Before

i think i might be the worst blogger ever. i wanted to blog a recap of summer.  forgot. the other day i wore a cute outfit and i wanted to take a picture of myself and blog about it.  i didn't.   i wanted to blog about that vintage chair i found at a flea market for $20 and re upholstered with amazing fabric i had laying around.  none of that even happened - and frankly i get annoyed (jealous) when i see other bloggers do it so easily.   i wanted to blog weekly about house updates.... we have been at it for a month now and nothing. don't hate the playa hate the game.*

This post is entirely dedicated to before pictures. teal carpet, floral wall paper, fake wooden beams, wood paneled wall,  awkward closets, dry rotted deck, weird built ins on kitchen counter tops... soak it all in freaks and geeks cause it is all going.

it gets crazy from now on.  like people who major in math crazy....


*-Do not fault the successful participant in a flawed system; try instead to discern and rebuke that aspect of its organization which allows or encourages the behavior that has provoked your displeasure. Used by pimps and pimpettes to clear up the truth on the pimp/pimpette game.  

napa

was great.  great weather.  great wine.  GREAT food.  great wedding.  i miss my girlfriends bad.  belly laughs and dancing all night long. the venue was amazing - think great gatsby meets winery meets upscale pottery barn meets i die.  walker now wants our next house to have 20 acres and a man made lake... awesome. 

it was nice to get away from the kids (my parents) and get some alone time.  feels like forever.   however, we got the keys to the new house on the friday we left and walker asked about 5 times if we really had to go on this trip.  every time we gazed into each others eyes i asked what he was thinking about, and he would say, "i am wondering how hard the sub floors will be to rip out."  and i would say "i love you too."

cakebread cellars

are you for reals? fried quail

carneros inn

mariani family residence

i told j she should consider atkins for her weight problem...

living with the folks....

Going on week 5.  it has not been bad.  but i am ready for it to be done. please let the beginning reno not last too long.  i miss walker and libba time.  i miss just libba time more.  my parents have been really great and really generous. saving the skrill has been awesome.  it is amazing how mortgages and bills and food suck up your pay check every single month.  my mom repeats herself a.lot.  i tune her out, but it frightens walker.

walker and my dad have developed a bromance (daddy issues...?).  they watch the same weird tv shows, play golf together, talk about electrical wires, pretend to care about nfl football.... it is really pretty cute, until he won't make a decision about ANYTHING until he consults with jay.  especially with house stuff;  "we should ask jay, i just called your dad, jay is on his way over now, your dad said not to worry about it..."

i run into someone i know every mother trucking time we go to the grocery store.  kinda cool, kinda awkward, kinda annoying all at the same time.  i just had this conversation with a neighbor:

neighbor:  hey - emily, right?
me: oh no, i'm libba
neighbor: oh yeah, stanford, right?
me: nope, UW
neighbor: sorry, you are an attorney now?
me: please stop guessing...

my parents clearly talk about me a lot.

road rules

remember that show?  reality tv at its finest.

we went on a little jaunt a few weeks back.  and by little i mean long.  and by long i mean i told walker at one point on the way over that driving this long is my version of hell.  i kid i kid.  we went to suncadia washington (sunriver for wealthier people) for a work trip then over to bozemen montana to see his brother, sister in law and the cutest kids ever and then to kalispell to hang with walker's gpa and then home to portland.  all in one week.  i didn't mind the road trip part nearly as much as i thought i would.  especially in montana where it is really pretty and you can drive 90 miles per hour and cops won't even blink.  people from the state are used to driving like 6 hours to see their neighbor and to get soap - none of the drive phased walker.  he was like 'bubs this isn't that bad" and i was like "walker, check yourself"  that's all i said.  the comebacks are weak when he is right.  here is a little photo tour of our week.  i miss those kiddos :(

windy!

Self timer

the trusted vulve.

if i knew how to photo shop - i would photo shop linc in here.

handsome cowboy

hat check.  boot earrings check.

fireworks!

don't tell mom, but i will give you some money for those chips...

bromance

ummm.  so CUTE.

quit taking my picture dood!

somewhere in MT on the drive back

It was an amazing trip.  loved seeing fam, love seeing works peeps in suncadia, loved spending some quality time with walker.  i had two of the best sandwiches in my life: 1 at staggering ox (of course) and the other at Tagliare in missoula.... bomb.com.

goodbye house

i think that your first house is kind of like your first love, you never forget it.  you want to move onto the next, you are excited about it, but there is something about your first that you will always remember.  man that was deep. but i think true, because i got really emotional saying goodbye to se belmont.  i love what we did with it and i love the neighborhood. we spent a little over two years in this bad boy including our first year of marriage, which was awful (jk). we laughed, we cried, we argued over remodel and whether to watch sons of guns or sex and the city re runs, we had dinner parties, we did couples sit ups, we (i) dented the hardwoods with heels,  we (he) went to home depot twice a week, we learned a lot about houses and each other.

for example:
1. walker is the hardest most talented worker i know.  his middle name should be sweat equity.  walker sweat equity templeton.
2.  i am not.
3.  remodels are long and expensive and messy and don't ever feel finished.
4. se has the best restaurants all within walking distance.  it is a bitch to get out of in a car.
5.  i am not the gardener i wanted to be.  but i will blame it on the yard, he left me no room.
6.  orange actually does look good on a garage.
7.  we know something about #'s, because we made some coin in this market.  coin that will quickly vanish into the new house.
8. we both got super attached and super emotional during the selling process.  who and the hell do those buyers think they are asking us to replace the recalled electrical panel? wussies.
9.  anything brazillian is code for a lot more money than oak.
10.  i really do love ranches.

if you are a loyal follower of this blog (you 4 people) you have seen photos before, however because i am the CEO of this blog, i am going to post more.

last friday i went to zupan's on belmont for some steaks and got teary eyed as the grocer rang up the items with her sleeved tat.  we are only moving 15 min away, but i don't think the grocers will have tats, let alone awesome sleeved tats.  once i get around to posting pictures of the new house and piece of land/view, you will understand... and if you don't, you're fired because i am the CEO and CFO as well as the VP of human resources of this blog.  now - i am off to hang out with my mom because we are living in my parents basement for a month.  peace.