Tristan Xavier Whitbeck

I know, I know! I'm a terrible Auntie for not doing this sooner! For anyone who reads this and is unaware, my sister-in-law, Anne, had her baby! Zack and I were fortunate enough to be able take time and drive up to Scranton to visit Anne, Michael and new baby Tristan in the hospital. We got to hold him and pass him around. He was so adorable.
He was just a tiny little thing, only 5 lbs 14 oz and 19.5 inches long. He was born on September 22. Annie was doing great in the hospital, and from what I hear, still is! It seems the new parents have gotten into a groove and are very happy with their newest family member.
This is the outfit we took to the hospital. We bought a teeny tiny outfit so he would have something to wear :) So cute!

Cabin Update

Well I said that I would get pictures up here eventually. I have some before and after shots of the different rooms. Please remember that we are still working on everything. There's always more cleaning and painting to be done. It also seems that every time we get something accomplished something else happens that we have to deal with. Right now we are dealing with pests. There is some sort of nocturnal creature in our attic/ceiling. It could be flying squirrels, mice or rats. We had a professional come out and give us a better idea of what we're dealing with and an estimate to get rid of things. Unfortunately, being in the middle of a forest, it could really be anything and we have yet to find any definitive evidence. They are leaning towards rats, which is quite expensive. So, Zack and I are trying some traps and we'll see how that goes.
On to the pictures.
The kitchen before:












The kitchen as of right now:













bad picture of the bedroom:











The bedroom now:












The other room upstairs before:











And so far:

"If you don't vote, you're a moron."

I stole this from another blog I read, but I felt the need to re-post and share with as many people as possible. I love Craig Ferguson, I watch him anytime I can stay up past 12:30. It's rare that celebrities actually say what they think in a smart, funny, coherent way. It's like an 8 minute video, but you have to watch it. I was starting to get annoyed and a bit apathetic about voting this year, now I'm all enraged and want to make sure I'm registered and make sure other people do the same! I don't care who you want to vote for! I don't need people to agree with my politics, nor do I need to agree with yours! Stop arguing with people about who is better or worse and go do something. Ok, watch the video now.

Our new home, the cabin

Everyone has been waiting for this so here it is, a detailed explanation of our current living arrangements. If you need our new address or phone number I want to let you know that I do not post that kind of information online. You can leave a comment here asking for it, or shoot me an email and I'll send it out to you ASAP.

A short version of what is going on is that the Glatfelter Company put some land up for sale and Adams County bought it. Adams County wants the state to now take control of the land and pay them back for it, the state is currently trying to come up with the funds. This is a really good article that explains all the detail of the land and what is happening with it.

There happen to be two houses on the property, one was a large house used for hunting trips by guys from the Glatfelter Co., the other was a small cabin that one of the Glatfelter employees lived in for about 20 years. The cabin itself (according to the stone steps in the front) has been here since 1946. Since nothing is being done with the land as of yet, Adams County asked the State to kind of police/keep an eye on the property. The county wanted people to live in the houses on the property to avoid squatters, meth labs, people acting all crazy in the woods (I don't know what exactly). So, one of Zack's coworkers is living in the hunting cabin with his wife and Zack and I are living in the small cabin. We've put a lot of work into it (painting, new kitchen floor, refinished living room floor, new shower, appliances, a serious amount of cleaning and yard work) and it really isn't that bad. So far my biggest problem is just that the porch on the back of the house has a good amount of wasps inhabiting it, so I'm a little afraid to go outside during the day.

I had good before and after pictures, but I hesitate to show any of the before pictures until I get the after ones uploaded and our camera seems to have disappeared amongst the clutter. So, another blog with pictures will be coming shortly. The picture of the outside of the cabin was actually taken at least 2 months ago before we knew we were going to live here. It looks pretty much the same but the grass is a lot shorter.