the tile

it was always understood that when i married, it had to be to a handy man. i have five brothers and while some are more handy than others, lets just say handiness is lacking in my family. so when i met tyrell, i knew he would fit the bill.

he is handy alright, and it is really nice to have someone who can fix things (especially because i have a tendency to break things). after we bought the house and made the decision to fix it up, tyrell was sure he could do all the improvements himself. now the improvements we wanted to make, also included things he had never done before, and one of those things was tiling.

my mom was a lot of help and came up to get us started. she was here to tell us what supplies we would need and the basics of tiling. but unfortunately we had to send her back to AZ before we actually started.

so last friday we were finally in a position to lay tile. after tyrell had asked all the questions he thought he needed, he started mixing the thin set. i was not at the house when he started and when i arrived at the house he was a bit frantic. he was trying to mix the thin set in a 5 gallon bucket with an old piece of baseboard. he was stirring with all his might (because at this point the mixture was barely moist at all) and complaining that the ratio of thin-set to water on the bag was not correct. i read the instructions and asked if he has added the right amount of water. after realizing that he had only put half as much as it called for, we added the rest of the water (and a bit more) and the thin set was still pretty dry and lumpy.

(don't let the smile fool you... this was a real low point)

so as always, my mother was called ( because she is our point of reference) and we asked what consistency the thin -set should be. she told us it should be "cream of wheat-y". well this is a pretty relative reference and after talking to her we called my friend chuck. he told us it should be the consistency of peanut butter. so after we spoke to our food relating references, we took our lumpy thin- set and laid the cement board. (we were on a time crunch because you only have two hours of working time once you start mixing the thin-set)

anyway after a long process, with lots of questions, lots of... 'i don't knows', some yelling,

a few mild explitives,

and some referencing to the flooring book,

he was finally able to lay the first tile.

and after a whole days work... he was able to lay three tiles. learning is a long process.

upon my suggestion he went to the class they have at home depot the next day. he was able to ask all his questions and get a visual (non food related) idea of the correct consistency of thin set. i think that this next week laying tile should be a little easier.

thanks tyrell for being so talented!!

later: adventures in framing, drywall and electrical.

carter

so carter has been drug to the hosue everyday and had some new experiences. he has been pretty good and i am sure has enjoyed:

1. playing in the middle of the construction zone in his exersaucer, while learning about framing and dry wall.

2. being strapped to a folding chair for lunch

3. playing in his pack and play with a paint stirring stick

4. and i think his all time favorite.... playing on a card board box with the new wood flooring.

even though he has had to endure working on the new house, (don't call CPS yet -well if you hadn't already due to the broken leg) we are still finding time to:

1. eat delicious meals at home. (and flash the new teeth) he loves feeding himself and is getting really good at it.

2. enjoy taking baths

3. play before bed

4. and hang out with dad (look at those cheesy smiles)

he got his cast off on the 9th of october! free at last.

the house

so that house we put a bid on a few posts ago, is now ours! well it has been for several weeks, and has been consuming our lives. we are remodeling a little, painting everything, and replacing all the flooring. so here are some pictures of the progression of the front room.

i think we are really going to like it when we are finished!

in here we painted, tore out the closet and added a half wall

couple quiz

♥ What are your middle names? wayne (my grandpas name.. wayne smith) and mine is now lee
♥ How long have you been together? 22 months
♥ How long did you know each other before you started dating? well we met when we were 15ish in st. johns over the 24th, and then never saw each other until he asked me out in 2007. so if you count that, we could say about 11 years. if you don't, then it was sort of a blind date deal.
♥ Who asked who out? He asked me upon encouragement from my cousin (his sister-in-law). i was just another tally mark on his goal to go out with 100 girls. he claims he was doing this to follow the counsel of an apostle (you know create a dating pool). i personally think this may have been a bit excessive, and i think my number was somewhere in the 50's. once we decided we were 'together' he was glad he didn't have to add another 50 to his list.
♥ Who made the first move? He did but it took a long time. we were dating for a while (traveling back and forth from az to ca) and my dad asked me if he had kissed me yet. when i told him that he had not my dad asked, 'what is he... gay?". not your normal fatherly reaction perhaps, but apparently my dad thought it took too long.
♥ Did you go to the same school? Nope i was an ASU sun devil and he was a EA gilla monster/CSU-P thunder wolf
♥ Are you from the same home town? no, i am from st. johns and he is from pima
♥ Who is the smartest? i would say that it depends on the area of knowledge...
♥ Who majored in what? i majored in nursing and tyrell majored in automotive industry management
♥ Who is the most sensitive? depends on the time of the month (this is tyrell's answer)
♥ Where do you eat out most as a couple? we don't go out to eat much but we like johnny carinos.
♥ Where is the furthest you two have traveled together as a couple? from michigan to ithaca to palmyra, to kirtland, to colorado, to arizona. that was a really long drive but we also went to cancun last summer. it was great.
♥ Who has the worst temper? I do hands down. i have yet to see tyrell loose his.
♥ How many children do you want? four to five.
♥ Who does the cooking? If there is anything cooked in this house it is because i made it. tyrell hates to cook. a reality he did not reveal until after we were married.
♥ Who is more social? i would say we are tied.
♥ Who is the neat-freak? tyrell is a neater freak than i (although i would consider myself neat). he loves buying organizers and is still trying to teach me that everything has it's place. i'm not buying it :)
♥ Who is the most stubborn? again that would be me.
♥ Who wakes up earlier? tyrell i am not a morning person at all.
♥ Where was your first date? we climbed the locked fence to play raquetball in the outdoor racquetball courts. and don't worry i beat him :)
♥ Who has the bigger family? Me, his family has 5 kids and mine has 6.
♥ Do you get flowers often? i wouldn't say often, but i do for special occasions, anniversary or birthday.
♥ How do you spend the holidays? Well, we have been married for two christmas's and i have worked both of them. but not this year... from here on out we are spending holidays with our families!
♥ Who is more jealous? We aren't the jealous type
♥ How long did it take to get serious? 3 months i think
♥ Who eats more? i think i do
♥ What do you do for a living? tyrell teaches at the university and i am a stay at home mom taking a break from nursing (at the hospital not the feeding your baby kind)
♥ Who does/did the laundry? i do most of the laundry but tyrell helps out every now and again
♥ Who’s better with the computer? ty
♥ Who drives when you are together? ty
♥ What is "your" song? we don't have one.