Weekend Wrap Up – Family, Dishwashers & Friends – Oh My!

Friday night Josh and I had a late dinner at Caps a neighborhood sports bar less than 1 mile from our house.  I always get the same thing and it has never let me down!  It’s called “Not Your Ordinary Grilled Cheese.”  Basically, it’s a grilled cheese sandwich with garlic, three cheeses and three slices of bread.  Their fries are really good, too. Josh really likes their French Dip.

Saturday morning was spent compiling my three-month blog update.  It took longer than expected, but I’m glad I have that accomplished for both your (haha) and posterity’s sake.

After that, we headed to my grandmother’s house to hang her television on the wall.  When I say “we” I mean Josh.  He packed up his tools and away we went.  Grandma and I visited and looked at photo albums that she made for me.  Man that was a blast from the past. I may scan some to share here for old time’s sake.

My silly husband.

After Grandma’s, we headed home and grilled up a quick dinner for the Jabbi-Fam.  When Abbi and Judah were in the hospital, Jen put together a wonderful website over at TakeThemAMeal.com for people to sign up to bring them dinners.  What a blessing that has been for them.  We had a nice visit and are so excited that Judah came home yesterday!

Josh spent the evening working…

And I caught up on Celebrity Rehab (it’s ok to judge me) with a sleeve of Thin Mints.  I’m nearing the end of my stash.  Anyone know where to buy them “out of season”?

Sunday morning was spent cleaning up the house (and putzing around on Pinterest).  Josh removed the dead battery in my car, took it Auto Zone where they tested it and determined it was time for a new one.  I don’t even remember the last time I got a new battery.  Then I had the joy of attacking a strange smell coming from the refrigerator, garbage disposal, dishwasher.  I cleaned out the fridge and still smelled it.  I cleaned the garbage disposal.  Still there.  Opened the dishwasher and was overwhelmed by the stench.

Since the beginning of July, I have been hand washing our dishes (go me!), then I was out of town for 10 days and so until Sunday, the dishwasher sat dormant.  Who knows what food particles/grease/minerals fermented in there.  I’m happy to announce that after pulling the dishwasher out from under the counter to check for dead animals (yes, it was that bad) I was able to solve fully diagnose the problem with a two-fold offense elimination method: baking soda/vinegar and store-bought dishwasher cleaning stuffs.

Turns out, the tubey thingy from your disposal to your dishwasher needs to go up before down.  Let me explain with pictures:

via

via

So we’ve had water sitting in our dishwasher from approximately a month.  Our tube not being properly installed had been a non-issue until I decided to go all “June Cleaver” and washing things by hand.  Who knew that not using the dishwasher could actually do harm?

After Scooby Doo-ing that, we headed over to Kyle & A’s for a Sunday Funday that we haven’t had in quite some time.  We had not seen them all summer.  It was great to catch up, float around and laugh together.

Kyle & A - 2010 New Years

After our delicious steak dinner, Josh and I scooted over to my parents to bid farewell to my cousin, Erik, who will be traveling Europe for five weeks then studying in Istanbul for the entire school year.  I was able to impart a small bit of advice for his trip to Barcelona.  You must see this:

via

Antoni Gaudí designed the Sagrada Familia has been a work-in-progress for over 100 years.  The story is one of anguish and beauty.  When I first saw his work, 7 years ago, it truly moved me.  I’m excited for Erik to get to see it!

On Monday, I swung by the grocery store after work and bumped into our friends Paul & Angela!  They are engaged and planning a November wedding.  It had been ages since I’d seen them.

Angela & Paul

And, yes, I took a picture in the grocery store.

After that, MacKenzie and I ate take out and drank wine in her new condo!  She and her family have been painting and putting in new wood floors, so even though she’s not living there, I wanted to go hang out.  Her first home is going to be beautiful.  I’m so excited for her.  Check out her fortune:

The color behind is the paint chip for the master bedroom wall color. <3 it.

It was a busy, but wonderful weekend!  What did you guys do?

No Comments

Welcome to JoshandTory.com!

I’m determined to come up with a better name for our little blog than that, but it will have to do for now.  Any ideas?  Let me know.  I’m desperate for something better.

I promised you a summer update so we’ll see how best I can recap. Although Summer does not officially begin until June 21, it’s been since April that I have shared the happenings of our life on the recently-retired My Life as a Grown Up, so here goes.  And because pictures are more telling than words sometimes, be prepared for me to blow your mind with almost 50 photos (sorry and you’re welcome).

April

Found out that Abbi & Jeff are expecting a baby boy!! Woohoo! (no photo, but couldn’t leave it out)

Disney on Ice with Abbi, Maddi, Izzi, Jen, Lexi & Gma

Disney on Ice! Izzi & Lexi

Disney on Ice! Lexi

Disney on Ice! Maddi & Abbi

Katy's Bridal Shower

Girls sleepover at FireSky with Adrienne, Jamie and Mom

David Sedaris with MacKenzie – thanks, friend! :) (no photo)

Bowman & Brooke Softball League (we made it to the playoffs!)

Easter fun with the family (no photo, but couldn’t leave it out)

May

Watched my three nieces with my mother-in-law and sister-in-law! (no photos – shocker!)

Jen’s birthday (no photo, but couldn’t leave it out) Fun dinner & games on her actual birthday, then breakfast with the family!

San Francisco for work/Katy & Kyle’s stunning wedding

Work sponsored day on a boat in the bay!

Trolley time.

So. Beautiful.

Biking the Bridge: an adventure never to be forgotten.

June

June 2nd we said good bye to our good friend and baby, Peanut.

We'll miss you.

Good Bye Peanut.

Helped my best friend house hunt and decide on her new home in downtown Phoenix!

Nanci’s Birthday Celebration

Painting nails with color changing polish!

