Sentiments by Sophia

as they say... it was a shocking finale

I've been asked many times about Zaylee and have had to just give answers vague over the past few months because of the circumstances and DCFS.  I feel like it's finally time that I can share what's happening.  It's been a long road for this sweet little girl, but it looks as though it is finally coming to an end.  It's been the most emotional Kelly rollercoaster yet.

Last December, Kelly had proven herself to DCFS for over 16 months by following every rule and complying with every order from the court. She was drug-free for over a year.  She'd gotten her GED, had counseling, done it all.  She was working and supporting herself. She was in the process of divorcing her husband, who'd served time for "child endangerment" after Zaylee was removed from the home initially.  We were thrilled to see Kelly's progress.  She was spending time with our family and doing so well.  It was the most hope we had had for her since the day she met him. Kelly and Zaylee were reunified for a final "trial" period before the case would be closed permanently.  We were all so thrilled that Kelly was finally free of the husband and on track with her daughter and life. He had met very few of the requirements and his visits with Zaylee were only permitted when  supervised by DCFS.

In January, when school began after the break, there were some red flags.  We still hadn't seen Zaylee to exchange Christmas gifts.  She didn't come for Grace's birthday. Something was not right.  And then, everything became apparent.  Kelly had gotten back with her husband. Again, I'm not at liberty to share details, but it was confirmed that they were back together, and that Zaylee had spent much of the holiday break with him... partly alone and partly as one big happy family, which was completely opposite of what the court had ordered. Upon this discovery, Zaylee was removed immediately from the home.  Sadly... no... devastatingly...Again...Kelly chose him over her child.

This is where it gets really complicated.And this is where I really can't share details.  BUT...

Since Zaylee's birth, most everyone involved in this situation has known/expected that Liza and Buddy would end up raising/adopting Zaylee.  They love her as their own.  I really can not go into the details, but the bottom line is that DCFS, at the last hour, has decided that Zaylee should be permanently placed and adopted by the current foster family who Zaylee has been with since that last removal.

We love the foster family, her third foster family, and they adore Zaylee.  Over the past few months, they have bonded and Zaylee is thriving.  She has done very well there, she's happy and content.

Much of this shocking news came to us when Liza and Buddy visited us in March.  DCFS/the court/the therapist/someone with a say decided that "it would be in Zaylee's best interest" not to be moved again and that the foster family would be her new adoptive family.  Last week, as I was waiting at the airport for Liza and Buddy's plane to land, I received the call that Kelly and her husband had finally agreed to legally relinquish their parental rights, with an agreement, where they will be able to continue to have a very limited open adoption. I can't share much more detail, but suffice it to say, this is not what we had all planned on, prepared for or expected over the past two years, let alone the last six.  It has been an exceptionally emotional two months, more than any before.

Those in our closest circles have suggested that we fight this decision.  BUT. We are very happy for this to come to an end...for Zaylee's sake!  While we are heartbroken in some ways, we are very happy for the family who will be adopting Zaylee.  We are thrilled that Zaylee will be raised by loving and responsible parents with six siblings that she had grown to love and two parents who adore her.  She will finally be free of the travesty that she's had to live for the first six years of her life.  For this, we are ever so thankful.

I took Zaylee out for lunch yesterday and when I asked her "So, Zaylee, what's new in your world?!", her answer was, "Well, I'm done with kindergarten this week and I met my new First Grade teacher and my parents signed the papers so that now I can be adopted!" She, then, explained to me that this means she will be going to the temple with her new family.

Friends and family ask "How are we?"  Well...This has been such an enotional rollercoaster.  It's lasted almost two years.  We are thrilled for Zaylee to be able to continue on in her life with stability in a wonderful family.  It was crushing news for Liza and Buddy.  Doug and I have had very mixed emotions about this all. We are happy for Zaylee to be settled.  We were concerned for Liza and Buddy and Aylabelle, as we knew that it would be a life-long challenge, but supported their decision to adopt Zaylee and knew that it would be a wonderful future for Zaylee to be with them, to be loved by them and to be adopted into Buddy's family, as well, because they love her as much as we do.  We are sad to see her adopted out of the family, yet happy to know that she loves this new family and they love her so much!  They are thrilled.  They are a wonderful family with six other adopted children, three of which are bi-racial, one who is only days different in age than Zaylee.  She's in heaven with a large family of kids that "get each other".  Her new family not only welcomes our involvement but encourages it. We will still be a welcomed part of her life. But, still...many tears have been shed.

I am asked often... Our kids have really struggled through this past two years, seeing Zaylee's life on this roller coaster. They've wondered why we couldn't adopt Zaylee.  They have had a gamut of emotions toward Kelly and we won't even mention their feelings for her husband.  It's been very hard on them.  They have very mixed emotions about this final decision.  (I sit and shake my head.)

SO, it is with very mixed emotion that I finally share this news.  The bottom line is that Zaylee can move forward with security and love.  That's what matters most.  For all of this time, we have fasted and prayed that we would accept Heavenly Father's will for what is best for Miss Zaylee.  Now, it's time to do our part. 

Life is good.  Not always what we think it should be, but it's good.  No editing on this post.  I don't want to reread it or rethink it tonight.  Enough said.

week update... and not a pic to show...and a new word

It's been quite the week.  I've not published but I've blogged.  I was hoping for time to post pics with.  Not happened yet.  And there's been a lot of things going on that I've not been ready to share yet.  I'm ready, but today, an update. Tomorrow details.

What an exciting last Wednesday we had!  I drove down to the airport to pick up the Liza and fam, bright and early, after getting the kids off to school.  Their plan landed right on time.  We headed to lunch at Wingers, which was a treat, since the Logan Wingers closed last year.  As soon as we pulled in at home, Buddy opened the back of the Expedition to get the luggage out and said, "Liza, where's my luggage?"  In all the excitement of our hellos at the airport, and my giving Buddy the keys to drive because my foot doesn't do a drive to SLC without serious issues, he'd hopped into the drivers seat and pulled away without his bags! 

He immediately called the airport and I immediately called Denise, who was at the airport, herself, to welcome her niece home from her LDS mission to Tennessee.  Thankfully, Denise was right there near the luggage and able to bring it home to us that night.

Alan and Jill were across the street, working at Layne and Julie's home, and came across to give hugs to Liza and her fam.  Jake was with them, so it was exciting for Liza to get a chance to see him!  We ended up going out for dinner together to Firehouse and gabbing for hours.  The kids never get enough of Uncle Alan and Aunt Jill, and Liza feels the same!  We laughed!  HARD!  It was a great way to begin their visit!

After dinner, we came home and sat up late visiting with Buddy while Liza got Aylabelle to bed.  Have I mentioned how much I love having them home!

We had a "big bath", according to Aylabelle, in the hot tub while the kids were at school.  Lunch was with Katie and Dave, at Café Sabor, who were visiting town for a funeral. Buddy had never met them and Liza had only met Katie.  We ate a huge great lunch.  Huge.  I'd planned on making a big Mexican feast for dinner, but by 8PM, we were all still hungry from lunch.  I made bean salsa and we called it dinner!

Saturday morning, in the middle of waffle breakfast, Buddy got a text that his folks had flooding at their home, so they raced off to help.  They will return this weekend and stay until Monday with us. This week, Buddy's sister is graduating and they are having a week long family reunion.  They will pop in and out throughout the week.  Yesterday to pick something up.  Tuesday, Liza and I met for haircuts.  Wednesday, for a minute to drop something off.  Even though we are not seeing them much, I love knowing that they are fifteen minutes away!

Doug and I taught our first "Strengthening the Family" class on Saturday evening.  We had six couples attend and both of us felt it went well.  We were so impressed with the group that are attending.  Again, we are feeling very blessed to be neighbors with these awesome people and are loving getting to know our new ward members!

Sunday, after church, we came home and enjoyed the "holiday" weekend Sabbath with the kids and relaxing until late evening when Doug and I went over to Carol's for a late night soak in her hot tub and some Seinfeld watching for Doug and Robert.

Our holiday was spent at home, planting a garden, if you could call it a garden.  We planted a strip of peppers, four tomatoes at random places in the back yard, in hopes that one place or another will get enough sunlight to actually grow.  On Saturday morning, we had a man come and give us a bid to remove the 60 foot tall evergreen that's in the center of the yard.  We want to plant fruit trees and a garden and with that tree, it's impossible. However.  The tree shades the entire back yard, which is wonderful in summer.  We decided to live the summer with it and see if we still want to take it down.

The Bs came over for an afternoon barbeque and everyone went straight to bed after they left, except me, who spent the evening napping on the couch through a few episodes of Gilmore Girls on Netflix.  Gilmore Girls, my new guilty pleasure.  Never heard of it before now, but LOVE it. 

I've been spending quite a bit of time with Carol while she is in town.  She will be heading back to Idaho after her son graduates, so we are enjoying our time together while she's here.

Today, my sweet friend, Katie, came up from SLC to spend the day.  We had a great time and I loved having her cute son, Cannon with us.  Grace was home today from school and entertained him when we got back from Black Pearl.  He's a sushi lover too! It was so great to catch up on each other's lives.

Denise and I have been missing each other since last week because of company and events and holidays and and and.  Life is just busy!

It's the kids last week of school!  Grace will be flying back to Arizona for her first solo vacation.  ZJ is going to be working this summer for an aunt.  Quayd's planning on picking up more shifts.  When Grace returns, she's supposed to be on the schedule for her new job!  It looks to be a busy summer for the kids.  We're still debating on whether we put up the pool this summer. The hot tub is wonderful, but they like the idea of freezing in the pool then warming up in the hot tub.  I'm not loving the idea of killing the lawn permanently for four or five weeks of swimming.  And the pool will NEVER heat up with all of the trees and the lack of sunshine in our back yard.  We'll see how that goes.  I can't believe it's summer already!  If the rain would just stop and the temp would go up, it would feel like summer, but, I am thrilled with this Portland-esque season!  LOVING EVERY DROP!!!

One cute Gracism:  She informed me that she needs a new wardrobe before flying to Arizona next week.  I asked what all she needs.  "Everything, Mom! Everything.  Seriously, I'm clothesrupt."  I think we have happened onto a new word for the English language.

Tomorrow, I will answer some of the many questions I have had about what's happening with our cute little Zaylee.  That's the bottom line... as busy as I have been, it's no more busy that normal.  I've just been trying to figure out what and how to share our latest news.  Life is good.  Not ever what we think it will be, but it is good.

patio

I hope to have some time to sit down today and actually blog.  It's been a crazy busy week and a lot has happened.  I'm off to pick Zaylee up this morning for a breakfast date.   

In the meantime, here's a picture of the patio.  It's coming along.  We're still looking for the right round table, but for now, we're following the old adage, "Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without"... this is making it do.  We enjoyed our first barbeque with guests, the Bs, yesterday afternoon.  It was lovely to be able to enjoy the outdoors, even in the rain!

I'll be back this afternoon with some explanations and updates. Life is good.

Happy day!

ouch!

Oddly, this was posted on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, but never appeared.  Better late than never.

Yesterday morning, we all got to sleep in an hour because all three of the kids had to be at the ortho/dentist at 8AM.  The girls both had cavities and Quayd and ZJ had their ortho checks.  Both Quayd and ZJ are getting close to the end of their braces experience!  Just a few more months!  Grace always amazes me at the dentist.  She hates getting a shot to numb her mouth, so she opts to have her fillings with nothing for pain. It blows me away!  I want happy gas to get my teeth cleaned!  ZJ is more like me.  Her numbness made her mouth droop and she was talking quite funny, so I took Quayd and Grace back to school and kept ZJ at home for the rest of the day.

We went to lunch with Denise at Firehouse and had a good visit, then stopped at the grocery store for a few things for dinner.  It was pouring rain when we got home and we thought it would be fun to watch it rain for a bit, when we got home.  We had, literally, just stepped into the hottub when Quayd called and texted, just sobbing.  Quayd's tough.  He doesn't cry unless it's really bad. He had ruptured his ear drum diving into the bottom of the deep end of the school pool to grab a pipe for the teacher.  I don't think I've ever seen him in so much pain.  I jumped out, got dry and dressed and called the doctor on way to the school.  We went straight to the ENT's office and they ran some sort of ultrasound type test and could see that it had, indeed, ruptured.  Quayd spent the rest of the evening lying on the heating pad.  He'd had a goal to finish reading the Doctrine and Covenants this week and he did it.  He seems to be much better with lots of ibuprofen and heat.  What a sad way to begin his summer!  Our poor boy.  He's a trooper!

I posted this photo of him on Facebook with a comment of how thankful I am to be a stay at home mom on days like that!  It's a blessing to be able to just drop and run anytime the kids need me. 

I made a huge pot of creamy cheesy potato soup and homemade cornbread for dinner, which is always a hit with the kids and Doug.  I was anxious to settle in and watch the finale of Dancing with the Stars, after everyone went to sleep.  Happiness!  LOVE that show and loved the outcome this year.  The final three were all amazing!  It's always the best part of the season! 

Quayd slept through the night well, on the heating pad, and didn't even need any meds, which was an answer to my prayers!  

Short post tonight.  It's the Survivor Finale.  I've only watched the two shows this season because we've been so crazy busy with the move. This is the time of year, after finale week, I usually turn off the TV for summer.   Since the move, we have not had TiVo or any frills at all.  Just the basic for the news and weather!  Watching tv online is not fun! But, for summer, we will spend our time playing instead of worry about the nothings on TV.  I can't believe we are one week from summer vacation beginning!  Especially since it's still snowing!  Crazy!

Liza and Buddy fly in tomorrow morning!  WOOHOOOOO!  I GET TO SEE MY GIRLS!!!

Life is good.  Full of surprises, but very, very good.

our bedroom

ETA:  What's up with this format?  The entire post was centered and the photos were much larger.  Go figure?  Click on any of them to look closer, but why can't they just post like I asked them to? ;)

On this rainy morning, after two fillings and two ortho checks with our awesome friend/dentist, Brett Skinner, I'm home with ZJ, who's mouth is still numb.  I kept her home with me today, after taking Grace and Quayd back to school.  It's Yellowstone week at her school and she opted not to go.  Actually, she never even told us about it.  Yesterday, she had a nasty sub experience and today, I decided that I would let her just come back home with me rather than be abused by a cranky substitute teacher!  We'll be going out for lunch and hottubbing after her mouth recovers.
 
Our bedroom is finally done!  We've enjoyed it for the past week like this, but yesterday, I decided that we will probably do some furniture moving again.  Doug teases me about this. My father used to tease that he would come home drunk and hit the floor because the bed was never in the same place for more than three days.  I guess I got my furniture moving habits pretty naturally.

Anyway, here's what our bedroom looked like when we bought the home.  Removing the little "home office" in the corner was the first change we made in the room.  Next was the "track light" on the right side of the ceiling.  Our entire home had no lighting in the ceilings except in this room and it was off to the side of the room, which was odd to us, lighting up the mirror on the wall.  So, it was removed and the ceiling got a facelife after replacing the light with a new ceiling fan in the center of the room.

The "Frame" around the striped wallpaper was removed too.  Because we were removing the wallpaper, the  wooden "Frame" wasn't necessary. There were a ton of nail holes that needed to be filled and when we removed the wallpaper, we found bare walls that had never been primed.  It was a mess, so texturing was a perfect solution.   We also removed the drapery from the windows.

So, here's the room today!  Doug requested light colors, so the top half is "heavy cream".  He also wanted to leave the wood trim natural and not paint it white.  At first, I wanted the white trim, but I'm so glad that we've left all of the trim in the entire home (except the living room). We love the warm wood feeling!

  I am in love with our new bed... both the temporpedic mattress and the frame! 

 In the photo below, the lighting makes the walls look green, but they are the same color as in the bedroom.  The dressing area and walk-in closet are the lighter color, as well as the master bathroom.

 The "office" corner is no more.  It's now where we read and gab.

Removing the wallpaper made me very happy, even though we discovered that the walls had never been primed and we had to have them textured before we could paint. I love love love the lower color on the walls.



Finding the right color to make the plum and orange bedding "pop" was no easy task until friend, Mary Ann, came to visit.  She was my inspiration (as she is in so many of my decorating adventures) when I decided to go with the mustard yellow.  Loving it!  Loving the polka dot pillows! Love my cute rose pillow, a gift from Natalie for the living room at our old home...perfect in our new bedroom!  The small yellow pillows were a find at the new furniture store we discovered in Brigham City!  I wish the colors would be true in the photos!

 The ceiling fan brought us much frustration and a few good laughs.  We went to Ogden to buy the hot tub and left Alan home to install the ceiling fan.  Alan called on our way home and asked me if I wanted the track lighting that was on the edge of the room to stay or go.  I said that we didn't need it with the ceiling fan, so by the time we got home, the ceiling was patched with new sheetrock, textured and ready for prime and paint.  The wiring was done for the ceiling fan.  Alan was working on another part of the home at the time and it was after dark before we got back to the fan installation.  Doug and Alan finished assembling and hanging it.  Lightbulbs were put in.  We turned it on and discovered that the three small bulbs were like candles!  Literally!  We were still in the dark!  Doug asked, under his breath, "Why did Alan take out the track lighting?"  I said, "I told him to."  He continued, "Why?"  Because every other ceiling fan we have had has been so bright that we left lightbulbs out!  No more. 

Because of the government regulations on lights, NO MORE.  We ended up going to Lowes and buying three new bulbs, all LEDs that cost $16 each!!!  When the guy told me that they were $16 a piece, I asked, "Holy cow!  How long do these things last?"  His response, "Mam, you'll be dead and gone before these bulbs die."  Okey dokey then.  Thank you, little Lowes boy.  The room still isn't bright but it's not candle lit either.  And we had air movement, which is what matters most to me!  The home has central air, but I doubt it will be used much because we love the fresh air and especially the canyon breeze at night!

I love having so much built in storage!!!  The closet has built-in dressers, as well.  Happiness!

 

The potty and closet are a plus!  When we bought our old home, we never expected that we would be raising another family in it.  We did not have a walk-in closet or a master bathroom and didn't need one for just the two of us.  Surprise... three kids later, I missed having a master bathroom every day!  I'm thrilled to have our own master bath again! Doug and I each have our own space...drawers, cabinets and even our own sinks!

Love the little shelves in the potty room.

 

Love the two extra wide chests of drawers in the closet!  Doug hung the peg strips under the window so that when he can hang his work clothes at night to just grab and run in the morning.  The closet and separate bathroom makes it wonderful when he's getting ready at 3:53 in the morning...he doesn't have to turn one single light on in the bedroom!  Love it!

Doug teases because every day, it's a different room in the home that I say, "I LOVE THIS ROOM THE BEST!"  Our bedroom is every other day.  It's warm and cozy and perfect for us!

Feeling blessed every day!  Loving a day with my girl!  Forty-eight hours till Liza and family will be here!  Life is good!

performance after performance

Fast weekend.  Busy day!  Too fast!  It wasn't nearly long enough!  We didn't really accomplish much of our to do list.  Doug did get more electrical work done.  I read a lot.  Mostly, we spent lots of time with the kids...in the hottub, watching movies, eating and just chilling.  Good times.

The biggest event of our weekend was Quayd's Thespian Banquet.  Doug and I earned our wings in heaven for attending.  Honestly, in all my years of parenting (thirty six, to be exact) this was the biggest "parent sacrifice" we ever made. Ha!  We went in a thunderstorm to the Golf Course in Smithfield for the banquet, which began at 6:30. It ended at 10:15.  It was off to a crazy start because of the storm, and they ended up having to set up extra tables for latecomers.  The dinner was very tasty.  Quayd was not able to relax at all.  He was waiting to hear the announcement of the new Presidency for next year.  He was so nervous!  The announcement of the new presidency did not come until after a hundred other awards, songs and performances and and and... to the tune of three hours and fourtyfive minutes long!  The announcement of the new presidency was the last thing on the program.  It was a very lonnnnnnnng evening.  BUT, Quayd was elected and seeing his happiness and excitement when they announced his name as the new Historian was worth every lonnnnnnng minute of the evening.  Three hours and forty-five minutes. Seriously, the man next to Doug said, out loud, at one point, "Let's go home!"  It was crazy!

 

But, this boy.  Oh, how I love him!  We were proud of our boy! As soon as the banquet ended, Quayd left the "Stage" area and found us in the crowd to hug us and then ask if he could go to a party afterward.  Although it was very late, we didn't want him to be left out of the big celebration, so we asked a few "parentish" questions, told him to have fun and headed home.

Doug and I came home and got into the hottub until midnight, enjoying the downpour. ( It was such a lovely rain that lasted most of the weekend! We are making up for lack of winter snow with spring rains!)  We got into bed and Doug was out in about two seconds flat, so I played on Pinterest while waiting for Quayd to come home.  Doug and I both had been really concerned about him being gone, for some reason. We've never had to give him a curfew and he's always been home by midnight, but this party didn't even begin until close to eleven, so we knew he would be a bit later. He's always very dependable and keeps in touch wherever he is. I was nervous because of the rain and worry about teens driving late on a Saturday night. Doug was just concerned because we didn't know everyone who was going to be at the party. I texted Quayd at 12:55 to ask when he would be home.  He texted that he was on his way and pulled in at 12:56, so he was literally, texting from the corner!  He came inside and I didn't even turn on the lights.  He hugged me, we talked a minute in the dark entryway, so I could not even see his face.  Here's the conversation from there:

Me:  Hey, LoveBug! 
Quayd:  Hi, Mom.  (Big hug.)
Me:  Did you have fun?
Quayd:  Yeah.  (soberly)
Me:  Did everyone go?
Quayd: Yeah.
Me:  Were they all pretty excited?
Quayd:  Yeah. (He's usually much more talkative.)
Me: (somewhat concerned) Are you okay?
Quayd:  Yeah.
Me:  Was there any drinking at the party?
Quayd: Yeah.
Me:  shocked.  There was?
Quayd:  Yeah.
Me:  (Hesitant but confident, almost teasing him.)  Did You ... deep breath ... drink?
Quayd: long pause... yeah.
Me:  horrified!!!!  Quayd!?!?!
Quayd:  I know.
Me:  dying!!!!!!  Quayd!?!?!?!
Quayd:  I know.
Me: shocked. disappointed.  devastated.  What did you drink?
Quayd: Um...Sprite.  Some Pineapple Juice.  Some Root Beer.
Me:  yelling!!!! QUAYD CORBRIDGE!!!!!!!  YOU DORK!!!! 

