video
This month I tried to put links to the video “chapters” for each event. The video is long (30+ minutes) so hopefully these chapters help.
Jungle book play
March began with Josslyn’s performance in the Jungle Book play at her performing arts school. She had the role of a monkey. Initially, she instructed us to sit on the right side of the audience, which left us a bit disappointed because she seemed to spend most of her time on the left side of the stage. However, during their big song and dance number, we found ourselves in the perfect spot to witness her dance and sing with an unexpected amount of energy.
ropes coUrse
Knoxville is home to a fantastic ropes course known as Navitat Canopy Adventure. Despite the rainy weather on the day of our visit, they operate year-round unless there’s lightning or strong winds. Since it was a slow day for them, they graciously allowed Austin to go up, which meant I had to join in too. While Austin felt a bit scared at times, he ended up loving the experience. Stacey was amazing, navigating the obstacles backward and with just one hand to assist him. The older kids were all over the place, adding to the excitement, and everyone had a blast.
mulch
Year two in the house we are starting on the external landscaping. This year, we added a yard of drainage rock and 5 yards of mulch and a few little trees and plants around the front of the house. Nothing major, but since it was either eroded and/or raw grass it definitely makes it look much nicer and less plain.
kitchen
An interesting aspect of our house is our friendship with its previous occupant, which has given us insight into some of the renovations he undertook during his time here. One notable change was the installation of laminate flooring throughout the downstairs area, including laying it directly over the existing tile in the kitchen. While we knew there was tile beneath the laminate, we had no clue about its condition. Additionally, Stacey had her sights set on removing a built-in cabinet to create more space. After confirming that the tile extended under the cabinet, we decided to take the risk and pull up the laminate, hoping the tile would be in decent enough shape for the interim while we planned future renovations for the kitchen.
To our surprise, after some diligent scrubbing of the grout, we found that the tile wasn’t as bad as we had feared. Although it appeared a bit dated, it was certainly livable, and we began brainstorming ideas for potential improvements. Stay tuned for updates on our progress. Check out the before and after pictures and let us know which one you prefer!
Family
There are lots of “little” moments with the family that we want to document because some of these moments are really special to us. Sometimes our dinner table conversations are the best (See around the table video link 16:09) and sometimes it is just us watching a movie together.
1958 Gibson lg-1
Not in Video (a glimpse of Christian playing it Video 27:54)
When I was a student at Ohio State, my friend had a 1957 Gibson LG-1 that belonged to his dad. He left it at my apartment, and it became my main daily player. When he inevitably took it back, I realized that I had fallen in love with that guitar. Fast forward nearly 20 years, and an opportunity to acquire a nearly identical one arose. We drove just past Cherokee, NC, to make a one-for-one trade for a banjo I owned, and that’s when we learned the story of Jinsy, the original owner. As she aged and could no longer play it, needing medical care, her family had to sell this prized possession to afford her care. It was a stark reminder that no possession, no matter how valuable, truly belongs to us; we are merely temporary caretakers, and eventually, even possessions turn to dust over time.
So while I am currently the caretaker of this guitar, we are thoroughly enjoying one of my all-time favorite instruments. Surprisingly well set up and easy to play, it sounds just like I remember. During the time I had my friend’s guitar, I recognized its age and small-bodied nature, but I didn’t realize until now that it features ladder bracing. Perhaps it’s this combination that lends it a distinctive enough sound to inspire a slightly different playing style.
First Fire / FETT
We did It! The team I am blessed to be on at Beehive designed, fabricated, assembled and tested our first engine. I gathered the family around the TV in the morning so we could watch the video of FETT (First Engine To Test) and our first successful light off and engine run.
XB-1 FIRST FLIGHT
While we were celebrating our current successes at Beehive, my former employer and collogues at Boom Supersonic were able to complete a safe first flight of XB-1, the supersonic demonstrator I had spent nearly 5 years building. Watching the first flight was heart pounding and exciting. I am certainly proud to be part of it and am impressed by the team that persevered in Mojave for the past year working out the test kinks.
Again, with the family around the couch, we watched the Boom published hype video which was really incredible. Congrats to the team!
coffee table
I picked up two rough cut slabs of oak from a local neighbor who had this huge tree cut up and had been drying the stack outside for the last year. I didn’t have a plan other than I like wood and saw this as an opportunity to experiment – so I tried my hand at some resin to fill the cracks and decided to just do the whole top with resin and make a coffee table. A little bit of sanding and some experimenting with the resin (and a little mess in the garage) was about the extent of it. I got some legs from a casting foundry in Cincinnati and I think it turned out fairly well for a quick/low thought project.
EASTER
We went to “Deep Well Farm” in Lenoir City to do an egg hunt and lots of other little fun things for the kids.
Eileen and Brad hung out with us all weekend and came to church with us.
Portriats
everyone got school pictures taken, but for some reason Wes is the only one we got back so far.
