Early Christmas Present

Sorry, still no pictures of the kitchen. It is well under way, and the countertops are the next major thing to be installed, however, they won't be installed until at least the 19th. We are excited about how it all looks together, and so we are equally excited to share it all with you. Patience is a great thing. I have practiced it for a year and a half, and I am fine. You too will be.

On to the early Christmas present. Many of you may not know that Christmas is my absolute favorite holiday. The entire season leading up to I get a good chill almost daily. The massive amounts of giving, of service, of love, just flows more freely this time of year than most of the rest of the year. I love it to the core. While we have been remodeling, we have become frequent customers at Lowe's, and each time I go, without fail, I wander through their Christmas displays of decorations, just filled with joy. I know, a little bit much, but I love how this season makes me feel. The music that is mostly played is appropriate (I still can't figure out how in the world My Favorite Things has gotten to be a Christmas song. Luckily I haven't heard it at all this year. Maybe the radio personnel finally got the hint we have been telling them for ages!), and I am one that can listen to it year round. Many times when I am having a hard day, I just put in a Christmas CD, any will usually do, and my day turns instantly better. This year, Amazon has decided to offer free Christmas songs, one for each day of December up to the 25th. The link is 25 Free Holiday Songs. Have fun and enjoy! I sure have enjoyed the ones I have downloaded so far.

We have only gotten to put up the tree and the lights so far. We wanted to test our three animals (children) to see how they would do, and they have passed so far. We just haven't had time to finish decorating, although I decided to add a lit garland to the top of the piano. I made a runner to cover the top and protect it, and then bought some other smaller decorations to give the garland color. When we get to taking the pictures of the finished kitchen, I will also take pictures of the finished Christmas decorations. The weekend before Thanksgiving, Corey hung all the lights outside our house, and hooked up the timer. I made him turn it off until the day after Thanksgiving. We have decorations, just not complete. Patience again required!

Away With the Old, On With the New

In keeping with my blogging tradition, I have no images to coincide with my lovely post, so just use your pretty little imaginations (We used them as kids, why not as adults?), at least until I can take some photos! Currently, my schedule consists of: work from about 7:30 - 5 or 5:30, eat (hopefully the housedad has prepared something good), and then work on the house so photos are the last thing on my mind. Tonight, I promise, with renewed goals in my photo taking responsibilities, I will take some photos of the progress so far. Now what are we making progress on now?

Our KITCHEN.

It is simply my favorite room in anyone's home, the center of my life at my own home where I can create beautiful meals and fun masterpieces of delicious desserts. I have been without a good space for a year and a half now, and I told Corey: 'No more. I need my kitchen, and before the holidays end.' That might seem demanding, but if you really know me that well, it's not a surprise at all. Besides the fact that we have been living with mold in the kitchen cabinets since we moved in. Unhealthy, gross, and smelly. I have not been able to make anything remotely wonderful, have had no space for preparation (literally half the cooking process) and so we are finally doing it.

All last week, we moved things out of the kitchen that we would need for the next month and packed everything else. Really, we just moved things because there wasn't that much to pack. We bought a toaster oven, even though Corey was hesitant, have our microwave, two different sizes of crock pots, and we are set. I am not looking forward to doing dishes in the bathtub, but whatever.

Saturday, we demolished. We took our frustrations out on the existing walls and cabinets that have been taped closed since we moved in and scraped debris to our hearts content. Why can the demolition take so little time compared to the building? Part of life's ironies. Monday night, we leveled the floor. Part of the floor was sagging, we knew it when we walked, but I didn't realize just how bad. The lowest part is about 4 inches below what is level!!! That will be fun to try to disguise. We're up to the challenge. Today (Tuesday), Corey is finishing the floor and starting the framing and rough electrical and plumbing. We'll see where he's at when I get home, and get to join in the mix. The biggest blessing to his being laid off is that I get my house done quicker. This afternoon, he is helping move a very special lady out of our ward. Couldn't be happier. For real. I will not join in the fun.

The cats are doing fine and Bo just wants to do whatever we are doing, wherever we are at. He is so funny.

A Little of This, A Little of That

We have stayed busy lately. For Halloween, we went to a family party dressed as Lady and the Tramp. I was the lady, and Corey dressed up as a scroungy tramp. It was fun to visit with everyone, see their creativity shine and have fun. Sorry, I have no pictures as I am not at home where my camera currently is. Leading up to the 31st, we decided to do what we could to make our home a little more in the spirit of Halloween without breaking the bank. We had purchased a pumpkin that went missing before we could do any carving (it was sitting on our front porch), so we bought 2 more. Corey decided Thursday that he wanted to carve a pumpkin, but I did not. We also found that Walmart was selling their pumpkins for only $1 so we bought two more. We lined our front walk with decorated candle bags (white lunch sacks, put sand in the bottom, light small candle, place in bag), and when I got home from work, we put the finishing touches on our front step. Corey did finally carve his pumpkin, like it was puking, and we set the other three (including one that had started to turn bad but was still a beautiful shade of orange) around the steps for further decoration. Corey had downloaded some spooky songs and made a CD that played outside. Our neighborhood has not been a good trick-or-treating area in the past years, so we weren't hoping for much. We got more than we hoped for (but still had plenty of candy) and saw some really cute kids.

While I was in London, my friend Katie and I saw Wicked. I had only heard a few things about it, the basic story line, but she had heard tons about it. We decided to go and it was the best Musical either of us had ever seen. The national tour of Wicked is coming through Salt Lake, and for my birthday, Corey bought me tickets to go. It is playing April 8 - May 3. Our tickets are on Tuesday, April 28. I can't wait! Thanks Sweetie, I love it already!!!





Corey has been working hard. No, he doesn't have a full-time job yet. He has been helping people out with their projects. He went and resurfaced a deck for someone. A couple are moving out of the ward and needed help packing and moving, so Corey has been able to help them out a ton! We have benefited from his time of service over there already, and the house is not done. So far, they have given us the largest Luv Sac's they make, although without a cover (I am looking forward to sewing my first project after my sewing classes.), a large tub of Mr. Potato Heads and all the pieces you could imagine. These were prior to our Saturday event of cleaning out their house. They left Friday sometime. Saturday, Corey and I went to their house to finish cleaning it out. One of my counselors, Michelle, was with us as well. We were not prepared for what we found at all. Garbage was piled everywhere with miscellaneous belongings scattered throughout. It seriously looked like a tornado came through. It smelled, and was totally awful. While we were there, one of their neighbors asked us if they were gone and wondered what we were doing there. We told her to come in and see the status, and she was amazed. Later on, we were cleaning the bathroom and bedroom, all the windows were open, and Michelle had stepped in something gross in the kitchen and we were all making the appropriate groans and other gross sounds. This neighbor heard and started laughing at us. We are not done. We got the entry way, living and dining rooms, bathroom and bedroom mostly done and that's it. Each of us was there for 3 1/2 hours. While going through everything, we have found some pretty neat things that we are allowed to take. Corey and I got an entry table, a coat rack, two DVD players (potentially not ours, but we are taking them to see if they work), a TV, a crib (no announcement to accompany this), a gun cleaning/service kit, shelves, a dresser, and tons of other smaller miscellaneous things that are going to be useful. One of my favorite things that Corey and I got is this wooden bowl set. There is a large bowl, and 8 small bowls. The biggest unfortunate thing about the situation is that we come home stinking. Hot showers feel great anyway! They are paying us $10/hour, good compensation for what we are dealing with.

