Joey and Melis Get Building

Beefy Deck

2011-08-13T17:56:00.000-07:00

Joey spent last week installing the world's largest and sturdiest deck. It has 2x12 floor joist that appear suspiciously strong for just a deck...I have a sneaky feeling Joey is laying the groundwork for our future addition (read:Judy's room). The deck wood is several different colors because we used different aged wood and the remainder of a couple of different deck stains we owned. Joey blended the colors well and we joke that our deck is just in time for Halloween because it looks like candy corns.

Joey is also fast at work doing the trim work for the house. He has finished almost all of the interior windows, half the exterior windows and started in on the door frames.

I have been little help of late..mostly being a new mom. Although I did a little cabinet wrestling with Joey yesterday when we painted the kitchen the same color as the living room and lowered the cabinets. Also I promised to wire lights into the closets.

Stay tuned..coming up- sanding and painting the stairs- oh-boy.

90% and still going

2011-07-17T19:29:00.000-07:00

Joey and I would say the house is 90% complete- certainly done by Alaska standards but we are determined to hit 100%. I have been terrible at keeping up with posts- the new addition to the family is impatient at watching my play on the internet.

Our big successes since late March include...muding, taping and painting the entryway, framing-in several closets, tiling the mudroom, siding one more side of the house, and installing a septic system. It is exciting to retire our outhouse and enjoy the full benefits of indoor plumbing. We both did well with our gray water system but it was annoying policing visitors to make sure no solids went down the drain. Now we happily flush away! Also a big benefit of our new septic system is a big back yard and we extended our driveway. We sold and moved our old shed. It is nice not to have our vehicles parked in the road. The only down side is friends drive by and think we are not home because our vehicles are not visible now from the main road.

Coming up...Joey is pouring the foundation for our back deck, Melis is doing some light landscaping. We need to trim all of the downstairs windows, side the back of the house, and lower the cabinets in the kitchen. We are in the home stretch!

Sweet time

2011-03-21T12:23:00.000-07:00

Well- we are taking full advantage of the baby's late arrival.

More and more house projects are getting checked off the list.

We have started to tackle the entryway/mudroom.

In addition to the nasty task of more drywall and painting, Joey has been designing and building a railing for our stairs to make them safe for impending grandmas. Joey is also excited to start building some closets.

Last week also marked Joey's 31st birthday. Hopefully soon we will be ceelbrating little Judy Greene's...

Cramming

2011-02-20T12:19:00.000-08:00

In a rush to finish a few projects before the baby comes...
Joey hit the ground running after being in Antarctica for 3-months.

We are determined to finish the first floor of the house.

In the past two weeks we have:
Finished mudding and taping the living room.
Primed and painted the living room.
Installed light fixtures.
Expanded the hearth for the wood stove.
Sanded exposed beams.
Began installing our finished flooring.

The days are getting longer and warmer her in Alaska.
It is nice to be together again and get a sense that we might actually finish this house.

On the docket for next week is to update our plumbing system. We have dissolved iron in our water and need to install a water softener. We will take advantage of the opportunity to protect the floor of our utility closet with floor paint and install a water filter too.

It is fun to be back in action.
-M&J

New Year's Resolution

2011-01-05T21:02:00.000-08:00

Joey and I want to finish the house in 2011.

Judy and Margaret gave the project a big boost during their Christmas visit. They meticulously measured all of the final pieces needed to finish dry walling the downstairs living room, including a few dozen little pieces to accent the exposed beams of the ceiling. Margaret learned how to wire outlets, snap gypsum board, and find studs.

Judy was in charge of marking openings to be routered, holding heavy pieces of board until they were all screwed in, and the most inglorious job of all- prep and clean-up.

All three of us were outfitted in Joey's work clothes. We joked that I looked like a real Alaskan handy man with my big belly and rainbow suspenders.

Although Judy and Margaret did their lion's share of household chores this "vacation" shoveling walking paths and driveways, splitting and stacking wood, and other Alaskan winter necessities- we were able to take advantage of the short days and get out and have some fun.

We helped a freind Heather rig up her dog-team, went skiing, snowshoeing, ice skating, snow machining, and helped Sandra and Loomis process their roadkill moose meat for donation to the local food bank.

All in all...just another typical vacation in Talkeetna.

Happy New Year!

Getting so much nicer all the time

2010-09-20T15:27:00.001-07:00

Pat and Laurie Coady hard at work staining siding. They had a great visit to Alaska including hiking, wildlife viewing, and walking on a glacier.