He started laughing soooooooooooooo hard!  I literally punched him in the arm!  "YOU DORK!!!!"  He was just rolling!  I was literally dying inside! 

He said, "MOM!!!  You know I wouldn't do that!  You know I have good friends!  You know my friends don't drink!"  He was laughing so hard!  Oh my gosh!  It was hysterical! 

Quayd is not a jokester or sarcastic.  I think I was as shocked that he gave such a great performance as I was at the thought of him drinking!  I teased him that he should have gotten the Oscar for that because it was the best performance of the evening, for sure!  He was so proud of himself for getting my goat like that! 

He and Doug left for the Missionary Prep class early Sunday morning.  When they returned, I was waking up and my first words were, "Did you tell Dad about your performance last night?"  I didn't have the question out and he was busting out laughing, "YES, I did!  It was great, Dad!!!"

This morning, I shared it with Carol and she was, literally, dying, just like I did!  She said, "NOT Quayd!  NOOOOOOO!"  We laughed all over.  As funny as it was, it wasn't.  I literally got a pit in my stomach thinking about it!  How I pray that my babes continue to make such good choices in their lives!

Sunday evening, the kids went to the Bishop's Fireside at his home.  They came home with all sorts of stories to tell about it.  It was a great Sabbath day.  It was a great weekend!   Tomorrow, pix of our bedroom. More rain tonight.   Snow in the mountains. Life is good! 

drink

Sunday

outside my window

 

 

 

No matter what time of day, no matter what the weather, always beautiful. I'm blessed to live in these mountains, in this valley.  Life is good.

 

good times!

Another rainy/snowy in the mountains day! BEAUTIFUL! 

Doug didn't work today!  We got the kids off to school and went back to bed for an hour nap!  I'd had a rough night with my foot and was up three times.  I hate it when that happens! 

Anyway, by ten, we were up and out the door to go over and visit friends, John and Louise, to see the updates they have done to their home!  AWESOME!  It's always great to spend time with them and it never happens enough, but we had a great visit and got to meet two of their adorable grands!

We left and hoped to connect with Zaylee for lunch, but we must have gotten our wires crossed. We'll try again soon! 

Yesterday, when we went to Herms for lunch, I drove away and realized, when I was almost home, that I had not left a tip for the server!  I was sick!!!  I immediately calld Herms and told them, offering my debit card number to take care of it, but the owner told me that I could just remember next time.  When I told Doug about it this morning, he immediately turned left and headed to Herms so that I could take care of it.  We walked in and Sammy, the server, came to our table with a Diet Coke for me.  She thanked me for calling yesterday as I handed her a five dollar bill.  She's adorable!  Doug enjoyed a delicious and healthy sandwich called "The Garden of Eden".  It looked more like a salad to me!  Lunch was great and yes, we tipped her again!  I've never done that before!  I was horrified!  Check out Doug's sandwich!

After lunch, we came home and bagged our "to do" list.  It was raining, really pouring, so we hopped in the hot tub and enjoyed the rain and uninterrupted conversation until the girls got home.

Grace arrived home first and we were anxious to hear from her because today was her first "breakup".  She's been dating a nice boy, but she decided that she didn't want to be serious with any one boy.  We are quite proud of her decision.  It was a hard day for her, but she did it!

After hearing about her day, we thought that it was a great time for a girls night out.  It was pouring the rain and both girls walked home from their bus stop, so we warmed up in the hot tub.  Doug hopped out so that we could have it to ourselves...  girl time. 

Dan finished up the floors and we had a great visit with him.  Grace was proud to tell him of her decision because of a conversation that they had had last month while he was installing our carpets.  Dan is an LDS Bishop in a USU student ward.  He's a wise man with a positive influence and we were thankful for his counsel about dating to both girls last month!

The girls wanted Firehouse for dinner, so we left Doug at home and went out for a quick bite, then to the grocery store for ice cream.  Each of us got our own flavor... chocolate chip cookie dough for Grace, Oreo Cookies and Cream for Zee and Caramel Pretzel for me (because I thought Doug would like that one.  I just wanted a cup of hot chocolate and a fire!  I got both!)

Doug built the fire while the girls and I got our PJs on, then we sat down together to watch The Lake House, a great chick flick oldie!  We were still wide open and decided to watch another movie.  We gave Sixth Sense a three minute try.  I'd not seen it in twenty years.  After three minutes, I didn't like the feeling in our home, so I turned it off and pulled out Miss Congeniality.  The girls and I were just beginning it when Quayd and Doug joined us.  I don't think we've laughed that hard in a long time.  We'll find time this weekend to watch the second one!

I had the camera to take some photos of our bedroom while Doug built the fire.  Grace thought that "break-up" girls should not be photographed, but, she did agree to give me this...  She was giggling up a storm before I was done snapping off a few pix.

ZJ, on the other hand, was posing all over the place for me.  She's such a ham!!!

What a pill!

Have camera, will perform.

There's snow in the mountains.  It's totally wet in the valley and cold!  A perfect spring day! A great night with the family. Life is good!

good stuff

I was tickled to have a three hour lunch today with my lunch bunch friends.  All six of us made it and that's the first time in over a year that we were all together!  It was so fun to get together and gab!  We met at Herms, which is another new discovery that we are enjoying.  I tried something new, a Cuban sandwich, which is pulled pork, ham, swiss cheese, sauces and onions.  Oh, my word.  It had to be the best sandwich that I've ever tasted!  WOW!  We'll definitely be trying that one again!  But, the company... we just had a great and long time together.  Loved it!  I love these ladies! 

When I got home, Doug, who didn't work today, had been checking things off his own "to-do" list all day long.  He decided to change some of the electrical switches and plugs that need to be done, on his own, before the electrician gets here.  Quayd and Grace's rooms are done!  He's almost done with the kids bathroom.  He also did some car maintainence, moved the tall table from the family room and brought in the one that I'd had in my gallery, for more comfortable and better seating.   We planned on using that table for games and puzzles, but why use the tall stools that have no backs when we had a table with nice comfortable chairs?  He also did a few things on my list as well!

By the time I got home, it was almost three.  I assembled my sewing machine and got busy sewing my funky polkadot pillows.  Tomorrow, in the daylight, I'll take pix of our bedroom because it's finally done!  Curtains hung, pillows made, new bed bought and assembled, all put together!  HAPPINESS!!

ZJ was not feeling well this morning, at all.  So, I let her stay home.  Because of her being sick, lunch plans changed a bit, but it all worked out fine.  She literally stayed curled up in a blanket on the couch from 6 until 10.  At ten, I suggested that we get into the hot tub to see if the warmth would help.  She came back inside and went straight back to the couch, sleeping all the time that I was gone.  She finished a Harry Potter marathon later in the day.  I brought her some lunch from Herms and she barely touched it.  I knew she was still not feeling well.  By bedtime, she seems to have perked up a bit.

Jill came in the late afternoon and finished regrouting the tile in our guest bathroom.  The kids were still talking about Uncle Alan's stitches.  They love Alan and Jill so much and it's a regular request that we all just move into one house and live together.  That's pretty telling!

After a dinner of leftovers, since I was still full from Herms, ZJ wasn't eating and Quayd was at work, we watched Everafter, one of our alltime favorite movies.  Before the movie, we actually moved furniture in the den.  We know that we are officially moved in when I start moving furniture already!  Love it! 

I love days that are so productive, that are filled with close friends, that were just like today!  Snow in the later afternoon was predicted.  We haven't seen the snow yet, but it's cold enough to have both furnaces going until bedtime!  Doug's gone to get Quayd right now and as soon as we've said goodnight and prayers with the kids, we are heading out to the patio for some quiet time in the hottub! It's blowing up a storm, literally, which always makes it more enjoyable for me.  I love being outside in the weather without freezing!

Tomorrow, more electrical work.  The last piece of flooring has arrived and Dan will come and install it.  (We were, literally, one and a half pieces short when it was installed and had to order a whole extra case.) I'm hoping that Doug will begin the process of changing the hardware in the kitchen this weekend, as well.  That's his last job inside!  (Well, until I think of some more, he teases.)  I'm thinking that a movie date would be nice if there's anything worth seeing. 

I'm listening to the girls as they are settling into bed right now.  They are just talking up a storm.  They always sleep together.  They do their own thing in their own rooms but when it's bedtime, they want to be together.  Yesterday, Grace made a comment that ZJ is the most important person in the world to her.  A few days before, Zee had mentioned that Grace was her best friend.  I never had a sister, but I cherish my closest friends as my sisters.  I also cherish watching these two girls together.  And honestly, this sounds strange, but I cherish my relationship with Liza as though she is my sister.  I tell her all the time that her spirit is older than mine, so that makes her the big sister.  I feel blessed to have so many amazing women in my life... whether they are fourteen or ninety four.  They are my sisters!  Life is good!  I am blessed!

 

good times

A few funnies:

ZJ  and I were driving on Saturday to bet some groceries.  We decided that we'd have a little date alone, since we are not together very often.  I told her that she could choose anyplace in the valley to go to lunch.  She said she didn't care where we went.  I suggested a few places and she asked, each time, "Do they have salads because I'm now a vegetarian."  I said, "That's funny because you weren't a vegetarian last night when you were eating pizza with pepperoni on it."  She quickly responded, "Well, pepperoni doesn't count because I thought pepperoni was a vegetable when I was younger."  Okey dokey then... Doug teased, "Pepperoni, Broccoli... I got it... the "eeee" at the end.... it works."  Since Saturday, she's taken a lot of teasing,,,"Did you want some vegetarian ground beef?  some vegetarian chicken?"  She's a great a sport!

Today, Alan and Jill were here redoing the grout in our shower.  As soon as I saw Alan, I noticed his arm in a wrap.  He then told me the story of how he fell with a hammer yesterday and ended up knicking a tendon and getting fifteen stitches in his lower arm.  He had a video of it and I was about to "hurl".  NASTY cut!!!  He's lucky that the tendon didn't get severed. 

So, Grace comes home from school and asks what happened to Uncle Alan.  I told him the story, only I told a totally believable story that the kids would expect from Uncle Alan, because he's the greatest daredevil they've ever met!  Alan and Jill were in the bathroom working on the grout while I was preparing dinner, within hearing distance.  Alan was totally impressed with my story.  Grace was buying every word of it.  "Uncle Alan was working on the third story of a home and you know how daring he is.  He decided to jump from the roof to the roof next door.  Right in the middle of the leap, a bird flew in front of him.  A HUUUUUGE bird.  Uncle Alan did a flip to avoid hitting the bird and right in the middle of the flip, another bird dives in and Uncle Alan collides with it. And you won't believe what happened but the second bird;s beak crashed right into his arm and broke off!  They had to get the beak out of his arm before they could stitch it up!"  Her eyes were so big!  Alan was listening intently and added, "It was a California Condor!  It's wing span was five feet!"  Grace was totally buying the whole thing!  "That would only happen to Uncle Alan!  He's the only one w1ho'd ever dare jump from one roof to another!" Alan whispered to me, "You should become a writer!" 

Later, Doug came home and as we sat down for dinner, I said, "Grace, tell Dad about Uncle Alan."  She repeated the entire story with every detail!  After she told him, I confessed.  She laughed so hard and thought that the real story was just as cool because, after all, it was Uncle Alan! 

It was a great day.  Natalie and I went to Brigham City for a few things and ended up spending most of the day there.  Who knew that Brigham City Utah had so many antique stores and fun places.  We discovered a place that I never knew existed... a very large furniture/antique store.  It was huge.  So huge that I gave my foot a rest and just sat while Natalie went upstairs and checked out even more on the antique side.  I'm talking huuuuuge!  We actually found my new living room furniture there for 20% less than we paid.  Tons of fun accessories.  I loved it!  Too bad we are officially done buying for the new home because I could have had a hayday!

Tonight, Doug and I enjoyed some time visiting with Layne and Julie, with the kids, and then alone in the hottub after they went to bed.  It's been a really, really great day!  Lots of laughs, lots of time with people I love, lots of fun!  Life is good!

almost a week??? update!

Oh my gosh.  I've just not been alone enough to sit down and blog.  So, here's a late Tuesday night weekend update...

Friday, Doug and I had a nice lunch date at Black Pearl, ran errands together and then spent the evening with the kids.  First thing in the morning, our new bed was delivered and I enjoyed the rest of the morning thinking about and doing things to our room.  I'm still missing one part of my sewing machine and haven't been able to get the new pillows sewn yet.  It's making me crazy! 

Saturday, we had a visit from Brother N, our home's builder/previous owner.  He came through the home and said over and over and over, "You've done a really good job.  You've made everything so lovely.  It's so bright and cheery!  I like how you "this" and I like how you "that".  Oh, this is wonderful!"  At one point, he walked into Grace's room and said, "I don't think that I chaged you enough for this home!"  It was a compliment, I think???  He was pleased.  One thing that surprised me was that he commented a few times about things that were in the cupboard here or there. Then, he'd realize that his things were probably not in the cupboards any more.  It was a good feeling to know that he was pleased with what we've done with the home that he spent fifty-four years building a life in!

That afternoon,  Doug took a "power nap", so  ZJ and I went grocery shopping for Mothers Day meal.  His "power nap" lasted long enough for us to come back home!

Sunday, it was my turn to spend the morning napping!  Seriously!  Doug and Quayd left for Quayd's missionary prep class very early. I got up and made the bed while Doug was showering.  He came out and said, "You made the bed?"  Oops.  I wasn't thinking about Mothers Day.  They were getting ready for the class and I made myself a fruit smoothie... probably only the second time I've ever made my own in my life.  Doug came into the kitchen and said, "You made your own?"  oops, again.  I was just thinking about them getting out the door to the class quickly.  Before Doug and Quayd left,  the kids came into the kitchen and brought me a "Candy-gram" poster. After the poster, I pulled the blanket up over me and didn't wake up until twenty minutes before we were supposed to leave for church!  AND I hadn't even showered yet!  Doug said that I was sleeping so well, he didn't want to wake me.  It was the only twenty minutes of the day that was not relaxing!  But, we made it to church on time!

Our Bishop, who thinks out of the box, arranged for the youth to teach the lessons and for the women to have a "pie social" during the Relief Society hour.  There were about twenty different pies.  The sisters gathered in the Young Womens Room, which had tables set and was as fun as can be!  We got to just sit and chat for the entire hour.  I got to know a new friend, who's in her 80s.  I love getting to know these sisters!  Loved this way to pay tribute to moms!

I made lasagna, breadsticks for dinner.  Carol and Robert, Carol's daughter, Taylor and her friend, Brian came for dinner.  Carol brought the best salad I have ever had in my life!  Blackberries, rasperries, blueberries, strawberries, pecan clusters, spring mix and poppy seed dressing.  OH MY!!!!  I prepared two rhubarb cream cakes for dessert.  It was a perfect afternoon!

We planned on hottubbing after things calmed down, but we ended up facetiming with Liza and her fam, then Dale and Willow until well after Doug's bedtime.  I was thrilled to have time with them all!  Willow had us just laughing out loud.  They've never facetimed with us.  She was "performing" and it made us all just laugh!  There were a few times when she would say, "And this is the part where I vanish", then disappear off the screen.  She thought it was pretty clever.  We laughed so hard. Willow made my night with her cute little words.  She's talking so well.  It was just a perfect end to my day!

Yesterday, I spent the morning and early afternoon with Carol and Robert.  We went to Herms for an early lunch, then back to their home for some cards and gab.  After our time together, I ran an errand and Denise called, so we met at McDonalds for a coke and more gab while her grandson played.  We talked until it was time for the kids to come in from school.  Pretty much a day of nothing serious or work, but all about being with people I love!  I grabbed the girls and we ran to Smithfield to take Quayd to work, then to the nursery for our garden plants and two fruit trees.

This is going to be our biggest challenge and it's the one thing that we would change about our new home.  It has the most amazing back yard, but it's heavily shaded from the fifty year old trees.  We really do not have a garden spot that would get enough shade without removing a tree or two.  Doug wants to wait a full year to see where the sun is in the summer before we decide what we will do.  So.  This year, we will be planting only four tomatoes, some peppers and herbs... a salsa garden, basically.  Oh, and some cucumbers!  We did buy a peach tree and an apple tree.  We'll pray that they get enough light and decide where we will plant more fruit trees next year!  ZJ commented yesterday that it will be a sad summer to not have our cherries and peaches and plums!  She's got that right!

Denise came over and joined me in the hot tub last night at almost 10.  We had a good chat, then I headed to bed exhausted!

Today, we were concerned about GoGo. He's having some sort of issue... not moving around much and he seems to be in pain.  We'll watch him for one more day and see if it passes, but it's got us all concerned. 

Tonight, there was a special fireside online for the youth of the LDS Church with Elder Bednar and his wife.  I was thrilled for them to come home and share their notes and thoughts about it.  Grace really was touched by it and talked about it all the way till bedtime.    Quayd and I had some time together in the hot tub and talked about dating.  There really never is a dull moment with teenagers in the house!

Life is good.  There's much more to say, but I am distracted tonight by having the home quiet and alone.  I'm watching Driving Miss Daisy for the first time in years and years.  What a beautiful story.  I do not remember a thing about it!  I'd even forgotten who was in it.  A wonderful memory!  Loving it!

Just another manic Monday...

It's 11:11 and I'm ready for bed!  Big day! Big weekend!  Too tired to blog. I'll try again tomorrow morning, after ortho checks.  Life is good!

Happy Mothers Day

Of all the things I've seen online today, this touched my heart the most.

rain, rain, please DON'T go away!

It rained most of the afternoon yesterday and alllllllll night long.  It was lovely!  I love rain!  It's one of the things that I've always missed from Florida. I think I'd loving to live in Portland!   I love watching and listening to the rain.  When I climbed into bed, I opened the windows and listened to it off and on all night long.  When daylight came, the mountain is just as green as can be.  I love love love it!  I had to grab the camera after I dropped the kids off at the bus.  It's so beautiful! This was the view outside my front door.  It's supposed to rain through Sunday!   

When it's raining like this, I just want to be outside!  I'm so grateful for a place to enjoy it and keep warm! When it rains in Cache Valley, it usually means closing all of the windows and turning on the heat. Doug's eyebrows went up as he was getting into bed and I was heading out to the hot tub last night.  "This is your third time today?"  It was.  Once alone in the morning, once for some alone time with ZJ because she needed to talk and everyone else was off doing their own thing.  It's become our quiet place where nothing interrupts or disturbs you except an occasional squirrel.  Then, again at 9 when Denise came over to gab and chill...well, actually to get warm!  Love it!

This morning, Denise and I went to look at a bed for ZJ and it's perfect!  It's big, as in tall, but her room has plenty of empty space and it looked great!  She was thrilled!  When Doug got home, he and Quayd assembled it in her room!  She loved it!  I'll have to take some pix tomorrow!

Tonight, Doug and I bought our new bed!  It will be delivered in the morning!  HAPPINESS!  That's the last of the major purchases for the home! So good to be done!  I'll take some pix of our bedroom when it's all together!  Then, we can work on the yard!  So much to do!  Good times!

A few other rambling thoughts as I'm climbing into bed....

• It has poured the rain all day long!  BEAUTIFUL and often times, it was like Florida rain!  Love it!
• Doug is off all weekend!  LOVE THAT!!!
• The kids are settling in and more happy every day.  REALLY LOVE ThAT!

Life is good!

rain, rain, please DON'T go away!

It rained most of the afternoon yesterday and alllllllll night long.  It was lovely!  I love rain!  It's one of the things that I've always missed from Florida. I think I'd loving to live in Portland!   I love watching and listening to the rain.  When I climbed into bed, I opened the windows and listened to it off and on all night long.  When daylight came, the mountain is just as green as can be.  I love love love it!  I had to grab the camera after I dropped the kids off at the bus.  It's so beautiful! This was the view outside my front door.  It's supposed to rain through Sunday!   

When it's raining like this, I just want to be outside!  I'm so grateful for a place to enjoy it and keep warm! When it rains in Cache Valley, it usually means closing all of the windows and turning on the heat. Doug's eyebrows went up as he was getting into bed and I was heading out to the hot tub last night.  "This is your third time today?"  It was.  Once alone in the morning, once for some alone time with ZJ because she needed to talk and everyone else was off doing their own thing.  It's become our quiet place where nothing interrupts or disturbs you except an occasional squirrel.  Then, again at 9 when Denise came over to gab and chill...well, actually to get warm!  Love it!

This morning, Denise and I went to look at a bed for ZJ and it's perfect!  It's big, as in tall, but her room has plenty of empty space and it looked great!  She was thrilled!  When Doug got home, he and Quayd assembled it in her room!  She loved it!  I'll have to take some pix tomorrow!

Tonight, Doug and I bought our new bed!  It will be delivered in the morning!  HAPPINESS!  That's the last of the major purchases for the home! So good to be done!  I'll take some pix of our bedroom when it's all together!  Then, we can work on the yard!  So much to do!  Good times!

A few other rambling thoughts as I'm climbing into bed....

• It has poured the rain all day long!  BEAUTIFUL and often times, it was like Florida rain!  Love it!
• Doug is off all weekend!  LOVE THAT!!!
• The kids are settling in and more happy every day.  REALLY LOVE ThAT!