We found out recently that there is a community development center that we can get inexpensive, yet decent quality and condition, things to finish remodeling our house. We went on Saturday to see what they had, and they have kitchen cabinets. Yes, even though we got that screaming deal on them, we need more. Because Corey lost his job and has been unable to acquire another, we very well could get them for free. They would maybe not initially match, but when we are both working later on, we can then afford to have the additional faces made to match the ones we already bought and love. Good news! The only appliance we still need is a dishwasher. Dishwashers are hard to find in good condition, used, so we are probably going to have to purchase a new one. Oh well, the cost will be minimal compared to the priceless feeling of having a fully functioning kitchen!!!

We finish our doggy class with Bo tonight. We have been terrible and do no training work with him during the week, and expect him to perform perfectly for the trainer. Yeah, she can tell sometimes worse than others! It's still been good, so we don't regret purchasing the class. He has been so much better, and once our lives are done revolving around the house, we will be able to spend a little more time with him in the evenings.

I have started on a fertility drug. So far, taking it at night, haven't felt much of a difference. Great. Last pill tonight for this cycle. Then get to pee on multiple sticks every day for a while to see if I am ovulating. Could result in multiples at birth, chances are slim, we welcome it!

I have really enjoyed some of the cooking/recipe blogs on my sidebar. They have been helpful for meal planning, great deals, and even better recipes that are simple and healthy!

I gave my first lesson/talk in Relief Society as the president. I have surprisingly never felt so comfortable speaking in front of people. Maybe this is my fear being conquered. I'll keep you posted. My topic was based on two from the October General Conference. President Eyring's 'Our Hearts Knit as One' and President Uchtdorf's from the Relief Society Meeting entitled 'Happiness, Your Heritage.' I talked about being unified through sharing our talents. I was trying to get to know the sisters as well as introduce myself to them, but in a different way. It was a positive lesson, and I was so proud of myself.

Zoom Zoom

Meet our new car. It is a 2004 Mazda 3. It was not one of our top choices of cars until we test drove it. We got it from the Church at a really great price and I feel so much better driving than when I drove the Jeep. The Jeep is as old as Matthew, and just makes me nervous depending solely on that one vehicle. Next time you are needing a car, if you are in this area, look up what the church is selling prior to going to any dealership or even a different private party.

It is sporty and so fun to drive. I like that it has cruise control, a working air conditioning system (in time for winter), and keyless entry. I could go on, but many of the items are standard in these newer models, so you guys probably already have everything I am excited about! This just tells you how old our Jeep really is, that's all. It gets great gas mileage too, just in time for the gas prices to drop to somewhat more affordable prices. Never underestimate Corey's and my timing. Perfect (ha ha).

As for other news, Corey is still looking for work, I am still working, and the house is really coming along. With so much extra time, I come home to projects that hadn't been started prior to my work day, half finished or done. It's great. Yesterday, he framed in our closets in the master bedroom and today he is going to put drywall on them. Currently, we sleep upstairs in the loft (to get away from Bo and to get some sleep) and our clothes are stored in the guest room. It is cold in the guest room since they never installed a heating vent, so we don't like to go in there much, but we need clothes, so we have to go in. We don't like to get dressed in those cold clothes, so we are trying to hurriedly get our master closets in working order, even before the rest of the master bedroom is done. You do what you gotta do!

Last year for Christmas, we received a couch cover which we finally put on our couch. It really helps to finish off the room. We are now on the prowl for a beautiful colored couch blanket that will add a punch to the different shades of brown in the room, and be warm and cuddly. The window coverings have been put on hold, but until then, Corey has hung the blinds. We went for months without any window coverings anywhere in the front of the house, so it feels great to not feel like we are putting our lives on show! I need to take pictures sometime soon, but I also need to dust, sweep, and potentially mop the floors first. I know, you are all dying, but you have lived so far without, go a little longer and you'll be surprised how long you can last!

What a Week! (of happenings and emotions)

Oh boy, has this been a week. It started out great, with getting that awesome deal on our kitchen cabinets (Knotty maple cabinets, granite countertops, white Kohler double sink and Moen faucet for $250. They have been going for more than $1000 for just the cabinets!) on Monday. We were thrilled about that.

We have been trying to find a screaming deal on a newer car for us prior to our 18 year old jeep totally quitting on us, so there was this really good deal from BYU on a 2004 Toyota Camry that we were bidding on. We bid on Wednesday, would find out on Friday morning whether we got it or not.

On Thursday was our introductory adoption meeting at LDS Family Services to start adoption procedures through them. Meanwhile, we have done initial testing to find out why we can't seem to get pregnant on our own, and we are still going through it. Fun stuff.

After the adoption meeting on Thursday, I was at home figuring our finances when Corey called me to tell me that he had just been laid off. This started the bitter downward spiral of my weekend. Yes, he gets a severance package, he got his final paycheck that day, and we no longer have to deal with the incompetent individuals that somehow have managed to ruin every employees' life who works there. Needless to say, Thursday was a day to forget, yet, how could I? This started a whole lot of other problems, many of which might seem like nothing to be concerned about, but to me is the end of the line, discussed later on. Because I am desperate to get my house done, extremely tired of not enjoying life there because of the constant remodeling, I had found kitchen appliances (a black wall oven/microwave combo and gas cooktop with a hood for $200) at a killer deal, so we went and purchased them that night. What a way to finish the day!

Friday morning, we found out that we did not get the car, maybe a blessing, we'll see.

Saturday morning we met Jerry (Corey's dad) and went and picked up our new cabinets, granite counter tops, sink, and faucet. We unloaded them, and then watched and/or listened to conference while cleaning and working on the house.

Sunday, we continued working on the house while paying attention to conference in the background. Tons of good talks, most of which I thought focused on us just being better people towards others and for ourselves. Great words to live by, still bitter about life to totally get it for myself yet. Maybe when I read the hard copies in November.

So, you may ask, why am I so dang upset about it? Well, in order to adopt a child, you actually need to prove you are financially responsible. Corey, being the guy, I feel should be the one to work out of the home, while allowing me, the girl, to be a stay at home mom, money permitting (I am not opposed to working part-time or working out of my home if necessary, just don't want to be the main one bringing in the dough.). Because Corey has been applying at numerous jobs, getting phone interviews only with nothing else, it makes me nervous that he will be able to resume his role as the money guy anytime soon. It probably will change the fact that we can/can't afford to adopt, and there went the stability of finishing the house prior to the Christmas holidays (or around there anyway, which was our goal), getting out of debt, and my chance to stay at home with a little child immediately.

Still some of you may wonder what I am so bothered with? For those of you lucky enough to get pregnant without help, you do not understand the pain of waiting month after month for the telltale signs of pregnancy or not, being told to 'just don't worry about it and it will happen'. I have endured many years of this, while watching others get pregnant without really trying or wanting to be, and then I still am not. It does not cost those of you who easily get pregnant on your own nearly as much as it does to get infertility help or to adopt. Once you "horribly" fertile people get pregnant, you only have to pay for baby supplies and needs. I am so lucky that I get to pay for the infertility treatments, the pregnancy, the miscarriages, and then on the chance that I do stay pregnant, the constant worry of losing it, topped with the baby supplies and needs. For me and those others who suffer from this horrible problem, it never stops. The longing for one of your own is just so strong sometimes. Add this to the fact that I have already had a healthy baby, but now I cannot. It's just one of life's horrible, cruel, and sad ironies that I get handed.

