Updated House Post

I updated the house post (see two posts below) with pictures. Enjoy!

See Below!

It is amazing the motivation I can find to do many things other than what I should be doing during finals week! Monday I painted our garage and front door, balanced the checkbook, went to Sam's club, make 6 loaves of zucchini bread, etc...instead of studying for my Business Law final. Yesterday I finally had to end my procrastination and finished studying just in time to take my test before the testing center closed!



Today I find myself catching up on like 6 months of blog posts....hope you enjoy! You will have to click the older post button several times as there are like 10 entries I did...Don't expect any posts tomorrow though...my procrastination will once again have to end as my Accounting final is tomorrow afternoon! After then I have two weeks of freedom before it all starts back up again!



Although this summer has been very busy with school I am amazed at all the things we did amongst the crazy schedule. I took 15 credit hours in 7 weeks. What a task but so glad I did it! The second summer block I only had 6 credit hours so it wasn't as bad. It allowed us to fit in several of the fun things we did that you will see below...enjoy!

House

Our house is still a work in progress (actually it probably always will be since I enjoy crafting too much to ever finish decorating completely!:) but I wanted to post pictures to show how much has changed since we first moved in last November. Some walls are still a little bear but overall we are happy with what we have done with it so far and love our first home! Our yard is starting to look much better as well thanks to Dan. He has spent a lot of time learning how to fix sprinklers, helping me plant a garden, and just regular weekly upkeep.

Beforeish...I had already painted our front door at this point and had forgotten to get a totally beforehand picture.

Afterish...we still need to put the shutters back on the windows that I painted brown as well but you get the idea!

Front Room before...

Front Room after painting, furniture additions, and decor.

Our fun new rug from Target and bench that we found on craigslist.

My parents let us borrow their couch so we wouldn't look so bare:)

My refinished DI find and our New Orleans picture to remind us of our cajun home.

Breezeway between front room and kitchen...still a little bare.

Kitchen before...

So far we have mostly just painted it my "oscar the grouch" green:) Eventually we plan on getting new countertops as well.

One of the many metal fleur de lis found in the house! Have to make sure everyone knows we love Louisiana I guess!

kitchen window seal so far...

my parents graciously loaned us their kitchen table as well. It has been a lifesaver for all the fun family gatherings we have had. We painted the dining room the same neutral beige as is throughout most of the house.

Family room before...

And after...

I love the flower arrangement my mother-in-law made for me!

Guest Room before...

And after...we used our old bed and bedding so that we could work on getting new exciting decor for our own.

I also spray painted and did a faux stain technique on the fan to help make it match. The previously blue one wasn't fitting in so much!

My mother-in-law gave us this cute little rocking chair this last week. I LOVE old little kids furniture and to make it even better it was Dan's from when he was little. She said he loved it and used to rock in it for hours.

Bathroom before....

And after...we got a fun new mirror from Ross

I cut vinyl for the first time for my own house instead of for others! As soon as I can figure out what I want in the rest of the house I plan on cutting a lot more. We also were able to put our seashells in here from my first trip to the beach a few years back.

We were so excited to paint our bathroom a light blue to match our decor we had from our apartment in Louisiana. Side note: I also plan on refinishing the bathroom cabinet a dark brown in the future.

Our bedroom and office still look the same as they did before, except I refinished a bed and dresser we were given for free. I am hoping to paint our bedroom before school starts again in 2 weeks. If so, I will post more pictures soon!

Park City

Over the 24th of July Dan and I decided to go to Park City for the weekend. Dan & his dad had a trip to hike King's Peak planned that weekend but they had to cancel at the last minute. Since Dan already had the days off from work we decided to take advantage of it and go away just the two of us as an early anniversary present. Our 4 year anniversary is next Tuesday but Dan will be busy with a week long Reserves Exercise on base then. We had such a great time spending quality time with one another before the summer ends and Dan joins me back in school again.

My family vacationed in Park City every year growing up. I was able to introduce Dan to one of my favorite pass times....the Alpine Slide! This picture was taken on the chairlift ride up the mountain.

The track.

Waiting at the top of the mountain.

Dan definitely beat me down! We had a fun time and want to do it again sometime!

Dan also rode the zip line. I had been practicing taking pictures of those that came down before him...well I sort of missed him in this one. Oops!

Post Zip line Experience

We also went to mainstreet to visit all my favorite shops. It looks like the bear is kissing my forehead in this one!

One of my favorite things we did was ride the Heber Valley Creeper. They had a "Fiddlers and Fireworks" event for the 24th of July. We rode the train for 2.5 hours, enjoyed fiddlers playing, free pizza, and a firework show from the train over the lake at the end.

Waiting for the train to take off.

Dan on the train.

Looking out once we had started moving.

At the halfway point they stop the train. The engine disconnects and travels on a separate track to the other end of the train and reconnects again. So for the first half of the trip we were sitting forwards and the second half backwards if that makes sense.

