About Time...

Who knew you could blink and 6 months could go by?

So...it's been a while since I've been on here and I have decided that needs to stop. I've been on the road in Chicago now for almost 4 months (yeah, time flies) and I need to keep this thing updated to sort of keep my friends/family in the loop. I will be doing my best to try and get some pics up here as well so you guys can see what Chicago looks like from my eyes...

It's been a long road, and a tough one at the same time. Being gone just down right stinks. Chicago is wonderful - a town we love very much - but even though living downtown is my dream, being here without my family nullifies all of it. It has been a great weekend though, J and Tay have come to visit - and brought Trinity - so all is well for at least a few days...nice to have them here.

We went to dinner with a friend last night and had a lot of fun. There are so many great places to eat, and venture to down here - never a dull moment. We went to a Thai restaurant that some friends of ours introduced us to over the Christmas Holiday. We love it...and it's only a block away from where our apartment is.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to getting home permanently again. I'm missing way too much being gone, and it's ridiculously hard being without my wife (aka bestest friend in the whole wide world), and daughter...and maybe my sister in law also...

Oh yeah, by the way...Taylor is going to be in her second play in April. They are doing "A Midsummer Nights Dream" and she got the small part of Puck in the play...and by small part I mean THE LEAD!!!! We are so proud of her and she is working so hard - practice 3 times per week. We are still in shock, but are so excited at the same time. She did so great in her last performance - still a larger role, but not the lead. It was nice of them to recognize how hard she worked and how well she did, by rewarding her with the lead. They actually sent us a note ahead of time telling us how excited they were to cast her in the lead...she is getting way too old, way too fast...

Here are a few pictures of our 'second home.'

Our living room...

View of the Hancock building from our apartment.

Taylor lounging...

Our kitchen (balcony off to the right).


Another view from our living room - if you strain your eyes you can see Lake Michigan between the two buildings on the right...

Ohio Street.

Holy smokes

Who knew each year with Taylor would be better than the last?

So...not to admit I'm getting old or anything, but Taylor turns 10 (yes, 10) in about an hour...and I'm still in denial.  It has been an amazing 10 years, with some ups and some downs...but I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to go through it - and am honored to be her father.

I decided it would be kind of cool to see some pictures moving through the years...so here goes...

2 years old - hanging with Cleo

Still 2...

2 years old, hanging with one of her favorite people while we were visiting Arizona - notice her hand on Christina's leg...melts me every time...

3 years old - ready for Halloween

5 years old (I know, I skipped 4...it's getting late)

5 going on 15...

6 years old - at her birthday party

7 years old (do you see a trend of who we hang with?)

8 years old - hanging with Crunch the Minnesota Timberwolves mascot

9 years old...the last year of being only one digit old...

in 17 short minutes, we will be able to take our first pictures of our new 10 year old...in my next post I will have some pictures showing the beginning (1 and under) and where we are now (10).  Time sure flies...

Olden Times

Who knew we'd look like a pretty great family even in 'olden times?'

When we were in Chicago about a month ago, we went to the Museum of Science and Industry.  I convinced us we had to take on of the dress up old times photos - and here's what we look like.  I still crack up every time I see this - we had such a great time!

Community? Hello, Community are you there?

Who knew you could be in a room full of people and feel totally alone?  Tons of people, that's who...

So last week at church, Donnell knocked his sermon out of the park (as he often does) - if you get a chance, I highly recommend listening to it.  He was talking about community and how important it is - especially in a church setting.  It's hard to experience God without it - and it is more evident than ever when going through a difficult time (just ask anyone who has gone through some traumatic event recently).

Hind sight is always 20-20 right?  Listening to him speak on Sunday hurled me back into self reflection and thinking back over this year - and all the many not so great events that have happened so far.  It's always interesting to see who steps up in each situation and comes through in ways only your closest friends could do.  I find it's not always who I thought it would be or who I would expect.  Most of the time, I find myself scratching my head wondering what I missed...it's ok, I'm used to it...

Not sure what the point of this post is except to say he did an amazing job and I highly recommend listening to what he had to say.

