Friday, March 18, 2011

99%.....

complete and my 99th post......

well the backyard is finally complete enough to blog about it. there are still some fine tuning things, plus adding furniture and a grill (i mean better chairs and a bigger grill), but here is the completed yard......









Friday, February 11, 2011

finally......

that finally isnt necessarily for long gap in blogging, but moreover for getting a backyard. we have gone a long 16 months with nothing but dirty dirt or muddy mud in the back. we are about half way through the installation of the backyard. this first blog is going to be the progression up to yesterday, and later will be the rest and completed backyard.

all of this started last monday, january 31, and has been progressing nicely.

here come the pictures.......



this here are the plans that we had made up for the backyard. we had to cut a lot of the details out of this to keep closer to budget, but this is still what the cement, patio, raised flower beds, etc are going to look like.....






















this is the water feature we picked out to have put in the raised flower bed.....












the rest of these are self explanatory. drains, sprinklers, electrical.











































this last picture is of a biplane that flew overhead.

well that is what pictures we have so far. as i am typing this the crew is putting out the forms for the cement. the cement should be poured on monday and the patio cover should be started soon after that. we probably have about another 10 to 14 days left until completion.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

happy birthday......

happy birthday annie!!!!!!!

taylor made this for you last night, but forgot she took the picture with the digital camera, not her phone so she couldnt send it to you yesterday.......

Friday, June 25, 2010

wrong place at the wrong time......

so i was reading todays fresno bee today (june 25, 2010) and i ran across two completely separate articles that i am now going to piece together.

so i first ran across this horrible article.....












if you dont want to read it, i can sum it up pretty quickly. this lady who has had a history of miscarriages decides to fake a pregnancy for nine months. then, she goes and stabs a couple, trying to steal their newborn baby to claim as her own.






that seems like being in the wrong place at the wrong time for that couple.

wrong. it was the wrong place for the women who was doing the stabbing.

imagine if you will, if she had only been in california instead of indiana. she being the frugal woman i can only assume she could be, is just coming out of walmart taking advantage of those unbeatable prices and she runs into these two geniuses.






again if you dont want to read the article.
these two people were standing outside of walmart in salinas trying to sell their 6 month old baby for $25. freakin $25.











so back to the beginning. how would life be different if this indianapolis woman had only been faking the pregnancy in salinas and walked out of walmart at the most opportune to find a couple that she didnt have to stab to get a baby for the rollback price of $25. who would have been the wiser?


can two negatives equal a positive? everyone would have got what they wanted, even if they are two of the most reprehensible people.....

Friday, June 11, 2010

finally new york.....

sorry that this has taken so long to get to. we are busy people. i just went through all 1400+ pictures taken on our trip and will now just post the select ones in the order taken. easiest way to walk you through our journey......


this is micah. she had been living with us since easter. she drove us to the airport and then drove out of our lives. (she actually moved out the day before we got back)




this here is a picture from the airplane of my work.....






















and a close up......



so taylor and i found out that you have to pay for ABSOLUTELY everything except non-alcoholic beverages. so here were are enjoying our free drinks. im to stingy to pay for stupid peanuts....



since tsa took our yogurts we brought for the trip (really? sealed yogurt? totally not a liquid....) we were really hungry when we finally got to new york. first thing we did was have cory take us to get some delicious falafels......



annie was so happy to see us she was willing to do what ever we asked. taylor asked for a back massage, since her back was sore from the tight fit in the plane.....






















cory walking us around the big apple.....
























on the staten island ferry. going to staten island.......



it is a free way of getting close to the statue of liberty.....



enjoying the great weather......



eating bagels on staten island. everything bagel with cream cheese. the best......



on the ride back to manhattan. cory checking out the many bridges......



cool piece of art along the streets back in manhattan......












































i got a delicious panini from zabars.....























we went to the museum of natural history during our first full day in new york. cory treated us to the museum by paying for us, showing us that suggested donation means just that. its a suggestion. our suggested donation amount was $48.00, we got in for $1.00. thats only $0.33 a person. great deals in new york.......

here is us in front of dumdum (if thats his real name).....



























guess whos hand that is? there is a way to positively identify it......



bee loving the swimming fish on the big movie screen......



cool subway tiles......
























we also went to the museum of modern art (we didnt really take any pictures) then afterward we had our first of many sushi meals. it was delicious......
























