DirecTv

We have finally made the switch & broken up with Comcast. I hate Comast. & that's an understatement.

I have had nothing but problems with them since I first signed up with them in 2009. I moved into my own apartment & set up my own account & got into an argument with them before my tv even worked! It all went down hill from there.

When I moved in here I was glad to cancel my account with them. T already had service with them & it was the same package that I had, but without a contract. We toyed with the idea of switching to satellite a few months ago but got into an argument with the lady from Dish Network who got pushy & T busted out his attorney attitude & she ended up hanging up on us.

We haven't talked much about it since... until our Comcast bill came for the month & they jacked up the cable $20/month (which they are technically allowed to do since we weren't under contract). To which I immediately told T we would not be paying.

Insert DirecTv. We have several friends who have DirecTv & are really happy. I was really excited about getting the NFL Sunday Ticket = all the games = I get to watch my Bengals play! We think we got a pretty sweet deal & we are super happy with it so far. T said when he returned our stuff to Comcast (in the DirecTv box) the lady said we would rethink our decision after our satellite went out with bad weather. I think she's a sore loser.

for adoption.

Bentley offically became available for adoption today!

This is the bio we wrote about him:
Bentley is a male black Lab, about one year old, who just wants to be near people. He is a very friendly boy who doesnt know a stranger. He is also social with other dogs & loves kids. Bentley came to his foster home in early September from a shelter in Alabama. Not much is known about his history, including his name, so to keep with his southern roots he was named after the governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley. He recently weighed in at 64 pounds & the vet said he will be about 70 pounds when he fills out. Bentley is a great companion & a really sweet boy. He quickly caught on to sit and down. He is being crate trained & house broken. He is also learning to walk on a leash. Bentley has a lot of puppy energy & is a very active boy who loves to play. He has the typical Lab chewing behaviors but has done really well at only chewing on his toys & not on anything that he shouldnt. He would benefit from obedience training & will do best in a home with an active lifestyle that allows him a lot of play time.

it's beginning to look a lot like fall decor.



Bentley's 15 minutes.

One of the girls involved in Bentley's transport from Alabama to Indy contacted me about doing a piece for her blog. She features a shelter animal weekly &  Bentley was going to get his 15 minutes of fame!

Bentley

meet Bentley.

We picked our boy up Saturday night. He is a sweetie. They say he is about two years old but we think he is younger. He is so curious about everything & has a ton of energy. He is learning a lot right now. He's learning to walk on a leash, he's being crate trained & house broken, he's learning to "sit" & "come." So far he's only had one accident in the house. He's also learning his name. The shelter in Alabama was calling him Dustin. We chose Bentley after the Alabama governor's name, Robert Bentley. He loves car rides & playing with his ball. He is learning "release." He is neutered & will be getting microchipped soon.

Bentley is a very, very sweet boy. I don't think he is listed on the Love of Labs website just yet but if you are interested in adopting him, please fill out an application on the website.

Bengals game.

Cinci.

We went on an overnight trip to Cinci to catch a preseason game. My team lost, as per their usual, but it was great fun. I thought it may be boring since it was preseason & it totally wasn't.

The next day we hit up an outlet on the way home & scored big. I spent roughly $700... got a great new rug from West Elm, a new purse & wallet from Coach, new Shox for work, & we both got some new winter clothes from Gap & Old Navy. I love outlets & this is the best one I have been to in a while. Definitely worth returning!

ready or not.

What am I doing with these four books I just checked out at the library?

Well, we just got approved to be a foster home for Love of Labs! We should be getting our first foster dog this weekend/next week. I am SO excited!

Fostering is something I have been interested in but unable to commit to with my work schedule & apartment living. Now that we've moved into this bigger place & I cut my hours to part time... we're ready for this new adventure!

getting energy efficient.

Our last electric bill was $180. My boyfriend almost died. I don't even want to think about what the gas bill will be this winter.

Our building was built prior to the 1930s. The windows upstairs are plexiglass & the trim around them is rotting wood so the windows don't even touch the glass. First on our list is new windows. We also have zero insulation. That's second on the list.

I checked out this book from the library. Lots of great ideas! Here are some of the projects I'm working on:

• buy an energy monitor to see which appliances are costing us the most
• buy a Smart Strip so devices can really be turned off when we're not using them
• install a low flow aerator for the faucets
• check the hot water heater temperature
• we already have a tankless hot water heater
• clean the a/c coils
• seal gaps around windows & baseboards with acrylic caulk
• cover all outlets with foam gaskets
• seal the foundation gap with 100% silicone caulk
• add insulation
• check into weatherstripping the doors

We went to Menards this weekend & bought lots of supplies so I could begin my projects. Today I am tackling the foam gaskets! & we've gotten three estimates on new windows so that will begin (hopefully) later this month!

yikes.

photo taken with my phone as we walked down the bleachers to head for shelter

We went to the state fair Saturday evening. On the way down we heard a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect & the storms were in Lafayette. I wondered if the concert would even get started before the storms hit.

We ate an elephant ear & drank a lemon shake up before heading to our seats. We were all the way at the very top. Not good for concert viewing. Turned out to be good for other reasons.

As we waited for the show to start we watched the clouds rolling in. It got darker & darker & I wondered if we should leave. Just then a man came on stage & announced storms were on their way, but the band would be out in a few moments. If they needed to pause the concert, we could all head across to the buildings, but hopefully it would pass & the show could go on.

