It's all starting to come together...

Wow - where to start?! The pool is moving along - now that we got some fabulous weather to work with! Yesterday and today, the crew formed the tanning ledge on the steps and the spa... check out what I cam home to this afternoon!





Yeah, so it isn't totally beautiful yet, but the potential is amazing!!! I'm super stoked about it. And if the weather continues to stay awesome, we should have a deck by Monday or Tuesday, too! Then, it's surface (I can't wait to show off that surprise!) and soon, WATER! And then, you know, swimming. Because it's 75 and sunny out right now, so who wouldn't be thinking about swimming. Yes, I haven't forgotten it's January, either. Yay, it's coming together and we don't have Bosnia in our backyard anymore!

Happy weekend!

Trivia Thursday

We made it to Thursday, so here's some food for thought to get you to Friday...

Today is International Day of Radiant Peace
(uh-huh, you make what you want of that one!)

Today is National Blonde Brownie Day
(yum!)

At Velocity, today is Flip a Tire a Million Times Day
(apparently)

Congratulations Joey!!!

Yay! Joey moved into his new house this weekend! It's such a cute house, just across town, and perfect for Joey. He and Court got off to an early start on the moving Saturday morning, and by last night, were pretty much into the important stuff - setting up the surround sound. Because, really, who doesn't need that set up their very first night in the new house?!

*Very important business here*

I voiced this opinion and got more than one interesting look. Ok, fine! Gizmo even got in on the action, being - as usual - a very good little supervisor dog...

*So comfy - can we come to Uncle Joey's house more?!*

I know, I know, she's not spoiled or anything, right?! Yup, Gizmo got to check out and approve her favorite uncle's new house - and I'd say by the way she made herself comfortable and went to sleep that she approves. I'm so excited to throw a housewarming party with Joey's mom next month!!! It really is a fantastic house - and I'm so happy for him!

Happy Sunday - enjoy one last day of weekend... I know I will... I think it's time to go tackle the Sunday crossword puzzle now!

Thank Goodness It's Friday!

Yay!!! We made it!!! Happy Friday to you!

We had a fantastic night - went out with Gizmo's favorite person other than us - Joey - for yummy Mexican food, then home for hangin' out and jamming.




Wow, talk about a great night after a crazy week! :-) We had dinner last night with the Durnal / Saras / Holloway clans (Dad's side of the family) and hung out with the cutest little Hudson ever! He's my cousin Stacie's son - well, baby for 2 more months, according to her! So adorable! We have such a fantastic family - we're so lucky to have so many of them in town. Check out Stacie and Roger and HP at http://thesarasfamily.blogspot.com/. Oooo, I could eat him up - so cute and funny! Much fun - more this weekend!

Hope your Friday was as awesome as ours!

Wordless Wednesday

You love tile... you know you do.

Just because the other picture didn't do it nearly enough justice (and I haven't figured out how to make pictures actually reach out a grab you)... Yes, we're officially in love with the new pool tile. So much so that I have NO issues climbing down into the war zone that is my pool currently to take this:


Isn't it gorgeous?! Yes, I'm officially obsessed. I'm ok with that too. Court and Gizmo were laughing at me, but hey, it's whatev.

Speaking of Giz... isn't she a great little supervisor dog?!

Tile and coping - woohoo!!!

Oh, I wish this picture could talk to you and tell you how gorgeous this tile is in person! Wow! Seriously - we were stoked about it when we picked it out in the shop, up next to the stone that were were sure would become the coping, but little did we know it wouldn't even compare to how it look en masse attached to our pool. Check it out:


Ok, so the rest still looks like Bosnia, according to Rachel, but hey, things are moving right along! The crew has still been awesome, even coming out to work this weekend. I guess that means we'll have to start party planning soon! Yay! Things are moving along, and Eddie tells me we may even have a deck by the middle of this week - they just need to finish forming the stairs into a tanning ledge first... and not take any volleyball room from the actual pool. Keep sending the good weather vibes our way, please!

Wordless Wednesday - Team Goat

Chicken Broccoli Yumminess

Awesome dinner from my mom's Pampered Chef lady!

2 (8oz) Packages crescent rolls
2 cups cooked chicken, copped
1 small bunch chopped broccoli
1 small red bell pepper, chopped
1 clove chopped garlic
1 cup grated cheddar
1/2 cup miracle whip

Unroll the crescent rolls and form a circle, large ends inside (each can is half of the circle). Mix the rest together and spread around the inner edges of the circle. Fold the crescent roll tips over to the inside of the circle. bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 350 - until nicely browned.

Yum! Thanks, Mom! :-)

Busy 2009... Already?!

Wow, 2009 is off to a running start for us! Crazy already! We spent New Year's Day hanging out and watching football and meeting a new dog friend... Keony (kee-oh-knee). She's a little golden who's in training to be a companion dog who's trainer (Marsha) my dad is friends with... and, if who doesn't graduate from this program could become Dad and Holly's new dog! Wow - isn't it weird to hope for a 'failure'? She's a sweet dog, though, and she and Gizmo got along famously!

They played and played and played... It was adorable and fun to watch. It's amazing to me how well-behaved Keony is too - even while playing she responded almost immediately to her commands. I've always thought Giz was a pretty well-behaved dog, but Keony made Gizmo look like a wild child! They chased each other around Dad's backyard - and then Gizmo decided to play even more and would run inside after chasing / being chased. She used to do that to Winger too - nip at her and then bounce up on the couch by me, as if to say "Neener, neener, I'm safe up here" and then rinse and repeat. So, with Keony, it was run around the backyard, run through the dog door and grin... and repeat manymanymany times!

*Bystanders, beware - you're bound to get run over!*

*Neener, Neener, I'm inside!*

It really was fantastic to watch. And obviously fun for both girls too - they wore themselves out. By the time Marsha decided it was time to take Keony home, there were many lolling tongues and drooping eyelids. I'm pretty sure Gizmo not only got enough exercise that afternoon, but that she's ready for all of this holiday playtime to be over with! Here's to hoping!

*Oh, so sleepy!*

Pool progress is going like gangbusters too - after just 5 days of construction, we've got rebar and pipe, oh my! The crew is awesome, and very nice too - they don't even seem to mind me being out there asking questions and taking all kinds of pictures either! Although, they mysteriously disappear about the time I'm going to get one of them in the shot... Hmmm, camera-shy, perhaps??? Anyway, check out the progress - I'm so excited about the final product! Can't wait for it it be finished so we can have everyone over to celebrate! And play. :-)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

We hope you had a fantastic and safe New Year's Eve! We had an amazing night - dinner and a movie at home - perfect! Gizmo rang in 2009 asleep and looking at us like we were nuts as we ate our midnight grapes (12 grapes for good luck) and then crawled under the covers. We hope 2009 is even better than 2008 for you too!

My favorite picture of Gizmo ever!