12/22/12
10/3/12
Cozi of course
Here are some adorable pictures of Cozi for the world to see.
Cozi's Baby Blessing 9.22.12
Cozi's First Haircut
Cozi in her Blessing Dress
Another Blessing Dress Photo
12/21/11
Making a House into a Home
Our house feels more like a home after it's big makeover. Our big motivation to get the project done, was that Ben's family was coming to visit over Thanksgiving. We really wanted everyone to feel comfortable and be able to enjoy themselves. The plumber installed our faucet and dishwasher 30 minutes before the first guest arrived. Talk about cutting it close! Well without further adieu, here's the before, during and after pictures.
These before pictures were taken when we were looking to buy the house.
Notice the awkward wall to the right? It cut off the view from the kitchen into the family room.
We both knew that had to go!
During: When Ben and I moved into the house we immediately painted the cabinets white. The dark brown was too much for us and it had to go. Looking back, it looks a little stark. It wasn't so bad when we painted the walls a Khaki.
The New Cabinets being installed
The finished product! We still need to hang the microwave and put hardware on the doors..
eventually we'll get around to that..
Notice the wood floor? It's the same stuff as below. It cleans up beautifully! Who would have known?
9/3/10
The Wood.
A couple of weeks before Ben and I bought our house, Ben wanted to look for hardwood to make butcher block counter top. He had been searching on craigslist off and on for a couple of weeks. He emailed a guy that was selling sugar maple hardwood that was taken out of a school's gym floor up in Denver. Ben was pretty interested, so we went up to Denver and checked it out. We only needed about 200-300 square feet. When we got up there, we really liked what we saw, and it was at a very fair price. So we bought 1,500 square feet, enough to do our main level. We scheduled a time for them to drop off our wood, paid and away we went to get a storage unit.
When the time came for the men to drop off our wood, Ben went to help them move it. 3 hours later he came back and told me that we now had 3,000 square feet in the unit. The guy that was supposed to buy the other 1,500 square feet, didn't, and the owner didn't want to keep it, so he gave it to us for free. Score!... or so we thought.
You see, this wood still had all it's nails attached, and they would have to be removed manually before we could even think about using it. We had a couple of awesome friends help us move about a third of it into our garage. And once we had de-nailed and moved all of it into our basement, we then paid a couple of young men from our ward to move the rest of it. Here's what our garage looked like once they were finished moving it.
When the time came for the men to drop off our wood, Ben went to help them move it. 3 hours later he came back and told me that we now had 3,000 square feet in the unit. The guy that was supposed to buy the other 1,500 square feet, didn't, and the owner didn't want to keep it, so he gave it to us for free. Score!... or so we thought.
You see, this wood still had all it's nails attached, and they would have to be removed manually before we could even think about using it. We had a couple of awesome friends help us move about a third of it into our garage. And once we had de-nailed and moved all of it into our basement, we then paid a couple of young men from our ward to move the rest of it. Here's what our garage looked like once they were finished moving it.
This is one side of our 2 car garage
And this is the other side.
As you can tell our garage was out of commission. We worked almost every evening after work for about 4 weeks.
Bless you Progress!
Across a month we spent about 60 hours pulling nails. But we finally finished!
Ahh, the sweet taste of success.. and non-alcoholic celebratory drinks!
7/2/10
We've been busy!
We bought out house! We've had it one week and one day.
Last Thursday, after we signed the papers, we headed over to the house to scrape the popcorn off the ceilings of the family room, dining room and kitchen. I taped everything off with plastic while Ben scraped. That night I got sick, I was sick all Friday as well. So needless to say, I was useless. But Ben being the trooper that he is, got up bright and early and headed over to the house. He scraped those ceilings all day! Around 1 pm our friend Gabe showed up to help him. Let me take this moment to give a huge shout out to Gabe! He worked there all day with Ben, left to go on a date with his wife, and then came back after wards and stayed till 2 am. Then he came back the next morning to help us move. He truly is the greatest of friends.
Like I said we moved Saturday morning. We had about 15 men from our ward show up to help us move. It took less than an hour to load and unload all of our stuff. They looked like little worker ants! We're so grateful for their hard work, and willingness to help.
On Sunday, Ben got sick. I think it was inevitable. He had been working himself physically and emotionally for the past 3 days. Plus I got sick so that didn't really help his chances. Thank goodness his wasn't as bad as mine was, or else we would still be living in a construction zone.
Early Wednesday morning, before work, Ben and I got up and went over to the house (we had been sleeping in our apt on air mattresses since Saturday.) and painted the ceilings. Our home teacher, who I thinks deserves the home teacher of the year award, let us borrow his paint sprayer. It was great! It only took us an hour to paint the Kitchen, Dining and Family room with 2 coats. Note to self: immediately remove tape after painting, or else paint will peel with tape.
