A Visit from the Fam

Yard-work @ the Raulerson's

After arriving on Friday, my family and I tackled the yard work while waiting for Preston to return from Kentucky. My dad got us a blower from Lowe's while he was here, so Carly got to work on the driveway and roof. Also on our list of chores was to remove the fig trees that had been trimmed once before, and since then had reached the roof-line again. Dad ended up with a new chain saw by the end of the day... and April with a few bumps and scratches. It may look like I didn't do much, but I got my work done early in the morning :) 

Monticello
We didn't make them work the whole time they were here... We headed towards Charlottesville on Sunday to visit Monticello. We enjoyed the house tour and strolling around the property, although it was pretty hot. Afterwards, we went to lunch at the Downtown Mall and stopped to see my classroom at Walker. My dad was enlightened and will probably end up in school next Fall term (so he says).

Washington DC
Monday we went shopping in the Richmond area and found some good buys for back-to-school clothes. It was probably my dad's favorite part of the trip -  ha! I had to head to Charlottesville for a school meeting and my parents were hard at work making Preston and I dinner. On Tuesday, we drove to DC to enjoy some sight-seeing. Carly had Georgetown Cupcakes on her agenda for quite some time, so we headed there first for some sweets. After gorging ourselves with cupcakes, we went to Arlington and then to the museums.

It was so nice having my family here for the week. My dad helped us with so many little projects, I don't know that we would have ever gotten them all done by ourselves! Hopefully they'll come back even though we made them work so hard. Now it's back to school and work for all of us :-/

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Sandia Peak

Preston and I arrived in Albuquerque late Thursday night and drove to Santa Fe, where we stayed with most of the Fuller clan (Preston's mom's side of the family). We joined the family in a caravan to Sandia Peak to ride the world's longest aerial tramway. We took the tram up to the top of Sandia Peak and enjoyed the breathtaking view. We were able to get off the tram and soak in the scenery. We went for a hike in the cool, dry weather and got some pictures along the way. 

 

 The Cathedral

Spanish Market @ the Plaza
On Sunday, Preston and I took a stroll around the Downtown Santa Fe Plaza where they were holding the Spanish Market. We went to the Flea Market beforehand and made some great purchases! All the kids were quite entertained once they found some Santa Fe jewelry, rocks, and noise makers to take with them as souvenirs. We also enjoyed a nice lunch with Preston's aunt and uncle and a few cousins on top of one of the balconies in the Plaza. We were tired after a long day of white water rafting the day before and decided that staying around Santa Fe would be best for our last day there.

digging through their bag of rocks

the girls browsing through their bargain buys!

 Riley, the noisemaker, found a carved owl that provided us with some entertainment

Presley showing off her new accessories :)

Spanish Market @ the Plaza

Spanish Market @ the Plaza

my new ride...

2012 Hyundai Elantra Limited

The search for a fuel-efficient car is over. After deciding to continue working in Charlottesville for the upcoming school year, the need for a car with better gas mileage for the 70mile commute became imperative. Although I loved driving my Malibu with all its features, filling up the gas tank almost every other day just wasn't cutting it. In addition, the 30k+ miles I put on it this month brought the 2008 vehicle to over 80k miles. Preston helped me with the endless hours of research and perused several auto blogs to pin point the best choice for my new car. So, here it is. We decided on a 2012 Hyundai Elantra that boasts 40mpg HWY. I'm looking forward to riding it around and breaking it in these next few weeks as school starts back up. 

http://www.autoblog.com/2011/08/01/2011-hyundai-elantra-limited-review/

Home Makeover - Raulerson Home Office Edition

Preston and I drove to IKEA in the Malibu with the intention of furnishing his office space. We spent quite a bit of time designing and picking out possible furniture options and layouts for the space. After what seemed like hours, we made it out of the store with several boxes that somehow managed to fit in the car. Preston was excited that he was getting to have an office of his own where he could be productive (and creative)... 

Unfortunately, instead of assembling the furniture when we returned, we had to deal with a broken AC. Thankfully, our house has a dual zone and our master bedroom was still being cooled. However, the rest of the house was sticky and humid as the outside temperature neared 104 degrees. On Saturday, we had to wait for several heating/cooling companies to call us back, since most of them are closed on the weekends. Thankfully, we found someone to come out and save us from the heat!

While we waited for the house to be cooled, Preston insisted that he pass the time by assembling IKEA furniture. 

side desk for extra work space and storage

Preston's innovative desk...

As you can see, there are still more boxes... We have a shelving unit to go on the back wall for some extra storage. Our plan is to paint the knotty pine walls soon. We'll be taping everything off and sealing the walls soon. We haven't yet decided on the right color conducive to creative thinking (says Preston). We're hoping to replace a fluorescent light with some simple track lighting.

To be continued...

James River

With my husband in Baltimore for work, I decided to grab my camera and head to the water this evening...