Saturday, July 24th, 2010
I made this layout for Faith using some of the new DHD products.
Journaling reads:
Tara posted on her Facebook page that Faith was lovin’ the beach, and also uploaded this picture of Faith and her new do.
Journaling reads:
Tara posted on her Facebook page that Faith was lovin’ the beach, and also uploaded this picture of Faith and her new do.
 Lovin' the Beach Credits: papers - Notions Pastel & Co Digital FULL Kit By Jen Allyson beach sticker - Mini Word Stickers Summer By MaryAnn Wise Corner stitches - Stitched Grids By MaryAnn Wise Frame - Real Simple Frames stamp by Jen Allyson Drop shadows - Subtle Shadows by Jen Martakis |
Friday, July 23rd, 2010
1.) Site maintenance. With the blog maintenance going on, I wasn't able to post regularly as we were testing things. We think we've got all of the bugs worked out, and I should be able to go back to posting daily. So in order to catch, up I had to do some mass updates. The blog home page only displays the last 5 entries, so most of the entries have scrolled off the page, but if you are a regular reader and want to catch up on things, make sure you check the archives:
July Archives
June Archives
There's a lot of pictures of the house progress, some new scrapbook pages, and a few photography sessions thrown in.
2.) Five on Friday Recap. As I go through my week, I make notes for my Five on Friday posts. Sometimes these are mental notes; sometimes I actually jot down little notes or even type up a blurb or two. Despite the fact that there hasn't been any Five on Friday posts on the blog lately, I've still been making notes. So instead of going back and post dating a bunch of stuff, I've decided to do a Five on Friday Bonus Edition. Basically, I'm just going to keep numbering until I've got all of my updates out of the way.
3.) Carpal tunnel. So I had my EMG testing last week, and as it turns out I do NOT have carpal tunnel. Not even close. The doctor said I have no signs of nerve damage. He doesn't really know why my fingers were tingly and painful for an entire month. He is guessing I may have had some type of nerve irritation for overworking it, but he said there was no permanent damage. When the tingling had gotten better the last few weeks, I just figured the wrist brace was working. I had been wearing it at night, when I was typing, and when I cross stitched or quilted anything, but he said he didn't think it was necessary at this point. Obviously, I had good reason to question "Veronica's" diagnosis.
4.) EMG. An EMG, which studies nerve conductions (by delivering electrical impulses to the nerves) and muscles (by inserting a needle probe into different muscles), is an uncomfortable procedure but a very useful and sensitive test for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Overall the EMG wasn't too bad. I was worried, because I had read so many things online about how painful it can be. It definitely hurt a little bit, but nothing too horrible.
5.) Car problems. As we went to leave the neurologist's office after my testing, we were glad to have the clear diagnosis and excited that it didn't take too long, because we were hoping to make it out to the house and talk to Clair and the guys before they quit for the day. We had a good 45 minutes to make it out there, so we were set – or so we thought. We get in the car, and it won't start! Lovely! Nathan
checks some things under the hood, but we weren't really sure if it was the battery or the starter or what. So we called my parents, and they head our way to try and give us a jump. We eventually get the jeep started and took it to Advanced Auto. It turned out to be a bad cell in the battery, which was actually still under warranty, so we didn’t even have to pay for a new one. Needless to say, we didn't make it out to the house in time, but at least we didn't end up having to spend a bunch of money on repairs.
6.) The E.R. That same day, Nathan had a softball game at 9:30. During the game, while Nathan was playing in the right outfield, he made the most.amazing.catch! Seriously, it would have been a highlight on ESPN if we had it on tape. It was a foul ball, and he had to run clear off of the field, practically into the parking lot, and jump 10 feet in the air, while completely stretched out horizontally to catch the ball. It was seriously A.MAZ.ING! After he caught it and was walking back to the field, everyone was cheering and clapping, and I said, "Oh yeah, that's my husband!" Well, a few innings later, he had to run up to try and catch another fly ball. He didn't make it there in time and kind of fell and rolled forward trying to dive for the ball. When he fell he landed on his shoulder. It really didn't look too bad, but after the next pitch he came off the field holding his arm. He tried to sit for awhile and watch the rest of the game, but the pain was pretty bad, and we were afraid he may have broken his collar bone, so we left and went to the emergency room. We waited at the emergency room for 3 hours before they even took an x-ray, and it was another hour or so before we got to see a doctor. The doctor took a quick glance at the x-ray and said that nothing was broken. He told Nathan to ice it and get an MRI done next week if it wasn't feeling better. Nathan went to see an orthopedic doctor on Wednesday, and he said he thinks Nathan separated his shoulder, but luckily nothing appeared to be torn. Nathan is still in some pain, and his softball season may be over, but in the long run he should be OK.
