Jungle Safari

Last night we went to the Jazz vs. Kings game and then to the Anniversary Inn, courtesy of my engineering firm. Luckily I own a little leopard print number, left over from putting together Sheldon's special tool kit for honeymoon. I had everything under control.

Our waterfall, and you can see the bed up in the loft (top left)

The jetted tub was under the elepant and if you look under his neck you can see a shower head.




We spent the night climbing around the rocks.

Deep Thoughts by Shane Dyer..

Shane made the following statement last night to one of our friends in complete seriousness and with all sincerity.

"But Katie, crafting is happy time, not snappy time!"

I just thought I would share.

Tea & Cake

Oh how I miss London. My friend Jamie came over today for some Herbal Mint Tea and Lemon Pound Cake (which sadly collapsed and I'm not sure why), and it was so nice to catch up - London style. I think I'll make it a weekly event, but next time we'll do traditional High Tea with sandwiches and scones.

Classic with a splash of modern

This puppy ended up taking me the better part of a saturday to get in. I love our faucet, its a marrage between my desire for a modern look with laurens love of traditional east coast styling. Those folks at kolhler are brilliant. There is however one problem with this picture. someone put the molding on the top of the bead board up side down...

My question to the reader: must i flip it over? its such a pain.

Up and Coming

This painting now graces our living room. The paiting is from a fantastic artist who should soon contract with a gallery. You can also catch a glimpse of our new roman blinds. Thank goodness for ikea.

Mmmmmm

Thank you Carrie for our bag of delicious goodies (Apple Cake Muffins pictured here). I love baking! I love the smell, and the way my kitchen warms up, and the way it makes you feel good inside. I have loved making all of these yummy muffins, and it has inspired me to create my own recipes. (we have muffins almost every morning for breakfast) So, thank you for such a thoughtful gift that has brought so much happiness to my kitchen!

P.S. Shane would also like for me to mention that this is my first official post on this blog.

Thank You

The holidays are sadly over and life has returned to the Lauren and Shane Dyer normality (which is perhaps far from normal). In retrospect I don’t think that I have properly expressed gratitude for my in-laws. Christmas at the Barlows (Typical form pictured below) is so fun. It hard to express proper thanks for such a generous family, a sincere thank you seems lacking in this case. I need something a more like: a shot gun with thank you bullets, that would probably do it…however that seems dangerous. Lauren suggested a thank you fire work. Perhaps a thank you banner that made noise by itself… maybe too annoying. A thank you cake… too typical. A thank you hug?, Dinner?, Song?... I don’t know. What shows a person’s most sincere thanks? I’m just not sure.



( A man who is serious about thank you's)
Click on this picture

AMG? why have i not heard of these?

So I rode in a new 612 hp...(im not kidding, 612 horses) mercedes s65 AMG. I didnt actually think that they made street legal cars with that much horse power. The new Farrari has a small 540 hp, however the farrari is like 4.2 sec 0-60 and the amg is 4.4 sec 0-60... and there is a porsche 911 GT2 530 hp that does it in like 3.6 secs... anyway I guess its safe to say 612 hp is a rediculus amount of horsepower. My wife was the driver as we rode in the monster car.... yeah... I dont know how that worked out, sad sad...

Christmas with the Barlow's

This is Mary Foulger, my grandmother in law, we had a big Christmas Dinner up at her and her husbands house for Christmas. Its been a fantastic Christmas here in DC!

Merry Christmas

From my creepy right eye thats open just a little bit in this picture.

China Town in the Capitol

We went to Tony Chang's in China town for dinner on the 26th... after our trip to the interactive internation spy museum. we had to take roles and do a role play spy job...(shane = blue beatle). I followed people with moving cameras and audio equipment, diabled 4 cameras with the help of my team, (lup garu...french for werewolf... I dont know how to spell it) I haked a safe, used a polygraph... and consequently kept a nuclear bomb from a terrorist. I should have been a spy. Im thinking about taking it to the next level with "The Ultimate Spy Adventure" http://www.spymuseum.org/special/ultimate_adventure.php it only costs $10,000 for 4 poeple.

You bet he's a Cowboy!

Santa in the off season. Among my favorite Christmas decorations in the house.

Bathroom floor

This is our new bathroom floor, it has yet to be grouted. Its taken so long to get to this point in the remodel... There like little hexagons of light, shining from the end of the tunnel! however the tunnel is like 10 billion miles long, and we aren't even driving we are riding bikes, and there not road bikes, there huffys... which gives you an indication of this rides degree of difficulty.

New York

We went to New york this last week to visit Dan and Minna. These 3 photos where taken by Minna, you have to look at her blog: (http://miriamlovell.blogspot.com) she is an incredible photographer. She took this picture of Lauren and I aswell. I became better friends with Hannah and Jane (shown above) they are so fun, Hannah gets so excited, its so fun to watch her. It was a super trip. We went into Manhattan and spent a day wondering around the shops. I like really like SOHO. I had a great time examining all the old building and wood floors and paint work, it made me feel good about our house. We are doing a very profession job on the renovations. We also had lunch at Bobby Flay’s restaurant the mesa grill (http://www.mesagrill.com/) It was good to be with Dan and Minna. We need to figure out a way to be together more often.

Newest family member

We call her Wilma

Getting my halloween on!

My loving Sister recently brought to my attention; that with my newly forming beard I look like Roy from the office. I resent this, however Im very willing to take advantage of the comparison for halloween. (We dont really look that much alike, plus hes more or less a villian... solidifying our differences)

Brian and I decided to go and practice rolling... It was a cold day, it snowed in the morning and evening, which makes flipping upsidedown in a kayak a breathtaking experience. So breath taking infact that every time I did flip I felt as though I was drowning... not practicing. we also dont have neoprene gloves, adding complication to the complicated activity.

The Wedding at Perry Cabin

Allison & Geremy Chelius are hitched... They had the ceremony at Perry Cabin in St. Micheals Maryland. Its on the Chesapeake Bay. It was an amazingly picturesque setting. It was a traditional ceremony right on the water. Talk about a fun weekend. (and tiger woods was there)

The mostly finished living room

After 3 layers of wall paper, smelly carpet, 8 hours with a wickedly large drum sander, plaster work, 4 new layers of paint, 1 layer of stain, and 3 layers of polyurathane.... behold our living room. (see my mothers blog for more of a play by play:http://dyerweb.com/mom/blog/ ) And the picture dosent really catch the colors, but its nice.

1976 Honda CB 550

Pure Style, complete with hand knit moccasines. We went for a sunday afternoon cruise on my new bike.

Its kinda un real..

It makes it almost not scary at all because its hard to believe that your really just gliding around with your own little set of wings.. its quiet too.. its like riding your bike fast but no other noise except the wind.

in the upper left you can see how high we got.. pretty darn high.. high enough that hieght didnt matter..

loveable

Here is my wife.. in her caccoon.. right before takeoff. she was screaming as it lifted.. I was a very pround husband.

2000 ft

We went hanggliding! It was so sweet. They dragged me up to 2000 ft and let me go. I had an instructor strapped to me.. which was 100% good cause its a little bit intimidating. however I flew the kite (even behind the plane) except for some wild moves...stalls, dives, etc. and he also landed it.

It was really something. here you can see lauren getting towed up in the air behind a little "sport lite" its like an ultra lite...