Memory Lane

Last night I was fortunate to get together with some old friends. Some I haven't seen in 15 years. It's funny to see how things have changed. Some of us have chosen similar paths in life and others have haven't. Some have one or two children while others can outfit a sports team. But no matter where life has taken us since we were teenagers it was wonderful to see us all come together and reminisce about the "good ol' days" and spend a wonderful evening together. Highlights of the evening: swapping birth stories, Farrah's new baby, Rosa's quinoa salad and Tracey's reaction and relishing the fact that many of our ex boyfriends (or crushes) were now fat and bald. (Yeah I know....not very christian-like.....but happily noted all the same! LOL) It was just nice to have some of us all back in one place together. In some ways it felt like a million years had passed...in others...hardly any. Hopefully it won't be another 15 years before we do it again!

Terah Bromley, Carolyn Leigh, Rosa Rattray, Rachel LaFrance, Farrah Nordquist (with Dana), Tracey Cerisano

The Neverending Story....home reno edition

So we have been in our house for a year as of the end of June. Some parts have seen major overhauls while others still are lagging behind in 1982 somewhere. Someday my prince will come (and by prince I mean a contractor for a great price who will make my home beautiful) and I will be able to sit back, relax and enjoy my palace.

In the meantime here is what has been going on around here.

So when we moved in we were priviledged to not only have 1 but 2 but ugly half falling down sheds. About a month after we moved in the first one came down and this spring number 2 met it's demise.

the shed that stood for a year. see the lovely hole above the right window? rotten!
the shed that lasted about a month. you can't tell but the whole bottom of the right side is rotted out
the lovely shed this spring

don'tcha love the gravel and the non-functioning light standard???? Tell me you do!

So in April that puppy came down! It was so rotten I could punch holes through parts of it. I kept getting my foot stuck in holes where the floor caved in! Awesome!

so we poured cement up to the back corner of the house...now the BBQ isn't against the wall anymore!

this part is where the shed will go

inside of the shed..pool equipment was still not hooked back up. lovely cement floors that will not rot out!!!

ah organization!!!!

the new shed...and Shawn's home if he misbehaves! LOL

We also installed a small retaining wall around the garden to keep the dirt from washing away into our pool. We turned a back corner of weeds into a garden (we are still warring with the weeds however) planted grass seed and some other plants around the area.

these will one day be nice big white lilacs.....if i don't kill them first

the back corner..it's starting to fill in nicely. Shawn bought me a korean lilac as it's "centerpiece"

the big retaining wall. we used 2500lbs worth of brick...my arms still hurt!

this was an afterthought using some bricks that were left here....looks good i think! this garden has exploded as well. I'm going to have to re-arrange several plants next year!

Other projects we have done so far include the electrical panel, a ton of painting (and still more to go) I changed the countertop and sink and painted the vanity in one bathroom, we replaced some carpet, cleaned the unusable fireplace and chimney, and soon we are tackling the kitchen. Got lots of great before pics for that post! LOL Then we will start on finishing the bathrooms and the remainder of the painting. Then replace the doors...and the grage door....and on and on and on (hence the title of this post) Here are some more pics of the house

Our room

the front garden that has since exploded
haven't done anything in this room yet except change the dining room light fixture....but it's hopefully getting a new coat of paint this summer!


the new panel....all switches, no fuses anymore, no double tapping, and lots of surge protectors. I know it doesn't look pretty but to me it's beautiful!
this is the vanity i fixed...she wasn't pretty before...now i love her!

At any rate I will be expanding on this post in the months (and most likely years) to come. I hope you enjoyed what you have seen thus far and hopefully I won't be such a slacker with these in the future.

Wow...........I really suck! LOL

Ok so to most it appears that I have totally abandoned my blog. It's not so. I just haven't has a clue as to what to write about. Call it bloggers block.

So I decided a recap was called for. So out comes the dayplanner as I try to remember 6 months worth of life in the LaFrance household!

So in January Shawn and I went away to Niagara Falls for a couple of days. it used to be a tradition of sorts for us but alas has gone by the wayside with things like life getting in the way. We stayed right on Clifton Hill and were right in the middle of the action. We ate at Ruby Tuesdays. I had an AMAZING steak....truly yummy! We went to some of the ultra cheesy attractions that Niagara has to offer and then went to see the light display by the falls. The falls are always a tricky thing for me. I think they are as beautiful as it can get and I am in awe of the beauty and the power of them. But I am also terribly afraid of heights and shrink away from them whenever I get in their vicinity. I have panic attacks when I bring the kids to them. I am always afraid one of them is going to fall over. It's enough to give a girl nightmares! That being said, it was a wonderful mini getaway albeit a little short. Nice to have some couple time!

