Adventures of Paul and Jenn

Tonight, was the sold-out Tool concert at Sprint Center in KC. Paul really wanted to go and I didn't. I did however manage to score him a ticket two days before the concert so he could go by himself and have fun and play. But while Paul plays, what will Jennifer do. Jennifer cleaned the living room. Now this sounds like an menial task, but our living room was filled with Rubbermaid tubs and boxes that needed to be put in the correct storage location or unpacked. The "furniture" had to be arranged as well.

I wish I had a before picture, but I never took one because I never wanted to remember it! Below is the living room arranged. Notice the blinds that are stained orange in the upper half. This was because the previous homeowner was a man and didn't know how to clean! I am debating tackling that tonight!

I would love to see Paul's surprised face when he arrives home, but I would rather be asleep!

So Paul and I have been super busy! Right after we got the house, I got a job teaching for the last 5 weeks of school at Bishop Ward in KCK. I lucked out and got a contract for next year as well. Then once school was out, I started teaching Summer School at Bishop Miege. 60 hour weeks, 10-11 hour days and a whole year worth of school work!

We are setting a goal to have a housewarming party at the end of July to welcome our friends and family into our new house. We should be unpacked by then since I am finished with school Friday.

While unpacking, I found Porsche's box of outfits. She got super excited and went NUTS! She saw the moose costume from Halloween 2006. She wanted to wear it. She didn't calm down until I told her to chill and started putting it on her. Here is a picture of her posing in it.



Beamer has been shedding ridiculously so our pretty creme colored carpet is now a hideous shade of black dog hair! We vacuum almost daily! Dogs love their back yard and have even found a baby bunny nest. That ended in great tragedy.

Soon we will be unpacked... soon we will have a clean and organized house. The more I say this to myself... the sooner it will come true!

It's been a while since we've posted but we've been busy! We are buying a house! We close this week and get the keys on Easter. This means... we are staying in KC! Paul has switched districts from KPC to KPE! I am currently working to find a full-time teaching job or a full-time job with Kiewit. We will see what pans out but it could be weeks before I hear anything!

After looking through the pictures Paul took of the house, I am finding that he shouldn't quit his job and become a photographer for Real Estate listings. Maybe for an inspector, but not listings!

The house is 4 Bedroom, 3 bath in Lee's Summit. It is a Front to Back split-level, so we have 5 levels to the house.

Level 1- Sub Basement - aka New workout room!
Level 2 - Basement - Family room, 3rd bathroom and 4th bedroom - aka Man Cave
Level 3 - Living Room, Entry, Garage
Level 4 - Dining Room, Kitchen, 2nd and 3rd Bedrooms and 2nd bathroom
Level 5 - Master Suite - Jacuzzi Tub, shower, large walkin closet which we will expand into the attic above the garage!
Backyard - Large, Fenced and Deck. Perfect for Porsche and Beamer! Too bad Beamer is going to have to overcome her fear of climbing stairs that are open backed!

Below are some pictures from the Listing. I will post pictures as we do our projects. We have to refinish the wood floors, stain the deck and fence, paint the bedrooms, expand the master closet and shower, tile the master bathroom, Closet storage systems, Garage Storage system, Mud room in garage, Doggie Bath Station in Garage... and the list goes on!

An open house is in our future... who knows how far into the future!

Front of House

Side of House. Behind the cameraman is the neighborhood pool!

Level 5 - Master Bedroom

Level 4 - Kitchen

Level 4 - Dining Room - Kitchen on right and LR on Left. Behind Cameraman is the Laundry Room, 2 Bedrooms and bathroom

Level 3 - Living Room from the landing on Level 4.

Level 1 - Sub Basement - aka Exercise Room!

Television Shows About Cake - I find it hard to believe that so many people like cakes with a high proportion of inedible contents. At that, I would have guessed that a single television series would have satisfied this cake craving. No. I am wrong. To my knowledge, there are at least 4 shows about cake. One thing I would never have guessed to hear in a cake show: "Balls to the walls." I think this is weird.

