Hanging up our dancing shoes

Wedding season has come to an end in the Rothmeeler house. Since November of last year we have attended three weddings and hosted our own. Now, I realize that is not that many, as some of our friends have attended double/triple that amount, but for us, it is the most either of us have had in one year. As of right now, the next wedding is in February.

A little reminder of the weddings:

Josh and Renae - November 10

Ours May 19!

 

Stephany and Dan - September 22

Drew walking the bride's mom down the aisle

  

Lesley and Nat - October 13 (Isn't the flower girl adorable?! And, yes, they brought me a g-free cupcake)

 

*ughh I still can't seem to get the spacing and pictures correct. I was really hoping to add a lot more - oh well.
**Many of the pictures are courtesy Gayle Rothmeeler - Life Through the Lens Photography

Cincinnati is Special

I have been working on another blog post, but it's causing me some issues as I try to load pictures. In the mean time, I came across this article, thanks to a friend on Facebook. It's the top 10 surprising things about Cincinnati from a non-Cincinnati native. It's a fun read. I actually didn't know about #8 on the list, the Gothic cathedral.

You can read the article by clicking here. Beware, if you are like me, you will be craving Skyline at the end :)

Party Planning = Deadline

There is nothing like planning a party when your house is a disaster. Last weekend marked Drew's 29th birthday and we thought it was a perfect opportunity to have some friends over to the house and celebrate. It also meant having a deadline to get the house in order - which seemed like a perfect plan until it meant spending the last couple of nights up until all hours of the day. We made the decision to have a party about 2 weeks prior to the party. Originally that seemed like plenty of time, until we looked at the calendar and realized our weekends were already jam packed leading up to the party. Drew was out of town for Army training and would leave a again for a day and a half, I had a baby shower/former work get together, we had a wedding (which Drew was a groomsman and also meant a rehearsal dinner Friday night), family gathering in Ripley at Drew's uncle's farm (pictures to come), as well as the usual work schedule. Needless to say, we didn't have as much time as we had hoped to get things together. Luckily when Drew wasn't working he was at the house cleaning.

We did get a decent amount of the anesthetic (painting, pictures hung) jobs done prior to all of this, but we have lots of "grand" plans that we want to accomplish. Unfortunately, we didn't have the time. We had to focus on organizing and cleaning. We figured people will understand if not every picture is hung or room is properly lit. For example, our garage looked like this:  

 

The good news is, it is currently cleared out and can fit two cars inside. We did some tweaking to the dinning room. I think the last time I wrote we were planning to put the re-painted china cabinet in that room. Well, after moving it in there we decided we thought our other cabinets would look better in there and moved the china cabinet to our living room/empty/still trying to decide what to do with room, room. Drew also finally acquired the dinning room table and chairs he got from an old neighbor friend years ago. Add a couple of pictures to the wall and the dinning room looks like:

We still have a couple more things to hang, including a large mirror to go on the wall across from the wall with the pictures. Our living room/empty/still trying to decide what to do with room, room cleaned up as this:

Eventually we are planning to see what it would cost to knock down that wall to the left. The other side is our family room, which would then create one large room. The downside is we think the wall is a weight baring wall, so 1. it could get pricey and 2. we need to make sure the contractor is a legitimate/well experienced contractor. Speaking of the family room, this is where we relax after a long day and watch TV.

We just recently moved the couch to this position. I like it better along the wall where the blue chair currently sits, but Drew likes to watch TV straight on (whereas I like to lay down and watch it sideways). A couple of weeks ago we finished the bedroom, ie. hung the curtains. I don't think I ever posted a picture, so here is the "final" product. *ps. The coloring still doesn't look right in the picture. The walls are not purple. They are a grey color. It also looks really small/warped. Weird.

 I'd eventually like to get a large standing mirror to lean against the wall, but we have plenty of time for that. We still need to paint the bathroom the same color as the bedroom, but I am not in any rush. Maybe in the winter? The guest bathroom. We haven't done anything to this other than I hung up an old shower curtain and towel, and put stuff in the cabinet. Guest bedroom number one is ready for guests. Again, other than filling it with furniture we didn't do anything.

Second bedroom: AKA Drew's ironing room. I didn't take a picture of that because it's just a room with an ironing board. Pretty boring. Bedroom number three is now an office.

For some reason this picture won't turn the right way!

The basement still needs some TLC. Drew has A LOT of ideas for this space. Once we decide how we want to repaint it and what Drew's grand plans for the bar consist of we'll hang some pictures. Until then, it is extremely useable and cozy. Perfect for having friends and family over.

I think that covers most of the house, other than the kitchen and bathroom on the main floor. As you can see from the pictures Lexi is enjoying all of the space. She practically photo-bombed every picture! The former owners also seem to like what we've done to the space. Drew told them to stop by on the night off the party and they thought the colors in the living room made it look larger. They were also amazed by how large the bedroom looked. The entire time they lived in the house they had their bed on the other wall and never considered putting it on the wall we chose. We laughed as Drew and I disagreed about which wall to use and I eventually gave in and we used his idea :)
* I have no idea why some of the pictures look warped, or are different sizes. I think my camera is getting old and tired

Family Comes First

I started this post back on the 26th, but just didn't have the heart/motivation/desire, etc. to write. My uncle (dad's brother) Tommy passed away suddenly on Sept 13 at the age of 65. Now, it's almost a month later and I am just taking the time to share the event. My uncle's death was hard on me for a number of reasons. It was unexpected - and I had just seen him not to long ago laughing, joking and being his usual self; Drew was out of town; I felt helpless because there wasn't anything I could do; and above all, it's been a long time since someone close to me has died. Last year, one of Drew's soldiers was killed in a motorcycle accident shortly after returning from Iraq. I remember it was emotional, but I never had the chance to meet him personally so it didn't quite set in the same way. I will say, the day of my uncle's passing I left work early and had dinner with parents and brothers and it made a world of a difference. I am so glad I did. It helped to spend time with my dad not only to support him, but to see that he was doing okay. Sure, he was upset, but he was strong and sharing fun stories about his brother.

