House Update

On Wednesday our old hardwood floors were torn out of the entry way and formal dining room. That was quite the dusty process and also led to wasps invading our house. Fortunately we were able to stay at our church small group leaders' home that night! Yesterday they installed the new floors and I think you'll agree it made the whole process worth it!

I promise our furniture is black.

You can see the original color by the frame

This picture honestly reminds me of the lobby at the Tower of Terror

It is all over the kitchen tile and mats, so I could
only imagine our living room carpet is equally dirty.
Fortunately our contractor is getting us someone to clean the house :)

And the grand reveal-- our new floors!!! See the old ones here

Aren't they pretty?? It's hard to tell with these pictures, but
they have are hand scraped so they have some of the real wood look.

When we got home last night after dinner and saw them for the first time, I knew it was all worth it. Yes, there is still tons of work to be done and we don't want to use our living room or kitchen, at least something is done and it is gorgeous!

Oktoberfest in New Orleans

Because clearly New Orleans is known for its German food. Well, at least it should be. This past weekend, Matt and I took a whirlwind trip down to NOLA to visit my family. And I mean whirlwind-- drove down Friday, hung out Saturday, and drove home Sunday. Both travel days were in the rain for 75% of the drive, but it was well worth it. We had a great time on Saturday as you'll be able to see-- enjoyed a lot of great food (that I strangely didn't take pictures of, sorry) and had a great visit with my aunt, uncle, and grandfather. Next time we'll definitely stay a little longer, though! :)

We spent Saturday morning touring the French Quarter

And discovering cute alleyways

And watching street performers outside of Brennan's. They tried
to get Matt to dance, but he refused. After seeing what he
would have done though, I must say that was the right call.

And now Oktoberfest, where they had wiener dog races! Sounds strange, but is really fun!

They had several heats we got to watch, some more comical than others

The one on the far left was Layla. Her fans (yes,
she had groupies) had t-shirts that said "Lightning
Layla." She ended up winning the competition!

Of course they had to have the 'Hold the Beer Stein' competition. I have
no idea how much it weighed but it was quite impressive to watch them go!

Matt turned into Mad King Ludwig

Here's the same castle by the way-- Schloss Hohenschwangau;
picture courtesy of my trip to Germany in 2010. 

And our amazing host for the weekend, my aunt Paula, rocking the dirndl!