Motion in the Lights

One of the projects from this past weekend was to get motion lights installed at the back of the house.  My dad bought the light fixture and the bulbs as part of our Christmas present.  My dad really did all the work here and I wasn't even helping, so I can't claim any credit here, but still...

My dad had to start by running electric from an outlet in the storage area to the far corner of the storage area where the light would be placed.  He set up an electric box for it and installed the light...  I don't have many details here because I was off doing schoolwork.  Anyway, somehow he went through the wall and siding because the light on (obviously) on the exterior wall of the storage area...  He wired it through a light switch so that we can turn it off it we would like.  Apparently, he initially installed the switch upside-down and was confused as to why the switch was in the "on" position but the light wouldn't come on!  He figured it out, flipped the light switch around, and all was good.

Our New Motion Lights

At first, it was too sensitive and everything was setting it off; in other words, it never seemed to go off.  We lowered the motion detector so it wouldn't detect people or cars in the alley.  However, now it's too low because I can walk almost all the way up to the light (when I park in the alley and walk through the backyard to get to the house) before it comes on.  We still need to adjust it a bit until we find the "happy medium" - we'll get there though!  Aaron also had to fiddle with it to get the dimmer setting turned off; it had been doing this thing where it would turn on for set amount of time, then dim down and stay on for quite a while.  I can see why some people might want that, but, to me, that's a waste of electricity because if there is someone still in the area, the lights would continue to be activated by the motion detector!

Anyway, I'm happy to have the light in, even if we still need to adjust it a bit.  Why did I want motion lights?  Well, I had several reasons...  One reason is for safety and security - they are a deterrent to a theft or vandal.  Another reason is because we park in the alley and had to walk through a dark backyard to get to the house (who knew what you would step in?!).  But the biggest reason is for the dogs - when we let the dogs out to go potty at night, we weren't able to really see them because the yard was dark!  I like to watch the dogs from the windows rather than go out in the cold and you just couldn't see anything at night - now the lights make the yard clearly visible and I can keep an eye on the pups!

While I'm mentioning the motion lights...  We already had motion lights on the side patio; however, one of the lights was burnt out so we replaced that while we were at it...  Anyway, here's some pictures of the existing lights (just in case you care):

The Old/Existing Motion Lights

Exploring the Neighborhood: Trattoria Piatto

Last night, I got to go out to eat at Trattoria Piatto with my LexisNexis boss, Tim, and the other Carlisle representatives, Marisa and Steve.  Tim likes to take us out for dinner whenever someone is leaving - since this is my last semester and Steve will be taking my place in the spring, it was time for a dinner on Lexis!  Usually we go to Cafe Bruges, a Belgian restaurant in town, but Tim wanted to try a new place...  I had heard good things at Piatto and mentioned it, but a small part of me had been looking forward to Bruges...  (Cafe Bruges has a really excellent crab cake sandwich that comes with their homemade tartar sauce; they make all their own condiments so this is homemade tartar sauce made from their homemade mayonaise and its just amazing!  They also have frites which are quite yummy with their homemade ketchup!  Anyway, I digress...)

Well, that small part of me that was hoping for Cafe Bruges was oh so wrong!  My meal at Piatto was the best meal I've had out at a restaurant in a long time... (and I haven't been had bad luck at restaurants lately!) 


Lets start out with the decor...  The restaurant is in an old Victorian townhouse in the historic district of Carlisle.  According to the website, they offer "several intimate dining areas, including fireside dining in the front parlor, an airy conservatory, and an outdoor patio (weather permitting)."  I believe we were in the conservatory area, but it was quite nice inside but slightly intimate.  The lighting was adequate but dim and the tables were small.  It would be a great date spot or special occasion (anniversary, anyone?) table!  However, it wasn't so intimate as to be awkward for our business dinner.  Below are my interior photos...  I used the flash in the left photo which didn't reflect the intimateness of the setting and the right photo shows the intimacy because I left the flash off, but its hard to see much detail...  (Check out the bay windows - I believe that brick wall used to be the exterior wall and the dining area we were in was an addition.)

Moving on to the important stuff... food and drink!  Tim encouraged us to get a drink.  The men got beer and Marisa and I got a rose wine; unfortunately, I have no idea what the exact wine was and I'm no wine expert - I'll just say that I'm not a big wine drinker and I really enjoyed it because it was just sweet enough and mildly fruity. 

Tim also encourages ordering appetizers.  They had a salad on the menu that sounded delicious to me, but Tim usually goes for shareable appetizers...  Even though I didn't order it, I just wanted to mention the salad because I hope to get it next time I go!  The salad was called the Piatto Salad (or, if you'd like to use the long Italian name, it was the Insalata di Pere e Gorgonzola); it consisted of field greens with red wine poached pear, crisp walnuts, and gorgonzola cheese in a pancetta vinaigrette.  The only negative was that it's an appetizer salad and it costs a whopping $9!

On to the appetizers that we actually ordered (my apologies for the lack of pictures here)!  We got two orders if Pane, which is really nothing more than a bread basket ("fresh from the oven"); most places give you the bread for free, but Piatto actually charges you $2 for each basket.  On the bonus, the bread was very good, very fresh, and didn't need butter or olive oil for dipping.  We also got the Sfogliatelle al Parmigiano which were parmesan cheese "crisps" (for $4); these was essentially shredded parmesan that was spread thin and baked into a hard crisp - the rest of the table seemed to enjoy these but I wasn't very impressed and thought it just tasted like almost-burnt cheese.  Finally, we got Frittelle di Granchio which were "crab fritters served with roasted red pepper mayonnaise" (for $9); now these were little bites of heaven!  It was essentially a small crab cake that was battered and fried, sitting on a bed of super-delicious red pepper sauce (it was called a mayonnaise but it was too good to be put in the same category as that jar of stuff you buy from Kraft or Hellman's).  The sauce really made the dish but I could have eaten two plates of these all by myself!

