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?

6 Years and Counting...

On Saturday, August 16th, Drew and I celebrated a fabulous six-year anniversary. Our first anniversary he bought me two diamond bands to go with my wedding ring, so he set a high standard for himself. (Not something I would have done. A smarter choice would have been to get me a gift certificate to Claire's- from there it would have had to go up.) This year we for sure splurged for dinner and went to The Tobacco Company in Shockoe Slip. It was a restaurant we said we'd wanted to try since moving here, but didn't feel justified, given our economic status. This was our last time celebrating something momentous while living in Richmond, so we went out with a bang. It was truly fabulous fare, and even better ambience. We had a delicious time, enjoying every minute of our evening. BTW, the reason I have no food in front of me and Drew does is because I had injested every single morsel of goodness. So had Drew, in fact, and because he was able to consume all 12 ounces of prime rib, the next 6 were on the house. Here he is with the last 1/3 of his 18 ounces of prime rib. No one ever said my husband couldn't eat.

In our six wonderful years of marriage, we have experienced a lot together. The following are some noteworthy ones:

1. We've lived in 3 different residences.
2. We've owned 5 different cars (4 of them being Camrys)
3. Collectively, we've obtained 4 university degrees.
4. We've had 1 beatiful, smart, amazing daughter.
5. We've been to 11 different temples.
6. We've stolen a parasailing ride in Mexico.
7. We've kissed the Blarney Stone once, and eachother lots.
8. We've unintentionally been on a "Booze Cruise"
9. We've ridden on 5 different subway systems.
10. We've watched eachother's backs while sleeping in hostels.
11. We've almost set my parent's house on fire.
12. We've met Mitt Romney, Margaret Thatcher, Steve Young, and Beyonce (the last one is just a wish).
13. Together we've won an iPod, a home theatre system, and a $10,000 classroom makeover.
14. We've stood by as devoted Cougar fans for 6 years together, attending football games in the rain, sleet, and snow- and proud of it.

I guess I can't think of anything else interesting. Suffice it to say, if the next 6, 12, or 18 years are as exciting as the first six, we can count ourselves lucky, or rather... blessed.

Coast to Coast

Holy cow, is the summer really almost over? Since Christmas I've been telling myself, "As soon as we get back from Arizona, then we need to get movin'... on moving." And now, we've already spent the month in AZ with my family, Makenna's had her very first birthday, and our first weekend back has gone by in a blur up in Northern VA looking for a house.

For your enjoyment, here's a brief timeline of the major events which have made up the past month for us:

July 10th: Makenna and I leave for AZ while Drew stays here in Richmond to give his undivided attention to studying for the BAR.
July 17th: We road-trip with my parents up to Stockton, CA to visit grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles.
July 29-30th: Drew braves the Virginia Bar Exam... and comes out alive.
July 31st: After 3 long weeks, Daddy is reunited with his girls and we all drive to San Diego to go sailing with Uncle Daniel.
August 3rd: Our baby girl turns 1 year old, is spoiled beyond belief, and downs an entire piece of Funfetti cake with chocolate frosting.
August 7th: The Manns return to Richmond at 11 pm.
August 8th: 8 am- we drive up to Alexandria to start our quest of looking for a home.
August 12th: We put our very first offer on our very first home... cross your fingers!

The princess at the pool. Uncle Daniel playing with his niece at the beach.

Jet skiing on Mission Bay.

Makenna with Grandpa watching the birdies.

The Birds (minus Uncle Eric in Romania) at the beginning of our sojourn out to sea.

Makenna the Cakeinator. Even after all that cake, she comes in at a whopping 18 lbs. on her first birthday.

We had a super fun time back West and wish we were closer to family. Now on my "to do" list:

PACK

CALIFORN-I-A

We just got back from a great trip up to Stockton to see all the Birds. We had an awesome time, but missed Drew, Daniel, and Eric. Makenna took her first boat ride and Harley ride all in the same weekend. She's such a dare devil!

Makenna with her grandpa.

Master and Commander of the wakeboard. I'm currently giving lessons to anyone who wants them.

Chillaxin' by the pool with Aunt Susan.

3 of the 4 great-granddaughters: Makenna, Riley, and Hailey.

Four generations: Grandpa Bird, Dad, me, Makenna, Grandma Bird.

Fun times. Makenna did superb on her first mega road trip (12 hours). No freak-outs. Lots of napping. Downed the car food with the best of us.

And for the run-down on my favorite things about visiting Stockton:
1. Grandma's German Pancakes for breakfast.
2. Visiting with the cousins, aunts and uncles.
3. Wakeboarding on the Delta.
4. Going swimming at Sherwood Manor pool... The Sandlot and Wendy Peffercorn always
come to mind.
5. And my favorite thing about visiting Stockton: picking mouth-watering plums from Grandma and Grandpa's backyard.