And another one gone, and another one gone

I'm happy to report that the boy's bedroom is now done and so is their bathroom! Our room is done too and the guest bathroom is also done...I wish I could say the same for the office, the craft room, the kitchenette and the million touch-up jobs! I'm pretty happy that we're down to 3 rooms though...I'll look on the positive side...

Here is the boy's room - I am really happy with how it turned out - it's my first real attempt at striping!



Here is their bathroom -


Our bedroom -


The guest bath - Not the most exciting room to take a picture of, but I'm still glad it's done...

I love Greg

Today is our 9th anniversary and all I really have to say is that I love Greg. I could go on and on about him and our past 9 years of marriage, but it really all boils down to love. I loved him then and I love him now - even more. He's the best...everyone knows that. What else can I say?

Another milestone of sanity

In my quest to someday be sane again (or for debate reasons - for the first time) we have reached another milestone. Ava went into nursery for the first time this past Sunday (do you hear angels singing too - or is that just me and Greg?). I wouldn't want to jinx myself, but she went in without really caring and stayed in the whole time. Sanity?? Is that you that I hear in the distance???

My pseudo empty nest

Today was Zach's first day of preschool. He did a great job and was happy to be there (I wasn't sure that would be the case, so I was very happy too). As soon as Ava and I got back from taking Zach, Ava went down for a nap. Since Andrew is in school all day...I had a pseudo empty nest!!

It was great. Greg came home for lunch and I didn't even have to compete for conversation time...that usually only happens if we are on a date...which we kind of were - a lunch date! I woke Ava up at 2:00 and then picked Zach up from school and we made it home with about 15 minutes to spare before Andrew got off of the bus - the nest is full again (which is great in a different way). So now, every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 12:00 to 2:00 I will have the nest to myself (with the littleist bird sleeping upstairs) and I am pretty excited about the potential sanity that could promote!

Corie - this is for YOU!!

Probably the most asked question of the past few months is, "when are you going to post pictures of the house?". My typical response has been, "soon - I promise". Well, I don't think anyone wants to see the pictures more than my friend Corie...she is a house project girl herself and I know if she were here, she would be knee deep in whatever I was working on! So...after much, much delay, here are some before and after shots of the house!

So here is the house - for any of you who have forgotten what "The 2502" looks like (we have actually done quite a bit of tree work since this picture and there is a new roof, but you get the idea):



Here is the before and after of the kitchen. It's hard to tell in the picture, but the cabinets were from the 1960's and were metal. The floor had been updated in the 80's to a beautiful "jade" color...perfect if we were opening a Chinese restaraunt:



Here is the den. Again, it's hard to tell in the picture, but the walls are covered in a fabric wallpaper and the floor - which actually looks kind of nice in the picture - wasn't. I textured the walls with plaster after removing the paper:



Here is the great room:



Here is the fireplace and tile (the tile that took 85 hours to clean - worst job of the house. The fireplace still has some staining on it, but I guess that's par for the course in an 82 year old house:




Here is the guest room - just waiting for visitors:



Here is the dining room (one of my favorites):



And even though I don't have a before picture of Ava's room, you can imagine it with blue ribbon wall paper and matching blue carpet from the 80's. Here's an after - and a close up of the mirror I made:



I obviously didn't put in every room of the house, but hopefully this will give you a good idea of what we've been doing for the past 2 months! Corie, are you happy?

Haircuts, haircuts, everywhere haircuts

As most of you know I cut my hair a little over a week ago. I had posted my potential hair-do for all to see before the big cut and took the picture to my hairdresser. I am very confident in my hairdresser, however she did decide not to really give me the haircut that I asked for. It is about 3 inches shorter than I thought it would be - I guess that is good for Locks of Love (they got 13 inches) - but like Holly said in a comment, it's just short enough that I can't pull it all the way up. Now that I have had the chance to style it myself a few times, it has really grown on me over the past week (figuratively) and now I like it alot - so does Greg, so that makes it easier to like! Oh, don't ask about the face I'm making...I think I have a camera disorder...

The boys also got back to school haircuts...they had been little surfer looking boys all summer! So here are all the new cuts!


I had to throw a few Ava pictures into the bunch too...so far she has been sporting the Pebbles look, but bangs may be in her future. I know these pictures are fuzzy and her eyes aren't open - okay, so we won't be winning any photo contests - but, you get the Pebbles-esque look I'm talking about!

What a wonderful whirlwind

My trip to Utah was just that - a wonderful whirlwind! I got to Holly's house very late on Wednesday - I guess 1:00 a.m. makes it technically Thursday. Thursday morning I got up and visited with Holly and then went off to meet Ken and Kim for party prep time! We went to store after store - sometimes to Ken's protest - but had a great time and had the party set up in just the right amount of time to spare. Justin and Letty's party went off without a hitch and there were some new memories made that will go down in the books! I had so much fun at the party that I could have gone home happy after just doing that...but, lucky for me I still had plenty of time left!

Friday morning I went to Springville to visit with my Grandpa Craig - Katie and Alison were there too - always a bonus. Then I met Jonna and Roger's new little beauty, Grace, while a group of us had lunch at Mandy's house. That afternoon I did my 2nd round of 'Locks of Love' and cut 13 inches of my hair off - it was a little bit more shocking than I had remembered, but all is well. That night I got together with great friends (Holly, Corie, Monica, Jill, and Tiffany) and went to dinner and a movie. We laughed and laughed and it made me really miss my friends!

Saturday was Justin and Letty's wedding at 10. There was a luncheon in the afternoon and a reception that evening. In between we went on errands and shopping with Greg and Emy - always a good way to fill the day! All of the wedding things were great. Letty looked beautiful and Justin was so, so happy - it was a priviledge to be there with them.

Sunday I met Easton - Danielle and Kevin's latest addition and had breakfast with them. It felt so normal to hang out at their house - I almost forgot I couldn't just run 4 houses home. Then I met my Grandpa Robinette and Jeri for lunch and a drive around the lake. That evening I went to Bridgette's house and she taught me how to make a 5 course Chinese dinner - everything was delicious and it was really fun too - it is Bridgette after all. Kelly and Jenn stopped by that night too and so there was even more icing on the cake!

On Monday Holly and I met up with Danielle, Jill, Bridgette, Sherrie, Sonya, Jen, Corie, and Kelly for lunch at Zupas and I had my fix of crack salad...ahh, crack salad! Later, I went with Holly and Juston to look at a house they put an offer on and then we went to dinner and watched a movie that night.

Tuesday morning Holly and I were able to go to the temple which was really great. We also stopped at Jamba juice before(I had to get in all of my favorite things before coming home). After the temple we went to lunch and to a couple of stores and a cake shop all before I left for the airport at 4:00.

It was wonderful to see everyone and to be there for all of the fun, but it was great to come home and see my family too. It was a whirlwind, but I wouldn't have had it any other way.