After our appetizers were cleared, we ordered our entrees.  Tim ordered the Fritto Misto ($18) which was a mixed fry of a variety of seafood; he said that it was very good because it was such a light-breading that it didn't take away from the seafood.  Steve ordered the Tagliata di Manzo ($19) which was a grilled sirloin steak, sliced and served with arugula, olive oil, lemona, and parmesan; he seemed to really enjoy it but I didn't get much of a comment from him.  Marisa ordered the Costoletta alla Milanese ($15) which was a turkey cutlet (actually 2 cutlets), breaded with parmesan and bread crumbs and fried; she said that it was really good and very moist.

I ordered the Petto dÁnatra ($21) which was a duck breast, grilled medium rare, served with a mixed berry-balsamic glaze.  All of the dinners were served with polenta and the vegetable of the day; last night the polenta was a grilled parmesan polenta and the vegetable was steamed broccoli.  The duck was perfectly cooked with a nice crispy skin and acidity in the glaze accented it perfectly - best duck I've ever had (my description won't do it justice)!  The polenta was actually quite good as well with a bit of char from the grill adding some flavor and texture.

I cannot rave enough about my dinner!  While $21 for an entree is a little expensive for this area, it was duck which you don't often find around here and it is certainly not something that I could make for myself!  I will just say that I savored every last bite and am still dreaming about that dinner...  Just looking at the picture makes my mouth water all over again!

So after we were filled with delicious food, the waiter asked about dessert and Tim gently insisted (as is his style - we always end up getting dessert).  I was initially intrigued by the Bacio ($8) which was a hazelnut gelato covered with a semi-sweet chocolate glaze...  Then I saw the Tiramisu ($6) and knew that I would have to try that!  (My apologies that the photo didn't turn out better - my flash wasn't working right, so I had to take the photo without the flash and try to brighten it up a bit on the computer.)  Anyway, I made a good choice because the tiramisu was amazing!  The ladyfingers were fully soaked and custardy part (the mascarpone whipped mixture) was light and fluffy and so creamy.  Every tiramisu I've had is always a little different - this time it had a small layer of the ladyfingers with a lot of the whipped mixture and was topped with shaved chocolate.  It was one of the best tiramisus I've ever had!  Tim and Marisa got the bacio and said it was good, but it was a little small for the price...

By the time dinner was over, I was ready to fall into a food coma and I was a happy little camper!  Overall, everything was quite good (except the parmesan crisps, but I wouldn't have ordered them on my own anyway)!  My only complaint would be the cost of the food...  While I wasn't paying anyway, I'm not so sure I'd be willing to pay our bill - it was $166 (before tax) for four people which is a bit pricey to me!  (You could eat cheaper if you skipped drinks, appetizers, or dessert...  Also, there are some smaller plates on the menu as well as $10 pizzas, so it's possible to eat cheaper but the main courses average around $18.)  However, as I said, it'd be great for a special occasion where you're willing to shell out a few extra bucks for a special dinner.  My last note was that our waiter was exceptional - he really knew the menu, described the dishes wonderfully, and sounded like he was well trained (he sounded like a food blogger or chef when he explained the food).  Anyway, I'm certain that I will be back - but only when I'm willing to pay a bit extra for a nice dinner!

Black Friday Madness

As I mentioned before, Aaron and I did some Black Friday shopping.  While some people see Black Friday shopping as crazy, I find it exciting and entertaining.  I don't act like a crazy person, snatching things out of someone's hand, pushing people around, or whatever.  But I love the quasi-competition of it all - trying to get as close to the front of the line as possible, hurrying through the store to find your items, and rushing to get to the check-out before the line gets too big.  I also like to people-watch on Black Friday - it's amazing to hear things that people say or to see how they act (telling someone that they saw something on the other side of the store just to throw them off, tossing carts in the way of people coming in to slow them down, etc.).

Anyway, Aaron and I left the house around 10pm on Thanksgiving Day.  We went to Kmart first because they had an ugly Christmas sweater that I wanted to get for an Ugly Sweater party that we are invited to...  (Kmart didn't intend it for an ugly sweater party but it certainly qualified!)  We also found some awesome Christmas slippers for the party!  After Kmart, we headed to a shopping complex that housed several stores including Target, Old Navy, and Kohl's.

When we got to the shopping center, we got in line at Kohl's.  Aaron was cold and I wanted some Starbucks so he went into Target (which has a Starbucks inside) to get some drinks.  It took him almost 45 minutes to get through the line - I was beginning to think that he wouldn't get back before the doors to Kohl's opened at midnight!  Anyway, he made it back with a few minutes to spare and then I sent him back to hang out in Target since I was going to be looking at stuff for him in Kohl's. 

The doors were finally opened and the line surged forward.  I hurried through the store, grabbing my purchases!  (Of course, I'm not going to mention anything I got Aaron since he will see that so you can use your imagination as to whether I got him anything in Kohl's and, if so, what it might be...)  I found a ladybug hooded towel for my niece and checked for a Minnie toy (which they didn't have), slippers for me (well, for Aaron to give me for Christmas), and a chenille blanket for our house.  (I got a green one because I thought it might match and they didn't have many but, after seeing it next to the couch, I've decided to go back and get the cream colored blanket.)  Anyway, I was quick and darted in and out through the racks (the aisles get too clogged so you can move faster in the racks).  I got up to the registers and there was not even a line yet!  I checked out and was leaving while the end of the line was straggling in...  Anyway, here are some are my deals:

Jumping Bean Lovebug Bath Wrap (link to Kohls.com page here): originally $29.99, I paid $7.99

 

SO Plush Clog Slippers in Green (link to Kohls.com page here): originally $24.00, I paid $6.99

SONOMA life + style Chenille Throw: originally $49.99, I paid $19.99

I would have left out this next part, but Aaron already saw an Old Navy bag in the truck, so I might as well mention this...  Anyway, so after I left Kohl's, I realized that I had time to run into Old Navy!  Keep in mind, I was fast at Kohl's so I got into Old Navy at about 12:10am - the line was already to the back of the store!  The line weaved through the center aisle, in and out of the racks there, and made it really difficult to get into the "sections" where most of the clothes was...  It was a royal mess, but I decided to grab a few things and hop in line.  This time I waited about 45 minutes to check out...  Just as I got out of there, I was headed to the car to drop off my bags when I saw Aaron walking toward me - he had come looking for me!  Good timing!  At that point, we headed to the car and went back to the house to go to bed for a few hours...

