happy home stuff

So many pictures I want to show you guys... here's hoping they will all load up!

Our bathroom...
The bathroom walls are currently covered with this pinkish almond colored tiling that goes up to about 6 feet(ish?), then funny wallpaper stuff the rest of the way.
These aren't new pictures, but they were taken when we moved in and the main stuff hasn't changed!
We never liked it, but it wasn't a top priority. Well, the tiling and the stuff holding the tiling in place is old... and we've started to have some problems with loose tiles, and some leaking around our knobs in the shower. So, instead of paying to fix something that we hate... we decided to look at other options for our shower walls.

Last night we had a meeting with a guy from a bath/shower company that works with Home Depot. After careful consideration, we decided to go with them and made all of our selections for our new walling (our current tub is great... no updating needed). I am so damn excited. We'll probably make our appointment for late January or so... and then our shower walls will look like this:

How great is that! I'm majorly excited not only about how great it will look, but about how much easier to clean it will be, and how we will have the new knob system in place instead of the old three knob system. :-)

Here is a closer look at the color/design (it's not as purple-like as it looks above... a mix of grey-blue, cream, tan, and white):
Now picture our old bathroom, but with the new shower walls... and then maybe some flooring like one of these (the first is my favorite!):



And eventually (not right away, but definitely in the near future) with all of the rest of the tiling removed, and the walls/vanity something in this color scheme:
It will be a whole new bathroom! :-)

It feels so great to be able to take this bigger step in the right direction!! So much got pushed aside because of the wedding, and now we really want to pay down the mortgage and build up the savings. But this is a nice way to make a big change, without breaking the bank. There really is so much that we want to do, and this is a great start.

And happy days for blogger being on my side today!

weekend roundup

So much to write!

This weekend was really nice. Thursday Trav and I slept in a little, then headed up to my parents. We enjoyed a very casual "grazing"-type lunch with lots of finger foods (mini pesto pizza slices, veggies, meats, cheeses, crackers, dips, etc.), and relaxed until dinner time. We had a nice big early dinner.... turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, cranberry sauce, stuffing... the works. It was great and we all ate too much. After that there was hot chocolate, pumpkin pie, cookies, cupcakes, and crunchy homemade cinnamon rolls. Trav ended up falling asleep (or into a food coma as we like to call it) around 8!

The next day Trav woke up around 5ish to head out shopping (he's crazy!)... leaving the rest of us to sleep for a bit. We headed home around 11, making a pit stop at the Ikea in Plymouth Meeting to check out bookshelves. We ended up finding a great one the fit perfectly with what we needed... which was a place for all of Travis' movies.


This kid has a sickness... there are all those movies... plus all of these movies:
(Ignore the mess in front, that's in transition.) Plus more that are hidden away!

I did get a little room to put what I thought were some nice touches.
Shelf with our unity candle and two frames that will hold wedding pictures when we get them (and that is a copy of our invitation on the right side of the left frame).

On top, a nice vase (thanks hoser) and our cake topper... our initial, H.

I was so excited to get it all set up and now we no longer have tons of crates all over our living room. Slowly but surely!

The rest of the weekend was pretty relaxing. I basically bummed around a lot. Trav unfortunately did have to work. We did take some time to start going through our pictures though, so hopefully we will have our album shots picked out soon.

Anyway, the weekend really was great. Thanksgiving is the second of my three favorite holidays, and it always puts me in a good mood and makes me think of all the positive things in life. This is true for a lot of people. Halcyon is one of my daily reads, and he apparently had some of the same sentimental feelings.

Every moment of my life, BOTH the following statements are true.:
ONE: "My life is difficult. I struggle in relationships and finance. I fall short of my potential. I am insecure and undisciplined. I am doomed to fail"
TWO: "My life is blessed. I learn more about myself every day. Every moment is another opportunity to experience love and the miracles of this planet. I am exactly where I am supposed to be. Everything will work out."

(From this post.) Honestly, he brought tears to my eyes. Who can't relate to having that diconamy in their life, of their positive and negative sides. I know that I also have to work on focusing on my statement two.


In other news, I have a video to share with you from my brother's performance as Romeo. To explain a few things first:

1. It was taken with my digital camera which has an option to catch video clips. It is by no means a great video! I apologize for the poor picture and sound quality... but it at least gives you an idea.
2. They did a "new version" of Romeo and Juliet.... modern clothes, modern weapons, but same language and story. Hence the t-shirt and jeans.
   
