Home Sweet Home (if we only had a kitchen)

Hi Guys!

Been a while since we wrote, but we have been in Raleigh, NC, all week visiting my aunt and uncle. They live on a beautiful farm there, and it's of course special to us since we married there six years ago. They have tons of space, both inside and outside the house, so Stella had A BLAST! Oh, and the llamas and cows that they have - you can imagine how exciting that stuff is to a two-year old. She basically ran from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and then collapsed into her pack and play dreamland every night!

We saw some old friends while we were there, including author Reynolds Price, whom Eric worked for years ago. He took us to an incredible dinner at Taverna Nikos (Greek food) in Durham's famous Brightleaf Square. We also saw my oldest friend Sarah, who was the maid of honor in our wedding, and we saw Kristen, who took these beautiful photos that I've posted. She is Stella's godmother and loves Stella, at times, even more than we do, I think!

Eric got some work done on a story he's working on for Duke Alumni Magazine too, which was the main reason we decided to take the trip in the first place.

We came back to what we thought would be a new kitchen - new cabinets and countertops, appliances re-arranged, etc. Well, we have the cabinets. That's all. It looks like Sanford and Son on our porch. We have a dishwasher, sink, and range just sitting outside our house. Which means we can't cook. We can't wash dishes. Now, I know we were in the Peace Corps, and we're tough and all - but adding Stella to the mix changes everything. She's underfoot when the workers are around, and there are deadly nails, staples, and wires everywhere. So basically we're eating out a lot and trying to keep her busy out of the house until they are finished. It better look awesome when they're done!

But home is sweet, back to our comfortable bed and quiet wooded neighborhood. And back to 42 degree temps during the day! Brrrr.

Hope you enjoy these photos.