Tears in Heaven, RIP Brandon

"Beyond the door, there's peace I'm sure...And I know there'll be no more, Tears in Heaven" - Eric Clapton

Life is so precious, you never know what may happen....always remember to tell those you love how much they mean to you. You never know when it may be the last.

This weekend was a rough one for us. On Friday afternoon, Sara received news that a close family friend was in a horrible car accident earlier that day. The report wasn't good at all and we spent most of the weekend at the hospital waiting with Christine, one of Sara's closest friends, who we have always considered family. Christine is an amazing person, her strength and compassion are unmatched, and it is so hard to undestand how one person can be dealt so much heartbreak and loss at such a young age. She is and will always be in our thoughts and prayers during this difficult time.

At a little after midnight on Sunday morning, Brandon's heart gave out and the world lost a great little fighter. At just 19 years old, he left an imprint on so many people's hearts and lives and we will always remember him as that bright little kid that loved KU Basketball, playing football and making people laugh. There will be a lot of what ifs and if things had been different, but we can all take comfort in knowing that you are home with Mary and smiling down on everyone. Rest in Peace, Brandon, we love you...

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It's hard to transition, but we did want to share an update on our front room renovations. Brain has got the trim almost complete, and we decided on another suprise makeover...

Windows are done...trim is almost complete

Remember this door on the right?

Bam! The second coat is drying and we are already loving it...

We like the black so much, it may be a recurring trend in our household...but as Brian says, one thing at a time...

Love and hugs to you all...

XOXO,

Sara, Brian & Tequila

Back to Work - Entryway Revival

We're back to remodeling! One day after Sara's MRI results came back without any major issues, we got right back into working on the home. First project on the list...entryway & front room. As most of you that have attended an event at our home know, we have a lot of varied dark wood, including railroad tie-esque trim in our home that we inherited. We had a contractor come in and look at it and even she was a bit baffled on why anyone would use railroad ties inside a home, so we knew we would have a bit of a challenge.

When you enter our house, you are greeted by a large obstruction just to the right which seperates the little entryway and the large front room...


View from the main room...not sure what the purpose ever was

Another view...notice that we are also painting the trim and windows white...multi tasking at its finest

Not really sure what we were doing, we decided to jump right in. Brian borrowed a sawzall from his boss, Kenny, and we got set up for the action. We have mentally gone over the best ways on getting this beast down for months, and luckily during our overview we noticed that the ties weren't connected to the wall except for a few nails angled at the very top. That being said, this was our first time using a sawzall and not having my dad with us directing us on what to do...we may not have had too much confidence.

After the first cut with no major accidents, Brian was able to knock out the tie and much like everything else in our house, the previous handiwork was a little decieving. These weren't railroad ties at all...but wood posts that were painted to look like it (who does that?).  They were super easy for Brian to haul down to our trash and the project took a lot less time than we thought.  So much faster than we thought that Sara felt we had plenty of time to add another layer of paint to the windows before the new episode of Hard Knocks started.

Now for the big reveal (ok Part 1 Reveal)...

Boom...not too shabby

Ignore  the gold light fixture...we are only on part one

We're pretty excited about the end result, especially because we could call my parents to come over and check it out without asking for help on how to fix it. :) There will be a lot of touch up work, lots of new paint, trim, door, new tile (that may have to wait for a bit)...but we are looking forward to putting more work into it and making it ours.

Until the next episode....


XOXO,

Sara & Brian

Back Home in Our Flyover State

"They've never drove through Indiana; met the man who plowed that earth, planted that seed, busted his ass for you and me...Or caught a Harvest Moon in Kansas...They'd understand why God made those flyover states" - Jason Aldean
Link to the video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lkvGCTtZz8

We can't believe how fast this summer has flown by so far. Sara just got back from Huntington Beach, California for the SAIA's 2012 Annual Convention and Exposition. It's been a crazy couple of months getting ready for the event, but it was well worth it as she got to meet so many members of the Association and discuss plans for the future. It was a long trip and she is still trying to get used to the time difference :). 

On the way back home from the airport, the Jason Aldean song above was playing on the radio and she looked at Brian and smiled. During her trip she had so many people from across the country ask her why she lived in the middle of nowhere, and even looking out into the sunset on the Pacific Ocean, she could just smile and think of all the wonderful things waiting for her back home.

Here are a few snapshots from her trip...

