In 15 days....

In 15 days Ellis and I will have been married for 5 years! It surprises me every time I think about it. Partially because I feel like we have been together for a life time. I don't clearly remember life before Ellis. There are flashes of roommates, college, travel. But so much of my life now revolves around him. 5 years also surprises me because I think that kind of sounds like a long time. In some ways, I feel like we are living the same lives we had the first year of marriage. In other ways, I realize that a lot has changed. We have had a lot of great experiences in the last 5 years.

Here are a few of our adventures and experiences:

Travel
1. Honeymoon in Park City




2. Yellowstone National Park in August 2004
3. Yellowstone National Park in September 2005
4. Florida March 2005
5. Park City 2006 - 2007 - three visits by Tamara



6. Florida June 2008
7. Park City December 2008



8. We travel to Michigan every Christmas and try to visit one other time each year.

Life Changes
1. Married March 27, 2004



2. Tamara wrecked her car in July 2004
3. Chewy was adopted October 2004
4. Ellis left CPC in November 2006
5. Ellis worked at Trails End in Park City Nov 2006 - April 2007
6. Ellis has been working at Mohawk since May 2007
7. Tamara tragically lost her gallbladder in August 2007
8. February 2008, moved to Robinhood Drive and started renting the 8th Street house
9. Bought Robinhood in June 2008

Fun Memories
* Riverbends with Ellis
* Ellis taking pictures in downtown Chattanooga
* Camping trips and hikes
* Taking small airplane rides over the Tennessee Valley
* Pirates for Halloweens
* Dirty feet after cleaning off the fences at 8th Street
* Funyacking on the Ocoee
* Ellis talking in his sleep
* Ellis dream sequences
* Ellis driving heavy machinery
* "Rollin' Down the Highway" - Ellis
* Air Show in Chattanooga
* IKEA visits and Ellis begging to leave
* Junkman's Daughter
* Relaxing in our new house
* Flavor of Love, Rock of Love, and other TV shows we secretly love
* Ellis fixing a flat tire
* Ellis fixing my car



* Ellis and his tool belt (RAWR!)
* Scarlet O'Haras, Buttery Nipples, Gin and Ginger Ale, and 7 &7s
* Laughing




* Laughing a lot



* Laughing until I accidentally peed my pants.... oops.
* Excited Ellis running through the house.
* Spending time with the Harem
* Spending time with the 8th Street Family Band
* Spending time with AKB
* Meeting new friends and hanging w/ the Lyons
* Moving Mari, Mo, AKB, and ourselves
* Yard Sales

There is no one else I would rather spend the rest of my life with. I never knew that being married would be this wonderful, because I am married to my best friend. He knows me better than I know myself. He is amazing!

More Carpet Pics

Putting in new carpet is HARD WORK! Seriously! We had to move all of our furniture out of the rooms we were carpeted. In addition, that meant having to pack up all of our trinkets, knickknacks, TVs, cables and cords, movies, and stuff. It was tough! Ellis and I also decided that we would remove the old carpet our selves to save some money. So here are some more pictures of that process.


Just a reminder.... we started out with BLUE carpet. Isn't it lovely?!?

We moved all of the furniture out of our bedroom two nights before the new carpet came in. And I just couldn't miss two days of the Today Show, now could I? Ellis was so nice and put together this fancy set up for me! Big TV at the foot of the bed, nice! Chewy seemed interested in this new development.

My toes on the blue carpet in the living room. There was a little wear and tear over the course of 24 years!

Our blue carpet in the dining room. And no, that is not our permanent dining room table. It has been great for wrapping Christmas gifts and stuff. But if will NOT be there forever.... just until I find the perfect table! Do you like our new paint?

Our blue carpet in the living room! Check out my new living room lamp! Sweet! (Oh, and we were watching Showtime's Dexter. I love that show!)

After we moved all of the furniture and started pulling up the carpet, we had to be a little silly. Ellis took some pictures of me on the floor.

(Notice the outlets that are in our floor. We'll talk more about those later!)

Chewy had to see what was going on. Very curious!


I even got a little kiss on the cheek from her!

I think I was getting ready to start a dance routine.... maybe a cartwheel.... I don't know. Once we moved all of the furniture, that area near the piano was FULL of couches and cushions! You couldn't even go through that area.

Before the carpet could be installed, Ellis needed to move the floor outlet. The current location did not work with how we had our furniture arranged. The outlet appeared to be in the middle of our floor. We wanted it to be under the couch so it had to be moved about 3 feet towards the front door.

To do this, Ellis donned his overalls, work boots, and head lamp then crawled under our house. He was a dirty mess when it was over!

He had to start by finding the new spot for the outlet. Chewy was acting as his supervisor.

She offers encouragement as needed during these big projects. She must have been whispering a little hint in his ear.


Once Ellis was under the house, we had to remove the old outlet.

I stayed in the house and helped Ellis from above. Sometimes passing his little drill through the hole. I must have trimmed Chewy's nails while I was helping Ellis. What can I say, I multi-task like a pro!

Chewy tried to help, too!

Ellis's new headlamp came in VERY handy during this project!


Isn't he cute!!!!???


It was so funny to see him working through a hole in the floor.


Chewy was really trying to figure out what was going on.

In the end, Ellis did a great job with the outlet. The new position is perfect and we haven't had a single problem with it. Go Ellis!!

First Tennessee