May 2, 2003A bittersweet day
As most of you know by now, Jeff has finally made his decision about the Double Cab and spent Wednesday evening at Haley Toyota signing papers. It's such a bittersweet time, preparing physically (removing custom parts) and mentally (dealing with moving on) for the switch.
We (mostly Jeff) spent yesterday evening replacing custom parts with the factory ones. It was sad to realize that it was the last time we'd ever see that truck the way it was. One final run up the street and that was it.
Brian asked me the other day how I felt about all this and I had told him it didn't affect me either way. This is Jeff's baby and he can do what he wants. But reality hit when I got home and started helping him. I've never been that into vehicles, but I've seen (and helped) him work on this truck from day one. I've put time and effort (and money) into it too.
What I'm going to miss most I think is the sound. I always knew when Jeff was home as soon as he started backing up. (And knowing that I gave him some of that was kinda neat). The other thing is the way people would turn and look when he drove by.
I know most of you have no idea what we're talking about or understand how this feels. A few years ago I would have ben the same way. But when you put your heart and soul into making something just right, the way Jeff does, it's hard to give that up. But I'm sure this new truck will be treated with the same love and affection.
Posted by Olivia at 9:38 AM | Comments (4)
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May 4, 2003Patio Phase 1
Well, we finally did it.
Saturday morning we went to Xteriors Factory Outlet in Ashland to be educated on ways of paving stones. We've decided instead of building a wooden (or plumber) deck, that we're going to install stone pavers. Xteriors offers do-it-yourself classes every Saturday morning and we finally had a free Saturday to go up there.
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| Before | Phase 1 |
After talking with the guy and getting a quote we decided to go ahead and get to work. A trip out to Home Depot and Lowes for the necessary tools and we were ready to start. Hopefully next weekend our stones and sand can delivered next weekend so we don't end up with a muddy mess in our backyard. But for now, we went ahead and did the initial excavating to get a jump start on things
About 4pm we started digging. 3 hours later, several trash cans full of dirt and sore bodies, we were finally finished. We did it the ghetto way and used our trash can as a wheelbarrow. And where did we dump the grass and dirt? In the large valleys down the hill behind our house!
So now our backyard looks like it did when we first moved in. Oh well, this is going to be cool.
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May 6, 2003Technical problems for Jeff
Just to let everyone know, Jeff is having some server/hosting issues, so his site and his (home) email is not available right now. Hopefully his call last night got evreything straightened out and it'll all be up and running soon. Here's another email address you can use until then: jpollardATmac.com
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May 7, 2003Bored, bored, bored, bored
I am SOOOOOO freakin' bored!!!
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May 14, 2003The dirt that is our yard
By some miracle or divine intervention, Jeff just happened to be home Monday when the guy from Xteriors showed up to deliver our stones and stuff. (They did call first, but he was out to lunch with me!)
It was kinda windy Monday, plus we wanted to go check out some furniture that we had seen on Saturday, so we didn't start laying the sand and stones until Tuesday. I couldn't wait to get home and get started. Maybe a patio isn't as cool as a deck, but we're doing it ourselves and that's pretty neat! I had a good time throwing sand around and smoothing it out. It was almost like being at the beach; especially after Jeff threw some at me and I had to dig sand out of my ear all night.
We got a good start on laying down the stones before it got dark and a little cool. I added some more pictures to my gallery if anyone's interested. (They're at the end of course)
The hardest part some far, with the exception of how heavy the stone's are (but that's Jeff's job!), is deciding how to lay them out. We decided not to go with a set pattern and I knew I didn't want them lined up in neat little rows. So we're pretty much deciding stone by stone which direction and which size to use. I hope it all turns out ok.
Posted by Olivia at 11:31 AM | Comments (4)
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May 15, 2003Our first visitor!
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Our first visitor on the patio.
It's a frog, sorry about the blurriness, the camerman was a little too close. :) |
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May 18, 2003Bachelorette Party Fun!
Wow, what a weekend! It went by so fast..
With the Sostes wedding rapidly approaching, this Saturday was designated for the bachelor/bachelorette parties. While the guys chose to drive all the way to Atlanta, us girls stayed local and hung out in DC.
Kelly knew of a really cool service, Girls Night Out that would provide us with the transportation and access to pretty much and club/bar in the area. We got in everywhere with no cover charge and they took pictures for us to have later.