On a side note, last week (not yesterday, but the week before) the kids took over the service and ran both of them.  I couldn't have been more proud of J and Tay who gave it all they had and totally rocked it out.  J kicked off the service and was the face of Children's ministry throughout the service with the help of another Jamie and Laura (they did an amazing job coordinating and pulling together Camp Creation - our version of VBS...sort of).  Tay had the role of M.C. and was introducing each group as they came up with her own style - you should have seen her with the wireless mic...she was a pro.  It was a great day for me and all I had to do was sit there and bask in the glow of my wife and daughter...even Nadia was cheering from the back of the church...what a great day.

Ok, I'm done for tonight.  Josh, leave me alone, I have a newer post than  you do now.

We're in...

Who knew it would feel so good to move back home?

Tonight will be our first night back home - and boy are we excited. The contractors finished their part yesterday and we spent last night cleaning and sealing the floor. J took the remaining old tile off the wall and we will be starting to paint and put the wainscotting on this weekend. Once the walls are up, we just have to install the vanity and we will be in business.

At this point, we can use the bathroom and take showers so we are moving back home. We still have a bit of work to complete but are looking forward to getting the chance to get it done.

The real question at this point is, "What's the new project going to be?"

Almost done...

Who knew I'd be so excited to hear we have a working toilet again?

Yesterday they put the grout and caulk in the tub (looks great) and today they put the fixtures in the tub and put the toilet back in. They will be in later this afternoon to complete all of the finishing touches, but it should be all complete today! Super exciting...

Now all we have to do is finish removing the tile from the wall (we already completed this on one wall), put up the new wainscotting, paint, install the vanity and sink and attach the new faucet...no big deal right?

We were hoping to have all of this completed by this weekend, but not sure that will happen. The good news is that by the end of today, they should be completed with the work we hired them to do - and we should be able to move back in soon...and get back to our regular routine.

I'm sure Trinity is ready to have us back home.

Day 1,346

Who knew 6 days could seem so long?

Welcome to day 1,346 (or at least that's what it feels like at times).  It was a good day today and progress is clear at this point.  This morning they came in a put the tile up around the bathtub...the end is approaching.

They need to grout and caulk the tub, seal the floor and then put the fixtures and toilet back.  Once that is complete, we can move back in - they are still projecting Tuesday for completion.

Here are some pictures of our latest completed task.

Day 5

Who knew progress could look so good?

Not a lot to report today other than it was confirmed we aren't projecting completion until Tuesday now...so much for Saturday. Good news is that we have a flexible place to stay and they are letting us 'extend our reservations.'

Today the put the grout into the floor and mud on the walls in the tub.  No work tomorrow, but they will be in on Sunday (yes, I know) to tile the tub.  If all holds well, they will grout the tub and put the sealer on the floor Monday and do the final trim on Tuesday.  We are hoping for no more setbacks...

Pictures of Day 4 and 5 are below...

Day 4 - tile on floor and walls around tub

Day 5 - grout between tile and mud on walls

Day 4 complete

Who knew tiled floors could look so nice?

Day 4 is complete (yesterday) and they did catch up a little bit. The plumber came back in the morning and leveled the tub. Then, the other team came in and framed in the tub (dry wall is up around it) and laid the floor tile. The tile looks a little odd right now with the green walls and no tile in the tub area, but it will look great once everything else is complete.

Day 5 will start around noon today because they needed to leave a little extra time for the tile to set. Not sure exactly what their plan for today is, but we are hoping they will tile the bathtub and grout the floor tile...we'll see.

It's great to see the progress though, looks as if we are only about a half day behind...can't wait to see what this looks like after day 5. I'll try to get a picture loaded of the day 4 progress...stay tuned.

Minor Set-back

Who knew that the tub had to be level?

When J came home on Tuesday, she looked at the tub and said, 'The left side is higher than the right.' Since I'm generally pretty good about seeing that stuff, I looked at it and said it was fine. I pulled out the level and checked it a bit as well. I mentioned it to the contractor the next day and he said that sure enough, it was a little off.

So, we had to call the plumber back in to level it - but he wasn't available until this morning which means we didn't get to frame in the tub yesterday and may not be ready to start the tile today (which was the original plan). Not the end of the world, but we are really hoping it doesn't cause a whole day delay because that would push us back into next week for completion.

Good news is that J caught it now when it's easier to fix, instead of them figuring it out when the tried to tile it. Bad news is that we are ready for this to be done...

Day 4 starts soon...