We set an alarm for 4am; I really didn't want to get up at that point, but I dragged myself out of bed and off we went.  We stopped at Bon-Ton because they had a pair of boots for sale that I really wanted; we also had "$10 off a $10 purchase" coupons (two of them).  I've had experience with these coupons before and know they are tough to use, but I was determined...  You can't use the coupons on DoorBusters, "Special Offers", yellow dot clearance, or a variety of other things; the way they get you is to make darn near everything in the store fit one of those categories.  However, I found some baby clothes for my niece that were on regular clearance (not yellow dot clearance) so we got her some really cute pink Osh-kosh overalls and a cute outfit (purple shirt with an elephant and matching pants) for about $8 (combined).

Next up was the real reason we got up: Lowe's!  I'm sure I've mentioned that the washer and dryer that came with the house are pretty terrible (the washer is tiny - a sheet set fills it up - and the dryer takes forever for a load).  I scoured the Black Friday ads to look for a good washer/dryer set.  We found the winner at Lowe's - it was a Samsung front loading, high efficiency set that just happened to come in a blue color that looked like it would match the blue trim throughout the house.  The set was on sale for $1198 (so $599 a piece) which was a savings of $600 (or $300 saved per piece).  We also happened to have a 10% off everything coupon from Lowe's from our postal service change-of-address coupon packet!  We made a giant list of everything we could think of to buy and set out to get a bunch of stuff so that we would really get a good value out of that 10% off coupon.

We got to Lowe's around 4:50am and it was scheduled to open at 5am.  Once we got in the doors, I sent Aaron straight back to the appliances area while I got a cart (there was a jam-up in the carts area because it was cramped and you couldn't move, much less turn a cart the right way).  The ad stated that there would be a minimum of 5 sets in store so we wanted to make sure we got one!  Anyway, Aaron ended up being the second person assisted in the appliances department and we had secured our new washer/dryer set!  At that point, we leisurely made our way around the store for the rest of our purchases which included a new ladder, blinds for the two bedrooms, a new toilet seat for the 1st floor bathroom, new hardware for the 2nd floor bathroom (towel ring, toilet paper holder, and robe hooks for our towels), paint for the trim in the bedrooms, new vent covers (ones that actually close so we can control air flow), and some other stuff.  Our total ended up being just shy of $1,500 which is $300 less than we should have paid for the washer and dryer!  Somewhat more impressively, we managed to get it all into Aaron's tiny car (Hyundai Accent) - including the ladder!

With our trip to Lowe's a giant success, we headed home and went back to bed for a bit...  Lowe's was even delivering the washer and dryer for free and they came on Sunday morning to deliver and set them up.  I was really impressed with the delivery service because they actually came on time (they came at 9:30am and they had given us the window of 9-11am), they tested the washer (made sure it didn't leak, wobble, or vibrate), and they showed us how to work everything.  When all was said and done, I was pleased with our Black Friday purchases and had some fun to boot!

Exploing the Neighborhood: Middlesex Diner

As I mentioned in my Thanksgiving post, Aaron and I grabbed some breakfast on Thanksgiving morning...  I knew of a local spot that is supposed to have good breakfast, but when we called, no one answered.  We found out that Cracker Barrel was open all day, but I'm not a Cracker Barrel fan...  So I used Yelp to check for local diners, figuring they would be open (I mean, when isn't a diner open?).  Anyway, we found that Middlesex Diner had pretty good ratings, wasn't too far away, and was open (we called to be sure). 

We arrived around 9am and were seated immediately.  Our waitress came right over to get our drink orders; she was quite peppy but a little odd (not in a bad way, just in "huh? what was that?" kind-of-way).  I ordered coffee and Aaron got a lemonade.  My coffee was a regular ol' cup of joe - nothing special but nothing wrong with it, which is exactly what I expect from diner coffee. 

Because it was Thanksgiving, they also had some related specials... I checked these out and was thinking about some of them at first, but I really wanted something with eggs in it to keep me full until our turkey dinner (we were eating breakfast just after 9am and weren't eating turkey until around 3pm). Anyway, I need to mention the Thanksgiving specials because they did sound tempting! They had two baked oatmeal specials: apple pie and pumpkin pecan. They had stuffed french toast as another special, along with two delicious-sounding pancake specials: pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin roll pancakes! (I'm not sure makes them pumpkin roll pancakes but I'm guessing it was either pancakes stacked with the cream cheese mixture in between or pancakes rolled with the cream cheese mixture inside.) I didn't get any of the specials, but I seriously considered it...

So I scoped out the regular menu and was debated between several options.  They had S.O.S. (also known as creamed chipped beef over toast) which I love.  They also had Eggs Benedict which is one of my favorite breakfast foods...  I was also drawn to a scramble (I forget what they called it) but decided it was a little much since it had four eggs in it; it was four eggs, ham, green peppers, onion, American cheese, and hash browns all scrambled together.  I ended up getting something similar - it was called the Hungry Man Omelet.  The Hungry Man Omelet was a three-egg omelet that had ham, onion, green peppers, tomato, mushrooms, and cheese in it; it also came with a side of hash browns and toast.  Aaron got his usual diner breakfast - 2 eggs (scrambled),toast, bacon, and hash browns.