Looking out waiting for the fireworks to begin.

Fireworks from the train over the lake.

Right before we got back into the train station.

On Sunday we took the chairlift up the mountain again and enjoyed a quiet Sunday hike.

It was probably more of a stroll for Dan but I lasted longer than I thought I would! We both had a fun time enjoying nature and even got to see an old coal mine shaft from the 1920's while at the top of the mountain.

We had such a fun time and can't wait to go back again!

Grandma Gayle's Funeral

On July 16th, 2010 my Grandma Gayle passed away. I am so grateful for the opportunity we have had to learn so much from her during her life as well as since her passing. My grandma suffered from several health issues as well as a mental illness that began in her mid twenties. My mom remembers a few moments growing up when she was unstable but overall she was able to lead a normal life and raise my mom and my aunt quite well until shortly after my mom got married. Since then my mom has been her primary caregiver and guardian for close to 30 years now.

I remember as a kid when she was a little more stable being able to go to visit her in Layton at her little white house. She was able to cook and clean for herself. She would take the bus each day to a clinic where they gave her meds to her but she was able to lead a fairly independant life. My mom would check in on her to make sure she had food, paid her bills, etc. I have some fun memories of her when she appeared as a normal Grandma to me at such a young age.

As I got older I started to notice some of the struggles she faced and always had a desire to help my mom take care of her as much as I could. From the time I was probably like 7 or 8 I would go with my mom every time she went to help my Grandma Gayle. I quickly took on the role of helping with grocery shopping and anything else I could help assist my mom in. When I was old enough to drive I would often stop in and see her by myself. Over the years she progressively had to move into homes that gave her more support and structure. The past 7 years she has lived in a nursing home.

In high school when I served as President of the Key Club I was able to arrange monthly service activities at the nursing home where she lived. I have great memories of her excitement to see me walk in the door with all my friends each month. She was always so proud of me as her granddaughter.

The past few years as I have lived away I have missed being able to help her as much and I am sad to see her go just because I wish I still had time to get to know her more right now. But I think I can speak for my whole family that we are THRILLED for her to finally be in Heaven where she can be free of pain.

I have always known my grandma as someone who appears like an innocent child. Her favorite thing was for you to bring her a diet coke, Cheetos, and a teddy bear. She struggled a lot because she was aware of what she was missing out on in life but not healthy enough to be able to live it. My grandma was the happiest person I have ever known. She had such an unconditional love for life and for everyone. She faced so many trials in life but stayed so positive despite all of it.

Since her funeral I have been able to learn a lot more about her life before her illness and I have to say I am impressed at the amazing woman she is more and more each day. I am grateful for her wonderful example. I want to be more like her and I look forward to one day teaching my future kids some of the amazing qualities she possessed.

I am happy that we were able to say our goodbyes until we meet again. I am thrilled that she passed away without too many days of suffering and thrilled that she can finally live a life free of her earthly struggles. We all love her so much and miss her dearly but are grateful for our prayers being answered.

There are lots of pictures below. My mom, aunt, and I spent many hours preparing memories of her from before her illness set it and I made sure to get lots of pictures to help me remember the things I learned about her.

My grandma was an amazing artist. We have all been given a piece of her amazing talent, especially my mom and aunt. She drew this picture as part of a contest for a play and won when my mom was a child.

Pictures of her early childhood.

Another picture of hers that hangs in my parents house.

She loved Cardinals from growing up in St. Louis Missouri

We all loved having this Willow Tree there. We could all picture her raising her arms just like this in Heaven when she realized she was free!:)

Her High School years.

This is her Senior Portrait.

The picture on the left is of my grandparent's wedding and the one on the right is her holding my mom as a baby.

This picture is a family favorite. It is the only picture we have of her as an adult before her illness set in. We all believed that this is the person she wants to be remembered as. Both my mom, my aunt, and I have this one framed in our homes now.

The last Teddy Bear we gave her.

My Grandma always loved to look pretty and we felt these flowers fit her pretty personality perfectly!

We found this poem in her room when we went through it after her passing. She loved to write poems as well as paint. It was neat to find that she recently had experienced such a clear moment as to be able to concentrate well enough to write a poem. It made us all quite happy! We also found a few recent drawings were her true spirit was also able to shine through over her illness.

The Pallbearers

My Aunt Renae's family, my mom, me, and my Great Aunt Cathy (my grandma's sister)

I haven't seen Cathy since I was little. I loved getting to know her more! She reminds me so much of my mom and Grandma. I hope I get to spend time with her more often.

Dan's sweet mom, Dolores, came to support my mom as well as so many friends from her ward.

Many of my second cousins.

Dan and our nephews Noah and Conner.

My grandma's daughters and granddaughters.

Renae's Family

Our family (minus Rueben who is serving a mission in Philadelphia)

The cute Teddy Bear cake Dan and I ordered for her.

The amazing flower arrangement my Great Aunt Ethel made for my mom to take home.