One long week in one long year

Hello all!!!
Not sure where I've been for the past few months considering the fact that I'm on the computer every day. Part of me didn't feel like writing on the blog dedicated to our house because we haven't accomplished much in the past few months. Blame work and travel and general indecision. But here we are nearing the anniversary of our move in date and we're starting to get our ducks in a row for major renovations - I guess it just took a year for me to start thinking a little smaller (I originally wanted to blow the roof and add a second story) and for Justin to start thinking bigger (he's so darn logical). So it's been a long year and a good year - there's no better way to get know someone than to share a bathroom with them....or to take them home. Which leads us to our long week...and now Justin knows me much better now!

We flew to Kansas City on Saturday June 3rd and began the whirlwind tour of Stacey's homeland. Justin was shocked by the number of restaurants I pointed out as we were driving through KC considering I still stress over my weight. But I love KC food! We walked around the Liberty Memorial which has great views of KC and after checking into the hotel, we headed out to track down my cousin Megan as she wasn't going to be at the wedding. I finally got to introduce her to my boyfriend which is amusing - she's 16 and both her and my 17 year old cousin have been dating their boyfriends longer than I've been dating Justin. And then we went to meet my friends Heather and Jeff and their new baby, Gordon VanDam. First off, he's the largest three month old baby I've ever seen and he's absolutely adorable!! And then we left the adorable baby with daddy Jeff and went off to grab Mr. Andy (my other best friend!!) and we headed to La Bodega for some tapas and sangria. YUMMY! Then it was time for Buzzard Beach, my favorite hangout in KC, and the sight of many Andy, Heather, Stacey nights-out. It was a beautiful evening and we had fun and laughs and I was so excited that Justin got to meet these two very important people. We were alternately mushy and funny and poor Andy got hugged more than he would have liked. It was a great night.
So around 8 in the morning we kind of wake up and start getting ready to go do brunch at the Classic Cup (fabulous eggs benedict!). Lynn and Chris meet us there so I can meet another new baby!! They have six month old Afton is about half the size of three month Gordy and is very curious (I like that in a baby). We took turns holding him so he could see different views of the Plaza. I call him baby Jaques because he looks like he's holding his breath underwater - one day he will explore the bottoms of the ocean - I"m positive about that.
After brunch and a short walk around the Plaza, we headed out to Lee's Summit to my sister in law's family's house to pick up my brother and meet his new puppy Louie-Louie. Cute little Jack Russel but he made me miss the Oscar dog - there's just nothing more cute or cuddly than a pug. But that's just my opinion....
We then headed to Pleasant Hills to see my cousin's new house - actually they've lived there for a couple of years but I still hadn't seen the house so it was new to me. :-) It's a great house with a great yard and we had a nice visit on the deck. Although poor Justin got the seat in the direct sunlight and started developing a nice sunburn. And then after five or so phone calls from the folks wanting to know where we were, we decided to head down to Jefferson City.
Honestly, I was so tired by the time we got there that aside from being very happy to see my parents and a quick tour of the house, I don't remember much about Sunday night. But Monday, I remember well, because my mum put us to work. Yes, on our vacation, we painted the kitchen so it would look good for the Scottish folk (and by we, I mean my dad and Justin). Then while we were waiting for it to dry, Justin goes outside and fixes the retaining wall on the side of the garden - major brownie points with the folks! Good job baby! And Justin has decided that he wants to replicate my parent's sunporch in our house which is a good idea so we have a direction to our remodeling now.
I have to stop at this point and tell you how beautiful my parent's house is. My mum should have been an interior decorator because the furniture and the colors blend perfectly and they've travelled and collected great knick knacks so the house is very personalized and interesting. The French bedroom is my favorite. They collected a headboard and footboard, two side tables and a wierd bird clock that would look horrible anywhere else but in that guest room, it's perfect. It made me want to come home and start re-decorating immediatley.
So that's the first three days of the trip. Hope I haven't bored you but everything was so wonderful about the trip and getting to introduce Justin to my friends and family meant so much to me that it made my trip!
SO tomorrow we will move on to days four and five or what I like to refer to as "The Lake trip".
Pictures will be posted soon!!!