tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-62836579953496102442024-03-12T20:37:30.939-05:00Edges Like Sea GlassBy Leah LaRoccoLeah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.comBlogger95125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-25717938483312660982016-02-05T19:24:00.004-06:002016-02-05T19:24:54.467-06:00Edges Like Sea Glass Has Moved!!<div style="text-align: center;">
Well, I decided to switch blog platforms for more usability. The writing and adventures shall continue, so please see all new posts for <a href="http://www.edgeslikeseaglass.com/" target="_blank">Edges Like Sea Glass</a> at the new, fancy... </div>
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<a href="http://www.edgeslikeseaglass.com/">www.edgeslikeseaglass.com</a></div>
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Having friends along for the journey is the best part!</div>
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Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-47780668862846476042016-01-24T22:35:00.001-06:002016-01-24T22:35:58.152-06:00A Walk In Winter: Not To Be MissedI've been thinking a lot lately about choices. Today I woke up, puttered around the kitchen for a while, read a book, started to take a nap, and finally forced myself to get out of bed and leave the house. We've had snow here in Nashville which has been a bit of a phenomenon because it's actually hung around. Most of the time when it snows here, the totals barely reach an inch and within a few hours become a distant memory as we slog through mud for a few days. I haven't been able to get into the woods over the past few weekends because of bad weather and things we had going on, but today I was determined to see the trees covered in snow. <br />
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As I left the house and crunched along the ice on our road, I kept thinking about turning around, but the main roads were clear. When I pulled into the park, I couldn't contain my excitement. I didn't fix or filter any of these pictures, this is just how it was. And the whole time I was walking and trudging up the trail I kept thinking, "I could have missed this. I could have stayed inside and missed this."<br />
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<i>Edwin Warner Park</i><br />
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"I would have missed this..." It got me thinking. How much do I miss as a result of certain choices? It's always easier to stay home, snuggle up with a cat and a book, drink some tea, and bliss out on a good story. It's easier than making the effort to pick up the phone or make time in the calendar to connect with friends. Easier than getting bundled up and walking to town for exercise when it's cold out. Easier than planning a trip and going to the airport and flying somewhere. It's always easier to stay home. But is it always worth it? <br />
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I'm married to a man who is slowly introducing balance into my life because we are opposites in just about every way. Where I feel the need to GO GO GO in order to feel productive and be inspired, he feels the need to rest and relax as a result of the physically exhausting nature of his job. So on days where I'm dying to get out, he is often aching to put his feet up and chill. We are learning to respect our individual needs and compromise whenever we can. So sometimes the choice to stay home is a necessary one. <br />
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But if there's one thing I would encourage everyone in my life to do, it would be to get outside more and experience this beautiful world that we live in. <br />
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<i>Radnor Lake</i><br />
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<i>“It had nothing to do with gear or footwear or the backpacking fads or
philosophies of any particular era or even with getting from point A to
point B. It had to do with how it felt to be in the wild. With
what it was like to walk for miles with no reason other than to witness
the accumulation of trees and meadows, mountains and deserts, streams
and rocks, rivers and grasses, sunrises and sunsets. The experience was
powerful and fundamental. It seemed to me that it had always felt like
this to be a human in the wild, and as long as the wild existed it would
always feel this way.” </i>- Cheryl Strayed "Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail"<span id="quote_book_link_12262741"><a class="authorOrTitle" href="https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/17237712"></a>
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Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-10001314864066651822016-01-14T17:49:00.000-06:002016-01-14T17:50:27.809-06:00We Didn't Win The Powerball: Hello, 2016!David Bowie has died. Another creator's voice silenced when the
world felt there was still so much to give. A reminder to all of us
that life change change on a dime, that it's never long enough to fully
accomplish all we intend. And then there is Alan Rickman...I don't even
know where to begin with this one. He will forever be Colonel Brandon
and Severus Snape to me, in that order. He was as dashing a figure as
ever there was and such a brilliant actor. He will be missed.
Always... <br />
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The
end of 2015 slipped past quietly. Any time I spend New Year's Eve at
home on Long Island there is nothing to do. Everyone I know up there is
praying in the New Year, faithfully on their knees as midnight comes
and goes, ushering in the unknown future by acknowledging God first. As
a kid this used to drive me crazy. The clock would get closer and
closer to midnight and they'd all still be praying...what about the ball
drop? What about screaming Happy New Year and singing Auld Ang Syne?
What about bear hugs all around and champagne and cheers? Instead,
fervent requests for the fate of our country, peace in the Middle East,
the homeless in our community...on they prayed through the strike of an
old grandfather clock in some distant corner of the house. As an adult,
I hold dear their reverence.<br />
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It's
a notion that I would love to grab hold of, to say that my faith is
strong enough to want to eschew things like frivolous celebration, but
is celebration not a prayer of thankfulness itself? I no longer care
about a ball dropping in Times Square, but every year when midnight
rolls around, the slate is wiped clean, a new day dawns, and I start
thinking about new adventures...not what I want to change and inevitably
miserably fail at, but where to go, what new things to see this year
that will broaden my understanding of beauty and this great, vast world
that we live in? I worry that time will elapse and there will be places
my heart longs to stand in that will go unseen. Trappings of career,
money, house, and family all contribute to the inability to drop
everything and go. I want to leave it all behind and hike the
Appalachian Trail, to recover bits of myself that have been lost along
the way, to look into new faces and experience God on a mountaintop, a
literal mountaintop. But I remain responsible, tied to a life carefully
built, tenuously held together, and most of the time, happily walked
in. Sigh...<br />
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Winter
has settled in. Finally! I thought I was a woman tied to spring and
could live happily in a world where the temperature is always 72
degrees, but this year I understand that I am a woman of the seasons and
each one has its purpose. The frost and cold brings a refreshing
comfort in knowing the plants will at last lose the old foliage they've
been hanging onto, the dangerous bugs will finally die of exposure, and
the bulbs will bloom in spring. The garden that is a blank canvas of
tired soil will once again be renewed and ready to receive the new
year's crop. The seeds have been ordered, the grow light is set up and,
and gardening books are being read. Winter's bite means that the
warmth of spring is on the way.<br />
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I have embarked on what I
fear will be my total failure as a gardener. I planted seeds. I
faithfully ordered the usual stock, with a few new ones thrown in, from <a href="http://www.rareseeds.com/" target="_blank">Baker Creek Heirloom seeds</a>,
but this year instead of purchasing heirloom tomato plants, I'm
attempting to grow my own. I tried this a few years ago, but it was
such a disastrous failure that I gave up entirely and have since
direct-sown seeds into the ground and purchased tomato plants. But this
year, I decided to have another go at it with the knowledge that my
self esteem may be damaged forever. The varieties you can buy in seed
form are so much more interesting! It's like shopping in the shoe
department at <a href="http://www.walmart.com/cp/Shoes/1045804" target="_blank">Walmart</a> versus going to <a href="http://www.bergdorfgoodman.com/Shoe-Salon/cat200648/c.cat" target="_blank">Bergdorf</a>'s.
When you start from seed, the world opens and the Pradas and Valentinos
of tomatoes are suddenly at your fingertips! I'm sticking with mostly
heirloom cherry varieties this year since I've found that the large
tomato plants have a very small yield and the likelihood that a squirrel
will taste my prize tomatoes before I do is infuriatingly high.<br />
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Every
year in the garden has been a calendar period of sheer
experimentation. What will the bugs destroy this year? Which organic
spray mixture will actually kill them? Answer: just forget it, you have
to kill yourself in order to kill the bugs. How many tomatoes will the
squirrels steal and will I get enough sauce to freeze through the
winter? Which cucumber variety produces the nicest, straightest fruits
without tasting bitter if left on the vine? Why are carrots so stupid?
Does the asparagus prefer being uncovered after frost or left to grow
through its mulch cover? Why don't apple trees bloom????? Which basil
variety do we prefer? There are so many! How much thinning do beets
actually need? Answer: a lot. How many tons of mulch, compost, humus,
and manure will it take before my soil consistency is loamy like the
community garden at the <a href="http://www.nashville.gov/Parks-and-Recreation/Nature-Centers-and-Natural-Areas/Warner-Park-Nature-Center/About-Your-Visit.aspx" target="_blank">Warner Nature Center</a>, of which my envy knows no bounds???<br />
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I
haven't figured it out yet, any of it. And this year promises to be
just as experimental with just as many foot stomping failures that will
inevitably make me want to throw garden rakes at our neighbor's awful,
noisy ducks. The work involved in a garden of our size (19'x35') is
greater than I ever could have realized and the weeds are a particular
challenge, a force of evil which cannot be thwarted. I already feel
torn between the desire to hike every weekend and the backbreaking work
it will take to maintain the garden through the prettiest outdoor
seasons of the year. All of it goes hand in hand, really. A friend
once said to me that he couldn't figure out if gardeners were either
psychotic or just a bunch of people who love the outdoors. Precisely!Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-84255447164260554212015-11-30T21:51:00.001-06:002015-11-30T21:51:40.876-06:00The Best Views In GSMNP: Charlies BunionComing back to real life after vacation is such a drag, like a shoot me, I wish I had some moonshine right now kind of drag. But muddle through we must...until the next vacation...which is on Thursday, thank God, or I would have to find something high to jump off of. We're heading to Long Island for some soul medicine known as salty air, prescribed by the Almighty as an antidote to the occasional drudgery of daily life. Also, December is depressingly busy. Happy busy (maybe?), but just too much happening. I didn't even realize it until we got home last night and I opened up my circa 1992 Hallmark, fit-in-your-purse calendar to look at the month and nearly had <span id="goog_1263316467"></span><span id="goog_1263316468"></span>a heart attack. All those tiny squares fill up so quickly and then people get mad because you have too much going on and have to draw the line at some things.<br />
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For the two more days that we're in town prior to salty air inhalation, I'm thinking about the mountains and trying to remember all the emotions felt while standing on top of the world, looking out at an endless sea of peaks on Charlies Bunion. This outcropping of rock has a weird name because it looks like a bunion on the side of a hill, but the views...THE VIEWS!!<br />
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A friend recommended this hike to me because it's her favorite hike in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Then, I watched two park volunteers get dewy eyed when talking about the trail and the sights from Charlies Bunion. "You should really do that hike, you have to see the views from there, it's incredible." The trail to get to Charlies Bunion starts out at the Newfound Gap parking lot and goes directly along the Appalachian Trail. We'd hiked on the AT the day before and I was convinced it couldn't get any better, but it does. I'll add myself to the list of people utterly enchanted by everything having to do with this trail.<br />
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We came upon another shelter, the Icewater Spring shelter, which had a lovely view of the mountains. Still sparse, but quite a nice place to spend the night.<br />
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Thankfully the pricey trekking poles saved our knees. We got one pair and each had a pole, but I noticed a difference in how my knees felt, as in I could still walk to the bathroom to take some Advil at the end of the day. If I had pulled 18 tendons in my legs, it would have been worth it to see what we saw on Charlies Bunion. We had it to ourselves for a few minutes to just silently take in the breadth of what we were seeing and to climb carefully up onto the rock for a picture without falling to our deaths.<br />
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When we finally tore ourselves from the bunion, we headed back along the trail to an offshoot called the jumpoff which included a steep uphill .3 mile climb to a whole different perspective of the mountain sea. In fact, we could see Charlie's Bunion from where we were and we traversed a mountain like the Von Trapp family, people. Rob couldn't see the bunion because he's going blind at 40, but the neon shirts of the people standing on the rock to get pictures where we'd been standing an hour before showed up against the backdrop of leafless trees. <br />
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In short, a magical respite from the usual pace of life to an altogether different daily challenge of tackling nature. I hope we can get back there soon to experience even more places in the park, but what a lucky blessing to be able to see what we saw and feel so teeny in the middle of it all.<br />
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<br />Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-70056960904051358662015-11-28T17:30:00.001-06:002015-11-28T17:36:02.398-06:00GSMNP: Hiking 0.025% On The AT<style>
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You guys, I’m in Gatlinburg, the armpit of Tennessee, also
known as the Vegas of the South, also known as the grossest place on earth, also
known as the white trash capitol of the world, also known as air-brushed t-shirt
heaven…shoot me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The thing is, people actually come here to just spend time in this town. What is wrong with them?! We are staying in this town solely for its proximity to Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We wake up early, eat breakfast before the crowds arrive, and head into nature as fast as we can to avoid all the insane crazy idiots who vacation here. Then we hike, come back into this hell hole of abysmalness to eat dinner, and head to the three distilleries in town that give you free moonshine tastings...which brings me to my current state of drunkenness while writing this blog. Moonshine is awesome, how was this stuff ever illegal?! You sidle up to a sticky counter where a very enthusiastic, pimply youth who doesn't get enough attention at home yells at you and tells you to drink more free liquor. In fact, we discovered you can get totally drunk for $3 in Gatlinburg, $1 tip for each distillery. Old Smoky Moonshine is gross and way too sweet, don't go there. The Davy Crockett place is much much better. But the Sugarland distillery takes the cake as far as moonshine goes, but get there before 9 pm or you'll only get 4 samples, and please, who can get drunk on that? The best thing is that they give you tastings in communion cups!!! Like, the old school plastic cups you drink grape juice out of in church, so you feel like this is some kind of holy sacrament Jesus approves of because everyone in the South is a Christian and loves Jesus, so obviously, moonshine.</div>
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Today, was maybe the best day of my life, except for being born and marrying Rob, because I got to hike a teensy tiny, not even worth mentioning how short it was, portion of the Appalachian Trail. In fact I just did the math because I'm a nerd and we hiked 0.025% of the entire trail. Holy cow, I'm a section hiker. Tomorrow we'll hike another 0.04%, so look out, world. We went up to Clingman's Dome and walked up that God awful concrete hill till we came to the Appalachian Trail and took an immediate left to head to the Double Spring Gap Shelter, which was 2.7 miles from the Dome. This is probably, most definitely the most beautiful stretch of trail I've ever been on, plus it holds the distinction of being the highest point on the AT. </div>
