Chris the Cable Guy

I really wanted to title this post "My Dad is a Big Butthead", but I decided it worked better as a subtitle.

Let me explain.

When we moved in 2 years ago, we went around and around on different configurations for our living room.  Within a few months, we found a couch off of craigslist, bought some bucket chairs, and eventually had a layout that we were both happy with.

The one problem with our layout is that there is no cable behind the TV.  That, in and of itself, is not normally that big of a deal to fix, however the wall that the TV is mounted on goes directly to the outside pool deck, and is solid concrete.  We've had "move the cable" on every.single to-do list for the past year and a half or so, and it always gets neglected.

So how does any of that fit in with my Dad being a big butthead?  Well, if you know him, you know he just is one regardless (my sisters will agree!), but that's besides the point.  Back in December, I wrote a post to the weather about our frigid Florida winters, and included this picture of how we sleep during the winters (this was prior to us getting our new a/c and heat system installed a little while ago) :

Chris told me not to post this photo, and not because the lighting was horrible with it, but because the cable cord was showing.  I told him all of my readers were too nice to comment on that.  I was right...a few of you guys even commented on how much you loved our coffee table.

My Dad...not so much!

I forgot to take into account that he reads my blog too.  He left the comment below :

Biggest.Butthead.Ever.  The funny part about this too is that my Dad knew that I had pre-posted that and was out in Hawaii by the time that post was published.

Sigh...

Well, enough is enough!!  My parents are staying here with Kodi when we have Kalia, so, once again, we put "move the cable" on our to-do list.  This past weekend, we finally crossed it off.  Chris said he didn't want my Dad coming over yet again with that stupid cable still running across the room.

Ugly Cable

As expected, this wasn't an easy project.  Chris got up in the attic and pulled the cable up from the previous exterior wall and attempted to drop it down into this wall.  Since the wall is solid concrete, that wasn't working.

We drilled a hole in the top of the ceiling to see if could find a hole to send the cable down that way, but all we did was create a hole for us to patch.  Beyond the drywall is more concrete.

We decided our only option was to bring the cable in from the exterior wall again.  Not exactly a seamless pretty project, but much better than the cable running across our fireplace.

Chris drilled behind where the TV is mounted :

The drill bit sticking out through the other side made us both laugh.

After that, Chris drilled from the outside to the inside to try to widen up the hole a bit ...

That's the cable sticking down from the pool deck area ceiling.

Yeah, things are starting to look worse at this point instead of better, huh?

This was the hole from the inside :

And this is the most ridiculous drill bit I've ever seen :

But hey, it got the job done!

After much finagling, we got the cable from the outside of this wall to the inside, and pushed back up as much of the cable as we could back into the attic.  For the outside, I can't decide if we're going to get some sort of tubing, paint the cable to match the house, or mount something to this wall to cover it up.  This is one of those 'domino projects'...check one project off the list, add a few more.

You can see in this next picture what you see of the cable from the majority of the pool deck.

For the inside, we still have to run the power line up to behind where the TV is mounted.  Because there's already power on this wall, that, hopefully, shouldn't be as bad.  Famous last words, right?

Woo Hoo!!!  No more cable!!!

We were both entirely too tired on Sunday night to do anything more with this, so it's another "good enough for now" project that we're checking off the list.

Oh, and as a side note, I actually finished off the front door this past weekend too.  I painted the trim, the wall around the trim, and Chris helped me grout the missing tile piece back into place.  So that project went from a "good enough for now" one to a completely crossed off the list.  Whew!

It's true that my Dad is a big butthead, but I'm really glad we've finally gotten this project crossed off the list.  Chris too...it's been one of those things that's just been an eye-sore for entirely too long now.

Love you Dad!!!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

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Sister Spotlight : Digital Scrap Booking

My sister Jennifer is the crafty one of the crew.  I'm more of the brute force, build, and tile kinda gal, and she's the creative crafty one.  Sometimes I can fake craftiness, but she's the for real deal.  She makes home made cards that look way better than Hallmarks, and within the past few years has gotten into digital scrap booking.

