I'm sad to say we have left the building... that is, Richmond. A little harder than I thought it would be to part from the home where Drew and I endured law school together, brought our first child into the world, and lived in longer than any other residence since we've been married.

This will be a quick post, as we are living out of a suitcase in a hotel and trying desperately to get all our renovations done. I'm realizing this was an impossible task from the very beginning and that we must have been heavily drugged to think we could :

1. install new kitchen cabinets
2. recarpet our house
3. tile the kitchen and 4 bathrooms
4. paint every wall in the house, including trim and doors
5. install all new hardware, door knobs, faucets, and light fixtures
6. buff and seal the hardwood on the main floor
7. put in new vanities/ countertops in kitchen and bathrooms
8. scrape the popcorn finish off the ceilings and sand, paint them
9. and dig a 10 foot hole for a recreational pool in the backyard

.... all in 9 days. OK, we may have been shooting for the moon with number 9, but seriously, how hard can this all be? For all those times I watched "Flip This House" and scoffed at the unsuspecting homeowners for setting a budget unrealistically low and vowing to complete everything in 4 weeks,

I now say, "Please forgive me. For I knew not what I said."

The Spirit of the Y

This past week we made the journey to the promised land and had the best time ever... no joke. We originally had planned on going out for the BYU vs UCLA game, but ended up with an extreme added bonus when my best friend in the world, Jenn, decided to have her nuptials performed that weekend as well. Pictured below is me with my favorite college roommates (minus Tiffany-Ann): Jenny and Jenn.







Makenna was our good luck charm at her first BYU game, securing a 59-0 shutout against the lowly Bruins (their worst game since 1929). Dad got us tickets on the last row of the south endzone, which were surprisingly awesome seats, (great birds' eye view and fully shaded throughout the game).


While in Utah we... feasted on Cafe Rio's pork salad AND chocolate-covered cinnamon bears (heaven in a bag), we visited both sets of Makenna's great-grandparents on Drew's side, attended the best sealing I've ever been to at the Salt Lake temple, went off-roading out to Uncle Daniel's worksite, made delicious raspberry jam in Logan, met Makenna's cousins whom she'd never met, spent time with Grandma and Grandpa visiting in Provo, and got spoiled by Grandma Karen. Got to love the Spirit of the Y. You can live a hundred places, but it always feels like home when you go back to BYU.

Sweet City of Burke...Here We Come

Well, we did it. We finally bought a home! After searching long and hard around the DC metro area, we found a winner...














Psych. I just wanted to make the home that we really found look awesome.

We have found a town home in the great town of Burke, VA, located directly south of the city of Fairfax. We fell in love immediately with our little gem of a home, not because of what the naked eye sees, but what it doesn't see. Are you following me? Have a glance at the snapshots below to get a feeling of what we have gotten ourselves into.

Can you say, "POTENTIAL"? This house has it written on every wall, in every corner, and under both layers of kitchen linoleum. Seriously.




Since we're closing at 1:00 pm Monday and moving in Saturday morning, Drew has his work cut out for him. Luckily for us, we have the honored childhood friend of Drew's, BEN BARKER, coming to share in all this man work. Boy, am I thankful I have the responsibility of bearing children, and not the burdens of home renovations.

Sit tight and wait for pictures of the "new and improved" mann-sion (slight exaggeration).

We Finally Went A Pickin'

This weekend we went with some friends of ours to Carter Mountain Orchard in Charlottesville to pick a peck of peaches... and apples. Ever since Drew and I got lost on our way to the Skyline Drive three years ago and ended up at an apple orchard near Front Royal, only to eat two of the best apples in the world, we've vowed to not leave Virginia behind without going to pick some fruit. Now Drew grew up as a farm boy back in Auburn, WA (his family even had a fruit stand they sold from on the weekends), but I on the other hand, have only had the occasional summer opportunity to pick plums from Grandma and Grandpa's plum trees in the backyard. I know- what a poor, unfortunate soul.
We had a superb (although dreadfully hot) day picking to our heart's desire. 10 scrumptious pounds of peaches and 5 1/2 pounds of crisp Gala apples. We all, even Makenna, sampled their delicious homemade peach ice cream and even brought home some peach donuts.
Afterwards we went to dine at Michie Tavern next to Monticello and sampled some of the best fried chicken, pulled pork, and buttermilk biscuits ever to reach a plate. Even Makenna (who as of late, may be turning into a picky eater, much to my chagrin) ate everything that was placed before her. We walked around the shops afterwards, trying on tri-cornered hats and such, and just having a great day. Definitely will be a future Mann family tradition.
BTW, does anyone have a recipe for Peach cider that doesn't leave its consumants drunk?