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We hiked down to the shelter, which was actually nicer than I was expecting, I mean...primitive, but still nice. </div>
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<i>Where thru-hikers get cozy</i></div>
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<i>There are SO many rules when hiking through a national park...</i></div>
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<i>What lonely, depressed hikers read on the trail</i></div>
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Two thru-hikers were just packing up and getting ready to leave, so I got to pepper these nice young, bearded men with questions before they set off on the continuation of their journey. While chewing on a mouthful of Clif Bar I learned that they've been on the trail for 5 1/2 months and started in Maine. They are taking illegal amounts of aspirin to deal with the day to day body aches involved with this journey. It was recommended that we quit our jobs and hike this trail and not wait till we're retired because our bodies will crumble and decay if we do this when we're old. Apparently there was an older man who was attempting the 100 mile wilderness at the same time they were and ended up quitting, which, duh, that's like the hardest portion of the entire trail, so I think that guy was just dumb to start out there. They were wearing these cool knee supports they found in a hiker box, which I need to order from Amazon immediately because my knees hate me right now. They also said that going back to normal life is going to be really hard after this, but that if they don't end up getting jobs that's ok because there's always the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail to tackle. Yes, they plan to aim for the Triple Crown. A few days ago they saw some bears on the trail, but the other night it was only 14 degrees and they were really cold trying to sleep. They packed up and headed on down toward Springer Mountain and became our new heroes.</div>
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<i>Want to know what tired day hikers look like on the AT? Like this. </i></div>
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<i>We had to stop several times on the way back up so we didn't die.</i></div>
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We finished up our snacks, checked out the bear cables at the shelter, and headed back the way we came, which was ALL uphill...no big deal. We climbed and sweated our way back up to Clingman's Dome and decided to avoid the lookout altogether because it was crawling with people, so we stopped at the information center and talked to these two badass women who were volunteers and have hiked all over these mountains. They were amazing and if I could have taken them out for coffee and some moonshine, I would have. We headed back down the mountain and saw a bear, which I was dying to see, but was thinking there's no way we could get that lucky, to see TWO bears in one year, but we did. Here is our second black bear this year. We crouched down by the side of the road and we watched him forage for acorns without being scared out of our minds because he wasn't 6 feet away from us, like in Colorado. This guy was a safe distance and we watched in peaceful awe of the adorableness that is a bear butt. Bear butts are almost as amazing as cat's paws.</div>
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I'm really sore. Rob is really sore. We went to the Nantahla Outdoor Center (NOC) at the end of town on our way back and were nearly talked into buying a pair of nice trekking poles for $100 smackeroos. We declined...then as the night wore on and we drank more moonshine, we felt more and more sore. In fact, my knees and my glutes are so sore, I could die. I hiked up a mountain using my ass, people. We thought about those trekking poles and debated the pros and cons, I'm not kidding, we did, even made a list like adulty people. Finally, we ran to the NOC, arriving 3 minutes before they closed to buy a pair of trekking poles that cost as much as the dress I'm wearing to the GRAMMYs this year. </div>
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Tomorrow, we hike to Charlies Bunion, also along the AT, which boasts some of the prettiest views you can see in the park...with trekking poles. </div>
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Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-1873435094573888612015-11-25T10:30:00.001-06:002015-11-25T10:48:43.531-06:00To Paris, And Friends, With ThanksThere is a small Eiffel Tower that sits on our mantel, maybe 5 or 6 inches tall. One of my best friends and old college roommates was living in Europe, so the other roommate and I went over there to stay with her. We all went on a jaunt to Italy and then Ashley and I headed to Paris for two days of trying to squeeze in as much France-i-ness as we possibly could. It started with the Eiffel Tower, of course. We went all the way to the top and at a little gift shop up on a middle level, I bought a set of coasters with scenes of Paris and this tiny Eiffel Tower.<br />
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<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">In all of our awkward 2007 glory...</span> </i></div>
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I've never been much into French decor, but this token is one of the things I have that I treasure greatly because it brings back memories of an adventure, of the Louvre, staring tiny Mona Lisa right in those mysterious eyes, seeing Winged Victory for the first time at the top of a massive stone staircase, running past DaVinci and waving, hoping I'd come back to appreciate him more, of pastries and crepes and hot chocolates, of getting sneered at in a cafe because we couldn't read the menu and, Heaven forbid, asked a question, of parks and flowers, and crossing a roundabout, nearly losing life and limb to see a fountain, of standing before the splendor of Notre Dame and sitting on old pews listening to the mass, getting a sore neck from staring transfixed at the rose window, of staying in a hotel room the size of a shoe box and having to squish against the wall every time we needed to pass each other. There was so much we still weren't able to see, but I've always wanted to go back even though the city was dark, the buildings were covered in centuries of grime, and the people were a stark contrast to the open welcome we received in Italy. And yet, there is something about Paris that enchants, leaves a mark etched in your soul.<br />
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I'm so deeply saddened that a city of such beauty has endured such violence within its walls this year. I have nothing to say which hasn't already been said, just a feeling of emptiness in my gut. The world is in a sad state and I often feel helpless as to what I can do about it, so I sit home and stew, getting angry at uncharitable people who feel we should turn everyone in need away from our borders, yet this accomplishes nothing. However, the season of thankfulness is upon us, so in spite of the horrors in our world, every one of us has the ability to look up and be thankful that we are alive, that we are here to experience what this earth has to give us, whether that be joy or sorrow.<br />
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Tomorrow we head to the mountains...from whence our help comes. Nature seems to be the best kind of solace, a balm for the wounds of humanity, opening its arms, arresting us with its beauty, and reminding us of how very small we are. I feel absolutely desperate to get away from here, to be in the middle of nowhere, to look out and see nothing but peaks for miles. We had decided to "opt outside" before it became a thing, and the idea of being away from civilization even for a small patch of time amidst days of frenzied consumerism, makes my lungs and heart feel less constricted and able to breathe easier. Weather/elevation permitting, we'll be hiking a few trails along the AT where I will either die from happiness or a hungry bear or muscle fatigue...<br />
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Through everything the people in our lives make life worth living, connection with others, a brief word spoken in a hard time, a soft touch in a lonely place, and I could not be more thankful for the ones in ours. There are so many who I think about and haven't seen in years, childhood friends, family members far away, people from church at home...who all at some point poured lovingly into my heart, and even into Rob's heart too. You are noticed and loved more than you know! There is a young woman I grew up with who I still think of as being two years old, who is backpacking all over the place and figuring out her way in life. Another childhood friend who came out and lives proudly as the individual, beautiful person she is. Women from church whose words of wisdom still ring in my ears, whose loving hugs I can still feel around my arms. High school friends who have gorgeous children, who I used to sit next to in chorus or play volleyball with, who now have successful, fulfilling lives. Family members who live far away who we would kill to have dinner with once in a while. And of course, my best friends, scattered all over the country whose voices always sound like home.<br />
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Thank you for being perfectly you, for living so beautifully, and here's to much joy on Thanksgiving and much happiness this season!!Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-8132865800658573682015-10-26T14:20:00.001-05:002015-10-26T17:51:50.451-05:00Can You Hear Me Now? Disconnecting Phones, Hiking Stone Door, & Getting Real For A Sec<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>"I really think that being in nature is a basic human need that we have. It gives us perspective because, when you walk into the woods, or walk through the desert or sit by a river, you realize that you're only one thing in the great order of things....I know for certain that I myself get incredibly bound up in very minor, ridiculous, temporary conundrums. And obviously there's nothing wrong with that. I think we have to get bound up in those things....But if you only live in that realm, you are missing out on something that's essential and illuminating." </i></div>
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<i>Cheryl Strayed in a recent </i><a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-cheryl-strayed-20151024-story.html" target="_blank">LA Times</a><i><a href="http://www.latimes.com/health/la-he-cheryl-strayed-20151024-story.html" target="_blank"> article</a> discussing her new book </i><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Brave-Enough-Cheryl-Strayed/dp/1101946903" target="_blank">Brave Enough</a></div>
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<i>One thing in the great order of things...</i></div>
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I get really frustrated when I sit in front of the TV. I grew up in a home without cable and never had it myself until I got married and it was part of the binding contract that came with my husband. For him, watching TV is a way to unwind after the daily labor of his very physical job. But for me, the more I watch TV, the more I hate it. Don't get me wrong, I love BBC shows and could sit for days on end engrossed in proper murder mysteries, period dramas, and reruns of QI...but in the end, the TV is a killer of creativity, a way to ignore the world around us, and a silencer of communication with other human beings. If we didn't have one in our house, I wouldn't miss it (well, except maybe for movies). In fact, more and more I am noticing the dearth of conversation created by the screens in our home. Our phones get more face time with us than we do with ourselves sometimes. I've heard of people setting limits on screen time in their homes and I think it's wise to be aware of the way technology is changing the way we live and interact with each other. I am a little disgusted with myself over the internal panic that happens when I realize I've left my phone at home on a grocery run. There is a false sense of connectedness that comes with a cell phone. The problem is that no matter how much you text someone, if you aren't having meaningful conversation with that person at some point, you are living in a superficial relationship devoid of actual connection with that individual.<br />
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This past weekend, we headed out into nature again in another godforsaken part of TN, and it was a relief to put my phone in airplane mode when we realized we had no service. This, of course, isn't awesome when you're trying to get in touch with someone, or need GPS, or have an emergency in the woods...but it is nice to not even have the option of distraction by technology when you're meant to be appreciating the vastness of the natural world around you. Sitting around a campfire is much more rewarding when you are actually talking to the people you're with as opposed to distractedly half-listening to them while looking at the latest Facebook posts. There was a sense of reluctant sadness when we finally reached the point of having service and the texts, emails, and notifications started rolling in. I think that lately, being immersed in nature on these weekend jaunts has been a way to reconnect with the neglected parts of myself that have become hidden in daily life, the house work, the job, marriage, the striving that we constantly have to deal with. </div>
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<i>Our home away from home</i></div>
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When it's you, the trees, and the sound of your own footsteps, things occasionally loom into perspective. I enjoy going into the woods alone, but I really love when Rob comes along too because there's the sense of accomplishing something together, working toward an end goal and making discoveries along the way. This weekend, my body was humbled by the trails at the Stone Door in South Cumberland State Park. We ended up making a 12ish mile loop by taking the Stone Door trail to Big Creek Gulf Trail to Ranger Creek Falls, then on to Greeter Falls, and returning via the Big Creek Rim trail. The gulf trail was peppered with moments of astounding beauty - dry river beds strewn with mossy boulders, waterfalls, brilliant colors that stood out in the damp weather, and ascents that set the heart pounding and the legs on fire.</div>
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<i>Entrance to the Stone Door</i></div>
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<i>The Stone Door - a passageway used by the Native Americans</i></div>
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<i>Ranger Creek Falls</i></div>
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<i>Greeter Falls Trail</i></div>
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<i>Upper Greeter Falls</i></div>
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This is probably the most challenging trail we've done in terms of inclines, even compared to those in Colorado. The last three miles on the way back, the muscles behind my left knee were in a lot of pain and I'm still not sure what I did to it because I was completely fine the next morning, but seriously, I wanted to sit on a log in the woods and cry for a minute. It also rained for a good two miles, but in spite of the knee pain and ill timed precipitation, I kept looking up through the reds and oranges of fall and feeling so utterly blessed to be tiny ants marching along in the forest.</div>
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<i>Pippin, the ranger station cat, leads a life of badassness and feline adventure in the wilds of Tennessee.</i></div>
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<i>Myrle and Maddox enjoy the comforts of our down sleeping bags, preferring that we have the adventures and they have the naps.</i></div>
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A couple of things to note about hiking and camping because my dad accused me of making it all sound so rosy, so I'm going to get real at the end of this blog after you've seen all the pretty pictures that make it worth the journey...</div>
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<li>Sometimes a trail is really hard and you're in the middle of it and want to die. Or feel like you're going to die. Because you're breathing so heavily on an ascent and then you try to take a drink of water and realize you can't breathe and drink water at the same time, so you have to make up for that after a sip and you end up sounding like you're being strangled, but really you're just trying to not die. </li>
<li>Sometimes you hear a trail is nice and then you go hike it and it's flat and boring, and you realize you just wasted 6 miles of your life to walk a flat, boring trail with no views.</li>
<li>Sometimes you get blisters or your feet really, really hurt after you've walked a lot of miles and you want to throw your hiking shoes over a cliff, like Reese Witherspoon in Wild, but then you realize you need those shoes to finish the 5 miles you have left.</li>
<li>People are smelly. YOU are smelly. After you hike and sweat and sleep in a tent for a few nights and go to the bathroom in the woods for days on end, you smell like a garbage dumpster and look like one too. I take wet wipes and hand sanitizer and a big headband for my gross, frizzy hair, but there's only so much one can do when a shower isn't available. This is the reality of the human condition. We are disgusting.</li>
