White Christmas

Rob and I spent Christmas with his family in Great Falls, MT.  We had a wonderful time with his parents and his sister and her family.  We enjoyed games, chatting, and of course lots of food provided by him mom.  We also had the opportunity to go snowmobiling with a family friend, Ben, and Rob’s cousin, Colton. 

On Saturday morning we suited up in our snow gear and headed to the hills.  It was –5 deg when we got to the top, but the sun was shining and the snow was perfect.  Here are a few pictures from our adventures. 

Getting ready to go.

Rob was in heaven from the moment we took off.  More toys to add to his wish list.

Colton shows his excitement.

Beautiful views from the top.

There were tons of trails that led to various open fields were we could play around on the snowmobiles. 

Rob, Colton and Ben

Cindi playing in the powder.

Colton and Ben checking out the trail maps.  I still have no idea how they knew where we were and going and how to get back to the truck, but they were great guides and got us around without any problems.

Rob and I decided that it’s time to sell the Jet Skis and purchase some snowmobiles. 

Our Bathroom

We finally finished our bathroom.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

THE RED COUCH!

We finally went and picked up our new red couch.  What do you think?

Mounted TV

Rob and I finally mounted the TV on our Red Wall.  In order to prepare we painted the wall red and we put in crown molding to frame the TV.  The biggest project of all was mounting Rob’s center channel in the fireplace mantel.  We took apart the existing mantel, and Rob craftily used his chainsaw to cut the all of the wood so his center channel would sit perfectly in the middle. This was our end result.

The project is not done yet.  This is our halfway point.  Eventually there will be no wires hanging down.  They will all go through the attic and the crawl space to a recessed cabinet that holds the receiver, cable box, DVD player, etc.  Stay tuned. 

The Snowmobiles First Ride

So, Rob and I decided that we would take the free snowmobile for a test run on the snow. We loaded it up on the trailer, got dressed in our snow clothes and took off toward the mountains. We towed it with my Toyota Corolla and we got a lot of looks and laughs from bigger trucks on our way up the hill. We especially looked funny as we pulled into the snowmobile parking lot and we were the only 4 cylinder in sight.

We ran into a little trouble getting it started. When Rob went to pull the pull starter, it came undone and wound all the way back up into the snowmobile. Rob borrowed some socket wrenches and tried to fix it and get it put back together again.

Eventually he got it running and off he went on the snowmobiles first ride one the snow!

I waited for him to come back. To stay warm, I sat in the car and played games on my phone. About 20 minutes later here came Rob, being towed by another snowmobiler.

The end result…

To Rob's credit, we got it home and after a little work on the snowmobile, he got it running again. It wasn't blown up after all. We still own a free snowmobile, and we will take it out again for another test run. Hopefully the next one will be a little more fun and a little less work.

Red?

Somehow, Rob and I convinced ourselves to use Red to accent our family room.  Our TV will be mounted here.

We also recently purchased a red sectional couch which we will be picking up on Saturday. 

Stay tuned…

Rob’s Obsession with Sound…

It is true, Rob has an obsession with sound.  He loves or hates sounds depending on what they are.  When he finds a good sounding song, he will obsess over it for weeks.  When he finds an irritating noise, he will obsess until he figures out how to stop it.  He is the first to hear every rattle in a car and will stop at nothing to make it stop.  He hears noises in and around the house that sometimes I can’t even hear after he points them out.  He also has a great ear and recognizes good music whether it is in the form of rock of Broadway musicals. 

One of Rob’s biggest obsessions are with sound coming from the speakers in his house.  From the first time we looked at our house, he was already planning how to create his ideal entertainment set up.  With each time we returned to the house he came up with more ideas of how to make it sound and look just the way he wanted.  I told him, as long as it looked good in the end, he could do whatever he wanted.  When he told me he was going to put in in-wall speakers, I have to admit I was a little scared with this do-it yourself project, but I tried my best to keep my doubts and fears to myself.   The plan was for the speakers to go in our ceiling, behind the couches.

We moved in and Rob wasted no time in ordering his first set of in-wall speakers.  The day they arrived in the mail he was ready to get up in the attic and get to work.  He got out his saw and started sawing a hole in my popcorn ceiling.  I was scared and skeptical, but still tried to keep my mouth shut.  He worked from the attic while I was in the livingroom scrapping “popcorn” from our ceiling to make the speakers fit just right.

After about 30 min or so, our project was done.  I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with the end result.  Below are the pictures of our brand new “in-ceiling” speakers. 

They look pretty good, don’t you think?

All I can say is, “GOOD JOB ROB!”

After this little project, I wasn’t as scared when he took a chainsaw to my fireplace mantel…

Hitting the Slopes

Rob and I have decided to teach ski lessons on Saturdays again this year.  Today was our first day of instructor’s training.  On Friday night, as we were up late stripping the hideous wallpaper in the master bathroom, we were both wondering what we had gotten ourselves into.  By teaching skiing, we had taking away our only free day to do house repairs.

But on Saturday morning we were both excited.  It was the first time on the mountain for both of us this year.  Before our training began, we took a few practice runs.  Conditions were icy, but for being early December in Seattle, it is a miracle we even had enough snow to ski on (last years training was done inside because it was 50 deg outside). 

After the first couple of runs, we were both feeling pretty good and ready for our training to begin.  We had a good day, with a morning session and an afternoon session.  With this only being my 3rd season on skis, I was very happy that I felt no apprehension.  I think I’m actually starting to get the hang of this skiing thing.

This is me getting ready for our first run. The weather was gorgeous. It is not very often that we get to wear tinted goggles, but today we definitely needed them because the sky was perfectly blue and sunny. 

Rob coming in at the end our our training.

One of the perks of teaching is Rob and I can do ski exchanges with other ski resorts in the Northwest.  This makes our love of skiing a little more affordable.  We are planning a trip to Schweitzer in February to celebrate my 30 birthday.  You’re welcome to join us!