This is not made any harder being around other people's children. Corey and I sit faithfully every week at church with a sister in the ward whose husband sits on the stand, and she has a 2 year old and a 1 year old, with another on the way. We could not be happier for them. I always gravitate towards the children and babies in a group because they are just so precious. I don't have a problem being around them, just want one of my own to add to the fun mix of those cute kids already out there. I don't love my own nieces or nephews any less because I don't have one of my own, instead, I look forward to spoiling them with so much love and material things.

This week is looking up. Corey applied for unemployment, is considering changing careers altogether (thank you goes to the Children's Museum. Slightly sarcastic, slightly honest.), and we nearly got one entire room re-painted and trim put up. We got so much done this weekend that my coat closet actually has coats hanging from the rod, our church bags are on the floor in the closet where they belong, and two different, brightly colored bins (Corey's box is lime green, mine is hot pinkish.) in which our winter hats and gloves will be stored are on the shelf. We nearly got the windows ready to cover for winter (old house, lots of cracks near window openings). Our immediate goal for the upcoming week is to finish the living room prior to my Wednesday evening presidency meeting. It should be easier since there is not a closet in there! So, because Corey no longer has to go to work at the worst place to work at, he has lots of time to finish our house quicker.

We still are looking for a dishwasher, will need to find more base cabinets in order to have our kitchen how I want to, but they will be far cheaper to add to what we have than start fresh, and need to decide what to have our countertops made out of (corian, granite, laminate cheap stuff from Lowe's/Home Depot), and then install everything. Still lots of work, made cheaper by our good scavenging skills.

Culture Anyone?

Can I just say how nice it is to come home from work, with no homework waiting in the wings, looming over me to finish? Since neither of us is in school, it is nice to plan events in the evenings. We are not used to this, since our entire married lives up until this fall, at least one of us has been in school.

On September 11, the Utah Symphony and Chorus get together (not the full company, but members of each) and sing Mozart's Requeim. It is free, and one of the members is in my ward, so we went to support him, plus I had never heard it myself. It was so good! I am going next year as well.

Corey got free tickets for a Tuesday night performance of the musical Cats at the Capital Theater, so we went there one night. Great music, loved the costumes and set, no plot, and neither of us would pay to go again. Free maybe, but no other way.

That Friday night, we also had tickets to go see the O.C. Tanner Gift of Music performance. It was called American Songbook, held at the Conference Center, and was marvelous. I loved it, and would go again if it was possible. We went three years ago to the O.C. Tanner concert, and it was a celtic celebration. Corey liked that one better, but I liked this one better. We went with my friend and his wife, so it was even more enjoyable.

On Saturday night, we went to see Body Worlds at The Leonardo. Hated it, only because there were too many people for the price we had to pay, and I couldn't take my time really looking and studying all the bodies and organs. It was also hot, and some of the body organs were even sweating in their glass cases. I loved seeing many of the body systems displayed in such unique ways, but not being rushed through by the masses of people. In order to get anything out of it, Corey and I decided to pay an additional $5 each to get these listening devices. It would tell you more information than was on the cards near each display, helpful when you couldn't see the cards in the first place.

We were gone so much in the evenings, that I joked with Corey that Bo would fire us from being his 'parents.' He did fine most of the time, but was still needy on the long days alone! Things have calmed down some, so he's forgiven us completely. Such a trusting, good boy.

That's our bit of culture. We are really trying.

House Update

We have been finding more and more time to work on our house remodel. We attribute it to blessings from my new calling, as well as learning to manage our time better. Depending on the project, we don't get much done in the evenings, but the overall work has been great. I don't have any new pictures yet, as we are not done with any of the rooms yet, but they won't be long!

First off, we had painted the walls of the front three rooms a light natural color, and the trim is very dark (think dark chocolate). When we got the trim completely painted, the walls looked white. I went and got a slightly darker paint, and painted only the parlor and coat closet on Saturday while Corey and his dad re-wired the phone, cable, and some other electrical lines. I only got the primer and the first coat done, but boy do I love it. I hope to paint again on Saturday and finish the second coat. Then we will install the rest of the trim around the windows, floorboards, and closet to call the room done, when we will take pictures and post the before (again to refresh your memories) and the new after.

We have also been planning on starting and finishing the kitchen prior to the end of the year. In order to do this, we have been searching endlessly for used kitchen cabinets. KSL classifieds and craigslist have been great resources, yet also frustrating. Right as I would find ones we could afford that looked nice and had plenty to choose from, I would call and they would be sold already. I had this happen to me so many times, I thought I would never get some! I didn't have a set price range, it more depended on what was being sold as to how much I was willing to pay. On Monday morning, Corey happened to look at the KSL classifieds and found some Knotty Maple kitchen cabinets that were advertised for $250 and were only 4 years old. We called on them, they were still available, no picture was posted, so while there was a power outage at work (unknown reason), I drove out there to have a look. I liked them, liked the price, and knew that if we needed more (even though there was a lot), they had been purchased locally. He told me that not only were the kitchen cabinets going, but he was letting us take the countertops (granite-like), the kitchen sink and the faucet. There are problems with the faucet, so we might eventually replace it, but it was such a great deal, I didn't dare pass it up! He kept saying he was just going to take everything to the dump, that he didn't realize people would buy things like that, so I didn't tell him that he could have made so much more money selling everything separate. I just gloried in my good luck.

Can I just say that we are blessed? I have been waiting for more than a year for a good working kitchen, and it feels so much more real now. No, we aren't going to start it until we are done with the parlor and living room, but just knowing we are able to find things that will go in it, at such a good price, is exciting! We will continue to support KSL classifieds, and be patient, knowing that it definitely pays off!!!!

Sorry that my last few posts have had no pictures. I guess we just aren't photogenic people. Soon, I promise.

New Calling

I am now the Relief Society President of my ward. It would be overwhelming except that I knew I would be called to that position earlier in the day. It was slightly funny though, as Corey was panicked about who it was for and what calling it would be. I didn't say anything to him, and just let the news be broken by the Bishop. The cool thing was that the Bishop knew that I knew prior to his visit, and could even pinpoint the time that I did know. I hope that all made sense. So, as a result, we now have a landline in addition to our cellphones. My cellphone number is long distance for anyone outside of Logan, and I don't plan on changing my number any time soon, and we also did not want our minutes to be used too much. If you need my new number, email me and I will pass it on! Exciting times ahead for us.

Corey is still the Young Men's President. He enjoys being their leader and mentor. He is great with them, and hopefully makes a lasting impression on them. One of them is especially struggling with his home life, and he doesn't live very far from us, so he has dropped by to play Mario Kart on our Game Cube. It's a fun game, and Corey actually plays it with him (he has never played it with me). I feel good having a safe and comfortable place that these boys enjoy coming into. Feels good knowing we are helping them through those awkward teenage years.

That's all the news for now. We are still finishing much of the detail work in the front three rooms, and then the pictures should not be too long after that! It's been great to see work actually finished on our home, instead of many things being in some stage of progress.

