted and put it on our wall. Yeah RIGHT! :) I always said I’d never marry a hunter and now my husband is one! The thing I don’t like about hunting the most is the animal heads that get hung on walls as trophies. So hopefully Jon won’t ever really want to do that…

Sarah is coming over to my house tonight while Jon’s at work and we’re going to scrapbook. I’m excited, it should be a lot of fun, and I’ll be glad to start getting caught up on all my albums – I’m so far behind! Since Jon works every Wednesday night Sarah’s going to start coming over about twice a month to hang out with me and scrapbook, tonight is the first time she’s coming over.

Speaking of Jon working… I just found out last night that he has a new work/school schedule and he will now be working THREE nights a week! He just started a new semester of school this week and his new classes are Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings so he’s working a double on Monday’s, Lunch on Tuesday’s, and Dinner on Wednesday’s and Thursday’s. That leaves us with Tuesday and Friday nights open. But then we have care group every other Tuesday. I’m pretty bummed about this new schedule! Jon said it’s only for the month of December though and after that he’ll cut back on work. Since I really didn’t like the idea of him working three nights he’s also going to see if he can just work two nights a week in December too. I hope he can!

THE SMELL update: our kitchen still smells like a mixture of bleach and dead something. I think Jon’s going to call Home Depot as soon as he gets a chance, to see if they can come out and take a look at the situation!

Thanksgiving weekend... and beyond

It's been a while! We decorated for Christmas since my last post so I was waiting till I had pictures of what our house looks like before I wrote. I haven’t gotten a chance to take them yet though, so I figured I better write because a lot is going on!

Thanksgiving went well and we had a nice day. We slept in :) and then went to my parents for lunch with a bunch of my extended family. Jon went with my dad and Alysa to sight in his gun for hunting and got all psyched up to go :). Thanksgiving night we went over to Jon’s parents for some more food and to spend some time with them.

I took off work Friday, and Jon didn’t have school so we had all day Friday and Saturday to start Christmas shopping and decorate the house for Christmas. We had a lot of fun spending both days together with nothing urgent to do! Friday we slept in again and then went out shopping for most of the day. After shopping we went on a date to Olive Garden for dinner, yum, yum :). Saturday we went out and bought a tree and then decorated it and we put lights outside on the house. I think everything looks really good and I'm happy with how it turnned out! I’ll take pictures when I get a chance and post them.

Sunday after church and lunch, Jon left with Nate to go hunting up at my pop-pop’s cabin in the Poconos. A bunch of guys go up the weekend after Thanksgiving every year for the opening of Rifle season. While Jon was gone I SHOPPED! :) I got a lot of my Christmas Shopping done on Sunday and even took a break to meet Jon’s mom and dad at Maccaroni Grill for dinner. Sunday night I slept over at Jon’s parents since I don’t like to sleep at home alone. I was really glad when Jon got home last night! I missed him even though he was only gone one night. :(

When Jon got home last night our refrigerator/freezer in the kitchen still smelled really bad (like it has for at least a week and a half), so he said we were cleaning it out right away. We’re both getting really frustrated with the smell and the fact that we can’t figure out where it’s coming from or why! There’s no bad food in either the fridge or the freezer plus Jon and Glenn Clemmer pulled the whole thing out and took the grate off the back and pulled some of the insulation out to see if anything was dead in there, but they couldn’t find anything.

So last night we nailed a drop cloth over the doorway from the kitchen into the hallway, we opened the windows and door in the kitchen and emptied everything out of the entire Refrigorator! We had to throw out anything that wasn’t tightly sealed because the smell had seeped into it; everything else we washed with soapy water. Luckily everything that was left from the freezer, fit into our extra freezer in the spare room. The stuff from the fridge we put in coolers out on the porch. Then Jon turned the refrigerator off and sprayed a bleach/water mixture all over inside and wiped it down. All night last night we left the doors to the fridge open and the windows open to air everything out.

This morning when we got up the kitchen mostly smelled like bleach so we couldn’t tell if the fridge still smells bad or not. The coolers both smell when you open them though so the smell must have really absorbed into the containers of everything. UGH!

