Home Sweet Home

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! I think I say that every time I do a new post!=) There has been a lot going on in our neck of the woods.  We have taken some big "grown up" steps in our lives over the last several months, one of which was purchasing a home! Looking back, it's kind of crazy how everything fell into place.  We had been in our apartment since we were first married, so it was close to three years.  During that time we were able to pay off Joe's school loans, pay off our car,  and get out of debt, which was a huge weight lifted.  We knew we wanted to get into a home this year when our lease was up, so we could start investing in something.  Last February I found out I was pregnant, and would be due the first week in November.  Our lease was up in October, so we knew we'd want to purchase a home before then.  It's been Joe's dream to buy a home.  I swear he's been getting daily emails of properties that have gone up for sale for at least two years now! =)  So, one weekend when his dad and Sharon were here we thought it would be fun to get out and go look at some that were having open houses.  Joe found some that were in the area we were wanting to live, and off we went.  We fell in love with the first house we saw!  It had just gone on the market, and was the first open house they'd had.  We compared all the other homes we saw that day to the first one, and that remained our favorite.  We told ourselves that it wouldn't be there anymore when we were ready to get serious near the end of the year, and kind of forgot about it.  Well, fast forward to May...... I ended up having a miscarriage on the 21st at 15 weeks, and became an emotional basket case.  After a couple weeks of feeling the most down and sad I have ever felt, somehow we started talking about homes again.  I quickly became obsessed with looking online every day.  I had never had as much interest before, but I found that it gave me something to keep my mind off of losing my baby.  Instead of sitting there, replaying everything over and over and over again in my head, I now had something to stay focused on other than my miscarriage. Joe had talked to his brother and realized that we would have two months before we had to start paying the mortgage after we bought the home, so with our lease up in October we could technically close in September and not overlap payments. It was June then, so we would have a couple months to keep looking at homes to see what was out there, put in an offer, and set a closing date.  We quickly realized that the house we had fallen in love with was still on the market!!!  We still wanted to compare it to others and make sure that we really loved it.  I would look online, forward the ones I liked to Joe, and if he liked it then I would add it to my list of properties I wanted to see.  Then I went out with our realtor and looked at the ones we had liked online.  If I liked them, or thought Joe would like them, we set aside a day with Joe to go see all the ones that were maybe a possibility.  

                               

This was in the yard of one of the homes we looked at!  Seriously!  We had to get a picture.

Then we went back and saw the one we loved the very first time we had gone out looking.  We still loved it the most.  We gave it a few weeks, and then decided to submit an offer. This is Joe signing the papers to submit the offer.  I loved the negotiating part. We went back and forth a couple of times, and they ended up coming back lower than what Joe and I had talked about wanting to be at.  The inspection went well, and everything just kind of fell into place.  I have often wondered what would have happened if we hadn't lost the baby.  I don't think we would have really been serious about looking until several months later, and by then the home may have sold.  I feel like this is where we are supposed to be, and God knows where we need to be better than we do.  Things just have a way of working out, even if it's not how we originally planned.

This was the day we signed the counter offer and things became real.  I will say, it was a little bit scary signing the papers.  On our closing date though, when we really signed our lives away, we didn't really feel nervous.  It just felt right.

We closed August 8th, and ended up having to overlap payments just one month at both places.  We tried getting out of our lease at the apartment early, but it wasn't happening!=)  So, we decided to embrace the time we had to work on the home before we had to be out of our apartment.  We decided to paint the house ourselves.   I had never painted any walls before, so thought it would be a lot of fun.  Plus it would save us lots of money if we did it ourselves.  I wanted to do greys and we quickly realized that we would also need to paint all of the ceilings and trim because it wasn't a true white.  Let me just tell you that we used tons of this!  This stuff works wonders!

And we tried lots of sample colors!

We started downstairs since that's mostly where we'll spend most of our time now.  We put plastic over everything before we started painting, then taped everything off.  Who knew there was so much prep work to be done?! 

Joe had to prep the fans, take down vents, unscrew electrical outlet covers, door stops, take down blinds....the list goes on and on!  

Then the fun began!  We started with the ceilings.  Then the trim, and finally the walls.  Let me tell you, that it quickly became not so fun anymore!=)  My entire body was sore after the first day, from repeated motions with the paint roller, looking up at the ceiling for so long, climbing up and down the ladder a million times, etc.  We kept plugging along, and working all day every Friday and Saturday for several weeks.