Life is good!

serious

I had a slap of reality yesterday.  One of my life heroes is in the hospital.  She's had cancer for years and years.  She's undergone surgeries and chemo and radiation and everything under the sun, continuously, for over a decade.  I saw mention of "someone" being in the hospital from our old ward ON fACEBOOK.  I watched all day long to see when the person's name was mentioned.  It was later in the evening that I worried it was her and finally contacted a good friend in the ward, who confirmed my fears.  It hit me hard. 

First, for her.  I was right.  It was Tina and she has some new serious complications to her cancer.  I adore this woman.  She's been an example to all who know her for all of these years.  I have never met a more dedicated, faithful woman and have never ever known her to complain once through all of her trials.  I cried and cried.  I went to visit her yesterday, at the invitation of her husband, one of Doug's best friends in the old ward, and, even in ICU, she's smiling and cheerful.  It makes my heart hurt.  Tina was my every other thought all day long.

Second, I cried because it hit me that while I'm here loving life in our new home, life continues in our old ward and I'm not a part of that anymore.  It took me hours to realize who was in the hospital. The Relief Society does such a fabulous job of organizing the sisters in the ward when there is a need and I knew that Tina and Terry and family would be taken care of and taken care of well.  But, I was sad, not being part of that organized support and compassionate service.  I can still offer my help and do what I feel like doing, but I was sad not to be a part of the sisterhood in the old ward.  

That's totally trivial and selfish on my part, in light of the seriousness of the situation, I realize.  But, it was my first taste of reality that we have moved and are not a part of that "ward family" any longer.  Friendships remain, but there's something about being a part of a ward family that is unique and special.  Having been a part of that ward family for seventeen years, it's bound to hurt, I realize.  I just didn't realize how much!  I'm thankful for the friends that are friends regardless of where we live!

I hate cancer.  Again, my own "reality check" is nothing compared to the reality of what Tina and her family are experiencing.  Prayers for this special family would be appreciated.

A few other rambling thoughts:

• It's cool and rainy today and through Mother's Day.  And I just bought new sandals.  I've been wearing sneakers and socks and a sweater today!  Chicken soup cooking right now.  It's definitely a soup day!  Denise and I were shopping last night and she tried a pair of sandals on... boots on one foot and sandal on the other.  I mentioned on social media, "Only in Cache Valley springtime."
• Speaking of Mothers Day, my not so favorite day of the year, I'm looking forward to attending our new ward this year and enjoying a casual afternoon at home with the kids afterward.  I have been craving lasagna, so that's on the menu!
•  I'm waiting for the last two helpers to finish up a few odds and ends at home.  We were short, literally, one and a half pieces of flooring downstairs at the kids bathroom.  It's ordered and supposed to be installed any day.  I also asked our electrician friend to come and change out all of the switches and plugs. He said a week.  Both will be here by the end of the week, I'm hoping.  Doug still needs to change the hardware in the kitchen and has a few light fixtures in the hallway to change.  That's the end of the list!  I'm now thinking about the patio, where we will plant some fruit trees and grapevines and veggies.
• I wanted to share a recipey.  Found on that one place that we all adore...except Quayd.  Whenever I try a new recipe, he asks, "Is this from Pinterest?"  He is not a P-fan.  But, these were a hit!

This is a keeper!  They were divine!

Banana-Oat Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp quick oats
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1 large banana. Be sure to measure.)
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar
1/4 cup granulated sugar1 large eggs
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt and cinnamon for 20 seconds, set aside. 

Mash bananas together with lemon juice. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, blend together banana, butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until smooth. Mix in egg and vanilla extract. With mixer on low speed slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Fold in nuts and chocolate chips (you can set aside some of the chocolate chips to press into the tops before baking if you want them to show through). 

Scoop dough out using a medium cookie scoop (1 1/2-inches. Fill slightly heaping) and drop onto Silpat lined baking sheets spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 11 - 12 minutes (they should still be slightly soft). Cool on baking sheet several minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

Makes 2 dozen, so I doubled it and added an extra banana.  Everyone loved them!

Life is good.  Today, it was hard, but good.

 

loving the living room!

 I am in love!  When we first saw the home, this room did nothing for me.  I envisioned it as a brighter room with some fresh paint, but didn't think that I'd ever really love it.  It was not a room that I planned on spending much time in.  The furniture in the living room had been here for almost fifty years and was all like new... obviously not a room that was used very often.  However, this room has become a favorite for everyone!  We love it's cheery welcoming feeling!

Here's the original living room.  It was a peachy-taupey-greyish room... all of it.  Even the ceiling was painted the same color as the walls. (In this photo, you can't tell because of the crown molding, but it really was.)  The floors had faded several colors, depending on where furniture had been placed.

 The walls were covered with lots of art, some of it fine art, and it was left with a lot of nail holes!  Check out that extra long vintage sofa.  Doug named it "Moby Dick" because of it's size.  It was so comfortable though!  He'd have kept it in a heartbeat.  But, we didn't have anything at all to go with it!

The drapes were original since 1964.  When we removed them to paint, they literally fell to pieces from dry rot.  I can not wait to see our Christmas tree in this window next winter!!! It was a beautiful room, in it's day, I'm sure.  BUT.  It was time for an update!

And here's the new living room update!  MUCH different!  It's the first thing that people see when they come into our home and it's the room that most people, who've lived in the neighborhood for decades, were familiar with.  Everyone and I mean everyone has commented on how wonderful it is to drive by at night and see life in the home again!  And in the daytime, they say, "It's so bright and cheerful!"  I'm loving the "Soleil" yellow and bright whites!

The living room is spacious,  and the new living furniture is "big". I fell in love with this furniture the minute I saw it.  The room has such a totally different feel from what we'd had in our old home.  The old home had those pumpkin pie colored walls and was so dark!  I was ready for a big change! I got it!

One of the biggest changes is that there's nothing red in the entire room!  The rust and yellow accents are new and a fun change!

About the fireplace... Brother N brought the marble back from Italy.  Almost everyone that comes in asks why the fireplace is "off-centered".  Alan's response was that he only brought home three pieces and had to make it work.  I actually like it being off-centered now that it's done.  It was the "frame" around it that I found "interesting". 

One really sweet story about the fireplace.  Brother N shared with me that, of the three fireplaces in our home, this is the only gas one.  The other two are wood-burning.  He told me that when they built the home, he only put one gas fireplace because "we didn't think that natural gas would be around for very long.  We just weren't sure about that new natural gas, so we only put in the one."  That's telling, to me. 

 

We are so pleased with how the fireplace turned out.  Before we moved into the home, I  had contacted a carpenter from Idaho, who'd had a fabulous shelf booth at the Novemberfest last fall.  I sent him pictures of the fireplace, the dimensions, as well as drawings of what I wanted him to build.  I budgeted for it and was ready to pay his price. Over the next weeks, we could not reconnect. I gave up and asked to Alan to build me a mantle and hearth for the same price that the carpenter had bid.  He thought that he could do it for half what the carpenter would charge.  And...Then.  We painted the living room! 

Once the fireplace "frame" was white on the yellow walls, I didn't want a big wooden mantle.  I wanted something more simple. One morning, while I was sitting on "Moby Dick", just enjoying the yellow and empty room (before the furniture was delivered...a three week wait), I noticed the iron corners that I'd purchased for the entryway and had this idea! I asked Alan to cut and router a nice piece of wood so that I could see what if it would look as good as I imagined it would. Our next trip to Lowes, we picked out a beautiful piece of wood, painted it, and tried it out.   (I figured I could use the board in a closet for a shelf if I didn't like it.) I loved it!  Doug was thrilled that I saved hundreds of dollars and I was thrilled because I love it!!!  It's a  perfect solution for the "frame" and doesn't take over the entire room. 

Oh, one other thing... the marble has yellow in it.  You couldn't see it at all until we painted the room. 

One other living room "issue" is that there's not crownmolding over the windows.  That's because the custom drapes were all to wall.  They don't make that crown anymore, which meant that I had to have 96" long curtains to replace the original drapes.  It took longer to find those than any other thing we purchased for the home because I wanted a specific fabric look.  Finding a 240" curtain rod that looked nice and was strong enough to hold all that fabric wasn't fun!  When I ordered it, I held my breath that it would all work. The curtain grommets do not slide as well as I'd like them to, but, we will leave them open most of the time anyway. We went back and forth on wooden blinds and I really don't want to block our view of the mountains.  This works!

The patterned carpeting is a big hit! I wasn't sure at first, but it's growing on me. Loving it more and more each day!  I still laugh that this the first time in our 38 years of marriage that Doug's wanted a say in decorating.  He did not want pile carpet!

A few days ago, I remembered how much work it was to refinish that large white cabinet for my gallery. It took a couple of weeks! That was a five years ago when it was filled with paper and scrapbooking supplies.  Now, the bottom is empty and it's perfect in the living room.  My favorite thing was that this cabinet was custom built by my wonderful friend, Kristy's father.  He's been gone for a decade now.  Ironically, his home was just around the corner from us today.  He and his darling wife, Beverly, lived in this ward/neighborhood for years and years.  Yesterday, my new friend, Sue, came to visit.  She remembered Don and Beverly well and it was fun to make the connection.  I love my cabinet even more in this living room because now it's like it's found it's way home to where it began!

 I usually don't set the antique table after spring/Easter until July 4th. All of my old friends who come through ask why I haven't set it yet.  I'm enjoying the simplicity of it and may wait till fall.  Decorating for the holidays has me slightly excited!

Loving these colors!  Loving this whole room!  Oh my heck, it's my happy place.  Everyone comments that we bought the home because we loved the den and now I love this room just as much!  I love sitting on the sofa and watching the clouds roll in from the mouth of the canyon.  I love the sunshine coming in the windows!  I love the fireplace. I love the space.  I love this room!

I can't say enough how thankful we are for our new home! We have been blessed! Doug commented as he was climbing into the hottub, "Sometimes I have to pinch myself!"  We are so happy, loving life in the new home, the new neighborhood, the new friends and neighbors, the new ward!  It's dang wonderful!  Of course, we still have challenges and struggles as always, but there's so much more to be thankful for than to complain about!

Yesterday, my new friend, Sue dropped by for a visit.  She's compassionate and loving and a hoot to be around!  I'm loving her quick wit!  I love making new friends.  Quayd came in from school and felt the connection.  He asked last night, "Mom, how many friends do you have?"  Never enough, Quayd, Never enough!

Life is good!

It's not what we have in life, but who we have in life that matters!

 

weekend update and crazy other things

I don't know how the weekend got away from us so quickly!  We never slowed down, not really doing anything huge, but just never being alone. 

Friday, Doug had the day off.  We had a nice lunch date, ran a few errands together and the minute Quayd got home from school, Doug and Quayd went to the storage unit for some more "stuff".  We are at the point that I don't want the rest of the "stuff".  Thankfully, Doug is agreement!  We don't need or want to bring anything else into our new home.  So, we will be doing some serious dejunking this week before a garage sale with some other families next week.  Done! 

Friday afternoon, while Quayd and Doug worked, the girls went off to the temple.  I made some treats for an assignment for a Stake activity.  We did not attend the Stake Social because we really don't know people yet and it was an open house type event.  We walked across the street and visited with Layne and Julie, then Layne helped Doug and Quayd unload the trailer.  After a bit more visiting in the front yard with them, the five of us opted to go to dinner.  We visited for two hours.  They only moved in six months ahead of us, so we have really connected as "the newbies".  They are such awesome neighbors!

We'd planned on trying to get together with the Ds and the Bs.  But that didn't come together. Wendy had just gotten back in town and the D's were committed to help their kids half the night, so we just ended up rescheduling for another night.  Quayd, Doug and I watched YouTube videos about extinct animals, crazy places and oddities in the world.  Go figure???

On Saturday, Doug and Quayd emptied the last of the storage unit!!  It's clean.  The lock is off.  We are done!  That's a great feeling!  We have opted to park the trailer in the garage and fill it all week, then join in with some other families for a garage sale.  What doesn't sell, we will just take directly to the DI.  We're done  bringing things into the home!!!!  I love moving for the purging that takes place!  BUT!  I'm so over moving!  SO happy to be at this end!

Saturday evening, the kids went to a friend's 16th birthday party.  At one point in the evening, they all decided to go to the park to play night games.  All of the kids hopped on/in the truck.  There was a teenage driver.  Apparently, a couple of the kids hopped on top of the pick-up.  Not ours, thankfully.  The driver took off and a sixteen year old girl fell off the roof of the truck.  She landed on her feet, then her rear end, then her head hit the pavement.  The kids all gathered around her.  I'm not sure of the details.  They told me that the parents came out and checked her pupils, looked for signs of injury. I got the feeling that no one realized quite what happened.  The girls told me that they gathered around and said a prayer, then the birthday girl's father and brother gave her a priesthood blessing.  Her parents were called.  By morning, the girl had been transported to the hospital in SLC with a six inch skull fracture and hemoraging.  It was serious!  It was pretty upsetting to all of the kids involved.  I told the kids... you just never know how quickly things can go from fun and wild to serious and dangerous!  Life changes in a second! 

On Sunday, Doug and Quayd went to Mission Prep, bright and early.  The girls were sleeping so I enjoyed an hour watching the squirrels from the hot tub all by my lonesome!  I love the early morning quiet time outside!  LOVE it!  After church, we came home and enjoyed a hot dog roast, eating dinner on the patio for the first time.  We all agreed that we will be eating every meal outside from now until next fall when the weather gets cold again!  It's wonderful!  I'm enjoying making plans for the patio and what I will do with it this summer.  I want it to become an extra room!  I never dreamed that having a covered patio would be so awesome!  I'm anxious to buy plants and some funky chairs to make it more part of our home!

Sunday afternoon, a couple came by to return a pan from treats I'd made.  We invited them in and they stayed an hour.  It was fun getting to know another couple in the ward.  Just before they arrived, I'd laid down on the bed for a few minutes and was out like a light!  There was a HUUUUGE clap of thunder, heard all over the valley, from what I keep hearing and I leaped off that bed, my papers from my lesson prep went flying and I was wide awake!  HOLY COW, IT WAS LOUD!!!

Before the Rs left, our Bishop and his wife showed up at 6:00 for a little visit that turned into a three hour visit.  They are an awesome couple!  We're loving getting to know them better!  While they were here, Layne came across the street with a plate of warm chocolate chip cookies!  It was just a perfect Sunday afternoon of visiting! 

Our friend, Dorothy, was staying at Carol's while visiting from Arizona for the day.  After everyone here had settled into bed, at 9:15, I grabbed my swimsuit and headed over to Carol's.  We played cards and ate and gabbed and hotttubbed until almost 1:15AM.  It was fun to see Dorothy and, of course, Carol and I always have fun together!

I hopped in the Expedition, buckled up, checked my back seat, locked my doors and then, started the engine, while Carol watched, as usual, from her front door.  I drove towards home, still deciding whether I'd go to the mouth of the canyon and up the hill to our home or to the left and up the dugway to USU then home.  As I came to the T, where I had to turn one way or the other, I stopped at the stop sign.  Completely.  As soon as I stopped the truck and looked to my right before turning, there was a man...long hair, about 40ish, beard... his face right at my window!  RIGHT at my window.  As in six inches from the window! 

We made eye contact.  I gasped and hit the gas as fast as I could, turning left and headed the opposite direction, flying!  My heart was racing!  My knees were shaking!  My hands were shaking!  I had chills on my face even!  I was moritified!  I knew that I was safe because I'd left the man in my dust.  But, it freaked me out!  I called Carol as I drove up the hill and she knew immediately that something was wrong.  We talked until I was inside my home, safe and sound.  WHAT the heck was that guy doing?!  Doug and I discussed it this morning.  If he were just walking, he'd have stepped away from the truck, not toward!  In all my years, I've never had anything so frightening!  Holy cow!  Nothing happened and I was safe, but having someone come up to your vehicle in the middle of the night could not have been any more unexpected!  In all the years since Jon died, I've spent many a late night, after the kids were sleeping and never dreamed of anything like that!  Be still, my beating heart!

So, that was our exciting, frightening, thrilling, happy, scared, busy weekend!  Mostly, CRAZY!  I started this entry this morning and have not been alone until now, to complete it.  More tomorrow!  and if I can, I'll share our  new bedroom or the living room!  No spellcheck, no grammar check tonight!  Life is good!

 

pretty potty!

For some reason, this morning, Typepad would not upload the photos, so I tried again tonight and it's working!  Happiness!

It was Thursday but it fels like Friday!  What's up with this week?  It's all mixed up in my head!  Today, friend, Kara came over for a visit and then we went to lunch. She works in an accounting firm and we always celebrate right after Tax Day.  This year, her awesome son received his LDS mission call in the middle of it all.  So, we were a bit off schedule!  Regardless, I was thrilled to spend time together today!

Yesterday, Denise and I went to lunch at the new place on campus, the Bulls Head.  They are quiet and have some seriously good fries, which I've not eaten since last October in NYC.  Probably not a good thing to have discovered these!  We ran errands together, then I came home and made rolls and Hawaiian Haystacks for dinner.  Alan, Jill and Jake came over for dinner and to hang my curtains in the living room.  Doug hung the bathroom curtains, too!  So, it was quite the productive day!

Sadly, the curtains do not want to move on the rod.  It's a large rod.  The grommets go onto the rod quiet easily, but they do not slide.  Frustrating.  After two months, I found a rod that I love and curtains that I could afford and like and they aren't the best fit.  Grrrr.  Why can't it just be simple! ;)  BUT.  They do look great!!!

I also bought the pillow forms and got the sewing machine from the storage unit.  Now, to sew!  The days are never quite long enough to get all that I would love to have done.  Last night, after dinner, my foot was throbbing and kept me up all night long!  ALL. NIGHT. LONG.  Oh, how I appreciate the hot tub!

Last night, I packaged up some rolls for Alan and Jill to take home.  We said our goodbyes at the door and I walked back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up.  There was smoke everywhere!  I got into the kitchen and there were two foot high flames on the stove!  I had set the roll plate on the stove top and somehow, the front burner was on.  The bread cloth was in flames, the plate was scorched.  I screamed "BABE!!! FIRE!!!"  He came running.  We had ashes flying all over the kitchen.  If I'd have been seconds longer, the cabinet would have been on fire.  I was feeling pretty blessed when I went to bed last night, indeed!  One of my friends got the text with the picture and said, "I'm not sure about you and that stove!"  True story.  This is the third time that this front burner has turned on without the clicking warning sound. We'll definitely be getting that checked!

Today, I'm sharing the guest bathroom.  This room took on some serious change and was the first room that Quayd started to love.  Thankfully!  The bathroom was scary before.  It was dark.  It was old and dated, but it was mostly odd.  Here's the before pix:

The walls are tiled half-way up around the tub and toilet.  There is this "wall" dividing the toilet and vanity.  The "odd" part was, however, this drop ceiling that was built over the top of the sink.  It's a good size bathroom with a tub and then a separate shower.  There is a light inside the shower, but other than that, the only lighting in the bathroom was these three recessed lights in the "drop ceiling" over the sink.  So, the bathroom was dark, dark, dark.  You couldn't have read on the potty side of the tile wall if you had to.  There was this bright spot over the sink and the rest of the bathroom was an abyss.  It had to go.

 

The other "issue" in the bathroom was the fact that the bathroom has a yellow tub and sink, a yellowish-tan tiles with brown, rust and white tiles randomly placed in it, and peach and blue wallpaper.  You can see above the fake ceiling, just how dark the bathroom was, unless you are right under the lighting.

 

Here's the rust and yellow and peach and blue.  Oh, and the floor had grey carpeting over top of yellow tile flooring.

So, here's what we did to the bathroom.  The tub, sink and tile had to stay.  I bought every color of towels in a one collection and brought them to the home before we moved in, so that I could see which would look best and I decided on orange!   With all of the yellow, I knew that the walls would need to remain neutral.  So.  We removed the wallpaper first.  Then, Alan took off the "over the sink" ceiling.  We changed the lighting to something that is really not my style, but it's perfect for this bathroom with all of the tiles. (And it was the first thing that Quayd loved about the home!)  We did redo the flooring because when we removed the carpet, whoever had laid the old grey carpet had nailed the tackstrips to the tile, so the entire room was bordered with broken yellow tiles. 

 

The lights are so contemporary and that's so not me, but don't they work with all the square tiles everywhere.

I  can't figure out why the towels look salmon in this picture.  They are as orange as can be!

 

I need to find some cute little quote sign to put below the clock.  Still looking.

It's my little joke that the "Book Worm" print is over the back of the potty.  It was the right colors too.

In some pix, the walls look really white, but they are "Heavy Cream" and there's a hint of yellow to them.  I love the shutters in the window.  That window opens out to the patio and it allows the perfect light late at night when we don't want any outside lights on around the hot tub.

So, that's our bright and shiny bathroom.  We love it!

It was a great day!  Life is good!

tuesday

Yesterday, I stayed home, did a little laundry, baked some bread for dinner, read a bit, thought a lot and enjoyed the silence in the home. 

In the morning, I had a pleasant surprise when the doorbell rang and friend, Mary Ann, was standing at my door bearing a sweet and thoughtful housewarming gift.  This cute container was filled with so many fun items from lipbalm to chocolate to sunglasses to shaving gel... all orange with the fun note, "Orange ya glad you moved?  I am!"  I loved it!  I'm so sad!  I took a picture of it and it's all weird on my memory card???  I have no clue what happened, but trust me, it was cute!

While Mary Ann was here, I asked her to peek at my bedroom, where I've been trying different pillows out on our new bedding.  So far, I've not found the "Wow" factor that I want...Mary Ann had a darling blouse on, which I noticed while we were discussing different color options.  I commented on how much I loved it when she looked down at it and said, "Like this!  This is what you need!" 

Two minutes after she left, I made a quick run to Hobby Lobby, praying for some similar fabric and I found exactly what I wanted!  Today, I'll be picking up some pillow forms and grabbing my sewing machine, which is still at the storage unit, and then coming home to make some fun pillows for our room!  I've not sewn in forever!  It will be a fun change to actually make something! I'm excited to get busy!

