Foundation

I know that a limestone foundation isn't exactly a selling point for a home, but it sure is cool to look at. I believe that this is the original foundation laid in the late 1800's, but I could be wrong. The front of the house is the original building we saw in the photograph, but the back of the house was added much later and has a traditional cinder block foundation. Eventually, the limestone will have to be replaced with something more solid, but I sure as heck don't plan on being here that long. With all the interesting features our home has, it can't overcome it's unfortunate location.

Writing on the Wall

Our home is over 100 years old. A couple of years ago, we found a article from the Rockford Register Star with a photograph showing our house and the main street of Monroe Center. The photograph was from the 1890's. Pretty stunning knowing our house was here 80 years before I was even born! Today's picture shows the door to our not-so-old garage. The owners of the house in the 40's through the 70's kept written records on the garage door of all the maintenance they did on their cars. This was another thing we found really quaint about the house when we moved in. It really gives you a sense of the history of the house and reminds us that it's been here for a long time.

The Tent Room

This quirky room on the Eastern peak of the house is what we like to call the Tent Room. Used mostly for storage and the cats' bathroom, this is actually considered the third bedroom of our home. I can't imagine having a room in there personally, but I'm sure a kid would love it due to its uniqueness. Steph's brother Dan gave the room it's nickname early after we bought the house. This is also the room where we had to have the window replaced, and as you can see, we haven't yet found the time to paint it.

The Nail Room

Our house has a lot of personality. There are rooms and things in our house that have very unique traits. I'm going to take the next few days to photograph and write about these things, so I can share some of the character our home has.

This is a shot of a corner of our side porch, and 3 of the 4 walls are very similar in appearance. When the previous owners re-sided the house, they didn't take into account that the porch walls are relatively thin, so every nail they put into the wall spiked through the other side. The first time we came into the porch, I was thinking it looked like some sort of medieval torture chamber. We've tried to soften the effect by hanging various things on the spikes, but no matter what we do, I think this room will always feel a bit dangerous.

Showtime

Steph and I just got home about 1/2 hour ago from the concert. We got there around 7, and Faded Embrace, her brother Dan's band, was supposed to go on at 7:30. Unfortunately, they made them go on early, so we only got to see them play about three songs. I was able to get a few shots, but didn't get nearly as many as I would have liked to get since the time was limited. Anyway, here's what I managed to get. Oh, and the fist-pumping mohawk guy is Dan, my brother-in-law. :)
To see the rest of the shots from the show, click HERE.

Faded Embrace / Static X

Tomorrow night, Steph and I are going to the Forest Hills Lodge to see a concert. The headliners, Static X, is not the band we're going to see. My brother in law Dan is the guitar player for the opening act, Faded Embrace. It's a pretty big deal for Dan to be opening for Static X. He's been a really big fan of theirs for a long time. I'm taking my camera and have volunteered to do some photography for them, so I'll probably post pictures from the show on Wednesday. If you get a second, hit the link above or to the right to check out Faded Embrace.

Cuddles

Poor Stephanie. Every time she uses the computer, whether it's upstairs at the desk, in the recliner, or on the couch, her cat Chloe climbs all over her. After she's finished, I always find Chloe hairs all over the keyboard. If she's using the mouse at the desk, Chloe will head-butt her hand, pushing the pointer all over the screen. It may be annoying for Steph, but it sure is damn cute.