Anthony, our designated driver for the night, picked us up about 8:30, and we headed for The Mad Hatter. Kelly had previously worked out the itenerary for the night, so we didn't have to make many decisions after we went out.
The Mad Hatter was a relatively small bar with no dance floor, but we stayed long enough for Lauren to get started on her tasks for the evening. The first one, "Get advice from a married man" was actually kinda hard since pretty much everyone there was single. But we finally found a guy, then moved on. Task two, "Get a group of guys to serenade you with 'You've Lost That Loving Feeling'" was great. I tried to get it on video, but it didn't work out too well. After that we went down the street to..umm..uhh..I have no idea what it was called!
This place wasn't much bigger, but had a rowdier crowd. Everyone was dancing, from the door on back to the bathrooms. What else could we do, but join in? Lauren completed another task, by having four guys hold her up for a picture. After dancing for a while we had to head out so we wouldn't miss the 11 o'clock show.
And no, it's not what you're thinking. What we actually saw was a drag show at Mr. P's. The guy at Girls Night Out said it was a pretty good show and we figured this is something most of us would never see again, so why not? It was..interesting. They had all the bachelorettes come up on stage and dance a little with them. All I can say is Lauren is a much better sport that I would have been!
We didn't stay too long, deciding to move on to Rumors. This was definitely the place to be! The place was packed. As we stood around someone told me to go dance with Anthony so that's what I did. And I was out on the floor until everyone decided it was time to get out of there.
There was supposed to be one more stop in our circuit, but we decided to call it a night early. By the time we got back to Racquels, it was about 2 and I think we were all ready to drop.
Over all it was an awesome night. We all got our groove on and saw a man dressed as Marilyn Monroe. I'm not sure I could have handled much more than that!
Posted by Olivia at 11:07 PM | Comments (2)
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May 20, 2003Parental Visitation
My family decided to make a quick trip out to Virginia this week. Their main purpose was to pick up the canoe we left at a friends house before we moved to Hawaii. I think I'm just a sideshow. :) They arrived last night and shortly after we headed to Outback to meet Jeff for dinner. Since he's got a meeting tonight, I guess we're on our own. I'm not sure what they have planned for today, but I'm leaving work soon to spend some time with them. It's not often they come to visit. :)
Posted by Olivia at 1:35 PM | Comments (2)
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May 23, 2003Let the wedding festivities begin
Today begins the wedding festivities that will last through Saturday. Bridesmaids lunch, rehearsal, rehearsal dinner and an after-rehearsal social will all be occurring today. And then tomorrow is the big day.
Why is it called the big day? Hmm..
It's amazing to think this day is almost here. It seems like just last week that Mike told us he was going to propose. Where did the past year go?
I could reflect on the changes we've all gone through since college, but I'm not really in the right frame of mind to reminisce, so I'll save it for later. Perhaps tonight. But I can't believe it's been almost 3 years since we moved to Richmond. Crazy how time goes by.
Stay tuned, pictures to come probably Sunday.
Posted by Olivia at 10:20 AM | Comments (1)
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May 23, 2003Rehearsal day
What an awesome weekend! What can be better than seeing two of your best friends get married? The wedding was beautiful.
1:00PM
The festivities kicked off on Friday when all the bridesmaids met up with the bride for lunch at Traks.
3:00PM
I ran home to change and pick up Jeff. Running a little late as always, we finally got out of the house at 4pm. Driving down Hunton Park Boulevard we notice an odd sound from the tires. Since I realized I forgotten my earrings we turned around. Jeff checked out the mysterious noise and found a nasty screw sticking out of the front left tire. So we hopped into the Rav 4 and away we went.
Berkley Plantation is about an hour south east and not right off any major interstate. So we're about halfway down this little back-road when the gas light comes on. Yup, we're running on empty. With no gas station in sight. Must be something with us and weddings.So we keep going hoping we'll make it; luckily we do, but afraid we won't make it back out.
5:00PM
With the groom late to arrive we finally get started with rehearsal. There was some slight confusion as to which way to line up after walking in, but finally the boys got turned back around. :) A couple of run-throughs and we were out of there. Since dinner was to ne held at the Courtyard Marriott, back by the interstate, we piled back in all the cars and headed out. Luckily the road back to 95 was shorter than the one we came in on from 295, so a gas station popped up quickly.
