Weekend recap and a new hobby

Hey Al! It's was great to hear about your weekend, and the "dog saga"....I'm a little behind, but I thought I'd give you a recap of what I've been up to over here for the last week or so. It was really busy last week, and through the weekend, because we were preparing for a Home Builder's Expo about 20 minutes south of Birmingham. It's a big event where they have all sorts of vendors/suppliers in the home building industry to come and set up a booth and showcase their products and services. Then they open it up to the general public and you get to meet a whole lot of people at one time. Fortunately, I was able to take turns with some of my colleges, so I didn't have to stay at the Expo the entire weekend. Here's a picture of our booth:

And here's one with me a little Iris...who came to visit Thursday night for the Preview Show.

I would like to mention that those big pictures that you see in the background are pictures that I took using the great work camera, and the HDR program that Dad has been teaching me. I've somehow become the "go to" camera person at work, and I've been telling everybody how cool these HDR photos are, and we finally got the program the other day! So, I've been super busy taking pictures of our projects and getting some good practice at all this....although, I'm still such an amateur. (As in, I have to call dad and ask him "how to" questions all the time.) But, it is definitely a fun hobby to have right now. Here are a some other ones that turned out pretty good:

This was a house we built over a year ago from the ground up. It's a little more modern, but a really cool house.

We renovated this entire loft downtown last year, and it is by far one of our most interesting projects. The guys spent many an hour on their hands and knees getting this place looking the way it does. (i'll have to get you inside pictures at some point.)

This is an the inside of a creamery that we did several years ago before I joined the team, but it's one of our signature projects in downtown Homewood, AL.

This is a Master Bathroom from one of the houses we just finished building. I helped design this and pick out all the finishes and fixtures:)

This is was one of the first projects I got to participate in last year. We call it "Dog Daycare." It was an old furniture building that we turned into a Dog Day Care facility on the first floor and a 2 bedroom/2 bath loft for the owners of Dog Days on the 2nd Floor. It's an amazing space. One of my favorite parts is the Master bathroom, because we designed it around a 100 year old mural we discovered in the demolition process:

Ok enough pictures...but at least you have a better idea of what i'm doing over here;)

House update: We are closing tomorrow, Wednesday at 10 a.m.! We did a final walk-through last night to double check things, and it was so neat to see the house clean and empty, and move-in ready! I took some pictures and will post those soon so you can see what everything looks like inside!

This is random...but don't you want to hop on over to London with me to see the Royal Wedding?...I think there is a something on the news about them EVERYDAY and it's really making me want to get over there and see all the sights...I mean, what's a party without 2 million of your closest friends right next to you:) But seriously, let's go.

Love you....

Whit

Chorkies and Yoda

Hey Whit...Sorry it's taken me a few days to write back. I'll have to get better at blogging...This is a picture from a walk Bjorn and I took a few days ago. I think it's pretty...even if we almost froze to death on top of the bridge where we took the picture:)

I don't think I told you this, but guess what? A few days ago, right when I got my hopes up that it might be finally be turning to spring, it snowed. A lot. I was not happy about it either. The weather has since been trying to redeem itself for that little mishap with temperatures that sometimes reach mid 40's, but I haven't totally forgiven it yet. If it can stay slightly warmer through the weekend, I might decide to move on.

Oh! I told you that on our birthday I had a big test at my school to move up to the last course, and I passed! So I started this new course this week, which is definitely harder. It's better to have a challenge though...

So... I know we can't get a dog yet, but that hasn't stopped me from looking up different dogs for sale in Sweden. I know, it's not helpful since we can't have one, but I love looking at puppies. Really, I want a Rudy. I love his funny noises and cute little personality. But apparently, they don't have Yorki-poos in Sweden. They do, however, have "Chorkies" which I had never heard of. It's a Chihuahua/Yorkie combo and just because I had to google it to see what it looked like, I'll put a picture up for you.



In an attempt to get Bjorn to agree to one day have a Yorkie-poo (possibly imported), I asked him if he had to choose would he rather have a Chorkie or a Yorkie-poo. I was thinking this would force him to say he would rather have a Yorki-poo. His reply was, "that would be like choosing if I would rather have the plague or leprosy." Nice. He did end up saying that Rudy was pretty cute, so I'll take what I can get.

On a weirder note...there is this site here called Blocket, which is kind of like a local Ebay, and it seems you can sell pets on there. So I was scrolling through, mostly looking for cute pictures of puppies, and I found a person selling this:




I would not have believed it was real if I hadn't seen it on there myself. I think it's called a "hairless Sphynx"...something like that. I think it looks a little like Yoda.

I liked the pictures of Sam missing one sleeve. I might have thought he got mugged too. I do like that he still had the cuff around his wrist. It's a nice touch. Haha:)

Give me a house update, woman.