3. My bro is awesome. ;-) Okay, I guess that's all... just had to preface.
   

And here are a two pictures. I think my camera is finally getting a little "old and tired". It simply does not like taking pictures without the flash anymore! But here we go anyway.

This first one turned out blurry.. but it is a pretty good shot of the amazing backdrop they painted. My bro, Romeo and Benvolio.

Here is one of Romeo and Juliet, dancing at the masked ball.
Hopefully all the media will come through okay.


Oh, and this is completely unrelated (and a little NSFW) check out this video... put out by Planned Parenthood to educate about how pregnancy occurs. And yes, you are seeing things clearly... it is narrated by an animated penis and vagina.


Well, I think that was all I wanted to share for now... I really have to get to work! Ciao!

happy turkey turkey day.

So much to be thankful for this year (and all years)... great husband, family, friends... a house, that while not exactly what i want it to be, is safe and warm and ours... food on the table and money in the bank. Life really is pretty good.

Looking forward to the parents tomorrow. And four days of freedom.


Maybe I will be productive and clean.
... .... ......
Maybe I will grow another head and go on the circus tour.
You just never know.


Honestly I am going to try and get something done this weekend. I always end up frustrated that I work on things for hours and the difference is so small. Must remind myself that its the little things that add up to a big difference.


This morning was a little rough. We were switching out our internet connection at work and temporarily lost our use of internet or email. It was a LONG hour. Obviously it is working now, and I couldn't be happier.
I had a great lunch with Apoc too. We talked about old times, last weekend, and holiday plans.


I should get back to work. Have a great holiday everyone!

romeo and lafayette and getting old, oh my.

So uninspired lately. Life has been good, but time is just passing so quickly... it's hard for me to get up the "omph" to write about it all.

This past weekend was great. Friday night my brother ripped up the stage as Romeo. He did great. I really am so proud of him... especially considering that a few other students seemed to blow off their lines until too late in the game and you could really tell they were struggling. It was a shame for the half of the cast that really worked their asses off. Shakespear isn't easy for anyone to master, but it can be done with some hard work.

As I'm sure you are not surprised to learn... I didn't get a chance to download my pictures. So those will come later, but I think I got some good ones. And if i can figure out how to get it up here, I also got some video clips.

Saturday morning, way too early, we headed out to Lehigh so that Trav could attend the GLA (alumni association for his fraternity) meeting. I hit up breakfast with some friends, then headed up to the house. Travis had, still thinking himself a youngin', started drinking already. I played a few games of ruit with him... then we all headed upstairs to watch some football.
The game... well, to be quite honest, it sucked. This weekend was a BAD weekend for me when it comes to my football teams. We scored first... but Lafayette immediately responded, and then just kept going. We came back a little bit (I think in the second or third quarter), but it was all for not. We were done, trampled.

After that we relaxed with friends a bunch. Travis got rip-roarin' drunk. Then it was dinner time. We ate the later dinner (they have two formal meals for the alumni and brothers, very good food), and were done around 8:30. At that point Travis and I were both exhausted... we had only gotten about 6 hours of sleep the night before, and had gotten up early, not to mention adding some alcohol to the mix. So we headed down to the hotel and got into bed where we proceeded to sleep for around 11 hours!! I woke up a few times at first, when roommates came back and such... but that was fine because they all hit the sack pretty early too.

Sunday we woke up at a decent hour and headed to Ginny's for another breakfast. It's a tradition that whenever we are up there it is Ginny's time. That was our breakfast place all throughout college and the same people are still working there making the same great food.
The best part was that after a leasuirely breakfast, and a relaxed (no rush here) drive home, we were still back in plenty of time to settle in and watch the football games. Unfortunately for me, the Eagles game SUCKED (why McNabb, why?!)... but getting home was still nice.

This weekend really made me see how much has changed since college. Priorities are so different. I'm definitely loving "real life" more then college life. And I definitely can't drink or party like I used too. I didn't even drink much this weekend (and I felt fine) but just being around all the college students was too much for me after awhile. I really was exhausted Saturday night, but even if I hadn't been, I would have been thrilled to leave when we did. Even our friends, while they didn't come back to the hotel with us, did end up leaving the house not too long after to head to the bar and somewhere a little tamer (? quieter? just different? can't think of the right words here).