The big event last week: The kitchen is in! It is wild to go from no running water to having a dishwasher- now Joey and I fight over doing dishes.

Crazy Summer

2010-09-02T16:14:00.000-07:00

As Joey and my crazy summer winds down we have a number of successes to boast...
4 summits of Denali
Running water in our house
Siding the house
A few successful family visits to Alaska

Please enjoy the photos below of some of the progress on our house.

Long Time No Post

2010-06-14T23:33:00.000-07:00

Joey and I have had a lot of successes in the past few weeks.....

We finished plumbing the house.....

We finished dry walling the bathroom and laundry room....

Our friends Seth and Chris helped us finish installing the second floor ceiling and attic door...

I finished tiling the bathroom.....

In not too long we will be finished with the second floor, showering and doing laundry in our own home... you cannot imagine our excitement.

Joe the Plumber and More...

2010-03-31T20:24:00.000-07:00

Joey and I are finally back together and in Alaska. We have been quite the flurry of activity working on the house. Some might say we are at the fun part- I think Joey and I would agree there are still many ups and downs. In the last 48-hours we have completed the first stage of plumbing. Joey has created a waste drain and vent stack for all of the fixtures and I have plumbed the water line up to our pressure tank and tied in an outside spigot to run and rejuvenate our well water. It was pure joy when I discovered that all of the copper joints I sweat held...Joey had faith in me but I had a towel and bucket ready when we turned on the pump for the first time. We have now had the well pump running for over 24 hours and have a small pond in our front yard. If we are lucky maybe some swans will find it.

Also...today we sanded the floor of the entire second story. It was high comedy watching Joey and I wrestle the beastly sander. We have primed the floor with a post sanding solvent and have applied three coats of verethane to the bathroom floor. We will put on several more before we go to bed tonight. It is so exciting starting to see some of the finished product of our home. Check out the video of Joey sanding below, needless to say his legs are exhausted.

Our highlight today....seeing each other completely covered in saw dust. Joey had to laugh when he looked at me and said, "At least I now know what you will look like as an old woman." The dust made deep wrinkles on my face and made my hair look gray. Hopefully we will be finished with this house by then.

By the way...Have you seen our bedroom- just a little more trim and verethane and it will be done.

Back to work

2010-03-03T19:35:00.001-08:00

Joey just made it back to Alaska. After a few days of shoveling he should be nose back to the grindstone on the house! I will be back in two weeks to join him. Can't wait to move in!

Procrastinating

2010-01-17T19:05:00.000-08:00

Awwwww- we are still escaping the harsh Alaska winter. Joey and I are currently in Texas visiting family. We celebrated a terrific New Year's in NYC with my sister.

We depart tomorrow for eastern Idaho where we will live with friends at the base of the Teton mountains and ski and climb for a month before returning home to Alaska.

Happy New Year!

2009-12-15T15:15:00.000-08:00

Joey just flew from Alaska down to Wyoming. He has been working on the house solo for the last three weeks. His greatest accomplishment... the stairs. We have been hauling materials and supplies up a ladder for the last 6 months. You can only imagine my excitement about them. We will be taking a break from house building for the next two months to visit friends and family. We have a number of projects waiting for us when we get back, including plumbing. Yikes.

Enjoy a virtual tour by Joey of our new stairs by clicking play.

Compromised

2009-11-21T10:32:00.000-08:00

Well... Joey and I caved in. After a week of temperatures well below zero (read 20-below) we purchased a Toyo oil stove. I hit my limit when at one point I was sleeping in front of our woodstove in two sleeping bags feeding the stove every three hours and I couldn't keep the house much above freezing. The problem is two fold. Since the house is under construction it is not very tight yet- so we have quite a few air leaks. The second, more concerning problem is that our fancy dancey wood stove is broken and it will take us a while to get it fixed.

Solution: we purchased a oil stove and jerry-rigged a fuel system with some old oil drums, which saved us over a $1,000. We had a few fuel leaks as of last night because of some poorly made copper flares but our good friend Danial helped us fix them and showed us some good tricks for making perfect flares. So our ideals feel slightly compromised but it is pretty nice to set a thermostat and be done. Hopefully we will get our wood stove up and running again so we do not have to rely so heavily on oil.

I leave for Jackson, Wyoming today and won't see Joey for a month- so it is nice to know he will be warm while I am gone.