Later in the afternoon, my new visiting teachers came. I have to say that this was absolutely a humbling experience.  True confession time here... I am not a fan of Visiting Teachers.  I've made three very good friends through the years because of visiting teaching, but it's not my favorite thing.  I just prefer to have friends, not people who are "assigned" to be my friends.  The program is wonderful when it works, but when people do it resentfully or "for the numbers" (to say that they got it done), it doesn't. I'm not a fan.  When we moved into the ward, I committed to myself that I would gladly accept visiting teachers, which I've not done for years!  I was honest with the president about my feelings and sort of hoped for visiting teachers that didn't even bother. Yesterday, I had a completely wonderful experience. I am thankful.

Both awesome women had introduced themselves to me.  I welcomed them to come anytime. We had the most wonderful visit.  It was uplifting, it was positive, it was a joy to spend this time with them.  They were not rushed, they did not make me feel like an item to be checked off on their task list.  And before they left, one sister asked, "Could we leave with a word of prayer?"  Honestly, in my entire life, I do not remember ever being asked that by visiting teachers.  The sister who said the prayer touched my heart deeply.  I absolutely loved their visit and look forward to next month.  I was left with a darling little gift and quote from the spiritual message that they shared, comfortably, not awkwardly.  We hugged as they left and I got the sweetest text afterward saying how fun it had been.  Before the text arrived, I sat in my bedroom for a minute, with tears, literally, falling down my cheeks and felt a need to offer a prayer of gratitude for this special experience.  When the text came, I cried again. 

Later in the afternoon, I was called by a member of the Relief Society presidency, who I feel a friendship building already.  I thanked her for my new visiting teachers and told her how wonderful our visit had been.  We had talked quite openly about how I felt about visiting teaching a few weeks ago.  She cried with me this time and said, "When it works, it's a joy, isn't it?"  I could not have agreed more!  She then asked me to help prepare some treats for an upcoming event and she said that she wanted to come and see the home again to see our progress.  She'll drop over today sometime! 

I baked bread and made Cobb salad for dinner before they all went their various directions for Young Men and Young Women activities.  As the bread came out of the oven, ZJ ran a loaf across the street to Layne and Julie's and Grace delivered a loaf to my sweet 86 year old neighbor.  Later, Sister S came by.  She's so dang cute!  I hope to have her energy and presence of mind jf I make it to her age!  She thanked me for the bread and explained, "I'm sorry, I have a gluten allergy and I wondered if you would mind if I took it to the neighbors who live behind me?  Their mother just passed away today."  She told me that she had left it on the counter because it smelled so delicious in her kitchen, but that she was taking over a meal in the morning to the neighbors and it would be perfect.  I asked if I could make anything else to go with!  Such a lovely gesture on her part to let me know that she appreciated it and to be sure that I didn't hear she hadn't been able to eat the bread I'd taken her. (I adore her!)  She brought up our new calling and I thanked her for the way she welcomes everyone each Sunday into the adult Gospel Doctrine class.  She was appreciative and then said, "Oh!  I have an idea! Would you be willing to do that for me next Sunday because I'll be away."  So, I get to welcome everyone this week. Such wonderful neighbors!  I do feel like we are quickly becoming a part of the ward!  Love it!

Also yesterday, I was excited to receive an exciting group text from my sister-in-law, telling us that my niece had had a baby girl this morning, also asking about another expecting neice.  In response to the text, my brother-in-law texted that his daughter had delivered her baby boy ... get this... exactly thirty-eight minutes later!  Two new Corbridge babies on the same day!  HOW exciting is that!

Quayd went to YM and they all worked on their bikes.  The girls helped put together pom-pom flowers for a Relief Society social this weekend, then swam afterward.  This neighbor has an in-ground heated pool, which they thought was pretty cool. They all came home pretty happy.  Slowly but surely, we're making progress.  Again, thankfully.

Today, I'm sharing something "different"  from our new home, but it makes me excited!  The chalkboard wall.  It took four coats of chalkboard paint rolled on.  The end of the hall outside out bedroom, leading to the guest bathroom and the laundry/utility room, just outside the kitchen... it's the perfect place.  It took a few days to cure, but I'm so glad I took the leap and did it.  I may hate it in years to come when I have to paint over it, but this is the best "planner" I've ever found!  We are using it a lot!  It's functional!  $10 for a quart of chalkboard paint at Lowes.  This wall took half a quart.  I highly recommend it for anyone to "keep it together".  Try it, you'll love it!

Today:

My living room curtain rod is finally in!!! I'm praying that Doug or Alan can get the living room curtains hung!  I'm also hoping to have Alan or his boys get all of the electrical switches and plugs changed before the week's end. 

Lunch and a quick trip to the storage unit with Denise. Hopefully, I'll be making pillows before day's end!  The question is "Where will I sew?"  I've never not had a craft room!  I think that the family room will suffice.

I need to exchange a bathroom curtain and hopefully getting it hung too!  That will leave only window treatments for our bedroom to figure out.  We are still looking for a new bed, however, and that may impact the decision.  Doug keeps saying, "Marshmallows, Babe, marshmallows."   

Listen to Josh Grobin's new CD!!!

Life is good! 

Quayd's room, the dish room, a dog pile and a crazy busy day

Quayd's room is the smallest room in the house.  Even so, his bedroom is larger than the room he had in our previous home, so no complaints from him.  It does not have as large of a closet, but Quayd's closet, in the previous home, was filled with a huge bookshelf and a ton of my unused scrapbook supplies.  So, he is just fine in this room. 

Several friends have asked why the oldest gets the smallest room.  For multiple reasons... 1.  He's usually in the family room, not his bedroom, whereas the girls spend most of their time in their rooms. 2.  He'll be here the shortest amount of remaining time and it will become a guest room.  Again, why do guests need a spacious room for overnight?  and 3.  He has, by far, the least amount of "stuff".   Oh.  And 4. It's the room that he wanted!

Quayd's room was a simple update.  He had paneled walls, nasty old carpet, poor lighting.  He wanted his walls to be "modern", so we painted them white.  FIVE coats of paint and two coats of primer to get the paneled walls white.  He also got a new ceiling.  That was the plan before the plumbers came and installed the gas line.  His room had acoustic tiles on the ceiling and we wanted those replaced.  Quayd chose red, black and grey for his room.  We would love to find him a funky red or grey chair for his room.  It will have to be smaller but he needs one!  So, we are searching.

Here's the before of his room, which seemed very dark and verrrrry small. 

 

After brightening it up with "umber white" paint, it feels great!  He loves it!  He opted for a full size bed, after he considered a twin for a bit so that he'd have more room.  Since he doesn't spend much time in there, he opted for sleeping in a bigger bed than having more room.  He's been pretty good since we've been in the home about making his bed and keeping his room clean. To the right of the bed is the door to the dish room!

 

The inside corner.

 

   Quayd's fuzzy blanket has picked up every single new loose carpet fiber in the house.  We all pick fibers off it, every time we walk into his room, but he thinks it looks "modern" to have it on the foot of his bed.  He's funny.

 

One thing that I have always believed strongly in is having good messages throughout the home.  Dale has even mentioned that he remembers the messages I had posted all over our home.  So, the chalkboard and attitude sign are additional reminders!

The red ties were supposed to be décor, but since we've finished his room, he's worn a red tie every Sunday.  I think because it's easier than opening the closet and getting something else.

  Check out that crazy lamp.  It was bright gold.  Doug sprayed a silver crackle paint on the lamp base and it's perfect.  Quayd loves it.

 

  We also debated on painting the wooden doors, as well.  But, my guess is that the red, black, white and grey will get old within a year or so and I want the option of making the room much warmer in the future without having to repaint some "warmth" into the room.

 

That's it for Quayd's room!  He loves it and is happy with it and that makes Doug and I happy.  He seems to be, finally, adjusting to the move, which makes us all happy!

 AND the dish room...

Now, this room makes me happy!  In the old home, I had dishes in every nook and cranny, cupboard and closet.  When we first saw the home, I thought that this room would be a perfect Christmas room where we could just take the tree downstairs and wrap it up all year, completely decorated and ready to go again next year.  About two weeks later, I, literally, sat up in bed and said, "A dish room!!!"  Doug thought I was crazier than normal but now, he smiles when he sees me smile about it!  It's been so nice to just grab what I need and see it all together!  Loving it already!

Basically, it's just an extra-large closet.  The sprinkler system controls and water-main are in this room.  Other than that, it had no real purpose, but it's sure worked for me!  The shelves are sturdy wood.  I admit, as I was putting out the dishes, I kept thinking, "How can we earthquake proof these shelves?"  So, Doug has agreed that he will put a front "lip" on each shelf to keep things from sliding off if we get to shaking.  He's going to use the leftover baseboards from our bedroom.  It's on the "Honey-do" list, but after four months of non-stop "honey-do", I'm just going to chill until he gets around to it.  Right now, getting the light switches and plugs replaced throughout the home and emptying the storage unit are the only two "honey-dos" that are a priority.  (Oh, how I love this hard-working, wife-pleasing man!) 

It's so fun to have it all contained in the same place!  Above, The big boxes at the bottom contain a beautiful punch bowl, a true treasure, given to me by my sweet 97 year old friend, Norma, before she moved from her home of 70 plus years to an assisted living home and my other large partyware that are better contained in packaging.  Below, the bottom shelf is all of my chargers, which I discovered, I'm missing two sets of twelve, so I've obviously loaned them out and don't remember who to.  I've got to start writing down things that I loan out!

On the third wall, I have all of the storage cubes that contain my scrapbook and crafting supplies and tools.  Next winter, when it's cold outside and I need an organizing project, I'm going to go through every paper and gadget and get rid of most of it. 

I have to share one more thing about the dish room.  Carol's husband, Robert, is the most clutter-free person I've ever met. He absolutely hates having anything that isn't necessary.  His home in Idaho is meticulous!  Carol, like me, has tons of holiday décor and fun partyware... or should I say had.  When Carol and Robert bought their new home in Logan last fall, Carol dejunked and got rid of tons of "stuff".  SO.  When Carol and Robert came over a few weeks ago, Robert's first time here in the new home, we gave him the tour.  When I opened the dish room door, he looked stunned and I asked, "Robert, please say that I have not slipped a few notches in your eyes because of what you are about to see."  Robert looked shocked and said, "No, Sophia.  I'm glad that you have a dish room.  Everyone needs a dish room."  He paused and continued, "And a 22 rifle." (for target practice.)  Har-har, Robert. 

The rest of the home is so non-clutter and spacious.  Walking into this room does feel cluttery, but it's beautiful, contained and organized clutter.  I love it enough for Robert and myself!

Yesterday, I spent the morning, with my foot up, tingling like I'd hit my funnybone for two hours!  Grrrr. Natalie and I ran a few errands together in the afternoon and discovered a new place to eat near the campus, which is very near our home.  We may have found a new "home".  Great food and service, they kept the cokes coming and it was quiet with great 70s music playing.

Last night, I had to meet a couple at the storage unit.  They were buying one of our dressers.  Denise met me there to pick something up, as well.  After loading up a few storage bins, we went to Sonic for cokes.  Denise and I sat and gabbed in the truck, while the girls got out to gab in the sunshine.  We told them that they could join us in the truck and ZJ said, "No, that's okay.  There are some things that Moms should never hear."  THAT girl!

I, also, had promised to run the girls to say goodbye to their old YW leader. (She's moving from Smithfield.)  I had to pick something up from Natalie, so I dropped them off at our old next-door neighbors' home to visit with the kids.  They were so excited!  After two minutes with Natalie, I drove back to the girls and could see that they were having a great time, so I told them that they could hang out for 30 more minutes, then to meet me at the B's.  Miki had lost her first tooth and Grammie needed to see! 

As I was driving by, I decided to drop in one of my favorite lady friends, Liz.  I rang the bell and asked if I was interrupting.  She invited me in and we had a great visit.  She's one of the people that I miss the most. One thing that we have shared in common for the past 17 years is that daughters, Liza and Carrie, have been BFFs since their freshman year in High School.  But, my friendship with Liz goes much further than our daughters.  She's always been a sound mind and trusted friend.  So, that made my night!

After visiting with Liz, I went to see Stott and Wendy and the kids.  Miki was proud to smile for me and show me her missing tooth.  I asked if the tooth fairy would bring her a million dollars and candy.  She looked at me like I was crazy!  We agreed that the tooth fairy would never bring candy because then you'd get cavities and lose all of your teeth!  She's so cute! 

The kids all stayed outside and visited.  This was no normal family home evening night, but Quayd was working and since we were already in Smithfield, we thought we would just stay until he got off work.  The old neighbor kids had walked with the girls to the B's and joined all of the kids in the front yard.  When we left, the girls and I were going to dinner at Garlics to kill that last hour.  All of the kids were hugging and pretending to cry because we were leaving.  ZJ laid flat down on the lawn and said, "If I lie on the ground, she won't see me." Miki thought that was the funniest thing.  She kept telling me, "Grammie, ZJ is laying down on the grass." The kids all dogpiled on ZJ, saying, "Noooo!  Not yet!  Don't leave!" I got in the truck to leave and ZJ jumped up, racing to get in, saying, "I have to go!"  If I don't go when Mom's ready, next time, she won't let us hang out!"  Wise girl.

We enjoyed a late dinner at Garlics, then sat in the truck for 20 minutes until Quayd was finished.  He worked 20 minutes late.  While in the truck, ZJ got the giggles.  Oh my gosh, that girl can be hysterical!  She cracks me up!  Grace and I were trying to have a serious discussion, but that was not happening with ZJ's antics!  That girl!

We got home at 10PM.  Doug was asleep and never heard a sound.  The kids went bed as Denise came in and we hottubbed and gabbed till midnite. My foot was throbbing and it felt divine! Denise left and I kissed Doug goodnight as I crawled into bed at 12:30 and I highly doubt he remembers a thing.  It was a busy, social, productive day.  Life is good .

sweet

It was a lovely weekend!  Saturday morning, Doug and I slept in and watched the episode of Grey's Anatomy that everyone has been talking about.  I've not watched the show for years now... back before Meredith and Derek were even married.  But,  we had to see what the excitement was.  I was not amused.  Very well done.  VERY well done.  But, how sad.  I grieved all day long.  Doug reminded me, "Babe, it's not real. It's a tv show." But, I reminded him that I can still grieve the fact that I'll never see that character again.  He then reminded me that I don't watch it.  He rests his case.  (wink-wink)  Still.  Now, I'm really glad that I don't watch it anymore.  Actually since the move, we didn't get a TiVo/DVR and don't watch much TV at all other than GMA.  Most anything else, I've watched online and that's no fun, so I don't bother.

Saturday, we hot tubbed in the morning with the girls, then got ready and went to Brigham City for a day with Doug's siblings to celebrate Mom's birthday.  We met at the Brigham City Temple, which is amazingly beautiful.  As we walked out of the elevator on the third floor to perform sealing ordinances, we were greeted by Doug's cousin, Vern, who lives in Malad.  We only see him once a year or so, if that, so it was a delight.  He was the officiator/sealer for the time that we spent in the temple.  Being their with all but one of the siblings and spouses was such a wonderful experience.  Following our time in the temple, we went to Maddox for a fabulous birthday meal for Mom.  She and Norm are doing so well together.  It's fun to see the "newlyweds" together and Mom is never happier than when she is surrounded by her children.  It was a wonderful day together as family!

As we drove home, we were debating on what to do with our Saturday evening.  We'd thought about a spontaneous game night with our closest friends from the old ward in Smithfield, but plans changed quickly when Doug sat down on the recliner and fell straight to sleep.  Our neighbor came over for a visit and when we noticed Doug zonked out, I encouraged him to just get into bed and sleep through the night.  He said, "I'll just take a power nap then we can do something in a bit."  His power nap lasted until 8:30 Sunday morning!  He was exhausted! 

Quayd came in from his weekend in Pocatello at Idaho State University for a Thespian activity.  He shared all the details of his weekend and much to my relief, he was wise in his choices and had a good, safe, smart weekend with his peers.  He said that they were asleep in the hotel by midnight, but that was because they'd hottubbed for four hours!  I'm so glad that he's enjoying his junior year, but the whole thought of him going off to a hotel with teen friends (and a drama teacher) for the weekend still blows me away!

Everyone was in bed by 8:45 and I spent the evening alone, in front of a fire, watching Tootsie.  (What did we ever see in that movie in the 80s?  I thought it was crude and not near as funny as I'd remembered.) 

I enjoyed a quiet Sunday morning while Doug and Quayd attended the early morning missionary prep class.  Apparently, Doug has been invited to attend with Quayd to be the "investigator" for some of their roleplaying.  I think that Doug is missing his calling in the Young Mens program, so this is a good thing.  Quayd always loves doing things with Doug and having his dad by his side, so I was happy to hear of this invitation to Doug. 

Speaking of which, Doug and I were called and sustained today to serve in our new ward as the teachers of the "Strengthening the Family" class. This is similar to, but different from the Marriage and Family Relations Class that I taught for the past two years in Smithfield.  We are very excited, although the class will not be taught on Sundays.  It will be a very different format.  We are very nervous/excited/anxious/happy about this new calling.  Teaching together will be fun.  I am mostly nervous because when it comes to parenting, Doug's so good at it!  I was raised so differently than him and I wish I could parent the way he does!  They say that some callings are for the teacher to learn and I feel that I am definitely the one who will benefit the most from studying this course!  We will begin in a few weeks!

The Bishop was the only one listed, aside from one youth speaker, on the program to speak.  He stood up and began his talk with "You probably wondered why I'm the only other one speaking today."  He continued that he would do things a little differently today, beginning with Sister Sophia Corbridge bearing her testimony, followed by Layne, our new neighbor/friend.  MY HEART!!!  He said, after church, that I had quite the "deer in the headlights" look.  The kids, all laughing, said, "MOM!  You should have seen your face!" Doug leaned over and touched my hand, while the Youth Speaker spoke.  I thought he was giving me a touch for support/comfort.  No... he was checking my  pulse.  IT WAS RACING!!!  I had three minutes to think about what to say and decided that I'd just listen to the youth speaker and say what the Spirit led me to say when I stood.  Honestly, whenever I've suspected that they may call someone randomly from the congregation, I have always sort of thought about what I would say...just in case.  When he said my name, I was clueless.  After bearing my testimony, many ward members thanked me for what I'd said, so I think that the Spirit did the talking!  Bishop Auga said that I said exactly what he'd hoped I would.  Deep breath!!!  Have I mentioned that I love love love this new ward!?  We are still having separation anxiety leaving Smithfield but these new ward members have been so wonderful and welcoming, we just love it!

Our Sunday afternoon was casual.  We watched it rain, built a fire, enjoyed homemade enchiladas (and homemade sauce, oh my!) and watched "The Testament", Quayd's choice of what to do on Sunday.  Doug and Quayd attended a meeting for an upcoming event for young men who are preparing to serve missions and everyone was in bed by 8:45 again, leaving me to another quiet night alone by the fire to read. 

As Doug and I were talking in the early morning, I thanked him again for our new home.  He commented that many miracles and tender mercies had taken place for things to come together  so easily.  Once in the home, the drama of the renovation and now, that part is quickly fading into a memory and we are just enjoying being here.  I asked Doug if he loves it as much as I do.  He said that it "inspires" him and that we need to sacrifice and show our gratitude for this blessing.  It truly is humbling.  We are very happy and thankful!  I'll stop waxing on about it soon, I promise.  We are just overwhelmed with gratitude and excitement and feeling blessed!

Life is good!  More pix tomorrow!

 

Sunday morning

 white chocolate chip banana muffins

lilacs from the back yard

a little rain mixed with snow on our lovely back yard

getting ready for church.  quiet, peaceful, calm.

life is good.

Friday!!!

I love Fridays when Doug is home!  This is the first Friday since December that we have not been packing, unpacking, or painting!  HAPPINESS!  Today, a quick blog entry in pictures...

Grace has been complaining about her foot hurting for almost a month.  She has an extra bone in her foot, so we figured it was just that we'd bought her two pair of new shoes and she was adjusting to them.  She took her orthotics out to see if that would help.  Nada.  Last week, it started to swell and looked bruised, so I immediately called the doctor and scheduled the next available appointment.  She has a torn tendon.  It's all inflamed and swollen and she will now be wearing a surgical boot for the next six weeks, which means until the end of the school year and possibly into her Arizona trip.  YIKES!  We aren't sure when she did it, but the doctor assumed it was during the move, with all the lifting and stair-climbing.  We later realized that during the move, she'd had a table fall on her foot.  We'd all totally forgotten about it.  She wasn't too bothered by the boot.  Dr. P said to get all she can out of it... "Zeej, can you do my dishes?"  But, as with everything, she wears it well.

It's late!  It's been a wonderful Friday.  I started the blog this morning and never got back to it.  In the meantime, Doug and I had a perfect day together!  We did a few things around the house together, then went to lunch at Firehouse, came home when the girls came in.  Grace had a date.  ZJ went to a party.  So, Doug and I went to the movies to see Age of Adaline.  ( LOVED IT!!!!!... clean, decent, sweet story.  Can't wait to see it again!)  After the movie, we went, in a rainstorm, to dinner with Carol.  (Robert wasn't up to it.)  After dinner, we came home and hot tubbed with Grace.  We're waiting for ZJ to come in now and watching Gone with the Wind on PBS.    It's still pouring and we heard that it's supposed to snow this weekend.  Yagottaluv spring in Cache Valley!

Life is good!  Live it joyfully!

The family room

The"Before" family room's biggest problem was lighting.  There were no lights on the ceiling, two small basement windows on the east side where shrubs cover the windows and only two lamps to light the entire room.  It had acoustic ceiling tiles, which were spattered with holes from the pool stick usage.  The pool table, we were initially told, would go with the home.  After much thought, we opted not to keep it because it took up space, it meant that we'd wait to get the ceiling redone (why put in a new ceiling just to get more pool stick chalk marks and holes in it?) and because we figured the novelty would wear off quickly and the kids would rather spend their time watching their favorite movies and having "indoor picnics" than playing pool in a room that was limited by the size of the pool table.