Anyway, its back to the real world now... and a thankfully short work week. Thursday we are off to my parent's for Thanksgiving. Heading back down here on Friday and enjoying the fact that we still have 2 more days of weekend left. Then next week... December already! The year is quickly drawing to a close and I can't believe how time has flown. Only 40 days left. This coming year is sure to bring many exciting things.


On another note... our good friend Jen is due any day now with her baby boy. We are so excited to get news about his arrival.
And for those that haven't heard... our good friend Brian, and his wife Stacey, are expecting their first in April. So Stacey is almost half-way there. Good luck to them both.


Okay, well that's about all I have for you right now. This day is flying and I have tons to get done. Ciao.

leaving early, still a long day.

Got here so early this morning because Travis had to take me to the train. Was in with a breakfast sandwich and hot chocolate before 8am. Yuck. :-)

But! Get to leave a bit early, which is nice, to see my brother play Romeo tonight! Hopefully picture this weekend.

We reschedualed the shower consultation. And the rains definitely came. No tornado though.

I'm very excited for this weekend. It's Lehigh/Lafayette time again and it will be awesome to see everyone. It's funny because last year, those things also got a combo post.

Anyway. It's always fun, it will be again.

But i have to leave to make my train!! Ciao!

varied feelings on this weather

It feels gorgeous out... warm, nice breeze... but it is muggy, and so dark that it looks like nighttime (it's only a little after 3!). They gave us a flash flood warning, a tornado warning, and a wind damage warning... but so far there have only been a few sprinkles. Haven't seen any lightning or heard any thunder.

We'll just have to wait and see what the evening brings.

In case you were wondering, the big event on Tuesday went great. Everyone was pleased and those that worked on it even more pleased that it was over! Dr. Krauthammer was our guest of honor and speech giver, and what I got to hear was good. Most of the talk though, was spent putting finishing touches on things outside the room...
Afterwards we went to the hotel bar to have a drink in celebration. I had a wonderful 10-year-old Tawny port. Mmm.

Yesterday was pretty quiet since we were all busy playing catch up. Then another quiet night at home without Trav.

Tonight... we have some people coming over to look at our shower and talk about what we can do to replace the tiling with something better, newer, easier to clean. Hopefully that will go well and they won't quote some huge, unrealistic price.

No matter what they say, I'm still looking forward to tonight because Travis will be there.


Before I forget... a huge Happy Birthday to Laura (who's birthday was yesterday... but as I never managed to find my way here yesterday....). She is a amazing lady, at one point a great boss, now a good friend, and I wish her the best for another great year.

Here she is about 20wks along with Sammy
(so obviously this is not a recent picture as Sam is 1 and a half already, but hey, it's what I could find on this computer).

And now, I have some work to get done.


Ps. It's raining now, though not too hard... we'll see where this goes.

here i am

Busy lately, and when not busy, lazy.

Got my hair redyed this weekend, then went to a party at Slink & Lindsey's new abode. Very nice. I don't normally drink a lot. I don't normally get drunk. But this weekend was a rare time of Travis being the designated driver... so I drank a *ahem* little more then normal.
It was good though. A great party and I got to see a bunch of people that I haven't seen for a while. And Travis got me home safe and sound. :-)

Sunday was a lazy day for me. Watched TV, Ro & Pat came over to witness my Eagles beating their 'Skins (finally!). Poor Travis had to work, again. I feel bad for my boy.
I put our new pillows out on the couch, and they look great! It's all about the little thrills. Lol.

Yesterday was work, our yearly heater maintenance (at home), and then relaxing until Trav got home. Yesterday was one month, and I can't believe how the time has flown.


Honestly things are good. There is some stress because of owning an old home. Right now it seems like we are just surrounded by things that are past their prime and desperately need to be replaced. Of course, that all takes money and we aren't exactly rolling in it. We obviously have prioritized what needs to be done vs. what we want to get done, but still... its hard to think about all the work ahead of us. And harder to think about how we can't just dive into it.
Before the wedding when someone asked us what we wanted for a birthday or christmas or something... the answer was most likely something for the wedding. Now the answer will be stuff for the house... either stuff off of our registry, or gift cards to Home Depot!!

What I really want is a house that feels like home. I'm comfortable in our house, don't get me wrong... but it is still so much the previous owners. Eventually I would like to have painted all of the rooms, replaced or removed all of the carpet, replace the flooring in both kitchen and bath, remove the tiling from the bathroom walls, get a new washer/dryer and kitchen appliances, add cabinets and a dishwasher to the kitchen, replace the sink, and redress all the windows.
You know, just a few things.

