Hello all!

It has been a month since the last diary entry, but with all that we've been doing (especially around the house) we haven't had any spare time to give anyone an update. But now that our house guests are back home and we have lots of new photos, it's time to kick back, relax, and let everyone know what's been going on.

As most of you know, my birthday was at the beginning of July, the 5th to be exact. Being a Friday, Kylan and I decided to take the day off. We didn't actually do anything special, just relaxed around the house. I did watch one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge, and of course we went out to dinner and had cake afterwards. And Kylan spoiled me with a plethora of Tinkerbell goodies...a t-shirt, mug, miniature snowglobe, Minnie Mouse dressed as Tink, and a full-sized musical snow globe. I felt like such a kid, getting all of that Disney stuff. Not that I'm complaining!

The majority of our 'free' time during July was spent getting the house organized for Kylan's family's visit. We finally ordered ourselves a new mattress and put our bed together, after getting rid of the shelves and counter in the master bedroom and spackling the walls. We also finished up the floor in the attic and moved all of the boxes of books from the spare room to the future library. Then we had to put the bed together in the spare room, get curtains up...just organize and decorate. Then we went ahead and rented a steamcleaner and spent one Sunday cleaning our carpets...light beige carpeting and dogs just don't mix! Lots of purchases were made too because we needed all new linens for both beds (ours because it's a queen and we had no queen sheets; the guest bed because it needed a new comforter), curtains for the guest room, a couple of lamps, and some new towels. Thank goodness for department store credit cards with delayed payment options!

As for the visit itself, it went well. It was nice to see Kylan's mom, sister, her husband, and daughter again, especially because it's been just over a year since we last saw them all. And our niece Kirsten has grown so much since then! She is 18 months old now, walking and talking up a storm. Kylan and I had some interesting conversations with her...not that we really knew what she was talking about! And her Uncle Kylan started Kirsten on the road to martial arts training...he taught her how to kick, throw punches, and even how to bow at the end. It was so cute! I think the family had a good time here. We took them to the Aurora Outlets for a little shopping and spent the rest of the time sight-seeing. We drove them all around Akron, through downtown and west to Fairlawn. And we also took a drive up to Cleveland just to show them the city. We made sure to go to the waterfront so they could take a look at Lake Erie...they had never seen one of the great lakes before. Now that they know how much there is to see and do around here, I'm sure they will be back for another visit sometime.

The photos on this page are just a few of the ones we've developed recently. Just click below to go to our online album to see photos of friends, family, the dogs, and our house. Enjoy!

That's all for now!
D.

Click Here to See More Photos!

Books Recently Read
Dawn:
All That Lives by Melissa Sanders-Self.....5 out of 7
(A pretty suspenseful novelization of the antics of Tennessee's famous Bell Witch, but a mildly disappointing ending.)

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub.....6 out of 7
(An extremely engaging fantasy; not the typical horror story you would expect of these authors.)

Kylan:
Deathstalker by Simon R. Green.....7 out of 7
(An epic space opera that makes Star Wars look like Sesame Street.)