Here's the old family room:

 

So.  We had a new ceiling installed.  When we went to remove the wallpaper from over the fireplace, the first layers came right off in solid sheets.  But, beneath the blue/brown plaid paper was a red paper that took over an hour and a half to remove one tiny strip, not even the width of the paper.  It had been sized and glued to an unfinished paneling.  It would have taken days to remove that.  So, Alan called the sheetrockers and told them to pick up two more sheets of drywall for over the mantle.  Problem solved.

And here is the room today!

It's bright and beautiful, even with the wood and the dark colored paint that I added over the mantle.  I can't wait for Christmas to decorate all three fireplaces!

The sheetrockers were non-English speaking guys.  They were fast.  They were quiet, except their latino music playing, which none of us minded.  Three days later, it was done!  BUT, before they came, Alan rewired the outlets in the room and wired up some lighting for the ceiling.  We opted no on can lights because I'm not a big fan of them.  So two "booblights" were installed and voila!  Instant brightness!  New curtain rods and curtains, which were lighter also brightened up the room in the daytime.  The new carpet, a patterned carpet, is perfect... it's soft and comfy and should wear well for years to come! 

We put the tall table in the family room for the kids to do puzzles, play games, eat snacks and use their computers in a public place.  (Laptops are not allowed in private bedrooms in our home.)

 

Notice the framed photo of the kids when they were younger with the apples on their heads...that's the frame from "the otters".

We used our old living room furniture and tv in the family room, as well as adding Doug's desk in the corner for him to have a little space of his own to do his own thing. This is the first home we have ever owned that does not have a craft room for me.  However, I have main floor laundry and a dish room, so no complaints from this happy mama!  Besides that, other than computer scrapbooking, knitting and crocheting, it's rare that I craft at all anymore.  I don't need a craft room!

Here's the landing area at the bottom of the stairs, in all it's avocado green carpeted glory, before we bought the home.  Look at the difference in the light in the family room! One comment that we heard over and over before we moved in and brought friends and family through the home was "It's so dark."  I was never concerned about the darkness.  It's bright and cheery now! HAPPINESS!!

And here's the landing area now.  I'm still in the market for some fabulous piece of furniture to go along the stairs, but still haven't found what I "think" I have in mind yet.  I love the corner hutch at the bottom of the landing!  It's like it was made for that corner!  (I also love that the bottom of the hutch doesn't have anything in it because everything that was in it is now in the dishroom!!!)

I'm thinking that we may bring the big flatscreen down from the upstair den and mount it to that wall, then, Santa could replace the upstairs one with a smaller flatscreen next winter.

 Other ramblings:

I noticed last night that it wasn't totally dark until almost nine.  We've been watching the sun because our back yard has so many trees, but, only one fruit tree and we want to plant some fruit trees and a garden, asap. Wet have concerns  about it being too shady.  One friend teased that we should plant it in the front yard.  Anyway, in thinking about gardening, it hit me!  Holy cow!  We are just over a month away from the end of the school year!  Being that we never did have a "Real" winter, I'm still waiting for that!  Summer seems too close.  It's been more like one long fall!

Today's project is to arrange a few dishes in the built-in china cabinet in the kitchen. Grace has a doctor appointment and I'm going to make a quick stop at the storage unit for something that Denise needs. We're hoping to having it totally empty within the next three weeks.  Most of what's left is in storage bins, so it will be an easy task...for Doug and Quayd!  Today, I just need to grab a few things out of a bin.  I'll be glad to be totally done with the storage unit too!  We are done renovating and that will mean we are done moving! 

Again, another day, I'm so thankful for our new home.  Yesterday, as I was doing laundry, Doug called.  I thanked him again for his being to willing to uproot us and move so that I could do my job as homemaker easier.  Main floor laundry!!! Even without my foot issues, I was missing out!  Main floor laundry is the best! I love it! This sounds totally silly, but, I have, literally, cried because it's made my life so much easier! 

One of the Young Womens leaders in our old ward is moving out of town.  It's brought up a lot of emotion for my girls this week.  They miss the leaders and girls in our old ward.  We attended the Stake YW "kick-off" for our girls camp this upcoming summer.  This meeting was on the same night as a farewell party for the moving previous YW leader and my girls were really heart-broken to not be there.  They needed to be here, but that didn't make it easier.  Thankfully, the new stake really went all out and put on quite the exciting evening for the girls.  The move is over.  The home is done, but, regardless of how much we love our "new" life, our hearts still miss a lot about our home, friends and "old" life. I tell myself and kids often, "things take time." One major lesson that I've learned with this move is that everything takes time... and usually more time that you think it will!  Just sayin'.

Life is good!  Live it joyfully!!!

ZJ's room and A BIG moment for Grace!

First and most important, thank you to my thoughtful and generous friend, whomever you are! UPS left a lovely surprise gift card from Amazon on our doorstep yesterday!  Thank you,  thank you!  It was a wonderful surprise!

Today, I'm sharing ZJ's bedroom.  ZJ's bedroom was one of the more drastic changes in the home.  Making one drastic obvious change was the first thing that we did in the home!  I'd decided that months ago, the very first time we walked into the home, that the very first thing that would need to happen would be to remove the "unique" diving wall from the middle of it.  Apparently, Brother N. had two sons who did not want to share a room, so he built this divider right down the middle.  It divided the room in half from the floor and went up to just 18" from the ceiling.  Doug and Alan had to cut it into five pieces to be able to carry it out and to the trailer to be hauled away.  It was built solid!  It also made the room dark.  While the sons were growing up, on each side of the divider, there was a full-size bed and nightstand.  He also had added a built-in double desk installed, which is lovely! 

Check out that not-so-loverly 1970s blue and brown shag carpeting.  Underneath the wallpaper, just like Grace's room, the walls were the same dark blue as the flooring.  So, ZJ got new walls, ceiling (because her ceiling had to be opened up to get the gas-line plumbed from the furnace room to the kitchen), and her walls had to be textured before we could prime and paint.  The wallpaper was a nightmare to remove!  It took almost a week of peeling, repeeling, then steaming and cleaning the walls over and over before they could be textured.  Her room was supposed to be a quick-fix of peel, paint and move in after the wall was removed.  Not so much! 

Here's the before pix:

And here are the after:

The darkness in the room was something that really bothered Zee.  She was thrilled when it was all done!  It's now bright and cheery!  ZJ opted to keep her paneling on the bottom half natural.  She chose a cream and red color scheme, which made life simple for me because I had so many accents already in our old home.  She actually begged to use our old bedding, but it was pretty tired and she deserved new.  So, we found a cream quilt and used my old twin day-bed quilt at the foot of her queen size bed.

We're still looking for a queen-size headboard for her room.  We tried a wicker head board and it wasn't what we wanted, so we are searching.  I think an old antiquey iron bed would be perfect!  We shall see!

a

She has always loved all of the old quilts that I've had displayed in our old home and somehow, many of them have landed in ZJ's new room.  I love the quilt shelf!  It's perfect!  I'd even debated on leaving that shelf in the old home.  So glad we brought it!

The desk was the determining factor for why ZJ got this room, although she did not agree initially.  The fact that ZJ is our crafty girl, she now has storage to craft on one side and get beautiful on the other.  We are also still trying to find the perfect mirror for her room, then the black mirror will find it's way to another place in the home or listed on-line for sale.

ZJ loves her room.  It, literally looks like this 99% of the time.  ZJ is my organizing, cleaning guru.  Yagottaluvit!  It makes this mama happy!

In other news:

Yesterday, Quayd and ZJ had ortho checks.  Quayd has only a few months to go! The entire office staff is wonderful, which I mention often.  Yesterday, they took this cute pic and shared it on their FB page.  I loved it!  I made the comment: "Your best looking patients!" And I loved the office manager's comment about it: "And some of our favorites!"

Following ortho, we had our monthly breakfast at Kneaders, Quayd's treat.  He loves having money of his own and, often, he will offer to treat us all to whatever he is feeling in the mood for!

Our lunch bunch ladies met for Jeana's birthday after ortho.  We always have good laughs and good memories.  I love these ladies!  After lunch, they came to visit the new home.  It was such a fun afternoon!

The highlight of my day, however, can not be matched!  Just after dropping the kids off at school, I got a this text from Grace: Mom, I made it into Bella Voce! 

Grace spent last week, practicing every minute, to audition for the singing/performing group at her High School. She sang, "The girl I'm meant to Be" from "The Secret Garden".  Grace has never had a voice lesson.  As she was on her tablet, looking for a song to perform for her audition, I called my good friend, Sally, who just retired from decades of being a vocal coach, as well as being a member of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.  Sally was excited to assist Grace in her song selection.  We went to her home that evening and again a few days later, after Grace had practiced at home.  Sally, generously, spent a few hours helping her prepare.  OH MY WORD!  I could not believe how much she taught us! It was fascinating to watch Sally's enthusiasm!  Sally is truly gifted and she has the voice of an angel.  I cry everytime I hear her sing!  We are ever so grateful for her assistance and kindness!

So, Grace auditioned last Thursday and has been anxiously waiting all week!  Yesterday, she was called to pick up a package in the office.  When she arrived, she! was given a white rose with a note attached, "Welcome to Bella Voce!"  She is very excited!  We are thrilled for her!  This will definitely impact her final two years in high school!

  Today, I'm just relieved to have nothing on my agenda!  The new range was finally delivered.  The house is in order.  The helpers are all gone.  I'm so thankful that we were in a position to hire so much of the work that needed to be done.  Doug and I would still be on the first room.  My foot has definitely slowed me down.  Doug and I were talking about it last night.  This move has definitely been an eye-opener as to how much.  Twenty minutes of standing and it's numb.  I'm have to stop and elevate.  Everything takes much longer than before.  But, thankfully, we were able to see thismove through to the end. Life is good!  Verry, verrrrry good!

 

 

Grace's room and other ramblings!

Grace's room was the first to be completed and required the least change!  Here's the before photos: 

Check out that lovely carpet!  Her walls were equally blue underneath the wallpaper. 

It took four coats of paint to cover the blue under the wallpaper and five coats of white on the paneling.  Grace hated the corner window, but now she loves it.  Both girls wanted the other bedroom because of the window.  It turned out to be a hit. 

 

Grace made us all grin when she was asked what color her room would be and she answered, "A mature green."  Mature green, it is then!

For Grace's room, we recarpeted, painted five coats of white on the bottom paneling and three coats of "mature green" on the top. "Guilford green" was actually noted as "2015 color of the year" at the local paint store.  It's lovely.  Her room is very similar to her room in Smithfield...more than any other room in the house to transfer over to the new home.  But, the colors are softer.  I love her room. More important, Grace loves her room!  We finished it first, so that Liza and Buddy would have a "guest room". 

Grace basically got new bedding and we gave her our queen size pillowtop bed... a drastic change from the twin she's had for years!

 Her room is more than twice the size of her old room, which is crazy fun for her! 

 Totally Grace!

Very simple and very clean!  She's pretty good to keep it like this most of the time!

The rocker was one of the few pieces of furniture left in the home.  It was perfect for Grace's room and even better for Liza to nurse Aylabelle when she came.  Grace didn't really like it at first but now she loves it.

Grace's room... fini!  HAPPINESS!

Other ramblings:

Lowes finally delivered my new stove... the fourth one.  It's perfect!  Alan installed it and we are in business!  I'm so happy to be done moving!  Now, Doug is changing out light switches and plugs throughout the home.  He still has curtains to hang when they arrive and a sink faucet to install.  I'm not worrying about these things.  They'll happen a little at a time over the next few weeks.  But we are done moving!  LOVING THAT!

Doug and Quayd finished loading the utility trailer with moving stuff and the last of the carpet, then he raced home from work and raced to the landfill.  It was closed!  So.  Doug took the truck to work today, with the trailer and junk so that he could slip by as soon as he gets off work.  I'll be driving the kids to their ortho appointments in his van, but it's great to have the full trailer out of the driveway!  I'm sure that the neighbors are going to be thrilled too!

Yesterday, friend/decorating hero of mine, Mary Ann, came for a tour of the home.  She was generous with praise and kind words about the house.  "I'm proud of you" made my day!  She made interesting observations!  Today, I'm off to pick up a few items for my bedroom to make it more fun.  I am in heaven right now!  I love decorating!

Sister Simmons, my sweet 86 year old neighbor came over for a tour in the afternoon.  She was very close to Brother N's wife, Betty.  She went through the home, gave me a big hug and said, "Betty would be thrilled! She'd be just tickled!"  This was kindest thing she could have said.  It made cry!  I've wondered how this sweet woman, who I've never heard anything but wonderful about, would feel about what we've done with her home!  HAPPINESS!!!

Duane and Ruth, friends from Smithfield, and our realtor, came through.  Duane saw the original home with us the first few walk throughs.  He came in and said, "I knew you could update it with paint and carpet, but I never expected it would look like this!  You've worked magic and it's wonderful!"  SCORE! 

Really, it's wonderful to be done!  We love the home!i say that, not bragging in any way. I say it with gratitude! I am so grateful for all the work and all the helpers! We love being able to enjoy the results of two months hard labor and energy!

We feel very blessed!

Denise and I hottubbed late last night. Fun times!  We are off to the ortho and a busy day!  Life is good!

 

 

 

weekend

Our weekend was pretty busy, as usual!  The highlight of the weekend was putting away the paint bin!!! We are done!  The painting has come to an end.  Well... for now.  There's still the long bowling alley hallway downstairs that is covered in wallpaper but it will suffice for the next year.  I'm not willing to remove one more inch of paper, to watch one more wall be textured, to hear the word "primer" or to paint a thing for quite a while.  The hall is fine for now and will remain fine until I get the urge.  We'll just leave it as is and it's not that bad.  Other than that, though, every inch of the home has been painted!  Every ceiling, every wall, ever corner, every inch! 

We painted all day long Thursday and Friday and until the afternoon on Saturday.  We also managed to organize the chaos that is called a garage.  It was a fun afternoon!  The trailer is loaded and ready to haul to the dump this week, if Doug gets off in time to get it there before closing.  AWESOME!!! 

We also took a trip over to the storage unit to access the situation there.  Other than about fifteen boxes of craft stuff (that will be donated after I make sure that there are no important photos in any of them), the holiday bins, the tiller and several pieces of furniture that will be sold online, the storage unit will be empty soon!  We have a goal for two weeks.  We'll see how it goes.  But, it was encouraging to see that it's really coming to an end!!! 

Other happenings of the weekend:

• Last week, Quayd has his performances for the One Act Plays at his school.  He played the executioner in "The Actor's Nightmare".  He did a great job and absolutely loved every second of the experience. It's been talked about for weeks and weeks.  It was fun to finally see the performances (which we saw twice) and to celebrate Quayd's love of acting with him.  Here are a few pix:

Curtain Call

 

• Brunch at Herm's with Robert and Carol.  I also made a huge batch of potato salad for her to take to Idaho for their branding day.  Robert had two dozen hired hands to help and Carol fed them all lunch.  She texted later to say that it was a hit.  Score!  Doug was dying to go up and spend the day helping, but they were going to be gone more than a day.  I love when Carol is in town.  We always manage to squeeze in several random spontaneous get-togethers!
• I made a second huge potato salad to take with us to hear our awesome nephew, Jake, share his testimony and experiences from his LDS mission.  He did an excellent job.  We could see the growth that he experienced while in New Jersey for the past two years.  What a great kid!  We had a huge family gathering at Alan and Jill's after the Sacrament Meeting.  Dinner was great.  It was wonderful to be with all of Doug's siblings except one sister.  I love this family!
• Zaylee spent the afternoon with us!  She's a crack up!  We love having her with us!  My favorite moment was when we were playing "I spy with my little eye" while driving her home. I said, "I spy something VERY cute!"  She didn't even pause, "ME!!!!!"

 

• Late Saturday, after dark, Doug spray painted a cabinet that I've had for years and years .  He painted it a mustardy yellow for my kitchen.  It turned out quite bright.  I may still stain it and distress it, but a friend who I trust, suggested that I leave it bright for the pop of color that the kitchen needs.  The home is completely done, work-wise.  Now the decorating.  Being that the home is larger, I don't have near the "stuff" to put in it for decor and the budget was spent and over spent for the "surprises" that we met along the way.  So, now, the decor will come slowly.
• As we were walking in, after dropping Zaylee off (she spent the afternoon with us), good friends Ryan and Jamie came over for a tour of the home.  They've not been here since the night of our big paint party six weeks ago.  They were super happy to see things done and I loved their compliments that the home feels like us, that it's homey and welcoming, that we'd taken something old and dated and made it modern and inviting.  HAPPINESS!  That was the plan!  We had a great visit for a couple of hours.  We absolutely adore them both and their little kids were just so well-behaved!  It was also great to catch-up on their grown kids, as well.  They are all six always welcome at our fire!
• Another favorite weekend moment was Getting this random text from Dale and Willow while we were driving to Black Pearl for a "We're done painting!" celebration!

I love it!  We responded to his text with this:

It was a great weekend!  Life is good! Family is awesome! Tomorrow, more pix of the house!  No time to post anymore today!

 

snow, more snow and the den

We got almost a foot of snow yesterday!  It was beautiful!  I couldn't get a thing done because I just wanted to sit and watch it snow!  I moved from room to room, just watching the snow fall.  It was my favorite day of the year!  We actually received more snow than we have all year long in one day.  Lovely!  We need it!  And the best part is that with the ground as warm as it is, not solid frozen like in January, it will be all melted away within a few days.  Perfect!

I made a big pot of chicken noodle soup and southern style sweet cornbread for dinner. Since Doug's off for the weekend, we   enjoyed a late night in the hot tub with Carol.  It was really a wonderful day!

Today, I'm sharing the den.  Last night, Doug and Zee built a fire while we cleaned up the kitchen.  It was perfection!  We were going to paint the last room, the laundry/utility room and hallway.  Instead, we sat together and visited, enjoying the fire after the kids had gone to bed until Carol arrived.  We love this room!

When we first saw our home, we walked into the den and knew that we wanted to live here, right in this room forever!  The den has not changed much at all.  The reason being, we loved it so much!  The listing for the home said, "Some furniture included."  We didn't need or want most of the furniture in the home, but we fell in love with this room just as it was.  The three leather chairs were made for it!  So, when we closed, the three chairs were specifically agreed upon.  We didn't want to change it at all... except the fish.  The kids referred to the house as "the fish house", which was part of the reason that they were not excited to move into it.  There were fish everywhere!  Mounted fish, pictures of fish, pictures of Brother N fishing, pictures of his favorite fishing places, fish statues... the man loved to fish!  The biggest fish of all was over three foot long on the wall of the den. It was the last thing they took from the house. 

Brother N was so proud of this room. He told me stories about all of the unique things he had collected in his lifetime and most of them were in this room because it was "his" room.  His wife had decorated every other inch of the home but this room, he created and loved.  Here's the before pix:

fish, bobcat fur, more fish...a mancave indeed... well, it used to be!

More fish.  The rug is a real Persian rug bought on one of his trips around the world.

The ship's helm had a fascinating story connected to the Panama Canal.  The bull horns came from some South American country.  Notice the red lamp over the table.  It made the room feel like it was candle-lit...so dark that we couldn't read a word or see much of anything except what was directly under it.  We loved the red light, but knew that we needed more light to "live" in the room.

 Here's the room last night... We've changed the lighting, moved the furniture and room now has much less "stuff" on the walls.

And less books... there are still boxes in the storage room that have more of our books.  You can also tell that there's much better light in the room now!

I love the dropped ceiling!

The beautiful hardword floors were brought in from North Carolina.This whole room makes not buying the cabin "okay".

We, literally, live in this room!

And here's my favorite reason why!  I love the story that Brother N told me about bringing the rocks for the fireplace home from Yellowstone, a few every time they went, until he had enough to build the rock fireplace.  All of his kids told me their version of how they held the rocks in place while he put the mortar on the walls.  It makes me appreciate the beauty of the fireplace all the more!

This room is my happy place!

That's the den!  I feels like "home" because it is!  We're loving it!

Life is good!  So is a blizzard in mid-April! 

Lovely morning!

We woke up to five inches of fresh now and it's still coming down! Watching the weather this morning, they said it's a nightmare" out there.  "Slick, slushy, wet, icy" were words he used.  Aren't those January words?!  Whatever the word, it's beautiful!

 

Kristy came over last night at 9:30 an we painted the kitchen! We painted till midnight and gabbed till 2:30.  I love that gal! Doug will paint the ceiling tonight and it will be done!  Last room to paint, the laundry room, this afternoon!  I'm so happy! Once Doug gets the ceiling painted, we will be putting away the paint bin and I don't plan on seeing an open can of paint for quite a while!  HAPPINESS!!!

The kids are super busy and involved with school activities right now.  Last night, we went to pick Quayd up at 6 and got home at 9!  We were able to watch him working on his current project and he loved the attention from Mom and Dad.  We drove home in a blizzard, but it was wonderful!  Today, another practice.  I love seeing him enjoying high school!  Hard to believe he only has one more year!  On Sunday, our new Young Mens President dropped by with an invitation to an activity for Junior and Senior young men.  While talking, he mentioned that, by this time next year, Quayd could have his mission call!!!  YIKES!

Grace is also very involved right now!  Details to come.  It's been fun to see her enthusiasm.  I love having teens in the home... well, most of the time.  Wake-up time is not my favorite time of day!

I've got to run, so no pix today.  No time.  But, life is good! Gotta run!