New Bathroom Pictures

We would post the before pictures to actually show you all what an immense improvement this is, but our other computer crashed and we are still trying to figure out if we are going to try to fix it or just retrieve the information off of it. I would even try to describe the old one, but I know I won't describe it as well as the pictures show, so we'll just move on. Without further ado, then, here are the long-awaited after pictures.




This view is from the doorway, looking in. We got one of those hotel shower rods to give us more room in the shower, and we love it! Sorry, it's not visible in this picture, but if you come and visit us, you'll get to see it live. Also, this shows the floor really well. Our bathroom prior to this had this horrible carpet type substance on the floor, so this is quite an improvement! It is those self-adhesive tiles. Love it. I am still looking for some piece of art or something cool to hang on the wall above the toilet paper dispenser, but until then, it's blank.




This is our beautiful counter top. It is a speckled brown, and matches beautifully with the other colors going on. I made the curtains out of yellow sheer fabric and ribbon. Our window is this frosted type of glass, so it's hard to see through. The curtains are more for decoration, and to bring out the yellow in the towels. We found the basket at Pier One for $7, and then filled it with just a few simple decorations. I didn't want an empty counter, nor did I want one filled with toothpaste holders, cups, etc.




Another view of the counter top. The mirror swivels from these two points, helping us maximize the unique space. The window is overlapping the sink, so the mirror does not hang directly over it like normal. I know there is a purple hand towel hanging from the rod, and it has since been changed to a teal one, but we didn't have any coordinating ones when I took this picture. In the corner behind the mirror is one of those reed scent things, also from Pier One. Love it.




The closeup of the basket and decorations in it. These are washcloths (not for use at all) and then a candle and soap that I wrapped some jute around for further decoration. I found the jute in my sewing supplies from some previously forgotten about project, and had wanted to wrap the soap and candles with something, so it fit well with the bathroom. Makes it all look more organic.

Overall, we are impressed with ourselves. We took our time finding just the right bathroom set and decorations, even shopped around after finding them (the towel set is from Wal-mart of all places). Corey totally let me decorate it more than he let me decorate the condo, so I love it more because of it. It is a beautiful room, and I can't wait until the master bedroom is done as well, so we can enjoy having the entire suite done.

On another note, the Olympics are almost done. As a country, the US has done well, as expected, as have many other countries. I have thoroughly enjoyed it this year, and look forward to a year and a half when they are in Canada! Even with all the unique dramas that seem to creep up and hinder the total success of some of the sports, I would call the games a success and can even say that I enjoyed them being in China. I think my dream is to be on the IOC. I have no idea what it takes, but I am going to look into it! They totally need a super fan to represent all the others that are like me.

I found some funny links that I remember watching during the 1996 Atlanta Games that I have now put on my sidebar. Enjoy!

More Olympians

Corey and I have recently made an investment in some mountain bikes. We like to ride together, and the only time we can fit in a ride together is later at night, when it's dark. Even though the bikes are in good condition, I wanted to be as safe as possible, therefore wanted to add some tail lights to each bike. On Saturday during the day, we went to this bike shop in Sugarhouse to find some tail lights and a bike wrench. It took us forever to find what we were looking for and while we were looking, there was a table set up and the store personnel and a few customers were waiting for some people to come and sign some autographs. Since neither Corey nor I are avid bikers, we didn't pay much attention to anything, other than getting our tail lights and getting out of there. While we were paying, they made an announcement of who was coming in, and one of the riders was Tyler Hamilton, an Olympic gold medalist from Athens 2004. I remembered that name, and totally quit paying attention to anything else and was just in awe. He was the Men's Cycling Time Trial Olympic Champion. Tyler participated in the Sydney games in 2000, but did not win any medal. The other person present Saturday is one of his teammates from the Sydney Games, but he did not participate in the Athens Games, and obviously neither are participating in the Beijing Games. These two are not the first Olympian I have met, and the other one, I did not get her autograph (I met Picabo Street in the VW dealership while we were both waiting for our cars to get fixed. She was so neat to talk to and we chatted for 2-3 hours. I was in heaven, but stupidly did not get her autograph.) so this time I did not want to leave empty handed. Luckily, they were signing posters of images of themselves racing in their sponsors colors, but I didn't care. I got their autographs, shook their hands, and briefly discussed the Olympics with them. It was so great, and the highlight of my day!!! Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

On another note, my good friend Boyd, lives next to the home that Chris Witty owns. She is a multiple Olympian, and I believe the only American to compete in the Summer games and the winter games (she does cycling in the summer and speed skating in the winter). She was going through some of her Olympic things, and going to get rid of them when Boyd said his good friend (me) would love to have them because I am such an Olympic fan. I now have a bag the she got, the jacket from the closing ceremonies from one of the Olympics she competed in and two shirts from two other different Olympics she participated in. I will never do anything with these items, but they will be part of my cherished collection.

Bathroom and Beijing

We are almost ready to post pictures of our new bathroom. Some people have been lucky enough to see it still in phases, and thought it was such an improvement even then. Now the only things we have left to do is to find a few wall decorations, or maybe just one, and then do some touch-up paint, and install the door (since it is adjacent to the bedroom, and that is going to be remodeled next, we moved out of that room into the guest room in the back of the house, and we just keep the bedroom door closed all the time). We will wait to finish the touch-up paint when we paint the bedroom because it will be the same, the wall decorations will have to wait until we actually find ones we both like, and the door can be hung at nearly any time. It has been an amazing process, most of which I was not present for, and it is beautiful. I like to find reasons to spend time in there because of how pretty it is, however funny that sounds when describing a bathroom. Believe me, when I post the before and then the after pictures, it will make complete sense!







Anyone who knows me well, knows what a complete Olympic fan I am. I have been a fan since I can remember, and prior to the major channels recognizing them and putting them on tv, I would try to find out what happened, who won, etc. I was describing one of the reasons it is my favorite sporting event to someone the other day. It is the short amount of time every two years (not exactly two as after the winter games, it is about a year and a half, and after the summer games, two and a half, technically) that the world truly comes together and many of the political problems are set aside for about two weeks, and then resumed after. (Unfortunately, this year, two countries are at war with each other, and it started right at the beginning of the games.) So many unique individuals come to the games, with interesting stories of courage, strength, and overcoming the odds. This year, 204 countries have sent at least one athlete, the oldest in his 60's in the Equestrian events, the youngest a diver from Great Britain at 14. Many of these athletes will come for one event only, not win a medal, but they are the pride of their country because they came. So many upsets occur, where out of nowhere someone who was not even mentioned as a favorite for a given event will win the gold, or even a medal.

I usually know what year and the location of the upcoming games that have been announced, I can usually remember the past locations and years of those complete. For instance, the next Winter games are in Vancouver, BC, Canada in 2010, the next Summer games are in London, England in 2012, then another Winter games in Sochi, Russia in 2014. The four finalist cities for the Summer 2016 games are Chicago, Illinois, Tokyo, Japan, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Madrid, Spain. They usually announce the next city to host the Olympics 7 years prior to the year it is occurring, so October 2, 2009, they will announce who it is. The Olympics have never been hosted by a city in South America, so Rio would be a good choice, but I really don't care. I just like them to keep happening!