We decided we could save lots of money by just spray painting our vent covers instead of buying all new ones!  Spray paint is a miracle worker.  One of my best friends in life!=)

We painted all weekend, then went back at night most weekdays after work to paint again.  Slowly things started to evolve.

About 2 weeks after we started painting, I found out I was pregnant again!  As soon as we found out, we knew that I shouldn't be painting anymore.  Hopefully what I did do, didn't screw up our kid too much!=)  I quickly became very very sick with nausea, and Joe was incredible and got so much done without me.  He had a couple amazing friends that came over and helped him on several occasions.  Knowing how unpleasant painting is from what time I had spent doing it, my heart went out to him every night that he would come home from a long day at work, then head over to the house to paint.  I don't know how he did it, but I am SO grateful!  He ended up getting almost everything done downstairs.  Then, one Saturday he decided he wasn't going to pick up another paint brush!=)  We had gotten a quote from a couple different companies after the first couple days of painting, but it was going to be several thousand dollars.  With all that we (Joe) had gotten done, it wasn't going to cost too much to have them come in and just finish everything.  Best decision ever!  Take it from me..... if you ever want to paint your entire house, including ceilings, trim, baseboards, and doors....HIRE SOMEONE TO DO IT FOR YOU!!!=) What would have taken weeks longer, only took them a few days!

We moved in at the end of October.  THANK YOU SO MUCH to our friends and family that helped us move!  It would have taken SOO much longer without their help!  We had issues getting our carpet from Jacks Carpet (just found out they are filing bankruptcy) but luckily we did end up getting it(just about a month after they said we would)!

We are loving our home!  We don't have to worry about walking lightly, or turning the tv down, vacuuming or doing laundry past 8pm, etc.  We were out working on projects in the garage last weekend, and it was SO nice to have our own space to do it!  Once we get some projects done, and decorating done I will post some before and after pics! Here is just a little sneak peak of the wall where I painted all the samples =)  Yes, I need a big mirror or something over my little table, and no that chair in the corner is not staying there.  We just had to move it for Christmas when we had to rearrange furniture to have room to set up tables for dinner.  It's a rainy day today so the lighting isnt the best, but I can tell you that I LOVE the grey much better than the yellowy color that was there before!  

There is still a lot we want to do to the home and it will take years to get it all done I'm sure because we aren't in a rush to get into debt again.  We'll just do things as we can afford it.  I'm excited to be able to decorate and do new fun projects!  I had pretty much filled every wall in our apartment, so it's fun to have so many more walls to fill now!=)  We love our home!  Being a grown up isn't so bad after all!=)  

A Boy At Heart

I'm almost 2 months behind on this post, but I'm finally getting it done!  Joe's birthday was back on August 5th, which was a Sunday.  Let me tell you a little bit about how Joe likes to celebrate his birthdays.  I'm pretty sure that the weekend prior to the weekend of his actual birthday he said "Babe, will you do______ for me?" When my response was "No, you're quite capable." He said "But, it's my birthday week!"  I can't remember exactly what he asked me to do, probably bring him a snack in his recliner or refill his ice water, but he thinks it's funny to have me be at his beckoning call.  He has started celebrating his birthday a week early now, and wants to celebrate all week!  Heaven help me if when he's my mom's age he wants to celebrate ALL MONTH like she does!=)  By the end of his "Birthday Week" I have usually told him a few times "I hate your birthday week!=)".........Just because I have turned into his little slave for the week! It gets him out of dishes, making the bed, having to get up to refill his water or get a snack.  Ridiculous!=)  Ha ha!  

This year I had fun surprising him!  Usually he's always the one that gets me the nicest gifts, or is able to surprise me.  This year I wanted him to be spoiled.  He was off the Friday before his birthday, and he wanted to go see "The Dark Knight Rises."  I had made dinner plans that night with some of our good friends(who actually helped me come up with the idea) but I just played it cool and didn't tell him anything about it. Joe has a love/hate relationship with surprises. If I tell him "I have a surprise for you!"  He gets a big smile on his face and he gets excited, but then the anticipation, and not knowing what it is kills him!  He's actually gone so far as to get upset and to make me tell him what my plans were in the past.  So, I learned this year to just keep quiet.=)  It just happened that the movie was like 3 hours long, and the theatre was right in the same area as the restaurant.  So, it was all going to work out well. By the time the movie was over, I would just have to kill a little time (and there were plenty of stores right in the area I could say I needed to go to) before we'd have to meet our friends at 6:30.  It turned out that after the movie, we actually saw some lady hit a truck when she pulled out of her parking spot, and then she just drove off.  Perfect way for us to kill time!  I couldn't have planned it any better!  Joe got out to see if it did any damage to the other truck she hit, and it had scraped the bumper and broken the tail light.  So, off we went to find her and get her license plate #.  We had to follow her onto the freeway to be able to get close enough, so it took a good half hour or so.  After Joe left a note on the guy's truck, we headed over to meet our friends.

