Work in Progress

One of our favorite hobbies is fixing up houses and the subsequent decorating (that part tends to fall more on my shoulders, but with the excellent design sense of my husband). We started on a house that Billy bought before we got married, which now serves as our rental property, and have kept on going ever since.

After I moved into Billy's house, we started looking around at houses just for fun. He knows I always love to see what all is out there, after all, my family's "Sunday drives" growing up usually consisted of checking out the latest open houses or houses under construction (which sometimes required a little creativity for getting in). And, we ended up buying a house down the street from us a couple of months later. The second I walked in, I couldn't resist, with the ten-foot ceilings, crown moulding and tall baseboards, two fireplaces and great potential. Thus began our second fixer-upper project. Not wanting to be without a house project for too long, we invested in a third home with his dad, which we fixed up (with the help of contractors for the first time ever) and are currently trying to sell. Not so great with the timing, but the house looks pretty nice if I do say so myself.

European Vacation

So this fall we decided to take a spur-of-the-moment trip to Europe...the real estate market is slow, we had been saving since before our wedding, and we figured now was as good a time as any to take a big trip since we don't have kids yet, it will only get tougher to find time to go, and who needs a savings account anyways???



We made a whirlwind trip, visiting 7 cities in 3 countries over 15 days, and it was great! And my wonderful parents were kind enough to take care of Jefferson (he loved being with them and actually pouted on the way home), so we booked our flights one Sunday evening and were on our way to Europe two weeks later!


Here's how our trip went...



First stop Paris (we loved it!!)


























Eiffel Tower, just 5 minutes from our hotel

Arc de Triomphe

Early train to Munich with lots of people who had already been drinking for quite awhile!



















An Essential Fall Stop: Oktoberfest
Willkommen to the land of drunk, lederhosen-wearing Germans!


















Enjoying a beer at the Augustiner beer garden (since we couldn't get in any tents)



Train to Berchtesgaden for a couple of lazy days

Beautiful view of the Alps after our boat ride on Konigsee


Night train to Venice...our most fun train experience of the trip!















Venice, the land of no wheels and lots of graffiti (but we still loved being there)

















Train to Sorrento through Naples (the opposite extreme of our lovely night train)
















Hotel Minerva overlooking the sea in Sorrento
















Top of Anacapri - so beautiful!!


Back on the Circumvesuviana to Naples with a brief stop in Pompeii















Pompeii Forum with Mt Vesuvius in the background

















Wild dog in Pompeii trying to get some lunch


Train from Naples to Rome...our last train ride!
















Trevi Fountain our first night in Rome

















The Roman Forum






















Last night of our trip


Back to ATL on the 10+ hour flight!

Introducing Jefferson...

aka Jefe (soft "j"), J-doo-doo, and a multitude of other nicknames. He is our Welsh terrier with whom we are slightly obsessed and treat basically as our child (although Cesar, the Dog Whisperer, would probably be critical of how much we dote on him...I do try to use lots of Cesar's training ideas though).

Here is the 4-1-1 on our little guy:

• Born August 8, 2007 in Nevis, Minnesota
• Arrived at Norfolk airport October 26, 2007
• Loves all people and animals, especially large dogs and his life-sized Curious George doll
• Knows lots of tricks, the latest of which is getting him to politely beg by sitting and raising his hand to ask for the food
• Has a great personality and is a source of constant entertainment for us

Jefferson's first trip to UVa, just a week after we got him!

Helping rake leaves

Action shot of his refined begging

A little history of us

So here's a glimpse of our changing lives over the past couple of years...

We love Jesus. He is the center of our marriage, and we are thankful for His abundant blessings in our lives, for His unending love, and for His saving grace. We seek to follow God and seek His will for our lives. He brought us together and will keep us strong as we go through all of life's ups and downs together.

We love our families and friends. We are blessed to have dear friends with whom we can pick up right where we left off, despite not seeing them for long periods of time. We are both blessed to have grown up in Christian homes and to have had lots of fun with our families over the years.

Spring Break 08 in Mexico with the Choreys

Wedding in Philly with the Steeds

We love UVa. We met there, got engaged there, and got married there. We love the grounds, the traditions, and all of our friends who helped us make so many great memories there. We still go to most of the football games, even though we are envious of our SEC friends who get to experience tailgating the way it should be and watch good football all season long. Our dog, who will undoubtedly be making regular appearances on the blog, is named Jefferson (not entirely for the University's founder but I guess it goes with the UVa thing).

UVa Chapel before our wedding

We're married...yay!!!

Veritas Winery, our beautiful reception site

That brings us to the present, where we are currently trying to figure out our next steps, but in the midst of all the craziness, we are very happy together and look forward to God's plan for the future.

Wine tasting at Veritas

(wedding photography done by Marty Moore Photography - we loved working with her!)

Joining the blogging world...

With work being pretty slow but life remaining busy, we've decided to jump on the blogging bandwagon so we can keep our friends and family up to date on our current projects, trips, and any other life adventures. Enjoy!!