I always root for the US athletes, but have watched the Olympics for so long, that I just enjoy a good show and can appreciate talent no matter where the athlete comes from. I still hate commentators, as they say so many stupid things, but they also keep us entertained, and they do have some good tidbits of information to pass on to us. The host city usually brings home more medals while hosting the games than they have done prior to ever hosting, and this year, China is expected to bring home more medals than they ever have in a Summer games. In Athens, the US brought home 103 medals, and China brought home 63. So far, they lead the US by one, but the games are not even half over, so we'll have to see what happens!


One thing that I have learned is that I do not want to live in China for an extended period of time if I don't have to. I do not agree with the training of their athletes, the pressure they put on the people and the children just so they can grow up and bring honor to their country, whether they want to or not. It's sad, and all the country cares about is winning, where in the US, we encourage talent when we see it and if the person wants to continue training, they do. That being said, it also shed some light on the difficult lives the Chinese lead, especially if they are average people, not very wealthy. Just a different perspective, not wrong, just different than my own.

If any of you have any questions regarding past, present, or future Olympics, you at least know who to ask. I would love to answer any questions you might have, or even get in a great conversation with you about them. Thank goodness for Pierre de Coubertin. I told Corey the other day that if ever I got a tattoo, it would be the Olympic rings. Maybe in my next life!

Update

I have had a hard time feeling like I wanted to post anything for awhile, even the after pictures of our front three rooms. The pictures are taken, waiting to be posted, I just can't get up the desire to do so. Sorry!! You'll just have to wait, and by the time I get to actually posting them, there will be another room complete, so there will be additional before pictures for your viewing pleasure anyway. Call it lazy, I don't care. Just blogger block in my opinion.

I have been away from home for awhile now, the longest since I have been married. It started on the 19th of June, where I left Salt Lake to visit my family in northern Idaho. It was a great time. Earlier in the week, prior to my leaving, my brother, Kevin, who lives in California started to drive up to Idaho on Sunday, and ended up staying the night with us instead of driving all the way through (smart of him). They got to Sandpoint safely Monday night. Two of my close friends from Glenwood, Iowa had driven out to Salt Lake to visit me and Corey and arrived on Monday night, and then were also continuing their vacation up to Sandpoint to see the rest of the clan, so I tagged along with them. It was great to visit even longer with them and they left for Iowa the following Tuesday from Idaho.

Kevin and his family were so fun. It was the first time they had been up to Idaho, and so there was lots for them to experience! I had not been up to visit for more than a year, and it was great times for all. Kevin has two kids, Delaney who is 2 1/2 and Mylie who is about 9 months old. Delaney is so active and busy, but with so many adults around, he was easy to follow. Heather had a new baby girl, Arabella, May 15th, so the 22nd of June, my father blessed Mylie and Arabella in Sacrament meeting. That was truly special, and even though neither of the kids are mine, I had such a hard time keeping my emotions to myself and was sobbing during the sacrament hymn. Delaney was blessed at home later on in the week, as he would not have done well in front of so many people.

We went to the beach, went to eat at our two favorite restaurants, and just visited and hung out. Rhonda, one of the friends from Iowa, wanted to go to the Farmer's Market, so we went on Saturday. It was so much fun.

After everyone left, Larry and Rhonda on Tuesday, and Kevin and Susie and kids on Friday, it definitely was more quiet. One of my goals while I was up visiting was to get a design for their yard started. I wanted to at least draw out the existing landmarks and design elements that they wanted. It took a few days to get all the measurements, but I managed to draw it up fine. Now comes the fun part, the design! That will have to come later, when I can sit down and draw, study the plants, and such. It will look great when I am done though!

When I left for northern Idaho, I did not have a return date set in mind. I was tentatively going to head to Seattle after visiting my parents and kids at home, as well as Heather and Brian and Arabella, to visit and help my older sister Charla. My dad drove me, Heather and Arabella (who did extremely well for her first long day drive in her carseat), Heidi and Katie. This was the fourth of July weekend, and all the sisters were together, with their chauffeur, Dad. We had a great time, and everyone left on Sunday to go back to Idaho. I have stayed in Seattle and am heading back to Salt Lake on the 23rd of July. Long trip, random things, and still fun.

While I have been away, I got offered a job, which I took. I start the 28th of July and am excited at the start of something new. It will be fun and challenging, yet I am excited at the idea of it. I will post pictures when I actually get some. I am not good at taking pictures!

House Before any work

These are some scary before pictures.


The above picture is of the parlor, what we use for the TV room.



This picture is of the front door, and the arched doorway between the living room and parlor.



The stairs are in the parlor, and were steep. These have been redone, and more up to code!



The lovely arched opening between the dining room and the living room.


I will post the after pictures shortly, so enjoy these for a few days, and then you can see our improvements and be amazed later on!

Graduation!!

A lot of hard work went into my education, both by myself and Corey supporting me. It was well worth it though, as I graduated with Honors, Cum Laude, and am done with school for now! I am extremely proud of myself, for finishing, but also for keeping to what I started with. This is long, but it is mostly so I can remember for years to come. Sorry!

When I first transfered to Utah State, I was excited about my degree, and some of the faculty encouraged those of us with high enough GPA's to go for an Honors diploma. This meant that we would have to do about 15 extra credits worth of work in some classes more than the required ones, we needed to maintain a 3.5 GPA in our major, and a 3.2 GPA in the University classes. So, at the beginning of our classes, we would choose if we wanted to have that class be an Honors class instead of a regular class, make a contract with the professor to complete an extra project, paper, research, or some other approved form of work. Then at the end of the semester, we would have to turn in our work, the professor would sign off that we had completed it, and we would get an H on our transcript, meaning it is an Honors class. We did not have to do this for all of our classes, just on average one per semester our final two years. We also took two graduate readings classes (I think they should be called discussions instead of readings, but oh well.) and our final semester we had to sign up for our Thesis class. For our thesis, it could be anything we chose, and at first I chose to research the role of a Landscape Architect in zoo design, but was getting nowhere with it, so I switched my thesis topic in the beginning of March of my final semester (Everyone else had theirs mostly done, working on the final touches, so this was not a good time to switch!) and wrote about my travels in Italy and what I studied and learned there. It was much better, but more work in the long run because of the short time I gave myself! I nearly stopped the work towards the Honors diploma, but wanted to finish what I started, and why quit when the finish line is in reach?



Corey and I on graduation day. The gold cord signifies Honors, and I am wearing two pins, one signifying that I am in the Landscape Architecture Honors Society and the other one is the Honors pin.



My good friend Boyd and I after the all university morning ceremony. Out of 26 graduating in my degree, we were the only two to walk in the main ceremony. It was worth it!



The five girls graduating in Landscape Architecture. From left: Jane Robley, Me, Karly Adams, Misty Anderson, and Katie Bateman.



The whole gang that walked in the college ceremony. We are missing two who decided that they did not want to join us, so there are only 24 of us. From the very back row, left is: Professor John Nicholson holding the sign, Nolan Harper, Professor Mike Timmons, Shawn Hurst, and Kirk Dimond (looking into the distance). Center row from left: Chaz Schlange, W. Bryce Ward, Thomas Dunford, Jake Powell, Trent Stroud, Boyd Reschke, Curtis Jay Allen, Steve Ford, Destin Christiansen, Roberto Leo. Front row from left: Karly Adams, Billy Kaufman, Sean Hunt, Charles Brock, Brad Burns, Jane Robley, Katie Bateman, me, Misty Anderson, Kevin Jensen, Chris Astle.