Love you.
Allie

what do you say?

Al....hope your week was good, and your weekend was relaxing. We had a busy weekend, but relaxing. How's the job going? I look forward to hearing more about the interesting people you meet at work. I'm sure you run into some funny characters over in that coffee shop.

So....this is random, but hopefully it will bring a smile to your face. Last week, I was sitting on the couch after work, and Sam comes strolling in the door looking like this:

{What the heck do you say when your husband comes walking in the door looking like he just got mugged or something?}

I couldn't even form a sentence at first because I was so scared that he was hurt or something...although he strolled right in trying to play it off like nothing was out of the ordinary. And then he finally told me what happened. In the last few weeks, Sam has somehow rubbed holes in the elbows of ALL his dress shirts. I guess from leaning on his desk to much during the day and talking on the phone. But yes....he's been coming home with holes in his sleeves, and once that happens the shirt is pretty much ruined. Well, apparently one of his buddies in the office thought it would be fun to see if he could rip his sleeve off in one big swoop.... unfortunately, it didn't work out as planned, and he had to rip several times, I was told, to get his sleeve off, but he was successful in the end. So the scare turned out to be no scare at all, just a little too much fun in the office. The really funny part is that Sam was down to ONE shirt after this last one, and had to go shopping today, which is one of his least favorite activities.

On the home front: this is supposed to be the big week for closing on the house, and Sam decided to get started on the packing this afternoon.... our once welcoming guest room has turned into a temporary storage unit for the week as we get things in boxes and stow them away for the move next weekend. I'm not sure if I'll be crazy by the end of the week with everything in such a mess, but I guess I'll just have to live with it for a week. You know, I'm actually a little sad to leave this little apartment/cave (not many windows), but not that sad. I'm really ready to be in this house. More pictures to come, but I just wanted to give you an update.

Let me know how your weekend was!

Whit

birthday #25: take 2

Hey Al....well, I hate that I didn't get to see your face on skype yesterday, but I did enjoy the birthday updates, and thought I'd give you a recap of what happened here.

I had a great day at work, and the guys even took me out to lunch. Michael's sweet wife, Brook, and their 10 month old daughter, Iris, met us for an even more entertaining dining experience.

After work, Sam took me out to a nice new restaurant in town called Zea Rotisserie Grill. It was perfect for the occasion. Great food, good lighting, and overall wonderful service.

Not to mention the fact that their ribs were AMAZING! Sam literally didn't speak the first ten minutes after he got his meal....and I just watched and laughed.

{Sorry for the bad iphone pictures, but Sam doesn't play along with the "bring-the-huge-camera-like-a-parent" thing very well, so I have to reserve it for less-public outings.}

After Zea, we went over to a great coffee house called O'Henry's in Brookwood village to meet some of the couples in our Bible Study group for coffee and cake. I was sweetly surprised to find a full table turn out, and I really enjoyed and appreciated every body coming over to make the day even more special.

Sam tried to get everyone to squeeze in....didn't really work very well.

This is not a great picture, but unfortunately it's the only one of the two of us together. ugh...i'm really wishing i'd brought the nice camera now.

Ok! There's your little snapshot of birthday #25 from over here in Alabama. Missed you like crazy! But I can't wait to see you in those funny shoes in May:)

xoxo,

whit

Happy Birthday!

Whit, I am literally hugging the bag of Clusters. I was even talking to it a little bit, telling how happy I was to see it. Seriously, you're awesome for sending me those. And for the Laffy Taffy and cool book, I'll definitely be reading it. By the way, those DunkaRoo things are amazing. It's everything I like all in one little carton. Thanks for sending it to me, I loved it!

And, as always, you'll be getting your present a bit late. I suck at planning anything ahead of time, as you may know:)

Also, I got the most comfy pair of shoes from Bjorn's mom. Since it's chronically cold here, it's really nice to have a warm pair of house shoes to wear inside. Well, she sent me these shoes that are like the inside shoe version of UGGS, so smaller and less clunky. They're pretty amazing. I also got my first pair of Converse. I like them, I just haven't been able to wear them too much since it's not quite warm enough all the time. But I'll post a pic so you can see....



Oh! I like your moving card thing you made. It's very creative and cute, normally a good indication that something was designed by you. I request lots of pictures from your eventual moving date so I can feel like I was there.

I think I'll go say hello to the hubby who's cooking dinner now, but I hope you know how much I loved the box you sent. And how very thankful I am you're my twin. I hope you are having a wonderful birthday, Whitty.

Love you~
Allie

Weekend Ventures

Hey Allie...Hope you had a great weekend. Ours was pretty good. We laid low on Friday night after helping some of our friends move out of their house. They are moving to Memphis and we are definitely going to miss them. We didn't plan on being there almost all afternoon/evening on Friday, but it worked out good, and I'd much rather be helping our friends than laying on the couch. Plus we got free pizza for dinner:)

Jd is the one in middle we were helping move out. The other guys are from our old small group.