When it came time for the visitation and burial I was grateful by the support from family members. Drew got his flight changed and was able to come home early for the funeral, both of his sisters came to the visitation, and my mom's brother, sister and sister-in-law also showed up, as well as friends/co workers of my parents. Seeing so many familiar faces of both friends and family reminded me just how lucky I am. Not only have I grown up surrounded by loving and supportive family and friends on my mom and dad's side, but I married into a loving and supportive family circle as well. I feel very fortunate and blessed to have so many wonderful people in my life.

I know I could have skipped over this event to post more upbeat, happy stories, but it didn't seem right. Plus, it feels better to share and reflect on the good things that I took away from my uncle's death. He was a great man and will be missed. I know he is with my grandparents, looking down and watching over his family.

Mad, bad dog

This was the scene I came home to Monday night.
 
Apparently, miss Lexi was not happy when Gayle left her during the afternoon. What you see destroyed all over the floor is tissue paper. Lexi found the entire package I had just purchased over the weekend and decided she needed to show us she does not like when people leave her. Let me set the situation: Drew and I had to leave really early that morning and usually he is home way before me. Well, in this instance, she was going to be left alone until I got home from work (13 hours later). So, I asked Gayle to stop by mid-day to let her out. I'm guessing that when Gayle left, Lexi was not happy. Not to mention, I/we usually give her a little treat when we leave to keep her distracted in the moment and Gayle did not. Lexi therefore declared war on the bag of black and white tissue paper. She also moved her blue and white blanket from the family room to the kitchen and tossed the kitchen hand towel under the chair.

What's funny is she knew she was in trouble as soon as I walked in the door. She layed down and lowered her head. Once I began raising my voice, she started shaking. Of course, I also sternly told her to stay while I took her picture with my phone :)

In the grand scheme of things, I am glad she destroyed tissue paper instead of furniture, going the bathroom in the house, etc. It could have been A LOT worse!

*Side note, she has been great since that night and did awesome at the vet today when she got her staples out.

What a year

As some of you know, since I already posted it on Facebook, today marks one year since Drew returned from his tour in Iraq. And boy, what a year! We have been through a lot since this time last year, and while the deployment seemed long, looking back on the last year, in some ways, seems even longer. Since this time last year:

* I got a new job
* Drew started in real estate
* Drew started helping with military funerals on a regular basis
* We took a mini trip to Atlanta
* We got married
* We took a honeymoon
* We bought a house
* We moved
* Plus all of the other goodies in between. I think we've been to a few weddings, friends have had babies, etc. Despite how busy and hectic times have been, my favorite part about looking at the list is seeing the word "we". I am glad we got to spend the last year together. Of course, it's only fitting that Drew is off doing Army things today.

Social butterflies

Oh, I have been dreading this blog, not because I don't want to write, but because I feel like I have so much to say, and don't know where to begin. Drew and I have been extremely busy over the last couple of weeks. Not only have we been fixing up the house, but we have also had a lot of social events. I think I have talked about this before that our social life seems to come in waves. We will go weeks without having anything to do and then bam! our weekend(s) are jammed packed. Sometimes it's nice because it means we can do our own thing and be productive for a while and not feel guilty for socializing all weekend. Right now it's tough because there is just so much we want to do at home and the projects aren't quick and easy. The good news, we are making progress and still having fun along the way.

Two weeks ago our neighbors had a welcome and going away party for us and the couple whose house we bought.
 
Drew and his sisters had a blast reliving the old days with the people who lived in the neighborhood when he did 15 years ago and currently still live in the neighborhood. I had fun meeting everyone and listening to the stories. Small world... my 7th grade social studies teacher lives in the neighborhood. I don't think he knows it, but he is the only teacher to give me a writing assignment for talking in class :) I recognized him right away and once he heard my full maiden name he immediately knew my face - said I haven't changed at all. 

Rothmeelers

Me and Drew with some of the neighbors. Actually, the woman on the left in the coral is the former owner of the house we bought

Over this past weekend we attended a pig roast with some friends at their neighborhood. It was our first time attending a pig roast and I have to say it tasted a lot like chicken. Unfortunately, I didn't take my camera, but we met a lot of great people. Small world again... the owner's whose house was hosting the pig roast (across the street from our friends') the wife is the cousin of Drew's friend, Jack. Jack had a party back in 2008, and it was at his party that Drew and I met/ran into each other, which eventually led us to dating. Did you get all of that? Needless to say we didn't know the connection until late in the evening, but had a good laugh once we realized the connection.

This weekend is busy as well. Drew's sister is having a Tastefully Simple party tonight, and I have a wedding shower and bachelorette party to attend tomorrow. Then, of course, Sunday will be over before it starts.

And, speaking of things coming in waves, we just realized that coming up in October we have a wedding, my dad's family picnic and a picnic on Drew's side all on the same day. Sadly, it looks like we will only have time for the wedding/reception. I can bet that all of the other weekends in October are empty.

Now, it hasn't been all fun and games over the last two weeks. We have accomplished a lot at the house, but I'll save that for another post later today.

*pictures courtesy Gayle's camera