Pictures of the house

so finally--i know you all have been anticipating my triumphant return to the blogger world, and here I am. Even though everyone now has moved on to the "My Space" stuff, but to those 2 or few faithfuls out there, i will now attempt to post pictures of my house.

here is the front view. our lot is long and narrow and a Charleston type home was the only option we had actually.













here is our view from the back porch.












there are Ashley's toys.














our view from our dock. not to shabby.












now i hope you all enjoy--sorry it took so long.

love to you.
mere

My hopes come crashing down

ok, i know i havent written in awhile, and everyone has all but threatened me to write something so fine!!! Here is a little something--

First of all, a quick shout out to Leslie's dad--Papa Tom and his full recovery. You are in my prayers and I love you very much!!

Ok, so as of today my house is not going to be ready by May 26th. People told me to expect this of builders and that the standard "2 week rule" will come into play. But, since we are so behind already I thought surely my builder will be on time!! Come on Mere!! Wake up and smell the tile grout!!! our new date is June 15th. Two weeks later. unbelievable. How hard is it to adjust a few drawers and finish painting a few walls??? I wanted to be in to throw a lake party for my birthday, which is May 21st in case you were wondering. (The mail is running slow, so go ahead and get those cards in this week!! :)

I would show you pics of the house, but I am too bummed. I might later. Plus our workers went on strike......of course. Never saw that one coming.

On a competely opposite note, I just finished reading "THE DaVinci Code". That is (besides the Bible and some of my Babysitter's Club books) one of the best books I have read. We are doing a study on this book at my church and I wanted to read it before the movie came out. If anyone else has read it,,let me know. I would love to talk about it. I can see how unbelievers could believe this to be some sort of the truth, and that is one of the main reasons why I wanted to read it. Also, so I could know where they were coming from and be able to discuss it rationally before I got my Peter the irrational apostle groove on and start smackin people around! :)

So, now Ash and I are stuck in our apartment for what seems like FOREVER!!! to no avail, this is not the end of the world. NOw after a few weeks when Alias is over, that will be the end of the world!

ok, i hope this tides my fans over for the next few months!

love to all,

Growing Pains

I feel like I have aged 10 years in the past week.

For the most part, Ash has done most of the house planning stuff. I have picked out faucets with him, and we did doorknobs and deadbolt together for the most part. The big things up to this point Ash has done and I have really cared because I trust him. Well, these past several days I have been working on cabinets. Kitchen and bathroom cabinets. This has ultimately made me want to throw myself in front of a semi-truck.

I dont know anything about measuring, countertops, etc. I just pick out the color, and so far I have gone over budget on everything. (this should not surprise anyone)
Today I met with the cabinet lady at our new house and talked about the kitchen and then she moved to the bookshelves in the great room. I was clearly not prepared to talk about bookshelves in the great room, therefore I began to panic and start crying on the inside. I stink at this house junk!! I have no idea what I am doing!

After work, I met Ash at his office to see some guy about life-insurance and disability. About hhmm, 45 seconds into his presentation, I was thinking about cabinets and about which scrubs I was going to wear tomorrow. All of his mumbo-jumbo, I could not understand what he was talking about. Every once in awhile, he would look at me for approval, to which I would just smile and nod. (I knew there were some hidden M&M's somewhere in the room we were in, and if I could just get to them before he saw me I would be in better shape. )

Lucky for me, Ash is really smart and can handle all this junk. I told the guy that this was all grown-up stuff and I felt to young to do this now. He promptly reminded me of my age, (thank you Mr. Mumbles) and that I did need to be prepared. geez.

so, i feel better after venting my house and insurance problems. Please keep me in mind Friday and I have to make decisions on bathroom vanities(colors), tile, hardwood floor color, fabric, and now bookshelves all before 2:00. If anyone wants to fly to Nashville and do this for me, you have my nod of approval. :)

Vacation in Colorado

so we are at the end of our snowboarding vacation and it has been uneventful as far as injuries go. some bumps and bruises are about it, so you can all let out a sigh of relief.

here are some pics of the week:


this is me snowboarding with my trusty helmet. safety first!











ash and I at lunch in the warming house

after a long day, its good to just sit and take in the view.

me and Ash

sometimes i still have trouble getting off the lift and have to hold on to him for dear life!

ok, tomorrow we come back home. it has been a fabulous vacation! no broken bones this time!

i finally can send pictures!

ok, again i am sorry for the sporadic posts, but i am obsessed with the Olympics and so i watch the games all the time! at this moment, the ice dancing is going on and so i have some time!:) i do love snowboarding, and well, thats about it. GO USA!

ok, Ash and I are in the process of building a house and it is the most stressful thing ever. it is our first 6 months of marriage and we are doing something that will give us a test of true love. we were picking out doorknobs and finishes the other day and i thought our 6 month run was about over. thank goodness we agreed to disagree, and I won the battle but lost the war for a ridiculous home entertainment center. but i have pics of the house and its progress, and so i will try to post them. also a pic of me with my red hair.

holy cow!!! kelly just walked me through this whole picture thing so now you all can share in the wonders of building a house. here are some more: this is our fireplace and our contractor Dave.

ok and now the Mere with red hair :::drumroll please:

me getting my ghetto lips on right?

ok--i am totally spent and womens snowboard cross is about to come on, so i gotta go!! love to all and please pray for us as we go to Colorado next week! pray i dont break yet another vertebrae snowboarding!! one day, you guys will be watching me at the Olympics and there is no telling what color my hair will be!!