The Fun Stuff

2009-11-15T11:06:00.001-08:00

Suprisingly enough Joey and I are staying warm. Winter is finally here. With snow on the ground and several days now with sub-zero temperatures we are now slaves to our woodstove. Because the house isn't entirely sealed up yet we have to take shifts in the middle of the night re-stoking our stove. But believe it or not we are now at the fun stuff.

We have been hanging drywall and learning how to perfect the art of concealing our screw holes and seams with varying types of plaster and mud. Many of the materials we use are highly sensitive to temperatures as they dry so it has been a real challenge to monitor the drying process. We are holding ourselves to high standards. Ordinarily people texture their walls to cover flaws in the taping process and we have decided to forgo that step for cleaner look.

The finishing details of the house have been fun. We just spent the last couple of days completing our bedroom. It is an exciting stage where we get to be creative and the results are immediately very satisfying. We completed the tongue and groove ceiling and I wired in a ceiling fan to control the light from a switch and the fan from a pull chain. I think we are finally getting the hang of wiring. Now we get to choose wall paints and start cutting our trim. I think we are going to whitewash pine trim to match our white vinyl windows.

Tomorrow we dive into the plumbing. Wish us luck, thanks for your support and enjoy our photos.

The Power!

2009-10-20T21:39:00.000-07:00

You'll notice in this photo- we have light which means we have power. Joey and I just finished wiring the house and escaped without a single zap or buzz.

Our first anniversary came and went- our gifts to each other- a new house! We celebrated with friends in our home in front of a raging wood stove fire. It was lots of fun and we have so many good memories from our first year as husband and wife.

Since then we have had a busy couple of weeks. Highlights include:
-Insulated our top floor
-Installed our gray water system
-Finished wiring
-Started plumbing (learned to sweat pipe)
-Purchased our bathroom appliances
-Transferred power and phone to our new house while keeping it at our little cabin.

More stories to come- we are tired and heading in for the night.

Still at work

2009-10-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the lag in posts- in fact Joey and I have been busy little beavers. We returned from our last trip in the mountains Sept 18th and since then have completely weathered-in our house. All doors, windows and roofs are in. All of our siding, insulation, and sheetrock arrived on Monday so we will continue working on the house for the next three weeks.

Recent successes include installing a waterline from our well to our house, attaching the service panel for electricity, and buying and installing a wood stove.

We had to custom order our doors because we wanted our porch door to swing outwards and our rear door to include a large clear window. Shortly after they arrived I painted them brick red. It is fairly cold right now in Alaska (dropping into the 20's at night) so it has been difficult for the paint to dry. I had to stand above the wet paint with a blow dryer to get it to stick.

Installing our waterline was stressful. Because frost line is 10-feet deep we had to hire an excavator to dig an enormous trench for us so the walls would not cave in on us during installation. We drilled a hole into our well casing and attached a 1" water line that we installed heat tape and insulation around so hopefully there will be no chance of our pipes freezing during the chilly Alaskan winters.

The electric company is going to install the power and phone lines to our new house in just under three weeks so we are a bit under the wire to install all of our wiring- ha ha ha. We used a gift card from John and Marisa to buy most of our electrical tools and wire at Home Depot. Yipee.

We were happy to finally have purchased a wood stove. I can only relate the process to buying a car. The sales staff have similar strategies and the sticker shock is comparable. After comparing efficiencies and aesthetics we reached a comfortable middle ground by purchasing a DutchWest stove. It is technically a non-catalytic stove, but it has a ceramic chamber to re-combust smoke for high efficiency and low emmissions. The stove pipe installation was confusing. We had to calculate distances of our stove pipes from combustibles (like floor and ceiling joists, and walls) while still trying to have our pipe exit our roof near it's peak so that heavy snow loads will not shear the piping off our roof. We also wanted to install our pipe without any bends because every turn is a potential creosote trap and has the potential for chimney fires down the road.

Joey has been busily collecting firewood and squirreling it away. Hopefully we can season it properly for use mid-winter.

So Joey and I will celebrate our first anniversary this Sunday by firelight in our new house!

Enjoy the photos!

Update

2009-08-23T15:39:00.001-07:00

I am out of town again, teaching a Wilderness First Responder course in Juneau. Joey has been installing windows and tinkering with some unglamorous details on the house such as, installing louvres. Yeah- we didn't know what they were either, but they are vents that create airflow in our attic.

We will receive our first visitors on Monday evening. JoAnne, Joey's mom, and Beth, Joey's aunt will be in Talkeetna for a two week visit. Very brave, considering what a construction zone we are living in. On Aug 30th I will be flying back to Anchorage where I will meet my brother Pat and his friend Julian who are coming up for some fall fly fishing. We are excited to share our new home with friends and family.