6:30PM
Dinner consisted of spaghetti, tears and lots of random stories. Social hour after dinner split the group into generations. We all hung out and talked while Mike and Lauren made the rounds visiting friends and family they don't get to see often. With an hour drive awaiting us we eventually said our good byes and made our way home.
1:30AM
Arrived home and crashed.
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May 24, 2003Sostes Wedding day finally arrives
7:30AM
I awoke at 7:30 to begin preparing for the days events. The boys dragged themselves out of bed at 9 and we hit the road 45 minutes later, late as usual. Because of the lovely screw that was still sitting in my tire, my car was going to be unusable until it was fixed, so Jeff had to drop me off at Headliners. I met up with the rest of the bridal party for a little pampering before the big event. We had our hair and nails done which was a big relief since I'm no good at either.
10:15AM
Because of the lovely screw that was still sitting in my tire, my car was going to be unusable until it was fixed, so Jeff had to drop me off at Headliners. I met up with the rest of the bridal party for a little pampering before the big event. We had our hair and nails done which was a big relief since I'm no good at either.
1:30PM
Lunch at Wendy's followed where Lauren got her meal on the house. We also got several funny looks from other patrons; I guess it's not every day you see a group of girls with up-dos, one with a veil, eating at Wendy's. A quick stop at the ATM and the Jefferson hotel, to drop of Lauren's car, and we were on our way to Berkley. As organized and anal as Lauren is, she's terrible about being on time, so our duty, as bridesmaids, was to make sure she was at Berkley by 3pm. I think running 15 minutes behind wasn't too bad.
3:15PM
Knowing we were running behind we just drove down to the reception site to drop off a few things. But while we were there, the trucks containing the bands instruments and such blocked us in. Since there was enough room on the grass to drive around and we were in Jon's Xterra, Kelly started up the slight bank. Unfortunately we didn't make it all the way before the lady in charge at Berkley found us driving on their precious historical grass. Needless to say, that didn't go over too well. A few choice words from Kelly S. (said in the privacy of the vehicle) and a few long minutes waiting for the trucks to move and we were finally out of there.
All the girls scrambled to get dressed and to get Lauren into her dress. Jill finally arrived and we were able to get in a few pictures. Slight confusion regarding when to come on down was straighten out by Lauren, the most calm and collected bride I have even seen. She just stood patiently in the middle of the room waiting for her bridesmaids to get their stuff together. Finally we got the call. It was time.
5:15PM
As we headed down the little gravel path with Lauren close behind we realized that Mike was probably going to be able to see everything. But Lauren, not wanting to ruin the surprise yet, decided to take it off-road and walk in the grass behind the bushes until the last possible second. Only Lauren would do that. :)
And so the processional begins. Kelly S & Jason, Jill & Chris R, me & Jeff...and planes and helicopters. Wait, what? That's right, just as Jeff and I walked does the aisle, a huge plane followed by 2, maybe 3 military helicopters flew directly overhead. We all still think Jill ordered them. (She's in th Army for those of your who don't know.). Ok, back to the wedding: Darci & Paul, Natalie & Chris H., Kelly Z, Faith & Ashley. Minor glitch with the runner then come Kyle & Austin. At this point Lauren finally emerges from the bushes and walks in with her Mom & Dad. The rain began to sprinkle down and umbrellas started popping up. Thankfully it never came down too hard or lasted very long.
The ceremony was beautiful. All the bridesmaids were crying and pulling tissues from our dresses. Despite the light rain, which stopped as soon as they said "I do," it was perfect. The newlyweds were showered in bubbles as they walked back down the aisle; very cool idea. The next hour or so was devoted to pictures. Both sides have fairly large extended families, so many groupings had to be set up.
7:00PM
The reception got underway with the crowd devouring the buffet of fruits, vegetables and various hot dishes. Mike and Lauren made the rounds as the band, Daddy-Oh, started to play. The Sos cousins started off the dancing and soon much of the younger generation was out on the floor.
Oh, I believe I failed to mention the condition of the reception area. Even though it was under a tent, it had been raining the last 2 weeks here in Richmond. Very, very muddy. Anyone with small pointy heels was aerating the ground. The rest of us had mud between the toes. But when we realized there was nothing we could do about it, we let our dresses down and danced in the mud. We were all pretty nasty by the end of the night, but it didn't matter, we were having a great time.
