Sweet Progress

Hilary and I have had a BIG weekend working on the floors.
We are REALLY excited about how much we have done.
WE have both been so busy and so rarely at home that we haven't had the time to get it done.
We were pretty ambitious in the beginning about how much we were going to get done.
WE had taken out the washer, dryer, stove and dishwasher.
(Takin' it back to the stone age.)
After we came to our senses we put the appliances back and I think some of you have already read about some of those misadventures.
If not, they are detailed below much to my dismay.
However, when "The flood on 13th street" story is told...Everyone seems to know the drain hose was the culprit.
Its almost like lots of people have had the same misfortune =).

Back to the good news...
It all started going pretty quickly after the first row.
Laying the first row we thought we were going to go crazy.
After the first row and a few minor setbacks it started going down pretty quickly.
We are really happy with how it is turning out.
Some pics of our hard work to illustrate the fact that it is FINALLY getting done:

The first few rows
A few more
Getting it in "under" the fireplace was kinda tough
Lots more progress!

The fireplace is finished, that curve was tough, but it turned out looking sharp

Heath

The Flood on 13th street

We did have some pretty good storms the past couple of days, but our flood was inside. It was last week when we realized neither of us had clean clothes to go to Oklahoma. We have had everything (washer/dryer, dishwasher, oven) unplugged because of the instillation of the hardwoods. Well, we just had to do some laundry so we plugged everything back in. I won't mention who but someone forgot to plug in the drain hose so there was A LOT of water in our house. Thankfully the hardwood floors were not installed yet and they were not damaged. To top it all off, the dryer would not work after the flood.....my sweet husband went and did laundry until 2 in the morning so that we would have clean clothes.

Hopefully if everything goes well we are ready to install the floors this weekend. We haven't really enjoyed living on concrete for the past couple of weeks but neither of us have been here very much. We've been eating outside in the garage too so that's been fun! Heath's been traveling and my right hand man (my teaching assistant) resigned last week so I've been staying at school super late interviewing and preparing for subs.

Heartbreaker

I don't know if you can see the score but it says OSU 49-TECH 45. Bummer! We had such a wonderful time in Oklahoma. It was a great game. Both of my parents graduated from OSU and have become involved with the alumni. We had some great seats and OSU has the nicest fans. Many welcomed us to Stillwater even though we were wearing red.

Mom and Dad having fun!

Hil and Dad at "The Walk" before the big game.

Heath, Hil, and Mom before the game.

Messy Renovation

Thursday night we ripped out our carpet. It's pretty gross and messy. We couldn't believe how much dirt and dust were under it. Here's Bandit sitting on the foam and carpet in the backyard. This dog will sit or lay on anything soft!

These boxes are very heavy. They have to sit in the room for 48 hours. We just figured out that we are starting in that corner...so we have to move the boxes again....we thought it out a lot!

Heath has been chiseling away on this tile.

Ripping up the carpet was fairly easy and we have taken off all of the baseboards as well. Bandit doesn't know what to think. Now all that's left is to move the stove and take up the linoleum that is under it and then Sunday (or Monday) we can start laying the hard woods=))

Hardwood Floors

This is a picture of what our floors will look like. This color of wood matches the beams in our living room. We will put hardwood in the kitchen, laundry room, living room and both hallways. Wish us luck installing them!! It should be an adventure. (oh yeah, they are laminate.)

Bandit's new friend Charlie

We went walking with my friend Laura the other night and met Charlie. This is the coolest dog and Bandit had such a good time! They trained Charlie to run while they ride their bike. It is hilarious and Charlie loves it=)

Therapy Work

Bandit and I went to do some therapy work with the group from our church "Critter for Christ." It was so much fun! We are going to hospitals every Monday night. Bandit loved it and had such a good time prancing all around. Doesn't he look professional in his badges.

Missing Bruce

It's strange how you grieve sometimes. I base how I am doing on how much I cry. I am not an emotional person at all. Heath is not either. However, when Bruce died I didn't think I was going to be able to stop crying. I have cried basically everywhere too and I didn't care if people looked at me weird. At United they have these end caps with stuffed animals and there was a Rottweiler puppy. I cried all through the store. I cried at Hobby Lobby (sobbing) when we had to pick out his "box." It has taught me to be less judgemental of people who do cry a lot (Amy Miller Estrada=))) In my classroom, one of my kids brought me a book that had a rainbow in it and all I could think about was that Bruce was at the rainbow bridge now.

It is so painful to come home some days. When I go to the back door now, I know he is never going to be out there again, but I look for him sometimes. There are times when I swear I hear him or his collar.

Here is one of my favorite pictures of Bruce. He used to shake that rope/tire so hard and growl at it. The picture was taken just 5 days before he got sick.

Good times in Amarillo

We went to Nate and Chelsea's reception in Amarillo recently. It was so great to catch up with everyone.

Bandito

Bandit went with us in the truck to pick up our new bed. He was so funny sitting on my arm in the car!

"hey guys, what's up, I miss my brother Bruce."

It was windy the other night and Heath took this hilarious picture!