-Melis

Odds and Ends

2009-08-17T23:10:00.000-07:00

I am working in Juneau teaching a wilderness first aid class and Joey is working solo on the house. When I left two days ago we were putting in windows and Joey tiled the hearth for our future wood stove today. Our metal roofing arrives on Thursday, Joey will no doubt be looking for someone to hand him the sheets as he installs the metal on the roof. I wish I could be there. -Melis

Survived the Rain

2009-08-13T19:39:00.000-07:00

A mere 12 hours after finishing the roof it started pouring rain. We are very relieved to be "weathered-in" as we continue our long list of chores to complete on this house. On deck are the chores: windows, doors, putting watershield and metal roofing on, wiring, plumbing, insulating, installing the wood stove.......... Still, you have to celebrate the the benchmarks and a roof on is a big one.

The photo above represents our current progress. When the house is finished we will also have one more roof line on the right above the front porch and a small window above that. The porch is the indentation to the right of the ladder.

Okay...It's HUGE!!!!

2009-08-12T22:57:00.001-07:00

Well- as you can see we have been busy beavers on the house. We had to attend to lots and lots of tiny building details, but at last- we have completed the roof and frame of our house. We are both extremely excited. It will be sad to be leaving the roof for a while, as you can imagine we are both very fond of heights. In fact, the view from our roof is fantastic, and the current cabin and outhouse are completely dwarfed by our new house.

Raise the Roof

2009-08-06T19:44:00.000-07:00

After much frustration Joey and I finally have completed putting in our roof rafters and second story ceiling joists. We each read about four roofing books and worked hard at calculating our roof angles. We tried a couple of test pieces and...failure. Steam was coming out of our ears.

Just when we thought all was lost we called our trusty lifeline engineer- Johnny, Joey's brother. He told us to hold up the rafter to the desired level on the outside of our bulding and trace the angles. Seem too simple- we'll it wasn't. It worked. Hooray.

It has been quite rainy the last few days so we now have the rafters covered by a large brown tarp. The next sunny day will be mayhem- we will try to work very swiftly to get the roof sheathing in place.

We had a lot of debate between ourselves whether to go with shingles or a metal roof. Based on the snow loads, occasional strong winds, and the coolness factor- we have deceided to go with an unpainted metal roof. Rainy days will be awfully cozy with the pitter-patter of rain on the roof as we relax in front of the woodstove......

Today we started framing in the mud room and calculating the second of three roof lines. The final roof line to design will be over the front porch.

Second Floor Here We Come

2009-07-29T14:23:00.000-07:00

After 2-weeks in the mountains I came home to quite a surprise- Joey had finished the front porch and finished framing and sheeting all of the walls for the first floor. After a quick shower, hug, and a kiss it was back to work. "Hand me another board, please."

Last night we completed putting in the tongue and groove flooring for the second floor, which will double as a finished ceiling for the first floor. It looks lovely and we will have to work hard to keep it pristine through the construction of the second floor walls. We hope to have the walls for the next floor framed in the next two days so we can begin construction on the roof. It has been raining quite a bit lately- we feel like we are in a race to get all the wood up and the structure protected before it beings to warp.

Our favorite part so far- the view keeps getting better the higher we get.

First Floor

2009-07-08T16:12:00.000-07:00

In an action packed four days Joey and I were able to get most of the components of the first floor in. We framed and partially sheeted four walls. Next comes the remaining two walls of the mudroom and the front deck.

Joey just left for 10-days of work on the Matanuska Glacier teaching students to ice climb. I starts work this weekend and will be flying back into the Alaska Range for a 12-day mountaineering course. It is hard to leave our new house for other projects but we will be blissfully reunited at the end of the month and hope to complete the second floor. I took a brake from framing yesterday and went paragliding in Girdwood..... Joey doesn't know yet- ha ha ha.

First Floor In!

2009-07-04T11:11:00.000-07:00

Our lumber has finally arrived and we are fast at work getting the frame of the house up. After digging the sewer line by hand, it feels good to be done with dirt and switch to wood.

Joey was excited when our main beams lined up perfectly with our foundation tubes. We framed the floor quickly and spent a day tinkering and making it square. Last night we attached the subfloor and had a few friends over to spill the very first beers on the floor.

Hopefully we will get the walls up today and tomorrow...if the mosquitoes don't get us first.

Breaking Ground in Talkeetna!