We all became close friends, and this was the last time we were all together. We were missing Colter Valcarce and Shawn Bunnell. Fun times.



Me sitting amongst my fellow students waiting to go across the stage. My college ceremony has the largest amount of people, and we had to wait a long time.



I get embarrassed easily, but on graduation day, nothing could keep me from just enjoying the moment, whatever happened. Corey asked if he could do something that might embarrass me, so I said sure. He had the family (I brought a small army with me to celebrate - 17 people) make and decorate these large posters to display in the audience. I was so proud of all of them. They made such a scene! So I first saw it when I walked into the stadium. They would periodically raise them and make noise, but they really made a racket when my name was called for receiving my diploma cover. After I got my diploma cover and shook the Dean's hand, he made a comment about the noise and display my family made for me. I simply grinned and agreed. One of my fellow classmate's father took pictures for us as we received our diploma covers, but I have not received my picture yet, so when I do, maybe I will post it here. At least I have logged the momentous day for now!

Thank you to all those who made the effort and sacrifice to come. It was a long day, and I really enjoyed the support and company. Kurt, Mallory and Carson made a surprise visit as well and brought me flowers. I forgot to take pictures before they died, but I enjoyed them so thank you!

That's All Folks

I sure felt busy yesterday, the last day of school for me (at least for a few years!). Here is the list of what I did, and what order I did them. Lately, it seems like most of my days have been this way, and this is the last one.

Woke up around 4 am after tossing and turning. Couldn't go back to sleep, got up and studied. Took shower at 6, got ready for the day, ate breakfast, and went to my first final, at 7:30 am. (I think that if I really wanted class that early, I would have taken a class that early.) After that final, I had to turn in my Thesis (yeah) and then met another classmate to study for my final at 9:30 am. Took that one, went up to my studio to work on my next final, which was actually my Thesis presentation at 11:30. Since it was not time for the presentation, I verified that my last project was complete, and printed it off for my last final at 1:30 pm. My presentation went well, and afterwards, I ate lunch with a potential Department Head candidate and graduate students (I am not a graduate student) at about 12:30. Printed off some information for my Honor's Contract that I need to turn in, and helped other students who were finishing their final projects. My last final started at 1:30, and I was done around 3. After this, I had to retrieve three copies of my signature page for my thesis, drop off keys to the building and studios, and then go get the three thesis bound. I finished my day at about 4:30, and then was on the road.

It was a long day, worth it, and I am glad that it's over!

Hope your days are not as crazy as this one. It may not seem like there is a lot going on, but the first two finals were actual tests that I had to study for, and the other ones were ones that I had to do a lot of prep work ahead of time, and on the day of, prior to them. The story of my school career. That's all folks.

Buried...Dead or Alive

This is Bo, burying one of his bones. Sorry it is kind of long. When Bailey was still around, she was the one that would bury bones, hiding them from him. He would sometimes find them, (when she actually left them before changing her mind and digging them up again) and then she would go and take them from him anyway. We only have seen him bury anything once when she was still around. Now he does this all the time. I keep asking him if he would rather chew on them as they were intended, but he insists on burying them.

What was funny this day was that we have been doing tons of work in the front of the house, preparing for my family to come and visit for my graduation and my younger brother's surgery, and we don't have any furniture up front right now. This day, we had just gotten done painting the walls and ceiling, when he decided that he needed to bury his bone. He saw the only soft thing, a painting drop cloth, on top of a bucket of paint, and tried to bury it there, but quit. I saw him, laughed at his attempt, and put the drop cloth on the floor for him, where he started the routine. I did not get it all from the start, but he did enough for you to get an idea of what he does. Every now and then, he has to uncover it. I don't know if he is checking to see if it is still there or what, but I just laugh and roll my eyes.

Ode to Little Miss Bailey Sue

Those of you who know us well, know that we are animal lovers. I have always loved animals, and even though I have more than I currently want, I am so attached to each of them and their cute personalities that it is hard to think of getting rid of them. That said, as of this morning, we no longer own Bailey. She and Bo are siblings from the same litter, born July 8, 2006. Corey's brother Trent purchased her for Corey as a birthday gift, and got Bo for himself. We got them when they were 5 weeks old. In November, Trent asked us to watch Bo while he moved, and then asked us if we wanted to keep him, so we inherited him. He has been a great pet since!

So, we are not going to have a great few days. We have discussed getting rid of her for quite some time, and after the day we had yesterday, realized that we were punishing her and ourselves for prolonging it. Basically, her temperament is one that has to be handled by someone who knows more than we do. She has to be alpha, even over Corey and I, and that has caused problems from the beginning. As first time dog owners, we did not realize it, but there is nothing you can do to fix her temperament. Lately, she has been attacking Bo, sometimes for no reason, but usually over food. He will come to me for protection (after defending himself the best he can), and then not want to be near her for a while. Yesterday morning, she attacked him again (the attacks increased while she was in heat and had been decreasing until the last few days). Then last night, Corey was standing and eating a snack while I was laying in our bean bag cushion, when she attacked Bo again. We had a difficult time separating the two to calm her down and she seemed worse than normal. Then a few minutes later, Corey came and laid down with me. Bo was already laying down beside me, and Bailey came to lay on Corey's stomach. She must not have liked the look Bo gave to her, as she attacked him again, really bad, except that I was in between them. I got bit and we jumped in quicker than normal to separate them. It was scary. After that, we decided that sooner than later would be best to discuss getting rid of her, made a call to animal control and they came and picked her up this morning. I really am struggling with it. I know that deep down it is for the best, and we honestly do not know if they are putting her down, or going to find a better place for her than we can provide. She is so sweet most of the time, and that is what I will remember. She is extremely close to Corey, and at night would sit on his lap and he would pet her. If he quit earlier than she wanted, she would nudge him or nibble on his fingers to get him to continue. She would lick his face in appreciation and love.

Poor Bo is lost now. He saw me go to the back and get her leash and harness, know that he did not get his put on, and that she left and did not come back. He went to the door, looked at it, looked back at me, and looked at the door again, totally confused. I took him outside and he just stood there sniffing the air for her. I took him on a walk to clear his mind. Hopefully he will be okay after a few hours.

Corey and I on the other hand are just a mess. It will take more than a few hours for us to heal. This morning, we went outside with them after we woke them up, and he picked her up to give her his last hug, and she just licked his face as the tears streamed down. It was bittersweet. She has this cute yawn that she has done since she was a wee little puppy, but as she's grown older, has not done it nearly as often. She did that this morning for us, one last time. I could go on forever about her little fun things that she does, but maybe that will be better for a later date.



Bailey at 5 weeks. Mischief maker from the start!



Her favorite way to eat snacks. Later on, she would roll over to get her belly rubbed.



The twins, as I like to call them, at about 8 weeks old. We were rock climbing, and they tagged along. Great playmates.



One of the last pictures of our lovely Bailey, April 14, 2008. She knew something was up, but did not know what. Bailey, we are so sorry we couldn't give you the best home where you could truly be yourself.

Just tell me that we are not evil.