For those of you that are scissor challenged like me, digital scrap booking is the way to go.  It's also so much easier just to put everything together online and have it shipped to you already done.  We get family calendars this way every year from my sister, and it's such a practical, yet still pretty way to scrap book memories!

Jennifer used digital scrap booking to make my baby shower invites that she sent out last week, and since some of you want to see what I look like as a fatty :-), I thought I'd give you the best of both worlds...a creative post with images of me sporting my newfound bowling ball.

Just an FYI, Jenn used her Creative Memories software program Storybook Creator 3.0 to create these 5 x 7 landscaped cards.

This is the front of the invite :

And then when you open up the card, this is whats on the top :

The image on the right is Chris and I at 20 weeks pregnant.  He forgot that he's supposed to gain sympathy weight for me.

The bottom, or 'main' part, of the inside card shows this :

Believe it or not, I put my camera on a ladder and hit the timer button to take the series of pictures above.  Kodi's actually cropped out of the top picture.  I have no idea how that dog knows to smile at the camera, but he does.  I couldn't stop laughing in this mini photo shoot I did with the two of them, so please pardon my bad posture and even more round face from laughing!  Again, Chris isn't keeping up with the sympathy weight like he's supposed to!

Amazing, how much 'growing' I've done, huh?!  That picture was taken at 29 weeks.  I just keep getting bigger by the minute these days, I swear!

And then when you flip the back of the card over, you see this :

I love that Jenn incorporated the things we've done for Kalia's nursery too!

So what do you guys think?!  Are you sold on digital scrap booking or do you prefer the old school method of scissors and paper?  And isn't my sister talented?!?!  :-)

Happy Friday everyone!  Hope you guys have a great weekend...my number of weekends to get things done before Kalia arrives are dwindling down...so much to do, so little time!

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Fun Family Cuteness

I lied, you get a Friday post too!  One of my sisters has been here most of this week for one of my nieces (Ashlyn) to have surgery.  We're so glad that we could visit with them, even if the circumstances were less than ideal.  My other niece (Kaylyn) made a card for Kalia, and sent it over with my sister.  I have to share it, it's too cute!  Kaylyn's been asking Chris and I for quite some time when we were going to have kids.  She's eight.

Here's her card she drew for Kalia :

Front (yes, she made her card backwards...adds to the cuteness factor!!) :

I'm pretty sure they were unsure how to spell Kalia's name initially...and since I'm notorious for not answering my phone, hehe, Kaylyn just used a K.

How cute is this?!?!  I'm pretty sure Kaylyn got confused on adding her sister Ashlyn...so she scribbled her out.  Because Ashlyn isn't Kaylyn's cousin, it's her sister...and this drawing is for cousins.

Did you see the cutest part?!  Here...I'll zoom in for you...

Kaylyn drew herself holding Kalia.  How cute is that?!?

I love that even my nieces are excited for Kalia's arrival!

Hope everyone's having a great Friday and has a great weekend!  More nursery projects are taking place here...hopefully I've got something done to show you guys on Monday!

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Home-made Christmas gift

With everything that's been going on the latter part of this year, I only had time to make one Christmas gift. I'm hoping to do a home-made Christmas next year, or at least a lot more home-made gifts, so hopefully with Chris's school now being done, I'll be able to focus more on that while still doing all of my other million projects I've got planned for 2011. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to start filling out my 2012 project list. The 2011 one is already getting quite long.

Onto the gift...

I always ask my sisters for ideas on what my nieces need or would like for Christmas. One of my nieces was adopted last year from China. She is such a special little girl, and we're so lucky to have her as an addition to our family. My sister's suggestion for her this year was "maybe you could do Chinese symbols that mean special things for Ashlyn or she really likes pretty princess stuff for her walls". So, I racked my brain and came up with my own DIY idea to incorporate both.

First up, I got this pad of scrapbook paper from Jo-Ann's. I only needed 6 sheets for my project, but I couldn't find 6 sheets that were princess related, so I just bought the whole pad. Besides, it gave me room to error (which I most definitely did...a few times!).

