Back to "normal"

I never thought the day would come where I could say that the remodel is done. I still can't say that it is done but it is pretty dang close. We are still waiting on a few replacement fixture pieces and such but other than that we are done! We had our grand opening celebration Friday 7/25 through Sunday 7/27. We are now the current record holder for the number of credit applications processed on a grand opening weekend - we beat the last record holder by 3! I am not sure if we beat any other records but I know we were close on % increase vs. LY numbers.

We had a great time at grand opening. We had characters, a radio station, cake, giveaways... it was so much fun. Lots of work, but lots of fun. Here are a few pictures!

This is the view of the "finished product" complete with balloons.

The BRU DM and district team sent us a cookie basket!
The customary picture with Geoffrey (Pat from BRU did a good job).
It looks so pretty now! I love this dusk photo.
Having a drink with the BRU promo support team!

So that was the biggest event of the past few weeks. Other than that I also finished my class. I got an A for a final grade, of course. I loved that class and felt that I learned so much. We didn't use a book, we used current articles. It proved to be very effective! I only have two more classes to go to get my certificate. I think I have decided to go ahead with taking a class this next term even though it will be during season. I need to get this done and I will just have to deal with the stress and lack of sleep to reach my goal.

Today was my first day off in around two weeks and I had the best day off! My friend Dottie and I went to the lake to do some kayaking. Well... we ended up going around the entire lake! It was a nice work out, we got to see parts of the lake that I have never seen before, and Dottie saw a live loon for the first time! The weather was perfect! While kayaking I was shocked to learn and see that the tornado that was in the state actually hit a few hundred feet from my parents' house. Trees on top of houses, windows blown out... not good.

My zucchini plants have produced 3 good sized zucchini so far, with a few more growing. I am not sure if they are going to produce a lot more zucchini but the ones that are now in my kitchen look full and healthy.

Katie's bachelorette party was this weekend as well. I had a great time and I think Katie did as well. Pictures to follow!

In the home stretch...

... I can see the finish line!

The remodel is over! Soft opening is Monday morning - 10am. Grand opening is just a few days away - Friday 7/25. The ribbon cutting is at 9:30am. The mayor and his two kids will be there and we are hoping for the Governor and former Governor Shaheen. It is going to be awesome! The best part of all of this is that we can return to a "normal life" as much as we can while working retail. This week will consist of me living at work minus time at school and a few hours to sleep.

My class is also over this week. I just finished my exam and my group project is just about finished. I loved this class and hope that I can have my prof. again for another class. My newest dilemma is if I should take a class next term. It starts at the end of August and goes to December. My concern, obviously, is time for school with my work schedule during the Christmas season. Just because I work on the BRU side does not mean I get it easy during the Christmas season. One of the courses that I want to take is available online so I might take that one to still get a class in and have less pressure about missing a class due to work. After I finish my current class I will only have two more classes to be done my certificate. The sooner I finish that the better!

I am growing a garden in the back yard using 5 gallon buckets. We have 2 tomato plants, 1 green pepper plant and 3 zucchini plants. I checked the plants about 3 days ago... had a few buds on the zucchini plants. Now I have full blown zucchini growing!

The "garden" growing strong!

My lone bell pepper. There are a few more buds on the top now, but the rest were knocked off by the big wind and rain storm we had earlier in the week.
Beautiful zucchini plant in bloom. I love that color!
The first zucchini of the year!

Megan and Jason sent me a picture message of "the bug" - which is what we are now calling their little baby in the works. It was cute! I can't wait to be an auntie again!

I also got my hair chopped off. I like the cut, but the color didn't come out quite as planned. Once it is how I want it I will post pictures. For now, people need to stop calling me carrot head!
More to follow once this week is over!

And on the 7th day...

... Sarah rested. Well, for the most part. I had a great day at the lake!

I met my parents at their house for 7am and off to the lake we went. My mom made lots of yummy breakfast food for the crowd to enjoy. After breakfast it was time to head out on the kayaks! It was extremely windy today (normal July day up at the lake) so the wake was a bit high for only my second time out in the kayaks. I decided to get out of the kayak at the spot where one of the springs comes into the lake. I walked up the spring a bit and decided that it might be a great spot for a new geocache! I then went swimming and enjoyed some great conversation with my future sister-in-law Katie and her BFF Debby. It doesn't sound like a very exciting day but it was what I needed!

Here are a few highlights from the day:

Oh my gosh! My mom made everyone's day by providing us with Potato Sticks! Everyone but Katie seemed to be overly excited.

The group of people that was at the lake for the weekend.
My Dad put together the new toy today! Yay for outdoor fun!
Dutch was tired on the car ride home. Poor baby!

How many toppings...

... can you put on ice cream before it is too much to handle? In my book... up to 3 flavors of sauce and all the topping you can pile on. I tend to like as many toppings as I can fit in the bowl.

I am so thrilled that most of my close friends could come by tonight. Jason still came even though Megan was at home feeling icky due to the bundle of love in her oven. Yep, the Blodgetts are expecting their first child. That means I will be an auntie again! Yay!

Back to the ice cream party... so we had a good time. Mike's 6 year old daughter was here this weekend so she played outside with us. I got a badminton/volleyball set and we enjoyed it for about an hour. It was fun to get outside and play on the freshly mowed lawn, complete with trimmed edges. Emma had a great time and gave us all hugs before she went to bed. Jason gave her the best hug of all of us - he is going to be a great daddy!

So much has happened since my last blog. The store is almost complete - the deadline for "100%" is getting really close and there are so many loose ends to fix. I will be at work at least 6 days a week for the next 2 weeks probably. We are all fed up with the remodel and each other and we all can't wait until it is over so we can get back to normal! School is going really well. I love my new class and I hope that I get to have my prof again for another class. She is great! Pretty soon I will have my master's certificate in HR and that will hopefully open new doors of opportunity for me.

I am looking into working on the front yard tomorrow. I would like to redo the mulch/garden area that is next to my drive way. I yanked out the old trim today and am thinking of putting up a small wall but am not sure yet. I have a few bricks to experiment with tomorrow and will save the project for next weekend. My goal is to not have a junky looking front yard by next summer. The big project that I need to save for is the repaving of the drive way and new steps... and a new water heating system and new fridge... ahh, the joys of home ownership!

Mike and I have decided to grow some crops this year. We have a few 5 gal buckets in the back yard housing green bell peppers, two varieties of tomatoes and zucchini! So far we have one green bell pepper forming. The zucchini plants have doubled in size over the past two weeks so I am hopeful that we will have quite the zucchini harvest!

I will try to be better at updating my blog, but with so much going on right now it is hard to spend time writing! Grand opening is the weekend of July 25th. After that life should be back to "normal"!