The decor was pretty typical for a diner, lots of booths!  There was a counter where you can sit and you can see into the kitchen...  Nothing unusual there, but it was pretty large for a diner, which must be nice when they are a bit busier.

Let's start with Aaron's meal...  Aaron said that his meal was fine; he didn't care much for the hash browns because they weren't very crispy and the spots that were crispy were actually slightly burnt.  It looked to me like he had a decent amount of bacon which is good because some places skimp on the breakfast meats... 

Now for my food!  My hash browns weren't as bad as Aaron's; that said, I had some over-done potatoes left on my plate at the end of the meal.  My omelet, however, was delicious!  It was cooked perfectly and wonderfully full of all the goodies (lots of ham and veggies!); I hate when restaurants barely put anything in the omelet...  Anyway, the onions and green peppers were slightly sauteed but still had enough "crunch" to add some texture; the tomatoes were cooked just right so that they didn't turn to mush.  All-in-all, I would order this again and again!

Project Balcony: Step 4

This past weekend we finally got our balcony finished!  Step 4 was not actually anything we were doing...  It was the contractor, Russ, actually putting up the new balcony.

Let's start with some lovely "before" shots...  Note that the boards were painted before and we went with stained boards for the new balcony.  Also, its hard to see, but you might remember that the ends of the boards are rotted which is why we are replacing the balcony...

The work started on Tuesday morning (Nov. 20th).  Russ was supposed to come in the morning, but I left for school around 8:30am and he wasn't there yet.  However, one of his workers was there and had gotten started.  By the time I returned around 1pm, Russ had left already; again, his worker was still there.  The worker stayed for a while and was still working when I left for class around 3pm.  However, when I got home at night, I noticed that not much more had been completed as compared to when I had left...  (Mainly, the yard was cleaned up and the trash had all been collected.)  The pictures below show how things looked when I left around 3pm - as I noted, it looked the same when I got home at night but the trash (see the picture on the right!) was cleaned up.  You can see all the old boards had been removed and the new boards added are in the bottom of the frame.

The next morning, the same worker showed up around 9am and Russ arrived a little bit later.  The two worked until about 3pm (the picture to the right is a shot of them working).  They put a bunch of boards on and trimmed the ends of the boards that were in place - they had done a rough cut before installing them but did a final cut once the boards were up to get a nice straight edge on the end.

Anyway, we were originally told that it would be a two-day job, but Russ told us that he would need to come back to finish up on either Friday or Saturday...  Then he asked for partial payment.  Aaron wasn't as bothered by this as I was - I thought it was a little ballsy to quit working early (while saying there was just a bit more work to be done) and then ask for some money.  I didn't like paying until the job was done, but Aaron didn't want to tick off the contractor... (which isn't a bad point but I wonder whether not paying him until he finished would encourage him to get it done.)



Below are the pictures of the balcony at the end of the second day of work.  You can see that almost all the boards are down - there was just a small space at the end that needed filled in.  You can also see that most of the boards had their final edge cut complete.  Obviously, the remaining work was finishing the last boards, finishing the final cut, and putting up the rest of the railing.  (I included the photo on the right to show off the awesome wood grain and how nice the stained boards look, especially compared to the painted boards.)

 Russ didn't show up on Friday but he was there on Saturday.  He came just before 8am and got to work.  He finished with the balcony and he he worked on the balcony door for us; this wasn't originally planned for him to do but he was going to finish early (as compared to what he quoted us for labor hours), so he suggested fixing the door.  The carpet in the master bedroom is a high pile and the balcony door (which is in the master bedroom) was very difficult to open and close.  Russ raised the threshold up by about 1/2 inch and then used a circular saw to remove the same amount from the bottom of the door.  He finished everything up around mid-afternoon.

Before I show you the "after" photos - I wanted to mention something...  When Aaron went to pick up the marine sealant from Russ's house, he found out that Russ had a rottweiler puppy.  On "Day 1" of the work, I didn't see a dog but I found a large pile of... well... poop in the yard - too big to belong to our dogs.  So I suspected Russ had his dog with him, but I never saw it.  I thought it was a little odd, but oh well.  On "Day 2" of the work, I was coming down the stairs and caught a glimpse of motion on the side patio.  I moved the curtain aside and look what I saw....

Russ had brought his dog, Star, with him.  I missed out the first day, but went out to meet her on the second day.  She was very nice and so friendly!  She was a bit hyper though and would jump up - especially at Aaron...  We eventually let our pups out to meet her since Russ said she would be fine with them.  Bleeker barked his head off but calmed down then.  He then wanted to play which she was game for; however, her "playing" meant her paws moving around a lot with her jumping and all.  Poor Bleek got scared of her massive paws (I mean, they are huge compared to him!) and started getting defensive.  I was worried he might try to bite her or something, so we picked him up and ended that interaction.  Bella was happy to sniff her at first but when Star started moving too much, Bella was ready to be picked up...  Anyway, I love dogs so I had fun meeting Star.  On the other hand though, some people aren't dog folks (silly people!) or might have some other reason why they don't want a dog in their yard (for example, the piles of poop or because they have a dog that will be driven crazy or because they won't be able to let their own dog out).

Anyway, as I mentioned, the balcony was finished on Saturday and its now time to show off the finished product....

(Just ignore the green Frogtape on the edge - Aaron was painting the ends of the boards to seal them so the water can't get in and rot them out again!)

