day 7: motherin-law & dad day

as the title says, i got to spend the better part of the day with diane!  she saved me from having to be at my parent's house when there were workers being loud, chatted, took me to g & g gowan's house for a visit, chatted some more, ran errands with me, went shopping for a tid-bit, & finally chatted some more!  it was some much-needed quality time.  we've sat around & talked before, but there's always been that third person, so i really appreciated she was willing to spend some time with me!

ps: on more than one occasion during the day, we discussed which house was actually my parents from across the valley.  it took awhile (& the gowan grandparents even pulled out the binoculars), but we got it figured out!  here's a picture of what the evanoff house looks like from our back windows:

its the tan/brown one on the right above the fence.  dad informed me that he saw me leave the evanoff's house to come back.  what a creep.  :)

ione is in bismarck, so stu-pot & i went out to dinner together.  again, we haven't gotten a chance to spend quality time together since before the wedding, so it was much needed!  in fact, the night continues, so i'm going to get back to my father-daughter time.

oh yeah, & andrew gets in tonight.  but who needs him.  ha!  jk.

day 6: car privileges

the title makes it sound like ione & stu abandoned me, but i chose to be without a car yesterday, remember?   so, today i requested & received car privileges.  first thing i did, you ask?  got my teeth checked out & cleaned -- woo-hoo!  another thing you may be asking is whether or not i've become an idiot california driver on the snow with a lead foot.  the answer is probably.  i'm not going to deny or confirm this. remember ione can easily make up a reason to need the car!

the only other thing that i did with the car is take a drive out to good ol' rugby to visit my friend elizabeth.  many of you have heard her name through the years, and she hasn't changed a bit!  however, she is married!  of course, her husband is an amazing american boy with a hunting license.  he can make her giggle as much as i can, which is one of the main staples of our relationship with one another -- probably one of the only reasons it's survived for almost 15 years!  i wouldn't expect anything else!

in the car today (when i was stopped & filling with gas, save your worry!) i took a glance down at the temp & had to take a picture!  i remember jess doing this same thing when it was blazing hot in sacramento.  well, this is mid-day (look at the time) & it was still this cold!  gross.

day 5: wandering around house number 1609

after going to the y with stu-pot this morning, i felt like a day wandering around the new house wouldn't be so bad!  really, i haven't gotten a whole lot accomplished -- is anyone surprised?  3 cups of coffee, a nap, 4 episodes of desperate housewives, and quesadillas with ione and stu is all my day has consisted of.  yes i'm bragging.  plus, i didn't take mom up for her offer on borrowing the car, so really i have no choice but to be a homebody, right?

also, i took a lap around the house with camera-at-hand to share with you a few of the many creative touches ione & stu put into their new home.  here you go:

cute retro lights over the island in the kitchen.

chandelier to go over the modern dinner table.

they even added a glowing touch underneath the modern kitchen cabinets!  plus, look at the tile border -- lovely!

 ione got out of her "eggshell white" stage ('bout time!) and picked some incredible wall colors.  i could only get two of them to be true-to-color on my camera, but they all look amazing with white trim on the windows, floor boards, closets, and doors.

a nice clay color in her office.

a sea-turquoise for the guest bedroom.

the border in the guest bathroom shower -- the perfect touch!

i couldn't help but share these little guys!  the live on the corner shelf between ione and stu's separate sink/mirror s

even the detail in the carpet with the colored walls is perfectly matched!

besides the bathrooms, kitchen, and carpeted rooms, there's this lovely dark wood.

ione didn't need too much convincing, but we got creative in picking towels & rugs for the guest bathroom.  the towels & shower rug is a bright, burnt orange, and this rug is the perfect finishing touch.

ione chose this lovely coral/tan bedding for the master bedroom --  it would look great in our ca apartment...

sorry this was kind of a boring post.  andrew comes on wednesday night, so hopefully there will be more action around here, buy i'm enjoying the family & good quality relaxing time.  my boss texted me this morning to see if i could cover one of his group exercise classes, so i know i'm missed!  :)

day 4: gator & mom time

mom & i loaded the car after a traditional sunday morning sautner breakfast (complete with delicious, juicy deer sausage) and traveled to bismarck.  i decided to go down to visit talia and mom decided to do some shopping adventures.

it was surreal seeing some of the swimmers -- almost like a "one year later" special on tv.  i knew that kids can grow fast, but holy cow!  i was met with girls screaming my name down the hallway, which made the whole trip worth it!  talia & i got all caught up and made a pact to keep in contact once-a-week, and i met up with a handful of other coaches -- including one that i didn't even know was coaching!  britt j. was a girl that we went to high school with, and was the key player the night that andrew & i began seeing eachother!  so, i was a surprise for both of us :)

it was on-and-off snowing & was around 14 degrees all day.  not bad!  as i promised, here are some photos of the new house.  i didn't remember until we got done with dinner, so i'll have a take-2 tomorrow during the day.  news on the street is that there are going to be some different guys in the house doing work, so i'll need a reason to be the crazy person around the house taking pictures.  ha!

stu-pot doing magic.

old house # was 1309, so this is kinda weird.    i approve of the classic black, metal mailbox.  classy move sautners, classy move.

it was an absolutely peaceful, clear, beautiful nd night.

 one thing that was impressive to both kate & i was how many of the boxes and randomness is still out in the open!  their basement isn't finished, so they have an excuse, but it's SO unlike them to not have things exactly in their designated place!

evidence:

very last picture of the night is a glance at stu's thumb troubles.  backstory: dad was gripping a 2x4 on a table saw in the newly-built living room of the new house, when the blade came down and snapped his thumb.  at first, the doctor just said it was a deep cut and gave him antibiotics.  2 weeks later (after helping me put together our grill in ca mind you), he went in for a second opinion and they told him that he had a fracture and damaged tendons.  surgery, pins, pin & stitches removal, and healing, he still has a swelling problem.  it used to be swollen across the whole hand, but it's calmed down.  here's a visual for you:

i thought my fingers were sausages after surgery.  i couldn't even compete!