<li>Wildlife can scare you sometimes, whether it be a bear, snake, moose, deer, chipmunk, spider, or leaf you thought was a giant bug. We've seen lots of wildlife on our hikes this year. Some of it scared the crap out of us and some of it was totally awesome (or both). Be wise, carry bear spray in appropriate situations, realize you're on their turf now, and deal with that in the most environmentally friendly way possible. </li>
<li>Injuries can happen, which sucks. The best thing to do is have a first aid kit and to assess the situation with wisdom and smarts. Every root, stump, rock, and slippery leaf poses the risk of a fall, so step carefully. Remember that states like New Hampshire, Colorado, and Utah now have hiker cards you can purchase in case you need to be rescued. These cards will keep you from incurring most of the financially crippling costs that are associated with search and rescue operations.</li>
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In my opinion, the benefits of being in nature outweigh these things. There is just too much beauty out there to be chased after, so yeah, it's rosy in some ways, and totally nasty in other ways...a lot like life.Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-57175057867169647042015-10-23T12:39:00.002-05:002015-10-23T12:39:51.957-05:00Woods & WisdomToday I am relishing the fact that my neighbors seem to be out of town. At approximately 9:52 every morning, a horde of screaming children takes to their backyard and makes the amount of noise a small troop of Vikings would make on an impromptu pillage. They do this until dinner time. It also sounds like ducks, chickens, and other random sorts of poultry are being tortured or chased or strung up in trees. I don't know. Sometimes I'm on the phone with a coworker and they're like, "What's that weird noise I'm hearing?" And I nervously laugh and think, "Oh nothing, it's just a pack of wild, screaming children who've been left outside unattended, you know, like in <i>Lord of the Flies</i>." <br />
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It's a really stunning autumn day here. The weather is low 70s, sunny, with early leaves blowing lazily through the air. Lacy, our old lady dog, was struck prone by a sunbeam and is laying in the grass in such a way that I occasionally feel the need to check and make sure she's still breathing.<br />
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This has been an interesting week. Last weekend we spent a day with always-missed and much loved friends, then went to Rock Island State Park which was in the middle of freaking nowhere, Tennessee. The trails were short, but the waterfalls were kind of mind blowing considering the largest one was actually an accident when TVA created the dam. Talk about one heck of a pretty accident!<br />
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Then I went to hear Elizabeth Gilbert speak (with Ann Patchett), following a particularly uninspiring few days, and it felt like I'd struck a vein of joy. The past couple of days I've been trying to sit on my little raft and ride the wake of inspiration that follows her wherever she goes. Some of the few things that stood out amongst the deluge of wisdom:<br />
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<li>She loves beautiful shoes so much that she will purchase a pair even if only one of the shoes actually fits the way it's supposed to. This is encouraging because even an amazing, famous author like her can be taken down a notch by a pair of Dior shoes. </li>
<li>We must become scientists of our own experience.</li>
<li>Assume that everyone you encounter has something fascinating in them.</li>
<li>Unused virtue/love/creativity is not benign.</li>
<li>Check in with the richer, more interesting part of yourself. Your soul versus your ego.</li>
<li>You only have to be 1% more curious than afraid to do the things you want to do. This one is huge for me. New goal: live a life of curiosity and wonder.</li>
<li>You can't push darkness out, you can only grow light.</li>
<li>There is honor in supporting yourself while you honor your work. You can still put the work first while you have a job and a financial support beneath you. I really loved this advice, particularly living in Nashville, because there is this stigma here that unless you are really suffering for your art/musicianship/whatever, then you are not a serious artist/musician/whatsit. She advised to never go into debt because of your art, but to make your art alongside your job, honoring the creative process and prioritizing it while still being a responsible individual.</li>
<li>Once you're wealthy, you just don't have to give a sh*t about what other people think. She openly talks about the success of <i>Eat, Pray, Love</i> and how it's given her the ability to do whatever the F she wants without caring what anyone else thinks. There must be so much freedom in that. New goal: stop caring so much about what other people think.</li>
<li>One of her goals in life is to walk for a year. Am contemplating calling her up to see if she'd ever feel like hiking the Appalachian Trail together just for kicks. </li>
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This weekend we head up to Stone Door on the South Cumberland Plateau with some friends for more camping, hiking, and soul refreshment. Hoping the weather holds! Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-32566803123444024492015-10-12T16:57:00.000-05:002015-10-12T16:57:38.008-05:00Miles On The Trail: Leaving The Everyday BehindSometimes you reach a point in life where you realize something is
missing or feels woefully unfulfilled and it causes you to search for
joy in places unexplored. Some things have changed for me over the past six months that have left me trying to figure out what I love, what is truly important in life, how life is meant to be experienced, what can I do to live a life without regrets, how can I seize and fully embrace moments in the short time I have on this planet...deep stuff like that.<br />
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Since this is my 100th blog post, I want to talk about something near and dear to my heart - hiking. <br />
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Earlier this year I stumbled upon a podcast called <a href="http://www.soundsofthetrail.com/" target="_blank">Sounds of the Trail</a>, which has been a source of long-missing inspiration and happiness for me. When I was a kid, my parents often vacationed in Vermont because we had a little camper we stored up there.<br />
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<i>How I started hiking... </i></div>
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<i>The infamous Skamper...our home away from home for many years. </i></div>
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<i>Now most commonly referred to as "glamping"</i></div>
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These trips were sometimes internally frustrating for me because I saw other kids jetting off to Disney World or traveling to Europe with their families and I often thought, "Why the heck do I get stuck with old Vermont?" Dad would drive maddeningly slow down these out of the way dirt roads and go like 15 miles an hour so we could look at the scenery and it nearly made me lose my mind at times.<br />
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<i>The famous bridge off River Road in Arlington, VT</i></div>
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But the most fun thing we did on these trips was exploring the woods. We would go hiking at places like <a href="http://alltrails.com/trail/us/vermont/white-rocks-recreation-area-trail" target="_blank">White Rocks</a>, <a href="http://merckforest.org/trails.php" target="_blank">Merck Forest</a>, and <a href="http://www.recreation.gov/camping/hapgood-pond/r/campgroundDetails.do?contractCode=NRSO&parkId=70801" target="_blank">Hapgood Pond</a>.<br />
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There were lots of little trails in the <a href="http://campingonthebattenkillvt.com/" target="_blank">campground</a> where we stayed and I would go off on my own and just walk through the woods or explore down by the Battenkill River.<br />
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These outdoor experiences embedded themselves in me and caused me to seek out trails in college down by the Ocoee River. When I moved to Franklin, there wasn't much hiking in the near vicinity, and I would occasionally go to Edwin Warner Park, but that was about the extent of it. Then last year we went camping with some friends and hiked the <a href="http://leahlarocco.blogspot.com/2014/10/hiking-fiery-gizzard-and-survivingbarely.html" target="_blank">Fiery Gizzard</a> trail up to Raven Point in <a href="http://tnstateparks.com/parks/about/south-cumberland" target="_blank">South Cumberland State Park</a> and I got hooked again.<br />
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<i>Fiery Gizzard trail</i></div>
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Then I found <a href="http://www.soundsofthetrail.com/" target="_blank">Sounds of the Trail</a>.<br />
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I hope I get to write more about this podcast because I want everyone I know who loves the outdoors to hear about it. It's a podcast about hiking that follows the path of one woman as she is hiking the Appalachian Trail and another woman (and eventually a guy) who are currently hiking the Pacific Crest Trail. They interview hikers along the way, chronicle their own journeys, and encourage people like little old you and me to get out there and hike. The producer, whose trail name is Gizmo, hiked the PCT last year and also talks about her own experiences. The episodes are utterly inspiring and make you feel like you're sitting around a campfire with old friends, talking about adventures. <br />
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So far this year, following our epic trip to Colorado in July...<br />
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<i>Along the trail to Lake Haiyaha in RMNP</i></div>
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<i>Black bear we ran into on the way to Cub Lake in RMNP</i></div>
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...I've hiked nearly a hundred miles on short and long trails within two hours of where we live. I realize there are some people that literally hike this type of mileage in four days on the AT, but for me whose back is twisted by scoliosis, who has gained some 30s-metabolism-betraying-me weight and feels anything but athletic, it's the biggest personal accomplishment I can speak of that's happened in a long time. The most I've done in one day has been 13 miles, and Rob was with me for that and still hates me for it, I think. This past weekend I did a total of 18 miles (which included my regular walk downtown). Being in the woods has been exhilarating, and while it will never replace being close to the ocean, I find so much joy in the nature I've been able to experience there. Rob has come with me on a few trails, and a couple of friends have joined as well, but the times when I'm alone with my thoughts and the birds, and trees, and surrounded by peaceful green is the time when my soul has come out of its funk and my heart has been refreshed.<br />
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<i>Foot bridge at Fall Creek Falls</i></div>
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<i>Climbers Loop at Foster Falls</i></div>
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<i>Mossy Ridge at Percy Warner</i></div>
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<i>Mashomack Preserve on Shelter Island</i></div>
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<i>Couchville Lake</i></div>
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<i>Garnier Ridge at Radnor Lake</i></div>
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Those trails we walked on many years ago in Vermont set something in motion that I hope will continue for as long as my body is able. I want to do a backpacking trip at some point, tackle the <a href="http://www.greenmountainclub.org/page.php?id=2" target="_blank">Long Trail</a> in Vermont, and section hike parts of the AT. Rob and I went to REI, bought actual serious backpacks, and are slowly getting our gear up to snuff to be able to do some short trips. Who knows what will come of it, but for now, we walk on in search of the next beautiful moment...<br />
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<br />Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-57979209708823548002015-08-30T09:53:00.000-05:002015-08-30T09:53:49.435-05:00One Year Ago...On The North ForkFrom the outside looking in, Facebook makes it seem like lots of people I know have the perfect marriages and just love "doing life together." I've lost count of how many times I've seen that phrase thrown about of late. For anyone outside the church world it translates as, "I really like living with you and doing stuff together even though I don't like you sometimes." But I know enough to realize that no relationship is perfect, least of all ours, and it's been a hell of a first year. Everyone says the first year is the hardest and we decided to challenge that notion by taking it to "eleven" and throwing two home remodel projects into the mix. In hindsight, this was idiotic and we should have maybe waited until the second year...put less energy into our house and more energy into each other type of thing. We're figuring this messy business out as we go along, and hopefully in the process of doing that, will learn each other in different ways and laugh a lot at our mistakes. <br />
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One thing that has carried us through this year is the memory of our wedding and the week when friends and family descended on Long Island to be with us as we made this big, scary life decision. Being with my girlfriends, going to the Hamptons, eating Briermere Pies, and soaking up every ounce of summer the North Fork could offer...my heart aches when I think of the happiness it brought to my soul. I get choked up when I look back at the pictures.<br />
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More than anything, it was my hope that our friends from out of town would get to see how incredibly beautiful the East End is, so we drove them around the North Fork and then took them down south for a day in the Hamptons. We visited the Montauk Lighthouse and went to Bridgehampton Beach at the end of Ocean Road where the waves were rolling in.<br />
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The rehearsal dinner was held at the Soundview Restaurant and the sunset was everything we hoped it would be.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Solomon Davis</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo by Ashley Thomas</span><br />
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The morning of, we all drank some coffee, steamed dresses, and put makeup on as I tried not to be sick while brushing my teeth. The house we stayed in was a dream.<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">All Photos: Kimberly Barnes of Kimberly Barnes Photography</span><br />
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The only time I cried was when Jane brought the flowers. I used to work at a flower shop and have been dreaming of this bouquet for years. Jane is a talented designer who used to own the Greenport florist and is a sweet friend who introduced me to Hugh Prestwood and Nancy Lee Baxter as a teenager when I was really into songwriting. I thought they hung the moon. The bouquets were even more beautiful than I'd hoped and so much love went into making them.<br />
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I bought the shells at The Iron Gate in Franklin years ago and had been saving them for my wedding bouquet. The dusty miller came from mom and dad's yard, the seedum came from Jane's, and the dahlia's came from a field down the street...all were lovingly cultivated for the bouquets. A little bit of Tennessee and a little bit of home.<br />
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I spent hours putting the place cards together at mom and dad's dining room table using pieces of sea glass that Rob and I had found on the North Fork, along with shells that came from my great Aunt Jeanne's collection. It was humbling to say prayers of thankfulness over each name, grateful for these special people in our lives, some of whom were sacrificing a lot to be there with us.<br />
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These are some of the most gorgeous women and oldest friends I have on this planet and their beauty took my breath away.<br />
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The guys were pretty hot too...<br />
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Brecknock Hall was this amazing backdrop, steeped in North Fork history. We could not have found a more perfect place to celebrate. There are so many special moments of magic that I remember, I could go on for days...<br />
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Our cute little parents</span></div>
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And when the wedding was over, there was just us, living our lives from day to unglamorous day with this incredible memory to smile back on. I will always think of it as one of the happiest days ever, being home, surrounded by the people we love most in the world.<br />
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And so we press on...working on our marriage, loving our pets, fixing our house, savoring every joyful moment, and going back to the North Fork as often as life allows.<br />