After painting we had to clean our apt, we needed to be out of there that day. I had done most of the cleaning on Tuesday and therefore there wasn't much left to do. Thank goodness because that evening Ben and I were going on a date and I didn't want to be too tired for the movie. That's right we went to Eclipse. Our car dealer rented out a theater and invited all the people that recently bought Volvo's. It was great! The theater didn't have a lot of screaming girls or crazy people. I think the best part was that everyone whooped and hollered when Edward's car, not Edward, showed up. Gotta love Volvo. :) The movie was great, I may or may not have gotten feverish during the Edward and Bella scenes, or when Jacob had his shirt off. I'm still deciding who's team I'm on.
Wednesday night was our first night in our house. It was exciting yet, terrifying at the same time. Our apt had felt safe, familiar and it was clean. Our house was new, messy, and under construction. It also makes a lot more noises (sometimes it sounds like someone is walking up in our attic). But one thing that I love about this house is that the master is on the second floor, that means we can sleep with the windows open and not be afraid that anyone is peeping in. I'm really going to enjoy living in a house.
Yesterday, Thursday, We took down all the plastic and cleaned up the dust. Also, we got a shop vac! I know they've been around for ever, but I think that we were made for each other, especially during this time of need. There was bits of popcorn and dust in the corners of ever room, on top of our cabinets, in window seals, but no more. I love you shop vac! Ben also cleaned the Family room carpet. The old owner had a pitbull, 3 different ones through the years of living here. These dogs peed everywhere! Gabe let us borrow their carpet cleaner, and now every carpet in the house has been cleaned. Once again, Thank you Gabe!! Even though they've been cleaned, we'll still be replacing them sooner than later.
Today I'll be unpacking the kitchen, which I'm very excited to do. I can't wait to start cooking again. Eating out is fun, but not when it becomes a necessity or when you're sick.
Here's some before and after pictures that I took
Our home
Last Thursday, after we signed the papers, we headed over to the house to scrape the popcorn off the ceilings of the family room, dining room and kitchen. I taped everything off with plastic while Ben scraped. That night I got sick, I was sick all Friday as well. So needless to say, I was useless. But Ben being the trooper that he is, got up bright and early and headed over to the house. He scraped those ceilings all day! Around 1 pm our friend Gabe showed up to help him. Let me take this moment to give a huge shout out to Gabe! He worked there all day with Ben, left to go on a date with his wife, and then came back after wards and stayed till 2 am. Then he came back the next morning to help us move. He truly is the greatest of friends.
Like I said we moved Saturday morning. We had about 15 men from our ward show up to help us move. It took less than an hour to load and unload all of our stuff. They looked like little worker ants! We're so grateful for their hard work, and willingness to help.
On Sunday, Ben got sick. I think it was inevitable. He had been working himself physically and emotionally for the past 3 days. Plus I got sick so that didn't really help his chances. Thank goodness his wasn't as bad as mine was, or else we would still be living in a construction zone.
Early Wednesday morning, before work, Ben and I got up and went over to the house (we had been sleeping in our apt on air mattresses since Saturday.) and painted the ceilings. Our home teacher, who I thinks deserves the home teacher of the year award, let us borrow his paint sprayer. It was great! It only took us an hour to paint the Kitchen, Dining and Family room with 2 coats. Note to self: immediately remove tape after painting, or else paint will peel with tape.
After painting we had to clean our apt, we needed to be out of there that day. I had done most of the cleaning on Tuesday and therefore there wasn't much left to do. Thank goodness because that evening Ben and I were going on a date and I didn't want to be too tired for the movie. That's right we went to Eclipse. Our car dealer rented out a theater and invited all the people that recently bought Volvo's. It was great! The theater didn't have a lot of screaming girls or crazy people. I think the best part was that everyone whooped and hollered when Edward's car, not Edward, showed up. Gotta love Volvo. :) The movie was great, I may or may not have gotten feverish during the Edward and Bella scenes, or when Jacob had his shirt off. I'm still deciding who's team I'm on.
Wednesday night was our first night in our house. It was exciting yet, terrifying at the same time. Our apt had felt safe, familiar and it was clean. Our house was new, messy, and under construction. It also makes a lot more noises (sometimes it sounds like someone is walking up in our attic). But one thing that I love about this house is that the master is on the second floor, that means we can sleep with the windows open and not be afraid that anyone is peeping in. I'm really going to enjoy living in a house.
Yesterday, Thursday, We took down all the plastic and cleaned up the dust. Also, we got a shop vac! I know they've been around for ever, but I think that we were made for each other, especially during this time of need. There was bits of popcorn and dust in the corners of ever room, on top of our cabinets, in window seals, but no more. I love you shop vac! Ben also cleaned the Family room carpet. The old owner had a pitbull, 3 different ones through the years of living here. These dogs peed everywhere! Gabe let us borrow their carpet cleaner, and now every carpet in the house has been cleaned. Once again, Thank you Gabe!! Even though they've been cleaned, we'll still be replacing them sooner than later.