Next up, I got a 4x8 piece of wood from home depot and had them cut it into 12" squares.

Then, I found a website that translates English words into Chinese lettering, here, and came up with 6 different words that I wanted to put on my scrap paper.  I copied them onto a word document and blew them up, and then printed them out.

I traced over the Chinese lettering with a pencil, pushing really hard (like so hard my arms were shaking) so that I left the outlines of the Chinese lettering on my scrapbook paper.  Then I traced over that with a black sharpie, painted inside of my tracings, painted the side of my 12x12 board, decoupaged my paper to my board, and WALA :

Oh yeah, and I wrote the English version of what I had written in Chinese in the bottom right hand corner.  Yeah, I know, I skipped taking pictures step-by-step, but I'm on a time crunch here lately!

Here's a view from the side :

Of course, she needs to be able to hang these on her wall, so I picked up a pack of mounting hardware that you just push into the back of the picture to secure.  My husband came up with this solution after my fat fingers couldn't hold the silly little nails that come with normal hanging hardware, and the board is too thin to use mounting hardware with screws.  He's a genius, I swear!

And then I repeated this 5 more times, each with different sayings.  The next two were words that come to my mind when I think of Ashlyn.  If they would've had the word goofball or silly, I would've written that down, but since they didn't, I decided to go the more sentimental (yet still true) route.

For the next three, I love the live, laugh, love saying...and I think it especially holds true to how Ashlyn, even at only 7 years old, lives her life.  She's such a carefree and fun little person to be around!!

The laugh one is actually my least favorite with the way it turned out.  It was late one night when I was trying to finish this up, so I got a bit of bubbling, and one of the fans blew some stuff on top of it while it was still drying.  I'll probably try to do another one for her at some point, assuming she likes these, but this will just have to do for now!

And here's a shot of all 6 of them together :

I have no idea why I thought this would be a quick and easy project, but overall I'm pretty happy with how it all came out.  And I'm happy with the fact that I could give my niece a gift that I spent time thinking about and making...a gift from the heart.

What do you think?  Are you making any homemade gifts this year?

Hope everyone has a fantastic weekend!!  Happy almost Friday!!!

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I'm linking up to the parties on my sidebar...go check out what everyone else is making!

New Project

Chris and I worked on a few projects together this weekend. While I do love having my husband to do projects with, these projects aren't exactly the fun ones that I love doing with him. We did his school projects...and since you guys like seeing pictures, here's one of the things we were working on :

Oh yeah, 2 microcontrollers that talk to each other.  I've told you what dorks we are before...do you believe me now?  Anyone want any step-by-step instructions on how to program this up?  Or how about a 10 page report on all of the software and hardware that went along with making it possible to write my husbands name on it?  This picture was actually taken for the report, not for your viewing pleasure...but since this is a project blog, and that's my latest project...well, I thought I'd share!

The other project that Chris wrapped up this weekend that we've been working on for weeks was pretty close to what I do on a day to day basis.  Lots and lots of code and waveforms.  Anyone want to see a screen shot of a bunch of lines of code or some waveforms with a bunch of signals traced?!

Yeah, I didn't think so...just thought I'd check.

It was quite reminiscent of our college days together though.  Chris moved in our big 6 ft table and we worked side by side in the office.  I'm not used to having an 'office mate' anymore!  This is how we went through our undergrad degree together our last year.  Side by side, working together.  When you can work with someone on this kind of stuff, and then still have an amazing time doing all the fun things in life, you know you've met your soul mate.  Things are just better together.

I took this picture this morning...Chris's laptop was set up on the other desk.  The office is in major need of some redecorating...it's on my 8 million mile long list of things to-do eventually.

I called it quits relatively early last night and climbed in bed to watch Sunday night football.  When Chris came in at half time with a glass of wine and said he hit submit on his final report, for the third time in a little over a week, I cried.  These tears were tears of joy though.  He just has to have a telecon with his TA tomorrow morning on his drive into work to go over his report, and he's done.  Forever.  He finished.  He made it.

