Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Name Twin

So I'm stealing this idea from another blog but I thought it would be fun! The idea is that you go into google and type in your name and see what your name twin looks like! Well, I tried this first with my married name and got no pictures or really anything besides stuff that is on the internet about me! So that wasn't too helpful. So I then input my maiden name and still came up with no pictures of my name twin but found out my name twin was a National Merit Finalist in Memphis, TN, another name twin is a cheer coach at Crowder College and another on some public boards for a city.

Rob was a little more fun! His name twin is practicing law in Alexandra Virginia. This is what he looks like:



Also - this man on the left in this picture is a name twin (sexy!)





Kind of fun. So who is your name twin?

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Scrapbooking

Back in January when our ward switched over to 9 a.m. church (I had been at 1 p.m. or later church since I was probably a sophomore at BYU) . .. I daydreamed of all the things I could do with my free time in the afternoon of Sundays. My biggest dream was that I was going to get back into scrapbooking! My logic was that it's "personal/family history" so it would be appropriate. And I figured it would be good use of my time rather than taking a really long nap which would then keep me up late and ruin my whole week of sleeping. I had completed my scrapbook through most of my senior year of college but hadn't done anything since moving to Arizona. None of my trips were documented and of course I still have the wedding scrapbook to eventually get to!

My aunt Misti (when I was visiting her family over Thanksgiving) showed me these little 9x9 scrapbooks that her kids had started doing. I thought they were so cute and would be perfect to use for the trips I have taken over the last few years! So off I went to research more about these small books. I actually then decided to use the 8x8 size scrapbooks and found a good deal online and proceeded to order them. I went to my favorite scrapbook store (Scrapbooks, Etc in Mesa, AZ) and stocked up some cardstock and decided on a theme and found a few things to go with it. My first task was to document a trip I had taken with some girl friends to NYC in 2004. It was only a 4 day trip but we packed a lot into that 4 day trip and since there were 4 of us with cameras - we ended up with a TON of pictures.



It has taken me about 6 months but I finally finished my New York City scrapbook today! I am a very simple scrapbooker so it really shouldn't have taken me so long but my ideal Sundays often were interrupted by a much needed nap, or church meetings, etc. I have to admit that I love the 8x8 scrapbooks! I don't see myself using them for everything but for a small "theme" book - they are just the right size. I like it because you put just one picture on a page if you want to and it doesn't look too bare or you can crop pictures and fit more than one. So now I'm on to my next theme back - a trip to Washington DC in 2003. Hopefully this won't take me as long! :)

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Graduation

The last of my brothers graduated from high school last weekend. (Made me feel really old to realize that I'm only 2 years away from my 10 year High School Reunion!) And Kevin had to show all of us up by being the senior class president and the only Senior they asked to speak at graduation services! He gave a great funny speech that drew lots of laughs and ended with kids sending beach balls around the graduating class. I think he was pretty relieved when that speech was over!

It was a good weekend - my brother Tysen also came up. But Kory and Trent are both on missions so they obviously couldn't make it!

We went to dinner for graduation on Friday and then the graduation itself where I was able to see some of my old friends from high school that had siblings graduating also. Saturday we spent the majority of the day watching the World Cup. And then Sunday we celebrated Father's Day before having to come back to Arizona.

The weather was in the high 60's which was a little cold after the 110+ weather of Phoenix but a nice break from the heat also!

Kevin walking in with his buddy Mike - the second set of people in the picture (who was the vice president of the Senior Class)





Kevin giving his graduation speech




The only family photo we took that night (For some reason I look really tired and wasn't having a good hair day!)

Friday, June 09, 2006

Landscaping - FINALLY!

Please excuse all the house posts lately but really this is the only other thing we have been doing lately besides going to work and church responsibilities. And this one we can't even really take credit for! After fighting our front yard for months with the out of control weeds and bushes, etc. - we were at a loss. We just didn't have the time or energy to figure out what to do! So we broke down and hired a landscaping company. The first company we hired actually went out of business before they even started our job (luckily we got our deposit back) but then we found this husband and wife team that we hired and we were so glad we found them. If any of you are in Arizona and need lanscaping work - I highly recommend calling Landscape Plus, Inc. Here are some before shots of the yard. Notice the ugly bush and the out of control bogavilla plant (I have no idea if I spelled that right but it's the one with the fuschia flowers).


Before Shot


Notice all the weeds? Oops



I don't know if you saw the huge out of control bush in the before shots . .. in that same spot you now see a tree. Apparently our bush was a tree this whole time and we had no idea! I am not a huge fan of the desert landscaping (I love my grass) but we decided for the front yard we'd rather have some low maintenance that looked nice. I can't wait for my new plants and trees to start growing! We added a new border as well but I didn't take a close up of that yet. Maybe when my plants start blooming!


So much better!


