TGIF

Four day work weeks always seem to be longer weeks than five. I wouldn't trade it, but Friday never seems to come fast enough when we have Mondays off. I guess that's pretty typical of every week, but anyway...

Today was an even better Friday than usual. I got home at 2:00 due to an electrical fire in the basement of the Federal Building. After the plane crashing into the federal building in Austin yesterday, it made me kind of nervous when the fire alarms started going off and the burning smell spread throughout the building. (Sidenote: the IRS doesn't work in the same federal building that I do) I was in a meeting with a product representative on the 4th floor(my office is on the 5th floor) when the lights went out around 12:15. I thought it was just the occupancy sensor that had gone off in the conference room, but I looked out in the hallway and the whole west end of the floor was without power. Nobody seemed to be panicking so we continued talking about rubber flooring in a dimly lit room. About ten minutes later, I faintly heard sirens going off and saw people heading toward the stairs with their coats and bags. One of the security guards was at the opposite end of the building and shouted down the hall to us that it was a real fire. We have quite a few false alarms in the federal building so nobody gets too shook up when sirens start going off. So Nicole(the other interior designer) and I ran upstairs and grabbed our coats and other belongings and headed down the stairs. The further we went, the stronger the smell and smokier the stairwell got. Still nobody was in a real hurry. We made it outside and saw about 50(very little exaggeration, if any) emergency vehicles surrounding the building and blocking off the street in a 2 block radius -- fire trucks, ambulances, police cars, and all.

We all stood out in the rain/snow/sleet for about 30 minutes before they dismissed all of us to go home for the day. Pretty anti-climactic, huh? I'm glad it was nothing more than a small fire, but thankful for a few hours off work.

On a less serious note, since I got off work early, I had time to go to the grocery store before it became a zoo. HyVee has Kellogg's cereal for 50% off, plus some online coupons, making for some pretty great deals. We got 6 boxes of cereal(the biggest size in all of them) and a bag of Stacy's pita chips(free coupon from becoming a fan on Facebook) for $10.54. I looked at the receipt and we saved over $16. I am not a frequent "coupon-er" but I love a good deal! It kinda makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. :)

We've got a pretty eventful weekend planned with more wedding shopping, a trip to Crown Center for a Coterie Theatre show, K-State basketball, lots of Olympics watching, and hopefully the arrival of a new nephew! Can't wait to have a baby boy in the family...

Agglomeration

I am sorry I am not very good at this whole blog deal. I guess I feel like we don't have many exciting things going on that everyone really wants to take the time to read about. We don't have kids or pets... yet to talk about, but I will try to do better at documenting the little things that get us excited. I know I've said that before, but what can ya do? I don't know what we would do if we did have kids right now. I feel like we would be running around like chickens with our heads cut off, even more so than I already do.

Speaking of running, Jeremy and I are training for a half marathon. I know I've said that before too, but this time I think it's really happening. I have actually started to enjoy running. It's been encouraging to go run 5 miles and actually feel good during and afterward instead of complaining to Jeremy the whole time. I think he enjoys it a little more this way too. So, we are signing up for the Olathe Marathon on April 10th if any of you want to join us or watch us stumble over the finish line! Let's all pray for beautiful weather on race day! It would sure make it more enjoyable.

As for the house, we are still loving home ownership. The house is kind of a mess right now as we are finishing the basement. Jeremy's brother, Alex came down a little over a month ago while Jeremy was still on break from school to help frame, run electrical, and hang some drywall. They worked so hard and got a lot done that we could not have done ourselves. Carrying the drywall in and down the stairs proved to be enough of a challenge itself. I had to become okay with having the house be a disaster during the time they were working and it's still pretty messy with lots of dust throughout the house. I haven't gotten too motivated to do a thorough dusting because in a few weeks, one of my coworkers is coming to teach us how to and help us tape and mud the drywall. That, and I don't feel like we've had much time at home to do so. Oh well. Hopefully some of that will happen on my 3-day weekend coming up(thank you President's Day!).

After the drywall finishing, we are hoping that it goes faster. We ordered carpet tile for the basement that I am very excited about! One of the many perks to being and interior designer is getting discounted finishes like that. It was a discontinued pattern so we got it for 88 cents/s.f.... commercial grade carpet tile!! That's much cheaper than broadloom that you can get at Home Depot and it should last forever... or close to it.

Area after coming down the stairs where the tv will be.

Looking back toward the stairs. Closet under the stairs.

Future play room to the left of the stairs.

Play area and storage room

Adding to the messiness of the house, I have temporarily moved part of my craft room to the living room. Jeremy was so sweet to offer to bring my sewing machine downstairs and set it up on the card table so that I could watch tv, hang out with him, and not feel so isolated upstairs by myself while I work on my sewing project. What is the project? I'm so glad you asked. Now don't get suspicious, no bun in the oven, but it is a cloth book for our future children. With all the blogs that I read, I have come accross "quiet books" multiple times and thought they looked so fun. I am finding out that they are also very tedious and I may have gotten in over my head. I guess I have plenty of time to work on it before the little ones come. As I am working on it though, it is fun to think about our kids playing with it and using their imagination along with learning their alphabet. :) These pages aren't finished, but they have the most progress out of any of them. I will try to post more pictures as they get more complete. Most of these idea were not my own. I compiled a lot of them from looking at multiple blogs.