Today I'll be unpacking the kitchen, which I'm very excited to do. I can't wait to start cooking again. Eating out is fun, but not when it becomes a necessity or when you're sick.
Here's some before and after pictures that I took
This is how the previous owner decorated the family room
And here's it now, with our future plans and scraped ceiling
Here's the Kitchen with what it looked like before
And here's what it looks like now
And here's the dining room, I don't think that I have any before picture of it. Oops!
We're going to be hardwood flooring the whole downstairs within the next year, hopefully. We bought some old 1960's maple floor from a guy who was taking it out of an old high school gym. We got an extremely good deal for it and so we couldn't pass it up. Once all the nails are pulled out of it we'll be ready to install it. But that's another project for another time. As for right now, I think we're just going to work on some small things, till we recuperate from the ceilings. Which might be a very, very long time.
6/2/10
Wedding Flowers
This past Saturday on of my friends got married. I was very flattered when she asked if I would do her wedding flowers. I was very excited and very nervous, this would be my first time doing wedding flowers as the main designer. I had helped with a couple of other weddings, but I was just a helper. Because I was so stressed out about doing the flowers by myself, my mother in law came out to help. She's such a sweetheart! We had so much fun together, and she taught me everything from hemming pants to making a bouquet. Here are a couple of pictures from the wedding. Sorry for the ugly background.
And my personal favorite, the bridal bouquet
What do you guys think? I had a lot of fun, but it was TONS of work!
Also, on a side note, our house was approved! We're set to close June 24th. It doesn't look like much from this picture (It looks a lot better with green grass). I want to paint the outside, but I'm not sure what colors. Any suggestions? Do you think we should paint the brick? I'm kind of leaning towards a yes, but it's a big commitment. there's no going back once you've painted brick.
4/3/10
Once again..
It's been a long time since I've updated the blog. I think I have come to the root of the problem.
1. I work on the computer all day, and after work I don't want to be on the computer anymore
2. I like reading about other peoples lives a lot better than recounting mine.. I am a self admit blog stalker. I've gone to a couple of meetings to help with this addiction. More on that later..
3. I don't have any children to brag (until everybody's nauseous) about.
And.. well that's it. I really only have 3 good reasons. My other not good reasons include, reading Pride and Prejudice for the 12 time (you think I would get sick of it by now, I fooled you), decorating my house that I don't have, cooking for an army when it's just my husband and me (I come from a family of 8, habits are hard to break), my want of having all of my pictures photoshopped before their shared and needing 9 hours of sleep every night.
So here's what's been going on.
Ben and I celebrated our first anniversary on March 6th. He told me that he would plan it, then kept telling me that he had nothing. Up until the day before I thought that we might end up going to Carls Jr and hitting up redbox- a not uncommon Friday night for us. Instead he surprised me with a weekend getaway in Denver. It was so much fun! We stayed at a really nice hotel on the nineth floor. We hit up the aquarium, with all the scary sharks and huge fish (unfortunately I left my camera at the hotel).
Kallista is 1.5 and upside down
1. I work on the computer all day, and after work I don't want to be on the computer anymore
2. I like reading about other peoples lives a lot better than recounting mine.. I am a self admit blog stalker. I've gone to a couple of meetings to help with this addiction. More on that later..
3. I don't have any children to brag (until everybody's nauseous) about.
And.. well that's it. I really only have 3 good reasons. My other not good reasons include, reading Pride and Prejudice for the 12 time (you think I would get sick of it by now, I fooled you), decorating my house that I don't have, cooking for an army when it's just my husband and me (I come from a family of 8, habits are hard to break), my want of having all of my pictures photoshopped before their shared and needing 9 hours of sleep every night.
So here's what's been going on.
Ben and I celebrated our first anniversary on March 6th. He told me that he would plan it, then kept telling me that he had nothing. Up until the day before I thought that we might end up going to Carls Jr and hitting up redbox- a not uncommon Friday night for us. Instead he surprised me with a weekend getaway in Denver. It was so much fun! We stayed at a really nice hotel on the nineth floor. We hit up the aquarium, with all the scary sharks and huge fish (unfortunately I left my camera at the hotel).
The view from the top of our hotel
The night life from our balcony
All and all I must say that Ben has set the bar. First our honeymoon to Mexico, and then the weekend getaway. What will he do next?? Man I love that guy!
The day after we got back from our weekend getaway I went to Washington to help our my sister Kim with her new baby, Aliyah Kimberly Smith, and her 4 other children.
Ashleigh Just turned 6
Kallista is 1.5 and upside down
Kael is 7
Aliyah is 2 weeks old in this picture, isn't she so sweet?
What better thing to do in Washington than play in the forest?
For some reason I don't have any pictures of Tristan, and I don't know why. I'll have to be better about taking pictures.
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