Now that we had the house and were more than a month in we started renovating. The house itself was brown on the inside. A nice dark brown throughout and lovely 80s fixtures. It really looked like nothing had been touched or upgraded in ages. We updated lighting throughout and even got a Nest thermostat (one of the best purchases we made for that house). We love smart devices but really didn’t know it at the time.
We started on the bathroom (photo below of the redone space). We added a new vanity with a granite top, new lighting, and even added a shower enclosure. We also got our house painted (photo below) due to being part of an HOA they were having everyone pick new colors and update the neighborhood. We picked a light brown (vs the much darker color you can see on the neighboring house).
It was nearing Halloween and Central was doing a thing. This year it was giving away pumpkins to everyone in the church, just to go and give to other people. No, not a “hey come to Jesus and you get a pumpkin” just more of “be kind to others, give these away and maybe learn your neighbor’s name along the way” kind of deal. I LOVED the idea. Ara was all about loading up our trunk with the pumpkins. Most were almost her size (as seen in the photo). As we went to the neighbors in our community, most thought that we were selling the pumpkins and almost closed the door as quickly as they opened it. Once we were able to get them to hear us out – they were happy to take the pumpkin (with no strings attached). I wish that more places did things like this. I saw a smile brought to a lot of people’s faces.
We re-discovered our like for this little diner near us (5 & Diner) and would try to go here every few weeks. Ara really liked it and we were getting to a point where people knew us and were looking for us.
On October 5 2016 my dad went in for surgery for a knee replacement. It was injured during work, so it was something the company was having to pay for. It was a big undertaking, a major event. We weren’t able to be there for it but my mom had sent us pictures and we talked to him on facetime while he was drugged up.
Fast forward to October 27 and you can see Arabella at my work. I can’t believe how small the monitors look but remember at the time they were a nice setup. She got all dressed up and came through for a trick or treating at work that one evening.
Towards the end of the month, we made our annual trip to go see some fall colors. A quick 2+ hour trip up 17 to Northern Arizona and all of the sudden you were in cooler weather where the leaves would change. What is this thing you call a season?! It was a normal trip for us to take and after having been doing so for the last couple of years we were able to get to the areas with the most obvious foliage for some photos and short hikes.
Finally, in the middle, you will see a photo of Ara asleep on me. One nice thing about my role as a Project Analyst and Product Owner was that I could occasionally work from home, sometimes the whole day, other times in just the mornings or afternoons. This started to become normal for Ara and she would regularly come to sit by me. If I were on a call she would have one earbud in her ear, making it like she could understand everything that was going on. Eventually, the ‘adult talk’ would wear her out to the point of putting her to sleep. I tried to capture as many of those times as I could.
just Pray
note: this post was published on 07/22/22 but moved the publish date back to the end of October 2016 to keep chronological order.