7.) Sunburst. I FINALLY got a new phone. The outer screen on my old one stopped working months ago, but I didn't like any of the new ones, so I just kept on using my half-broken one. Well, the other day the inside screen also stopped working, so I finally had to call it quits. It was one of the older Razors that I had for years – and it was pink. It was a good phone. I ended up getting the Samsung Sunburst. It was free from Sams. Nathan has had the same phone for a few weeks now, and had pretty good luck with it. It has a lot better reception than the Solstice that he had before and had to return. I don't text or twitter or search the Internet, so my requirements for a phone are pretty simple. I wanted something thin that had good reception and basically just made calls. Overall, I don't hate the phone. These are my biggest complaints:
- It beeps and lights up when the battery is fully charged. This may not seem like a big deal, but most of the time I charge my phone at night. So I plug it in, and then an hour or two later once I am sound asleep it makes this loud beeping noise and lights up. Highly annoying.
-You cannot change the background on the screensaver when the phone is locked. Basically it just has a group of random images that it rotates through. You do not get to pick a single image and you cannot delet e any of the images in the rotation. Yes, this is annoying and I think I should be allowed to pick my own screensaver, but more importantly, Nathan and I have the same phone. So if our phones are both locked – which they are the majority of the time unless you are actually using them, they look exactly the same laying on the table. We were able to change the font on Nathan's so at least there is a slight difference.
I have actually emailed Samsung about both of these items, and they confirmed that there is no way to change those features. Other than those things, and the fact that it doesn't come in pink, I am adjusting to the phone. I am thinking about ordering one of the custom skins for my phone. Just so it looks nicer and so we could tell ours apart. Has anyone ever ordered one of those before? Is it just a sticker or does it stay on pretty well?
July Archives
June Archives
There's a lot of pictures of the house progress, some new scrapbook pages, and a few photography sessions thrown in.
2.) Five on Friday Recap. As I go through my week, I make notes for my Five on Friday posts. Sometimes these are mental notes; sometimes I actually jot down little notes or even type up a blurb or two. Despite the fact that there hasn't been any Five on Friday posts on the blog lately, I've still been making notes. So instead of going back and post dating a bunch of stuff, I've decided to do a Five on Friday Bonus Edition. Basically, I'm just going to keep numbering until I've got all of my updates out of the way.
3.) Carpal tunnel. So I had my EMG testing last week, and as it turns out I do NOT have carpal tunnel. Not even close. The doctor said I have no signs of nerve damage. He doesn't really know why my fingers were tingly and painful for an entire month. He is guessing I may have had some type of nerve irritation for overworking it, but he said there was no permanent damage. When the tingling had gotten better the last few weeks, I just figured the wrist brace was working. I had been wearing it at night, when I was typing, and when I cross stitched or quilted anything, but he said he didn't think it was necessary at this point. Obviously, I had good reason to question "Veronica's" diagnosis.
4.) EMG. An EMG, which studies nerve conductions (by delivering electrical impulses to the nerves) and muscles (by inserting a needle probe into different muscles), is an uncomfortable procedure but a very useful and sensitive test for carpal tunnel syndrome.
Overall the EMG wasn't too bad. I was worried, because I had read so many things online about how painful it can be. It definitely hurt a little bit, but nothing too horrible.
5.) Car problems. As we went to leave the neurologist's office after my testing, we were glad to have the clear diagnosis and excited that it didn't take too long, because we were hoping to make it out to the house and talk to Clair and the guys before they quit for the day. We had a good 45 minutes to make it out there, so we were set – or so we thought. We get in the car, and it won't start! Lovely! Nathan
checks some things under the hood, but we weren't really sure if it was the battery or the starter or what. So we called my parents, and they head our way to try and give us a jump. We eventually get the jeep started and took it to Advanced Auto. It turned out to be a bad cell in the battery, which was actually still under warranty, so we didn’t even have to pay for a new one. Needless to say, we didn't make it out to the house in time, but at least we didn't end up having to spend a bunch of money on repairs.
