Celebrations

I was lucky enough to have Saturday night off from work. Stuart and I hosted some friends and family over to see the improvements on the house. We were especially delighted to have Reagan (Brian and Melinda Patterson), Nathan and Carter (Scott and Jenny Paris), and Beckham (Danny and Amy Spanyer) along with all of our adult guests. We forgot to take pictures while every one was visiting but did remember to snap a picture of the housewarming gifts we received (thanks to the Spanyers and McCombs) along with some leftover appetizers we took to a neighborhood St. Patricks Day party that evening. We were grandly surprised that one of our Irish neighbors actually has an Irish Pub room in their house. We watched the Cards in the Big East Championship game with our neighbors. I was amazed to still be standing on only 2 hours of sleep for about 36 hours but isn't that a joy of being young and working the night shift?!

On the mend

Not much to report here other that me catching a horrible stomach bug/flu from work last weekend and being sick most of my 5 days off. At first we thought that Stuart and my family, who visited last Sunday before I turned ill on Monday, had made it through unaffected. But Stuart has been sick the last 24 hours and my mom is feeling the affects today. Boo Boo Boo stomach bug. Luckily Stuart is on the mend and after low energy through Friday afternoon I had an uneventful weekend at work. I'm hoping Stuart fully recovers faster that I did! I really only did about 6 productive things all last week (2 yoga classes, laundry, grocery store, cooked a pot of soup, yeah that's about it!) We missed church this morning and are now enjoying a close U of L basketball game on the couch and listening to the thunder and rain outside.

Valentines Day

The weather here in Kentucky has been beautiful this week. Stuart and I have been able to walk our new neighborhood together three days in a row. Stuart surprised me Sunday morning with a new pair of yoga capris and an UnderArmor type shirt for our upcoming hiking trip in Gatlinburg over spring break. We celebrated a low key but special Valentines Day dinner at home. Stuart grilled steaks and I made twice baked potatoes, broccoli casserole, green beans, salads. I also made a carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert and Stuart made some dark chocolate dipped strawberries. What can I say? We love to eat and enjoyed some of everything. We ate in the dinning room by the fireplace (which we absolutely love even as the weather is getting warmer.) We spent the rest of the evening relaxing and watching recordings on our DVR.

It Takes a 'Ville

Thursday night Stuart I joined Joe, Ellen (his parents), Tony (brother), and Sarah (sister-in-law) for dinner and comical performance at Actors Theater. One of our favorite things from our August 2008 honeymoon in Chicago was the improv political satire we enjoyed at the 2nd City. When I heard members of the 2nd City were performing at Actors we rushed to get tickets. It was a laughter filled evening and we had a great time. We didn't remember to get a picture at Actors but did snap a picture in front of our new ventless fireplace before bed. Also is pictured is Stuart and I in Chicago at the 2nd City (hard to believe it has been 2.5 years)!

Decorating and a new do

My friend Becca is working towards her license in cosmetology at the Empire Beauty School. I spent Thursday night getting pampered by Becca. I left with beautifully manicured fingers, revitalized brows, and a much needed haircut. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time being spoiled by Becca and the prices at the school are very affordable.

On the home front Stuart and I are still enjoying a much needed break the remodeling process. We are continuing to hang curtains and decorations. I am very excited to finally be able to display my McConnell Scholar Louisville Slugger bat (I've been playing on buying holders to hang it for years now!). Stuart is working on the installation of a ventless gas fireplace. I will be very glad for the extra warmth!

Happy New Year

Happy new year from Stuart and Sara. We were able to host our first non family gathering on New Years Eve Day for the UK UofL game. Too bad that we nor any of ours guests enjoyed the outcome. It was nice to have Anna, Kelsey, Nick-Natalie&Noelle, Kevin, Ben-Ashley over. Too bad in my hostess-trying to watch the game-hoping I got a nap before work mode that I didn't think to bring the camera out. Sadly Stuart and I were unable to ring in the new year together as I had to work on Friday night. But I was canceled from work Saturday night and we got to have a date night at Mr Ghettis (my choice) and watch episode after episode of Bones on DVR. On Sunday we went to a new church in Prospect St John UMC, we went to the traditional service so I could make it to hot yoga after but we hope to be able to make it to the 945 contemporary service when I get in from work each week. It is going to be pushing it for me to make the service but if I don't do very well staying awake for 1030 or 11 services that are so popular in our area.

All in all we have been very spoiled this holiday season. I have immensely enjoyed having Stuart work from home during his semester break. We have been able to wrap up some small finishing projects with the upstairs remodel and even do some decorating. We also have our exercise room set up in the basement. We are taking a break from the house right now to enjoy our work while Joe helps Tony remodel a bathroom and put in a new furnace. But never fear our next project of the flower wallpaper bathroom is looming on the horizon.

Christmas 2010

Stuart and I enjoyed a lovely holiday season. I had to work Christmas night so our celebration began on Wednesday night at Joe and Ellen's, followed by Thursday night in Breck Co. On Christmas Eve Stuart and I hosted Joe, Ellen, and Rachel. We had soup, drove around to look at lights in the snow, and played Apples to Apples. Stu and I spent Christmas eve day frantically unpacking the remaining boxes in the dining room, tearing up the protective paper, and cleaning so that we could move the dining room table in for the event. We did have a few hiccups, such as the table legs needing to be removed to fit through the doorway but we were very excited to be able to use our dining room. We even lit a fire but don't plan to use it again until we get a ventless fireplace insert we have ordered.