A bad day

two blogs in two days, Jesus is really coming soon! :)

Ok, well my day started off with a bang. I was blow drying my hair and I knocked off a vase that was mounted on my wall with a fake hydrangia in it. It of course shattered onto the floor, but i continued to blow dry my hair because i was almost done anyway. Ash stumbled in in all his morning glory to see (squinted) if i was okay. I told him i was fine and this was all a dream. (he is really gullible)

So, ok the first hour of JAN. 18 was not good, but how much worse could it get?

I go to work early because it snowed here and i wanted to be a good hygienist and prepare for the days teeth that awaited me. I made coffee for all to share, and then went to do some things. I came back to the kitchen and the coffee was EVERYWHERE! i apparently did not put the coffee pot all the way in the holder thing and the stream of coffee never made it to the pot. So, a royal mess was made and I frantically tried to clean it up lest I become the office joke. The coffee had also soaked my new coat Ash got me for Christmas, that is gortex material, but still smells like coffee. The coffee finally got cleaned up with the help of 10000 paper towels, but my jacket kept leaking. I had to literally wring out my coat to get it to stop. finally, i just put some paper towels under my coat so it could drain. so now my North Face smells like Folgers Strong blend.

Lunch time comes around, and Ash informs me he got a new flipper. The tooth on the retainer thing? remember? now he has two. This new one is way more comfy he says. now on my bathroom counter are 2 retainers with 2 teeth on them. i KNOW i did not sign up for this August 20, 2005.

I go after work to meet Cilla and cant find my keys. I have my boss almost break my window to my car because i am "sure" they are in there, when someone comes out and says she found them in the trash. nice Mere. My boss just rolled his eyes and laughed. somehow, i still became the office joke.

So, I am home now thankfully with no more screw ups for the day. I am sure all these misfortunes are a direct result of my hair color. this never happened when i was blond. people understood when i messed up. now it is a shock!

But, who is the one person who can make this all better? Ash of course. My sweet husband told me he had a present for me. Jewelry? Ann Taylor gift card? shoes? no girls!! better!!1 what cna be better???

HOW ABOUT A CASE OF HARIBO GUMMI BEARS!! THATS 48 BOXES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

haribo gummi bears are the best gummi bears ever. their texture is priceless. you can buy them at walgreens or target, and they are in a gold box or bag. please go and enjoy.

how sweet is he? a patient of his sells candy at cost, and so he got those plus some Jelly Bellies for me! i am so excited! I plan on devouring them immediatley!

so the day ended well, but i am still going back to blond tomorrow. i will try to take a picture of the Goth that is my hair for you all to see!

Blondes really do have more fun,,,

OK, I did it. Finally.

I colored my hair brown/red. I am no longer a blond. It happened Friday and some friends of ours called it "spicy hair." Not quite sure, but I think there is a compliment in there somewhere. BUt, and no offense to all my homegirls with the brown and red hair (Leslie, thats you and only you!), but I think i have been feeling sad these past few days. I dont know if it is the dye, or the whole persona. I just cant get into it. Of course Cilla, with her ever-loving comments said "Your hair doesnt know what color it is!") thanks mom. #1 supporter of everything i do.

I think i am depressed because I miss the blond Mere. I have tried to be more serious, more funky, more trendy with this new hair, but I just cant get into it. I have lost my edge, my wit, and my euphora.

So, i have made the decision after watching the Golden Globes last night and seeing Reese Witherspoon looking ever so fabulous, that I want to go back to my "natural" color. As my lovely sister in law told me--"I love your blond highlights!" Some are still el naturel, but again, there was a compliment in there somewhere. Seriously, I think Kel was telling me the blond Mere is what we are all used too, so why mess with perfection? :)))))) (see, the humor is starting to come back!)

ok, done deal. Thursday is D-DAY for my hair. I am going back to blond!!! yea!!! I feel better all ready!

thanks for the pep talk everyone. sorry i stink at writing blogs. i get carpal tunnel syndrome from digging into peoples mouths everyday.

peace in the middle east.

New Year's in Indiana?

Well, another successful Christmas and New Years has gone by and this year has already started off just great!
this is my first Christmas and New Year's as a married woman, and that is the obvious HUGE highlight of 2005.
Some lowlights of 2005 include:
Ash's house burning completely down on Jan. 26, 2005
Me breaking a vertebrae in my lower back on Feb. 11 while snowboarding in Colorado
The pathetic season of the Vols
The ridiculously slow rate the framers are taking with our house
The movie "Elizabethtown"

So, this year Ash and I went to ski for the weekend at Perfect North Slopes in Indiana. That's right, I said INDIANA! . We were driving to the "slopes" (aka - a bit larger than a hill) and it was green grass all the way until randomly there was some snow on this hill. It was a little weird skiing in 50 degree weather with other people skiing in jeans. (Just a note for everyone, please don't ski or snowboard in jeans. you look silly. ) Thankfully, I did not get hurt this time around, but hopefully Colorado won't get me again!

We slept in Saturday and met up with some kids from our church youth group that night around 8:00 for some night skiiing and to watch fireworks. We ended up snowboarding until 3 in the morning!! I am a SPECK!! I am not used to staying up this late! :) (shout out to my brother!)

We quit early yesterday to go snowtubing which totally freaked me out, but I know Ashley loved watching my eyes basically pop out of my head down the hill at a very fast rate!

To end our fun vacation, we ate at Abuelos!!! (i think i misspelled it!! Sorry to my fellow Abileneans!) I loved taking Ash to one of my favorite college restaurants in the middle of Lawrenceburg, Indiana.

Overall, Christmas with my family was absolutely perfect. New Years in Indiana was every girl's dream! :) I am truly blessed!

Stay tuned for Christmas pics of my nephew Palmer!!