Remember me?

Hello, and welcome to my life. This little project is obviously at the bottom of my priority list. I'd offer to try harder but we all know it will be another year (or two) before I update again. Ugh.

In the time since I was here last so much has changed. We finished the remodel at our house - it turned out beautifully. Really, I was so impressed with the results. Laying tile was much harder than I ever expected - and as thanks for my efforts I treated myself to carpal tunnel surgery. Wow.

So we finished the remodel and then sold the house. Yes, we sold the house. It all happened so fast. We decided one sunny Saturday afternoon in January 2010 that we should put the house on the market, just to see what would happen. By the middle of April 2010 we were moving into our new home. Talk about a whirlwind.

Our new home is lovely. Anika is surrounded by kids her age, but we are gone from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. five days a week so she doesn't get to spend much time with them. Summertime is nice though, she is able to play in the evenings and on weekends. Our lot backs up to a large neighborhood park and Anika loves the playground. I am also very pleased with how much closer we are to my family in Lehi. We've spent quite a bit more time together in the last year and it has been such and easy trip!

We are already planning 'projects' for this house. Doug worked his tail off to complete a flowerbed in the front yard with a brick wall surrounding it. That man does good work. We have several items we'd like to tackle inside the house - like the basement. It is unfinished and we really need to designate some storage space and make it work. We'd also like to finish a bathroom and a living room in the basement. We'll see how much progress we can make before I post again.

Anika is growing so fast. She just turned four. The kid is smart and spunky! Her vocabulary is incredible and I am pleased to report her grammar is excellent (hallelujah!). She has a BIG personality. As an only child she has to deal with my attitude all by herself - I know she is only four but I push her like she is much older!

Doug and I are just peachy. I should let him speak for himself, he may report differently.

Here's hoping I find the time and gumption to update again soon. :)

Oh my! Where has the time gone...

If this were a paper scrapbook I would put it in a closet and never look at it again. I am so far behind!

Las Vegas was a blast. Yes, it was almost 6 weeks ago but I still need to update!

We had so much fun with the family. The kids had a blast, Anika loves her cousins. Hanging out with family is different away from home. Things seemed more fun and relaxed, we weren't so worried about where we had to be next or what we needed to do tomorrow. We really just relaxed.

Of course, the Superbowl was the highlight of Doug's weekend. Go Steelers!

We are still working on our remodel. We'll get there. I hope...

We installed a new backdoor and Doug has finished the sheetrock, we also took out the old Pergo floor. This weekend we hope to prime the walls and work on the shelves for the pantry. Next weekend we hope to lay tile - please keep your fingers crossed.

I'm attaching some cute photos from Las Vegas. Anika and her cousins are such characters!

It is only Wednesday!
3 days to Vegas

5 days. Seriously, the longest 5 days of my life. I think I am into the 28th hour of this day...and it is only Monday! I need to be in Las Vegas right now.

Cathy had photos taken of Sophie in her blessing gown and I cried while looking at them. She is a beautiful baby. I am looking so forward to meeting her.

Tony and Megan have a perfectly gorgeous new baby girl also! Paityn Rae was born on January 23. I haven't met her yet but I received a lovely picture. I think it is fair to say that Megan has wanted a baby girl since she was old enough to know what a baby is. Congrats to her and Tony - and to Colton, Braxton, Landon, and TJ - the luckiest older brothers around. That little girl will be a princess for the rest of her life.

All these new babies make me think of my mom. She was such a proud Grandma and I can't help but think she is preparing these new babes for their turn on Earth. That sounds so sappy but if you knew my mom you'd understand. Every new baby was a treasure and she loved and doted on each and every one. Even when she was in immense pain she would whisper and coo at the babies and it was a sincere smile that came to her face when they acknowledged her. We say "mom would have been so proud" but I think it is more accurate to say "mom is so proud".

Sports and Flooring

2009 is Doug's year. The Utes won the Sugarbowl - along with every other contest they were involved in, and now the Steelers are headed to the Superbowl. I have one happy sports fan in my house!

11 days until we go to Las Vegas - the time is not passing fast enough! Come on, I am ready to go!

Our home remodeling project increased dramatically over the weekend. I am somewhat relieved to report that I am still married. The pantry addition created a need to extend the kitchen floor - unfortunately, Armstrong has discontinued the product Doug used for the rest of the kitchen. So, we are tiling our floor - the ENTIRE kitchen. We found a 16"x16" tile that looks really good with our cabinets and it was on sale. $200 worth of tile and we are on our way...

Doug is a saint. He became very pale at Lowe's on Saturday afternoon when the decision was made to replace the flooring. Every ounce of blood left his head and he got a little sweaty, but he didn't argue (probably because the lack of blood in his brain prevented any thought process). We'll see how far we get with this project before he tries to lock me in the crawl space.

18 days to Vegas...

We are in the process of remodeling our home - again. Or should I say still? I don't know. Doug bought this house before we were married and he did an excellent job of fixing it up. Then he got married and his new wife demanded all kinds of changes. Poor guy had no idea what he was in for! I say "we" when I talk about these projects but I have had very little to do with any of the actual work. Doug has done everything and he has not complained a bit.

I am fairly certain we are going to die in this house so I hope we can make it as close to perfect as possible. Doug, my jack of all trades, has not come after me with a hammer yet so I am assuming he is okay with all of my plans! My house will be the "Winchester Mansion" of Taylorsville. I should start leaving time capsules in each wall we open up.

Last year we created a new access point for our basement and turned an unused area into a family room. Now we are closing off the back stairs and creating a pantry in the kitchen. We were able to open up the back entryway and still have enough space for a nice storage area. We are so close to having storage in our kitchen! How great will it be to not make a trip to the basement before every meal? Wahoo!

Doug has been cruising through this project, it seems to be going well. We hope to be finished by the end of the month - before the trip to Vegas!

It is snowy and cold today. The skies are dark and the roads are slushy, yuck. We are going to Las Vegas for Sophie's blessing on February 2 so I am starting the count down. Even if it is cold and wet in Las Vegas I won't be driving to work or dealing with rush hour traffic. I am so excited to meet little Sophie and to see Anika and Syndey together.

Anika and Sydney were born one day apart - Anika on December 31 and Sydney on January 1. It is so much fun to see the girls side by side. I hope they grown up to be close, even though they live 600 miles apart.

The last time we were able to visit Eric and Cathy in Vegas was in October of 2007. Cathy took these pictures of the girls and created this cute scrapbook page


It will be fun to take some new photos of the girls.

I love visiting Eric and Cathy. We have so much fun together. Cathy pulls out all the stops and bakes every kind of sweet she thinks I might like - she is an excellent baker. When we stay with them she leaves a little box of Charleston Chew candy on the bedside table! And we always take little shopping trips together, we don't spend a lot of money but we have a good time. Cathy is a great mom and I always feel so relaxed when I visit her home. She has everything under control and just seems to make things work. Eric is a blast also, he is the funniest guy I know. And I get his humor which makes me feel smart. He is throwing a Superbowl party during the weekend we'll be there so I'm sure this visit will be a riot.

Todd and Erica are going to be attending the weekend festivities as well. I can not even begin to explain how excited I am for this mini vacation. We are going to have such a good time - the laughs will be non-stop, the food will be incredible, and I am betting I won't want the weekend to end!

I hate to wish the days away but January 31 can't get here soon enough!