The Boneyard

HEY Y'ALL! It's me with the post I promised a long time ago with pictures of my housey house in Philly. For whatever reason, we named it the Boneyard. Maybe because it's white...maybe sort of like the elephant grave yard in the Lion King. Not sure. Anyway, here it is. It's a bit messy right now, but since I don't have a job, most of my time is spent keeping the house picked up. It's hard, though when I'm basically the only one who does it. So it gets messy pretty quickly. ANYWHO...

Here is the living room. It's hard to get a full picture of it, but it's a pretty good size and we actually have decent furniture, which is nice. And there is a big window behind the brown couch.

Walking back into the house from the living room, there is the dining room. We rarely eat here, but we use it for other things. The opening you can kind of see in the back looks into the kitchen.

And here is the kitchen. Probably the busiest place in the house. It's pretty much a full time job keeping the kitchen clean. We eat A LOT. And often it seems. We have made many delicious things like chili, chicken tacos and last night Emily made tuna casserole, which was tasty. And here is my teensy weensy bedroom. I guess I could have cleaned up before I took a picture, but oh well. As you can see, it's tiny and messy right now, but I don't spend much time there because it's basically a closet. I like it though, I don't need a lot of space.

Overall, life is pretty much awesome. I still don't have a job as I mentioned, but I am working on it and in the meantime, I'm just having fun and making the most of everything. Here is a picture of the people I live with

From left to right: Dan, Kyle, Nik, Emily.
Nik is Emily's boyfriend and lives in New York. I went to school with Kyle and Emily and Dan is Kyle's friend from Ireland. This picture was taken this weekend at Pat's Steaks, which is a famous cheesesteak place in South Philly. Across the street is Geno's which is Pat's rival. We all get along really well and have a good time together, so it's been pretty great.

Anyway, that's basically my life. It could be much worse. I miss everyone and hope you all are doing well. Let's get a move on and start posting more, eh? Love ya byeeeeeeeeeeee.

Sigur Ros show

So Josh and Iwent to Boston last friday to see Sigur Ros live at the Bank of America Pavillion. We also went to the Aquarium which isn't as cool as it was when I was ten but we still got to take pictures with a giant penguin =) the picture of us with the yellow glasses on is when we went to the IMAX theater to see sharks 3D (I couldn't help but think of Christie!) and then Deep Sea in 3D. Deep sea was way better than sharks, but we had time to kill so we decided to go to two movies. Although we didn't eat at the barking crab, I couldn't help but take a picture of their sign and slogan which I thought all of us "nuts" would enjoy. I only got to post one picture of Sigur Ros because it wouldn't let me upload anymore pictures, and not many of the pictures I took came out that great anyways. Our seats ended up being way far away so the people onstage looked like they were three inches tall, so during the intermission between the opening band and Sigur Ros, we walked on the side of the tent and decided to stand the whole show (which I wasn't thrilled about) but we ended up being like thirty feet away from them, and had a blast even though I couldn't feel my feet. I did record a couple of their songs, and I don't know how to post it but I'll try. Ok I just tried, hopefully it will work=) Anyways, next family gathering I'll bring my computer so those who are interested can watch the videos I took!!!

info

for all that are wondering, my new contact info is Vhette@inbox.com and phone number is 860-639-3820

Eight Years ago....

Ruth Elaine Phillips

changed our lives!

This is my absolute favorite photo!

Though she has grown, Ruth still can not resist posing for the camera. Her smile lights up the room.

When I was looking through the hundreds of photos, to pick my favorites, I ended up with about 20. I narrowed it to these few.

See, some things do not change. :)

Happy Birthday, Ruthe!

You'll probably notice, so I'll make a note of it now, that just like Aunt Cindy's basement, this blog will be under construction for a little while. You'll still be able to post and everything, but it will be getting a new look. I know I posted about this before, but I'm finally getting to doing it. Please let me know if you have any friendly suggestions! Love and miss you all... bunches! *Christie*

The room

For those that did not know, we are going to be building a room downstairs for Nate and Colen Mae to stay in when they visit home.

Here are a few photos of the "room":

The mess we started with:

Nate, this one has the Futon in it.