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Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-87325696887580325552015-08-28T14:35:00.001-05:002015-08-28T14:35:17.812-05:00I'm In, I'm In, I'm In!! Home Sweet OfficeIn May I found out I'd be working from home, which has turned out to be a great thing and I feel like a more productive human being now. The challenge was to create a space that wouldn't interfere with our home life and would also be peaceful and inspiring. We had this crappy little room that ended up being the perfect size and place since it has a separate entrance off the patio. Rob worked so hard to get this together for me and here's what it looks like now!<br />
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Rob built a cabinet and shelving unit to house and hide the water heater. This also adds extra storage for supplies, etc.<br />
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On one side of the room where there used to be some shelves and a dirty old window, I wanted a cozy corner for when I don't feel like being glued to the desk. This is the perfect chair to curl up with the laptop. <br />
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<br />It's so exciting to have this project finished because I was so worried about feeling displaced and not being able to separate work and home life. Now it won't be an issue anymore and this is a quiet spot to concentrate and get stuff done. It took a lot of work and as always with this house, there were problems that arose which we weren't expecting, but all in all, we're both really happy with it. Home sweet office!Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-24959626584541822182015-08-19T22:12:00.000-05:002015-08-20T09:20:42.819-05:00The State Of The Office: Progress!So, I'm officially working from home, following some vacations and much needed time in the wilderness. Work on the office continues and for now I'm happily set up at my desk in our dining room, but am excited for the day when I don't have to worry about the cats knocking all my papers on the floor or the dog starting to bark just as I've dialed into a call (I swear she has ESP and does this to spite me because she knows I prefer cats).<br />
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As with every project we've done in this house, there were special challenges that had to be dealt with. One of these was the installation of a mini split heating and cooling unit we purchased. Online, the reviews for the unit were great. People loved the efficiency and "easy installation" along with the fact that the price of the unit was about $500 less than the ones being sold at Home Depot. However, these things are TRICKY as hell to install, plus most HVAC places will not install a unit that you didn't purchase from them. So that was fun. Rob did his best until finally we were able to find a guy who had worked on a home just down the street from us. $400 later, our unit is in working order and I will hopefully not die from a gas leak in the copper lines. Lesson learned.<br />
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Mini split installed, plus a new door too...with a window in it!!!<br />
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Another big piece of this room (literally) was the new window. We ordered the window way in advance of when it would have to be installed and instead of three weeks, it took five and a half to come in. Once it arrived and we stopped pulling our hair out, we got right to work. Basically, we took two tiny 22 inch windows and combined them to make one nine foot by 24 inch window that looks out on the back yard. <br />
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Rob cut the beams in preparation for a header and then used a sawzall demo blade to cut through old asbestos shingles and aluminum siding (he wore a mask). <br />
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Both of us hefted the window outside after the raw edges of the house had been sealed with a tar tape to prevent any moisture getting in. The result is this awesome new visage to the green outdoors that adds some natural light to this tiny, dark space.<br />
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Drywall is now up and Rob is working on a shelving unit that will house and hide the new, smaller water heater plus provide additional storage space for office supplies.<br />
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To be honest, I'm pretty freaking thrilled about where things are right now. There is a lot of painting to do and we still have to put the tile floor in once that's finished, but there is light at the end of the tunnel! This room is totally unrecognizable from what it was before and even though this most likely is not a project that will add significant monetary value to our house, it is the perfect space for what I need at this point with my job and I'm so very grateful that we are not having to convert our guest room to an office. Now fingers crossed that all the furniture will fit!Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-13256683688565156942015-06-16T21:32:00.001-05:002015-06-16T21:32:29.345-05:00Prince Edward Island: We Saw Seals And They Were CuuuteAs I write this, it's raining outside. Through the window I can see the tide rolling in and my freezing cold self is warming up by the giant wood stove in the middle of the cottage. It's so darn cozy in here, I barely know what to do with myself. Oh, and the sheets in our bedrooms are made of fleece!!! They are by a company called Brunswick that only ships to Canada, but I will find these sheets somehow, or die trying.<br />
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Today was...interesting. We are out in the middle of nowhere on gorgeous Point Prim and we decided to head up the Points East Coastal Route to see what else this side of the island has to offer. We discovered that it is definitely more remote over here. The largest town, Montague, has a couple of restaurants, but what we've discovered over the course of the past several days here is that when you ask a local for recommendations on where to go in other parts of the island, they have a hard time coming up with an answer. It seems, from an outsider's perspective, that many people stay in the town where they live and don't venture out too much. Just the other day we asked a shop owner for a recommendation of a place to get tea or coffee, and she was wracking her brain and had no idea what to tell us except for a Tim Horton's in a town pretty far away. When we turned out of the road her shop was on, we ran into a TEA ROOM, a bloomin' tea room, not half a mile from her shop. I mean...what?<br />
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So today the only actual suggestion we got was to head to Souris (pronounced sawree) where the singing sands beach is located. Souris is actually a pretty cute town. We stopped at the beach there and walked out into the sea while the tide was low. The tides here are blowing our minds. When the tide is low you can walk like half a mile out, but when they start coming in, you'd better be near the shore because it happens pretty quickly.<br />
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Turns out the singing sands at Basin Head Provincial Park just sound like squishing, squeaking sand when you step on it. While the sand serenaded us, we found sea glass and got to pet a giant Newfoundland dog who was the softest, cuddliest big guy ever. We were so excited to see him because we learned the other day that the rum runners always had Newfoundlands on their boats with them, obviously so they could have a good snuggle after a long day of illegal activity.<br />
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After that, we took our frozen bodies back down to Souris where we stopped at a bakery and cleaned the place out. Cinnamon rolls have been a very important source of protein for us. There is an embarrassing amount of baked goods on our kitchen counter right now. I can't even take a picture because you would think it was a Y2K situation up in here with us hoarding sweets for when the world ends. <br />
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We decided to eat dinner at the Point Prim Chowder House tonight which has a great reputation all over the island for having the best seafood. Since I don't eat seafood, I've been encouraging Ashley to eat lots of lobster so all this goodness doesn't go to waste. I had a pulled pork grilled cheese and it was ridiculously delish. Only thing is that it's unusually cold for this time of year and the place has no heat. Oh well, our hands were warmed by the food!<br />
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The lupines are in bloom all over the island. The roads and fields are lined with purples and pinks and it looks like a dream.<br />
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When we got back to the cottage tonight, I walked out into the Northumberland Strait just because I could. I mean, look at this!<br />
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The cottage owner helped us light the wood stove and we learned that he used to work on the ferry out of Wood Island for 39 years! In fact, when he found out I was from Long Island, he said that PEI sold their old ferry to New London, CT because it was too small and that is now the ferry they operate out of Orient Point. He'd been to that part of the island and said the people were very nice there. What a small world!!!<br />
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He also gave us a local nugget, that just down the way you can take a dirt road down to the beach, walk to the left about 20 minutes until you hit a cove, and that's where the seals hang out. (!!!!) So as soon as he left we jumped in the car and headed down the road just as it was starting to drizzle. We pressed on over the rocky shoreline, that looks like no other shore I've ever been on, keeping an eye on the tide. As we got closer to the cove, it looked like there might be something and then we started to see movement and little heads popping out of the water. It was magical. We actually were able to get relatively close and hear them honking their heads off in the water. These pics are a little grainy because I had my zoom all the way out and it was raining (look on the right side of the rock), but the experience was like something out of a dream, standing there in the misty rain on a red clay beach, watching these seals frolic in the gray ocean. <br />
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We've pretty much covered the east side of the island today and we have several more days here. We absolutely loved the central coast and can't get Rustico out of our minds, so we're planning to head back there tomorrow and stop at all the little places we passed, but never went to. We might even do the Green Gables Heritage Place again because we loved it so much. Having this amount of time here has been really great because we don't feel rushed and it's nice to know we can drive for hours if we need to and still feel refreshed from the scenery. I never want to leave. Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-80310568189055442712015-06-15T22:53:00.001-05:002015-06-15T22:53:35.361-05:00Prince Edward Island: From Rustico To Point PrimThis morning I opened my shutters to the bright light of Rustico Bay for the last time and it was with a sad reluctance that we left our cottage at Seawinds to head for our second cottage on Point Prim. The town of Rustico worked its way into our hearts, so leaving was bittersweet because we knew our new cottage would be pretty too. Goodbye, Rustico Bay! I hope we meet again...<br />
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Today's first stop was the <a href="http://orwellcorner.ca/" target="_blank">Orwell Corner Historic Village</a> on the far side past Charlottetown. This was an interesting prospect because they have an agricultural heritage museum there, along with an 1895 farming village with all the original buildings, some of which were used in the filming of Anne of Green Gables. There was a film with interviews from elderly folks who grew up in farming families on PEI and the stories were fascinating. The museum also had farming machinery from the time period, along with carriages, sleighs, and tractors all the way up to present day. This is your obligatory nerd alert. <br />
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When you leave the museum and walk down a red lane with the leaves of poplar trees whispering in the wind, you come upon a church with a cemetery that is still used today, along with a one room schoolhouse, a general store, blacksmith, and several barns.<br />
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In the schoolhouse someone had written "Anne Shirley has a very bad temper" on the blackboard, so we left our mark by adding "I must not tell lies" from Harry Potter because...nerds. <br />
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The barns!!! We knew that these had been in the films, but it wasn't until tonight that we realized we were standing on the hallowed ground of the Green Gables farm! <br />
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Obviously this is still a working farm with geese, chickens, rabbits, and other fun friends.<br />
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After our little dose of history, we headed along the coast for another stop on our epic lighthouse tour, the Wood Island Lighthouse right near the ferry terminal. While we were there the ferry was pulling into the harbor, and this is a ferry to be reckoned with. It's the largest one in the history of the island with the ability to carry 215 cars. When we were leaving the area there were enormous semis full of timber and supplies, along with many cars already lined up, waiting for the second trip of the day. <br />
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The amazing thing about every lighthouse we've visited so far is that all of them have their own stories to tell. Each one has something special it wants to teach us when we walk in. As we pulled up to Wood Island, there was loud folk music playing into the breeze. This one was fascinating because there were rooms detailing shipwrecks, lighthouse keeper responsibilities, rum running history during the prohibition, and pictures of the old ice ships used in winter before any of the ferries came along.<br />
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One of my favorite things about the island is all the sea glass! It's everywhere, and people here love to go looking for sea glass. There is a whole room in the lighthouse devoted to it with collections of all different colors. <br />
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I took the picture below for Rob. He has always wanted to find a red piece, but we have a lot more searching to do before that happens! There was a also information about the history of glass. Depending on the color and shape, there are people who can tell the age of it, and there are still pieces from 1900 that make their way to the shore here today. Not surprising when one considers all the shipwrecks that have happened off these shores.<br />
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At one point there was a family of lighthouse keepers with seven children living in this building! <br />
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Naturally, we headed straight to the beach to look for sea glass...<br />
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And met a lobster along the way. <br />
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From the lighthouse we headed back to Point Prim to see our new cottage for the remainder of the trip here. We pulled into this lane and drove between farm fields all the way to the water. At the end of the road, the little one on the left is ours.</div>
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All the lilacs around the island are blooming, filling the air with fragrance, and a large vase greeted us when we arrived! <br />
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<br />The view is quite grand, looking across the bay to the Nova Scotia coastline. The tide was so far out when we got there and by the time we returned from dinner it was up the rocks by the grass.<br />
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One thing to note about Point Prim is that its loveliness comes from its remoteness, but this also means that options for food are far and few between. There is a chowder house down the lane, but we wanted to save it for another night, which meant we had two options - drive a half hour up the coastline to a restaurant that may or may not be open, or head a half hour back to Charlottetown for a more promising option. So drive back we did...<br />
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Following dinner, we raced to the Point Prim Lighthouse to see the sun going down. We passed fields of dandelions, lupines in bloom on the side of the road, and of course, the lighthouse.<br />
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Rain threatens us tomorrow, but hopefully we'll be able to find some indoor things to do. So far, the weather has smiled on us and we're grateful for every ray of sunshine that has made this place sparkle like the rare jewel it is.Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-4578885307626061852015-06-15T06:58:00.000-05:002015-06-15T06:58:58.663-05:00Prince Edward Island: To The East!!! And Everywhere In Between...We started off the day by heading in the wrong direction and then turning around to see our final Anne of Green Gables destination, the museum in Park Corner, PEI. In several guidebooks we saw, not only was the town of this location listed differently, but so are the times that it's open, so I'd like to clarify for the general public that at this time of year, the <a href="http://www.annemuseum.com/" target="_blank">Anne of Green Gables Museum</a> is open from 10-4 and it is located in the town of Park Corner along Route 20, NOT in Kensington (we are very grateful to the folks in the pub there who turned us in the right direction). <br />