The clouds continued to get darker & closer & lightning got closer. I started to ask TJ if we should head for shelter now, because by the time the storms actually hit, it would be a madhouse. Several people were heading toward shelter. But before I could form the words, a huge gust of wind came through & rocked the stage. It happened in slow motion. From our seats at the top row we saw the stage sway... & then collapse.

It was like a scene from a movie. I heard hundreds of people screaming. I saw people running. I knew people were hurt. Then the slow motion stopped & everything kicked into high gear. People were running down the bleachers, running from the collapsed stage, running to the collapsed stage. I heard sirens. The wind was blowing debris through the air. People were hunched down on the ground, covering up, bracing for the worst. The wind got stronger & stronger. We started down the bleachers to head for shelter.

We went to the horse barn to wait out the storm. We couldn't see outside but it didn't seem like it rained very hard or for very long.

I found out later the stage collapsed right around 9p.m. We were headed home around 10:30. By the time we got home they were showing video footage of the collapse. It falls so much faster on t.v. than it seemed to in real life. The next morning we heard news that five people were killed & over 40 were injured. Truthfully I'm surprised to hear so many more weren't harmed. There was no way to warn those fans in the first few rows that it was coming down.

It was a scary, scary  night & I have been thinking & praying for all those people.

$35 wardrobe.

We bought this Ikea cabinet in the As Is section for $35.  It's missing the doors & the clothes rail (& the little feet but we don't need those anyway). I thought it'd be super easy to get a new rail & since we needed more closet storage, it was a deal too good to pass by for only $35!

Turns out it wasn't easy to find a replacement clothes rail. I emailed Ikea & they don't sell a replacement rail because it doesn't have an item number. So we searched online & found something similar but it was $20 & maybe wouldn't even work. We looked at local hardware stores & couldn't really find anything that would do. Of course we could have just drilled new holes & hung any regular old clothes rail but since there are no doors on our wardrobe, I didn't want 14 different holes visible.

Last week we went to Ikea again & while we were there thought we'd check out their wardrobes. We wrote down the item numbers of a couple different wardrobes that used similar clothes rails & crossed our fingers that they would be available for purchase separately. Luckily for us, one of the wardrobes had almost the exact rail that we needed sold separately for $10. It was a little bit long so we trimmed it with the saw.

& this week, finally got it mounted in our wardrobe...

a week in the life.

No photos yet.
This is the first year I've participated in AE's event. Unsure yet as to what kind of album I'll be making. Right now I just want to document the daily things before I forget them.

Sunday. Up early, plant new flowers, fix Sheila's rock wall flower bed. Spray weeds after a quick trip to Rural King to buy weed killer & a spray pump. Pull weeds from sidewalk all the way down Markland & in front of the office. Then little cousin's baseball game at 2pm. Home at 8pm. 2 mile run, felt pretty good.
Monday. Chiropractor visit #2. My first appointment was Friday & I was super sore Friday & most of Saturday. Sunday I felt good. Monday he told me I am going to heal quickly & he will only need to work on me a couple more times. I didn't crack as much this time as the first time (not sure if that's good or bad) & I wasn't as sore afterwards (definitely good) so I think this is working! Then I worked 3-11pm. A pretty uneventful night. Went for a run after work at about 11:45. Jogged down Markland & back. Tripped while admiring a dress in the consignment shop & almost face planted. Luckily the boy grabbed my arm just before my face hit the sidewalk. Then we laughed so hard I could barely finish the run.
Tuesday. I worked 3pm-7am. Was a pretty good night. After work went to mom's to sleep for a few hours before going to the lake.
Wednesday. Wake up at 1pm & head to the lake with mom. Boat not working properly. Come back home. The boy's making apple crisp for a birthday surprise. Vacuum. Applebees with mom & brother for dinner.

living room shades.

Desperately needed blinds for the 4 living room windows. They face the west (one faces south) & the sun sets so fiercely in the evenings. Also, we live on Main Street & are sick of people at the stop lights being able to see in the windows at night (we live in an upstairs apartment). I ordered a shade of red (after going through several samples) from Steve's that are top down/bottom up pleated. We still want to let light in from above, we just don't want the neighbors/every person driving by to be able to see in. We measured & double measured... but I made a mistake/didn't read the directions carefully enough. So we weren't able to hang them correctly. Rather than $364 going out the window, he jimmy rigged them. You can't really tell & they're doing well so far. We're hoping to see an improvement on the electric bill!

E T

using the Artful Delight March 2011 kit
posted online at Scrapbook Examiner 7/3/11

bathroom cabinet re-do.

When the boy asked me to move in with him [May 2011], I knew we needed to add some storage to the bathroom. I have a ton of beauty junk that was not going to fit in his bare minimum bachelor pad bathroom. I found a cabinet I liked (& brought him to peek at it too, he liked it almost as much as I did) at a local antique store. I paid under $200.

I brought it home & was determined to make this a quick, no sweat, no pain project. No sanding. No priming. Just find some grey paint to match the bathroom, a quick coat, & be done. Well, it took two coats. But then I was pretty much done.

We found some coordinating knobs at Menards. & here's what she looks like in the bathroom now [July 2011]!