Rubies, Proverbs and Astrology! Oh, My!

I love rubies. Rubies are my favorite gem stone. But, having an August birthday, I get this ugly green stone called peridot. It's green. Light green. Like snot. Seriously.

When Ed and I looked for my engagement ring, my rule was that it had to have a ruby, and it had to be a band so that I didn't catch it on stuff and rip the skin off of my knuckle. ('Cause that's pretty...) I got this great ruby/diamond band. I love it. (We also got our Black Hills Gold wedding bands from the Puyallup Fair, but that's another story.) Later, for an anniversary gift, he bought me a band with just rubies. I have all of these soldered together to make one kind of big ring. But, I love it. I wouldn't trade it for the world. (He also gave me a ruby solitaire for Valentine's day one year, but we aren't going to go into that one either.) I wear my rings daily and still think they are gorgeous.

At our rehearsal dinner, Ed's mom read a proverb to us that goes like this: Who can find a virtuous woman, for her price is far above rubies and the heart of her husband is entrusted in her. At the time, I thought she picked it because I had rubies in my engagement ring.

But, just recently, I've been wanting another tattoo. Because my birthday's in August, I'm a Leo. So, I'm going to get the Leo symbol on the back of my neck, or on my foot. (I can't decide...) While I was doing research, I found that each astrology symbol has a "star stone". Guess what mine is? A ruby.

I'm kind of feeling like this is a little more than coincidence.

Kitchen Porn

Bow Chicka Bow wow....

Yes, I haven't posted in awhile. Been a tad busy. You will see when you view these amazingly professional photographs. (NOT) I'm just going to show you, so look... Ready?

So that's what's been going on here. Lots of pics. Too many to share. Plus you'll get bored. You can only take so much Kitchen Porn, ya know.

PS... I'm NOT going with the Silestone for counter tops. We decided on Corian in this color with this Corian sink (the 850 double sink in Bisque). Ordering tomorrow! In two weeks I will have countertops and a sink!

Music Monday

I dig my toes into the sand
The ocean looks like
A thousand diamonds strewn
Across a blue blanket

I lean against the wind
Pretend I am weightless
And in this moment
I am happy happy

I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here

I lay my head onto the sand
The sky resembles
A backlit canopy
With holes punched in it

I'm counting UFOs
I signal them with my lighter
And in this moment
I am happy happy

I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here

The world's a rollercoaster
And I am not strapped in
Maybe I should hold with care
My hands are busy in the air

Saying

I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here
I wish you were here

~Incubus, Wish You Were Here

See it here...

Kitchen Remodel Extravaganza Kick-Off

Yesterday we started our kitchen remodel. I think at one point, when I started this blogging thing, I posted about before getting married, people should have to endure a remodel project to see if they should stay together/get married. I still think that, however, now, I think that they should also hire someone to do the work for them.

Much easier. Trust me.

We picked out our cabinets February 19th. We got a great deal through CMS (Cabinet Millwork Services, Inc.) out of Puyallup. Greg Halverson came to our house, measured and gave us a lay out. We had to order by the 19th because they were having a special on drawers. (Full plywood construction, heavy duty hardware, full extension and soft close, for the price of a regular drawer. EXCELLENT deal.) He said, "Amy, they'll be here in 30 days." Thirty days. I counted out on the calendar thirty days, thirty business days. I get a call on Wednesday, March 17th. It's Greg, "Amy, don't forget you have cabinets coming Monday, the 22nd!"

Um.... Hello? Excuse me? You said thirty days. Never mind that I ASSUMED it was business days, but you should have told me that up front...

Holy crap. We are going camping that weekend, and our garage is still full of appliances, motorcycles and quads and stuff.


Needless to say, the garage got cleaned out, stuff got moved around in order to make room for the cabinets. The cabinets arrived bright and early Monday morning and took up most of the garage.


Finally, FINALLY spring break arrived. Bart and Matt came over to help us tear out the old cabinets. Ed burned everything that night and we were officially off. Ron (our neighbor who is a finish carpenter) came bright and early Monday morning to begin installing the cabinets. Phil and I uncrated everything so that Ron could see what was there.