Baby Car Seats with Cupholders - Really? I doubt babies care about the storage of their beverages...I mean, they puke and poop on themselves. I think they would be content should their bottle tip over and spill a little milk. What about the car seats with 2 cupholders? I have yet to witness a baby double-fisting bottles. I think this is weird.

Cats - How do you tell if it is happy? sad? in pain? hungry? tired? Cats always have the same pissed-off look on their face. They are like the Belgian Monks of the animal world minus brewing awesome beer. They walk around monasteries not talking to anyone with the always present lethargic demeanor. I think this is weird.

In April, we went to a friend's wedding (Danny and Sarah) in St. Louis. On Sunday, we drove the fairly short trip from St. Louis to Kansas City. Our adventure home. It should have only took 4-5 hours. Instead, it took us about 8-9 hours. We stopped at wineries, historical sites, OzarkLand and any random place because I saw a sign for it. Below are our pictures from Graham Cave National Park.

Paul pretending to read the signs about the history of Graham Cave.

A view from inside the cave out.

Thursday at the District meeting, we had a lovely plated dinner (we thought it was going to be buffet) that was delicious! Grilled Chicken over a rice cake (not the dried out kind) and asparagus with a gravy. Delish! During the day, the spouse events consisted of a Q&A session and then relaxing until dinner. I chose that relaxing time to go home and get some items we forgot (cheaper than buying them) and went and got my hair did! I cut approximately 4-6 inches off! Paul was surprised to say the least! We should have done a before and after shot but I just wanted it done!.

Friday morning began with SNOW! Yes, snow! We thought we wouldn't have to deal with it but on the scavenger hunt we did! We were told we wouldn't need jackets. Well they were wrong! We had loads of fun learning about the WW1 memorial, Union Station, Crown Center and Hallmark! We even ran through the fountains that you could see out side of our window! I will try to get pictures of the fountains during the day before we leave tomorrow! Then we went back to see who won and had a "Spirit Drink". All in all, it was a great time as always!

Tonight is the dinner and dance. We will be dressing up and we will be posting pictures!

Paul is having so much fun in the meetings. That's not true. None of the guys have fun in the meetings! But it will all come to an end soon with the closing meeting starting at 4:20.

"High Fivers!"

Our adventure this week is the District Meeting for Kiewit Power Constructors. This means a lot of meetings; some of which both of us attend but most of them are just for Paul. While the spouses aren't able to attend the Employee-only events, the spouses get planned events to participate in. Thursday we get a Q&A session with the President/CEO/Top-Gun of KPC, Howard Barton. Dinner is a nice buffet on Thursday. Friday the spouses get to tour the Expo (which is the educational meetings Paul gets to participate in during the Employee-Only time) then we get to do a Scavenger Style Hunt in Crown Center. What does that mean? I do not know but I plan to take plenty of pictures (if I can remember my camera!) Dinner on Friday is a plated dinner (always yummy!) and then followed by a dance.

Every year, the spouses and employees get "gifts" for attending. This year the employee gets a 2010 Date Diary aka Pocket Calendar and a rubber/silicone Kiewit bracelet. However, you can tell KPC loves the spouses more because we get a MP4 (Video MP3) player, speakers, and a "rape/attack" whistle (You know... the keychain whistle you can use if you can get ahold of it when you are being attacked or followed in a parking lot). I say the spouses made off better than the employees!

I've already downloaded Taylor Swift, some Miley, Jordan Sparks and some other music to keep my ears occupied when I get bored this weekend!

My favorite part of District Meeting is getting the change to communicate and hang out with other spouses of KPC employees. I have met some pretty awesome people this way and they have become good friends that I enjoy seeing every year!

View from the 15th Floor of Westin-Crown Center

Close up view of the pretty lit trees!

So, we're doing it. We are creating a blog. Why? Why not! All of our friends have blogs so that friends and family can keep up. So why can't we? Exactly. We can.

Who knows how often we will update our blog or what we will post when... We are going to attempt to document the adventures we encounter as newlyweds (7 months now!).

Keep up for our lives and our adventures by reading our blog!