300th Post - What Matters Most

I thought that new family pictures would be a perfect way to celebrate 300 posts! I thought it would be very appropriate since these are the people who make my life so wonderful. It's always hard when you get 12 people together and try to get a good shot, but they turned out pretty well. I sure do love my family!

The Parents:

Aren't they adorable?

Grandma: (or Mamuck as she is known to the little girls)

Baby brother: (Eric)

The wind was causing all sorts of fun with my hair:

Karl, Liz & Family:

Lacey, Steve & Ivy:

All the girls: (somehow we missed a boy shot)

The little girls: (aren't they the cutest?)

The original four:

Yep, that's more us:

The whole gang:

P.S. Stay tuned for house pictures. I promise they are coming, but I need to get it all organized before I take pictures!

Five and Twenty

25. A quarter of a century. Or as it is affectionately known in our home - halfway up the hill. As of today, I am officially there! Occasionally I will have a moment where I feel old, but life is good, and I am extremely grateful for each one of those years! Plus, I tend to really like the odd years (or I should say, the odd NUMBER years, as most years could be classified as odd). So, to start off my 25th year of life, here is a random list of 25 simple things that I enjoy:

1. The smell of rain
2. Reading a good book till the wee hours of the morning
3. Beautiful pictures
4. Laughter
5. Catching up with old friends
   
6. Warm cake
7. That outfit that makes you feel like a million bucks
8. Students funny notes
9. Sleeping in
   
10. Freshly fallen snow
11. Game nights
12. Nieces
    
13. A good run after a long day
14. Blog comments :-)
15. Freshly painted toenails
    
16. New socks
    
17. Morning bike rides
18. Smiles from strangers who pass you in the store
    
19. Hugs
20. Airplane rides
21. Good news
22. Great deals
23. Seeing the ocean
24. Canyon views in the autumn
25. Sunday dinners with the family

A Sneak Peek

Several of you have asked me to put up pictures of my new place. I promise, they are coming. However, at the moment it looks like something exploded, so the real pictures will have to wait until it is really done. While it seems (to me anyway) that we have done lots of work, we really haven't. It's in good shape. The two things that I really wanted to have done before I moved in were replacing the carpet, and painting.

The carpet was in sad, sad shape. Most of it was the original carpet that was put in when the house was built in the 90's. It was blue, and worn through. Plus, it didn't match. The carpet in the living room had been replaced and was tan while everywhere else sported blue It only took one evening to get rid of it all!

Then it was on to painting. Most of the house was white and unfriendly. It made it feel like a rental unit. Liz helped me pick out a color (Shaker Beige, neutral without being boring white) and we have been painting ever since. Everyone has been getting in on the action:

Mom

Lacey

Emily & Sandra

Dad did the hardest part, above the stairs. Brave, brave man.

Happy for all the help!

Whoops . . . stepped in a paint pan.
Classy, Kate.

The one person who I don't have a picture of is the one person who has been so, SO helpful! Liz has been a lifesaver throughout this project! She and my mom have been teaching me all sorts of things about fixing up a house! Thanks guys!

Mother nature even gave us a rainbow! So pretty!

Even though it is turning out to be a bigger job than I was expecting, I know that I will be grateful for it in the end! It is already starting to feel more like a home, and my home at that. Plus, it's easier to do it all while the house is empty. I can't wait to see the end product! I will post more detailed photos after it is all done.

Because I don't embarrass myself enough . . .

Remember how I got all those really awesome Sample Sale clothes while I was visiting Suzette? They came with a warning. Suzette said that you always need to check the clothes to make sure that they don't say "sample", or have any strange tags anywhere. I took this warning to heart.

I closed on my house on Wednesday. I decided that since it was a big event for me I would like to dress a little nicer. I picked out a really cute, fun, summer skirt and red shirt from my pile of sample clothes. I checked and double checked to make sure that there was nothing to embarrass me on it. I really liked the outfit! I showed my mom, and she agreed. I set off to the mortgage office.

After signing papers I headed to the temple. After the temple I went and fed the cats I am taking care of this week, and met a neighbor while there. Then I went and picked up the keys to the house and spent some time admiring my new place. Finally, I went home.

When I got home my SIL Liz burst out laughing. "Did you know you have your shirt on inside out and the the word SAMPLE is written across your back?"

WHAT?!?!? I even checked! My mom even looked. How did that happen? I then realized that when I changed at the temple I must have put the shirt on inside out. The sad part is - if the word SAMPLE wasn't there, the shirt could totally be worn inside out and no one would know. As it is, I spent a good part of the day with SAMPLE printed across my rear. Seriously, seriously embarrassing. I wonder how many cell phone pictures of me are circulating. My brother mentioned I could even show up on failblog.org. Ug.

I sure have a knack for making a fool of myself!

closing :-)

Dad's words of advice going into closing: You're going to freak out. It's overwhelming. It's how they do things.

I am happy to report, I did not freak out. I had my breakdowns months ago, and felt surprisingly calm. After an hour of signing loads of papers, I was done!

Hey look . . . they even let me keep the pen ;-)

My keys (I'm not sure why there are so many. They are all the same)

The homeowner :-)

Oh, the Places We Go! (take 2)

(I deleted my last post, because it was easier to put it all in one. I know it is a ton of pictures, but it worked better this way!)

Last week I got to go to Northern Idaho to visit this fine lady:

Suzette and I were roommates when we were freshman in college. We hadn't seen each other in five years before this visit. The trip was full of lots of fun, and lots of rain! Here are some of the things that I did:

Made friends with some super cute kids!

Adorable Zella

Charming Jens

Saw some ENORMOUS cedar trees:

The smell was incredible!

Had LOTS of rain!

Spent a rainy afternoon shopping (at Suzette's house):

Suzette gets to go to sample sales several times each year. She was kind enough to share with me! We spent hours trying on clothes. I ended up coming home with more clothes than I buy in a year (for free!) It was awesome - and required an extra suitcase!

Tried a family favorite:

I have heard about French Toast with Tomato Soup from Suzette for years. It always sounded a bit odd, but I was excited to try it out. I have to say, it rocks! Seriously, yummy!

Went on a beautiful hike:

Celebrated this little guys 1st birthday:

Saw some AMAZING scenery (so green!)

Went all over the place:

From Idaho . . .

to Montana . . .

to Washington . . .

to Canada (my first time) . . .

back to the USA!

Saw the Statue of Liberty:

Sort of.

Played on a super cool beach:

All of the rocks are flat and smooth. A rock skippers dream! Even I was able to get 2 to skip! So fun!

Saw wildlife:

Longhorn Sheep . . .

and a BEAR!!! This was my first time seeing a bear just walking along, not in a zoo! It was cool!

and last of all Visited the Spokane Temple:

It was so much fun! It was great getting to see parts of the country that I have never seen before, but it was even better getting to catch up with an old friend!

Thanks Suzette!