Turkey Day 2012

Today was Thanksgiving...  First let me start by telling you what Aaron and I did with our day!  We decided to go out for some breakfast (which will be the subject of a future post) to keep us full since we were having our big dinner around 3pm. 

Around 11am, we packed up stuff for the dogs and loaded into Aaron's car.  We were headed to Aaron's dad's place in Macungie, PA.  (We stopped at a convenience store on the way so I could newspapers for the Black Friday ads!)  The drive is about an hour and forty-five minutes so it's not too bad.  Unfortunately for me, I can have some motion sickness but usually it's only caused by buses. (I'm not really sure what it is because amusement parks and planes and stuff don't bother me, but buses always do and cars can...)  Anyway, the ride made my head hurt and made me slightly nauseous.  Luckily, the feelings start to fade as soon as we get out of the car.

I was having some fun looking at the ads while we watched football...  Dinner was ready around 2:30pm...  Thankfully, I was feeling much better by then and was able to enjoy dinner!  Of course, we had turkey (Aaron's dad makes his turkey in a bag which is different from what I'm used to but it keeps the turkey nice and moist; the only downside is that you don't get crispy skin but that's bad for you anyway) which was quite good!  We also had mashed potatoes, Stove-Top stuffing, green beans, and Grands biscuits.  Everything was good, even if it's a bit different from my family's traditional Thanksgiving; in addition to turkey, my family usually has homemade stuffing, green bean casserole, corn pudding, some other vegetable, brown-and-serve dinner rolls, and mini potato rolls. 

Aaron and I always have the stuffing debate every year...  I say that I like homemade stuffing and Stove-Top but that they are not the same thing...  Aaron says that he likes Stove-Top but doesn't care for homemade stuffing.  He doesn't get the homemade stuffing thing at all...  To me, it's like baked macaroni and cheese and Kraft Mac 'n Cheese - they are both good but they are not the same thing!  Anyway, I digress...

Anyway, after dinner, we hung around for a while longer, watching football.  Around 6:30pm, we headed back home and got home just after 8pm.  We had scoped out the Black Friday ads and needed to get home to prepare for shopping (more about that later).

Now I just wanted to take a moment to talk about what I'm thankful for this year...  First, I'd like to say that I'm thankful for my husband, Aaron.  He's been great getting things done around the house and trying to help me out as much as possible.  This past year has been a little rough for us but I see us getting stronger and stronger every day; I'm especially thankful for that.  I'm also thankful to have a roof over my head, and, for the first time in my life, thankful to say that it's truly my house (well, our house, but you get my point).  I'm thankful for my amazing doggies - they are what brightens my day and brings a smile to my face; I can always count on them for kisses, cuddles, and tail wags!  I'm also thankful for my family and friends - this year hasn't been an easy one and I'm thankful for everyone who has helped me through, in whatever way (whether a listening ear, a ride to therapy, or a pre-cooked dinner during my post-op period).  Finally, I'm thankful that I'm about to finish law school - I will be quite grateful to have that stress off my shoulders and be able to move onto the next phase of my life!

Exploring the Neighborhood: First Lutheran Church

I was raised a Lutheran and have always attended the church I was raised in: St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Highspire, PA.  In fact, my parents were married in that church (as was my brother), I was baptized in that church, and Aaron and I were married in that church!  Unfortunately, St. Peter's is a good 45-minute drive from our new home, so I want to find a church in Carlisle.

I found that there are two ELCA Lutheran churches in Carlisle: First Lutheran Church and St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church.  First Lutheran Church is a bit closer to our house so we decided to try that one first.  First Lutheran has two Sunday services: 8:00am and 10:15am.  We went to the 10:15am service.  

Note: I don't intend this post as a "review" of a church because that seems a little inappropriate and a bit like blasphemy to me, but I just wanted to record my reactions.

The photo array above was taken from the churchs website.  From left to right: aerial view of the church, the altar area, and Pastor Brophy.

First of all, I loved the fact that I could walk to church!  It was about a 2 1/2 block walk...  The exterior is quite nice-looking but it was the interior is really quite impressive. 

 

 

Inside, there were marble columns, tons of stained-glass, and a really high vaulted ceiling; the interior was full of architectual features that gave it a lot of charm.  There were covered areas on the sides as well as a balcony area (which was unused so I'm not certain you can access it).  There was also a gorgeous chandelier hanging from the dome in the ceiling.

 

I was also a bit excited to see that they use the LBW (Lutheran Book of Worship) which is what I was raised with (even though St. Peter's has since switched books).  Moreover, the service was a traditional service which meant I was comfortable with the flow of the service and knew a lot of the service by heart.

The negative side is that the congregation isn't very large; I also notice that the bulletin stated that the weekly givings are not enough to meet the budget.  St. Peter's congregation has been dwindling and they are having trouble reaching their budget; I'm not loving the idea of joining a church that is having major financial issues and whose future may be uncertain.  Also, the congregation is mainly older - I would have guessed that the average age was around 55-60.  Finally, the pastor (Pastor Brophy) was about average, but his sermon didn't fully engage me.  I know that different topics can make sermons more or less captivating, so I'm not ready to write him off as an "average" pastor.

Anyway, I would still like to get to St. Paul's so that I can compare the churches and decide which one I prefer.  I can already say that St. Paul's has a few negatives in that it is a bit further away and not really in walking distance, it's service is a bit later (10:45am), and that service is contemporary rather than traditional.  However, St. Paul's seems to have a larger and younger congregation.  Hopefully we can make it to St. Paul's soon but all the work on the house makes it difficult to get to church every Sunday.

Note: I apologize that none of the photos were actually taken by me - I didn't think it was proper to take photos of the interior during church and I couldn't get a good photo of the exterior because its so large and not easy to capture in one shot!