Just like old times....and starting new ones

Abbie, my faithful and overweight cat is different than most cats. She is so friendly to people who come visit, she actually greets them, and then insists they pet her their entire stay. She has even jumped up on a missionary's lap during a prayer before we ate dinner. She plays fetch, and her favorite ball is a cloth ball that at one time had colored fur on the outside. Since she has played with it so much, that fur is now mostly gone, as a result, christened 'Baldy". We got a few new cloth balls for her called 'Hairy,' but she does not like them. Baldy has been missing, and the dogs like him as well, so we have not played fetch in a long time. This morning, she snuck into our room, found Baldy, and brought him to my feet. While I continued getting dressed, brushing my teeth, etc. we played fetch again. It was so nice.

The new times are regarding Bailey, our puppy daughter. She is such a daddy's girl, but will cuddle with either of us at her convenience. At night we lay down on the bean bag chair, encouraging the dogs to join us and calm down before we put them to bed at night in their kennel. We turn on the TV, and find something. We realize this might not be the healthiest of habits, but try having two rambunctious dogs yourself and come up with a different idea that works! Besides, we get to spend time with each other as well, a rarity while I work on my thesis. I digress, so back to my point. Bailey takes longer to get settled, will wander and finally will lay down if one of us rubs her belly. When she finally gets settled, we know she won't move if she puts her head into the crook of our arms, right up by our armpits. She is like an ostrich hiding, but it gives her comfort, so we let her. We don't have pictures of it yet, so maybe we will try tonight! Wish us luck.

My thesis is more than half done, which is good because I only have a few days left before I really need to get it done, to allow time for proofreading and fixing by my advisor's. All will be well and done soon!

An Inconvenient Truth

I had to watch the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" by Al Gore for one of my classes. Two of the classes I am currently finishing are scary to me, partly because of the subject, but mostly because of what I am learning in them. One is about natural disasters (New Orleans honestly got what they deserved and if they rebuild, it will happen again) and the other is about Ecology and that what we do has more of an impact than we might understand. For instance, if we get rid of a particular type of plant in an area, what animals use that plant for food that are now displaced, what other small organisms use the plant as a habitat that are now destroyed, etc. We can do something about each of these concerns, and yet many people are not.

I thought this movie was going to be boring and useless, but instead it is very enlightening and truthful. I don't want to say too much, other than that I was surprised that the movie was good, informative, and important for everyone to at least watch. People are free to form their own opinions after watching it, but at least watch it to understand what some people are considering a crisis. I just watched it online. Type in An Inconvenient Truth to Google videos and look for the link that has 1 hr and 37 min. It's youku.com or something like that. Very informative, and great.

I have been really busy at writing a new thesis about my trip to Italy, working on another paper about memorial design(er)s, and just staying afloat at school. All positive things, but busy. Sorry for the lack of posts, and the lack of photos. Maybe soon. We don't change all that much at our ages. :)

Is This the End?

I am now officially tired. I am so tired of the way things are going, I could absolutely scream!!! For those of you who read my last post, I am now extremely upset, and no longer positive about things turning out fine. Today, we picked up an investigator on our way to church, got there, went inside, and Corey took her home after Sacrament meeting. He came back, we then got in our Jeep to drive ourselves home, when he realized that the driver's side door was not opening all the way. We went to the Museum to pick up his laptop so I could try to get a jump start on my portfolio and my presentation, so we both got out to look at it. SOMEONE HAD HIT OUR JEEP! They dinged in the fender right behind the tire where the door meets it, and so that was why the door would not open the entire way. There was no note left, and it was during church no less. I just feel sick. When is this terrible, costly string of events going to end. Why us, and why now? With so many positive things on the horizon, why does this have to happen now, possibly hindering things from happening. We go to church, try to read our scriptures daily, pray, and pay our tithes and fast offerings. What else are we supposed to do? Are we missing something? I am at the bottom today, not knowing how to get out. We have spent so much time and money on these two freaking cars, one of which I have no idea what is going on with still, that we can't really afford to do much else to our house. Even the projects that we can do ourselves require money, which we now no longer have. Corey thinks that he can fix the Jeep, but it is still so frustrating. If any of you out there have any positive suggestions, please don't hesitate to send them our way! I no longer have patience for these type of things. Signing out till better days.

The Woes of Life

It has been an interesting last few months. If you thought it would get better, read on, and then think that again! Sorry, it's long and with no pictures.

As I have posted previously, my computer had to be taken back in December because the wireless internet card was not recognized anymore as a component of my computer. Got it back, everything was fine. Started working slower and slower towards the end of January, got advice, made some changes. More computer info in a short time.

Every year towards February, my department at school does this week-long intense design (called a Charrette) for a city in Utah. My first city, about 125 people met in Heber City to help them with a few concerns they had. I don't think they used anything we suggested, but it was great. Last year, we went to areas in San Pete County, once again working intensely on this project that they probably won't use. This year, as a senior, I was in charge of one of the groups, and it was in Logan. I planned on staying the week in Logan so that I didn't have to drive every day. On Monday morning, it was another snowstorm, and I was driving the Jetta when I slid into the back of a truck. My car is probably totaled (still haven't heard), I was okay. For those of you that have been paying attention to our cars lately, you would know that this was not welcome at all. Wrecking a car is never welcome, but it really was not a great thing to have happen now. We had to pay lots of money in January to get it to pass emissions this year, replaced the windshield to pass safety (The next day I drove it to school, another rock chip. I almost swore! Ask Heather) to find out that the safety certificate had already been passed by another shop. Our Jeep was stolen in December, right before the holidays, and we had to pay lots of money to get that fixed and drivable, we had to pass safety and emissions in January on that, and the safety didn't pass, so lots more money later, it is fixed. This currently is our only vehicle, and is such a gas guzzler.

Back to the computer. I need my computer. Plain and simple. I think every employee that works at Best Buy knows that, as do the Geek Squad guys I take it to so frequently. I had to take it back in July, August, and December. The night before the Charrette was due to be done, my computer would turn on, but not completely. I was staying at the home of a fellow senior, who unfortunately has the same computer, and he had this problem over the summer. He said they had to replace the mother board because the monitor was not functioning with the rest of the keyboard. I wish I knew more about computers to understand that, but I trust him. When I took it back in December, they replaced the motherboard. Pardon my sarcasm, but thanks a lot! So, I still was able to get the project done, but only because I had the best grad student adviser I could have hoped for! (I was going to post a picture of the entire project, but only have PDF's, and this will only accept JPEG's or GIF's. If you want to see what I did, email me and I will email you a copy.) I warned Corey that for our date on Friday night, we would spend a good portion at Best Buy, turning in my computer to the Geek Squad, where they don't listen to a word I say because I am a stupid girl, and know nothing about computers. I don't know how long till I get it back. I even asked the stupid (I have been trying not to call people names lately, but he really was stupid.) Geek Squad guy to put in the memo for the HP people that I am extremely tired of taking the blasted computer back to be fixed so often, and that if they did it right this time, it would save them a lot of grief too. He said he couldn't do that. I was patient, but only because I was still on a high from being able to finish my project on time and do so well at it.

**Note to anyone who ever has to deal with the Geek Squad. Don't. Not great people for the most part, or maybe just in Salt Lake. Treat you like you're stupid and know nothing, and then don't apologize when they realize that indeed, you did know that the monitor is not working and that the machine does not turn on (That's is exactly why you took it to them!), that NONE of the universal adapters for the electrical cords will work for your machine, and when you can tell them nearly exactly what has been done each time you have had to visit them.