Right now though, all we need to worry about is the new walling for our shower, and maybe getting a new floor in there (since the current one is crappy cracked, pulling up, and dingy tiles). Next would probably be the sink in the kitchen... since it is probably going to be easier to replace the sink (possibly with one that we can actually wash our large pots in!), then to fix the weird leak it has developed. And what I need to remind myself is that every repair we do to our house increases its value.


On another note, today is a big (long) day at work. Our annual fundraising dinner event is tonight... so it will be a late night and a busy one. Hopefully everything will go smoothly (it always does), and it will be a relief when it is over.

Okay, back to work. Ciao!

how many are there of you?

With my new last name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 6 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

With my old last name:

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 26 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Real post to follow later, I'm being lazy at the moment.

Dems hold breath, Nation turns blue*

*from today's Metro... possibly my favorite headline ever.

I could spend all day talking about the election stuff... but I won't. Chances are you are either very excited right now, or very disappointed. I happen to be excited. There are certain decisions voted on across the nation that are not so good. But I'm thrilled to see more blue around... thrilled that the House is covered in it and hoping that the Senate will be too. We needed a change. I'm hopeful that this may start moving us in the right direction.

On another note. We finally got some of our pro pictures! So I would love to share with you. Here are just a few of the dozens of favorites we have (she took over 1300 pictures total).

In no particular order
(ignore the fact that some look blurry... that was a saving and uploading and transfering problem, not her pictures!):

My super handsome groom.

Me...

First dance.

Him reading his vows to me (which we didn't share beforehand), and me crying because they were so sweet!

Father/Daughter dance.

The Lehigh representation... spanning multiple generations!

The super fabulous and fun bridal party.

My ladies.

Brian and I... love that kid.

First time my papita saw me all dressed up.

With my new brother-in-law.

From L - R: Trav's brother, Andy, mom Barbara, Travis, me, Travis' sister-in-law, Megan, father John, and grandfather... the best man... Willy.

Gorgeous cake my aunt made us.

Us and my parents.

My Perfect:

Today is a lazy day... no real post, but just these two quick items.

I stole this from Jenette over at Musings. Enjoy.

Day: A crisp sunny fall day just warm enough to wear a light sweater... spent camping with friends in the middle of the woods. With plenty of marshmellows, hot dogs, and some hot chocolate and maybe spiced wine.

Job: I would really love to be a researcher for a old professor, studying Asian cultures and helping him write a nice long paper. Anyone know anything like this?!

Food: Anything creamy and cheesey and garlicy... pasta (tortalinis or raviolis) with a nice alfredo, maybe a good basil pesto.

Color: Blue.

Date: Oct.13... :-) But I don't think that's what they meant. Well, perfect date... I never really went on many, but I guess a nice dinner followed by a walk under the moonlight.

Book: I can't pick just one book!! I love so many. Mysteries are my fav. Hmm... really any of the Harry Potter books, any of the Kay Scarpetta books by Patricia Cornwell, any of the Spenser books by Robert Parker, or the Eve Duncan books by Iris Johansen.

Life: Hmm.... my perfect job, with Travis as my husband... less worries about money, and a newer house. Some kids too. Basically any life where I feel loved and satisfied.

Word: Burgundy.

Ending: The Happy one.

And this was stolen from Barry at Chattababy.

Get your ass out there today and VOTE! It's what makes this country great... the ability to let your voice be heard. So say something!


Ciao.

monday i've got friday on my mind...

Honestly, the plumber's news wasn't better or worse then what i was hoping for, but I'm not sure I liked what he had to say. I'm calling someone else, this warrents a second opinion. If nothing else, something about him rubbed me the wrong way. (Perhaps the big debate him and his "I really don't want to be here so I'm going to sit down every chance I get" apprentice got into about the Vietnam War... um, guys, THE LEAK!) So I'll call and we'll see. Either way, it looks like our timetable for the taking out of tiles and the adding of some new wall covering for our shower has gotten pushed up to sometime in the next month-ish(?). A big bump up from that mythical "sometime" in the future.