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The museum is the home of Lucy Maud Montgomery's (LMM) aunt and uncle. She was married in the living room there and vacationed there when she was younger. Her Emily of New Moon books, and Pat of Silver Bush books are based on this location. But perhaps my two favorite discoveries here were that the Lake of Shining Waters is a real lake (!!!)<br />
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And Katie, Anne's imaginary friend in the looking glass was actually LMM's real life imaginary friend, her reflection as seen in <i>this</i> bookshelf. <br />
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One of the most surprising things on this trip, especially for Ashley who's read all of her books (several times) is how much of LMM's real life, experience, and places were woven into her stories. One might even go so far as to say they are fictional autobiographies and memoirs perhaps?!<br />
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After a chilly, windy, sort of rainy walk around the property of the museum, we headed to <a href="http://www.dalvaybythesea.com/" target="_blank">Dalvay By The Sea</a> where the exterior shots of the <a href="http://anne.sullivanmovies.com/articles/introducing-the-real-white-sands-hotel-dalvay-by-the-sea/" target="_blank">White Sands Hotel</a> were filmed, where Anne is writing and pages of her book go flying in the wind. The inn is located just inside PEI National Park and as soon as we saw it we knew we had to come back for lunch. We were the only ones in the dining room and were able to wander around the gorgeous rooms when we were done. It was lovely!<br />
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Then we made a rash decision to just drive up the north coast all the way to the easternmost point of the island. We stopped at the visitors center in St. Peters and met the most wonderful lady! She and her husband have been farming potatoes for over 20 years and have 48 acres. We learned that 70 percent of ALL the potatoes grown on this island go to Cavendish alone. If you could see the scope of the fields here, this would blow your mind. That means, all those crazy Anne of Green Gables tourists eat a TON of fries. Holy cow. She also told us that when they harvest the potatoes, they have to sort the golf balls from the crop. What?! Apparently, when islanders get bored, they use the farm fields as their own personal driving ranges! Not so fun for the farmers who get fined if a golf ball breaks the blades of a fry cutter.<br />
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As we headed up the coast, we saw more vistas and lighthouses. This one was located at Shipwreck Point in Naufrage which sounds like it should be a cheese, but it means Shipwreck in French.<br />
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We made it to <a href="http://www.eastpointlighthouse.com/index.php" target="_blank">East Point Lighthouse</a> just before they closed and ran up the lighthouse to see the waves rolling in. There was a big pile of sea glass on the counter when we got there and I'm dying to hit the beaches to find some. <br />
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On the way back we stopped in <a href="http://pointseastcoastaldrive.com/things-do/entry/north-lake-harbour-and-beach" target="_blank">North Lake Harbor</a> which is apparently the tuna capital of the world, where they catch record size fish and anglers from everywhere come to compete. There was also a windsurfer there who was taking advantage of the epic waves.<br />
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Everything was closed when we got back so we went to the <a href="http://bluemusselcafe.com/" target="_blank">Blue Mussel Cafe</a> in North Rustico Harbor again. The food here is great and the people who own it are even better. They treated us so kindly and welcomed us back! <br />
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We talked to the owner for a while about the island and learned that 80% of the world's mussels come from PEI. It's incredible. We've seen the mussel "farms" all over the bays and it's incredible to think of the places those little shellfish will go. The owners also run a restaurant in Honduras and split their time between here and there. Most of the permanent residents on the island work in one of three industries, farming, fishing, or tourism. In fact, those in the tourist industry are unemployed for months out of the year until the season begins again.<br />
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One thing we absolutely love about this place is how utterly kind and helpful everyone has been. The locals have asked us where we're from, offered incredible suggestions on places to see, and have even helped us find our way when sitting at a stop sign. This island has a very pristine coastline, in fact as we were driving the cost today, we passed dozens of farm fields will million dollar views, yet we learned that there are no land preservation laws here. The desire is for most of the land to be used for farming and agriculture, and the farmers receive government subsidies. It is beyond refreshing to see land revered in this way and kept so unspoiled not because it's mandated, but because there is an appreciation and a conscientious use of it. We did look up some real estate on line, you know, just for kicks, and discovered we can buy a water view lot $25,000. I'm not even kidding. Some of the really large homes here with giant windows that look out on the water, run about $250,000. Forget the Hamptons, let's move to PEI!!!Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-34328739135575114592015-06-13T19:52:00.002-05:002015-06-13T19:52:33.885-05:00Prince Edward Island: Anne of Green GablesToday was our designated Anne of Green Gables day, and I want to start this post by addressing the judgy people out there who would accuse us of falling into the tourist trap while here on PEI. For Ashley and I, we knew there was potential for cheesiness, we knew it could be horribly tacky, and we knew we couldn't leave the island without seeing the Anne-related sights. With that said, I have to tell you, both of us were quite touched and very impressed at how well done the Anne of Green Gables and Lucy Maud Montgomery (LMM) heritage places are arranged. They are legit historic locations that are considered an important part of island history (with the exception of <a href="http://avonlea.ca/" target="_blank">Avonlea Village</a> which is a waste of time). Our first stop today was the <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/lhn-nhs/pe/greengables/index.aspx" target="_blank">Green Gables Heritage Place</a> which was a site owned by LMM's grandparent's cousins. She played there as a girl, and then based the setting for the Anne stories on the Green Gables house. <br />
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Her grandparents home where she grew up was a short walk from this site. The rooms in the house are decorated to match the descriptions in the Anne books. As we walked around the property, breathing in the scent of lilacs, looking up at the green and white structure, I got seriously choked up. Here it is, this place I've been dreaming about seeing for years and years, here we are, standing on the grounds. Anne's room was delightfully "Anne-ish," broken slate and all...<br />
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The Anne of Green Gables stories were so special to me when I was growing up, and even more so when I moved to Tennessee and realized that Anne is a woman who is trying to get back home to the place that she loves. I sob every time I watch the films because I think of Long Island and the North Fork and how much I wish I could move back there, how my heart is forever captured by the shoreline. Turns out, LMM got married and moved to Ontario, and for the rest of her life she wanted to return to Cavendish and the place where she grew up. She was quoted as saying that she had done a "violence to her soul" by leaving that place, and she identified it as home up until her death when she was brought back and laid to rest in the Cavendish cemetery. <br />
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We walked through the Haunted Wood (yes, <i>that</i> Haunted Wood that is talked about in the books) and saw the original site of <a href="http://www.peisland.com/lmm/" target="_blank">LMM's Cavendish Home</a>. Walking through the fields and seeing scenery that made my heart want to burst made us realize what an incredible job LMM had done in portraying PEI in her stories. Why yes, of course we could see Anne and Diana running across the fields to each others house!<br />
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After we left the Green Gables house, we headed over to <a href="http://www.lmmontgomerybirthplace.ca/" target="_blank">LMM's Birthplace</a>, another historical site that has been lovingly preserved by the people of PEI. The rooms are full of her letters, pages from her scrapbooks, and even her wedding dress and honeymoon shoes. It's all so personal and really gave us a sense of who she was. It also makes you realize how the movies truly tried to capture what life on PEI was like. In fact, we saw some old pictures of the island from that time and it actually looks almost exactly like it does now. This place is so well preserved and pristine, that it's not hard to imagine LMM growing up in these exact surroundings.<br />
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We then headed on another exploratory drive just for the heck of it and ended up finding an adorable <a href="http://bluewindstearoom.blogspot.ca/" target="_blank">tea shop</a> where we had raspberry cordial, scones, and rhubarb pie! We continued down Route 6 toward North Rustico Harbor and entered a different part of PEI National Park where the coastline is carved with jagged red cliffs.<br />
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At one point we spotted some foxes frolicking in the distance. When we hopped back in the car, we ended up seeing another on the road. We stopped and he started circling the car to check us out! His coat was gorgeous and I was immediately thankful for parks like this that protect these beautiful creatures. It felt like we were in Narnia and he was coming by for a chat!<br />
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On to <a href="http://northrustico.net/" target="_blank">North Rustico Harbor</a>, the cutest little town on the face of the planet. As we drove down the road I thought my heart would explode. Everything about this place is adorably perfect and lovely and idyllic and every other cute thing. We parked the car and took a stroll down the boardwalk which borders the harbor, where we ran into a local gentleman who had been a lobster fisherman for 54 years. He grew up in North Rustico and it sounded like he hadn't left much in his lifetime, yet his admiration for the place was evident in the way he spoke so lovingly about it. That's the thing here, these houses on the water aren't summer homes. They belong to people who live here year round, most of whom grew up here, and they love it to pieces and say things like, "It's the best place in the world" and it's so touching to see and makes you feel like you're getting a peek into a magical little fantasy. <br />
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I am in love. The past couple of months have been stressful at home and at work with projects and changes, yet a couple of days on this island has refreshed my soul. It's like the stress has fallen away and my shoulders aren't tight anymore. The air here is so clean and salty, always blowing off the sea. The scenery is almost too much to take in and my heart feels so full. <br />
<br />Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-17303346771639006902015-06-13T08:16:00.003-05:002015-06-13T20:10:17.228-05:00Prince Edward Island: A Dream Come True<div class="separator" style="margin: 0.1pt 0in;">
<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">I feel like someone picked me up and
dropped me smack dab in the middle of a happy dream. Ever since I was a
kid and watched the Anne of Green Gables movies, I've wanted to visit Prince
Edward Island (PEI) and this year, Ashley and I made it happen. We flew
into Halifax yesterday and embarked on a very long drive to PEI. Along
the way we stopped at a drug store to get a few things and voila, there's the
expensive sunscreen that I order directly from Canada sitting on the shelves
for a steal. This lady Barb who worked there talked our ears off and told
us about PEI and how we'd just love it, so we hopped in the car and headed
toward the Confederation Bridge straight into no man's land.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">To say that PEI is remote might be the
biggest understatement of the year. We drove over the bridge and suddenly
found ourselves on a potholed country road surrounded by farm fields dotted
with pine trees as far as the eye could see. It was breathtaking.
The rolling hills were covered in a patchwork of deep red soil and brilliant
green fields covered in swaying dandelions. The drive went on and on and
we kept thinking we'd run into something, a store, a gas station, something,
but no. And we kept saying things like, where the heck are we, how do
these people eat, do you think they just go crazy in the winter?! It was
this mixture of beauty and confusing solitude. The town of Rustico was
the destination of our first cottage at <a href="http://www.seawindsresort.com/" target="_blank">Seawinds</a>. Since we hadn't eaten since noon and
felt like we were about to die, we tried to find a place to eat...at 8 pm...we
might as well have tried to find a carnival in the middle of a farm field
because this place SHUTS DOWN at 8 pm. We finally stumbled upon a cluster
of small buildings with a fish and chips place that was open till 9. On a
good day, the food was meh, but that night, we tried poutine for the first time
and nearly died and went to Heaven. Poutine is french fries covered in
gravy and cheese curds. I mean...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Then we got to our cottage. This is
our cottage which looks over two separate bays and has an almost but not quite
360 view of the water that makes my heart want to burst.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">We woke up this morning and immediately
headed for <a href="http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/pe/pei-ipe/visit.aspx" target="_blank">PEI National Park</a> since the sun was shining and the clouds were
blowing across a shockingly blue sky.
We pulled into the park and just slay me already, the views were killer
and sure enough, we passed <a href="http://www.dalvaybythesea.com/" target="_blank">Dalvay By The Sea,</a> one of the filming locations for
Anne of Green Gables. More on
Dalvay another day. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">The beaches here have these massive
dunes and are startlingly pristine. We literally had the place to ourselves. Ah, the beauty of traveling before the
tourist season starts! There are pieces of this place that remind me of the
Hamptons and Martha’s Vineyard, but here the people and the homes are secondary
to the nature. We drove along the
coastal route through the park, stopping at every place there were steps leading
to the beach. At one point we saw
a sign for a hiking trail into the woods and thought this would be a good
idea. This is a warning for anyone
planning to travel to PEI at any point in time that is not the dead of
winter. <b>The mosquitoes here are the size of birds and they will kill you.</b> We got about 20 feet into the woods and
were lost in a cloud of mosquitoes which sent us running to the car in utter
panic. As we closed ourselves into
the safety of our car, we soon realized that 20 of them had hitched a ride with
us, in which more panicked squealing and freaking out along with the insane
rolling down of windows ensued.
Bug spray was added to our list of “things to buy on PEI.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Once
we were safely out of danger, we headed back down the coastal route and
stumbled upon a tiny fishing village called <a href="http://www.tourismpei.com/Green-Gables-Shore/Covehead" target="_blank">Covehead</a> which has the most
ADORABLE <a href="http://www.coveheadlighthouse.com/" target="_blank">lighthouse</a> I’ve ever seen.
I couldn’t handle the cuteness of this place. The views surrounding this village were second to none. There was a little row of buildings consisting
of an ice cream shop, takeout place serving lobster 15 different ways, and many
lobster shacks with traps sitting outside of them. The lighthouse nearly killed me. It was straight out of a Wes Anderson film, being adorably
petite, yet still functional with a revolving glass light at the top. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Then
to Robinson’s Island Road where we stopped at another random trail leading off
into the dunes only to discover this teensy place.</span><br />
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the way back to Rustico we stopped at a cluster of shops called <a href="http://www.dunesgallery.com/" target="_blank">The Dunes Studio Gallery & Cafe</a> only
to be surprised by gorgeous art and stores selling tons of really
lovely handmade items. The back
property was impeccably landscaped with ponds, perennial beds, statues, and
driftwood furniture art pieces.
There was a small café where we had tea and coffee while looking out
onto the beauty of the gardens. It
was a peaceful transition from the coastline back into the middle of the
island.</span><br />
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also passed <a href="http://www.greatcanadiansoap.com/" target="_blank">The Great Canadian Soap Company</a> which is a magical place for anyone
with sinus issues. All the soap is
handmade on the island with goats milk.
