DIY Book Case

This new house stuff has me in a little bit of a Martha Stewart mood.  I have been planning to design the perfect office for maximum productivity.  Something that is severely lacking in my life.  (Haha, the productivity, not the office...)

I absolutely love the bookcase that Curty made for a project back in the day.  The bookcase has gone with me everywhere.  I had all my books on it back at our house on Isaar Road.  I lined it with ceramics, books, shoes, toys when I was a kid.  It traveled to Madison with me and had the perfect spot in Kendall Ave to hold all my college textbooks.  After college, it made the trip with me to Pittsburgh and served as our bathroom shelf for two years.  The thing is completely indestructible.  Nice carpentry Poppa!

I decided that I was going to give the wood a facelift and paint it an antique white.  It was my project before the big move - so I could waltz right into our house and start studying.  Hmmm, now what else should I paint?  I love my antiquing kit!

Yeah, those are old JAMAs... haha! Finished Product!

House Hunting

The dog we almost bought, hah!

It was before Holiday break, I felt that I needed to waste ample amounts of time, and for some reason got fixated on the idea of adding a small dog to our house (reference my Tumblr post here).  We were on the verge of purchasing little Ginger.  I was emailing back and forth with the breeders and all we had to do was put down the payment, and oh yeah... call our landlord.

That's when all dog searching came to a halt.  He doesn't compromise at all on dogs because he had been burned in the past by tenants who promised their dogs were the perfect angels.  Perfectly understandable.  So after going on the dog hunt, the next thing we did was go on an apartment hunt.  I wasn't really excited to buy a home in Pittsburgh, so I started searching around for whole houses for rent.  I found out quickly, this is an expensive option... yikes.

Paul checking out the place, full of stuff...

After searching around for dog friendly homes, Paul and I took the afternoon to look online for houses that we could potentially afford.  It was a long shot, but over the Holidays we discussed the idea of home ownership with our families - and started the HOUSE HUNT.  What a hunt it was.  We were initially inspired by our neighbors who landed a beautiful new home in Friendship after patiently waiting for the local real estate to cooperate, they found the perfect house.

Front of the new pad!

We started out in all the wrong neighborhoods, and finally were able to narrow it down to some of our favorite, yet affordable places.  After one look at a house that I was already sold out without seeing the photos of the inside - we put down and offer.  What a terrifying experience!  Our first offer together on our first home - talk about momentous!  We went in cautiously because we weren't too familiar with the market.  After a few days of anxiety, we were out bid.  Dang.  Well, we were back to square one with a long list of houses we didn't particularly love.  There was something a little off about all the potentials on our list at that time.  We decided to narrow it down to our top four and go out again for another weekend of showings with our (really awesome) Realtor.

Living room and dining room, I cannot wait to fill the built in cabinets!

The evening before seeing the next batch of properties - we got a text saying that the house we wanted came back on the market.  The buyers walked.  Um, okay.  Now what?  We thought about it, and went after the house once more.   They accepted our offer and we had the place under contingency!  Holy CRAP, we may have just bought a house.  We went forward with the sewer and house inspections and they all came back in decent shape - so we negotiated for a few repairs and bought the house!  WILD.

The house was officially ours on March 6th!  

We love the location of the property because it's situated in south Squirrel Hill next to a large city park perfect for running, walking and enjoying the afternoon.  It's a short walk to Starbucks, groceries, and close to the highway so Paul can get to work in just a few minutes in the morning!

Our new home.

There is plenty of work left to do in the place.  We are going to be plastering, painting, and doing a lot of repairs to get it to the point of comfort and relaxation.  It is definitely going to be an adventure.  I will update the blog as we do repairs, DIY projects, and make our house a home!

Houghton Snowmobiling

The Houghton/Hancock Airport!

I tend to book my next vacation, while I'm on the previous one, and this situation was no different.  I saw an open weekend and decided to book a flight up to Houghton for snowmobiling.  It is a repeat of what I did last year during this fortunate holiday!  It falls on some of the best snowmobiling of the year!

Curty leading us out on the trails of the northwoods!

Lyssa, Me, and Mum

Trying to capture a photo of the frozen waterfalls...

You can't fall if you're already down sliding right?