Pool time fun! Jeff, Sophia and Maddi

G-Ma & Izzi

Kimpton National Sales Meeting @ FireSky

Got together with old friends, Sarah & Liz for dinner! (no photos, but still a highlight)

July

Jeff’s birthday celebration (no photos, but still a great time with family)

4th of July at Jeff & Abbi‘s house where the guys and kids put on our own fireworks show!

4th of July - Gma, Maddi & Izzi

4th of July - my nieceys!

4th of July - Gpa & Jeff (the orchestrators of our backyard show)

4th of July - Abbi & Josh

4th of July - Yes, the children were lighting the fireworks!

4th of July - Happy girls!

4th of July - Izzi needed her lady bug hat. It was only 100 degrees out. :)

Happy 4th of July 2011!

Abbi had Valley Fever & Pneumonia and Judah came early!

Judah was born 7/8/2011 at 10:53 a.m. 4 lbs 4 oz.

Grandpa Terry Smith passed away on 7/9/2011

His obituary (I don’t like that word) was phenomenal.  He was an incredible man.  More to come on honoring his life soon.

SD 2011 - Beach time to renew.

SD 2011 - The Smith Family Gang

 

SD 2011 - BBQ night

SD 2011 - BBQ Night - Dad & Rob

SD 2011 - Master of the BBQ

SD 2011 - Coloring & Rummi Kub on the beach!

SD 2011 - Lexi realizing that she likes the water (step 1)

SD 2011 - Football time (Dad loved having Chris & Josh to play with)

SD 2011 - My SISTER CAME!!!!

Mom & Aye went boogie boarding!

Early morning family walk on the beach. I was bribed with coffee. :)

Marta, Ella, Tessa & Lilah came!!!! (looking for Grunyon... did not see any. Never have. Do they really run?)

Josh and I had two guests sleep in our closet!

On the boardwalk!

Doooon't goooooo! (Trust me. We didn't want to!)

 I spent a week in SF helping out two sister Kimpton Hotels.  It was a wonderful opportunity!  I taught them some good stuff and did not take a single photo.

Maddi turned 6 & G-Ma and G-Pa bought a boat!

Meet Ecclesiastes.

Pink ladies.

Smith Men.

Birthday girl & Abbi (who does not look like she had a baby 2 weeks ago & is still fighting Valley Fever)

Oh Captain, My Captain.

Chris, Jen & Lexi

Jeff & Sophia

G-Ma & birthday girl!

Apparently you only have to be 6 to drive a boat! She doesn't look like she's having fun.

The gang on the helm (wow, I sound boaty)

Pirate Josh, Pirate Izzi & Aunt Tory

Stunning.

And that, ladies and gentleman, gets you up to speed on our crazy and blessed summer.  Ups and downs, but through it all Josh and I thank God for our family and friends.  They mean so much to us.

, , , , , , , , , ,

No Comments

We Moved!

Originally posted at http://torillb.blogspot.com

Hi Friends!

It’s so exciting to be moved and settling in to our new home! We had quite the team help us get everything over here. The move was only about 7 miles from Josh’s old house, but I am in a whole new neighborhood! So far, I LOVE IT! We are close to Josh’s parents, my parents and a handful of Josh’s great friends. I’m further from work and my friends, but (and, remind me that I said this when I’m complaining in few months) so far, the commute is not so bad and it’s really not that far from my friends. We’re a hop away from the 101, so it’s easy to jump right on and zip wherever I need to go.

 

I am really looking forward to finding new places to eat and shop. We are really close to a Super Target, so I should be set! What I am most looking forward to trying, though, is Roberto’s, a Mexican food joint connected to a Shell Station. Their best feature, aside from the fact that Guy Fieri featured them on his show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives (watch here), is that they deliver! I can see a tradition of ordering Mexican food delivery and watching movies in our future!

Our yard received the recent months of rain with no maintenance which proved to be quite the site when we finally showed up to the house with the keys. Lucky for us, it cleaned up nicely and makes from some great before and after photos!

Josh put in all new blinds in the kitchen, dining room, living room, and all three bedrooms! We also bought a new fridge (well, two to be exact, but the first one was too big). The one we ended up with is just perfect, though! I highly recommend B & B Appliances for any appliance you might need. They sell appliances that are slightly dinged up, but still brand new and under factory warranty. We can’t even find the supposed “dent” on ours and chances are, you can find one where the dent won’t even show when it’s installed! Both of the fridges we bought (ha!) were well under the suggested retail price and we have the same warranty! We are also the proud new owners if a California King bed!! Oh, how sweet it is to be out of a full size!! We got a killer deal from R & S Mattress. Apparently, Gary’s “overstock” of California King beds got us a heckuva deal on a brand new, (it’s illegal to sell used mattresses) bed! He even delivered it for $10! With both of these thrifty, big purchases, we saved almost $2,000!

In other exciting news, I was promoted yesterday to a Sales Manager position at FireSky! I have been with the company for almost five years and have worn many hats in the Catering, Front Desk and Sales Departments. As a part of the Kimpton “opening team” I have seen the hotel grow so much in the last five years and cannot wait to start in my new position. I am thrilled to grow with a company that I believe in so much. I will have the opportunity to train my replacement and make a clean break into my role. If you know anyone who would be interested in the position, please let me know!

Enjoy the photos of our new home!

Before...

After!

 

Before

Cleaner Yard

After

 

 

 

 

 

 

, , , ,

No Comments

Housewarming Party!

We’re having a house warming party on May 1st! Are you interested in coming? Read more »

3 Comments

Welcome to JoshAndTory.com!

Welcome to our new website! Here, you will (eventually) find blog posts, images – the works – all about us.

Stay tuned for many more updates to come :-)

1 Comment