 

 

entry

Yesterday, the kids toilet was installed, making the last of the major things that our home needs!  There's still some painting to be done, but we are done with the big projects!  Happiness! We are a the place where we can focus on living again instead of the task list.  It continues, but, we are finally to the point of not feeling like we "have to get that done so that we can live here."  I'm very happy, but I think that the kids are the most happy.  No more, "Not today, we have to finish...today." 

Today, I share the entry way... before and after.  This was the room that required the least change, with the exception of the den.  But, the small changes made a huge difference!  Here's the before pix:

The first memory I have of our new home was entering that front door and being hit by the scent of "old house".  The home was built 54 years ago.  The original décor was still in the home.  It was old and dated, but clean and orderly.  The carpet was old.  The carpet padding had two layers...the bottom layer was still in awesome shape, the top layer was literally dust.  As a result, the carpeting was "ripply" because it was so stretched out.  When we pulled up the heat vents to remove the carpet, we discovered that it had originally been an avocado green, but was now a faded grey.  The ceiling was also painted a grey tint, making the entryway pretty dark.  "Dark" was the word that most people said, as soon as they  came into the home.  It was one of our biggest goals - to "Brighten" it up!

Here's what I mean by dark... look at the entryway.  Another "before":

I loved the entryway though.  I love the wallpaper, loved the banister and loved the wood.  And I really love it now!  We didn't have to do much in the entryway.  We painted the ceiling and changed the flooring, then added a few of our favorite things!  We love it even more now!

After a few weeks in the home, we knew that one huge thing we were missing was the light.  We invested in a nice storm door and had it installed so that we could have the beautiful canyon breeze blowing into the home and more light in the entry.  Even after painting the ceiling a bright white, it felt too dark, so the door was the perfect solution.

I'm loving it!

It's strange, but the ceiling still looks grey in this photo.  It's not.  It's as white as can be.

I love that the home has pocket doors and we can just close off the den anytime.

   

Love it!

The debate over the wallpaper continues.  I love it.  Wallpaper is coming back and this wallpaper is beautiful.  Everyone that walks in comments to one extreme or the other... they hate it or they love it!  I love it.  ZJ said she would chain herself to a tree in Smithfield if we kept it. (Thankfully, she's over it.)  It was in our bedroom, as well.  I didn't like it there.  BUT, in the entry, I do like it. It's actually one of the very few things that remain from the original home.  For now, it's a keeper and a reminder of this awesome vintage home that we now call ours!

A few other ramblings:

It's supposed to snow this afternoon.  Looking at the sky, I'd think not.  But, the wind is blowing fiercely. It howled all night long! We'll see.

Almost 600 days until the presidential election and the news and advertising has already begun.  Help!

I just need to say, for my own sake, that I have great kids.  To me, they are wonderful.  This morning, one of them was running behind and a bit on the "cranky" side.  I got a sweet text apologizing.  Really, a friend and I were talking yesterday about it.  Kids will be kids.  But, my kids really are amazing, tenderhearted teens.  I am blessed.  I need to remind myself of that everytime I find things stuffed under a bed, or an overslept morning or "Attitude" because they had a bad day.  I heart them!

Time to get to work... paint is calling!

LIFE IS GOOD!  LIVE IT JOYFULLY!!!

 

Sweet kids! Great weekend!

Last week, Doug and I told the kids that we were going to have a little romantic anniversary weekend.  We made arrangements for them to stay at the B's while we were away.  They were not happy about it. I get that.  They weren't upset that they had to stay at the B's but that we felt that they needed to be "babysat".  They wanted to stay at home alone.  They are old enough.  We trust them.  But.  What we didn't tell them was that we had decided that we didn't want to go away.  We had talked about going to Salt Lake or to Jackson Hole.  BUT.  We have a brand new king size bed.  We have a big screen smart tv.  We have our own hot tub.  We have everything we want right here in our new home that we'd find in any hotel and I didn't want to leave!  After a very short discussion, we opted to spend a quiet weekend at home alone and just keep working on the house, get a few projects done in the mornings, then go out for movies, dinners, lunches, whatever whenever we wanted.  UNTIL...

We told the kids that they were going to have to be "babysat".  The girls tried to have a good attitude.  They love the B's. They love being back in Smithfield.  They were happy about it.  But, Quayd took it really personal that we didn't trust him.  After much talk back and forth, we just decided to bag our plans to be alone. We could still work on the house and go out to play if we wanted. Different, but not.  

On Thursday, before Doug and I headed to Ogden for me to teach the organizing class, I told the the kids the "whole story"... that it had not been about trust.  It was more about Doug and I having a quiet getaway at home than our trusting or not trusting them.  All was well.  We had a list of things that needed done this weekend and we agreed that we'd get them done, regardless, plus do some celebrating along the way.

When we returned from Ogden, we found sticky notes on the front and back doors that read "Go to your room!  Happy 38th Anniversary!"  We came into our room and found our swimsuits folded and placed on towels on the bed with a huge poster wishing us Happy 38th Anniversary and a wad of cash... a generous wad, that said, "This is not for the house, it's for your fun!"  The poster explained that we were to stay upstairs all weekend and we would never know that they were here.  Doug and I were very touched by their kindness.  While we were gone, they'd ridden their bikes to Smithfield, so that Quayd could get cash at the bank and they'd bought themselves $98 of groceries (prepared sandwiches, several packs of cookies, chips, pastries, juices, cheese sticks, bananas) to put in Grace's fridge, which they had set up in the family room.  Also, they'd hooked up the TV and electronics downstairs, which I hadn't gotten around to yet.  They had paper goods and plans to "live" in the downstairs and allow us to have the whole upstairs without any interruptions from them all weekend long. 

It was THE sweetest thing.  They wanted us to have our time alone and they got to stay home.  We were so touched by how thoughtful they can be! As our neighbor, Layne, said last night, "there's not too many teenagers today who would be that thoughtful of their parents and not more focused on themselves." It was awesome!!!  And sooooo...

On Friday, while they were at school, Doug and I worked fast and hard on the house in the morning.  We went to lunch at the Indian restaurant in town and then picked up a few more things that we needed before coming home and getting back to painting.  The kids were really helpful after school for a few hours. We cleaned up at dinnertime and went out to see a movie but didn't like what was playing, so we went to Black Pearl for sushi and came home to do some more work.  We didn't stop until after eleven and were too tired to hottub! 

Saturday morning, we wanted to celebrate some with the kids, so we took them to Kneaders for breakfast. Quayd and Doug went to get a haircut while the girls and I picked up a few more things for the house.  We came home and worked all day long downstairs, trying to finish the kids bathroom until we discovered a new surprise(of course) on their toilet.  Apparently, and I don't know a thing about toilets, the old toilet was original to the home and had been soldered to the concrete and tile with lead.  Doug did all that he could until he realized that we'll end up replacing the floor unless we have a plumber come and take over. (That pretty much completes the list of "every single project turned into a bigger one.")  We worked until 10, then Doug and the girls went to pick Quayd up from Lee's while I put the finishing touches on Quayd's room!  He was thrilled when he came home and saw his finished room!  After family prayer, the kids went to bed and Doug and I finally made it to the hottub. We were going to take a fifteen minute soak but ended up talking until almost 1AM. 

Sunday, we slept in til 8:30!  That rarely happens!  Once up, we all had breakfast and I made food to take to a mission homecoming at our old ward.  Just as we were about ready to head to Smithfield, Doug's mom and Norman dropped in for a visit.  We had a nice visit with them.  By the time that they'd left, we had missed Dylan's talk.  With Mom and Norm living in Idaho now, we appreciate any time that we get to spend with them.  After they left, since we'd missed church, we listened to a few talks from General Conference together, ate the big pasta salad that I'd prepared to take and enjoyed some time together.  It was a perfectly wonderful weekend!

SO.  This weekend, we...

• hung all of the curtains in the kids bedrooms and family room
• rehung the family room curtains on new rods that were better than the first ones we'd bought
• finished painting our bathroom and put it back together
• hung the hardware and towel bars in the guest bathroom and master bath

• finished decorating the guest bathroom

• painted the kids bathroom, except the ceiling
• hung the new light fixtures in the kids bath

• completely finished Quayd's room

• hung the last hardware in Grace's room and totally finished it

• repainted an old 60's lamp for Quayd's room
• hung shelves in many rooms and decorated them
• finished ZJ's room except the plate that goes over her ceiling lights because it needs a new bolt??
• bought a new lamp for ZJ
• got Doug's new suit fitted a second time because they hemmed one leg almost two inches too short on both pants
• removed a toilet and scrubbed the heck out of the tile bathroom floor
• bought all of the accessories for the kids bath and hung part of them until we have the new toilet installed
• loaded half a trailer of more junk to be hauled away
• put baseboards back on in our bathroom
• changed more outlets and switchplates
• hung all of the wall décor in the downstairs family room
• arranged furniture in the downstairs family room

It was super productive, along with a little fun, a little family time, a little romance!  We were exhausted when our heads hit the pillows!  BUT, we are so close to done!  This week's goals are to finish the kids bathroom, finish painting the kitchen, hall and laundry room and hang the swing on the patio.  We are to the point that we can say we are "moved in".  It's only decorating stuff and odds and ends that remain and can be done at a much slower pace.  When I put away the paint bucket in a few days, we can say, "We're done moving in!"  CRAZY!

Here are a few weekend pix...

Quayd, apparently, played with my camera and took a few pix himself, this weekend.  I have not got a clue what was so funny, but I love this girl.

And he took a selfie or two, as well.  I love his new haircut!

Of all the fun and work and excitement this weekend, this moment was one of my favorites.  While I was setting the table for dinner, I noticed the girls outside on the trampoline.  A minute later, Doug noticed them too and said, "Babe, capture that moment."  These two girls are truly best friends.

Tomorrow, some house pix! I'm so happy, so tired, so grateful!  Our kids are great!  Life is so great!  We are blessed!

organizing to organize

We had a birthday lunch yesterday, but Carol's birthday is actually today.  Happy Birthday, Carol!  You are my sister from another mother.  I love you!  We love you!

Yesterday was a blur of busyness.  Some shopping for a few things for the home, lunch with Carol, her sister Mary Ann and Madi, who surprised us. An hour at the ATT store buying a new i-Phone 6plus.  It's HUGE.  Almost TOO huge!  A visit with my mother over the phone and my aunt in Ohio, over another catch-up call. Carol and her daughter, Madi, came by to see the home, later in the afternoon. A race to the storage unit in the dark, to see if we could find some things for the organizing class that I'm teaching tonight.  We brought home the other half of the cabinet for our bedroom and then had our awesome neighbors come over for a quick tour to see the progress, after Layne had helped unload and bring in the hutch. A short family counsel and prayer, then bedtime.  CRAZY, never slowed down.  Somewhere in there, we made sandwiches and quesadillas.  Busy day!  Productive day!

I'm loving life right now!  In between running and company, I was able to hang a few things on walls!  I was able to empty a few boxes from the garage!  I have listed a few more things on the local classifieds, which gives us more space in the garage every day.  It's been great to see things coming together.  My favorite part of "settling in" is that I wan walk into a room without a corner full of "stuff" that needs to be done.  At the storage unit, we set a goal to be out of it by the 6th of May.  We'll see how that goes. I love progress!!!

Tonight, I'm teaching this organizing class for 70 women and I'm a little freaked out over it. Normally, I'm excited and can't wait to share but tonight, I'm feeling "unorganized" because we are in such disarray. One friend said, "You're unorganized about your organizing class?!"  I'll just be honest and straight forward about our situation and pray that it goes well. Six weeks later, the new home is becoming more organized every day, but this home is different than our last home. It has lots of built-in cabinets and tons of storage. Our old home was smaller and needed the organizing containers to simplify life.  So, I'm having to reassemble things that I've not had to use in the new home.  I'm glad that many were still in storage.  But, it's a little nerve-wracking because I'm not just opening closets and pulling things out that I'll take. I'm putting them back together and hoping that I don't forget anything major!  But, the best thing about tonight is that Doug's going to go with me!  That will be a plus!  We get extra time alone together!  Fingers crossed that things will go smoothly!

Life is good! 

 

a major meltdown and the best laugh yet!

Oh my.  I was so excited yesterday!  Soooooo excited to have the carpet done and finally get our bedroom together!  When we removed the old carpet the night before, I had noticed that the baseboards were pretty high off the subfloor.  BUT.  I knew that Dan would just come in with some solution, no problemo.  When Dan arrived, I said, "Houston, we have a problem. Of course!"  Dan looked at the baseboards, pulled out his measuring tape and realized that they were all over an inch above the subfloor.  He placed a small piece of the carpet under it and showed me that there would still be about a 3/4" gap between the baseboards and finished carpet.  He suggested that the only solution is to pull off the baseboards and re-paint that top inch then he could come back when I was done.

It was just about that time that Doug called to say Happy Anniversary. I was already sanding the paint line where the baseboards had been and finding old wallpaper beneath them!  NOOOO! And paint that had dripped behind the baseboards on the wallpaper.  I was ready to start bawling, but tried to keep things positive. I told him what was going on and, as always, he was encouraging and said that it would all work out.  Next, I called Alan to ask what he could do.  Between calls, I totally came apart and started to cry.  Alan was so kind.  He and Jill were on speaker and they were saying, "We'll come over and get it fixed."  The plan was that we could, sand off the paint line, remove the remaining wallpaper,  retexture the bottom, then we could reprime then repaint then we could get the carpet installed on carpet that was five minutes old.  I was SICK.  I cried and cried.  Alan promised, "We will take care of it."  BUT... I didn't want to sand and reprime and repaint. I didn't want to spend another ton of money on it. I didn't want to sleep on the den floor another night.  I wanted carpet now!  I had box springs and trunks and half chairs in my living room and a king size mattress in my den and and and... I was done!  I wanted a bedroom!!!  I thanked them and said we would see each other later.  Total meltdown time.  Total whine fest.  Total pity party.  I wanted carpet!!!  Enough of the surprises already!!!

I turned to Dan, who was removing baseboards, and said, "So, how often do you have a woman have a meltdown on your job?"  Dan and his awesome wife, Angela, have been our friend for twenty years.  He was understanding and said, "It happens occasionally."  We talked about any other possible solutions... buy new taller baseboards, which would be about $500 because the trim and chair rail are all wood, not the newer kind that most people use today.  Double padding would not work.  It would droop at the sides.  I cried a few more tears and asked him to just lay the carpet minus baseboards. We visited while he did the prep work and then brought in the padding.  When he laid the carpet down on top of the padding, it folded on the edges of the wall and it hit me! 

"DAN!  Could we just cove the walls instead of baseboards?"  He said, "Well, if we had enough carpet, but I don't think that we have enough."  I jumped up and went downstairs to the furnace room.  When he installed the family room and downstairs hall three weeks ago, I had the girls clean up after he'd left before we moved the furniture in.  I remembered asking Grace to grab a big trash bag and put all the carpet scraps (long strips from a long hallway) that were left into it, "in case Dan needs them for the stairs".  (I wasn't sure because he hadn't said anything about it and he finished while I was gone.)   I raced downstairs, brought up the large pile of leftover carpet.  Dan said it would be close.  I left and went to lunch with Natalie, who had called in the middle of my meltdown and thought I needed rescuing...that's what friends are for, right!?) 

When I got home, Dan was walking some of his tools out to his truck.  We went inside and I cried tears of joy!  The carpet was installed!  The edges were bound and the walls were coved!  There was even still leftover carpet!  It looked fabulous!  AND  Dan did not charge me one extra penny to do it!  I was so thrilled!  I couldn't believe it!  TENDER MERCY!  MIRACLE!  THE last straw was made wonderful!  I could not thank Dan enough!!!  I'm so happy!  I couldn't wait for Doug to come home and see it!  HAPPY Anniversary!!!!

Seriously!  The only major project (aside from finishing the kitchen painting) that's left are the blinds and window treatments.  We've not had one single thing, except the mantle, just come together without a glitch.  That was enough to send me over the top.  I'm good now!  We are hanging sheets on the bedroom and bathroom window at night until the blinds arrive. I am anxious to see them hung!  The bedroom looks fabulous!  Tonight, we'll go to the storage unit and get the rest of our bedroom.  I've been looking for a new bed, but not found what we want yet.  It's all good today!

And a couple of good laughs from the day...

• Doug and I played a little game all day.  We'd finish a sentence and burst out with "Happy Anniversary!!!!!" in the most random places in the conversation.  It was a riot.  We are celebrating our anniversary this weekend.   While Alan and Jill were here, they picked up on it pretty quickly, as did the girls.  We probably couldn't count the times it was said.  Even Liza called to say it and we raced to say it again.  When we woke up this morning, "Happy Day after our Anniversary!!"  Too funny!
• Last night, our focus was getting our bedroom back together so that we had a place to sleep!  Alan and Jill said that they'd come over and help move the memory foam mattress back into the bedroom.  (It weighs about 200 pounds and takes four people to move.)  So, I'd said that I'd make dinner. We got the bed set back up.  Dinner was tasty. (I made homemade whole wheat bread and my Zupa's BBQ/Ranch chicken salad because Doug asked for our anniversary dinner to be "fruits and grains and veggies".   It was so good!)   Alan and Jill left after dinner and visiting.  Doug and I walked over with a loaf of fresh warm bread to share with our neighbor, David.  (Doug hadn't met him yet, I'd said hello as he walks his dog.)  We came home and Doug took the trash cans out to the street.  I walked something out to him, past the hot tub on the patio, and found this lovely surprise from Alan and Jill...the otters strike again!!!
  
  
  ZJ had made some little people and left a message on it for Alan and Jill a few days ago and hidden it in the back seat of their truck.  Alan and Jill returned the favor with this message, "Come on in, the water's fine!  Bathing Suits OPTIONAL!!" and a few beach "Accessories".  You could have heard me cackling and laughing two blocks away.  Oh, this game we play has become my favorite thing from the move!!!  I'm loving it!  They are too funny!  We're planning our next plot!
• Doug teased me last night about earning my marshmallows.  Before he was even home from work, the girls and I had moved every thing except the large mattress into our bedroom.  It was clean and things were put away.  I was thrilled.  While getting things set up, I plugged in a lamp and the entire plug came out of the wall broken in half.  (The home is honestly well built and lovely, but it's old and everything needs replacing.  AND WE'VE DONE IT!!!) ANYWAY.  I had the bed made on just the box springs because I was so excited and anxious to see the new bedding on the carpet.  I was informed by Doug, while he and Alan were replacing the outlet, that I had possibly lost two of my "patience marshmallows" over the bedroom.  I quickly responded, "I don't care if I ever hear the word marshmallow again!!!"  We all had a good laugh.  This move has definitely been a lesson of patience!

Today is Carol's birthday lunch!  I'm excited!  I'm also excited to go and get myself a new i-phone.  Liza dropped hers and the glass shattered, so we've not been able to facetime for a few days unless she has Buddy's phone.  So, I decided that it's time for me to get a new one and send her mine.  I need my facetime with Aylabelle.  Also, today, is mediation for Zaylee.  I am not at liberty to speak yet, but we are, again, praying that this entire situation will end and that Zaylee's life can continue in peace and security.  Life is good...especially when the tender mercies remind us that prayers are answered every single day!

 

Anniversary and carpet, what could be better?

Today is our 38th anniversary!  YES!  Thirty-eighth!!!  I've teased Doug for months that this one had better be a biggie since it's his number!  He offered a cruise.  I wanted a house!  I got it!  And today, I'm getting the final flooring laid and will be able to move completely in!  Appropriate!  Very excited!  We will be having a special weekend to celebrate since tonight, we'll be busy moving the bedroom into place on the new carpet!  HAPPINESS!

Last night, we emptied the master bedroom to remove the last of the old carpet. That was the last of the "old person home" smell.  It was pretty tired and gross.  We ripped and tore and loaded it on the trailer, then shop-vacced the entire room several times to get the gritty green "sand" from the old carpet padding.  Sadly, this means that yesterdays, almost perfect and nearly done home, is back in total disarray with a king size mattress in the middle of the den floor and a mountain of blankets, bedding, box springs and miscellaneous furniture in the living room floor and the halls are filled with cedar chest, hutches and cabinets.  So, another day of disarray and then the home will come together again for the last time!  YAY!

Yesterday, we primed the kitchen and painted in the kids bathroom.  It's not done, but it's close!  The trim work on the family room was completed.  The curtains that I'd purchased were too long by two inches and will be returned and exchanged for shorter ones.  (I think my sewing machine is still at the storage unit... no hemming will take place because it's easier to return them.) 

We are all very excited about nearing the end!  I have to say that even Quayd and ZJ are now admitting that the like, even prefer, the new home!  It's been quite a journey, but it's coming to a happy ending that will be a wonderful new beginning!  YAY!

Anyway, on this special day, I say...How thankful I am for this good man who has brought me joy and love and laughter for the last almost forty years!  He makes me laugh every day!  He loves me every minute!  He honors his covenants with me and with Heavenly Father!  What a blessing to have found one of the good guys and for him to have loved me back!  Life is good!

 

Easter, conference, birthday, house, recipe...you name it

First of all, Happy Birthday to our beautiful granddaughter, Willow Moon!  It's hard to imagine that she is eight years old!  Although, our contact with her is somewhat limited, she brings us joy and is such a delight!  We are always excited to visit with her on the phone and can't get over how mature she is!  We love her so!

 

Also, this weekend:

Grace filled out her first job application!  Where else?  At Firehouse!

Every second of LDS General Conference was uplifting and inspiring. I've spent so much time focusing on the move and the renovation and we have been in such a mess that I have not given as much time to the things of import, the things of eternal import.  I needed to hear those gentle reminders.  My favorite talks of conference were Elder Clayton, Elder Holland and all President Uchtdorf's evening talk to the young men.  Honestly, my favorite conference ever!  We all sat together and watched every minute. Well, some of us napped during a talk or two! What a wonderful way to spend our Easter weekend!

Lots of yummy food! Fruit pizza, our favorite.

 

Our new tradition continued for a third time.  Quick Breads for conference.  Cinnamon Rolls.  This new strawberry quick bread... OH MY!