2009-05-30T20:53:00.000-07:00

Big News... Between mountaineering expeditions we were able to put our own foundation in.

In 5 solid hard days of work we cleared the land, dug twelve 4-foot feet deep holes, engineered them to the right distances, mixed and poured our own concrete....whew. We are tired. We are actually looking forward to our next Denali expedition, it will be less work then building our own house I think.

It is very exciting. We were able to get this project done a month ahead of schedule. Also, we were forced to install our own pump in our well so that we could have running water for mixing concrete...what we failed to realize until later is that we have our own running water now- Yipee.

Here are the results:

Thanks to family and friends for your support. Stay tuned for more updates on our progress. We should get back from Denali June 22- unless we summit early.

Cuba!!!

2008-12-26T11:57:00.001-08:00

Joey and I are safely back from Cuba. We spent just over two weeks there rock climbing and smoking cigars. Actually smoking cigars was cheaper and easier than burning citronella to keep the mosquitoes off. The country is amazingly poor and lacking what we consider many basic human needs. The area we were in, Vinales, was one of the worst hit villages from hurricane Ike. Many homes are still without roofs, even though they were still in the heart of their rainy season. We met many local climbers and we left them much needed climbing equipment so that they can continue to develop a strong local climbing community. We hope that their economic condition improves with increased diplomacy in the upcoming Obama administration. It is hard to see our neighbors doing so poorly. We had fun but it is nice to be back with our families for the holidays.

Honeymoon

2008-10-29T15:06:00.000-07:00

Joey and I have been tucked into a little desert canyon in Utah, eating Trader Joe's camp meals and rock climbing. If you haven't heard from us, just remember no news is good news!

Wedding Photos!

2008-10-15T13:26:00.000-07:00

Check out our wedding photos on our new slide show link (next door). We would like to thank everyone for making our wedding day so much fun. As we look at the photos we were impressed to see how many good looking family members and friends we have!

If you were sporting a camera during events and have any good photos to share be sure to pass them on and we will post them on the blog!

Joey and I have been spending some time with his family in Texas and will be heading to Utah next week to go climbing as the first stop on our honeymoon tour.

We are Hitched!

2008-10-08T11:15:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for attending- Joey and I are now happily married. Stay tuned for more photos and stories.

Two Thumbs Up

2008-10-01T10:09:00.000-07:00

Grandma gives Joey two thumbs up. Joey and I swung through Arizona on our way from Nevada to New Mexico and saw Grandma Margaret Gish. It was a quick 2-hour visit in Tucson Tuesday morning. Joey greeted her with a big bundle of flowers and we gave her a good surprise. We got the idea to sneak in for a visit the night before as we were driving through Flagstaff and looked on a map- it seemed like we were passing right by grandma. We are sorry she could not attend the wedding and thought she could get a sneak preview of the groom, before anyone else in Melis' family. It was nice to have a visit with her. Melis enjoyed the old wedding photos grandma pulled out from her duaghters' weddings. Joey enjoyed the old photos of Melis. It was nice to see grandma's smile and get a big hug and sign of approval. Joey and I are now in New Mexico with Judy finishing up the details for the wedding. Guests start arriving as early as tonight.

On Our Way

2008-09-14T12:30:00.001-07:00

Melis leaves Alaska in two days.

She heads to Nevada to work for two weeks before getting married. Her friends gave her an amazing send off party yeserday. It will be hard to leave the gorgeous fall colors up here, but it has been a rainy and cold summer and now its time for some New Mexican sunshine.

Joey is off in the mountains carrying loads for a Discovery Channel production called- "Out of the Wild: Alaska." They have flown 10+ contestants up hear from all over the country and all walks of life to survive and travel through the Alaskan Wilderness just outside Talkeetna. This small town has become a virtual little Hollywood.

We are really looking forward to our wedding and will send out final RSVP cards soon.

Signing off for now- Thanks to my Alaskan girlfriends and Holly Sheldon for throwing me an awesome party.

3 Weeks! Are you ready?

2008-09-13T13:51:00.000-07:00

Wow- Now it is really getting close, we can almost taste it- and all these catering menus ARE helping.............

Worried we are going to feed you too much? You should be! That's why we are encouraging guests to join a run sponsored by Santa Fe's local running club the "Santa Fe Striders." They are hosting a fundraiser run Saturday morning, October 4th at 9am. It is a 12-mile run ascending 2,000 feet to the summit of Teusque Peak (12,043'). It is an out and back run on a maintained dirt road. It could also be a nice hike. Event fee is $22 and proceeds benefit an organization called "Wings of America," a non-profit supporting American Indian youth development programs.