 

After a long day traveling, we finally made it to the mosquito and to Lake Eva.  Lyssa had the joy of riding up with my parents and partaking in all of the Marsh pit stops (the Shell gas station for subs, Joel's cabin for a snowmobile, etc).  With her updates, I felt like I was there!  They picked me up at the airport and we stopped at the Skeeto to "jibber jabber" with a local or two for the snow report.

You have to snowmobile into the cabin this time of year!

 

Our neighbor trying to keep ahead of the white stuff so we can drive out!

On Saturday we woke up early and went around the Frieda loop, and even Lyssa got to try her hand at driving the sleds.  We took a few pit stops at different scenic overlooks and finally met up with our neighbors at the KBC.  It was the perfect day for sledding. It was snowing most of the day and then really started coming down in the evening - so much so that it was hard to see where you were driving!  Whiteouts are my favorite...  Lake effect snow is so unpredictable, but soo pretty, it's hard to even put into words.

Blinded by the snowflakes!

Sunday, we took our time getting ready and already had to make the trip back home.  The weekends always go by too fast up north - and the lengthy commute doesn't make the quality time up north any longer.  We spent quite a few hours traveling to find the fresh snow....  WORTH IT.

I kind of like this annual trip - hopefully next time I can convince Paul to come back with me!

Curty bringing back the sled, then walking the rest of the way out of camp...

My last snowmobile run of 2012-2013 season I believe... It was sure fun!

Nemacolin Resort

I don't know how, why, or what happened... but we were asked to join Pam and Dean at Nemacolin Resort for a conference that Dean was speaking at.  Paul and I were tickled to be asked to join them - and feel fortunate that they thought of us while heading out to Pennsylvania for a talk.

We had been looking forward to this relaxing weekend to spend some time doing next to nothing.  It was the weekend before a test for me, but I wasn't about to let that get in the way of seeing one of Pennsylvania's finest resorts!  

Paul and I were spoiled with a cocktail hour, desserts, fresh steel cut oats for breakfast and an elaborate four course dinner... it might have been more, I started loosing count... and the Packers were starting to play.  Although the Packers lost, we were served cookies before bed and woke up to fresh tea and coffee in the morning.  Silver service... what's that?! 

We got a few awkward looks when we hauled all our luggage out without the help of the vallet or bell boy, but it was worth it.  Awkward tipping never gets less awkward.

All we can say is... Thank you!!

Thank you!

Joel's Birthday Celebration

Birthdays at the Marsh House on Isaar!

Again this year, I wanted to celebrate the many wonderful years that Joel had on this earth and the heavenly birthday that we continue to celebrate.  It would have been Joel's Golden Birthday this year.  27 years on February 27th.  This year, Paul took the day off so we could go to dinner for Joel's Birthday.  To put this into perspective, we don't really even go out for Valentines Day, but Joel's Birthday is something that is so dear to my heart.

We again decided to keep to the tradition to go to a wonderful restaurant downtown called Meat and Potatoes.  (Read about Joel's Birthday last year)   I can't help buy smile just by reading the name of the place - makes me think of Joel.  I ordered another great dish, and found a new drink on the menu, called... the "Brandy Buck".  So I had to indulge.

Joel and I ready to take on the Wisconsin winter

Another gift I gave to Joel this year was taking the time, two full days, to sit down and write about the moments I spent with Joel in the hospital after flying home to be by his side as he courageously fought for the opportunity to bring life to others. I feel good knowing that those precious details will be with me forever.

Those we love don't go away, 

They walk beside us everyday

Unseen, unheard, but always near,

Still loved, still missed, and very dear.

Joel's Birthday reminds me of old times when Joel had his trach - he was never very good at blowing out candles because all the air would fly out each sides of his trach nose and not towards the cake.  Some times I would pitch in a help blow out a few so he wouldn't have so many "girlfriends" left.  Man, those are some beautiful memories.   I'll help you with the candles down here  Buck - just keep laughing, having fun, and keep Jerry out of trouble. 

We love you and miss you Joel.

Happy Birthday Bud! 

When I went to visit Joel in Houghton during his last semester at MTU.

You can read more about things we are doing in memory of Joel at his blog:

 http://joelrmarsh.blogspot.com