6.) The E.R. That same day, Nathan had a softball game at 9:30. During the game, while Nathan was playing in the right outfield, he made the most.amazing.catch! Seriously, it would have been a highlight on ESPN if we had it on tape. It was a foul ball, and he had to run clear off of the field, practically into the parking lot, and jump 10 feet in the air, while completely stretched out horizontally to catch the ball. It was seriously A.MAZ.ING! After he caught it and was walking back to the field, everyone was cheering and clapping, and I said, "Oh yeah, that's my husband!" Well, a few innings later, he had to run up to try and catch another fly ball. He didn't make it there in time and kind of fell and rolled forward trying to dive for the ball. When he fell he landed on his shoulder. It really didn't look too bad, but after the next pitch he came off the field holding his arm. He tried to sit for awhile and watch the rest of the game, but the pain was pretty bad, and we were afraid he may have broken his collar bone, so we left and went to the emergency room. We waited at the emergency room for 3 hours before they even took an x-ray, and it was another hour or so before we got to see a doctor. The doctor took a quick glance at the x-ray and said that nothing was broken. He told Nathan to ice it and get an MRI done next week if it wasn't feeling better. Nathan went to see an orthopedic doctor on Wednesday, and he said he thinks Nathan separated his shoulder, but luckily nothing appeared to be torn. Nathan is still in some pain, and his softball season may be over, but in the long run he should be OK.
7.) Sunburst. I FINALLY got a new phone. The outer screen on my old one stopped working months ago, but I didn't like any of the new ones, so I just kept on using my half-broken one. Well, the other day the inside screen also stopped working, so I finally had to call it quits. It was one of the older Razors that I had for years – and it was pink. It was a good phone. I ended up getting the Samsung Sunburst. It was free from Sams. Nathan has had the same phone for a few weeks now, and had pretty good luck with it. It has a lot better reception than the Solstice that he had before and had to return. I don't text or twitter or search the Internet, so my requirements for a phone are pretty simple. I wanted something thin that had good reception and basically just made calls. Overall, I don't hate the phone. These are my biggest complaints:
- It beeps and lights up when the battery is fully charged. This may not seem like a big deal, but most of the time I charge my phone at night. So I plug it in, and then an hour or two later once I am sound asleep it makes this loud beeping noise and lights up. Highly annoying.
-You cannot change the background on the screensaver when the phone is locked. Basically it just has a group of random images that it rotates through. You do not get to pick a single image and you cannot delet e any of the images in the rotation. Yes, this is annoying and I think I should be allowed to pick my own screensaver, but more importantly, Nathan and I have the same phone. So if our phones are both locked – which they are the majority of the time unless you are actually using them, they look exactly the same laying on the table. We were able to change the font on Nathan's so at least there is a slight difference.
I have actually emailed Samsung about both of these items, and they confirmed that there is no way to change those features. Other than those things, and the fact that it doesn't come in pink, I am adjusting to the phone. I am thinking about ordering one of the custom skins for my phone. Just so it looks nicer and so we could tell ours apart. Has anyone ever ordered one of those before? Is it just a sticker or does it stay on pretty well?
 8.) Kyle and Katy's Wedding. I did finish editing Kyle and Katy's wedding photos. I didn't get a chance to share any of them, because the site was down and the new gallery hasn't been updated yet, but I did upload some of them to Flickr. You can check out their gallery here: Kyle and Katy's Wedding  9.) Faith turned three. Can you hardly believe it? I have a ton of pictures of her from the party, and I will get them upload as soon as I get a chance. |
 11.) Catalog Living. Anyone who knows me well, knows that I am a fan of Pottery Barn, but I can't look at a catalog the same way after reading this website. If you need a good laugh, you should seriously check out the lives of Gary and Elaine and their Catalog Living. 12.) Are we in the house yet? That is the million dollar question that everyone keeps asking. Unfortunately, no we are not. I figure they still have a few weeks left. Yes, we are getting anxious. Clair and the crew are working hard, and it is really looking good, but there are still a lot of little things to finish. Wow, that was longer than I even thought. Sorry for being so long-winded, but that's what happens when I keep all the updates bottled up for a month. |
Thursday, July 22nd, 2010
The state road crew came out and added the drain cover to the last drop inlet. We should now be ready to do the final grade next week and smooth out our yard.
 Clair made some adjustments to our gutter downspouts today. There was one place outside of the garage where the pipe was at a weird angle because of the stone ledge. It goes straight down now. |
 He actually just cut a section out of the stone, so the drain fits right back into it. Definitely looks a lot better. |
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Wednesday, July 21st, 2010
They finished the stair railing today.
 I'm glad we decided to go with the square posts of the ends; I think they go better with the craftsman style. |
 They also installed all of our door knobs (actually levers) today. They are from Kwikset and are the Tustin, venetian bronze finish. |
 They also installed some of our door stops. Depending on the location and need, some of our stops are the hinge style and some on the baseboard. These are obviously the hinge ones and are a oil rubbed bronze finsih to match the door hinge. |
 They also installed the commode in our downstairs half bath. |
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Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
Today they are working on the railing that goes up the staircase.
 This is the landing at the top. |
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