Frustrating as it is, it is life. It's all these materialistic things that we have just come to expect to work forever, get attached to, and then need to replace. Wish I wasn't so attached. On a good note, I did find out yesterday that I am one of the top seniors, and as a result, I have been nominated to win an Honors Award or a Merit Award from the state chapter of the ASLA (organization to which I belong because I am a Landscape Architect). Now, my senior class has about 26-27 students, and only those in the top 6 get nominated. The odds weren't in my favor, especially when I tell you that nearly half of the seniors get straight A's. I get to present myself to a jury on March 17th. I am last to present, so that is in my favor.

Corey has been good through the whole thing, and despite the impression that I am negative about everything, I really am not. Grateful is actually more like it, because it all happened at once. I have been very positive about everything, just look forward to a slight amount of peace when I have my computer back, and the insurance company tells us about our car. Until then, I keep busy working on my Honor's Thesis, an Honor's Contract, regular school, being Compassionate Service leader, and having time to relax. Just the every day things. I am lucky, and I know it!

We have had some amount of snow nearly every week, usually a large amount in one big storm, with small amounts every other day or so. I am getting good missing it though, as usually, the big storms are on the weekend, and the small ones are Monday, Wednesday, or Friday. For real. I miss most of the driving in the snow! I heard that the snow totals for the mountains and valleys are over 100% above normal, and some areas are more than 200%. Crazy! It sure is beautiful to watch.

Permission and Snow

Some people have made comments about having to log into my blog now, when previously they did not have to, so I thought I would explain why. I was reading a friend's (friend A) blog, and clicked on another blog link on the side of her blog, and one of her friends (friend B) had written this experience that one of her friends (friend C) had experienced, and it made her scared.

Friend C had written her daily activities with her two kids and what they do everyday as a family, and one day she was at the park with her kids. A guy she didn't know approached her and asked her if she was _(name)_____ and she said she was. He verified her kids names, and she asked him if he worked with her husband or knew her husband somehow. He said he didn't, that he had just read her blogs and knew that Thursdays was the day she went to the park near her home. It kind of scared her. She had never posted specifics regarding her address or specifically what street she lived on, but by posting her daily activities that she did with her kids, she had given enough information that he knew all about her.

After reading that, I knew that we should try to make our blogs private. Yes, I want people that I know to read what I have been doing, but I want to be able to control it as well. In order to make your blog private, go to Settings, then click on Permissions. It will ask you to enter all the email addresses of your friends and family who you want to invite to read your blog. They will then have to sign in, choose a name to leave comments with, and in the future they will have to log in to view it. Even though this might seem like a pain, I feel more secure knowing that only those that I have invited and accepted my invitation are reading my blog. I can go and add more people anytime too! It's great.

We woke up this morning to inches of fresh powdery snow. It's a pain to shovel, but so beautiful when it comes down. I don't know when it started snowing, but this morning I shoveled about 6 inches off our walks (Corey had to go to work early) and it is still coming down. I shoveled at about 7:30, and it is now 9, with more than an inch covering the walks again. I am glad that I didn't have to drive to Logan today, but hope it is finished before tomorrow morning!! I want to be safe and alive at least until I graduate. Maybe I will post pictures, but that means I will have to go outside to take more and get cold. Oh well.

Charles is coming today, and I am excited! That means I get Little Buddy all to myself, no sharing (because his parents always get him to themselves, and the last time I saw him he was favored by other aunts). Well, not that I want to, but I need to do some homework. Last semester; I can handle it!

Doggies and Catties

I was going through some of our pictures, and found some cute old pictures of our zoo, and then added some new ones. Bailey is such a daddy's girl, she follows Corey everywhere possible when he's home. Not one to be left out, Bo is not far behind her. They sure keep us laughing and smiling.



The picture on the left is from the summer when we got a load of mulch. Corey was spreading it out, and the dogs were helping him. They were concerned that there were too many big pieces of wood, so they sorted through it and eliminated the larger pieces. The picture on the right is more recent. We have a large kennel for the doggies to sleep in, and Bailey decided to make a penthouse. The ground floor was not good enough for her, so she sleeps on top during the day. Sometimes at night when we tell them to go to their crate, she tries to jump up on top for the night. We laugh and then get her down and put her into the crate. Bo can't jump up on top, so he just waits for her or watches her enviously. It's quite funny.


The cats don't like getting their picture taken often, so I don't have any recent pictures. The picture below is shortly after we got Lily, and the two cats are getting to know each other. They loved Heidi's chair, and are sad that Corey and I haven't gotten them one. They lay around the house out of the way of the dogs, usually hiding in our bedroom as the dogs are not allowed there. They used to be spoiled, but because the dogs take up so much of our time, they get little attention. Maybe they don't notice.

After pictures!

Here is the long-awaited after pictures. We only had one angle from the before shot, but the room has so many more uses and looks so much better we had to show it from more than one angle!












The second image is of the closet. We used this temporary storage so that later when the room needs to be used as a bedroom, we can take down some of the shelves and put up the hanging rod. We will finish the trim when we do the trim throughout the rest of the house, and we need to trim the bottom of the closet door before we install that, but we aren't too worried about that yet. For now, we are calling it finished!




On a side note, we finished framing in one of our living rooms today. Mom and Dad Bowman came and helped us, or we wouldn't have as much to brag about. We owe them so much time! The living room we framed in is harder than the other one, because we added a closet, and that had many small walls to frame in, where the other living room has the ceiling and then only a few other small spaces. It is really coming together quickly now and we are quite pleased and proud of ourselves. Thanks for everyone's help! We can't do it alone.

Update on House

We have been working hard on finishing a room, and we are nearly done with it. I will post an after picture later, after I describe the before picture posted below!


This lovely image is of the attic bedroom. It had beautiful wall paper on much of the surfaces and lovely carpet on the painted wood floor. Some of the wall paper decided it didn't like the original color it came in, and so was trying to gradually change into a more reddish color. There was a closet in the room, but we did not get a good picture. The closet was built into the eaves, so it didn't take up any extra floor space than what you are seeing here.

Here is what we did. We tore down all the surfaces of the walls and ceilings. It is the old kind of drywall, and we wanted more height, so we took it all down. We took the entire room down to the studs and the floor planks. Part of the problem with this room was that the staircase was too steep, and when we re-built it, we had to cut more of the floor of this room out. We also wanted to change the location of the closet, so we decided to put the closet over the new staircase ceiling, hiding the angled floor. I hope that all made sense, but I promise, pictures are soon to follow. In addition, there was a hallway leading to the bedroom, so we decided to move the bedroom door back into the hallway, creating a little more space in the bedroom. After all was framed, we added many electrical outlets, two light fixtures, a smoke alarm, and drywalled it. We then did the mudding and taping ourselves (hard, but we did an awesome job!) and painted it a lovely shade of brown, with white on the ceiling and gray on the floor.

The room will be used as a clean studio (the dirty one is outside in a building next to the garage) an office, and a craft room. We bought a metal desk for really cheap at CompUSA, and put the drafting table in for additional work surface. The closet will be used for office supply storage until later. To get access to the eaves storage, we put in two doors, one on each side of the room.

We didn't replace the window yet, but we will when we do many others later on. Overall, it has kept us busy!