These plants will add more color when they start blooming




Finally I can not be embarrassed to have people see my house! Now we just need to get our carport enclosed to make a garage. And next year the project is the backyard.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Dust Storm


We had a huge dust storm roll into the valley today. Rob and I were up on the roof patching and got a pretty good view of it. July and August are when we get the really cool weather out here though! This was a surprise coming so early in June. And yet - still no rain! :(

Monday, June 05, 2006

Laundry Room

Fall of 2005 brought a microburst to my neighborhood. A microburst is kind of like a mini tornado where it is really strong powerful winds but concentrated on a specific area. The center of this microburst was the corner of where we live. We were pretty lucky in that only a section of our roof was torn off! My neighbors had most of their roof torn off and a fence taken down. I watched from my house only to see shingles flying off my roof and into my fruit trees. Luckily my dog Max had just come inside or I think he would have been blown over the fence!

So this brings me to the current story. As many of you know - Phoenix went an insane amount of days without rain. Because of this - we completely forgot about this little section of roof that needed to be fixed (it was on the back of the house and really small). Middle of March brought a huge rain storm (tons of people had leaking roofs, flooding,etc) Sure enough - I woke up to the sound of dripping in my house and wake up Rob and we both go into our little laundry room only to watch the ceiling basically drop out as we watch. Major problems! So Rob calls his dad and they run off to Home Depot to now try and fix what part of the roof that they can. And we also start the fun task of cleaning out the room. It was an adventure to say the least. EVERYTHING in the entire room was covered with drywall ceiling or insulation. And soaking wet on top of it all. And of course after going months with no rain - it poured that entire day and didn't even give us a break!

Hole in Ceiling




I had to deal with food storage taking up a whole section of my kitchen while I waited for Rob to have time to patch the ceiling in there. Since everything was already out of the room anyway - I got this great idea to paint the room. I had it all envisioned in my mind a really pretty bluish green (like the Tahitian ocean) with white shelving. Well, once again I learned that the color on the little strips you look at while at Home Depot . .. . is not really the color you end up with on the wall. Luckily this is a tiny room! And I just don't have the energy to bother repainting in the real color I was going for since no one really goes in this room but me. I just have to smile every time I walk in the room since it's so bright and not what I was going for! Lesson learned. But my room is FINALLY back in order and I got my kitchen back and suddenly feel like I have a big house because there is not all of this stuff in the wrong location! And just for your info - this is my multipurpose room. It houses everything from my food storage, to appliances that don't fit in my kitchen, etc. I dream of the day when I have an actual separate pantry. :)



My new Aqua Laundry Room

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Kitchen Updates

Over the course of the last 17 months that we have owned this house, my kitchen has slowly but surely come together. I wish I had taken more before pictures but that just wasn't on my mind at the beginning stages! The cabinets were horrid (this is a 26 year old HUD home) and we didn't have a ton of money to replace them all . .. so my quick fix was to paint them red. Sounds crazy to many but I love them! After a year of begging . .. Rob finally let us get new kitchen appliances. We found great deals in March at the Sears Scratch and Dent Appliance center. We got everything brand new but with slight defects (like our fridge has a dent on the side but since it slides in - no one can tell and same with our oven). He didn't let me get a new microwave yet since we already had a countertop one that worked just fine (sometimes he is more practical than me!). So for my birthday last week - I asked for an overhead one and he installed it for me tonight. It was a struggle and I still need to fix the cabinets above the microwave - but I am so very excited to finally have my microwave above the stove and be able to have a little more counter space!!


New Microwave


Another Microwave Shot


And a couple of weeks ago I decided I was sick and tired of my big kitchen window having no curtains or anything. I had some leftover fabric from my sliding glass door curtains so my friend Nicole and I headed off to Home Depot for some supplies and within an hour whipped up this box valence. I don't really love it but it's going to have to do until I find some cute new fabric that will work for my kitchen windows and sliding glass doors and matches my kitchen colors. For some reason in this picture it looks slightly crooked but it's really not!


Box Valence


The last phase of my kitchen makeover is new countertops and a new sink. Look for them in a few months when I talk Rob into putting them in for me! :)

Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration


Rob took the Young Men (Teachers Quorum) to the Mesa Temple Visitors Center to see the new movie on Joseph Smith. I haven't had a chance to see it yet so I decided to tag along. If you haven't had a chance to see this movie yet - I highly recommend it!

I didn't really have any expectations going into this movie. I figured that I've studied Joseph Smith my whole life and I know he led an amazing life and was a Prophet of God and that I would just get the warm fuzzies watching the film. I was surprised at how much it touched me. For some reason, I was really able to picture myself being there during that time period.

I tried to think of what it would be like to be Emma Smith. To know and trust your husband was doing the right thing - but at the same time questioning why you had to go through so many trials. I loved when Joseph Smith said after spending months in the cold of Liberty Jail "we had suffered, but not in vain because our hearts had been softened." It made me reflect on my own personal trials and reflect on my attitude towards them.

Joseph Smith became such a real person to me over the course of this movie. Maybe it is because we spent so much time studying him last year - I'm not really sure. There is an underlying story that goes on in the movie with a girl and her dad traveling to Nauvoo to meet the Prophet and the dad says "We don't need to meet him, to know he is a Prophet." I thought that was so fitting. And true even with our current Prophet today.

I was just so touched by this movie. I wouldn't consider myself a big crier during movies but by the end . .. I was practically sobbing. Even though I knew what was coming and how it ended!

Anyway . . I hope everyone gets a chance to see this movie!