This is after we got the area cleaned up:

Here are Grandpa. AKA the Master Carpenter, and Dad working on measuring out the studs. We have to do each one separately as there is a 1/4" difference in height from one end of the base to the other.

So, as you can see, we are moving it along. My job tonight was to be the Master Observer. But, I cannot not wait to get to real work. Maybe I will get to bang a nail or two. :)

Hello everyone! This past weekend I helped Karen move her stuff from storage in Fredericksburg to her new place in Philadelphia. We went and loaded the Explorer... and I mean LOADED (see below)... on Saturday afternoon and drove up to Philly on Saturday night.

We saw an Oscar Meyer weiner truck at a toll booth on the way there and that was incredibly entertaining. When we got to Philly, we unloaded pretty much all her stuff and then went out to some local bars with a few of her roommates. I got picked on about drinking water and then we went back to the apartment, where we stayed up into the wee hours of the morning chit chatting and singing Bohemian Rhapsody. On Sunday we slept in and then went into the city to walk around, which included a tour of Independence Hall.

View from the train stop on the way into the city (Sunday).

Inside Independence Hall.
The white one on the right is where Karen lives!

It was an awesome weekend and I can't wait to visit again soon! And also, there was an amazing sunset on the way home and I wish I could have gotten a better picture because the ones I got don't capture it very well, but that's what happens when you are driving and taking pictures at the same time. You could tell it was amazing though because I could see other people taking pictures of it... including someone sticking out of the top of a sunroof with their camera. This was not the driver though, just a passenger! :)

Logan's week birthday!!

So today is Logans week birthday, so I decided to take some pictures of him to share with the rest of you. The first two are him sleeping on me with his little face all squished up and his mouth hanging open (grammie isn't fond of those ones lol) and then theres a picture of him getting ready to go see grammie and then a picture of his cute checker shoes! Hope you all enjoy them!!!

Some pictures of Logan James

So These are all the pictures I have put on my laptop...not many good ones of the baby....but they were all I had to work with. So theres Logan and his father...and logan and Uncle Joshy. I think these pictures are fantastic, and I hope the rest of you enjoy them too. Soon, I will post some more pictures as soon as I get the chance to upload them onto my laptop.

New Job

So, I have been lurking, with the occasional comment. I fell into the "I do not have anything cool going on" category.
But, I have a new job, which I LOVE! I come home dog tired, but happy. It can be quite frustrating trying to communicate the desire to help to someone over the phone when they do not understand English. I, of course, have no idea how to speak enough Spanish, or any French/ Creole. But, somehow, I got through to two of my families. :) Actually, I have been able to enroll 4, so far. I have to say the worst part for me is to use that "tough love" stuff and force the issue for those families that do not respond. I have left message after message for 2 families I have worked with in the past, and no one is returning those calls. So, I had to be the "bad guy" and mail them a form letter that says that must call or I will place them on a waiting list. UGH! I hand wrote that I was looking forward to hearing from them. :) The flip side is that I have a waiting list, and if my services are not needed for one family, they will be for another.
I have so much to learn, I feel like that first two weeks of class, when I though maybe I was in over my head. I know that as I set up a routine, it will be fine. As I said, I love my job, so the rest will fall into place. :)

Oh, and I have no idea why, but I joined the choir at church. Ye, and they didn't kick me out. My friend, Samm, has been asking me for at least 2 years, and I have always had the excuse "I have Thursday class." Now to figure out what to do with Ruth while I am in the "loft"...

Busy day at work...

Okay, so it wasn't very busy for me, but for the rest of the department where I work, yesterday was crazy hectic. We (when I saw "we," I mean command staff) were in charge of coordinating a rally for Senator McCain and Governor Palin. They are saying it's the biggest rally they've had so far and the preparations were crazy because the ticket reservation numbers were so high, they weren't sure where to have it. Finally it was decided to have it at Van Dyke Park... which is RIGHT NEXT DOOR to our department. So, when I drove in yesterday morning, traffic was crazy and there were people all over the place:

I was fortunate to be able to watch the rally far away from the crowd in a "back room" at the police building. I had a great view of the stage. Although the Secret Service snipers did have to ask who it was standing in the window...

Governor Palin begins, with her husband, Cindy McCain, and Senator McCain behind her...

Senator McCains turn...