Sunset picture from our first night in Laguna Beach, CA (Thanks to Granville for this pic)

View from our hotel

Cloudy sunset at the Pier

Another sunset dinner view from Laguna Beach

The summer hasn't been all work, Brian did suprise Sara with tickets to see Tim McGraw and Kenny Chesney on their Brothers of the Sun Tour earlier in July.

Tim McGraw

With summertime flying by, we are hoping for another lake weekend soon, either here in Kansas City or a trip to Kentucky Lake to visit dear friends. We love living in the heart of the country, with so much to do even during the 100+ degree stretch. Today we went on a tour of the Boulevard Brewing Company and enjoyed some local flavor before coming home to lounge around with our pup, Tequila.

It's good to be home.

Until next time,

Sara & Brian
XOXO

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

"These are the good ole days that we've been livin'...no more lookin' back, all is forgiven. Ain't gonna live my life in no picture frame" - James Otto

It's been awhile since we have blogged, so we thought that we should say hello before the long Memorial Day weekend! 

May was a pretty busy month for us. The Second Annual Kentucky Derby party was a lot of fun and we enjoyed having Brad and Justin up to celebrate with us. Here are a couple pics from the party:

It was Cinco de Mayo, so there is a little cross-promotion going on here

The Three Amigos

Things have been going really well for the both of us...Sara has been travelling with her new job and is loving every minute of it. Brian and Tequila have been working on several home projects while she is out, but we haven't started anything major recently. Here are a couple pictures from her travels...

Galveston Catholic Church

Galveston sunset...not a bad first week on the job

San Jacinto Monument in Houston, TX

Duck at the San Antonio Riverwalk looked just like Tequila does :)

The Alamo at night

World War II monument in Indianapolis

Sara turned 28 last week and unfortunately she was sick for most of the weekend, but got to celebrate a bit in Indianapolis while she was there for a trade show. Brian was sweet enough to surprise her with beautiful roses at the office! 

We are gearing up for a nice relaxing weekend at home with plenty of BBQ and friends. Hope everyone has a safe and happy Memorial Day weekend! 

XOXO,

Sara & Brian

I Want to Hold Your Hand

"Yeah you, got that something, I think you'll understand...when I feel that something, I want to hold your hand."  The Beatles

I can't believe it's already been six months. It's been a fun ride so far and can't wait to see what the rest of this year brings.

First Look

First night of our honeymoon

Waiting for the zip line bus...only 2 hours early :)

Sunset Cruise

Can't wait to celebrate at tonight's BBQ with Christine, Lily and Jason. Love our friends and family and hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful day!

XOXO,

Sara & Brian

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

"Time may change me, but you can't trace time. Strange fascination, fascinating me...changes are taking the pace I'm going through" - David Bowie

First we have to say...ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK!!! Nothing beats punching our Final Four ticket again Roy and his new boys. What a game!!

Kansas: The Birthplace of North Carolina Basketball

It' been a little while since our last post and there have been a few big changes that we are excited to share!  Sara just accepted a new position as the Marketing & Membership Director for the Scaffold and Access Industry Association! It's completely different from anything she's ever done but she is really excited to get started! She'll really miss her clients and her girls at Ruth Burke, but knows that there will be a lot of Barley's nights in their future :)

The SASS girls at RB&A

Sara will be doing a lot of travelling in the next couple months, with stops in Atlanta, Seattle, Vegas and Huntington Beach on the agenda so Tequila is trying to take up as much of her time that he can right now.

What a handsome guy

In the meantime we are continuing to update the sunroom and we just finished painting our side tables and updating the hardware...

The "new" end tables

We did have a slight hiccup today, our toilet started leaking and poor Brian threw out his back doing yard work today. Luckily, Sara's parents came over and after a couple of attempts we successfully fixed the toilet, just in time for Brian's parents to come in town next weekend. We are excited to show them all the improvement's we've done since Thanksgiving.

Hope everyone had a chance to enjoy the beautiful weekend. Can't wait to watch the Final Four games next weekend.

Rock Chalk!

XOXO,

Sara & Brian

One Thing at a Time

We added another new part of our sunroom today...a table that my mom and I found, then we sanded and painted. We have to wait to wax it down before we decorate, so stay tuned for more updates.

Before...well with the first coat of primer

After

In it's new place in the sunroom

Even though we're still really sore, it's fun putting all the pieces everything together. And we found that we really like painting furniture. So much so that we already know what's next. We'll keep you updated on our progress.

XOXO,

Sara & Brian