We had a slight plumbing issue... In the picture above, you can see cabinets. The base cabinet that you see on the far right against the wall is where my dishwasher goes/went. I wanted it moved to the right side of where the sink goes in order to make things easier when loading. The problem was that the dummies who made our house, (a modular home built at the factory, put on a foundation at the site.) just kind of threw the plumbing where they wanted it to go. So, we had this angled in sink pipe under the kitchen sink that would not let a dishwasher go where I wanted it to go. Sigh.

But, my talented Ed, who can do just about anything with some fertilizer, a piece of rope, and some glue, (think MacGuyver) had in mind just what to do.

So this is what the plumbing fiasco ended up looking like. The pipe now comes out of the wall at a 90 instead of 45. AND Ed had to go through a wall stud to make it look that way. However, this design will make it much easier to connect to the new sink and it looks A LOT cleaner.

Whew. Day 1 was rough. Lots of anxiety around did I choose the right cabinets? Oh no, I got a lazy Susan in this cabinet that I didn't ask for... holy cow, we spent ALL this money, is it going to look OK?

Sigh.

Needless to say, Ed and I went to dinner because I HAVE NO KITCHEN, YO! and then to Home Depot to look at/buy stuff for the fancy schmancy new cooking vent we have. I also looked at the counter top selection. I did some research yesterday and it looks like Silestone is the new-fangled way to go. I've decided that I'm doing this once. I'm going to get what I want. So, I brought home some samples. (Right now, my eye is drawn to the Mountain Mist color. Ed really likes Ebony Pearl.) It only takes two weeks to get the counter tops done and Home Depot is have some kind of special around the counter tops. It's either an edge upgrade until April 14th or a color upgrade like on the 24th. I don't know if I want to wait that long for a color upgrade. I want to get this done ASAP.

Home Depot may just be my new home away from home. I just wish it had a kitchen I could cook in.

Front Row Seats, LOTS of Great Lip Gloss and Sensible Shoes

Michael Buble'. *sighs a school girl sigh*

Tina got Michael Buble' concert tickets for her birthday and asked me to go with her. I might have to kiss her on the mouth for the invitation. (Or, at least sniff her armpits.)

The concert started off with this really great band called Naturally 7. These guys were phenomenal. They are an a cappella group that does ALL of the band sounds (drums, horns, bass, EVERYTHING) with their voices. You can hear them here and here is the guy who does bass. Amazing. Seriously talented young men.

They entertained us for a good forty-five minutes and then out came Tina's boyfriend Michael. I have to say that I was not a rabid Michael Buble' fan until I saw him in concert. I liked his music, his sound, his look... but, ya'll, he's just this guy. After the first note... can this man sing! Even the songs I didn't like so much on the CD, I REALLY liked hearing live. I am a convert.

Picture this, Michael Buble' singing his opening song. Lights are flashing, spotlights whirring. Tina takes out her cell phone to take a picture to send to a friend. The lady next to her taps her on the shoulder and says (and I quote), "Can you please put your cell phone away? The light is hurting my eyes."

WTF?!!?!? You have GOT to be kidding me. The light is hurting her eyes.

Me, being the snarky one, asked Tina if she told her that she paid the same amount for her tickets as the lady next to her did. Immediately after I said that, our boyfriend finished his opening number to a gigantic explosion and a shower of sparks. Again I, being the snarky one, said, "Wonder if that hurt her eyes." Seriously??? A cell phone light was hurting her eyes??? With all of the other mega lighting in the arena? Seriously.

About half way through, Michael was talking about Michael Jackson being a huge influence on him as a singer. The crowd went wild when he BUSTED out Billie Jean, hat and all. Can you believe it??? Billie Jean!

I told Tina next year we were going. And we were going to pay money for the front row. She suggested lots of good lip gloss. And I suggested sensible shoes. You know, in order to kick the butts of all the other wanna-be girlfriends. Because, really? He sings to ME.