Patio Project Day 6/7/8 - Completed!!!

Monday (Day 6) was brick laying day!! Our gravel, sand and bricks were delivered in the afternoon and we got going quickly. We were expecting them to be delivered first thing in the morning, but they didn't come until about 3pm - so we knew it was going to be a late night of outdoor work because we couldn't stop anywhere in the middle and let anything but bricks lay out overnight. That also explains my lack of photo documentation of that part...

We laid 2 inches of gravel first as our base. Then we laid 2 inches of sand. We had to be quite detailed to keep it even and level, which was so tricky with sand. Next, we were ready to lay our bricks! We used the herringbone pattern and got to work! Let me tell you, this part was the easiest and most fun part of the whole project! We could actually see our progress and we seemed to be working pretty fast! The hardest part was transporting bricks from the pallet over to the patio. After a few hours of brick laying, we were finished!! Who knew that in 6 hours our hole would turn into a patio!! Since it was 9pm, we decided to clean up the yard and call it a night.

That, my friends, is one beautiful patio. It consists of 848 brick pavers, each laid by Bryan and me and we are so proud of our handiwork!

Tuesday (Day 7) Bryan laid the border around the bricks to keep them in place.

Next up was to brush sand into the cracks and tamp it down so that it's packed evenly.

Today (Day 8), after a delay with a broken tamper, we've got it fixed and are up and running again. We filled gaps with sand and tamped 3 times to make sure all the cracks were filled properly. We cleaned it off and filled the edges in with top soil.

Look at that beautiful brick laying! Obviously, we need to get some grass growing around the edge (and the whole back yard really), but eventually it will all look as great as our new finished patio!

We did it! We completed our project in about a week - just in time because tomorrow we're off to Vancouver to embark on an Alaskan Cruise with Bryan's family!

Bryan's Medical School Graduation in Chicago

We spent the past few days in Chicago for Bryan's medical school graduation! Bryan's family was able to meet use there, and the time just flew by! It was great to go back to Chicago for one last hurrah!

Boat Cruise!

The first night we were there, his school had planned a social event for the students on a boat that toured around the Chicago River and then out onto Lake Michigan. We even got to see the 1st firework show of the summer from the lake!

 This is the building we used to live in!

As you can see, it's hard to capture fireworks on a moving boat, so here's a little video: 

Family

On Thursday, we got in some good family time!

Reception

The night before graduation, his school had a reception at Navy Pier! 

Graduation

Graduation was held at the Civic Opera House in downtown Chicago. It was beautiful and such a monumental day! Bryan is finally Dr. Hinck!!!

 Best Buds!

With Bryan's Parents

Congratulations Bryan! I am so proud of you! You will be an amazing doctor, and I am so blessed to share my life with you!

Even though we had already moved to Cleveland, this weekend marked the end of a chapter in our lives. The four years that we lived in Chicago and when Bryan was in medical school have been such a BIG part of our lives. We decided to spend the rest of our lives together, lived in our first home together, celebrated many friends accomplishments and marriages, formed bonds with friends that will stay strong for a lifetime, and created a life together that we never could have imagined would be so awesome. We now start this new chapter in Cleveland. I'm sure it will be monumental in its own ways over the years.

Grilled Caesar Salad

It's been very hot here in Cleveland, but at least it cools down at night. It's been perfect grilling weather and since we've been so busy outside, we've been grilling most evenings. I love how a grill can turn a simple meal into something amazing! Last night we had steak and caesar salad - both prepared on the grill! I was inspired by my friend Taylor over at Greens and Chocolate to make this grilled caesar salad, and it was awesome! Bryan loves caesar salad, and we eat it often. I like it too, but I like to add variety to my weekday meals. This salad was the perfect way to make something classic and turn it into a completely new dish. We totally loved it and will be making it all summer! An added bonus is this salad (well the entire meal really) was super fast to prepare and cook on the grill! That may have been because I cheated Taylor's recipe and just used caesar dressing that we had on hand because I didn't have time to go buy more ingredients and didn't have time to spend preparing anything either. The end result was still delicious and I don't plan on changing a thing! It's the perfect summer side dish!