Strawberry Cream Cheese Bread

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 1/2 cups strawberries, rinse, dried and chopped

Grease and flour a 9×5 inch loaf pan. With electric mixer cream butter, sugar and cream cheese until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time. Mix in vanilla. In separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend flour mixture with butter mixture just until blended. Add buttermilk and only stir until just combined; do not over mix. Carefully fold in strawberries. Dough mixture will be thick. Bake in a 350°F oven for 50-60 minutes. Let it cool for at least 15 minutes before removing from pan

On Friday, we worked hard and finished several projects.  Doug painted all day long and finally finished our bedroom!  The man does not stop!  How grateful I am for his amazing work ethic!  I was tired watching him!

 Alan installed the new front storm door.  I'm so excited to have the light in the entry way, to be able to see what's happening at the door and for the dogs to not feel like they need to be in the living room because they can see from their level!

Our bedroom and the guest bath are completely painted!  The master bath and kids bath are primed and ready for paint today.  We also got a few more of the smaller projects completed.  It was a productive weekend, even though we did not paint on Saturday until 4 in the afternoon.

Doug really wanted to give the kids some attention this weekend, so, he said "The house will keep."  Our weekend, aside from 10 hours of General Conference, included seeing Cinderella, a couple of hikes for Quayd and Doug, some fun time in the kitchen for the girls and I, lots of fun food and some movies at home.  Cinderlla is delightful!  A perfect date movie, a perfect family movie, a movie that we can't wait to add to our library!  Driver that I am, there were still a few other things that absolutely had to be done before Dan arrives!

Dan will be here in the morning to install our bedroom carpet!  It's the end of the floor coverings!  We will be able to bring the remainder of our furniture for the storage unit and get our bedroom together this week...making this whole move almost three months long!  We will finish painting the two bathrooms today and be ready for Dan in the morning, then, aside from window treatments, the major work will be completed!  We'll focus on boxes from the storage unit, more dejunking and little finishing projects like changing light fixtures and more decorating than renovating! HAPPINESS!!! 

Here's a few things that I've come to realize...1. Everything takes longer than expected!  2.  Everything costs more than expected.  3.  In this home, everything has been more complicated than expected!  So, I have learned to chill quite a bit and roll with the punches.  As we are winding down, I'm learning patience and tolerance!  The goal is to photograph the home next week and share the before and after pix here on the blog.  BUT, no promises.  Our big 38th anniversary is this week!  We may or may not be doing something exciting for it... and as Doug says, "The house will keep."  We'll see.  Life is good!!

"if it is the Lord's plan, it should be our plan!"

 

my favorite thing!

Oh my heck, it's been crazy, busy and fun! We've laughed, I've cried, we've worked hard and made major progress!

Over the past two days:

•  The "Holy Smooth" finish is done in every remaining room ~ the kitchen, all three bathrooms, our bedroom, dressing room and bathroom!.
• Doug's been off work and he has painted our bedroom, the dressing room and will finish the bathroom and ceilings of all three first thing in the morning!

• Our master bedroom, dressing room and all three bathrooms are masked and primed and are ready to be painted this weekend!  The kitchen is masked and ready for prime!
• All of the electrical issues have now been resolved... new breakers and lighting in the family room!  Doug now has to put light plates up in Quayd and ZJ's room and then all of the hall lights to be replaced.
• WOOHOOOOO!  We have purchased the new storm door, which is supposed to be installed tomorrow!
• Baseboards in the kitchen and halls are completed!! 
• The new mantle is hung and ready for décor!  Plus, I found the coolest décor for it, so now I need to make a run to the nearest Pier One ASAP!!! 
• I bought groceries, so the eating out can now stop!
• We took some time off and went to see Cinderella and out for CostaVida lunch and shopping with the kids.

• We had a birthday dinner at Logan Steakhouse, the newest hot spot in the valley, with Carol and Robert, then went to their home for more gab in the hottub.

So laughing...We have one very interesting fireplace in the living room that is just plain "unique".  I've spent weeks, drawing different mantles to go on the fireplace.  BUT.  After we had painted the living room, I decided that I really love the uniqueness of the "frame" that's already on the fireplace. I wanted to keep it.  But, I wanted a mantle.  So, I came up with the idea of a simple shelf over the mantle.  It keeps the simplicity but adds a "wow" factor.  I purchased the iron brackets weeks ago and yesterday, Alan cut the wood and mounted it for me to see if I'd love it as much as I thought I would.  I do!  I was so excited!

Right at about dinnertime on Wednesday, I was expecting Katie to come to pick up our grandson, Jason, plus, Todd and Myra called to say that they were dropping by.  Alan and Jill were cleaning up for the day.  Doug was just walking in from work.  It was a little hectic.  Alan came out to the back, where we were showing Todd and Myra the yard, to tell me that he'd hung the mantle shelf (before painting) for my approval.  I went into the living room and I should have guessed it!  The otter print was mounted on the mantle instead of our large family temple picture.   I yelled "Alan Dale CORBRIDGE!!!!" from the living room and heard Alan laughing from the other room.  The otter, obviously, continue to be an important part of this move transition.  I'd put the otters in Alan's tools in his truck.  Little did I know that they'd found them and taped them to the glass door in the corner of my living room all day yesterday and today.  I have had seven people tour the house since then!!!  And I'd not noticed it!  WHO DID!?!?!?!?  This otter print has become our little game.  It's totally making it's way to Alan and Jill's house very soon!  I'm sure that Todd, Myra and Katie were all wondering why I was screaming at my brother-in-law!!!

It's been lots of work and lots of fun!  To be totally honest, though, I'm so over this!  I'm so ready for Dan to install the last of the flooring on Monday or Tuesday, move into our bedroom completely and we will be able to say that we are "officially" "moved in".  There will still be plenty to do, but our room is the last to be in the middle of the major transition.  By the middle of next week, I should be able to say that, aside from window treatments, there are several rooms done!!!

Oh. the stove story continues. They were supposed to deliver the third stove last week, however, it had a huge ding in the left side, which is exposed.  So, they called and said they'd bring a new one on Thursday.  No one came.  No one called. While at Lowes buying the storm door, I asked about it and they have no record of it.  I came home, got the receipt and called them with the numbers.  They, somehow, had marked it as received and it's no longer in the system.  So, now, I have to go and purchase stove number FOUR.  They will refund stove three and then when they deliver stove four and pick up stove two, they will refund me for stove two.  This is insane!  I'm beginning to wonder if it was meant for me to have a stove!  We are still laughing, but seriously, if it could go wrong, since this move, it has.  In the end, it's always been worth the trouble, but seriously!?!?!?!?  Did I mention that the granite countertop for the bakecenter was cut too small and has to be remade?  Earning more patience marshmallows every day!  The paint for the upper half of our bedroom was completely wrong.  (It looked more like a Mexican restaurant than a bedroom.  Don't get me wrong...I love Mexican restaurants, but not in my bedroom!)

One other little "oops"... I can't remember if I shared this or not.  Jill and I were in the master bedroom.  I noticed the garbage truck out front, picking up our trash.  I noticed the drapes from our window pouring out of the big black beauty and asked, "Oh, Jill?  Where did you put our bathroom drapes?"  She said, "In that pile of curtains that were in your bedroom floor."  The pile that the girls had carried out toe the trash.  Yep, we tossed 'em.  We'll be ordering blinds or something new for the master bedroom, closet and bath now.

We enjoyed having Jason all day.  The boys went on a hike.  There's an amazing footpath on the mountain near our home.  They were loving that!  They hottubbed, jumped on the tramp, had a Jurrassic Park marathon, it was a good day.  

We have loved the drop in company over the past few days!  I've loved having Doug home again!  He asked tonight, what's on the agenda for Friday.  I said, "Paint.  Paint.  Paint.  Oh, and more paint.  And hang a porch swing.  And light fixtures."  I'm loving the progress on the finish work!  

I was thinking about finish work!  It's really a lot like life, in general.  We must do the major things, the structural work, the plumbing and the wiring and nothing works without them. The foundation, the framing, the roof, it's all necessary.  It is critical.  The stronger the foundation, the better the home.  But, on the other hand, the finish work is also important.  To me, it makes the home unique and lovely. It's how the home represents the family who lives in it.  Both are necessary.  Cutting corners is not or should not be an option.  Finishing touches, the little extras, doing it right the first time, going that extra mile...all things that are always of benefit in the end... The same goes with life. The more we put into it, the better the return. Just sayin.

 Life is good.  Very, very good!

May your every day sparkle! 

too busy to blog!

It's been a super awesome day, accomplishing a ton! I'm so happy! I think I'll have pix to share by the end of the day Thursday, of at least one or two accomplishments! HAPPINESS! Finishing rocks!!!

progress!!!

Yesterday turned out to be super productive and crazier than our normal crazy!  We removed wallpaper from the master bedroom, the sitting area and the master bathroom!  The kids worked hard all day long helping, and I do mean, they were a lot of help! We did take a break to meet Denise at Pizza Pie Café for a quick lunch, then raced back home to get back to work.  Alan and Jill came over to check a few things, while their son/our nephew, Alec put up baseboards throughout the home!  HAPPINESS!!  We're getting to the finishing touches!  While Alan and Jill were here, we talked about what is left, Doug called and we discussed it and we decided to hire Alan and Jill to help expedite the last of the painting! Now that Doug's back at work, it's literally one small task a night and sometimes there's not even time for that.  Dan will install our bedroom carpet as soon as the paint dries, leaving us with window treatments, a new kitchen faucet, some more light fixtures and one last toilet to install as the major things!   The home will be done with the major renovation!  We will call it good!  It's time to relax and enjoy our hard work!  We've enjoyed it already but relaxing and enjoying sounds even better!  I'm so excited!   

I keep receiving emails, "Where are the pictures!?"  We're almost there!! But, here's a few of the latest.

Quayd took these of me, removing a wallpaper border from the laundry/utility room, this morning.  It's one of the actual few things I've done myself.  Thankfully, Alan and Jill have been here.  Doug, the girls and Quayd have done so much of the labor and I've given tons of directions!  Friends have come to the rescue!

The wallpaper steamer is the most amazing tool.  It took me about fifteen minutes to remove 50 feet of border!

Here's what walls look like when people hang wallpaper on walls without priming and fifty years later, other people remove the wallpaper.  This is master bathroom wall.  Sadness.  Thankfully, Alan will be texturing and covering it all today! 

Back to yesterday, we worked until Doug got in from work.  The big built-in bookshelf in the master bedroom is gone!  I'm so happy!  The room looks totally different.  Right now, it looks different anyway because the bed and furniture is all in the middle of the room and the walls are bare down to what's left of the sheetrock after removing the wallpaper.  Today, textured walls. Tomorrow, painted bedroom!  Empty it and finally the last floor to be done... ours!  So happy!

Doug came in from work at about the same time that our grandson, Jason and his whole family arrived.  Dave brought the large slab of granite that we'd ordered for my bake center.  They also delivered Jason for a sleepover!  Katie and the girls hadn't seen the new home yet, so it was awesome to get to visit with them all. 

After an hour, we took a poll and ended up at Café Sabor for dinner! Oh my, we love Sabor!  Doug goes to bed at 8 but we didn't end up leaving Sabor's until 9.  But, dinner was wonderful and the company doesn't get any better!

We came home and settled everyone down. The kids watched Night at the Museum in the den, Doug slept in Grace's room and my wonderful friend, Kristy arrived at 9:45.  We closed the master bedroom doors and got to work, removing the remaining wallpaper.  We worked until 2:15 and talked until 3.  I love this woman!  She left and I was pretty wound up, so I read for a bit and finally settled into bed around 3:20.  The alarm went off at 3:55, but, I did catch an hour catnap between 6 and 7, before I heard the kids going out to get into the hot tub. They were pretty quiet considering... Isn't Jason growing up too fast!

Productivity is good!  House is looking good!  Life is good! 

no! not more!!

It's spring break!  It hit me last week that we'd planned to take our big trip over this spring break, but we bought a new home instead. NO complaints here! Doug's vacation time was spent during the move.  (I could still use his help for about one more week!)  So, we are staying home this year...not even going to the ranch because right now, the ranch is also in renovation.  I'll try to do a few fun things with the kids.  Quayd will be working much of the break, as well.  But, we'll still try to do some different fun things...and still continue to settle in.

I was texting with my sister-in-law and told her that I'm so ready to be done!  Not because I'm not enjoying it,  I am! But, because we are starting to feel settled.  The home is looking great.  Things are progressing majorly,  but there's still more to do and I'm a finisher.  I can't just call it done until it is.  I finished the dishroom on Saturday.  (unless there are dishes I've forgotten in the storage unit or garage boxes.) The garage still has a ton of boxes that need organizing.  Our old garage had rafters and cabinets galore for storage. This garage has finished walls and only one small set of boxes, so it's going to need some serious help before it's organized.  So, we have some more serious dejunking!  I love it!  I keep saying that the goal is to be all done before Thanksgiving weekend, when the holiday décor goes up.  We are far ahead of that schedule, except for getting rid of a lot more "stuff".

On Saturday, I felt like we'd hit a huge checkmark on the "to do" list because we had not one single box remaining box inside the home.  All rooms are looking like we live here now (even our bedroom which is totally untouched other than putting in furniture.)  Now, to bring one box at a time from the garage and storage unit, go through them and get rid of anything that doesn't have a real need or place to go!  It's kind of ironic in my mind that we bought a home that's, literally, 38% larger, but I feel a need to get rid of 38% of our "stuff".  I've sold several larger things (dressers, tables, etc...on the local classified ads and plan on doing more of that.  We've also taken plenty to the DI.  It feels great! 

With our visit with Liza and her family behind us, and the downstairs completely box free and unpacked, I'm ready to continue decorating and do the last of the painting, then get started on our bedroom make-over.  So, this morning, we started removing wallpaper in our bedroom and discovered that it had been hung directly on sheetrock.  No primer.  No paint.  Now, the sheetrock has peeled off and we have to have the walls textured.  This home... it's become the Money Pit.  Totally.  It will be wonderful when it's done but really?  Could something have just gone a little smoother!? 

All of the major things are completed (plumbing, sheetrock, wall texturing, furniture...or until the news this morning.)  My list of the remaining jobs until completion:

• Paint the upper half of the guest bathroom (one hour, max)
• Paint the master bathroom (three hours)
• Paint the upper half of the kids bathroom (one hour)
• Remove wallpaper from Master Bedroom and sitting area  (today!)
• Remove built in book case in Master Bedroom (fifteen minutes, when I have a husband who's free to do it and not painting or doing other things)
• Paint the Master Bedroom, sitting area and walk-in closet (a full day)
• FIND and buy, then hang new curtains in the living room (I've been checking every website imaginable.  If I like them, they are either too short or too expensive.  If they are long enough and price right, I don't like the fabric or they are out of stock.  I'm ready to tack up a sheet! )  The window is 188" inches wide and 95" tall.
• Paint the laundry room (I don't even want to think about it yet.  It needs serious brightening and once we start painting the other places again, I'll be fine.  But, ugh.  There's a lot of cabinets to mask first.  It will be a full day's work,) 
• Paint over the mantle in the family room.  (Literally fifteen minutes to prime the new sheetrock, then as soon as it dries, fifteen minutes to paint each coat over it.  So, less than an hour of work.)
• Hang the curtains over the mantle windows in the family room.  (Ten minutes, if I find ones that I like to hang.)
• Hang new light fixtures in the laundry room and hallway downstairs.
• Change the sink fixture in the kitchen.

That's all, besides more fun stuff, like decorating.  When I look at that list, compared to my initial list, we've made major progress!  It's been fun to have people come into the home and say, "WOW!!! It's a different place!"  It is.  One of my favorite comments came from the Relief Society President and her counselor when they visited last week. I took them through and they kept saying, "It's so happy!"  The home was very dark before.  It's been wonderful to see the transition and have it brighten up and make it ours!  Happy is a great word to hear about your home!  But!  My most favorite comment was last night, when ZJ said, "This home is starting to grow on me, Mom.  I'm loving it."  YES!!!

Over the weekend, the girls and I went out for dinner at Texas Roadhouse, before watching the LDS Womens Broadcast together.  It was a wonderful evening! 

Doug had worked all day, so we didn't really get any time together most of the day.  I told him that I'm ready for him to retire and stay home every day!  He told me, "I have a house to pay for."  Oh, yeh.  That little detail.

Sunday was casual and relaxed.  We slept til 8, got ready for church.  Had wonderful meetings!  WONDERFUL!  Came home and had a yummy dinner ~ chicken divan and homemade rolls with a dessert made from the remainder of Doug's birthday berries.  We watched a movie together as a family and went to bed.  Quiet, peaceful, sweet.

Grace wants to look for a job.  I'm dying at the thought of it.  She's seriously talking non-stop about getting a job.  I'm dying here!  Two working kids means two more grown kids.  I'm so not ready!

Dan's here for a few last minutes touch-up things on the floor (and will return when the bedroom is painted, and now textured.  I so do not want to break this news to Doug.)  I want to finish removing wallpaper, find some new patio chairs and hang some things on Quayd's walls.  It really never ends! Life is good!  Busy, full of work and play and surprises,  but...good!!

 Practice makes awesome!

Birthday, Boy!

Doug's birthday was today!  We've been busy playing together all day long.  It was a wonderful day!  It felt like my lucky day because we were together most of the day alone!  Doug slept in until 8 while I took the kids to school and did a little this and that at home. We spent some time in the hottub in the morning, which has become one of my favorite parts of the day!  Love it!  We watched two squirrels chasing each other from tree to tree and laughed and oohed and aahed at their ability to "fly" from tree to tree.  Love our new backyard! 

I had listed a few dressers that we no longer need on a local Facebook classified page and we had a lady coming to look at one at 10.  She bought it and we offered to deliver it since we had to deliver our three day old exploded stove to the appliance salvage guy at that end of Logan.  So, we loaded up some boxes for Doug's mom, who is moving this weekend up to Idaho to her new husband, Norm's home.  After a short visit and a birthday hug from Mom for Doug, we headed up to Smithfield.  We had a few stops to make there.  One included picking up some things at Smithfield Implement, which we always referred to as the Smithfield Mall.  It's a 100-plus Hardware/Dept/Cowboy/YouNameIt store that has more than Wal-mart, better prices and the money stays local, so Doug loves it. Oddly, you can't just run in and grab a bolt that you need... you come out with appliances and gadgets and all sorts of fun things!

After that, Doug opted for lunch at Black Pearl.  He cracked me up!   A few weeks ago, Michael, the owner, was making sushi, slicing an avocado.  Doug saw the avocado and that's what he ordered for lunch - a fresh avocado, some wasabi and a bowl of rice.  He liked it so much that he ordered it again today.  Mike delivers it with fresh cilantro surrounding it.  Doug was in heaven.

We had several more errands, including a stop at Sam's Club, where we ran into and spent over half an hour each, talking with two of our favorite people/old neighbors from Smithfield.  Sandi's 99 year old mother had just passed away and she shared some special final experiences with her mom.  I adored her mother... she looked like what I would imagine Mrs. Claus to look like.  Just darling.  I was touched that Sandi shared such personal experiences.  She's always been someone who I love to listen to.  Dorothy is wife of the "other Doug Corbridge" and she and I share a special bond far deeper than both being married to Doug Corbridge, living on the same street and following each other through the valley for decades.  We agreed that she'll come for lunch when I get the house all ready!  That's motivation alone to hurry and get finished!  We never see each other that we don't just gab and gab and laugh and cry.  I adore her!  A highlight of the day, indeed... seeing two special friends!

After a few more stops, we came home, connected with Liza on Facetime and gave Doug his new birthday gift ~ a new suit!  He was very surprised!  I'd not even worried about a size, but just picked one out, bought it, wrapped it and knew that we'd have to go back in to have it altered.  When we were done visiting with Liza, we headed straight to town to let him pick out his suit of choice and it looks great!  It's being altered. I called him James Bond all night!

 

 

After our quick trip back to town, we came home and had his favorite meal for dinner... grilled salmon, baked potatoes, spinach salad and for his dessert, fresh berries.  I did talk him into having the fruit on angel food cake.  He was in heaven.  Dinner was divine!  One of my favorite things that Doug ever says is when I ask where he wants to eat, his answer is always "Sophia's Kitchen".  I'm happy to oblige!

Now, it's 11:33 and we are, all five of us, gathered in the den, sitting in front of a roaring fire, watching Into the Woods on Blu-ray.  I love this moment.  I love this man!  I love life!  I love my life!

No birthday interview... we just have not slowed down long enough to do it.   Maybe in the next few days, but maybe not.  Tomorrow, we will work on the house and we're hoping to buy and plant a few cherry trees!  Life is good!  Live it joyfully!

just friends...

Grace talks a lot about a boy at school.  She also texts a lot with this boy.  She also talks with him on the phone a lot.  They hug hello and they hug good-bye.  They've never held hands.  They've never kissed.  And they are just "friends".  Says Grace: They are not going out.  They are not "dating".  They are "just friends".  He's her best friend.  He's a cute boy, a sweet boy, a very very respectful boy who seems to really "get" what a mom wants!  I like him.

So, after much talk, he came over to "hang out" yesterday.  They baked cookies together, went to the park with ZJ for a bit, he helped with a few boxes and then they hot tubbed with ZJ.  They had a great time, then we gave him a ride home on our way to Smithfield for our friend's birthday and his son's mission homecoming gathering. (Grace's friend drives, but was in a serious car accident recently and he isn't driving again yet.)  We stopped by Doug's mom's to drop off boxes and the friend actual met Grandma.  Grace wasn't even with us, as she had an activity at the LDS Institute on the USU Campus.  He didn't wait to be asked, he hopped out to help and introduce himself.  I like him.  So does Grace. 