Jd's wife, Elizabeth, is the second from the left. They have two kids, Amos, a little African American boy they adopted last March, and then their little baby girl, Evie, they had in December. She was a surprise...they found out about her a week or two after they got Amos. They were doubly blessed.

Anywho.... Saturday I went over to Patti's and worked on the "Alabama room" again. This time I went to paint some of the walls crimson and it turned out pretty good.

Just to remind you of what it looked like before:

It's turning out really nice, but I still don't know how a devoted Auburn fan like myself gets herself a project like this...haha.

On the home front: Sam and I are itching to get in this house, so after I left Patti's we made a little visit over to the new house and I snapped some pictures with the good work camera since it was such a pretty day. I wanted you and the fam to be able to see it from all angles.

The front:

The side

The lovely parking curb, that you would find in a parking lot. ha

The side facing the street:

The back of the house:

The backyard and patio:

We even have pretty flowers blooming in the front walkway:

Other than being super sore this morning from painting all day yesterday, and a little tired from jumping forward an hour for daylighting savings, we managed to make it to church only a few minutes late for a really great service, and then enjoyed a relaxing (lazy) afternoon, before I had to be back for my Theology class tonight. So.... it was a busy but enjoyable Sunday....can't complain, 74 degrees all day. haha. sorry allie, I'll try to bring the warm weather with me when we come over.

Be looking for something in the mail. I stood in line at the post office again for about 40 minutes to get this one to you. All because I love you Al. haha.

Look forward to hearing about your weekend!

xo,

Whit

tell me what you think

Allie! Congrats on getting a job! That's awesome! I'm so excited for you....I know that will probably make you feel like you're not just in an apartment everyday. I think it would also help you with learning the language too? Will you have to speak in Swedish or will they let you speak in English at first? Either way...i think it's great and look forward to hearing about your first day!

I know I told you, but I nearly fell off the couch this morning looking at those pictures of Miles sleeping on top of you. It reminds me of someone with narcolepsy, like he was just doing his normal doggy thing and then a bam! he's asleep! I especially like the one where he looks like he is eating your neck from the top of the couch. hilarious al.

And I have to say...the "sun-worshipping pose" description was perfect. I could imagine exactly what everybody is doing over there....and if I'd just been through a winter like yours, you better believe I'd be doing the same thing. I'm still envisioning some kind of goofy flash mob breaking out in the middle of that square, all stopping in their tracks and looking at the sun at the same time....haha. On another note, I do wish I could have been a bug on the grass when you knelt down to touch it, so that I could have screamed, "seriously?!? did you really just do that?" haha. Oh...allie.

Well...I mentioned this to you a week or two ago, but since we are moving closer to getting this house, as in we should be closing sometime in the next week and a half or so, I've been thinking of an idea for an official "we're moving" announcement. I know, I know....you may think this is ridiculous, but you know me, I have to do something creative every know and then or my mind will feel like it's going to explode. So I have a design I've been working on over the last few weeks and I want your thoughts. I am no graphic designer, but I thought i'd give it a good 'ol shot... Here's the proof:

Is it too loud? (i.e. do your eyes hurt looking at it? or is fun to look at?) I'm open to critique, and no worries, you won't hurt my feelings. I'm thinking about doing it as a postcard, but I think some brown paper bag type envelopes might be better. I'm probably going to redraw the house to make it a lot simpler, and not so sketchy.

Ok...i'm about to have like 15 people in our little apartment again for Bible Study Group. I didn't tell you, but last week Sam and I made about 25 servings of the spaghetti recipe I sent you a couple months ago, and then about 30 minutes before everyone came over, I realized that I had burnt the entire pot of sauce! I could scrap the bottom of the pot and stir of gross black burnt stuff. That's what I get for using a $10 pot from Walmart....ugh! I was so. mad. al. It smelt terrible (like i'd just torched a pig or something)...I called my friend Kenzie in a panic and she came over with all the stuff to make more homemade sauce in about 20 minutes. Thank the Lord...I had no idea what I was going to feed 15 people if she hadn't come over, but everything miraculously worked out.

Anyway.....let me know when you start your job and how that goes!

Love ya!

Whit

life on mars

Sorry it's taken me so long to write back, it's been a busy week or so and I'm just getting caught up with stuff. I loved the pics you put up from last weekend, makes me miss being there with everyone. AND I loved the picture of the giant birthday cake...yuuummm:)

The good news here is that I got a job! It's at a cute little coffee shop in Old Town, the picture I put up is of the square that it's in... The place is called Kaffekoppen="The Coffee Cup" and it's in the pinkish building in the middle of the picture. I'll definitely take you there when you come.