Earlier today Jon turned the fridge back on and closed the doors and tonight he’s going to wash the fridge down again to try and get rid of the bleach smell, so we can see if the bad smell is still there. If it is, then I guess our next step is to get someone to come out and look at the thing! Maybe we’ll have to get it replaced by Home Depot.

If there is something dead in the back though, I wish we could find it because it grosses me out just thinking that it’s still in there, even if it doesn’t smell anymore. Eww!

So, that is what’s been happening over at our little cottage latley :) . Between the smell and our plumbing not working for a week, we are really learning what it’s like to have a house! For the most part I love having my own house but sometimes it’s just not fun. Hopefully we figure out this smell problem and can get back to normal life soon.

Alright, this post is really long. I’m going to go now. I’ll post those pictures of our decorated house as soon as I get to it.

Nintendo Wii

Sunday was launch day for yet another video game system! Nintendo’s newest system called “Wii” which is much cheaper than the Play Station 3 that we waited in line for. The Wii is a much different kind of video game system than any before it because, instead of a usual controller, this controller looks more like a TV remote and it’s motion sensitive it’s also much less complicated with less buttons than other controllers. In-other-words, all the people out there like me, who can’t help but move their hands around while using a video came controller, now can actually move their car or player or whatever on the screen when they move the controller.

Jon had a Wii system reserved, so Sunday he went to pick it up, and yesterday he had a “Wii Party”. A few of his friends from school came over earlier in the day after school and then last night a bunch of the guys from church came over. It was dangerous walking through the house! They were playing games like bowling, tennis, baseball, etc. Since the controller is motion sensitive when you’re batting in baseball you actually swing your arm with the controller in it. When you’re bowling you go through the motions, just like if you were bowling, accept you don’t actually throw the controller! You probably get the point.

They had David’s TV and Wii set up on the kitchen table and Jon’s in the living room. To walk through the kitchen you had to watch out that you didn’t get smacked by someone swinging their bat or racket or rolling a bowling ball!! haha

I took a few pictures but it’s hard to see the motion:

Dave & Steve playing boxing:

Bowling:

Tennis:

As far as other things going on in our life. We’ve discovered a horrible smell coming from, we think, the freezer although we can’t figure out what it could possibly be!

Our plumbing is fixed as of today!!! Yesterday and today they were working on it and today they realized that it could have been fixed last Monday but somehow there was a mis-communication and they didn't realize that it was the sinks and tub that weren't draining. They thought it was the toilet, which was actually working fine! I can’t wait to be able to take showers at my house, do wash, wash dishes and run the dishwasher again! I’m very thankful that Jon’s parents live right next door and they've allowed us to use their house whenever we needed , but obviously that's more of a hassle :)

Alright, Jon's waiting to use the computer, I've got to run!

Waiting In Line For A PS3

Last time I wrote I thought I would be home alone for 3 days (that was Tuesday night). Turned out I was wrong. :) Wednesday I had a conference to go to for work that was in Valley Forge, so, embarassing as it was, I asked if I could drive my car to the conference and then afterward not go back to work so I could hopefully get in line for a PS3 before the line filled up. I got to Best Buy at about 1:30 on Wednesday and was 15th in line (Jon was 1st). Jon talked to the people in front of me so I was able to hang out and sleep in the tent that Jon was in with Nate, David and John Hendricks. Here's a picture of the first two tents in line and a few people (the big yellow & blue tent is ours): Most of the other people in line were very friendly so everyone hung out together. By the end, a lot of us knew each other pretty well. Here's a close up of our tent (the one side of it isn't up in this picture): After I got there the line started filling up quickly, by around 5 or 6 that night there were as many people in line as Play Stations that Best Buy was getting (28). Someone in line decided to write up a list with the names of everyone in line so that no one could budge and say that they were in line if they weren't (people get crazy about these systems). There was a 24 hour Giant, a Target, a Lowes, and other stores, all right there in the same shopping center, so we were able to get out of line for little bits at a time to go get food or use the restrooms. People were pretty easy going about it.