WE made it!!!  I'm beyond proud of him, words can't even begin to describe all of the emotions and the huge sense of pride I have in him.  He was a full time student as well as a full time employee, even earned a big promotion while going to school.  On top of being a wonderful husband.

I'm not going to sugar coat it, there were so many times over the last year and a half that I thought I can't do this anymore.  There were so many times that HE thought he couldn't do it anymore, but hand-in-hand, side-by-side, we did it.  Chris was always so grateful for all of the housework that I picked up so that he could focus on school, and has been so supportive on all of my projects that I've attempted solo.  I kept telling Chris that he could finish getting his Master's, that I could help, and that it wasn't impossible (even when I really thought it was).  Our undergrad Electrical Engineering degree was a tough program.  I remember phone calls home during college, bawling my eyes out saying that there was no way I could do it.  It was just too hard.

I know how hard the EE Master's program was, and I honestly don't think I could balance work and school as successfully as he did.  My brain turns off after work...I couldn't watch 2 hours of class or do homework and projects after working all day.  Chris did.  For a year and a half.  And he's DONE!!!  WOO HOO!!!

I'll stop my gloating now and get back to work...I did manage to finish up my one homemade Christmas gift this year, so stay tuned for a post on that later on this week!

Happy Monday!  This might be the happiest one yet for me for the past year and half!!

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Perspective

Sorry for the lack of posts...I know I promised pictures of the baby shower, and I will post those before too long.  Life got in the way of posting it last week...

I debate writing about my personal life on here...I debate how much you'll want to read, or who will want to read about it.  But this blog is my creative outlet, and part of my creative side is my love to write.  I find it therapeutic.  It's the only way, besides running, that I know how to organize my thoughts and put things into perspective.  So I'm writing this with  no clear direction of where it's going, just a lot of heavy thoughts weighing on my mind that need to be sorted out.

Last week, Chris got really sick on our drive back home from Thanksgiving.  We thought maybe he ate something that gave him food poisoning...he got sick for about 7 hours straight, finally managed to pass out, and after a full day in bed, seemed to relatively recover.

It wasn't food poisoning.  It was a virus.

I got it Wednesday night.  And then I spiked a fever Thursday, and wound up in the doctor's office at 6 p.m. with him giving me his last ditch effort of anti-nausea medicine and saying if that didn't work within 30 minutes, I was to go straight to the ER to get an IV of fluids.  My body ached, I was chilled to the core, and I couldn't have felt more miserable.  On our way home from the pharmacy at 8 p.m. that night, I broke down and started sobbing.  Not just crying, bawling crying.  I don't remember the last time I've cried that hard.  It was just all too much, and I couldn't take it anymore without breaking down.

Chris has a week left of his school, and he needs my help to be able to finish up his last 2 projects.  He couldn't work on either one of them Sunday or Monday because he was so sick, and then Wednesday and Thursday he couldn't do them either because I was so sick.  I sobbed because I felt sorry for him.  I feel the pressure of his schooling almost as much as he does most days, and I don't know how, with the stressful jobs we have, he gets it done.  This semester is his last, but it's been his hardest.  He needs my help, and instead of helping, I took away precious time that he didn't have to give.

I don't like feeling helpless or defeated.  I don't deal with it well, and there was absolutely nothing I could do to make either him or I better.  I didn't want to take away anymore time and have him bring me anymore water or gingerale, but every time I got up, I puked.  I sobbed because I was helpless, and I did have to rely on my husband...my husband who will give his time, stay up till midnight working or doing school, and get up at 5 to start it all over again.

I'm overloaded.  I've got too much on my plate, and I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get it all done.  I sobbed because I used to be able to be superwoman all of the time...and right now I just can't.  And I don't know how to deal with that.