We even got to meet the goats!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Last
event of the day was the <a href="http://www.charlottetownfestival.com/en/2-Anne-of-Green-Gables-The-Musical" target="_blank">Anne of Green Gables musical</a> in Charlottetown. Holy cow, there are stores here!!! Charlottetown is where the university
is and there is actually a bustling nightlife here with restaurants open later
than 8 pm. The best was I can
describe Charlottetown to anyone from the East End of Long Island is by saying it’s
like Riverhead in sense that once you get out of it, the scenery changes. The town has some pretty historical
buildings, an art museum, and some nice restaurants. We were both pleasantly surprised by the musical and ended
up loving it. We were lucky enough
to catch the last preview night of the show and were able to get cheap tickets
and sit in the first row behind the orchestra conductor who bobbed up and down
all night while the cast sang songs telling Anne’s story. It was heartwarming and everyone in the
play was really talented. I think
it’s pretty amazing that they are keeping this tradition alive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: small;">Tomorrow
we are off to Cavendish for more Anne of Green Gables adventures….</span></div>
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</span>Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-82277503803730304832015-06-07T20:11:00.001-05:002015-06-07T20:12:44.179-05:00How To Get It Up: The Art Of Insulating A CeilingThis was another busy weekend for us in trying to get the home office a little further along. Thank goodness for breaks with friends that included margaritas and nachos.<br />
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A few important things are finished now. The room has been rewired, so there are a couple extra outlets and the connections are much safer now so we won't all go down in a blaze. Rob also purchased 2x4s to structure the side wall and ceiling beams since we're dealing with a bit of a wonky mess up there. Baffles were also added for ventilation before the new insulation was put in. I have no idea how all this stuff works and why it's so complicated to just stick some pink fuzzy stuff up in some beams, but apparently air flow is a big deal.<br />
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The insulation process went pretty quickly, and once all of that was in, we were ready for the boards that will eventually be the base for the bead board ceiling panels.</div>
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Three big heavy boards were added on top of the insulation and rafters. Rob added a ledge that we were able to rest each board on while he put the screws in, which sounds really easy, but I'm thankful nothing fell on us and we weren't squished in a tragedy with a headline that read, "Couple is Crushed In The Last Of One Too Many Renovation Attempts". It looks really great! I can't believe there will be a real ceiling in this room.<br />
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The wall adjacent to the back pantry has some really pretty old pine boards on a diagonal slant that I want to leave as is and throw a coat of paint on. In one half of the wall it looks like there was an opening for a door at one point, so we purchased pine boards to finish that off so both sides are equal.<br />
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So there you have it, a weekend's worth of sweat, alcohol, and the fervent wish that we could just wiggle our noses and blink this room into being.<br />
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The good thing is we're both about to get a break. Rob is going to visit family, while I head up north to Canada (EH?!) with a friend for a much needed respite from life. I'll be blogging from there about (aboot!!) our adventures if the promised wifi actually works.Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-67492518473754988212015-06-02T09:06:00.001-05:002015-06-02T09:12:06.618-05:00Home Office Adventures: Tearing Stuff UpJust shoot me, you guys. We are neck deep in another home reno/remodel. It's been ages since I've posted anything because stuff has been happening and I got overwhelmed and lazy. So basically, the long and short of is it that our landlord sold our office building and the four us in that building are making the transition to working from home. There are a number of things about this that make me really excited, like not having an hour commute anymore. And there are some things that I'm still not sure about, like seeing the women I've grown to love and adore working with everyday. We'll figure it out and have staff meetings, but things are changing and we're rolling with the punches.<br />
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No, the kitchen isn't finished. I promise I'll post pictures sometime this year maybe...<br />
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There's a room off of our patio that has its own separate entrance, which makes it kind of ideal for an office space, giving it that feeling of separateness while still being attached to the house. However, it's disgusting. Our water heater lives in this room, along with spiders and icky things. The room isn't climate controlled and it's a dark little hole.<br />
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The idea is that we'll remove the drop ceiling, pour a new concrete floor and add tiles, add a mini-split heating and cooling system that can hang on the wall, open up the wall and connect the two tiny, rotting windows to create one long picture window that will look out onto the garden, and re-insulate the walls and ceiling prior to hanging drywall and bead board. <br />
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So when we removed the ceiling tiles, the first thing we noticed was a mess of wires that looked like they were about to set the place on fire. It astounds me how utterly messed up aspects of this house were. The little place has strong bones and a great structure, but the previous owners effed up every project they did on this place. That's the nicest way I can say it. Effed.<br />
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We'll add rewiring the room to the list. The water heater has to stay, so Rob is going to build something around it that will cover it up and perhaps add some shelf space to the room.<br />
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When we tore the paneling off the walls, we discovered that they ran out of insulation and decided that instead of purchasing more insulation, it would make more sense to nail cardboard boxes to the wall. CARDBOARD BOXES. Kotex and toilet paper boxes. Seriously.<br />
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There is a lot of old insulation in the walls that is just falling to pieces, so we're going to remove and replace that. I can't even describe how nasty it is. I feel the need to buy a hazmat suit.<br />
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It seems like this room must have been an addition at one point since it's on a slab and the wall behind the pantry looks like it was an exterior wall. I don't want to cover it with drywall because there are some cool looking boards that would look really nice if they were painted a nice bright white. However, because nothing is easy, we discovered that a doorway had been cut into that wall long ago, so we're going to have to replace those boards with rough pine.<br />
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We're leaving the ceiling at an angle because it makes the room feel so much bigger. The entire space is 12'x8', which is small, but a good size for an office. I think it'll eventually be a nice little space, but for now, we have a lot of work to do. I've been scouring the internet for pictures of home offices just to get ideas and I will tell you this, none of them have a big old water heater in them. <br />
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So here we are, in the middle of it all...just living the dream. Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-69597619885080729342015-03-22T15:42:00.001-05:002015-03-22T15:42:26.857-05:00Back In The Yard: Preparation For The Gardening SeasonSpring is springing and I am finally getting out from under the kitchen and out into the yard. Honestly, getting my back used to the strain of yard work has not been fun, but being out in the sunshine with birds singing and the scent of flowers in the air has been reviving. <br />
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This weekend, my goal was to get the vegetable garden in shape for planting. It is still too early to plant anything (growing season begins April 15th-ish in TN), but preparing the soil is key for the success of a good crop. Over the past couple of weekends I got out there and pulled every single weed, making sure there were no roots left in the soil. This may seem counter intuitive when much of it will be dug up anyway, but I believe starting with a clean slate is the way to go. Robins were scurrying back and forth on the soil near where I was weeding, having the time of their lives, snatching up the worms that came to the surface. Occasionally the bird would abruptly stop, tilt it's head toward the ground, and peck victoriously at a substantially juicy one. I love seeing worms in the garden, a sure sign the soil is in good health. A very exciting development is that the asparagus is starting to peek out of the ground!<br />
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Once everything was weeded, I went over the beds with a rake to break up the soil and ready it for a good sprinkling of lime. The lime acts as a neutralizer since most vegetable plants prefer growing conditions that tend toward alkaline. After that, I added 25 bags of compost with manure. I've done this every year since I started the garden and I believe it's the way to go. Since the soil here in TN is clay, just adding compost will only aid in texture, but not necessarily nutrients. I'm not a huge fan of synthetic fertilizers and chemicals, so the manure is an excellent natural fertilizer. I also add coffee grounds, egg shells, and other organic matter throughout the season, which is especially beneficial for the tomatoes which need calcium. <br />
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This year for the first time I am not going to till. Last year I was overwhelmed by the amount of weeds. I absolutely could not keep them under control and I want to see if not tilling will help with weed control since old dormant seeds will not be brought to the surface. Also, this method of growing is supposed to help with water retention. <br />
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Eventually, I'll be buying a couple bales of straw to completely cover the soil before planting. This is a really effective way of keeping weeds at bay, retaining moisture, and adding nitrogen to the soil. <br />
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The flower beds were cleaned of leaves and debris, and the perennial bed is ready to go. <br />
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Spring bulbs are starting to pop up everywhere, which is a cheerful and lovely reminder that after the misery of winter, beauty shall prevail. <br />
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List of tasks accomplished in the month of March:<br />
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<li>Trimming of flowering trees (purple leaf plums) </li>
<li>Pruning of all shrubs like holly, rose of sharon, heavenly bamboo, etc.</li>
<li>Prune apple trees </li>
<li>Clean all garden beds of dead leaves and debris</li>
<li>Trim roses and treat with dormant oil or Bayer before leaves start to sprout</li>
<li>Trim lyriope, prune butterfly bushes, and remove dead leaves from daylily plants</li>
<li>Move perennials that need to be split or relocated</li>
<li>Prepare vegetable garden by weeding, liming, and adding soil amendments</li>
<li>Start basil seeds indoors</li>
<li>Add mulch around tree bases and touch up areas in the flower beds that need an extra layer</li>
<li>Thin out bamboo by cutting new shoots and removing dead ones</li>
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Now the patient waiting must last until mid-April when the magic happens! I've figured out that the cost of the vegetable garden is around $85 each year. Compared to paying for a local CSA, this is a steal. The estimate includes seeds, starter plants, and soil amendments. Obviously there is a lot of labor, plus water bill increases for the summer, but the payoff is tons of vegetables grown organically that we are able to eat year round. There are many times when I wish it was all easier and that I didn't have such crazy back pain after a day in the yard, but I'm so thankful we have the ability to do this. Happy spring!!!Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-12593398408584020402015-03-10T21:01:00.000-05:002015-03-10T21:10:50.427-05:00Home Depot Cabinets Are Crappy! Here's Why...The floors are in and we are ready to install the cabinetry!!! We started this project in November and are at a point where we can see the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel. Before showing the pictures of how things are looking now, I want to talk about the cabinets. As many of you following the blog know, I hit the "handy dude" jackpot when I married Rob. He's not only a sweet, kind, adorable guy, but he's a cabinet maker who crafts beautiful furniture and cabinetry, plus has some great remodeling skills! When deciding what we wanted to spend on this project and how nice the cabinets should be, we briefly threw around the notion of having him make the cabinets. The materials alone would have eaten a significant part of our budget, plus the physical cost of having to construct these cabinets on top of his day job would have taking its toll on him. Also, our house is in a neighborhood of small bungalow homes, so even though this endeavor will hopefully increase the value of the home, we didn't want to put a $40,000 kitchen in a house that wouldn't increase in value on that scale.<br />
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We made the reluctant decision to purchase unfinished <a href="http://www.homedepot.com/b/Kitchen-Cabinets-Cabinet-Hardware-Quick-Ship-Assembled-Cabinets/Unfinished-Wood/N-5yc1vZary9Z1z0u91t" target="_blank">pre-fab cabinets</a> from Home Depot with the idea that Rob would add some custom details to them, finish them with a professional sprayer, and we would purchase quality hardware to make them look a little nicer. I bought the cabinets at a time when they were 20% off in the store, plus I used discounted gift cards for the purchase. I also wrote a letter to Home Depot after a horrible customer service experience, which resulted in us getting two cabinets for free. The total cost of the cabinetry for our entire kitchen was $843 (excluding paint, hardware, and trim).<br />
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The old adage "you get what you pay for" has merit when it comes to most things, and in this case, cabinetry. Even though we saved a crazy amount of money by purchasing pre-fab, we had many, many issues. My true sentiment is that <b>I would NEVER recommend these cabinets to ANYONE and I think that Home Depot as a company should be completely ASHAMED for selling this garbage in their stores. </b> Obviously, Rob has the experience required to fix the issues we found and he also had the skill to make two skinny cabinets to account for weird measurements in our space. In addition to this, he added strips of wood to the end cabinets to create corners where the doors would actually open without hitting each other. He added toe kicks to all the end cabinets and created paneled ends on the exposed sides, so the cabinets would actually have a professional, finished look to them.<br />
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In order to prep the cabinets for painting, we had to do the following:<br />
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<li>Sand all surfaces. These things say they come pre sanded, but there is no way in hell you could paint them straight out of the box.</li>
<li>Remove globs of glue that were showing on the doors.</li>
<li>Fill in all cracks, gaps, and repair corners that were chipped with wood filler.</li>
<li>When we took the drawer fronts off of the drawers, they literally FELL APART because there was no glue on the drawers!! No glue!!! So that means if we had filled these with anything heavy, the sides would have fallen open when the drawer was pulled out. Rob added glue and then shot nails into all sides to secure the structure of each drawer.</li>
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<li>While we were picking up the cabinets with one of us on each side to carry them out to be painted, some of the boxes literally were coming apart in our hands. A couple of the nailers, the part that you shoot a screw through to secure a cabinet to the wall, fell off in our hands, which means that had we hung the cabinet on the wall, it would have fallen off. Rob restructured every cabinet, by adding glue and shooting more nails in the sides. Below is an example of the stellar workmanship on the corners of the boxes.</li>
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<li>The backs of the cabinets are stapled on. Stapled. Got that? So as we were installing some of the bottom cabinets, the backs just, you know, came off. Rob glued and re-stapled to secure the backs to the cabinets.</li>
<li>Each cabinet only comes with ONE SHELF. Older pre-fab cabinets came with two shelves and there may be some that still do, but this effectively halved our storage space, so Rob will be purchasing plywood to make additional shelves for every cabinet. </li>
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So, we paid $843 for our kitchen cabinetry (a great deal, right?!), but ended up putting many dollars worth of time and effort into these to make them suitable for our needs. I'm grateful that they turned out as well as they did, but the frustration, time, labor, and additional materials we had to invest make them an item for any amateur DIYer to run from. I do NOT recommend! <br />
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Back in November we took advantage of every day where the temperature was over 50 degrees until we finally had to move inside and set up shop. We taped off the insides of each cabinet using blue tape and plastic sheeting. Rob purchased a sprayer and used three coats of latex paint and primer. The color we chose was Sherwin Williams "Breaktime," for its obvious beachy feel and relaxing hue.<br />
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Once everything was ready to be installed, we brought the cabinets back into the house without them falling to pieces and began to attach them to the studs in the wall. It took a whole day, but Rob's measurements were just right and we now have more cabinetry and more drawers than we did before. Once the additional shelves are added, all our stuff will fit and hopefully we'll have room for a few more gadgets.<br />
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The countertop will be installed in a week and then we can have the plumber come and connect the dishwasher and sink fixtures. A dishwasher!!! Excuse me while I go freak out. <br />
