The Latest Home Update

Okay, so we're now a few weeks into the home renovation/repair/remodel. Our chimney has been rebuilt, the hardwood is being installed today, and the drywall has been hung in the kitchen. My dad has put one coat of drywall mud on the walls with at least two more to go, I think. Also, Derrick replaced the valve in the garage to allow water into the house last night/this morning. After the guys finish installing the floors today, Derrick and I will start on the tile in the laundry room as well as other projects that need to be done before moving in. As you can see, there are lots of things going at once, hopefully culminating with getting finished and us moving in the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Beginning stages of the chimney repair. Completed pictures coming soon.

Walls up and floors out.

Here's the pile of flooring that's going in the kitchen. Maybe I'll have another picture tomorrow.

First Trip to Neyland

This past Saturday Cooper and I went to watch Tennessee play Alabama at Neyland Stadium. This was Cooper's first regular season game. Earlier in the year we didn't think it was worth taking him to a game. But since we took him to the Orange and White game in 2009 and he cried when we left, we thought he may do okay. This time I am pretty sure he was more excited about seeing the cheerleaders than he was about watching the game. We had a lot of fun. He watched movies on the way to Knoxville and fell asleep about 10 minutes before we got to where we were going to park. We stayed through the first half and most of the 3rd quarter. When the game began to get out of hand I asked Cooper if he wanted to go home. He said yes and since it was already getting late and we had a long drive home we left. I usually don't advocate leaving a game early, but this was a special circumstance. He fell asleep about 45 minutes into our drive home and we got back around midnight. Overall it was a really fun trip and I think Cooper enjoyed it also. Hopefully it was just the first of many trips we will get to take to see games.

All dressed up and ready to go!

Not looking at the camera. The cheerleaders were right in front of us.

One Week In

Okay, so we're a week into the home renovation/remodel. First I have to thank Derrick for all the hard work he's put in. He's labored, thought, and planned this out and Allison and I are so thankful. I also appreciate Cody, Daniel, and Jeff for coming over and helping with a lot of the labor as well. As of today, you can't really tell that the room is a kitchen, but it's all coming together (at least in our minds). Apparently the house has started "talking" to Allison and Derrick and what they have planned is going to look great. Things are moving right along. We have an electrician coming Monday morning; Derrick, my dad, and me are starting to hang the drywall tomorrow afternoon; and the floor company is coming to put down hardwood a week from Tuesday. Unfortunately, the floors have to be in a week before they can sand, but it won't put us too far behind.

This is what the kitchen looked like when we bought the house, without our stuff strewn about of course.

Here's the kitchen from another angle. You may or may not recognize this angle a few pictures below.

Moving right along...

This is what the kitchen currently looks like.

And So It Begins

Well, for those of you that follow this blog (I understand there hasn't been much activity lately) it's about to take on a new theme for a little while. That theme is going to be home renovation! Allison and I closed on our new house Friday and have started on some of the renovation work we want to do. Hopefully I will be able to post pictures along the way, so stay tuned and see what we are able to accomplish in the next month or so.

Dungeon Living

Monday morning I got a text from Derrick that said "How was the first night in the dungeon?" Until then, I had not really thought of our space at the Hoods as a "dungeon." It's actually very comfortable, mainly because Derrick has done a great job on the work down there and Allison did a great job setting things up so that it feel like "home." I will tell you one thing for sure though, it is extremely dark down there! On Tuesday morning Cooper woke up about 6am and in a very inquisitive voice he said "Daddy," as if to make sure I was there. When I answered him his next question was "Can I get up?" This probably this stems from the fact that we often tell him he can't get up until the sun comes up. Since there is no windows in in the basement, Cooper has no idea whether or not the sun is up. After feeling our way around the room the first two nights, we decided we needed a night light. Thankfully Heather had one we could use. It made a big difference and at least now we can see to get around when the lights are off downstairs.

We're Moved

Well, we closed. Last Friday around 1:30pm Allison and I signed the documents selling our first house. This was the first home we owned. This is the first home that Cooper has known. Our neighbors were awesome, the neighborhood is great, and it is close to several members of our family and other friends. But, it was time to move. We have our reasons and we feel that it was the right thing to do, but that didn't make it any easier. I was actually surprised at how tough it was to leave. Especially when my neighbors come over just as I was walking through the house for the last time. The buyer is getting a good house, in a good neighborhood, with great neighbors. I hope he appreciates it as much as Allison and I did, and always will.

Triathlons

Since Allison was in law school I have said I want to do a triathlon. We had a few friends that she was in school with that competed in them and that's what put the idea in my head. When we moved to Nashville and I went to work at FMC, one of the partners there competed in triathlons. By that time I was running quite a bit and the idea became a little stronger. Last year I put it on my goal list for the year, but put it off until it was too late to get one in before it got too cold.

Well, this year I did it. I competed in the Music City Triathlon in July and the Cedars of Lebanon Triathlon this past Saturday. I had two really good experiences, although they were both very different. I believe the main difference was the weather. Both days were sunny, however, the temperature at Music City was probably over 80 degrees before I even got in the water and the temperature at Cedars was probably only about 80 degrees when I finished the race. The other difference is probably the most evident: swimming in the river vs. swimming in a pool. I am glad for the experience that I got swimming in the river, but swimming in the pool was definitely easier and made the transition to the bike a little more palatable.

As it happened with running, I think I have caught the bug. I enjoyed the change of pace that you get with three separate events in one race. While I would love to think that one day I can complete an Iron Man distance, but I am not sure that will ever happen. The amount of time and effort that takes is unfathomable. What I can tell you is that I am already thinking about which triathlons I want to compete in next season. My goal for next year is to complete at least one intermediate or Olympic distance triathlon and based on that I will try to figure out if a longer distance is even worth considering. The next race I will be competing in is the Middle Half. This will be the second year that Allison and I have competed in this race. We also have several friends that will be there. That should make it even more fun. And as that race relates to triathlons, a half-marathon is the third leg of a half Iron Man. Maybe one day...