#89 - Mr. & Mrs. Zwetow!

Our good friends, Tony & Marissa were married on Friday! Here is Jill, Marissa and me toasting before she walked down the aisle (Marissa's new niece took this picture). I didn't take too many pics at the wedding because so many other people were so I'll post more photos when I get them. P.S. I caught the bouquet...and Lui caught the garder. ;)

#88 - Pumpkins!

Here we are (I still need to get the group shot - there was about 20 of us) carving pumpkins the Friday before Halloween. It's our good friend Tony (getting married to our good friend Marissa on Friday!!), Lui, Mike and me:
I found two things on-line that I wanted to do so I made mine double sided, here's the ghost:

And the other side was a silly face:

There was voting and a trophy for the winner (that gets passed aruond from year to year) which went to a guy who carved 2 pumpkins so it looked like something from Silence of the Lambs (where one pumpkin was eating the other's brains, yuk). Here is Lui's with a facial expression that Lui likes to make:

It was our first time at this annual carving event, thrown by friends of friends - can't wait to do it again next year! I should mention that I left them out on the patio and the 95+ degree heat ruined them and I ended up scooping the moldy, mushy mess into a trash bag - GROSS.

#87 - Snuggly doggies!

It is almost certain that if I can't find one or both of my dogs it's because they are snuggled up in a blanket or warm pile of laundry fresh out of the dryer! Here is Lola in the t-shirt quilt my mom made for me when I graduated high school (the yellow square is from my favorite blanket growing up). I keep the quilt folded on my couch and Lola loves to burrow herself right in it:
Here is Tobey in a fresh, warm load of clean laundry - note blankets, towels, washcloth...:

Tobey follows me with my basket of clean clothes and makes it a point to lay in it while I put things away.

#86 - When good feet go bad.

*WARNING* - photos are graphic!! I uploaded these pictures "small" so it wouldn't be in your face. I took these pics during "therapy" - they use electric waves and ultrasound to help patients heal quicker and lessen scarring. I've had ingrown toenails since I can remember. My mom use to cut them out for us and I've been keeping up with it as an adult until I recently decided: NO MORE! Part of my reason for taking action was that our copays go up next year. Here are my post-op toes 3 days after surgery:
I have been promised the toenails won't grow into the side of my toes again!! Here are my toes again exactly a week after surgery.

It's been over 2 weeks now, I got my stitches out on Friday. The toes are still ugly, though. Coming up are bunion surgeries - each foot a month apart. I've scheduled them for the Friday before Thanskgiving, the other the Friday before Christmas since I need to be off work for a week. Taking care of my feet this year!!

#85 - Day Trip to Balboa Island & Peninsula

It has been blazing HOT out for so long! Lui and I finally made it to the beach (neither of us worked last Sunday) and here's what we got - overcast sky, but we didn't mind. It was nice to finally have some cool, fall weather. We drove out to crowded, toursisty Balboa Island with lots of little shops but didn't stop; we decided to take the ferry across to the peninsula since Lui had never been on it. Here's a pic of one of the other two ferrys passing us:
Lui decided to get out of the ferry and sit on the side of the boat but I stayed in the car. Don't let that look on his face fool you - he was having fun! It only cost $1.50/person to cross and you don't have to back track your way through the crowded Balboa Island to experience all the good restaurants on the peninsula.

The added bonus was that we called Lui's sister-in-law to RSVP for her baby shower and ironically her, her hubby and Lui's mom were all in the area. We met up for dinner at a seafood restaurant where I tried a salad with romaine lettuce which had been cooked on a grill - something new but very good!

#84 - Mr. Horton, DR - what do I call him?!

Yesterday we got an in-person visit from the founder of our company - Mr. D.R. Horton himself! We knew he was in town looking at land deals and it was rumored that he may come into our office (so we made sure to dress especially nice and clean up our spaces) but it was very exciting when he walked down the hall and made it a point to introduce himself to everyone individually. I have to admit I was star struck. We hang a picture of him with the "builder's story" in every sales office we open. His name is on our business cards. Heck, it's on our building/doormats/company van! He was a very nice man and I'm glad I got to meet him in person and am proud to be working for this great company.

Sidenote: Lorine (who I went to high school with - we both worked at the movie theater, too) is a D.R. Horton sales agent in Minnesota!

#83 - EXTREME Home Makeover

Here is my old "one butt kitchen" (as my aunt calls it).
Before I closed escrow, the water heater was enclosed in drywall so my realtor told me they'd cut a hole in it and I could install a vent - needless to say I was shocked to walk into my kitchen and find this!

Here is my kitchen today - still needs some work (I have to paint the ceiling, put on outlet covers and pick up my stainless steel range and figure out if I need to install a vent over the stove top; not sure what the codes are but I'll find out!). Bonus of working for a home builder is we get furniture and appliances cheap if they aren't purchased by the homeowner who buys our model homes - that's where I'm getting my range but it's currently out in Palm Desert...I'll get it soon!

Here's the corner where the open water heater use to be. The water heater was moved to the left and a cabinet was built around it with a vent on top and on bottom. This odd area was left where a cabinet couldn't be built (the door wouldn't have anywhere to swing) so I made the most of it after a trip to IKEA with some innovative storage options.