Click to see the event details below:

http://www.santafestriders.org/race_info/event_info.aspx?eventname=BigTesuque08

Check out Wings of America:

http://www.wingsofamerica.org/

Should be fun! Pack your sneakers.

5 Weeks

2008-08-28T18:35:00.000-07:00

The wedding is now only 5 weeks away. We are busy settling up details and will soon email guests with a more specific and up to date list of wedding events. Our promises to the guests:

#1 A festive and informal "Rehearsal BBQ dinner" open to all guests.

#2 A beautiful ceremony starring the bluesy guitar licks of our close friend Joe Balsamo.

#3 Yummy and local southwest fare and beer.

#4 Dancing tunes by a hot local New Mexican band.

#5 Lots of good times and memories.

I hope you are ready...we almost are!

(Above is a painting at my mom's gallery by Native American aritist Marcus Cadman: The wedding and recpetion will be held at her gallery "Coady Contemporary.")

Propoganda

2008-08-14T23:22:00.000-07:00

Joey and Melis have decided they are going to use their wedding as an excuse to sell their friends and family on coming up to Alaska to visit them! Melis is in Juneau this week teaching an 80-hour Wilderness First Responder course to students at the University of Alaska Southeast. She arrived a day earlier to go sightseeing and hiking with friends. Click on the video to see what she saw.

WELL

2008-08-14T01:52:00.000-07:00

It was a big day for Joey and I. We drilled a well and found crystal clear water at 70-feet below our property. It flows at 15 gallons per minute. Over the last year, Joey and I have been hauling water to our cabin in 5 gallon containers. Our current water use averages 10 gallons per week. We hope to put a sink and shower in our new addition. We can hardly wait. For now we will have to settle for squirt guns.

7 Weeks

2008-08-12T10:18:00.000-07:00

Our wedding day is quickly approaching. Be sure to book your rooms soon. It is a busy and festive weekend in Santa Fe. We have a list of hotels and links to them at the bottom of our blog. Many of the wedding party are staying at the El Rey Inn. If we have reserved a room for you be sure to pay for your first night soon to hold your reservation. Then contact us and let us know where you are staying. We'd like to make a list.

Out of town

2008-08-02T15:32:00.001-07:00

Joey and I have spent the last couple of days planning an amazing wedding celebration. We have been on and off the phone non-stop and are excited for what appears to be an big turnout for the festivities. We head into the mountains today to teach teenagers how to iceclimb and won't be back until August 8th. Talk to you then.

RSVP

2008-07-31T20:06:00.000-07:00

We know it is short notice to plan on attending our wedding, but be sure to RSVP as soon as possible so we have plenty of time to plan a great celebration. If you are a couple mark yourself down as bringing a guest. If you are single let us know if you are bringing someone special.

A Date!

2008-07-30T22:08:00.000-07:00

After much math- we have come up with a wedding date. We would be flattered if anyone reading this blog came- just send us an email and we will send you an invite.

We are going for the world's shortest engagement. The wedding will be:

Saturday, October 4th at 4pm
Ceremony and Reception at Coady Contemporary
Santa Fe, New Mexico

See below for travel ideas and tips:

Comments

2008-07-25T09:05:00.000-07:00

Be sure to leave you comments and well wishes below: click on "comments"

ENGAGED

2008-07-24T15:29:00.000-07:00

Joey and I are now happily engaged! This is how it went down:

July 14th at about 7pm

Melis was on the office phone at the Alaska Mountaineering School talking to Caitlin about the rations necessary for their next expedition (meanwhile Joey was out back drinking a beer- gaining courage for the big question).

Joey walked into the office and looked antsy. He asked to speak to Caitlin and then got on the phone and said, "Hey Caitlin, do you mind if Melis calls you back in 5 minutes?" Then Joey hung up.

Next, Joey got down on one knee and took my hand. He said, "Melis, I am sure there is probably a better time and place for this, and when that time comes I will ask you again, but I have to do this right now." (His voice was shaky) "Melis I want to spend the rest of my life with you, will you marry me?"

I was surprised and taken off guard. I could hardly believe the words coming out of his mouth. However, I think I was still able to answer with a big "Of course!" before Joey had hardly finished his sentence.

We then went outside to smooch and get some fresh air as Joey's legs regained their strength.

"The spot" is now marked on the floor of the office with a piece of duct-tape.

We currently don't have a plan or wedding date set so stay tuned........

--Melis Coady