The house that tall people built...

It's no secret that I am in LOVE with our new house. It's hard for me to pick one favorite thing about it: I love the kitchen, with it's deep rich granite, glass top stove, giant refrigerator and drawer freezer, and the miles of counter space; I love the backyard, in it's completely-fenced-in-wonderfulness, where I can banish the children when I am cooking dinner and not have to worry about them at all; I love the playroom, where Toys 'R Us exploded but the rest of the house still looks clean and clutter-free. But when my sister--who is similarly vertically challenged (read: short)--came to visit, she pointed out something that I also noticed right away...

This house was built for TALL people, lol.

The bathrooms are where it's most noticeable. I never realized how "low" the countertops were in our old house until we moved here. The countertops here are so tall! I can barely even see myself in the bathroom mirrors--they've been hung for someone at least 5'4" lol.

No worries--because I busted out my light-up makeup mirror and bought a full-length mirror for the hall. I'd never leave the house without at least some makeup on--I wouldn't want to scare the children! ;)

Of course, as Aiden pointed out to me when we were discussing this, "Mom, maybe this house wasn't built by people who are really tall. Maybe you are just really short!"

Touche, Aiden, touche.

PS--We really are loving it here so far, moving in the springtime was exactly the right thing to do. I can't wait for the weather to really start warming up so we can really enjoy our very close proximity to the lake!

Fun at Lake Erie

This afternoon was another unseasonably warm and amazing day, and Liz and I took the kids to the Headlands Beach State Park on Lake Erie. Ava took some time warming up to the sand and rocks, but Aiden was a boy in his true element. The kid seriously wanted to go swimming and the water was 38 degrees! We had an awesome time though! Can't wait to go back:)

Picture post...

This is mostly just a picture post. The Easter Bunny came last night and the kids had a great morning searching the house for eggs and gorging themselves on candy from their baskets:) I didn't take any good photos, but I do have some cute video that hopefully, eventually, I'll get uploaded, lol.

Food for thought: Nuclear power

A lot of people don't know much about nuclear power, myself included. But now that I live only miles away from the Perry Nuclear Power plant, I thought I would include some information as food for thought.

I didn't take this picture, but this gives you a pretty clear idea of what everyone within probably a 50 mile radius of the plant has a view of. At first...let's say I found it...unappealing. But, truthfully, it is an incredible and impressive structure that helps provide power for a massive amount of people. That's nothing to sneeze at! It appears at first glance that the reactor is emitting smoke or some other kind of pollutant, but that's actually not the case at all. That giant cloud is 100% steam--the byproduct of the Boiling Water Reactor (BWR).

In a typical commercial boiling water reactor (1) the reactor core creates heat, (2) a steam-water mixture is produced when very pure water (reactor coolant) moves upward through the core absorbing heat, (3) the steam-water mixture leaves the top of the core and enters the two stages of moisture separation where water droplets are removed before the steam is allowed to enter the steam line, (4) the steam line directs the steam to the main turbine causing it to turn the turbine generator, which produces electricity. The unused steam is exhausted to the condenser where it is condensed into water. The resulting water is pumped out of the condenser with a series of pumps, reheated, and pumped back to the reactor vessel. The reactor's core contains fuel assemblies which are cooled by water, which is force-circulated by electrically powered pumps. Emergency cooling water is supplied by other pumps which can be powered by onsite diesel generators. Other safety systems, such as the containment cooling system, also need electric power.

The Perry Nuclear Power plant reactor is a General Electric BWR-6 boiling water reactor design, with a Mark III containment design. The original core power level of 3,579 megawatts thermal was increased to 3,758 megawatts thermal in 2000, making Perry one of the largest BWRs in the United States.

Built at a cost of $6 billion, Perry-1 is one of the most expensive power plants ever constructed.

So, now you know that if you come to visit us in Painesville (or pretty much anywhere in Northeast Ohio), you'll likely get a glimpse of these enormous reactors--and you'll actually know what they do!

Sources: http://www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/at_a_glance/reactors/perry.html & http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perry_Nuclear_Generating_Station

Squire's Castle

You might remember that Chuck and I had some of our wedding pictures taken at Squire's Castle in Willoughby Hills, and I have been itching to take the kids there. This weather was perfect and even though my subjects weren't the most cooperative, I managed a few good shots. The castle is amazing, and almost impossible to take "bad" pictures of. I can't wait to take photos again in the fall and I imagine it is stunning in the winter!

On a side note--we really are almost completely settled into the house now. We played in the backyard all afternoon yesterday, enjoying the weather. The kids love the house and the yard, and I am finding the location pretty convenient--I like that Mentor is just a short drive down the highway, but we can still enjoy the benefits of smalltown life here in Painesville and Madison.