Apple - half of it folds back.

Barn(sorry it got turned) - inside the barn doors are 3 finger puppets, pig, chicken, and cow.

Clock with hands that move

Dog on a leash

Nest with eggs that have little felt chicks inside.

Shoe that will eventually have shoelaces to tie.


Now for the most important part, Jeremy and I are trying to plan a vacation. This will be a first for us other than our honeymoon. We are on a budget, and are up for going anywhere from Colorado and doing outdoorsy stuff to going to Washington D.C. and spending the majority of the time sight-seeing and getting educated. Anyone have any suggestions?? I would love to hear about some of your favorite places to go.

This weekend other than celebrating Valentines day with my favorite person in the world, I get to go wedding dress shopping with Jeremy's sister and mom. I am so excited to get to be a part of this special time with them! I guess that's it for now. I will try my best to do better at this whole blog deal. I'll set a goal of once a month for now.... :)

Home Sweet Home

Sorry, we haven't posted for a couple months. Life is kind of starting to slow down. With the move and trying to get settled for the housewarming party, it was very busy for a while. The house is really starting to feel like home, and we love it! After living in a small apartment for a year, some extra space is so great.

Welcome to the Wiltz's

(Notice the fall wreath on the door that my talented and thoughtful sister made. :) )

I can't wait for the landscaping to be colorful again in the spring.

Back

Front Entry

Living Room

Living Room

Kitchen from the Living Room
Love the extra counter space!

Dining Area

Kitchen

That hallway goes to the half bath and garage

Kitchen

Back Entry

1/2 Bath

Laundry Room/Closet

I think my favorite appliances in the house are these bad boys.

Guest Bedroom

The largest of the 3 extra bedrooms. There is now a bed in here for our guests.

Master Bedroom

Master Bathroom

Guest Bathroom

Well that concludes the brief tour. A lot of things have changed already since these pictures were taken, but you'll just have to come visit to see how. We love having guests so feel free to book the guest room any time!

4-H Skills

I made many creations while in 4-H during my younger years, but haven't used a sewing machine since atleast high school, and maybe before that. I have had a craving to sew for some time now and after debating about buying a new sewing machine and scouring craigslist, I decided that it would be a worthwhile investment. Even before I got the sewing machine, I had been reading sewing blogs that posted simple patterns that looked like fun. So, I set my sights on this one as my first project. Also through browsing these blogs, I found out that I really like Amy Butler Fabrics. On a trip to Lawrence for an eye appointment, I stopped at Sara's Fabrics on Mass Street and fell in love with the store. They have such fun fabric and even stock some of Amy Butler's Designs.

So, the first product of that trip to Lawrence and the recent sewing machine purchase is this....

The finished product.

Notice the cute little pleats.

I think my 4-H sewing leader would be proud. I had a lot of fun sewing it and hope that I get the chance to do many more projects. Those probably won't happen until after the move, but I will definitely dust it off after that. I love this creative outlet!

Paint, Cabinets and Tile

Just a quick update on the house. They have painted, finished the cabinets and installed the tile(still needs to be grouted). Up next... lights, locks, and appliances.

Master Bathroom Shower

4-Day Weekend

Jeremy has a brief summer break before the fall semester starts, so I decided to take a couple days off from work and enjoy some time with my hubby. It started last Friday when I found out about the Weston 10 Mile Trail Antique and Garden show. I didn't know any more about it than the information provided on the website, but I thought it sounded like a fun spontaneous adventure. There were four locations that had vendors set up selling random treasures but we only made it to three. The first stop was the Weston Red Barn Farm.

There were many people with small portions of the treasures they had collected. We talked to one guy who said he used 40 semi trailors to transport all of his belongings when he moved. He claimed to have a full pipe organ and one of the greatest keyboard collections in the nation. I loved hearing the stories.

Stop number two was at the Riverwood Winery. The winery was located in a small country school northwest of Weston and unfortunately I didn't get a picture there.

Last, but definitely not least we made a stop at Beverlin's Statuary at the old grain elevators in Weston which were built in the early 1900s. We didn't find anything to take home with us, but we thought it was a fun place.

Sunday afternoon we took off for Manhattan to spend a couple days with family and friends. We got to have dinner with Jeremy's brother Alex, take a driving tour of the ever changing K-State campus, spend some time with Carmen, Tony, and Hannah and have dinner with the Nutter's. It was a great couple days of catching up with people we don't get to see often enough.

Well, time for some pilates with my hubby.

Note two blog posts in one day.... don't get used to it :).

House Update

Unfinished Hardwoods have been installed in the kitchen/breakfast area and entry

View from the kitchen into the living room.

When we went out to visit the house today, it was locked up, but we could see that they installed the cabinets. Over the next couple days, they will do trim and doors. It's starting to look like a house now!