On top of a million other personal things that probably seem either insignificant to most, or are too detailed and time oriented to write about, one of my Grandfather's has been in the hospital since before Thanksgiving.  My Mom has been prepping me that they thought the end was getting near.  My Grandfather has lived an amazingly blessed and fulfilling life.  He's 92.  My Grandmother was lucky enough to meet him, the love of her life, later on in life.  They've been married 20 years, and she's 20 years younger than he is.  I sobbed for her...for my Grandma.  I sobbed because I knew how hurt and sad and heavy her heart has to be.  My Grandfather will be fine...he's lived a great life, had many amazing experiences, and his time has just come.  But she waited a long time to find him...and she deserves to be happy, and I'm worried that she won't be.  So I sobbed.

This evening, my Grandfather passed away.  He passed away peacefully and without pain, which he was in previously, so that's reassuring.  But my Grandma....  My heart is so heavy for her.  I will miss my Grandpa dearly, but I know that I'll reflect upon his quirks, funny demeanor, and various stories that he's told me throughout the years fondly.  My Grandma has to be so sad.  She loved him so much.  They even refused to get any bigger than a queen sized bed because they felt like they slept too far apart in a King.  She liked keeping him close.  Although my heart is heavy, I am so thankful that she met him.  She had 20 great years of laughter, love, and companionship.  She will be able to forever cherish and reflect on the memories they created together, and I really hope that one day soon she can look back fondly on them instead of looking on with sadness.

So...this evening I sobbed for them, my Grandparents.  And in doing so, I felt so silly for my sobbing for Chris and I on Thursday.  It seems so insignificant.  We have each other...work, school, and everything else will work itself out.

And as I've written this, I've stopped sobbing.  My head feels clearer.  My heart is still heavy, but for the right reasons instead of the wrong ones.  Death is a tricky subject to address, and I know I'm not any good at it, but I find peace in knowing that my Grandpa is in a better place and lived a great life.  All I can do for my Grandma is to be there for her and be supportive of this new journey she'll embark on while surrounding her with love.

Thanks for letting me clear my head...

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Family Photos

I have some amazingly talented friends. Seriously, no joke, no lie. You'll see in a minute...

I mentioned awhile back when Chris, Kodi, and I were being goofy in the pool that my girlfriend Erin gave me family pictures for my Birthday back in March.  She's such a talented photographer, and I was seriously so excited for the gift.  The only problem was, time is never my friend...and you have to make time to do these things.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we all decided to clear out our busy schedules to make time to do this...and I'm so glad we finally did.

You guys are used to seeing me looking something like this:

And this is probably on a relatively good day.  That's me...hair in a ponytail, sans makeup, and with exercise clothes on.  That's the me that I represent in this blog anyways...

But Erin is a miracle worker.  Seriously.  I mean, I did up my hair and makeup, and Erin came over and picked out my outfits the night before to wear, but how she managed to make these pictures look so good is beyond me.  My absolute favorite part about them is that she captured 'us'.  She knows me better than most (umm...sorry E!), and Chris and I actually both had a TON of fun doing this photo shoot.

So, without further ado, here's the pictures Erin and Chris posted on their blog :

Oh my goodness...I have to comment on just this one.  Isn't my husband HOT?!!!

Okay, I lied...this one too.  Even our feet shot captures us.  I'm constantly standing on one foot (don't ask, I have no idea why), and Chris always stands with his foot sideways like that when he's in dress clothes.  He's like a 7 year old boy trying to play dress up.  So cute!

Amazing right?!  She didn't even photo-shop anyone else's heads on our bodies...that's for really us!!

If you'd like to read more on our background with the photo shoot, or want to see some more amazing and beautiful pictures, visit Erin's Blog.  Or if you'd like to leave her some comment lovin to tell her how amazing it is that she can clean us up that well, feel free to do that too!

Erin put so much work into this photo shoot...from helping me pick out my outfits, to finding SO many different amazing places for us to do our photos at, I'm so grateful to her (and her hubby :-)) for doing this for us.  These are pictures that I'll forever cherish and it means the world to me that she just did all of this out of the goodness of her heart for my birthday.  What a special friend!!!  Love you E!!

Stay tuned for Friday's post on the baby shower...Hope everyone's having a great Wednesday!

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