12 thoughts before christmas

oh hello, here i am again.

we're busy and there's lots going on but just not anything that exciting to post on the blog. E has told me a couple times that i need to post something, but i've got nothing.

i would like to post some pictures of the house but i haven't taken any pictures of it yet. plus the kitchen hasn't got repainted and maybe it wont for a while. there are other rooms worth photographing but they're just not put together yet, like i want them to be.

i love having the rusty dog around. he is so funny. my favorite is how excited he gets when i get home from work and his little tail is wagging so fast that it makes his whole body move.

we didn't decorate for christmas and we didn't get a tree. so sad.

i'm really diggin this this this and this

we are going to CA for christmas. i am very excited to see my entire family. haven't seen them all together in a long time.

my favorite part about christmas with my fam... the homemade gifts. it is so much fun and i am very much looking forward to it.

i spoke in church last week. glad that's over with.

i love my job and my co workers, they are the best. like a second family, they are.

from one of my favorite books: "Mostly tonight I feel sort of lost and alone, like now I am up on a windy hill and looking toward a new direction where the wind never blew before. I am afraid to leave all that I know, nothing familiar will be nearby to keep me going. I will have to stand on the hill alone."

i got new contacts a couple weeks ago and now i can see. i also got a prescription for some glasses. i am deciding between these or these. thoughts?

back in action

I miss blogging but it's just so crazy right now. There are million other things I should be doing besides blogging but I decided I had to get some of these thoughts posted.

Work has been really busy but it is sooo good. I love it. I feel extremely blessed.

I've lost all my confidence in picking paint colors. Will someone come do it and make sure we like the end result too.

There's a costco a couple miles from our house, we got a membership over the weekend but with only the two of us, we can't decide if it will be worth it or not. So far the $1.50 hot dog & drink is weighing heavily on the pro side.

We bought trees! We got 2 acacia trees for the backyard, a mesquite and a pygmy palm for the front. E put in winter seed and we have nice green grass coming up in front and back yards. We are waiting to plant an orange tree because it's better to plant in February.

We also have rose bushes in the front yard. They need some love but I am excited for the pretty roses they will produce.

I can't neglect the Vitamix, I've been meaning to blog about it. E got a vitamix for his birthday in October. It's AMAZING. We love it and use it everyday. We are eating way more greens than we ever have before.

The Gilbert Temple ground breaking ceremony is this weekend. The new temple in Gilbert is like 1 mile from our house... it is so awesome.

We made 2 batches of no bake cookies this weekend. oh man they are so good.

My parents are coming to visit this weekend. My goal was to have the house all put together before they arrive Thursday night. But I don't think it's gonna happen (Sorry Mom & Dad). It'll be mostly done but I think it might be impossible to have it completely put together in the next couple days.

Oh and my parents are bringing Rusty with them... and we are gonna take a stab at keeping him! I am really excited... even though it means change and more work. I'm happy to have my friend with me again.

fail

last week i decided on all the interior paint colors. it was a long process of picking them all out, but i felt good about them. then yesterday, the painting was complete and there are a couple rooms that i love how they turned out but the color in the kitchen looks really purplish {not what i was going for and if you didn't know, E hates the color purple... hate is not a strong enough word}. and the family room is just kind of blah. i don't mind the color, but it's just kind of a tan. and we have tan carpet and tan tile and our couch is a shade of tan. so now, we're considering re-painting. ugh.

first morning in the new house. i love the master bedroom. there's nothing special about it but it just feels really nice and open. or maybe it's just the feeling of change and being in a new place. either way, i like it.

i hear ya loud and clear man

life has been just a tad busy. i can't recall the last time i was this busy. i really haven't had much time to do anything besides work and think about/pack for our move.

i love my job (and my co-workers... they are amazing and funny) and i have been putting in some long hours lately. we had a very involved and large event this weekend (fri and sat) that i played a big part in. we had about 375 students go out into the community and provide service at over 20 organizations. the past few weeks have been insane trying to prepare everything for the event this weekend but now it's over, which means, time for blogging.

we closed on our house in gilbert and went straight to work (mostly E working on it because i was so busy at work) on turning it into what we envisioned. E knocked out the soffit thing (in the family room) and the bar/window thing (between the family room/kitchen). then we had the walls patched and textured. then the tile got installed and the painting starts today.

to see before pics scroll down a couple posts

we still have a handful of things to finish like replacing faucets, a new kitchen sink, some new lighting and knobs on the kitchen cabinets. and of course i can't wait to decorate some more after we get settled in (don't you think a nice big flat screen tv would look awesome on that new wall... i can dream right).

we have renters moving into our tempe place on the 29th. so we have to be out by the 28th... this thursday. that's scary because i haven't really packed anything. but i'm sure it will all work out just great. we are so excited to move into this house. it's awesome and we love it.

the house in gilbert

we finally opened escrow on the new house in gilbert. it's set to close on the 15th but hopefully we get it sooner. we went to the house last weekend and took a bunch of pictures, did some measuring and started picking paint colors. we are really really excited for this move and this change. it's gonna be good for us.

of course we want to re do a bunch of stuff in the house but we will have to take it slow at first. the things we are planning on doing right away are, painting the entire house and installing tile. E wants to rip out that soffit/divider thingy in the front room but then we might have to replace the carpet, so we haven't decided on that yet. and of course E will work his magic in the yard and turn the grass green again. we're also planning on planting some fruit trees and maybe even a garden in the back yard!

i want to add some {good, tasteful, still relatively neutral} color to the walls of the house but E really wants to just paint everything the same color. i say that wont look good and that you have to have some varying colors through out the house. he says it's going to be a rainbow house. any suggestions?

front room/family room

Back Yard

 Kitchen

 Hall bathroom and 2 hall bedrooms

Master bedroom and bathroom

thursday thoughts

the jasper house finally closed for good yesterday... it's so great. the flip was a success, although we both kind of miss that house, it was pretty perfect after we renovated it.

and... our offer was accepted on another house in gilbert {for us}. it's still in the beginning stages but hopefully everything will go through and close in about 2 weeks. this is it.

but you know what's missing? lots and lots of babies. i guess you can't have everything you want. i feel like i'm failing this test called infertility. i thought i was doing good and staying positive but now i'm just angry and upset. it's really the most frustrating thing i've ever experienced. hopefully this weekend will bring some peace to my tired and troubled soul.