Traditional activities like first dance, father/daughter, mother/son dance, cutting the cake, bouquet/garter toss were scattered throughout the evening. Eventually the couple was whisked off in a limousine to the Jefferson Hotel.
The remaining wedding party packed up the leftover food, gifts and miscellany and headed out. We'd already been warned of ID checkpoints along the way, so we found alternate routes (not that any of us were in danger, just to avoid the traffic back up) back to the Marriott.
1:00AM
Arrived home dirty and tired. I had to shower to get the hair-spray out and the mud off my feet, but fell in to bed immediately afterwards.
Pictures from Friday and Saturday are up.
Posted by Olivia at 11:59 PM | Comments (3)
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May 25, 2003The wedding aftermath
Sunday gave everyone some much needed downtime after all the wedding festivities. Getting the guys tuxes back was our only goal for the day. Jeff, Brian and I started heading towards Chris' place (in separate cars) only to discover that Jeff forgot his tux. So we looped around on 64 to go pick it up. When he and I finally arrived, we caravaned down to Chesterfield Town Center to drop off the muddy tuxes and grab a bite to eat (I've never eaten pizza so fast).
And onward, to the Sos' (that feels weird), to hang out with them and enjoy the opening of the gifts. They sure did get a lot of stuff; and Lauren, anal as always, prepared a spreadsheet to keep track of everything. I think I would have done the same. Jeff made a quick trip back up to Virginia Center to pick up my new tire from Firestone. Glad to have that take care of; thank sweetie!! Since they had yet to pack (hey this is Mike and Lauren we're talking about) we headed back to our place around 7pm.
The four of us made plans to see the 9:40 showing of Bruce Almighty at Short Pump. I was afraid the theater would be crowded with it being a rainy holiday, but surprising it was not. The movie was pretty good; definitely entertaining. We dropped Chris off afterwards and didn't stay up too much later, still being exhausted from the past few days.
Posted by Olivia at 11:59 PM | Comments (0)
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May 26, 2003Holiday Weekend Fun
Jeff, Brian and I met up with Chris for some yummy Taco Bell lunch. We hung around our place for a little while, Jeff and Chris battling it out in Gran Turismo, before meeting up with Eric and Kelly for a round of mini-golf. It's been a long time since I've played, and I don't even like it that much (too much as a kid perhaps), but I was kicking some ass on the first half. Then I played one bad hole and it all went downhill. Kelly ended up winning; made par I believe, really whooped the rest of us.
After a little DQ, Chris and Brian headed to their respective homes leaving Jeff and I to play in the mud. We were only able to work on the patio for a couple of hours, but we are so close to being finished. Now if it'll stop raining in the evenings...
Posted by Olivia at 11:59 PM | Comments (3)
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May 28, 2003Movies, take 2
You guys will never believe this, but Jeff and I just saw 2 movies on 1 week!!! That's right folks, we went to the movies again last night!
Since it rained late afternoon and into the evening we couldn't really work on the patio, so Jeff suggested we got see The Matrix. Sorry for those who wanted to see it again, but it was a spur of the moment decision that kinda turned into a date. :)
After a delicious dinner at the fine dining establishment that is Quizno's, we made ourselves comfortable at the Short Pump Theater. I'd say there were 15-20 people there (if even that), and no kids. It was wonderful.
The movie itself though was just ok. Still like the first one better. I thought they just overdid a lot of the fighting scenes. And overplayed the special effects. But the whole concept is still really cool. We even stuck around through the seemingly endless credits to see the preview for the next (and last?) one.
It was after midnight when we arrived home; a little chocolate cake and I was out like a light.
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May 29, 2003Rain, Rain Go Away!!
Oh look! It's raining!!!
Again.
Grr.
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May 30, 2003Movies, take 3
Ok, so we finally saw X Men. Happy?
I thought it was pretty good. I like the story line and all, but it didn't grip me as much as I was expecting. Too much hype I guess.
We've got the final layout of the remaining stones figured out and hopefully we can finish it up tonight. Depends on when Jeff gets home from his house call. Every nice day and he's got something else to do. Hmp.
Oh yeh, the sun is out! Woo Hoo!!
Posted by Olivia at 9:34 AM | Comments (3)
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