You saw the post on Jenna's baptism...still wonderful to think about. At the end of the month we went and visited our friends Chris and Heather to celebrate the fact that their daughter Chloe's adoption had gone through and that she was officially theirs. It was a wonderful day, full of lots of friends and it was nice to see that they were in fact and official family of 4!

Lets see...February......Not much happened there. The Korvers and us went to Buffalo for a weekend. That was a lot of fun. We learned that sleeping in 1 hotel room isn't always good for sleep but certainly good for laughs. We went to the military road outlet mall and Walden Galleria. Eating at the Cheesecake Factory has to be a highlight of the trip. Great food!! On the way back to Canada we stopped at Fort Niagara and learned what the Americans think of the war. We all know who really won! LOL Other than that not a whole lot to write about!

March....Shawn got us tickets to see Movin' Out. It was great, but we were a little confused. We assumed it was a muscial. What it actually is, is interpretive dance telling a story based on the songs of Billy Joel. While we thoroughly enjoyed it.... I think a play would have been more my cup of tea.
One of my former Young Women, who is currently in college used our house as a fim location fora school project. It's amazing how much work goes into a project like that! I got to be the makeup person and watch the process. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having Jess and her cast in our home. That being said...I still have to see the final product.....Need to get Jess to send me a copy! I wonder what my home looks like on film???
Shawn decided to be a girl and shop on a whim. We needed a new bed frame and Shawn wanted to get a new head board. So off to the store we go. However when we get there he lies down on a mattress for all of 2 minutes and declares he is buying it! I was flabbergasted but not going to shoot a gift horse in the mouth. So we buy the bed. It is truly a great mattress and box spring and I am grateful for Shawns spur of the moment decision.
I was super excited to go to a party at my friend Emilia's house. It was Twilight themed to coinside with the release of the DVD. A lot of our friends are super huge Twilight fans and it was a fun night full of twilight treats and trivia and what not. Thanks Emilia!!!!
Our dear friends Marni and Dave celebrated their daughter Marie's first birthday. It was a nice day and it was wonderful to share in their joy.


April....ugh April. Spring is here which means WORK! The old ugly shed was demolished to make way for the new one (post to follow) and we did some spring cleaning. I also turned 33 in April. Can't believe how fast time flies! Easter was good. Lots of food which we all know I love! We also started pricing some future reno's like our kitchen...which I hope happens sooner rather than later.

May we went to the neighborhood fair and fireworks. It's nice to live in an area where you can walk to things like that. We went on a ton of rides and ate funnel cake. I love the fair. And who ever they got to run it this year...much much better than some companies. All well dressed and about 98% of them still have their teeth! LOL They were really good to the kids too which is HUGE! You treat my kids well and you're good in my books. The fair is a 30 year tradition....word is they are going to cancel it....I hope that doesn't happen and this becomes something we do with them every year.
In May we got a lot of our reno done. I will make a seperate post on that....but we worked hard and so far it's paying off. I am really starting to love our backyard.

June was a busy month. Kids had 2 school trips each. The pool was hooked back up. My sister and my mom moved so that was a lot of work. School was on until the end of the month but I took my summer break a little early so I could have a little me time. Our friends Rob and Victoria left at the end of May to go to Florida with their kids. Owen, their oldest got a Starlight wish. He went to Disney for Star Wars weekend and got to fight Vadar. Vadar even gave him a signed lightsaber! I was trying to read a lot of books too. I started going to a bookclub and am really enjoying not only the social outing but getting a chance to read some really great books!
We celebrated our 12th anniversary this month. We went to this tiny little italian place for a nice dinner and then went to the movies to see Angels and Demons. It was a fun night!

And now we are into July. I am trying to survive life as a stay at home mom again. Not too much going on. Loving living near the library....that will come in handy this summer! lol Went to visit my sister Sarah for the day. That was nice. Her new apartment is looking really nice. We reapplied for our passports and I hope they come soon. We have plans to go to New York state and go camping at Darien Lake at the end of the month. I am hoping we can make a side trip to Palmyra but that remains to be seen.

Anyway, I realize this post may not be up to par.....but at least I am now somewhat caught up. If you are still reading this I thank you and think you are possibly a little nuts to keep hoping I will write something! LOL I promise to get back on track. Thanks for reading. New post coming soon!!!!!!!!!!!!!