I've been thinking that for the most part I feel like I'm pretty settled into life here. Other times, not so much. It's actually been a few degrees above freezing for a several days in a row, and for the first time in months I saw grass through the snow. I was so surprised by the sight of it that I had to kneel down and touch it to make sure it was real. I only felt a little crazy. And after a long, dark winter the sun finally decided to reappear and I discovered that this is the cue for all Swedes to simultaneously exit their building and find any area to soak in the rays(still in down jackets, of course). I've also discovered what I can only describe as the "Swedish sun-worshiping" pose, where when they find themselves directly in the sun they will stop in their tracks, turn towards the sun and stand there with their eyes closed, frozen still. I've seen this countless times, in every area from walking paths to people nearly standing in the street. Sometimes, this place is so different from Alabama it feels more like a different planet than a different country.

Just to add to my feeling of craziness, I felt the need to do exactly the same thing when I finally saw the sun again. It has been a very long winter.

My only real complaint besides the cold is one that seems insignificant but is highly irritating. I've been doing laundry without dryer sheets and we now have a serious static problem in our apartment. I have since been to 3 different grocery stores in search of dryer sheets only to find out that, most likely, Swedes don't use them. So for the time being, I'll have to get used to being mildly electrocuted by everything I touch... maybe you can stick a box of dryer sheets in your bag when you come in May:)

Oh, Miles the Dachshund went home yesterday after nearly 6 weeks with us. I actually miss him a lot. So, in his honor, I'll put up some of the last pictures I took of him...

Possibly the strangest way I've seen any dog sleep

This is what Miles did when Bjorn got back from being away for a week

I don't even know what to say about this...

By the way, Sadie looks ridiculous. She really can't catch a break these days with all the things that happen to her. I'm sure she'll be back to her normal cuteness in no time though.

I can't believe we're about to be 25. We're old. Or as Bjorn likes to say to rub it in, closer to 30 than 20. Let me know what you're thinking for B'day ideas. Hope you're having a good week, Whitty:)

Love you,
Allie

a birthday weekend in pictures

hey Al. Hope you're doing good this week. I thought I would give you a little snapshot of Austin's Birthday weekend. We successfully surprised him on Friday night as he, Dad, and Logan were about to drive out of the driveway to go play tennis. He was a little confused I think at first as to why we were there, but very excited to see us, and that made it worth the drive. {Bear with me...I took a few pictures.} I have to start with the dogs, especially your little princess. She's looking a little rough Al, real rough.

Sadie says hello, and she apologizes for making her blog debut looking like a complete ragamuffin. No...she does not spend her days dumpster diving...She just cannot help that her hair is once again falling out, and that her face is always dirty. She also says that her shaved leg from the i.v. she had the other day doesn't help her out at all. Other than looking really rough around the edges, she's still as cute as can be.

Rudy is still his usually energetic self who prefers to be no more than 2 feet away from his mama (mj.) or he goes crazy.

And sweet Max was always close by to offer the latest sock or bone he happened to have in his mouth, as he awkwardly tried to sit in our laps. Sweet Max.

I told the birthday boy to smile, but he wouldn't have it a first.

My husband has found a new distraction as of late. . . I can't quite seem to get him off this game.

Chess. for the iphone. He tried to teach me the other day and it was torture. You will not find me doing this in my spare time, Al.

Molded cheese is fine mom....just pick out the mold and the rest will taste great. haha.

Sweet Abbey was over to participate in the festivities. She is always fun to have around. Still don't know why she likes hanging out with Austin though.....haha.

Logan....wake up. It's dinner time.

Yes....I was actually at this dinner.

Things tend to quickly turn silly at the Gilchrist house.

Ouch Abbey.

I caught her writing a card to Austin.

Dad in his "office" pretending to be busy, so that he doesn't have to help mom with dinner. haha.

Austin finally decided to perk up for a few birthday pictures. He's pretty photogenic in my book.

ok....not that photogenic.

Seriously Logan....Wakeup.

We all had a great dinner. Mom's taco soup is easy to make and it tastes great every time.

Dad really enjoyed the taco soup. (no...actually we just all shoved our bowls over to his side to make it look like that:)

Abbey brought over Austin's favorite dessert....petite fortes. I still don't understand why they are called that, but whatever.) We got a little silly with those too....scrabble anyone?

We didn't forget the cake...even though it was a little frozen. Can you believe our little brother is 19 already. wow.

He's totally acting here. I didn't get a shot of him actually blowing his candles out. He faked me out.

It's safe to say we all liked the cake.

And I was pretty tired out after all that eating, and picture taking. No.. really, it wasn't that bad. We had a great night, and missed you and Lindsey for sure. I'm officially calling it a night. My eyes are about to shut on me. Love you! Enjoy the pictures!

Whit