Shawna and Kelsey got to Best Buy around 3:00 and they were racing about 3 other people who were also on their way. Shawna brought the Hendricks camping grill so some of us cooked up hamburgers for dinner Wednesday night and Thursday we made bacon and eggs for breakfast. A few of the guys also made Steaks for dinner Thursday night:

Nate making hamburgers:

Steaks:

Me reading a magazine: Thursday it rained so we bought a tarp at Lowes and put it over the tent to keep it from leaking. Then we all sat inside watching two movies on a laptop, which was hooked up to a car battery for power :). In the picture below you can see our tent in the background with the tarp over it:
Thursday we were on Channel 10 news two times. Throughout the entire time we were sitting there 2 news papers came to do interviews and Wired 96.5 (a local radio station) also came out. Channel 10 news interviewed Jon and Nate personally and video taped us grilling and sitting around.

The NBC 10 news van:

Channel 10 News video taping:

EVERYONE asked up what we were doing there! It was pretty fun, other than the fact that we couldn't get showers and it rained pretty hard on Thursday so it was very moist and a little damp on the outsides corners of the tent.

Here you can sort-of see some of the tents but they also wrapped around the building:

It was definatly an experience :)

Less than an hour later...

Jon came home right after I published my last post but he was rushing around and on the phone constantly. I bairly got a few words in and just waited to see what was happening. Then Nate showed up and after that it was really a mad rush around here. Jon ran around and grabbed things he needed and within 15 minutes they were running out the door to go to the Best Buy in Plymouth Meeting because there they only had 2 people in line so far so they would for sure get a system. I just sat in shock!

I came home expecting a nice relaxing night with Jon and to prepare for going to sit in line tomorrow night. Instead I bairly got to talk to him and he rushed out the door and now I have no idea what to do! I was looking forward to not working Thursday and Friday and now I'll probably have to work because I won't be sitting in line for a PS3 unless, for some reason, there's no one behind Jon, Nate and David still tomorrow night.

I guess I should start packing up some things to go over to Jon's parents to spend the night, and the next 2 nights!

This is the first time since being married that Jon won't be around :(. I'm going through withdrawal already!

Play Station 3

Oh boy... on my way home from work today I called Jon and found out he was driving around Montgomeryville and there were already people standing in line outside of Target waiting for the launch of the new Play Station 3 that comes out Friday morning. Jon and I and a bunch of other people from church were planning on waiting in line too but we weren't planning on arriving until tomorrow night. So Jon drove to Best Buy and there were already 11 people in line! He hung up at that point because he had to figure out what was going on....

About 20 minutes later he calls and asks what I'm doing, of course I'm just walking around the house wondering what the next few days is going to look like if there's already people standing in line and Jon is determined to get a PS3. Then he says that him and David are standing in line at Best Buy for a PS3!!!

So, now I'm sitting at home waiting for him to call back to find out what's happening. He's calling around to other locations to see if there's anywhere where there aren't people in line yet. They may not stay in line at Best Buy. I was supposed to be with him too, but I've got work tomorrow and I'm already taking off Thursday and Friday.

Wonder what's going to happen! One thing I know, if Jon doesn't come home tonight I'm not staying by myself! I'll be heading next door to stay at his parents, I have to go over there to get a shower in the morning anyway.

I'm Back! :)

Since the last time I posted I have had absolutely no time to write again. I've been busy at work and even busier at home preparing for my open house that was yesterday. Friday I only worked a half-day at work and then came home to start preparing for the open house. It was so nice out when I got home that I just had to be outside, so I raked the yard, swept the porch and walkway and washed some windows. I should have worn gloves to rake because I had a nice big blister when I was done. Friday night Jon and I organized some more upstairs and I cleaned up there so it was all ready.

Saturday my mom came over after lunch to help me finish making all the food. Without her help I never would have gotten it all done. We baked and cooked the whole afternoon and into the evening, it was fun! My dad came over with pizza at dinner time so we wouldn't have to stop cooking to make dinner. After we ate pizza dad and Jon helped make mini sandwiches and cut up cheese and ring bologna, which was the last of the food that needed to be made. Mom and Dad left around 8:30 or 9:00 Saturday and then I was up till midnight finishing the cleaning and organizing. Jon did a lot to help out during the day Saturday too, even though he had homework to finish up.

