Under Construction

We are putting in a wood floor in our living room. Here are some pictures of our progress...

Ripping up the carpet

We have a lot of big furniture that had to be moved back and forth across the room as we ripped.

Half way there

We got the yucky old carpet rolled up

If you look at the corner of the rolled up carpet, you can see one of the ways Bumper left his mark on the world...

Ooop, there are three more, Bumper was really trying to make an impression. :(

Jared starting to place the first row of boards!

The current state of our kitchen...

The Door Closed on Ben and Ariel at 9:03

Last night we had Ben and Ariel over for the last time. Since I had Emma all day yesterday, I did not have time to make dinner after work. So Em and I went to my house for awhile. She entertained herself chasing the cats and dog, while I busied myself throwing together a (delicious) chicken stuffing casserole. It was a recipe I found online, and later decided that it tasted like Thanksgiving in a dish. Yum. I also tried a new recipe for dessert, which was strawberries and spiced syrup. Yum again. After dinner, we went outside and went to work sanding and buffing the few spots of peeling paint on Ben and Ariel's car. They are trying to sell it as quickly as possible before they move across the country in six days.
After successfully hiding the blemishes, it was aready 8:30, which meant Jar had to go to bed. Since Ben and Ariel had not yet felt the baby kick, I layed down on the grass, hoping little Presh would put on a show. Almost immediatly, Baby did a sommersault, then a kick, which Ben felt and laughed with glee. Then it was Ariel's turn. That darn little baby must have decided it was naptime, because after waiting for about ten minutes, there was not another move from within. Sorry Ariel.
Quickly, we transfered a plethora of empty packing boxes from our garage into their car, and then Ben helped Jared move our huge, heavy hutch down to the garage (which we sold on Craig's List!). Just as they were stepping out the door at 8:45, we realized they had not yet seen the nursery! So we all ran upstairs and admired the babyness of the room. As we were saying good bye, Jared remembered that this would most likely be the last time we saw them before the move. Tears ensued, followed by another round of lingering hugs. The door closed on Ben and Ariel at 9:03.

Both of my brothers and my amazing new sisters, are gone.

What am I to do with this?

How am I supposed to react?

My emotions are in the fury of battle right now. One side is fighting to close them all out-- to emotionally retract myself from them so the pain can never be fresh. The other side is battling to show them my gracious support, stay in close contact, and just deal with the hurt of living on opposite sides of the country.

It is obvious what the right choice is here, I don't need to hear it again. But I may need some support myself.

Too Funny Not to Blog

I stole this from Erin's blog, but I had to post it too for my reading audience. It is a Christian revision of the song Baby Got Back (I Like Big Butts). It is hilarious!

Music Video: Baby Got Book

Congratultions Andy and Shannon!

I spent Wednesday through Sunday of this week in Tom's River, New Jersey, witnessing the union of my brother to his new wife. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony that I was honored to be a part of. I honestly believe that Andy could not have found a more perfect woman. I love Shannon to death. God is so much a part of their relationship and their every interaction that it would be an understatment to say "Obviously God brought these two together." Their relationship and understanding of what marriage truely means, even before they were married, amazes me. They both understand and fully embrace the fact that marriage is a representation, a picture, of how God loves the church. That is something I definately did not understand prior to getting married, and have only learned through the example of precious people like this. So here is to Andy and Shannon!

Shannon and Andy

Shannon

So in love...

The beautiful bride

Anna, Shinae, Andy, Ben, Naomi

The Newly weds and their parents:

Tim, Pat, Shannon, Andy, Becky, Jim

The last time the whole Norquist family will be together for a VERY LONG TIME...

Ben and Ariel, Josh and Shinae, Anna, Andy and Shannon, Becky and Jim, Naomi and Jared

Shannon feeling pretty pumped to be Mrs. Norquist!

Me and my beauitful new sister!

Shannon and Andy making their escape

I love you two so much, and am saddened that we are so far apart...

Uninspired

I have not felt very moved toward blogging lately. We have been struggling through a whirwind of activities for the past week and a half, but I still didn't feel like any of it was worth blogging about.

So here are my favorite most recent news tidbits:

1. We cleaned, washed, vaccummed, polished and scrubbed the Ford this week, took pictures and listed it for sale. Someone came to look at it within 24 hours of listing it.

2. We went through our garage and cleaned out several large items, and listed them for sale on Craig's List. Items include: knotty pine dining table, 2 paintball guns, new Alverez guitar, and papazan chair. I LOVE getting rid of stuff. We already have WAY TOO MUCH of it.

3. We bought engineered wood flooring for our living room. We are going to rip out the nasty potty carpet that Bumper has been decorating over the past year, and put some beautiful, STERILE wood down. I don't fancy the idea of our little Precious crawling through the potty playland.

4. Jared was able to trade some days at work, so he can now attend Andy and Shannon's wedding in New Jersey next weekend. We are about 90% sure he would not be able to go.

5. My Papar and Marm have been getting more and more excited about the baby's arrival and everytime I go to their house, they have something new in preparation. Last week it was a baby gate, this week Mom made three homemade bibs. They also ordered a crib mattress for us! It is the #1 rated crib mattress by Consumer Reports. Our child already has the best grandparents in the world!

6. We are going this afternoon to pick up the glider and ottoman for our nursery.


That's all for now, folks.