New forest!

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Sarah is 30!

Last week was my friend, Sarah's 30th b-day. As a surprise her parent's drove all the way from Oklahoma to spend the week with her. Justin and I ended up spending a lot of time with them and it was a lot of fun!

We went to the Reno Aces game on Thursday night and Friday night she had a country birthday bash. A whole bunch of her friends went up to Reno for dinner at the Texas Roadhouse and then to a country bar called Mustang's for country line dancing! I don't have any pictures of the dancing because I was out on the dance floor too much. Sarah and I learned a lot of dances that night together. Reminds me of going to Ghost Riders back home! (Sorry, Rob...)

Here on the left is Sarah and her Mom and up on the left is our friend Kelly, and both Sarah's Mom and Dad. Sorry Mr. Piggott, it's not the best picture of you, but it's the only one I had!

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

Humbling

I have other things to post about, but this one really struck me tonight, so please humor me. On Sunday I (and a colleague) flew to Salt Lake City, UT and then drove up to Logan, UT to visit the U.S. headquarters of the company Campbell Scientific. This company manufactures most of the equipment we are using out in Dixie Valley and we are here to attend a training class on this equipment.

We were pleasantly surprised that the majority of the other students attending this class were of a similar age group as myself and my colleague and that they were all international. A student is present from each of Germany, France, the UK and Canada. Tonight my colleague and I and the French student went for a little "hike" (aka stroll) along the Logan river. Beautiful river, although unfortunately the highway also follows the river, so it was a little loud.

During our stroll and the fantastic Italian dinner that followed we learned a lot about France, but of Paris in particular (which is where she lives). Like many Americans I had this image of Paris in my head of a spectacular ambiance, culture, wine, scrumptious dinner of small portions, museums and walks where you have fashionable shoes and a warm scarf wrapped around your neck. But I learned this is not the case for the typical resident who works in Paris.

For those that live and work in Paris your life is filled with large crowds, long commutes to work even though over short distances, running in the "underground" to catch the next train, crammed buses, waiting in line for 20 minutes just to get inside the grocery store, people that do not smile or say hello when you walk past them and very expensive housing for a very small "flat". Myself being a homeowner, the thing that hit me the most was her description of the cost of housing. Half of her monthly paycheck goes to the cost of her "flat", which she is quite happy with...why you ask? Because it has it's own private bathroom. When asked about the size of her "flat" she made the comparison to our hotel rooms here at the typical American Hampton Inn. Her "flat" bathroom is about 1/2 the size of the hotel bathroom and the remaining living space (kind of a studio apartment) is about 1/3 the size of the rest of our hotel room. One-third.

Thank you, Lord for my house, my 15 minute drive to work, and my overall "easy" life compared to SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO many others in the world...

Differences

Amazing how just a one mile distance can provide such a different environment.



Oh Dixie...

Tahoe Time

Here's a few fun things we've done a Tahoe in the last week. We logged some beach time on Sunday and attended a concert on Monday night at Sand Harbor. The artist was Karen Briggs, a violinist, and a darn good one at that! She does a lot of funky, groovey original compositions, but the videos below are a little bit of Amazing Grace and some Billie Jean by Michael Jackson!

Dixie Chicks

Remember when we got the ATVs stuck in the playa in Dixie Valley a few months ago? A colleague of mine certainly didn't forget! Check out the snack we had at a recent office meeting. Notice the red ATV is on the edge of the brown and white "playa". The "D.C." written in sharpie on each ATV stands for the other project chief and my nickname at the office--Dixie Chicks. It could be worse...............

Our other house

A few weekends ago, Justin and I were forced to take a long weekend trip to Boise. I know that doesn't sound so bad, but it was a working trip, not leisure. The tenants that were renting Justin's home in Boise moved out and we needed to "clean-up" after them. Libby (my jeep) was loaded down with bikes and a make-shift roof rack to hold brooms, rakes, shovels, etc. Poor Libby!

And man-oh-man did we ever have to clean! The "cleaning" involved everything from wiping down counters and cabinets, to disinfecting mold in the bathroom, repairing water damage on the wall in the bathroom, repainting the living room/dining room, completely repairing the back door, pulling 5 million weeds (many that were taller than me!), trimming bushes and trees, cleaning out several years worth of leaves and debris from flower beds, re-mulching the flower beds, replacing door locks, scrubbing out blood from the refrigerator (yes blood), cleaning carpets, fixing the microwave vents....and the list goes on. Unfortunately the weather didn't cooperate most of the time we were there. It was cold and pouring down rain. I had to go buy us both full rain suits so we could be outside doing all the yard work! Check out a few before and after pictures.

Front of the house was SO overgrown!

Microwave vent plate was cracked and missing.

Stained carpets.

All the neighbors came out to help us. It was fantastic! They were so happy we were there to fix up the house (cause they were probably sick of looking at it!). And they all remembered Justin and asked how his parents were.

A consultant lives down the road, Jim, helped us out a ton and still is for that matter. He did the painting in the house, finished the back door, power-washed and stained the back deck and fixed the leaning back fence. Thanks, Jim!! Another guy was hired to remove all the weeds in the back garden area and along the fence line, plus haul all the brush in the driveway away. Here's a few more shots of the work we did and the short bike ride we managed to fit in just before the sun went down on the last day. Wish I could see what the deck and back yard look like now, but bet they are so nice!

Man's best friend

I've snapped a few shots of Justin and Willy lately.

Here are some of my favorites.

Two paws, one with brown streaks, the other with brown spots!

Brady

While back home in PA we spent a day at the river...which means East Brady on the Allegheny River. It had been I bet you 15 years since I'd been on this stretch of river and it was just awesome. So many memories were brought back of Friday afternoons when we'd go up to East Brady after Mom got off work. We'd boat, check out the camps on the shores, anchor back in Red Bank and swing off the sweet rope, water ski, enter tube, grill out. It was awesome-good times. This was no different. Aunt Terri and Uncle Rich have a campsite on the river near the boat launch where we had a fabulous meal after spending some time on the muddy river. Check it out! Rob has more pictures on his blog too.

Justin flying off the rope at Red Bank.

I skiied for the first time in about 3 years! Just like riding a bike!

The big city

Just a few pics from our 1/2 a day tour of Pittsburgh after Matt and Shannon's wedding. We saw the Station Square fountains, rode the incline up Mt. Washington and then walked around in the Strip District. (Deb--this is where you got flowers for our wedding!)

Matt & Shannon

My cousin Matt was married last weekend to Shannon and her son, Nick. It was a beautiful family wedding and a lot of fun.

Congratulations, Matt and Shannon, we love you!

I love this country song!

All grown up

Justin and I were back home in PA this past weekend. We did all kinds of stuff that you'll be getting to read about, but this post is dedicated to my brother Rob's best friend all through high school--Leland Clark.

Leland is great and my family got to know him really well over the years. My Dad even called him "son".




After getting a few degrees, including a law degree, Leland has settled back in our hometown of Butler, PA with his wife. He recently started his own law office on Main St. Fancy, eh? Rob, the kids and I went to see his office while back home.


Congrats, Leland! It was great to see you!