Grilled Caesar Salad
Adapted from Greens and Chocolate
You can see Taylor's version here

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

2 romaine hearts
caesar dressing
tomatoes
croutons
parmesan cheese

Directions:

Cut the romaine hearts in half the long way, keeping the layers together. Leave the end intact for grilling and cut it off when you plate it.

Brush each inside half with a thin layer of caesar dressing and then place them on the grill with the inside half face down. Grill for 2 minutes on medium heat and remove from the grill.

Brush the inside half of the greens with another thin layer of caesar dressing. Top with tomatoes, croutons and parmesan cheese.

Patio Project Day 5

The past 2 days have been spent leveling and tamping the hole we've dug for the patio. Bryan has been so hard at work! It's ready for the pavers when we get back next week!

Dimitri, clearly, is loving life in the new house while we're out hard at work!

I tell ya, he's living the life :) (Oh, Judy - that toy you see in the corner is the one you gave him! He loves playing with it on the stairs!) He's currently running around to all the windows watching and chasing fireflies. I think this is the first night they're out and he's never seen them before! What a cutie!

Patio Project Day 3

Well, after a long day of shoveling and hauling, one hole is dug out and the other is filled! We are completely exhausted. We are ahead of schedule on this project, so we are very glad that tomorrow will be a lighter day. All we have to do is level the base and make sure the edges are straight and where we need them to be.

 That is one beautiful hole. 11x16 and 6 inches deep.

We are very lucky to have a great neighbor who has a friend with a rototiller that we could borrow for the day. All the dirt we transferred was rototilled (by our awesome neighbor!) as well as the hole we dug out. This made everything so much easier! It's so satisfying to see such progress in one day! Since this is a very short week for us here, we'll start laying the patio next week after Bryan's graduation!

Patio Project Day 2

After a day of hauling away rocks yesterday, the concrete slab is gone!! There is one last truckload left sitting in our garage because the landfill closed yesterday before we were done hauling loads there.

I'm a little sore today, but it's time to man up because today is full of more manual labor fun. We're digging the 6 inch deep base for the patio! We'll also be hauling the dirt across the yard to fill the hole that was left by the concrete slab. Let's go move some dirt!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies, Home Update, Niagara Falls

Bryan and I have lived in our new house for about three and a half weeks now, and we've been so busy getting things done! Our time to get things done is quickly running out. Bryan's graduation is in Chicago next weekend, and a few days after that we take off for an Alaskan cruise with Bryan's family for 11 days! The day after we get back, Bryan starts his residency! The heat is on!!

For a little while, the blog will turn into a home project blog while we get things done. We have been cooking most days, but it's all simple favorites and repeats of recipes you've already seen on the blog and there's no reason to take photos of those! Running hasn't been a part of my routine lately either. I've been doing the Insanity workouts every day, which are awesome! I don't feel the need to blog about my workouts right now since we're so busy. I barely have time to sit down at my computer!!

Every day we try to use our time to get the most done around the house. It's been pretty busy! We've made major progress on our bedroom and living room! Since we got so much done inside, we decided to start a new project outside. We are attempting to put in a patio in the back! In order to build a patio, you have to dig the ground down about 6 inches and we had to figure out where the dirt was going to go. We also have an eyesore of a concrete slab in the middle of the back yard that we want to get rid of. So, we decided that if we remove the concrete slab, we can fill that hole with the dirt that we dig to build the patio. Bryan got to work and rented a jack hammer from Home Depot and got crackin' - literally!

We thought this would be a simple project. However, Bryan discovered that there was a wire grid layered into the concrete rock, and this really complicated things. The jack hammering should have taken a couple of hours and it took Bryan all day yesterday because he had to break the rock into small enough pieces to get the wire out. And it seems as though every piece of rock is connected to the wire. How annoying. Why would they put a wire grid down with the concrete?? An even better question is why would they ever put in a random concrete slab in the middle of the yard when there is a large paved driveway right next to it? Anyway, we're making progress and are about halfway done. Here's the state of things as of now:

Currently, loads are being taken to a landfill where the wire and rocks are disposed. This will take all day. So much for a quick project! Tomorrow, we'll start digging for the patio and filling this hole with the dirt. We're hoping to complete digging the hole by the time Wednesday rolls around because we're headed to Chicago for a graduation weekend!