I'm a little excited about that... our bathroom needs some help.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was fine. I went to Home Depot to investigate some shower and bathroom floor options. Then to Target, to spent the rest of our gift cards (our sleeping bags and a clock for the bathroom). Then on to JCPennys, where they were having a mega sale (unfortunately the slipcovers were completely picked over, and I wasn't digging any of the bedding... and as for clothes, bleh). And yesterday I cleaned... all day. I didn't go out once, except to take the trash to the can in our backyard! Redid Henry's cage, put a bunch of stuff into the basement, rearranged the living room a bit to get the five crates full of videos and DVDs out of the way (definitely need to get another bookshelf!). Things will look pretty good once we get the slipcovers (or christmas gifts to each other) on, and put all the DVDs/Videos away.

Today feels like it has a touch of autumn to it. It's chilly, but there is something nice in the air. One more hour of work, and I can head home to enjoy it.

*drip* *drip* *drip*

So last night Travis and I were having a nice relaxing night. A little salad, some chips and dip, a bit of CSI (a new one last night, nice). Travis was making frequent trips to the kitchen to refresh his soda (that's right... my husband is a Coke addict), and noticed that a spot on our kitchen ceiling, which had been there since before we got the house, seemed a bit darker and maybe a tad bigger.

So we did the logical thing... we cut out the ceiling tile.
(Actually, had I known that there was a weeeee bit of rum in that Coke, I might not have approved of this being the logical next step, but he seemed so sure... Just kidding hunny!)

We do have a leak. From the position and size of the pipe, we are guessing it is the little one that delivers water to the tank of the toilet. And I am hoping, from where the leak seems to be originating, that it is just a matter of replacing the joint where the pipe changes direction to head upstairs. We have a plumber coming on Saturday morning. Dear g*d, let the news be "good".

Changing the subject, today has been pretty good. It's friday, which is always a bonus. First thing this morning, I ran to the closest PennDot licensing center (well, in Philly, closest to where I work), and am now officially, Megan Katiegh H*****. Yay!

Now the rest of the name changing can commence. I got my bank accounts and my credit card. Hopefully my car loan should be changed soon as well. This weekend I'll take care of other loans and our utilities. Man this stuff is annoying! Lol.

I also ran an errand for the office, and got myself a free sushi lunch out of it! Mmmm... sushi.

This day really has been pretty fab, if only because it seems like I've been running errands and away from the office more then I've been in it. Not quite true, but the breaks REALLY speed up the day. Love it.

And now it's friday... so I will bid you all a great weekend. :-)

59 days left.

Um, completely forgot to mention yesterday that ... holy crap ... it's November!
How did that happen?

Happy Birthday to the fabulous freak girl in the making... Skyeler!!



Such a cutie!!
Cassie's little girl is two years old today! Man, time flies!


Not much to discuss here at the moment... it's almost the weekend. Hallelujah. I'm going to go eat lunch.

giving back

This is a great time of year for me. Beside the fact that I am so happy to be married, fall is my favorite season, and last night was the first of my three favorite holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas). Honestly, I can't remember the last time I have been this happy for this long. I got thinking about it when I was reading a bunch of posts by people that are suffering through some hard times right now, and realized that I can't even remember off the top of my head the last time I was feeling depressed. Definitely something to be happy about!

Last night was a lot of fun. Trav and I had tons of candy (and we still have WAY too much left), and all night long we were happily passing it out to the adorable kids that came to our door. My favorite coustume was probably the little girl dressed as Clifford... more because she was so damn adorable then because of the coustume itself. It was perfect with a cup of hot apple cider, and I'm so glad that Halloween came on a tuesday, so Travis could enjoy it too!!


On another note...

Thanksgiving is just around the corner. This is a great time of year to realize how luck we are... count our blessing, be with those we love, and experience that general all-around happy feeling that the holidays (specifically Thanksgiving and Christmas in my opinion) give to people.

And it has to do with more then just turkeys!

It has to do with loved ones, and togetherness, and doing nice things for other people.
While I don't agree with the war, I do support our troops 100%. They are there fighting for people like me and you. They will be without all those great things that home brings during the holidays.

Do something special. Go to http://www.anysoldier.com and pick a name (read the instructions and it will all make sense). Send a care package, or even just a letter. Help a lonely soldier (or two) to feel a little better for the holidays. I already have my name, and two care packages on their way to soldiers in Iraq. It's such a little thing for me to do, and it will make a huge difference to someone who is missing those they love, and spending the holidays at war.

And I hope your holiday season gets off to a wonderful start!!