Screen time

Everyone who comes to our house oohs and aahs over the screened-in porch we have right off the kitchen in the front of our house. It’s definitely a unique feature of our home and a big selling point. Who wouldn’t want to sit out there in the cedar porch swing on a warm evening under the shade of our 80-ft high oak trees, watching the squirrels scamper around our dogwood tree and hearing woodpeckers tapping away in the distance while having the baseball game on a small TV in the corner?

The thing is, we didn’t do that. We went out there occasionally, but generally we never felt compelled to be out there. We basically didn’t want to be out there. It took us a couple of years to figure out why, but once we realized the obvious, we made a few simple changes to make this one of the most desirable spots in the house.

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Eleven months: Looking ahead

Happy eleven months, Hudson! This last month has been an eventful one, though I probably say that about every month. Can you believe you’ll be a year old in just a few weeks?

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Tire-d

Last spring, I managed to annihilate two tires on my new car within about three weeks. I ran over a nail one week; it ended up too close to the sidewall, so I had to get an entirely new tire for an otherwise minor patch job. Then, less than three weeks later, I ran over a weight used to balance tires, and it completely obliterated the tread beyond repair. Same tire, too…just three weeks old, and had to be replaced.

Surely you would think my bad luck with tires was used up in those unlikely incidents. Unfortunately, I got to experience tire dejavu twice again this summer.

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Make 2016 great again

Looking back on the year so far, I’m not sure that 2016 has been all that amazing for anyone. In our family, we’ve dealt with Bart’s father passing away along with our own ups and downs of being sick all the time and somewhat unsettled. The world in general hasn’t fared any better.  We’ve gotten back to some sort of normalcy in recent months, but after just about the worst start to a year that anyone could imagine, the Taylors are hoping to do their part to make 2016 great again.

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Laid to rest

Yesterday, surrounded by family and friends and honored by his country, we laid to rest the remains of BH Taylor Jr. at Arlington National Cemetery.

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