I can't believe she's at this place in her life already!  I asked him, "Do you know about our kiss deal?"  He said that he was very aware.  (We have a challenge... If you graduate without ever kissing, it's worth $500 cash!  It's their choice and we don't care if they earn it or not, but it's a fun challenge.)  I asked him if he's kissed a girl yet.  He said no.  I said, "Well, then you understand that if you kiss Grace, it'll be a $500 kiss."  He didn't even hesitate to respond, "If I kiss her, it will be worth ten thousand dollars."  I like him.  I teased "Well, Grace is a pretty cute girl, ya know."  He corrected me, "She's not cute, she's beauuuuutiful."  Yeh.  He said all the right things. 

Grace continues to insist that they're just friends.  Cute friends.  Friends with cookies for benefits.  It works for me. 

Life is good.

 

 

 

 

 

deep sigh

Well, my girls have gone home.  They actually landed about a half an hour ago and Buddy's plane lands in an hour. (Buddy flew home early last week and had to make a quick trip to Dallas for meetings yesterday, so they were both in the air at the same time tonight. So, after a 90 minute ride to the airport in SLC at 4:30, a 90 minute delay before her flight, a 90 minute flight and a 90 minute wait for Buddy to fly in from Dallas and then to get to their car and a ten minute drive home from the Phoenix airport, it will be a very long day for my girls.  Both of them, I'm sure.  And my heart hurts.  But, as Doug reminded me, we will facetime in the morning... and I remind myself that we'll be seeing them again in May, so I'll still be alive. Deep sigh.

This morning, we got up and visited while getting ready, then we went our own way for two hours.  Liza had been trying to connect with her high school friend all week and the only time that they could get together was today, so they went to lunch.  While they were gone, Denise and I went out for a quick bite, then I returned and watched Dan install the carpet on the stairs.  It's looking so good!!!  I'm very excited!  We left while Dan was working on the downstairs hallway and I came home to completed floors (except our bedroom!)

We took a few pix before we left.  Since I'm always the one with the camera, it's never until we are leaving for the airport that I think to take a picture of myself with Aylabelle... and by then, I'm crying.  Oh well.  It is what it is.  Could I love this baby girl any more?   I think not!

We didn't actually leave Logan until 3, so we were able to pick Grace up at her bus stop and invite her along with.  She was happy to!  ZJ and Quayd had already made plans to go to a movie this afternoon, so it worked out for everyone.  We took Liza and Aylabelle to the airport and said our goodbyes.  Aylabelle napped part of the way down and was just as excited as could be to see a "plane".  Grace "held my hand" after the goodbyes while I drove and cried.  We stopped for a short taste of "shopping therapy" and headed to Brigham City to pick up the marble for my bake center countertop.  However, it wasn't there... the guy that had said he'd deliver it to the store, never made it in.  So, I'll have to make another short run over to Brigham in the next few days.  Not that I don't have plenty to do already, so it's not like it's an urgency or anything.  I'll be busy for weeks!

Grace chose her favorite, Arby's, for a quick bite to eat and we were home by 7, in time for all five of us to sit in the hot tub for a half an hour before Doug went to bed.  It felt good to be together and have a little relaxing time to chat and visit before bedtime. 

It's been quite the six weeks.  I was thinking as I drove... we've moved out, lived with Alan and Jill, moved in while the previous owners were still moving out, renovated, catastrophied, celebrated, reunited, and a whole bunch of other things!  It's been, probably, the craziest six weeks of my life!  BUT.  It's all looking good and coming together, so it's been worth it.  This journey has not been all joy and happiness.  There's been days that we've all wanted to cry or scream or yell or something!  And there's been days that we have!  It's been hard on the kids.  Very hard.  But, it's coming together and feeling like home, we all agreed tonight.  We're loving it (or at least liking it more every day).  I'm hoping that before long, we will all be in agreement that it's all great!  For now, I'll just be happy for the "seven" on a scale of 1-10 that I heard tonight!  That's progress!  HUGE progress!

Life is good!  Even when your daughter lives 960 miles away and your downstairs hallway still has boxes lining the walls and four rooms need painting!  It's all good!

 

last day

Yesterday, I spent over three hours, ill on the phone, literally. They sent me from one person to the next to the next.  Apparently, Centurylink does not continue to provide us with email since we no longer use their internet service.  We no longer use Centurylink because they do not offer internet in our neighborhood.  We do however still have a phone with them.  One would think that continuing their service with the phone, they would have, at least, let us know that they were cancelling our email addresses.  Frustrating! Finally, after three hours and six minutes, they gave me thirty days more to access the address before they close it permanently.  Sixty days actually, but thirty have passed.  I still think that if they can extend it thirty more days, why not leave it. Oh well.  Gmail, here we come.  

Liza and I went shopping yesterday morning, then she got a haircut and we went to Costa Vida for lunch.  We came home and she helped me organize my jewelry board while Aylabelle napped.  When Miss A woke up, they went to visit Buddy's family, who just returned from two weeks vacation in Mexico.  Liza was home at nine to tell her dad and the kids goodbye.  After family prayer and a few minutes of playing with Aylabelle, Liza got her down for bed and the two of us had a quiet night in the hot tub until almost midnight.  It was nice to spend that last few hours alone together.  Today, she's having lunch with an old friend and we will head to the airport.  My heart.   Ouch.

We have had a lovely visit!  I've enjoyed being with little Miss A, who is talking up a storm and smarter than any 17 month old baby I've ever seen. It doesn't matter what we are doing, she's involved.  She's helped me fill deviled eggs, helped move furniture, helped cook every meal.  Liza lets her do everything with her.  If she makes a mess, no biggie.  It's amazing to me.  She's an example in parenting!  Yesterday, she found a phone.  Liza said that she'd never seen a real phone before.  She picked it up and carried around, gibbering and saying "Hello", dialing and saying good-bye to hang up, like she'd used one forever.  This entertained her most of the day.

I am happy to announce that my mojo has returned!  For the past week, I've struggled with what to do next.  There's so much to do! I admit, I was feeling a bit defeated and very overwhelmed, which is so not me!  Especially when it comes to making a home beautiful!  But, there was so much to be done and so many things snowballing into more than we'd anticipated!  BUT!  I'm back!  My brain is going ninety miles a minute with ideas and actually getting things done!  Having the floors done makes all the difference, but now, we are getting more non-renovation things done and seeing what is still needed!  Loving it!

Well!  I had a post with pix yesterday but for some reason, nothing wanted to connect to the internet yesterday.  I guess I'll share more photos after my girls are gone .Technical difficulties are enough to make a person INSANE!!!  We've got lots to do this morning!  Then, an emotional afternoon, a race back home to reality!  Life is good!  Even when phone companies and internet cause frustration!  I found this quote yesterday, however, and it made me smile.

 

technical difficulties

i have a whole post and pix and my internet won't connect on the laptop. Better luck tomorrow.

weekend update

This morning, life got a little more real.  After his two and a half week sabbatical, Doug went back to work.  Sadness.  (I'm ever so grateful for his job and willingness to work, but, I so loved having him home, waking up next to him each morning and all that we were able to accomplish together over the past month!)  Liza will go home on Wednesday and I'll be alone in our home for the first time all day on Thursday.  Reality sinks in!  Here's a little weekend update...

Could this little girl be any cuter!?  Every thing is a new thrill for her.  I just love watching her every experience!

We did work, but not a lot this weekend, since it was Doug's last few days off.  There were bikerides abd hikes for Doug and Quayd,  Several trips to the park with Aylabelle and the girls.  All of us girls all went to the movies, finally, to see "Into the Woods".  I've wanted to see this performance for years and to see it on the big screen was so exciting.  ZJ loved it!  Grace cried and didn't care for some of the endings.  I didn't care for the stories but loved the music.  It's sort of a "Once Upon a Time" musical.  Oh, the music!  It comes out in DVD tomorrow and we'll be adding it to our library. 

Aylabelle had never been to the theater before. It was her first time and she did very well until the last twenty minutes or so.  She loved the booster seat and all the treats.  She loved the music.  At the end, Liza and I took turns walking around with her in the lobby and back of the theater.  She wasn't loud or distracting, just busy.

Now, church, on the other hand... she was a busy little girl. She bonked her head on the hymnbook holder and let out a scream.  Liza took her out and stayed out with her.  I realized that Liza does that most Sundays alone because Buddy is in the Stake Young Mens Presidency and is gone so much to other wards.  Liza never ceases to amaze me with her parenting.  It's fascinating to watch her.

I was really surprised that Liza allowed Quayd to give Aylabelle a little "ride" in the storage unit area on his bike.  No helmet!  He only rode her about 50 feet, but she loved it!  Hearing Aylabelle say "Un Cade" for Uncle Quayd makes us laugh everytime!

After church, we made lettuce wraps for dinner, then the B's came over for dessert.  Doug picked Zaylee up from her foster family before they arrived.  Zaylee was so excited to have Aylabelle and Miki to play with.  Quayd had been in bed, all day long, literally, not eating a bite, so he spent the evening in bed, as well.  (He's better this morning and went to school, but we knew he was sick when he didn't even eat.) Grace was at friends for the evening and didn't get home until almost ten.  (She's Miss Social these days!)

 The girls had a blast at the park and playing on the new swings that Grampie put up for them. 

I never know who enjoys it the most... Doug pushing the girls or the girls being pushed!


The teen girls also went to a multi-stake dance this weekend.  It was ZJ's first!  She didn't dance at all, but loved the treats and hanging with her friends.  She was "too scared" to dance."  Grace on the other hand, had a ball on the dance floor.  I can't believe I didn't even take one picture of them! You'd think that I've had a few other things going on! 

Speaking of what's going on here in the house... today, Dan will come and finish up the floors except our bedroom.  Tomorrow, base boards will be replaced!  The new living room furniture was delivered on Saturday!  I love it!  Our very large empty living room just filled up fast!  I was glad that I had opted not to buy the extra side chair!  I love it!  Curtains and a mantle then it's done!!!  I can't wait to share!

Doug keeps teasing me about my patience, but I confess, I'm just ready to have one room completely done!  Just one!  We made progress downstairs in the family room, as well this weekend.  The electrician finished the wiring and we have light!  Now, to paint above the mantle and hang curtains in there.  Although, there are still some major projects to complete, we're getting to the little finishing touches in several rooms!   I am a finisher.  All these little loose ends are making me crazy!   Patience, patience, patience!

 A few other weekend pix...

Liza brought ZJ a pedicure kit and a night together for her birthday.  Last night, after all had settled, Liza, Aylabelle and ZJ had their night together.  Aylabelle had to have her toes painted too.

 This morning, the skies are dark and ominous.  It's windy and cool.  Feels like spring!  Good thing we have plenty to do inside!  Life is so good and I'm lovin' it! 

birthday, boxes and a game

We had such a fun time celebrating with ZJ that we still didn't get to her birthday interview!  But, it was a fun day!  Liza and I worked in the dish room until we'd emptied all of the boxes that were here at the house (or at least that we know of.  I'm certain that there are more in the garage.)  I've got a great start on the dish room and feel great about having a place to see everything at a glance, instead of in four closets throughout the home!  Awesome! 

Once ZJ got home from school, the celebrating began.  We were gathering to head to her choice of dinner, Pizza Pie Café, when the doorbell rang. It was her Young Womens leader, Katrina, from the old ward in Smithfield, accompanied by Miriam, our next door neighbor who was tied to Zee's hip while we were still there.  I couldn't see who came but, I heard a scream of delight like no other!  It was a perfect birthday surprise for ZJ.  I had thought several times through the day, that I should call Miriam's mom to ask if we could invite her over for a bit, but I hadn't gotten around to it.  We had Miriam call her mom and ask if she could just stay and go out for dinner with us.  Miriam, Zee and Grace screamed and squealed and did the happy dance all over the backyard.  Aylabelle started cheering, "Yaaaaaay!"  She had no idea why, but she knew that everyone was very happy.

We went to Pizza Pie Café in two vehicles.  Dinner was fun.  It's not my favorite place to eat, but it's always fun to see the kids enjoy it so much.  Aylabelle loved the pineapple and olives off the salad bar more than any pizza, pasta or dessert. 

 

After dinner, Doug took the girls to Smithfield to take Miriam home.  Liza, Quayd, Aylabelle and I went to pick up a few things at the store on our way home. 

When the kids got home, Liza had a game all ready for everyone to play.  Doug and I passed.  It's a great teenage game, or big kid game, but there's NO way I'd play it.  I hate Skittles to begin with.  The game:  Fill a bowl with Skittles.  Pass the bowl around the table clockwise.  Each person reaches into the bowl, without looking, and draws two Skittles.  When someone draws two of the same color, the person who drew them says, "Chew" and puts them in his/her mouth and chews them.  The next person takes their turn and it continues until someone else draws two of any color.  If you do not draw two of the same, you say, "Suck" and you may not chew.  The game continues in the circle, adding two Skittles with each turn and either continuing to suck them or to chew if you get Double color.  You only continue to chew until the next person that draws two begins to chew.  ONLY ONE CHEWER at a time.  EWWWWWW.  It was disgusting.  But the kids loved it.  Note:  Doug's just teasing.  I've never seen him taste a Skittle!

 After the game, ZJ opened her gifts.  No treasure hunt.  She only had three gifts.  One from Liza and two from us.  I'm not sure which excited her most... the new tablet or the new double barrel curling iron.  She was a happy camper.  After prayer, the kids were all ready for bed.  Doug, Liza and I hot tubbed a bit after she got Aylabelle down for the night.  It was a fun birthday.  ZJ is not a fan of big tadoos... very much like her dad.  She'd rather not let anyone know.  So, she was quite pleased to have a quite family evening and most happy to have Miriam join in.

It was a great day.  Very productive. I'm feeling blue about Doug going back to work next week and Liza leaving and still having so much to do.  But, it will get done.  Dan came to let us know that he was not getting the floors done today.  There was a death in his family.  He'll come on Monday.

Today:

We got the a ton of dishes and partyware organized.
I cleaned and organized another cupboard
I did more laundry!  On the main floor~  That will never get old!
Doug hung the new jetted shower head
We emptied one trailer
We brought in more shelving for organizing
We hot tubbed twice
We had a visit from friend John that we saw yesterday at Lowes
Denise brought treats for ZJ's birthday
Katrina and Miriam visited
The storm door guys came and measured so that we can get the new door installed
Lowes delivery called and said that the new stove had a ding in it and they'll bring a new one on the 23rd.  Stove number 4.  NOT my doing!
Doug removed all flooring in our Master Bathroom and prepped for Dan to install the floor.

It was another productive day, with lots of fun too!  How grateful I am for that sweet daughter of ours, ZJ!  She's amazing and wonderful!

Life is good!

 

ZJ's 14!

ZJ is fourteen today! Isn't she lovely! By the time we got home from the storage unit and had dinner last night, she helped bathe Aylabelle and went to bed!  She was too tired for her birthday interview, which means it will be posted tomorrow!  No one escapes the dreaded "Mom's Birthday Interview".  ;)  Until then, I'll just say, "Happy Birthday, ZJ!!!  We heart you!"

Our Wednesday consisted of three hours at Lowes with Doug.  We picked out a storm door for the front of the house. We opted to have it installed, rather than Doug dealing with it because it's two weeks before it arrives and he'll be back to work. We need more light in the entry and it will also allow for a nice canyon breeze in the evenings!  We also ran into one of our oldest friends, John, who we spent quite a while talking to before getting several other things on the list... a new toilet for the kids potty and our lighting for over the dining table finally came in, after three weeks on back order. 

So, today, Doug will remove our toilet to get the flooring done in the master bathroom, replace the kids toilet completely and prep the floors for Dan to finish where Buddy left off.  That will only leave carpeting in our bedroom and the hallway downstairs, which we'll do after Liza has left and I've had time to prep our bedroom. No painting while she was here.  I am, however, more than ready to be done with the floors, so that we can pull our bedroom together!

We made a trip to the storage unit today and brought some more things home... including my favorite piece of furniture ~ my tablescape table!  Now, I'm really excited for Saturday's delivery of the living room furniture! The living room is almost done. I'm getting so excited for that!  We are all so excited at how much different everything feels with just changing the floor coverings!  Paint, furniture and our belongings are making it home!  Quayd said after work last night, "It's feeling more like our home every day."  It's actually growing on him.

While the kids are at school today, I plan on beginning to unpack the "dish room"!  It's a small 8x9' room/storage area off of Quayd's bedroom that will be perfect for me to put all of my dishes and partyware out and keep organized, simplifying my life, when I want to change tablescapes or set a large table!  I am excited to get busy on it this morning!  Since I won't paint with Aylabelle here, I will be able to unpack a ton of boxes in there while visiting with Liza and Aylabelle!  Plus, it will keep us out of Dan's way while he's doing the floors!  This really is the fun part!  I'm loving the unpacking and organizing!

After going to the storage unit to see what's left there (plenty), I'm anxious to get the house in order and then do some more serious dejunking!  This weekend, I dejunked a three foot stack of scrapbook paper!  I've had several friends call "dibs" on my crafty stuff. 

 
Enough about moving...  On to a few other ramblings...

• Did I mention that my lovely ZJ is fourteen today!?!?!?!?  She wants my lettuce wraps or Pizza for dinner.  We'll see.
• Doug's been fighting the worst bug... he's up a day, then fighting it a day since Saturday. One minute, he's up moving something or building something and the next, he's lying down taking a rest. Sadness.  Ironically, so have several of the men who've been involved in our move. There's a lot of it going around!
• Have I mentioned that I love having main floor laundry!  That's what all this move was about and oh, how wonderful it's been!  Every day, I pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming!
• Aylabelle loves, loves, loves chocolate!  She's figured out where my baking center is and gets the chocolate chips out to carry around.  She knows where Grammie's treats are kept.  She knows how to grab my finger, take me to the bowl and sign and say "More please".  Who can resist that?
• It was a happy day to walk into JCP and find a cute new outfit two sizes smaller than when I went to NYC last fall and to wear two sizes smaller pants for the past few weeks!
• Lowes rocks!  Just sayin'!
• Oh my heck!  Alan put the print of the otters back on the wall above my bed last night!  He's out of control!  I texted him today, "ALAN DALE CORBRIDGE!!!!"  He knew exactly what that was all about!
• We are loving every second with Liza and Aylavelle!  I just want to smother them in hugs and kisses!!

productivity

Miss Aylabelle loved Gram's creamy wheat...

Today was a good day.   At one point, I was quite frustrated.  I want something finished.  Every room in the home is "under construction" of some sort and I was quite discouraged this morning.  The frustration didn't last long, but still...

Buddy finished the flooring in the entryway and kitchen, then the hall into the laundry room before he left on the airport shuttle.  I was so relieved that he got as much done as he could before he left.  Dan will continue where he left off on Thursday afternoon.  But, as I walk through the home, I see so many things needing to be done.  Doug and I have joked about how we walk into the kitchen to grab the hammer to hammer something in the living room. While in the kitchen, we see a shelf that needs something, so we go into the living room to get it.  When we get to the living room, we decide to haul the remaining flooring into the landing downstairs.  When we get to the landing, we realize that we never grabbed the tool to fix the light fixture in the family room.  When we walk into the family room, we realized that we need the hammer for something on the mantle... and so on and so forth.  It's insane! 

Grace's room is done, except for the little hook on the wall to pull her curtain back.  Other than that, and the fact that Liza and Aylabelle's "stuff" is in there, it's perfect!  ZJ's room needs decorating and curtains.  Quayd's room needs serious attention.  All three bathrooms still need paint and primer.  The kitchen needs paint and primer and baseboards and the hardware changed.  The list goes on and on.  Doug has four more days off work.  We want to enjoy the time with Liza and Aylabelle. 

So, after an hour of frustration and discouragement, we made a list of things that Doug and I could do today and he got quite a few thing accomplished!  Today:

• Doug built a shelf inside my cupboard for pots and pans and I organized them
• Doug built a shoe rack for his side of the closet and Grace and I organized them.
• I emptied my closet area of all the boxes and put a ton of things away while Liza spent some time with Buddy before he left
• Doug hung Grace's curtain
• We hung a towel peg bar by the hot tub
• Doug cleaned up and disposed off all the carpet and padding and boxes that have been emptied over the past four days
• We cleaned the debris left from the hot tub repair and the flooring with the shop vac
• We emptied several more boxes and did a ton of dejunking
• Doug filled several shelves of food storage
• Doug did several other little "honey-do" list items
• I cleaned the floors and walls and countertops of more sheet rock dust.  Will it ever go away!?
• I arranged some more furniture
• I went to the furniture store and decided on a coffee table to go with the new living room
• I made a most tasty dinner!!!

It was awesome!  We said goodnight to the kids and enjoyed a little quiet down time in the hot tub alone.  I was very pleased with today's progress.  All of that was done while holding, walking, playing with Aylabelle and visiting with Liza.  Liza is also working from home as a transcriptionist and had to put her hours in today, as well, so we enjoyed bubbles, swinging and walking with Aylabelle while Liza worked.

Dinner... this is simply a knock-off of a salad at Zupas.  It's their barbecue Chicken salad.

Spring Mix (lettuces and spinach)
fire-grilled corn (I tossed it in a pan and cooked it with no oils until it started to brown.)
chopped tomatoes
chopped olives
finely chopped purple onion
chopped olives (I did everything separately so that I didn't have to eat them!)
1 can rinsed black beans
2 - 3  chicken breasts chopped
Fritos corn chips

I served everything separately so that everyone could have what they wanted on their individual salads.  After making the salads, drizzle a generous amount of homemade ranch dressing and then a generous drizzle of bbq sauce over the salad and toss.  Enjoy!

The girls gave it a 9.5.  Doug said he would like it once a week.  Quayd didn't like that I added beans to his, but he ate it all gone.  It will definitely be a favorite to take to gatherings in the future!

It was a great day!  We never even gave thought to St. Patty's day.  No green food, other than the salad.

Life is good.  I'm falling asleep at the keyboard.  Goodnight!