The open house yesterday turned out wonderful even though the weather didn't cooperate. It was raining off and on all day so we put a couple pieces of remnant carpet from Jon's parents house on the porch and right inside the front door and we had people take off there shoes when they came in. Suprisingly the house stayed really clean and there's no stains on the carpet! Yeah! We had WAY too much food though :) I guess it's better though to have too much than not enough. There was a steady amount of people coming through all day long but it was great! I took a few pictures throughout the day:

The main food table:

Here's another table of food we set up in the middle of the kitchen:

We had 900 some pictures from our wedding and honeymoon playing on the TV:

Mom, Dad and Uncle Ron watching the slide show:


I meant to take more pictures than I did, but I forgot. So I only have a few more than what is here. :( Oh well. Most of the crowd left by around 9ish but Amanda stayed to help clean up some. We were dumping things down the garbage disposal in the sink for a while and then turned it on and it kept going and going... It wasn't sounding normal, so we shut it off and dirty water started bubbling out! We kept turning it on but it didn't do anything different and when we ran water in the sink it would just sit there until we turned on the garbage disposal. I got Jon and he tried all different things but nothing worked. Then I was going into the bathroom to get something and noticed an awful smell and realized that the tub was full of dirty water with carrots and dip and everything we put down the garbage disposal, YUCK! Jon tried plunging the drains a little but it didn't do anything. It looked so gross. Jon's mom was still here at this point so she said she'd have the handy-man from the Inn come over first thing this morning to check it out.

This morning I had to get my shower over at Jon's parents house before work and I left with all my dirty dishes sitting on the counter. I had requested a half-day of work today so I could come home and clean, and I was hoping that the drainage problem would be fixed by the time home so I could do all my dishes.

When I got home there was an I.T. Landis Truck and the handyman from the Inn just leaving and I was told that our septic pipes were all collapsed and busted and it all had to be pulled up and re-done. They said we could use water, but sparingly and I'm not supposed to do wash or anything because that's too much water at one time. I can't really do anything though because the water drains from the sink and tub so slowly and if I turn on the garbage disposal to make the sink drain fast it bubbles in the tub, ha.

When I came inside after getting this news I was surprised to see my counters were all clean and there were no dirty dishes in sight. Jon's mom and Liz (her cleaning lady) had taken all my dishes over to her house and washed them for me!!! I am so thankful! Mom F even cleaned out the disgusting junk in the tub for me!

I'm so glad this all happend AFTER the open house when there was only 2 people left! That would have been really bad if it had happened earlier in the day!

Tonight I am getting a massage, I can't wait! I'm sure I have tons of knots :). Jon came home a little bit ago from school so I better go. We have to go out shopping to fill the shoe boxes for Operation Christmas Child. This post is getting really long anyway.

Now that I figured out how to post images I'll have to post more of them later.

A surprise for me! :)

Normally Jon works Wednesday and Thursday nights until late, and since I don’t like being home alone after dark, most of the time I’m out running errands or grocery shopping while Jon’s at work. This was my plan for last night. I had a big list of errands to run: things to return/exchange, grocery shopping, gift shopping etc. Jon had said he would be taking off tonight to work on homework so I wanted to get all my errands done last night so I could be home tonight while he was there. Yesterday afternoon I emailed Jon to see if he had gotten off work for tonight so that I could plan my night last night. To my surprise and excitement he said he was going to be home last night PLUS tonight he is going to be hanging lights on the trees at the Inn so he’ll be home earlier than usual!!

So last night, instead of going out, I went home and got a LOT done around the house. Even though Jon was upstairs working on homework for most of the night it was good just knowing he was home, and we got to eat dinner together and spend a little time together at least! :)

Tonight I’m going to run all my errands and go grocery shopping. My open house is coming up in less than 2 weeks!! I can’t believe time went by so fast since I planned it. I’m going to start baking cookies this weekend and freeze them. Thanks so much for everyone that is helping out with food or otherwise!