This was all the attendees trying to leave... there were THOUSANDS (they said like 20,000) of people there.

It's always awesome when something is going on in the city, whether it be this rally or a strong thunderstorm, because the department comes alive. It was really cool to be able to see this rally in person... way better than the Kerry one I saw at Mason. Maybe it's because Governor Palin actually gets me kind of interested in voting. WHOA! haha. It was especially awesome to be able to hear the officers tell stories once the crowds had gone home.

updated plans

ok...........new update. i will be leaving in guam on the 15th. i will be there for a day then i fly to japan to finish transfering, then i go to san diego for a month. after that i will be coming home for about a month or so. then off to the real navy. god, i cannot wait for that time........ oh and congrats to sam and nate. logan looks really cute........yeah.........

Welcome to the Newest Nut

Logan James Blake

It is my great privilege to be able to introduce you all to Logan James Blake born this morning. Sam is doing great, given how much she went through to bring Logan into the world!! Nathan is a devoted dad already--he's never held a baby before but he's learning fast! Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the three of them together. I'll let Grammie Beth post those photos--or Aunt Jenn!

Great Aunt Kathy and Grammie Beth admire the baby. The poor little fella looks like he's been through the war but he's just beautiful. And.....he knows how to speak his mind already:

CONGRATULATIONS SAM AND NATE! WELCOME LOGAN!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LOGAN!

I can't wait to see him- both pictures and in person! Hopefully someone will be able to post soon, but in general I just hope Sam and baby (and Nate!) are doing wonderfully. Can't wait for the latest update! Miss you and love you all!

update

well i guess it is time that i wrote something. well we just finished our"booze" cruise, or our fun part of the underway. great part of it it, i saw guam, tonga, noumea, Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. now i get ready to transfer in about 5 days from now. they will drop me off in guam then i will fly back to japan for 3-5 days so i can grab my service record, and then i fly to San Diego for about 30 days or so, then i will be trying to come back home. no promises nowadays. but other than that, colen is doing fine. she is struggling to get the paperwork on herside done so she can come to the states.

hi all

i just wanted to say hi to everyone. happy late birthday to nate. im sorry i didnt write in my last post about my finger i didnt think i was a big deal but its fine its getting better and no i didnt almost loose it i just ripped it open at work. i wasnt paying attention to my hand placement felt my finger getting pinched and pulled it out, (i was bending rebar) not a good combo for any thing to be getting pinched by but it wasnt that bad it ust hurt very badly for about a week but its alot better now. to describe what it looked like picture peeling the skin off of a hot dog and haveing some of the meat come with it thats pretty much what it looked like. everything is fine though. as for anything else im fine and so isnt everything else. i have some other good news though mom dennis and i have been doing alot of work at the house which has been a long time coming but now that i havent got a license im home alot so i can do more. jenn keep up the good work you know everybody loves you. nate i hope to see you when you come home. i love you all and always.

Greetings from Sunny Philadelphia!

Hello everyone! So, it has been an eternity since I posted on this thing, but finally something interesting has happened, so here I am again! As most of you probably know, I moved to Philadelphia recently. Last Friday to be exact. It's pretty great so far, but I still don't have a job. I do have a place to live though and two great people I'm living with--Kyle and Emily. Kyle's friend Dan is coming from Ireland to live with us until January and then Kyle's friend Kristen is moving in. I haven't met Dan but I love everyone else and I'm sure he's great if he's Kyle's friend. So far we've just been having a lot of fun since Kyle and I don't have jobs and Emily just started her's yesterday. It's been awesome just hanging out and checking out the city and everything there is to do around our neighborhood. Unfortunately, we have to start being more careful with our money now, but we thought we could go all out for our first weekend, and we'll still have fun, but we'll have to be a little less frivolous. There is so much to do here and I hope a lot of you will be able to come down and visit and check it out. I haven't uploaded any pictures to my computer yet, but I will post some of my house and stuff later so you can see where I live. I've driven past it a million times, because it's right next to I-95. I never could have known I would be living there one day. Anyway, I'll keep posting as more develops (like if/when I get a job and neat stuff like that). Hope all is well with everyone else. Oh and here is my address:

109 West Allen St.
Philadelphia, PA 19123

YAY! LOVE Y'ALL!