Las Vegas

Last weekend, Rich and I made a little trip down to Vegas for a half marathon. It was SOOO nice being back down there. The race was really hard, but we got to see great sights, and run through 6 tunnels used by trains to carry supplies to the Hoover Dam when it was being built. Rich did really, really well and made a new personal record (and he took 8th overall!). I also made a personal record (being as it was my first half marathon) that I look forward to beating someday. :) His cousins came down and raced also and they all did extremely well. They took 2, 3, and 6th overall. I am so impressed by how fast these guys run!


Here are a few pictures before the race began...


Can you see Frankenstein? The race was on 10/30/10 so there were some fun Halloween costumes.


Beautiful Lake Mead.

My friend, Megan, took these photos. She looked like paparazzi following me in her car with her nice camera sticking out of the window. She has been the unofficial photographer for a lot of our events. What a nice gal!

After the race, we got cleaned up and ate sushi at this great place in the Mandalay Bay. Oh, how I love good sushi!

Then we meandered over to Town Square, which is a shopping center, and I made a stop at my favorite H&M and we watched a movie. Then we were hungry again, so we ate at a favorite in the Venitian, called The Grand Lux.

These are twice baked potatoes, wrapped in rice paper with melted cheese and bacon on top. Then to top it off, you dip them in sour cream.


After running that far, you really don't feel guilty eating delicious garbage like this.


We then went over to look at the fountains at the Bellagio and the gardens. I never get tired of seeing this.

The gardens were decked out with GINORMOUS pumpkins and all things fall. It was quite pretty.


See what I mean about the pumpkins? Some of them weighed over 800 lbs!

Additions and Events

So, one day, Rich and I were watching Planet Earth and there was a lion on it. We made a comment about how cats are pretty. The next day, we got our own. It was a VERY spontaneous decision. Her name started out as Sawyer, but when we realized she was a girl, we changed it to Rousseau. None of our nieces or nephew could pronounce this, so now, she's Rue.

This was the day we got her. She just played and played.



This is how she normally is... ready to pounce. She and Rocco get along well, as long as he's in the mood to play.

These are the nightstands Rich made for our super tall bed. He cut out the wood, measured, glued, nailed, and hammered until they were perfect. And I love them!

He put so much detail into them, he even has the doors swinging the opposite way for each side of the bed. I'm so proud of him! It was such a successful first project. I can't wait for what's to come of his new hobby!

They are equal height to our bed, which is super nice since our old ones were so short.

This summer, we've gone to the farmer's market several times and I just love all the people, produce and crafts that are there.

This breakfast was so yummy! Coconut milk and pancakes. MMMM!!

Pretty peppers.

We also made a trip to the state fair. We went last year when we were just dating. It brought back some good memories. :)

Now I'm looking so forward to Halloween... One of my favorite holidays!

Worland!

Rich and I made another trip to Worland, WY earlier this month to do another triathlon. This one was lots of fun because it was so small... and it was in Worland, where we were able to visit Rich's aunt and uncle, Claudia and Bruce. They were so great to us. Bruce made sure to get lots of pictures, so we're grateful for that!

After all was said and done, Rich and I both got 4th in our gender groups. This was our 3rd triathlon together, and now we've swam in an ocean, lake, and swimming pool.


Rich riding past on his bike. Isn't it pretty??

And here's me on mine.


Running.


Running faster.


Claudia and Bruce let us bring Rocco, and Rocco LOVES them! He stayed in the car with Rich's aunt to watch. (Rich gave Rocco a really short haircut and was freezing for a few weeks until his hair grew back. The sweater helped him stay warm.)


His uncle, Bruce, let us shoot his guns. This was a lot of fun. I love the clouds in this picture. So pretty!Do you see that small 2 liter bottle? I was aiming for that and never hit it, but Rich got it on his first try.

We finished up the night watching a movie on Bruce and Claudia's projector under the pergola (which we hope to someday have in our backyard). It was a wonderful trip and we are so grateful for Bruce and Claudia's hospitality.

House Projects

Home sweet home. This is what it looks like now, but someday, we'll have that big tree cut down so you can see the front of the house and the bushes will be gone. Someday.


This was the day we got back from our honeymoon. We didn't have our own blankets yet (everything was still packed because the house wasn't done) or our blinds... so we tin foiled it. It got super dark in our room too... I almost miss that. :)


We ripped up the linoleum and there was all this glue on the floor that was a nightmare to get off so we could get to the original hard wood.

We had to pour hot water on towels and let it soak in order to scrape the glue off. What a relief that is over with!

Our living room already had hard wood floors, but they needed a little touch up.


Here's the kitchen floor, all the glue is up, it's sanded and ready for the stain.

We finally finished with the kitchen floor, so we could have a fridge, and a microwave, and a stove again. This is Rich, making the first meal we ate in our house. Thankfully, during this time, Rich's parents were nice enough to let us eat every meal at their house.

Our first meal at our house.

This picture is not a "house project", but it was fun. Rich grilled potatoes on the grill and made potato salad, and he grilled Salmon. It was such a nice day so, we took our table outside for a little front porch picnic.

This room creeps me out! It's in our basement and it's dark and dingy in there. When I hear news stories of Child Protection Agencies, finding out that a child was locked up by their parents for 18 years... I always imagined they were kept in rooms that looked like this. Creepy! But we use it for storage.

We also have an attic. This is Rich getting ready to investigate it. We know that there used to be Raccoons that lived up there so he is prepared to defend himself with that butcher knife.

I didn't think the house could get any creepier, but the attic is kinda scary. That wall is where the original roof used to be. You can still see the shingles on the side of the roof and the chimney. You have to climb through that hole to get the the "original" attic.

There's lots of room up there... and luckily, no raccoons. :) Maybe someday we'll do something with this space as well.

Today Rich finished our front door. It was just plain old wood so he sanded it and stained it. Now it looks great!

While Rich worked on the door, I made myself a little sewing room in the basement. I'm super excited about this. Do you see the TV? One of my favorite things is to quilt while I watch a movie or something. It kinda looks like a sweatshop, but I like it!


This is one of my quilt blocks that I've completed. It's taking forever!! But the fun thing about this quilt, is that the pattern comes from the same time period that our house was built. Twinners!


And here's our living room as it looks today...

And the other side of our living room.


And here's our kitchen with a different table.

And the rest of our kitchen.

There's still a lot of work that we need to do, but I'm really happy with how it's looking so far. It feels like home now. I'm so grateful for all the hard work Rich put into it to make if feel homey. I'm also really glad it doesn't always smell like polyurethane. That stuff REEKS!