Even though we've run into our fare share of obstacles, there are some really great things about our new home! It's large enough for us to host friends comfortably! Our friend Jen came to visit for a few days and had a great time. We took an impromptu day trip to Niagara Falls!! It's just a quick 3 hour drive away!

Well, that's about all I have time to catch up on right now - it's time for more work in on that rubble pile. But, let's not forget that blog title!! In between all the outdoor work and errand running yesterday, I decided I'd have time to whip up something sweet because we were having friends over for grilled burgers. I found these cookies to be a perfect pick since I had all the ingredients on hand. I just love any cookies with oats in them!

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
From Brown Eyed Baker

Makes about 16 cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (½ cup) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup creamy peanut butter
½ cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg
½ cup rolled oats
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

2. Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt; set aside.

3. On medium speed, cream together the butter, peanut butter, granulated sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and beat to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour until just combined. Stir in the oats, and then the chocolate chips.

4. Use a large cookie scoop (3 tablespoons) and drop dough onto prepared baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly golden. Cool completely on the baking sheet and then store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Hello Cleveland (Heights)

It's about time for that moving update!! So much has happened since we moved in!

We got the keys to our new home in the afternoon on Thursday, May 3rd. We moved all the boxes in that evening and got the basics set up so that we could sleep that night. It's been busy since then! We've got most of the main level of the house unpacked, organized and clean. We had to buy a new washer and dryer, which was a first for both of us! Yay laundry! We painted our bedroom and have moved our mattress back onto the floor in there, but the rest of it is pretty sparse. We are looking to buy a new bed and bedside stands as well as buy and install a closet system since our closet is bare. So all of our clothes are scattered between the guest bedroom and the office. We bought a garage door opener and Bryan is in the process of installing it. There were so many things we needed to get, we've been to Home Depot about 25 times in the last 10 days!! New home-owning projects are fun, but they always seem to take more time and money than you expect.

Living in the suburbs of Cleveland is a bit different than living in downtown Chicago. We live on a nice neighborhood street with lots of trees and nice people. I hear birds chirping all day long, and the church a few blocks away rings its chimes on the hour and half hour. We chose to live in the area we are in so that we can walk to fun neighborhood attractions like good restaurants, nice coffee shops, wine shops and other locally owned shops. That aspect is really nice. However, we are not used to driving practically everywhere else. Granted, there is never any traffic, so running errands that seem far away usually don't take us too long. Since we're spending a lot more time in the car, we've discovered that Cleveland has not just one, but two classical public radio stations, which we are both a fan of! We are starting to develop our mental maps of the area we live in, and in no time it will start to feel more like home.

We've also discovered that a family of birds are living in our attic, the part of the house that is not livable and contains the insulation. They were not there when we had our inspection, but one of the vents did not have a cover on it, apparently, and a mother bird laid her nest there. I didn't want Bryan to remove the next because then the mother would abandon the little ones. We called animal control, but they charge over $200 to take care of that, and they put the birds down too. But they said after 2 weeks, the baby birds are fully viable and will probably be able to leave the nest around then. So, we'll remove the nest one day when it is empty and put the cover back on the vent. The birds should all survive on their own at that point. What a weird situation to be encountered with!!

Dimitri is adapting very well! There were a few days where he was mad at us and pretty jumpy since the wood floors are a little creaky (hey, the house was built in 1922!). He has come around though and is loving it here. He watches the wildlife all day (and all night!). He's caught multiple flies that happened to get in when we are hauling things into the house and leave the door open for a period of time. He loves watching the birds all around the house. He's also pretty interested in watching the squirrels and bunny rabbits. He loves the stairs (we didn't have any in our Chicago condo)! He makes up games with his toys and chases them up and down the stairs. It's so funny! On our second night here, there was a thunderstorm, and while you would think he'd experienced thunderstorms before, he hadn't had a real experience. In our Chicago condo, we usually couldn't tell what the weather was doing outside at night when it was dark out and we usually couldn't hear the thunder in our large building. He was pretty scared since the lightening and thunder seemed to come from everywhere, he couldn't find a calm and quiet place to hide out. But he managed with us in the kitchen and dining room and I think he'll be okay the next time one rolls around.

We both really do like living here so far. It doesn't quite seem real yet though. We're homeowners? In Cleveland? Weird. I'm sure once Bryan starts residency in July and I start in the fall, life will catch up with us!