Exploring the Neighborhood: Cancun Mexican Restaurant

This past Friday, Aaron and I needed to get some dinner and decided to go out somewhere new.  I love Mexican food and figured it was as good a time as any to try to the Mexican place in town! 

Cancun is practically within walking distance from our house.  I read some reviews online ahead of time and decided to give it a go...  Most of the reviews said it was decent Mexican for Central PA.  A few reviews mentioned that it was "pretty much an El Rodeo" which is a local chain of Mexican places; El Rodeo restaurants are pretty consistent, most meals are pretty good, and, overall, I recommend them so I figured that Cancun would work out just fine for my taste buds.

I didn't get any pictures of the interior, but it was pretty typical for a Mexican restaurant.  It had some bright colors, a decent amount of "kitchy" decor, and some banners; also, I have to note that they already had Christmas decorations up...  That said, it was a little more toned down than some of the El Rodeos in the area that I've eaten in.  More important, however, than the decor was that the place looked clean and well-kept.

As I mentioned, the reviewers had mentioned that it was "pretty much an El Rodeo" and I quickly learned how much...  Our waitress came over and plopped down two menus that said "EL RODEO" right on the front cover and the menu was exactly the same as all the other El Rodeos in the area!  Aaron ordered a Sprite and it came out in an El Rodeo cup - literally, it had "El Rodeo" printed on it!  I ordered a strawberry margarita and asked what size - small, medium, or jumbo.  I went for medium and (see the picture to the right) curious just how big a jumbo is as my "medium" was pretty "jumbo" to me!




The waitress came by with our chips and salsa (see the picture to the left) that is pretty standard fare at any Mexican restaurant.  The chips were exactly like we have gotten at El Rodeo, a little warm with a nice crisp and just the right amount of salt.  The salsa, on the other hand, was a bit different; it was hard to place what the difference was but I can say that it was a bit sweeter and I didn't taste as much cilantro.  The salsa was good (tasted nice and fresh) but just different from what I've had before.

Aaron and I didn't even get to finish our basket of chips before our food arrived.  The service was quite fast...  The restaurant was fairly busy when we were there (about 3/4 of the tables were filled) but the food arrived fast and hot.  Aaron ordered a crab quesadilla which I failed to take a photo of; he said that it was alright but didn't quite finish it so I'm guessing it wasn't all that fantastic...

I ordered the Pollo Chilango which is described as "Grilled strips of chicken over a bed of rice, covered with melted cheese. Served with guacamole salad, sour cream and three flour tortillas."  I've ordered this dish before and it's a favorite of mine so I had to try it here to compare to the other El Rodeos. 

It smelled delicious and I dug right in, forgetting to take a picture first.  However, I did remember to snap a picture after I had already eaten one tortilla (see the picture to the right).  The chicken was deliciously moist and perfectly seasoned; the cheese was melted nicely and in just the right proportion.  The guacamole salad was very fresh as well.  I must admit, I'm not sure how they really intend you to eat the Pollo Chilango, but I put a bit of everything (some chicken, cheese, rice, lettuce, guacamole, and sour cream) into the tortillas, wrap it up, and enjoy! 

Finally, the portion size of the Pollo Chilango is quite large and I'm always stuffed by the end.  On the negative side, the meal is just over $12 which is expensive to me for Mexican food...  However, there are plenty of cheaper options on the menu if that's what you are going for...

Overall, Cancun IS El Rodeo - make no mistake!  But, hey, that's not a bad thing!  We had a fairly cheap meal and the food at El Rodeo is very consistent.  I have never left an El Rodeo feeling like I could eat something else and this meal was no different.  In addition, this meal was every bit as good as the other El Rodeos I've been to.  I'm sure we'll be back and this very well may turn into one of my "standbys" (you know, the restaurants you automatically gravitate to when you decide to go out for some dinner)!

Project Balcony: Step 3

Aaron got the final coat of the marine sealant on the boards last Thursday (Nov. 15th) which meant it was time to Step 3.  Step 3 is two coats of oil-based paint on the underside of the boards. 

Aaron decided to stop for the paint on Friday after work...  He had a bit of trouble getting the paint because it needed to be oil-based and apparently Lowe's doesn't have oil-based paint...  He went to Sherwin Williams and, after a discussion with an employee who didn't appear to know what he was talking about, he found some oil-based paint and got two quarts.  They had white and black; Aaron chose black...

On Saturday morning, Aaron put the first coat of the paint on (a little more than) half of the boards.  (The picture on the left shows his painting skills.)  He tried to get as many boards done as possible so he was painting a few, then moving a few more boards up next to the newly painted ones, and so on.  (The picture on the right shows the board-moving process.)  He managed to do 21 of the 37 boards.  It took him a little more than 2 hours to get done.  Aaron said the paint is a bit "tar-like" and doesn't spread very easily.  Additionally, because it's an oil-based paint it's highly flammable so extra precautions must be taken in terms of cleaning up. 

We went to my parents' house for family dinner on Saturday; when we got home around 6pm, Aaron went to work on the second coat on paint on those boards.  It took him another two hours or so which meant he finished up well into the evening.  I felt bad that he was working on the boards so late...  I also hated that it meant there wasn't much time for the fumes to dissipate.  But, hey, what can you do?!

Let me take a second to show you some "before" and "after" shots....  Obviously, the photo on the left is the unpainted boards and the photo on the right is the painted boards.  You can also see a bit of the tongue-and-groove cuts on the boards.

On Sunday night, Aaron and I moved the first half of the boards outside.  This was another fun process...  I couldn't take pictures this time because I was a little busy actually moving the boards.  Let's just say that I had to lift the boards, carefully turn them in the "office", then get them into the bedroom, turn them again (carefully), and get them out onto the balcony and down to Aaron who was waiting on the ground.  It took a little while, but we got the boards down onto the sideo patio; Aaron stacked them up and covered them to keep them dry and clean.