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<br />Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-85729513309549616712015-03-08T20:27:00.000-05:002015-03-08T20:27:48.485-05:00The Kitchen Takes Shape: We're Floored!I've been sick. It's been a good two years or so since I've been really sick and then this winter hit and down I fell into a rabbit hole of germs. It started in the beginning of December when Rob and I got this weird 48 hour stomach thing. Then the day after Christmas, probably the flu, for two weeks. Then the week after the GRAMMYs. My voice is still hoarse. Seriously, I am ready for spring and fresh air filled with the smell of hyacinths and daffodils, and walks downtown in a t-shirt, and vegetable plants peaking tender green leaves out of the soil. Nashville just dug itself out of a nasty ice storm that left inches of slippery mess on the roads. While working from home I watched multiple cars spin out during the day, right in front of our house. One of the neighbors told Rob that three or four times in the past a car has run the stop sign and hit a car in what is now our driveway. Lovely. All day long I just prayed the folks who don't know how to drive in snow or ice would get the heck off our road and get stuck in their own driveways. That's right, people, hitting the gas and spinning your wheels as hard as they'll go will not help you regain control on a slippery surface. <br />
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In the meantime, amidst illness, holidays, and days not spent in the wood shop, the kitchen has been slowly taking shape. Once the electrical work was finished, it was time for drywall. The studs were covered and Rob built an archway between the kitchen and dining room.<br />
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Then there were the ceilings...plaster...<i>old</i> plaster that was poorly applied, cracking in spots, and just unsightly. We were originally going to do a plank ceiling in the dining room, which I think would have looked lovely, but it would have eaten into our budget and taken a lot more work than simply installing drywall over the existing ceiling. We rented a lift from Home Depot and got to work. We started by finding the studs and marking chalk lines as guides for screws.<br />
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This was not a fun job. The rooms were out of square, so even though our lines were straight and the measurements were accurate, there was a lot of frustration finding the studs and then cutting slivers off the sheets with a razor knife. I felt so bad for Rob. I don't know how his arms didn't fall off.<br />
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Once the ceilings were in, we hired someone to help with the drywall mud (spackle) and the sanding to make everything smooth. This was really helpful in finishing up a messy job that was dusty and miserable. The ceilings and the walls look so nice and smooth, it makes such a big difference! We used Curio Grey and plain old sunny Ultra Pure White on the walls to brighten the space. <br />
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Once the paint was dry, the floors were ready to be installed. Let me tell you about the floors. We were originally going to use the old hardwoods in the house by sanding them and then painting them grey. However, due to the black adhesive that covered the original wood, we opted to tear it out and replace with unfinished hardwoods that we would then sand and paint. Rob headed to Southeastern Salvage to pick up the unfinished hardwood, and they had some really beautiful prefinished oak that was 5" x 3/4" with a light whitewash on it. The price was right at $3.49/sq ft and we realized it would save us a ton of sanding, cleaning up, painting, and general mess, along with approximately two weeks of time. This is also the price we would have paid for unfinished hardwood at Lumber Liquidators, so I am beyond relieved we didn't go that route. So is Rob! Even though the color isn't the grey we were originally planning on, this goes with the theme, looks a bit like light driftwood, and works well with the cabinet color we chose.<br />
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We stapled the thermal underlayment to the subfloor. Then, Rob nailed down some long boards in the middle of the arch as as guide for the direction in the kitchen. Slowly but surely, the floor went in and by the end of the day, we had something to walk on.<br />
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I finally feel like I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. With the floor in, we can begin installing the cabinets. Once the kitchen layout is in, we can have the countertop vendor come and make the template. Then the dishwasher can be hooked up, the sink and plumbing can be functional again, and we can finally start cooking! This is happening!!! Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-54433794508084543762015-01-18T10:18:00.001-06:002015-01-18T10:18:39.018-06:00Adventures In Flooring: Leveling Things OutI just walked across the studs of our kitchen floor to come to the living room and sit with our frantic pets to start writing about what the past few weeks have been like. I apologize in advance for the less than exciting pics of floor studs and general indoor construction.<br />
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People say, "Oh, you're so lucky to have a guy who can build you a kitchen," "Oh, you are just sooooo lucky you're getting a new kitchen," "You guys are sooooooooooooooo lucky you can do it yourselves and save tons of money." Blahbitty blah BLAAAAHHH! While we are totally glad to be able to do a lot of this work ourselves, I will tell you this, whatever costs we are saving in labor are being paid for with bruised toes, bloody fingers, sore backs, occasional disagreements, and time, so much valuable time that might have been spent relaxing, doing something fun, going on a trip, or just enjoying the fact that we're not working. I know without a doubt, in the end it will all be worth it and we will love this kitchen! DIY shows make these projects look so fun because they bring in a massive team of experts and friends who can whip out a kitchen in 3 days and it's all free and those people are SO HAPPY...that is not reality, people. I mean, maybe it is for those people, but we haven't run into the cool Kitchen Crashers lady in Home Depot yet, so until then, we press on.<br />
<ul>
<li>We have been using the guest room as our kitchen since just after Thanksgiving. While it's a blast to feel like we're camping all the time, we have eaten lots of unhealthy meals out because it's so much easier
than cooking on a double burner and then washing dishes in the
bathroom.</li>
<li>We decided to replace the entire kitchen floor due to the fact that the black mastic is extremely difficult to remove and the boards were not level. We were really excited there was wood underneath the linoleum in the kitchen...this was short lived when we looked more in depth at what we were dealing with.</li>
<li>The kitchen has been gutted so we have no kitchen sink which means our main source of water is the bathroom sink. </li>
<li>We demoed the floor and one wall. The supports inside the wall looked like a 4th grader measured and installed them. Again, I don't know what the people who owned this house before were thinking, but the workmanship is less than stellar. We are fixing all of it. </li>
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This is where we come to the crux of this week's story... <br />
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There was a hump in the transition between the dining room and the kitchen. Even though the sub floors were sort of even with each other, when they put the plywood on top of the pine in the dining room, it was not even with the wood in the kitchen, creating this weird hump. <br />
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The joists in the dining room were sticking up a bit, so when you held a level on the joist and over the kitchen floor, the result was a big gap of space beneath the level, so we had to restructure the kitchen floor to make it level. Since the dining room planks are otherwise level, we are going to leave them. I realize I just said "level" a lot, but it's a big deal when you're installing a floor. <br />
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Here is the original subfloor in the kitchen. We're planning to save these planks and repurpose them later on.<br />
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Restructuring the floor was not even a little bit fun. 2x6 planks were cut, glued, and nailed to the original joists at a height that made the floor level. If you look in this picture you can see the new planks and how much higher they are than the old ones. <br />
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This will eliminate the hump between the dining room and kitchen and ensure that the cabinetry and appliances will sit properly on the floor. <br />
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Along with the planks going across the floor, smaller ones needed to be cut to go in between the new joists as support and a base to nail the subfloor to.<br />
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Let me tell you, people, I am learning a lot. I have learned that even though I desperately want to be helpful, there is only so much I can do. I am able to bring tools to Rob when he's standing elbow deep in floor studs. I can carry the demoed materials out to his truck for disposal. I hold levels and ends of measuring tapes while balancing above our crawl space. I removed a ton of rusty nails from the old subfloor in hopes we can repurpose it on a wall in the dining room after it ages. I shop vac the hell out of everything in an effort to keep the workplace clean and dust free. But in reality, Rob is doing the heavy lifting here and parts of this have not been easy.<br />
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My frustration has come in moments where I realize I am not strong enough to carry an enormous sheet of plywood with Rob. I can barely lift some of his tools, let alone use them, but I now understand how they work and what they are used for. I have learned that a box of nails costs about the same as a nice pair of shoes, which in my opinion is a total waste! I met with the electrician to go over all our electrical needs and also obtained a quote for our quartz counter top. Since knowledge is power, I am trying to learn as much as I can, be as supportive as I can when I am able to, and buy takeout so we don't starve. <br />
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Now we have a level floor!!! This is wonderful because it was the
hardest step of this project. The electrician comes this week and we're
having outlets added in, the stove 220 outlet is being moved to another
wall, and we're adding an outlet for the dishwasher (major excitement
here, people!). Once that is finished, we can begin putting the drywall
back up and making it look like a room again. <br />
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One resource that I continue to find helpful is Cardpool. When I first bought this house, I was a huge fan of discounted gift cards. Cardpool has saved us a lot of money on Home Depot cards. I usually save an average of 10% on the cards, which covers the tax on everything we buy. It's extremely helpful! We are doing this project on a budget. While I think we'll be really happy with the end result, this is not going to end up being some massively impressive Better Homes and Gardens kitchen. It will be more functional, prettier, and better quality than what we were working with before. As a reminder, when I bought the house, this is what I started with. <br />
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While this might look "not that bad" and "what's the big deal," you'll notice there are no appliances, there are two sets of upper cabinets that are on the floor, the countertop on those cabinets is not attached, and there is hardly any storage in these cabinets. Once we put our kitchen stuff out, we had like 2 feet of workable counter space that became covered in garden vegetables in the summer. It's just not a good layout and has been in need of a major redo for many years. <br />
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To be continued... Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-33616294024187217572014-12-22T12:10:00.001-06:002014-12-22T12:20:35.013-06:00The Year Of The Heart: Love, Life, Loss In 2014When I look back on this year and think about everything it contained, I am stunned. My heart is grateful in ways I can never explain. I have done less reading this year, less writing too, but I can tell you that there were countless nights driving home alone in my car where in my mind I crafted blogs that never made it to the screen, penned letters that never materialized on a card. Time was consumed by the planning of a wedding I had nearly given up on in my heart. Rob and I had dated for years, and even though so much healing happened for both of us over that time, I was never sure if it would be enough for us to take the step toward marriage. I hoped against hope, but also held pieces of myself in check just in case it never happened.<br />
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The amazing thing about being married is that I feel very much like myself. The world has not shifted and I do not suddenly feel more complete, like I have gained a missing half or am safer from the pain of a broken heart. But I do feel like I have a partner who is in it for the long haul, through thick and thin, someone who has agreed to walk beside me through whatever life chooses to throw at us, and that is a comforting feeling. When someone looks at you with the light of truth and commitment in their eyes and says they will never walk away, it is a most powerful thing.<br />
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As I look back on the events of the year, both big and small, I cannot help but be full of gratitude for each moment, yet so eager to see what lies ahead.<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>January 2014 </b></li>
</ul>
As we took the Christmas tree down I carefully placed all the ornaments back in their wrinkled tissue paper made soft from years of use and cardboard boxes with frayed edges that hold the memories we place on the tree each year. Mementos from trips we've taken, the baby bell from my first Christmas, a glass ball with lighthouses from home painted on it...so much love hangs on those branches every year. Unbeknownst to me, Rob had placed the ring box in the tree along with the rest of the ornaments. It was the last one he removed as he knelt down, shaking, with his heart splayed wide open and asked me to make him the happiest man alive and marry him. It was a simple, vulnerable and beautifully precious fragment of time that I will hold onto for the rest of my life. Now here's a gross picture for you.<br />
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Every year that I go to the GRAMMYs, I never cease to be amazed that I work for such an incredible company. While the show is very much geared toward the average music consumer, the organization is a working machine geared toward the music professional. It's fascinating. To be at the GRAMMYs surrounded by the artists, the staff, and the many members who make up The Recording Academy is a magical moment. This year I took my cousin Jen and we had a total blast. We went to Disneyland with our other cousin, Karen, and we stayed at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. I mean, how much fun can you possibly squeeze into one weekend?<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>February 2014 </b></li>
</ul>
Rob and I hopped on a plane for a whirlwind trip to Long Island to drink lots of wine and find a venue for the wedding. The moment we stepped inside Brecknock Hall we were ruined for every other place we saw. It was "us."<br />
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We visited Rob's parents in Oklahoma and had such a lovely time with them. I was nervous as heck, but very thankful to be marrying into a kind, loving family. We went to this wonderful art museum called the Philbrook.<br />
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<li><b>March 2014</b></li>
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I was in budget hell at work and most of the month was spent trying to avoid having an ulcer. As part of our pre marital counseling we were charged with going on a date every week. It was so much fun!<br />
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A few of us at work also got to go hear Ben Folds and Giancarlo Guerrero from the Nashville Symphony perform and speak about working together. It was so refreshing to hear a maestro talk about listening to Nine Inch Nails in his spare time. I still believe there are way too many barriers between the classical music world and the mainstream world. <br />
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<ul>
<li><b>April 2014</b><b> </b></li>
</ul>
I emerged from the blur of budget hell and headed to Long Island to decompress by the water and remind myself there are bigger things in life than numbers and spreadsheets. A hawk flew into the screen porch to try and eat the cat. It was utter madness until dad pushed it onto the patio with a broom. Nature. <br />
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One of my best friends had her baby this month and she is the most adorable kid ever. It's always special when a very close friend has a baby. As a general rule, I avoid babies and don't like it when people try to make me feel like less of a woman because I prefer kittens over human children. However, I make an exception for a few people in my life and I could not have been more thrilled for Renee and Jules. More on this later.<br />
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The Harry Potter fun continues with our group of friends who gather to nerd out. The Goblet of Fire was on the menu this month, therefore tasks had to be completed before finding the golden egg and then watching the movie. <br />
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My cat turned 10 years old. I have had Maddox longer than most of my friends have had their kids. My kid just so happens to weigh more than theirs and could probably kick some serious baby ass, not that he would...well, maybe he would. <br />
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Rob finished building an incredible garden fence for our <i>orto</i> (veggie jungle). <br />
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<ul>
<li><b>May 2014</b></li>
</ul>
I saw Arcade Fire and actually liked them even though it is impossible keeping them all straight with the 57 people they have onstage. The GRAMMYs threw their annual Block Party. I went to LA and sat in meetings at the Beverly Hilton for a day before flying back to the peace and tranquility of my garden.<br />
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I turned 33. My "Jesus" year. This is also how old my friend Will was when he passed away last year. I turned the corner of this birthday reflecting on how utterly painful and unfair life can be, and how short it is, and how I hope I end up doing something with my life that is meaningful to others. <br />
<ul>
<li><b>June 2014</b></li>
</ul>
I held my breath and squished all the fear in my throat as deep into my stomach as I possibly could when Rob had surgery to remove some cancer on his hand. We visited two surgeons. I sat in the room with him while they consulted and tried to listen to things he might miss in the numbness of hearing the C word thrown around. I inwardly, silently yelled at him again<b> </b>for not getting that disgusting "wart" taken care of while simultaneously cursing the system of medicine in this country that makes healthcare unaffordable for a tradesman who works harder than anyone I know.<br />
