Winery Tour

During a weekend in February, Chip (Mal's friend from school) and his girlfriend Carrie wanted to go visit a winery about an hour away from Charlotte.  We thought it was a great idea, so we jumped in the car and headed to the winery.  Along the way, we stopped at a great BBQ place recommended to us by one of our good friends.  There was a giant chicken outside, so we were sure it was going to be great food! We were right!  The food was amazing! After lunch, we headed to the winery.  Not what we expected.  We went into a building and sampled several of the wines made there at the winery.  Unfortunately, we didn't get to see any of the fields full of grape vines.  Regardless, we had a blast!  Maybe we will get to see the fields and vines next time!

Nugget versus the hardwood floor

I'm sure many of you know that little Nina hates hardwood floors.  Really, she hates most surfaces that are not carpet.  While working one day, we caught this little video of Nugget trying to avoid touching the floor...

Virtual Tour of our House

We took some photos of the house before we did any painting or work.  We will post photos of the house after we get some work done! :)

A pleasant SURPRISE!

Just when we thought we knew everything we could about the house, we found a second light switch in our dining room.  What in the world would we need a second light switch for?

THIS!!!!

Lighting in the "tray" portion of our ceiling!!!

We can't wait until we have a dining room table in this room...

Better yet, we can't wait for our first "family" meal in this room!!

A round of "FIRSTS"

It seems natural that since this is our 1st house, we should keep track of the first time we do things.  Things like . . .

OUR FIRST DINNER

Who would have guessed that the Willinks would have pizza for dinner?

It wasn't even a Thursday night (you know, pizza night)!

OUR FIRST HOME IMPROVEMENT PROJECT

Changing the locks so we keep little Nugget safe and sound... 

 Our front door is slightly "ghetto" until it gets a new paint job!

OUR FIRST CLEANING PROJECT
The air vents looked like they hadn't been cleaned in years.
I don't know about you, but I enjoy clean air.
Before:

 After:

OUR FIRST TOAST IN THE NEW HOUSE

We love having a reason to celebrate!  

Pretty sure a new house, our FIRST house, is a great reason to celebrate!

We even keep it classy with Andre! :)

I'm sure there will be more "firsts" to come as we get ready for move-in day! :)  Stay tuned!

Nina (a.ka. Nugget)

A week after returning home from our honeymoon we brought home our baby, Nina.  She is a chiweenie which is a mix between a dachshund and a chihuahua.  You can read all about them here.  Nina came from a local rescue shelter that rescued her mom while she was pregnant and helped Nina's momma give birth to her and her 12 brothers and sisters.  9 of the puppies in the litter survived and little Nina was the largest of her litter.  She was the last one left at the rescue and we were lucky we called when we did about her.  We originally called about her brother but were told he was already gone.  Her name was originally Mercedes but that just wasn't going to work for us.  After lots of consideration and many suggestions, we went with my sister-in-laws suggestion of Nina, named after the brand of shoes the bridesmaids wore in our wedding!  It was a perfect name!

Anyways, little Nina, or Nugget as we sometimes refer to her, has a rather weird phobia.  She HATES wood floors.  Strange, I know, but it's a fact of life.  Sometimes, this phobia is helpful because we know she won't leave a carpeted room to go into another room if it means crossing a wood floor.  Other times, it is a bit of a problem - like when we are at the new house and she refuses to move off her blanket.  Poor little baby stands in one spot and shakes terribly if you put her on the floor and take away her blankets.  Also important to note, she has had a blanket since the day we got her.  She freaks out if she doesn't have a blanket.  She really is like a baby! :)

Here are a few photos of Nugget at the new house . . . 

Nina & her Dad relaxing at the new house

This is how Nina helped us clean during our first weekend at the new house

She really loves blankets!  Sleepy baby!

She thought about coming off the air mattress for a split second to get her favorite kind of treat (a Greenie) but then quickly changed her mind when she realized that she would have to walk on the hard wood...

She was so scared after we took away her blankets and just stood in one spot near the fire place.  We put a treat on her head to see if she would move to get it but she wouldn't move.  Her ears are in her "I'm scared" position... :)

Mr. Fix It

He was so excited to head to the house and begin working, especially when he opened his toolbox and realized he had his tool belt inside.  We got a good laugh when he realized that the last time he used it was quite some time ago and the change in his waist size from then to now.  Look how happy he is! :)