Chris has his own school!

This post is long overdue! Last week Chris was offered a PE job at Candler Elementary. On Monday he called to accept. This is very exciting as he will only be driving to one school. This year he has had to drive to a different school every day of the week! Needless to say, that's left him feeling a little left out of school community and it's been tough to learn the names of 1200+ students. This is certainly an answer to much prayer. There are several schools where Chris teaches now that will have an opening in the next year or so (meaning 2008), but we weren't sure he could hang on that long with such a difficult schedule. Anyway, this is wonderful news and Chris is already day-dreaming about things he wants to try at his "own school"! He does an amazing job at his schools and just by word of mouth he was basically handed this position (things he won't tell you). I'm so proud of you, Chris!

More Spring...

These are blossoms on our cherry tree out front. We aren't sure what to expect with any our landscaping, but so far there has been lots to enjoy with the warmer weather.

My Dogs are Barking

*Disclaimer: People squeamish about feet--do not look at this*

A lot of you know I'm running a half marathon in April. It's been harder and harder. Not in the obvious I'm-running-more-miles-way, but rather it's been more difficult to run even the short runs. I hope this ends soon, because it's getting old! I decided it was time to bite the bullet and buy some new shoes before the race. I said "race", but please note, I'm happy just to walk across that finish line at this point! Yesterday I was supposed to run one of my two 5 mile runs this week. This was after doing a really poor job on the 8-miler this weekend (I'm pretty sure I ran about 5 and walked the rest) Anyway, I was trying to psych myself up and of course I come to find out that my i-pod was dead after charging it the day before!? I really rely on that thing! It turned out to be a good run though. I got to listen to my heavy breathing, shuffling, and whimpers instead--music to my ears!! Anyway, if you think of it, please pray for me. This is hard.

I Love Spring!

Here's a picture of our backyard. This last weekend was absolutely beautiful and felt just like summer. (We're in search of a riding lawnmower--if anyone knows someone who's in the market to sell. I think we're a little late in the game and will probably end up paying more now than just a few weeks ago, but I guess it's spilt milk.) Since before we bought a house Chris and I have talked about this idea we have of hosting neighborhood events in our backyard. Until yesterday, we've been stuck on the idea of having Movie Night and projecting a family movie onto the side of our house. We'd tell people to bring a picnic, blankets, chairs and of course, their friends! I actually got this idea from the Kenilworth neighborhood at Halloween. A house in this neighborhood shows Two Thousand Leagues Under the Sea every year in all of it's creepiness. They project it onto the side of their house as people walk around and check out the other decorations. Anyway, no scary movies at our place. We'd probably show classics mostly. It's been on our mind now that summer is around the corner. Last night though, Chris suggested we host volleyball games and the like. We do have a perfect place in our yard that is just about the dimensions of an official volleyball court. We'll keep you posted! If you have any thoughts or a vote as to movie or games, we want to hear them! Feel free to post a comment.

For my Mom

This one's for you, Mother! I could only find this picture of the "Deep Mango" room (although I think I was trying to get a good shot of the window for curtain-making). I finished one whole window with curtains and feel very good about it. I think they turned out well. Only 9 more to go! I'll try to do one a week for now since I'm borrowing a friend's sewing machine and her know-how. Hopefully, I'll get faster the more I do. I'm a little worried about the ones in the guest room because they are real drapery material, so I plan to do those last. Exciting times at the McGlade household.

We are still plugging away at the laundry room that Chris and his dad began a few weeks ago. Dry wall is much tougher than I thought--and messier! Next up on the project list will be tiling the back splash behind our kitchen sink and putting up a fence in hopes of finding our first dog! Here is a picture of one we looked at last night...his name is Banjo, not Bingo (B-I-N-G-O) but Banjo...I like the name a lot.

Woo hoo!

Congrats Jeff and Cyndi. We love you and can't wait to meet baby Haifley!

Dinner is served

So after lots of talk and a week of planning we finally had the first COOKING CLUB! We decided to base it around making pot stickers (not really sure how that became the main course). There ended up being around 10 people in all. Each person brought something that was Asain-themed. For example, we had eggrolls, a cabbage salad, seasame green beans, lettuce wraps, and green onion pancakes. Overall, I think it was quite a success! And we've already planned the next one--Greek night. Here are some fun shots of Shaunna putting her acting skills into practice as she demos how to make those pancakes--the entertainment portion of the night. I really wish we had some shots of everyone around the table. We finished the evening on a high note: devouring a distinctly non-Asian dessert--half cooked cookie dough, warm from the oven with ice cream on top and lots of hilarious stories about sleep-walking. Matt Williams and Kristin take the cake!

Too long...

It's been incredibly too long since I've written...not that anyone is still following this. Maybe, just maybe my sweet friend Jane is still checking this (even though she's on spring break this week and not into her usual morning routine!). By the way, we don't see each other nearly enough. You'd think we moved across the state from each other--really just across the county!

There's been a lot going on since I signed on last. We've been really busy with the house (does one thing always have to lead to another??). But we are absolutely loving it. Here's are some great pictures of just how much my husband likes being a home owner...

This past weekend, Chris decided it was time to prune our trees. Since neither one of us knows much about this kind of thing, Chris promptly called our nice friend Karl for some advice. The next day Chris began the massacre. Really the trees probably hadn't been pruned in at least a decade, so there was lots to do. Chris spent most of the afternoon in the trees. (Notice our lovely John Deere shed. Literally, the previous owner painted it to match his new top-of-the-line lawn mower. This project has moved up on the list now that the weather is getting nicer!)

All in all, home ownership is fun and satisfying, but we wonder sometimes what we did with our time and our money when we lived in an apartment!

So it's been while and we've been busy...

Dining room before...



Dining room after.



Living room before...



And after.

McGlade Clan: Chris and Caroline

Closing on our house tomorrow! We will be signing our life away. We are excited, nervous, excited and nervous. Yep, that pretty much sums it up. Although we really do love Christmas, we feel like we'll be ready to have Decemeber behind us. It will be nice to be in a place with our stuff out of boxes and paint on the walls.

Home Sweet Home

This is our new home--we hope! The inspection is today, but we don't foresee any problems arising (then again, who does?). We are hoping to move mid-December. Stay tuned for our new contact info...

Halloween night in Weaverville at a party with Windy Gap friends.

LOST fans--

Here we are as Kate and Jack from one of our favorite shows.

It keeps going and going and going...

Everyone likes a candy corn .

And for the most unique costume award: the loofahs--that's right, those shower things.

Fall has Fallen

These are just a few of the common sights around town these days. B-eautiful!

Just the two of us

Here's the latest picture that I can find of the two of us. This is from my sweet friend Robin's wedding in August.

Where we live

Isn't this place gorgeous? This was taken from on top a fire tower on a hike this summer. Now the leaves are all kinds of colors.

Our friends in Weaverville

Meet Milo and Mouse-eater, our "pets". Since we can't have pets in our apartment, the neighbors kindly send theirs over to visit.

New tradition?

Apple-picking...in costume. Actually, it was cold that day and the only thing Chris could find in his car was part of a costume from a Young Life club.