After those boards were out of the way, Aaron got to work putting the first coat of paint on the second half of the boards.  I will be doing the final coat on the second half of the boards as soon as I get home today...  Aaron gave me some basic instructions and I am going to try to get them done by the time he gets home at 5:30pm so he can tell me how to clean up.  I would have let him finish the painting job so I can work on school stuff but I really want to go to pub trivia tonight, so I'll take one for the team here... 

Oil to Gas

One of the projects that we planned to do before we even got the house was to convert the heating system from fuel oil to natural gas.  Fuel oil is just so expensive and a bit of a pain (you need to get tanks filled, monitor tanks for leakage, clean the filter more often, and worry about the chimney). 

As soon as we had moved in, Aaron started calling around to get some HVAC guys in for estimates.  The first company to come out was CR Powers.  The guy came early in the morning on Oct. 31 and was seriously only there for about 5 minutes - he went into the basement, looked at the current furnace, wrote a few things down, and left.  He was supposed to email me the estimate, but something got screwed up and he ended up calling Aaron and sending it to him.  He did get the estimate to us pretty quickly; they would charge us $3,500 for the conversion (including the new furnace) and $2,900 for central air-conditioning (a 2.5 ton unit) (for a total of about $6,400).  Both the furnace and air-conditioner would be Bryant brand and the furnace would be a single-stage unit. 

The next company to come out was Lebo's.  The guy came in the morning of Nov. 1 and was there for quite some time (about 35-45 minutes).  He inspected our current system, looked for every vent and return in the house, and measured everything (the vents, the rooms, and the windows - even noting which way the windows face).  He asked questions about what we were looking for and explained things about the system and how the right size is selected, etc.  I really appreciated his thoroughness.  The negative regarding Lebo's was that it took over a week to get the estimate.  The positive was that they gave us a good quote.  They gave us three options (all using Bryant brand units): Option 1 was two-stage furnace (96.2%) and a two-stage 2-ton air-conditioner  for $7,560.34; Option 2 was a single-stage furnace (95.5%) and a single-stage 2-ton air-conditioner for $6,076.97; and, Option 3 was a single-stage furance (92.1%) and a single-stage 2-ton air-condition for $5,256.29.  (The percentages listed are the AFUE, or annual fuel utilization efficiencies; the higher they are, the better.)

We were originally going to stop with those two companies, but someone I know suggested trying Daflure because she went with them for a similar conversion because they gave her the best price.  We called Daflure and they came out on the afternoon of Nov. 6.  Much like the guy from Lebo's, this tech was there for quite some time as well.  He wrote down a lot of things but didn't do all the same measurements as Lebo's; he did check out the duct system a bit, noting all the vents and returns.  He actually sat down and wrote out an estimate right then.  He gave me prices for two options - both used a single-stage 2-ton air-conditioner, but one had a two-stage furnace and the other had a single-stage furnace.  Daflure uses Trane brand units.  Unfortunately, I threw out the folder with the quote in it because the quotes were the highest we received...  I can say that I remember the quote with the two-stage furnace being well over $7,000 and the quote with the single-stage furnace being around $6,750.  They got a few bonus points for giving an immediate quote and explaining everything well, but not enough to overcome the increase in costs!

Anyway, Aaron and I originally talked about doing a two-stage furnace.  A two-stage furnace essentially has two different levels of "on" - a high and a low.  They are supposed to be more efficient and are able to maintain a more consistent temperatures compared to a single-stage furnace where the furnace is either on or off (so the temperature of the house must get a few degrees below the thermostat setting, then it powers on and heats the house a few degrees higher than the setting before shutting off).  However, we have had a change of heart.  Our original thought was that two-stage furnaces are more efficient and, though they are more expensive, it would save more money on the gas bill.  However, if you look closely at the AFUE percentages from Lebo's estimate - the two-stage furnace is only .7% more efficient and quite a bit more expensive! 

We have decided to go with Option #2 from Lebo's (the single-stage furnace (95.5%) and a single-stage 2-ton air-conditioner for $6,076.97).  As it stands, we have almost a full tank of oil; they will buy the excess oil from us for $1 per gallon but that's so far under market value that it's best to just use up most of it.  The guy from Lebo's suggested that we run the tank down to about 25% and then call to get the conversion scheduled.  So that's the plan!  I'm sure you'll hear more when we actually get around to having them come in and get the work done...

Project Balcony: Step 2

Our balcony boards are now as water-proof as the hull of a boat!  Or, I should say, they should be...  This weekend, we finally got to put the marine sealant onto the balcony boards.  The product we used was Old Masters Spar-Marine Varnish.  The contractor, Russ, got it for us...  Apparently, Pennsylvania doesn't like marine sealant because of some chemicals in it or something and it's not that easy to get your hands on.

The weekend was supposed to be a bit milder in temperature than it has been lately... This meant we could be outside without freezing our butts off.  Unfortunately, our plans were thwarted because our Saturday morning projects took longer than we estimated and it was getting too late to do the boards outside...  The sealant specifically says that the product should not be used within two hours of sunset.  When we finished our morning projects, it was 3pm and sunset was around 5pm...  Change of plans!  Let's do the boards inside...  But where?  We now have furniture filling the living room.  Well, there is that extra open room upstairs.  But how in the world are we getting 12-foot boards up those stairs?!

And so began the fun...

The "hole" in the floor proved quite handy!  The "hole" is actually original to the house and was intended to let the heat rise from the fireplace which is on the first floor near the hole...  Anyway, so my mom had the job of picking up the boards from the pile in the living room; she would pass the boards up through the hole.  My dad was waiting at the top and would grab the boards, keeping them from hitting the ceiling on the second floor.  Aaron was waiting in the door to the master bedroom to guide the boards, keeping them from hitting the door frame; after the board was through the hold, Aaron would stack the boards in the bedroom.  (I clearly had the important job of laughing and taking pictures...!  Hehe!  Okay, I really did help when I wasn't taking pictures - I helped guide the boards to Aaron and assisted my mom with the last row of boards so they wouldn't drag across our floor.)