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We prepared to go to the courthouse and fill out all the forms and just not tell people we were legally married before the wedding. Thankfully, by a miracle we got Rob on my insurance (without signing papers) and avoided the $16,000 outpatient surgery bill that would have befallen him before our wedding...for a spot on his finger. Can you imagine?! I sat in the waiting room for 4 hours while they tried to piece the skin on his finger together. They kept calling me his "wife" and that was so weird. What? I'm not his...whatever...how is he doing?<br />
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Rob moved his stuff into my house. Oh my God. Sh*t is getting real. Half of my closet is gone. And there will be a dog. In my house. The cats are blissfully unaware. <br />
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The three incredible women who I work with everyday surprised the stuffing out of me and got Katy Perry tickets for pre-wedding fun. I'd been dying to go, but gave up because the tix were too pricey. We had so much fun. This is how we do!!!! <br />
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And, of course, the garden...</div>
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<ul>
<li><b>July 2014</b></li>
</ul>
My last trip home as a "single" woman. July 4th is sacred to me. I always, always go home to see my family, my girlfriends, and the small town fireworks at the Greenport High School. The weather is balmy and warm. The Hamptons are in full swing. July on the East End of Long Island is as good as it gets.<br />
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My maid of honor, Nicole, and my mom threw a lovely get-together for me where all the women I've grown to love so dearly, who I grew up with, who showered their wisdom and love on me through the years came and we ate cake and mini quiches and sat in the screen porch talking till 7 pm! It was so perfect and the gift cards those ladies gave us were used to purchase our dishwasher. Every time we are spared washing a sink of dishes by hand, I will smile and remember this lovely Thursday in July. There are pics of this and I can't find them anywhere.<br />
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I got to meet little Zadie, Renee's baby, the future President of the U.S. Here is a current picture.<br />
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Rob's house sold. What a hard thing to let go of, but also a blessing how it happened in a day without having to list it. No more roommates, missing rent checks, broken HVAC units, or endless rooms to be redone.<br />
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Asheville, NC with my friend Dawn and her little girl. We visited the gardens, stayed at a charming bed and breakfast, walked all over town, and ate pizza and beer after the kiddo was in bed. Certainly not my last girls trip, but it was fun to get out of town and be with a strong female compadre before the wedding month began. There was a lotus plant in full bloom at the arboretum. Absolutely stunning.<br />
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<ul>
<li><b>August 2014</b></li>
</ul>
Rob follows up with the surgeon and all appears to be well. Thank God. I yell at him to make a dermatologist appointment.<br />
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<b> </b><br />
I headed home to New York for what will be one of the most memorable times of my life. I'm gonna be all disgusting and cliche and say it was all perfect because it was and I wouldn't go back and change a thing, except maybe our DJ, but whatever. My girls and I stayed in a gorgeous victorian that was straight out of Anne of Green Gables. Rob's guys stayed in a modern place on the bay that was very bachelory. We took everyone to the Hamptons and walked up the Montauk lighthouse and stood in the huge ocean waves in Southampton. The sunset blew everyone away the night of the rehearsal and we all ran outside like 20 times to take pictures of it. Then we got dressed up and headed to a wedding. The weather gods smiled on us and everyone was so beautiful, the girls, the guys, our moms, the guests...oh my gosh, I could go on and on, but I won't make you all sick...ok, maybe a little. Our wedding was everything I'd hoped it would be. You plan for so long and from so far away, and you have family and friends who say, "Hey, I can do that for you!" and somehow they do. They bring wine and pies and bobby pins and four foot heroes and cameras and they literally make the magic happen. We were so blessed, my heart was about to burst all day long. Oh my God, we just love each other so much. We said our vows and our friends stood around us and everyone looked like angels. The sun on the water was mesmerizing. Rob and I were so happy and so very, very thankful.<br />
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Montauk Lighthouse visit</div>
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Rehearsal dinner sunset at the Soundview Restaurant</div>
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The ladies</div>
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The gents</div>
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<li><b>September 2014</b></li>
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Honeymoon in St. Lucia!!! We'd never been here and it's always been on my list of places to go. While the experience wasn't exactly what we expected it to be, we had a fabulous time. I can't remember the last time I swam so much. The water was magnetic and made us feel buoyant and free. We searched for hermit crabs, butterflies, dolphins, and colorful fish. We reveled in the time and space we had to do nothing but eat, swim, and just be.<br />
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We came back to real life with a dull thud. Work got crazy. People we loved got sick or languished in illness. We fielded the question "How's married life?!" with confusion and the uncertainty of how to honestly answer because it feels the same, but with less space. I grappled with the challenge of going from having a lot of alone time which fed my introvert heart to having no alone time and watching my creativity ebb away like a wave leaving with the tide. Rob struggled with not being able to watch as much TV and having to wash a lot of dishes every time I made a meal.<br />
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<li><b>October</b></li>
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I met one of the authors in my top three. Frances Mayes. Her books about Italy and her novels have been so inspiring and nurtured dreams in my own heart. For years I have wanted to meet her and I always thought maybe it would happen in Italy, but then she came to Nashville to talk about her new book and sell her new wine and I got to talk very briefly with her. What do you say to someone you admire greatly who has such a way with words, who spins worlds with her sentences and brings them closer for you to see and feel and taste? I've met a lot of rock stars and musicians, but I swear to God, you put me in front of an author whose work has changed my life and I am a useless blithering idiot. I asked her about Bramasole and the work they were doing, but I wish I could have had more time to just chat...it has to be so strange for authors who travel, with people knowing so much about them. She signed my copy of Under The Tuscan Sun. I hope we meet again.<br />
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I went to LA for a week to train new staff and see my friends on the side. I felt like an old, washed up grandma because many of the new generation of staff entering the music workforce are about 12 years old.<br />
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We camped out and hiked the Fiery Gizzard trail with some friends. Reminder <a href="http://leahlarocco.blogspot.com/2014/10/hiking-fiery-gizzard-and-survivingbarely.html" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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Rob and I went to the Biltmore for our two month anniversary and his birthday. It snowed and we romped through a winter wonderland in boots and gloves and hats and drank coffee like we needed it for temperature control. It was so blindingly white and fun. The next day the snow cleared and we felt like it was autumn again.<br />
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<li><b>November</b></li>
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I went back to Lee University for the first time since I graduated to be part of a music advisory group there. In some ways it was healing for me. In other ways it reinforced why I felt so out of place there. I am still not sure how this is going to shape up, but it was nice to feel validated. Like, I graduated with a music business degree and am not the big fat failure some of my classical music professors thought I would be. I still hear the voices that say I'm a big fat failure when I realize there is so much music in the world and I can't possibly be an expert on all, if any, of it. Or, when I think about how I landed in a finance position when I really really should have listened more in my accounting class. The fear of not being good enough looms great...I think they call it the imposter syndrome in the professional world. I look at women like Sheryl Sandberg or my boss and I'm like, "How the hell did you get where you are today?" because I feel like there is some secret to success that I just have not figured out yet. And what is success anyway? How do you inspire students to make their way in the world when you feel like you yourself are trying to reach Emerald City and the heel of your ruby slipper keeps getting stuck in the yellow brick road? It's an honor to be one of two women in this group and I so deeply want to be helpful.<br />
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We saw Book of Mormon and I was reminded of my love of Broadway and singing...and hilarity!<br />
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<li><b>December 2014</b></li>
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The final month of the year where nights are filled with birthday parties, Christmas parties, last minute dinners with friends, and a few quiet moments snuggled next to a cat on the couch. We head to Long Island for Christmas where we will go to the Christmas Eve service at CCF and sing the same songs they sing every year, and light candles during Silent Night and hopefully not set the church on fire, and then everyone will sing some rowdy version of Go Tell It On The Mountain and put the emphasis on all the wrong words and take breaths in all the wrong places, and then hug each other silly before going home.<br />
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The thing about CCF this year is that people are missing. Over the past year and a half, five lovely souls from that special place have departed leaving our hearts in a state of swiss cheese holeyness. Linda Pisacano, Pat Restivo, Gary and Val Bufkins, and most recently Yvonne Reiter. This is where I start crying on my keyboard because my breath is short as I think about how much I love these dear friends and will miss their presence. The church I grew up in has about 100 people in it who've been there for years and have seen the "kids" in my generation grow up from the time we were a foot tall. CCF ruined me on other churches forever, especially the fake evangelical kind throughout much of the South, because I have never seen a group of people more genuinely love Jesus in all my life. For all their faults and weirdnesses about women in leadership, this church has been a support system like no other. The way they lift each other up during these hard times, and call each other on the prayer chain list when something happens, it's all so lovingly done. I have moved very far away from Mattituck, but it's still deeply present in my heart, and these people who celebrated with us at our wedding are not merely people I grew up with, but they are extended family who I love dearly and still make an effort to see when I go home. The fact that five of them are no longer with us breaks me up. It brings to mind once again the analogy of sea glass, how we are all in this vast ocean of life, being tossed upon rocks, weathering storms, and somehow becoming more beautifully softened in the process.<br />
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I don't know what the next year will bring, but this one has left me full and empty and filled up again. Another friend has cancer. I pray and I stop and try to start again, but I know God gets it. When I want to scream WTF to the Heavens and cry till there is just nothing left in me, my solace is that God sees the suffering in this world. I can't answer any of the questions as to why he just doesn't take it all away, but I read Anne Lamott books and that's just as good. I find authentic people who are real and genuine and raw and we talk about all the sticky questions and try to hone our faith so we can stand upright in this very crooked world. I hug Rob and snuggle with my cats because sometimes a cat is all you need. And books. My love for reading has come back with a vengeance now that I have time again. I look at the bookshelf and hope I am alive long enough to read all these incredible books and never ever stop learning. To write this stuff that overflows out of my heart in a semblance of phrases that make sense and connect with anyone who takes the time to read them. A year...it brings to mind the song from <i>Rent.</i><br />
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<i><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;">"525,600 minutes. 525,000 moments so dear. 525,600 minutes, how do you measure - measure a year? In daylights, in sunsets, in midnights, in cups of coffee. In inches, in miles, in laughter in strife."</span></i></div>
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<br />Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6283657995349610244.post-51248433430362862372014-12-09T21:50:00.000-06:002014-12-09T21:50:40.924-06:00The Kitchen Remodel Has Begun!Well, folks, it's started. I've been threatening to write about this for a while now and here you have it. Our kitchen is finally in progress!!! When we got married, we didn't do a registry because we don't need anything, except to fix up our house, so our family and friends came through for us with lots of Lowes and Home Depot cards. What a blessing to be able to say the people in our lives helped us build our home!<br />
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A couple of weekends ago we started finishing the cabinets, but I'll save that for another post. Today, we talk about demo. On Saturday and Sunday we basically tore the place to pieces. I've been packing up over the past several weeks, and let me tell you how depressing that is. It felt like moving again, except we weren't moving. The bad thing about living in a small house is that you have no extra room. You just can't accumulate the way you would in a large home that has lots of extra storage, so as we were packing things up, finding space to put all of that stuff was a challenge. Most of it ended up in the water heater room off the patio or in the shed.<br />
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Also, what do you do with appliances??? Well, we bought a dishwasher! While this is probably the most exciting thing to happen to me of late aside from getting married, the joy is dimmed a bit when I stop to realize that its installation is still months away. So we have a dishwasher in the shed, the stove will end up there as well, and then there's the matter of the fridge. Lord help us, this fridge has been a major pain in the a$$ since we got it. I bought this thing directly from Whirlpool for a great deal but the first couple of days it shut down and the digital operating panel had to be replaced. Within two years, it's gone out on me again. And of course when we moved the fridge into the guest room, after emptying all the contents and removing the doors, the thing decides to crap out on us after we plug it in. Shoot me. Rob kicked it a bunch, removed the panel cover, messed around with the wires, and cursed it back into submission. With all our preserved food defrosting all over the floor, it roared back to life and we quickly dumped everything back in with a sigh of relief until it dies on us again. I have low hopes for this fridge. <br />
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Our guest room is now a makeshift kitchen. The mattress is up against the wall, and all manner of end tables are serving as surfaces for a microwave, double burner, coffee maker, and utensils. For someone who has grown rather fond of cooking lately, this is not ideal, but I'm grateful we have something we can use as an alternative to eating out every night. <br />
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You must understand that our kitchen and dining room are literally half of our house and we are doing almost all the work ourselves, so this is an undertaking, but hopefully one that will end up going smoothly. We started by taking all the cabinets out. There were three that we transferred into the laundry room so I finally have storage in there! It'll be a while before we get to this room, so we just put them up on top of the paneling for now.<br />
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A big concern/question we had was whether or not there was actually wood under the linoleum in the kitchen. We know there isn't in the dining room, but we were hoping to only have to replace the floor in there and not the entire kitchen as well. Our first good sign...<br />
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As the cabinets came off the wall, we discovered some of them weren't even screwed into studs, so it's nice that they managed to not fall down on us. Also, there were layers of paint and wallpaper underneath that spoke to years of what must have been hideous re-dos. <br />
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Once we got all the cabinets out, we were too curious about the wood situation not to pull up the linoleum in the kitchen. We left the sink in for now so we can at least wash a few dishes and have some running water other than the bathroom sink. We are going to create an arch out of this opening, extending the wall out 24 inches on the left side and a few inches on the right side. This will define the rooms a little better, but still create flow and maintain the open feeling we like so much in here.<br />
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We started by pulling up the seam between the kitchen and the dining room. There is a bump along this line and we could never figure out exactly what was causing the floor to be un-level. We assume there are two layers of plywood in the dining room. As you can see, they used some sort of filler along that line to smooth out the gap.<br />
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Most of the adhesive had stopped being sticky a long time ago, so this was pretty easy to pull up.<br />
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TA-DAAAA!!!!! We have wood! It's disgusting and covered in nasty icky gook, but that's ok because we'll be sanding and painting it, so this is a good thing.<br />
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As we started to pull up the dining room floor, a horrible, nasty old person smell started to pervade the space. Ew. Enough for one weekend. <br />
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That night I got really sick, lost my dinner, and have felt wretched for the past two days. It's probably something that's going around, but hopefully we can get back at this soon enough. For now I've been enjoying the Christmas tree and the company of the pets. At least part of the house is still intact!<br />
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<br />Leah LaRoccohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04777878141546500455noreply@blogger.com0