Everybody's workin for the weekend....

Nate - It's Friday night, so expect us to be...talking to Josh/Erin to catch up on the Pacific Northwest/SouthEast; obeying God's commandment to feast and relax on Erev Shabbat [Erev Shabbat means Eve of the Sabbath -Saturday- for the non-messianic Jew's reading this blog] and a great nights sleep before our Saturday morning workout.

This was a big week for me, as I continue to assimilate into my full time position at the Special Forces unit. I'm still drinking from the proverbial firehose, but I'm starting to know what I don't know, which is progress. That's about all there is to say about that.

Meanwhile, Anna's final day at her part-time job was this afternoon. She had a blast and made some friends, but we're preparing to move to Denver in the next 3 weeks, so she will be shopping her resumé around at some more long-term organizations.

Our 3-day weekend is shaping up to be a goodie: Sabbath service at a new synagogue, wall installation on the bus, bus camping at Horsetooth Reservoir, flea market exploration, and maybe some good 'ol southern lovin?

As my friend Will Sledge would say...peace and chicken grease!

Never a camera when you need one

One reason I wanted to create this blog was to show off the awesome times Nate and I have had together. Doing so requires a camera. Ask anyone and they will tell you we are the worst when it comes to bringing along a camera. (We didn't even take one on our honeymoon...)
With that being said, let me share our three-day weekend with you in words:
Erev Shabbat
Shabbat
Denver Zoo and Downtown Denver
Movies and Five Guys Burgers
Gym
Taping and Painting in the bus
House Inspection
Tandem biking and Thrift Stores and Satrbucks

Would we normally take pictures of these things? No, probably not. But we have a blog now. So having a camera to capture our every move must be routine. (Okay, that may be too fanatical.) You get my point.

A good Home Depot run and a great dinner

Tonight, for the first time in over 7 months, I drank real sweet tea. Not only that. I had southern cornbread, mac and cheese, and cole slaw...all while reading an old Tuscaloosa magazine and staring at a picture of the Bear. You must be asking yourself, "when did she fly back home?". And I have to answer, this encounter took place in downtown Fort Collins at the new Moe's Original Bar-b-que.
Yes, the same Moe's that started in Alabama is right here in FoCo. And I can purchase as many gallons of that deliciousness as I like!

To top it off, Nate pretended to give a rat's behind about paint color and escorted me to the local Home Depot to check out paint samples.
I am considering "Blackberry Farm" as an accent wall in the living room and "Fresh Pineapple" for the kitchen. I am so excited I could pop!

A New Home (in one day)

Nate accepted the head S1 position at the armory the beginning of April. Alot has happened in a short amount of time.

So, let me break this down for you by date:

April 20: Find buyer's agent

April 21: Pre-qualification

April 23: House Hunt

April 24: Offer on House

And, yes, the offer was accepted. We will be closing and moving in on June 15, 2010....(we are the one with the big red door!)

God has hooked us up, no?

A shell ready for construction!

Months of: November 2009 - March 2010
The bus project had to be put on hold due to a few military schools this fall. Upon Nate's return home, we finished gutting the sucker. During the month of November, we had a completely hollowed out shell.

1) A new ceiling: foil insulation (soon to be followed by decorative tile)

2) New walls: 4x8 rigid foam insulation, 4x8 plywood

3) New floor: this one was a doozy!

For hours the floor was sanded by my diligent hubby to remove pesky rust spots. The hundred tiny holes left from the screws were patched with plexi-fiberglass sheeting and this really hard stuff...seriously, we had less than one minute to smear the crap on. If not, the goo hardened into a baseball on the paint brush.

Finally, we were able to lay out a plastic barrier. Rigid foam insulation was next, followed by the plywood. We are waiting to lay the indoor/outdoor carpet until the walls are painted.

Demolition 1: The floor

Months of: June 2009 - August 2009
There really isn't a nice way to put this. Pulling up rubber matting and wrotten floor is hell. And just when you think there is light at the end of the tunnel, turns out, you were only seeing the shiny heads of BOLTS. Hundreds and hundreds of bolts...

All about the paint.

Month of: June 2009
Brown primer: check
Awesome, patient neighbor, Rhea (the best taper in the world): check
Red roof rack and porch: check
Let the silver begin!

Exterior transformation: yellow block to silver spaceshuttle

Month of: May 2009
Here she is, in all her glory! We really had no idea what we were getting ourselves into when it came to priming the exterior. So, we started with warm soapy water and scrub brushes!

Nate doing his thing with the grinder to remove one of thousands of decals. I spent 5 tedious hours using a hot gun and scraper to remove the caution tape and stickers....After a beautiful trip down to Mexico (honeymoon), we headed back to Huntsville for the long haul to Colorado. Here is a picture displaying the many wedding gifts going along for the ride.

Time to head out! Paul, Nate's brother, decided to surprise us with a new hood for the road! The giraffe fits my personality to a tee. Plus, this was our first glimpse of the final, silver coating. She is SHINY!

The 1994 International School Bus

What: 1994 International 7.3L Diesel Shortbus

Purchased: May 2009

So, here is our weekend project. For over a decade Nate has dreamed of owning one of these babies. Initially the bus was to be used to haul around a punk band. Fortunately for Nate, he fell in love, got hitched, and is now turning his beloved band machine into a road trip shuttle!

Never the less, we have put alot of blood, sweat, and tears in to the thing, and its shaping up nicely.