walking around brooklyn one morning on our way to breakfast at toms.....



we took annie and bee out to breakfast at toms diner......



we then went to the brooklyn botanical garden. here are a select few of the 200+ pictures of the beautiful living museum......























annie actually left bee with taylor and i so she could run home real fast. i think bee had a great time.....






















bee loved taylor. the are actually stopping to smell the roses......






















































































the girls.....



































after the garden, annie took bee home for a nap and we met up with cory at the brooklyn library. we then went to prospect park to play frisbee and taylor could start her new book she got at the library book sale. (taylor finished this book before we even got home....)























we went to an awesome pizza place. apparently the pizza place of choice on hbo's bored to death show. ive only seen the first two episodes and have yet to see the pizza place....



we took a nice walk through brooklyn to the brooklyn prominade. it has one of the best views of south manhattan.....



where all the annoying jehovah witness material is published.....























a brand new park sitting next to the brooklyn bridge. so new it was cory and annies first time there......



bee loved making this face as she pulled her sunglasses off of her face......






















as it sometimes goes when you drink too much and blackout, so it goes when your camera battery dies right before an awesome party at the store design within reach. there was lots of free alcohol and snacks. but, alas no camera to take pictures of cory and i living it up with free drinks. annie and taylor met up with us when we urged them to stop by.

i had taylor bring the battery charger and was able to get a couple pictures at the end of the night. here we are at lombardis (sp?) pizza. great pizza.....



those free drinks were kicking in on cory......























of course we couldnt go to many days without sushi. this place became our place of choice because their 5 month grand opening had all sushi half off. very affordable and still great......






















sunday was brooklyns street market. beats hanfords farmers market hands down. in this picture is the sea of people extending over a mile.....






















more street market......


we took a trip up to rhode island. we were thinking of relocating over there within the next 10 years. not so much anymore, at least not to rhode island. this picture here is about the only pic of both of us actually in rhode island. after about 3 hours of driving around, we decided not to spend the night and headed back for new york.....



a huge burrito from a place we ate last time we were in brooklyn......
























it really only rained good one day. here is taylor walking the streets of park slope....






















we went into manhatten. here is bee enjoying the horses.....


















walking around by the central park zoo.....






































fao schwarz......


the BIG piano. you know from big......
























































we ate at a place called pop burger......























pop must mean small. and still expensive......



stopping for a picture in the manhattan streets.....



again. free drinks at a store party. this time it was diesel clothing......



we went to the times squre web cam. called a couple of people so that they could see us standing on the streets live......



the m&m store. we were professing our love for chocolate......



i know i already posted this pic, but now you can see where abouts in our trip we saw freakin batman.....
























he must have been looking for this pizza place.....



so there is a little bit of a story behind these next two pictures. we were sitting in the middle of times square on some bleachers watching this huge american eagle light up billboard. we found out that with any purchase you can have your picture taken and displayed up on the huge screen for all to see. i came up with a great idea and cory and i went to work......

here we are taking our picture.....



you also were able to put a caption.

*******sorry mom and dad. i meant to give you guys a pre notice of this before you left for china, but i forgot. i hope you arent mad********

this got so many laughs. we stood in the middle of many hundreds of people watching our picture come up on the screen. it was really funny......

the end results.....



later that night we got some delicious korean bakery goods......



one afternoon, annie made us a great homemade organic spaghetti dinner.....



we went to the highline park in manhattan. this first picture is just funny picture of a guy with funny hair taking a picture of a not funny girl......





















a view from the highline.....



artwork on the highline. as you look through the first box to the white metal cutout, it perfectly outlined the windows and other shapes of the building across the street.....



more cool artwork.....



we went to the chelsea market. here is a funny portrait.....



had ice cream at a milk store.....



lower manhattan.....



odd sculpture on top of a tall building.....



annie suggested a place called the chocolate room. they served exotic chocolate dishes and premium wines. fantastic.....



uncle moes family feedbag.....



agian more sushi from our favorite half off sushi place......






















bee playing on a slide.....



relaxing in cory and annies living room......



our last night in new york we went with cory into manhattan and got some sweat sweat cupcakes......



and some sweat balls......





















here is a pic of the west coast on our way back to fresno......
























hope you enjoyed our trip as much as we did.....

(i feel you marlene. 3 hours as well......)