Anyway, so after the fun of getting the boards to the second floor, Aaron got them laid out (well, half of them because that's all that would fit) on the plastic sheeting so he could work on them.  (Photos: Left to right) The first thing to note was that the can specifically said to stir the product well and to continue stirring throughout, so I figured we'd start with a picture of Aaron carefully stirring the varnish.  Next, we've got Aaron showing us how to apply the varnish...  Pretty basic - paint it on in a nice, even coat.  Finally, we have another angle on Aaron varnishing the boards...  (Okay, the last one was just for fun!)

The sealant adds a bit of gloss to the boards and it did have a slight ambering effect, as the can warned may happen on light-colored wood.  Fortunately, I love the ambering effect as it darkens the wood a bit which I like! 

Boards Before Sealant

 

Boards After Sealant

Aaron got the first coat done on Saturday afternoon.  We opened tons of windows and turned on all the fans to clear out the fumes.  The varnish says it dries to the touch in 6-8 hours and you should wait 8-16 hours before re-coating, but the best thing to do is to let it dry overnight.  The long drying time really lengthens this process...  So Aaron was able to do the second coat on Sunday morning.  This time, we had more time to let the fumes clear out before bed which was nice since we could still smell the fumes pretty well at bedtime on Saturday night... 

At this point, half the boards are done (with Step 2 anyway).  Aaron will work on the first of the two coats on the second half of the boards tonight...  Okay, that was confusing!  Let's put it this way, he can do a coat tonight and the second coat tomorrow or thereafter and we'll be done with Step 2 (that's the important part anyway)!

Once Step 2 is officially complete, we can move onto Step 3 which is painting the underside with a coat of oil-based paint.  Thankfully, paint dries more quickly than this varnish and that step should (hopefully) be a bit quicker!

Finishing Touches on Refinished Furniture

Aaron and I have finally gotten to start working on the hardware for the refinished furniture!  If you remember, originally we were going to buy new hardware because one backplate was missing.  We came up with a solution where we just won't put backplates on the handles on the nightstands.  Since we would be using the hardware we already had, that meant figuring out how we wanted to refinish the hardware!  We wanted something silver/gray in color without being too shiny/metallic (e.g., we liked something that looked like satin nickel rather than chrome).

We went to Home Depot to check out the options.  They had a selection of metallic spray paints... We checked out a variety of colors and then I noticed that they had some that would give a hammered finish.  I liked that the hammered finish would look more vintage which would match the look of the furniture; plus, the hammered finish means you can cover imperfections easily! 

Anyway, the product was Rust-Oleum Universal Hammered Spray Paint in Silver.  According to the product, it is specifically formulated to work on all kinds of surfaces including wood, plastic, metal, brick, concrete and even vinyl.  You can spray at any angle and it is fade and chip resistant as well as a rust preventative.  It sounded exactly like what we needed...

The instructions simply said to remove loose paint and rust with a wire brush or sandpaper, to lightly sand glossy surfaces, clean, and let dry before painting.  Beyond that, take the usual precautions, keep the can a bit away from the object, and use a back-and-forth sweeping motion.  Nothing crazy here...

So this past Sunday, Aaron and I got to work on the hardware.  We took all the screws out and separated the handles or pulls from the backplates.  We then used a Scotch-Brite purple pad (kind-of like a cross between steel wool and a sponge) to clean up the handles, pulls, and backplates.  It took a lot of elbow-grease and a considerable amount of time, but we got off as much of the discolorations and old finish as possible.  We made sure to smooth out any rough spots as well.

Here's a "Before" and "After" of the handles - the bottom is "Before" and the top is "After" we cleaned it up!

My dad came out to assist us; Aaron and I were still working on smoothing things out so my dad said he would work on the spray-painting.  He started with one handle to make sure we'd like the look of the paint.  It looked great, so he finished spraying all the hardware we had ready.  He got through about half of the hardware when he ran out of spray paint.  Lesson learned: there is not much paint in these Rust-Oleum cans!  The can was about $7 so it's a bit expensive, but I guess that's what you get when you want a metallic paint.  Anyway, given how much we are saving over buying new hardware, I'll grab a second $7 bottle...  In the end, we will spend $14 on supplies to redo the hardware...  We would have likely spent $150 on new hardware! 

This was about 1/3 of the hardware after being spray painted.

Anyway, we went back on Wednesday night with a new can of spray paint.  We were able to paint more of the hardware; some of the pulls need painted on both sides so we need to wait for the first side to dry but my dad will finish them up when the first side is dry.  Once everything is dry, we can finally put everything onto furniture!  And, as you know from last Thursday's post, we put the last coat of paint onto the furniture on last Wednesday as well so we are finally (almost) done!!  Yay!  (Photos of the finished hardware on the finished furniture will coming up in another post...)

Anyway, I started summarizing the cost of the refinishing, so I'll just review a bit...  In terms of sandpaper, we may have spent $10 and that is probably an exaggeration.  In terms of primer, we only needed one can so that was $8.  In terms of paint for the furniture, we will need to break into the second can for the last coat of pain (so we almost got away with only one can) so that's $16.   In terms of paint for the hardware, we will need two cans which will be $14.  And, let's not forget - I originally paid $125 for the furniture.  That means that we paid $173 for the finished furniture!  To finish the bedroom, we paid $70 for a headboard, $37 for a bedframe, and $499 for the mattress and boxspring.  All together, we spent only $779 to furnish our entire bedroom in new (or newly refinished) furniture!