Joe is a child trapped in a man's body most of the time.=)  I think most guys are.  They recently built a Chuck E Cheese here in Pearland, and Joe has said he's wanted to go there since the day it opened.  On our date nights on the weekend I would ask where he wanted to go, and his first response would usually be Chuck E Cheese!  He said he loves their pizza, and I guess when he was in College Station he would always take Johnny's kids to Chuck E Cheese.  So, whether he was serious or not, he was getting Chuck E Cheese on his birthday!  He smiled so big when we pulled into the parking lot and I told him that's where we were going. This picture is of him afterwards with his prizes.  Of course he got a Fun Dip!=)  Boy at heart!

Lucky for us, Jason and Jillian have a little boy.  So, we didn't end up looking like complete creepers with no children.=)  ha ha!  I'm sure most people thought we were there for Lincoln.

 Lincoln was a little afraid of the mouse.  Can you blame him?!  Look at that thing!=)  

Joe couldn't have been happier with this meal!   

We had so much fun with these guys!  Joe was seriously in Heaven.

Could he be any cuter?  I mean seriously!

After we ate, the fun began.  We had a cup full of tokens, and we went to town!  Joe got the high score on how hard he could kick the soccer ball. I think during the course of the night Jason may have beat him.

      

Lincoln even got to enjoy some fun rides and games.

 This is where Joe and Jason could be found most of the night.  By the end of the night Joe was sweating.  You would have thought they had been at the gym playing ball.  They just kept trying to beat their score.  Boys will be Boys!

 The guys made Jillian and I do "Dance Dance Revolution!"  If you don't know this about me, I CAN NOT DANCE!  No rhythm in this body!  I gave in to the Peer Pressure, and didn't care how big of a fool I looked like. Joe said it was pretty bad!=)  Ha ha thanks Babe! We laughed and had fun, and that's all that matters, right?

 Oh, I wonder where Joe and Jason are?  They found a football game (Similar to basketball) and this is where they spent most of their time and tokens, trying to beat their score.  So funny!

 We really did have a blast!  I guess I can thank my husband for being a big kid!=)  He keeps life interesting.  He said I did a great job with that surprise.  How will I ever top that though!?  =)  ha ha!

The next day we had a low key swim party with the fam.  Joe's birthday wouldn't be complete without him being able to spend time with his nieces and nephews.  We wish Anthony and his family were closer.  We miss Jack, Addie, and Amelia.  We had fun swimming and having lunch together.

Look at cute little Grayson watching Joe read his card.  SO ADORABLE!

 We had cupcakes and sang "Happy Birthday!"

 Then quickly the kids ran over to help him blow out the candle!  So cute!

 Sweet little Maggie with her Uncle Joe Joe.

 This picture just makes me laugh!  Chloe's face is the best!  I don't think she saw the cupcake yet, or she may not have had such a big frown on her face.  It still takes her a while to adjust to us when we see her.  It's ok though.=)  ha ha!

 Grayson and Chloe play so well together!  They are such cute little cousins! 

 After the swim party James and Shelby came over and hung out, and then got to run some errands while Gray took a nap.  They were down here at dinner time so we decided to go out to celebrate Joe's birthday.  He chose Sakura.  It's like Fuji in Utah.  We sat at the hibachi grill, and had a lot of fun and good food.

 Grayson really loved the fire and watching the guy cook.

Before we left for dinner I handed Joe an envelope and told him I had another surprise for him.  A few months ago he was looking online one night and said "Cirque du Soleil is here!  Man, I really wanted to go for my birthday but tickets are too expensive!"  I didn't say a word or make a big deal out of it, just tucked it away in my memory.=)  I thought it would be boring, and kind of lame, but if he wanted to go then I figured that it would be a good surprise.  I lucked out, and found some reasonably priced tickets just on that Saturday night.  All others were completely sold out for that weekend, except for the super expensive ones.  So, anyways, back to handing Joe the envelope...... when he opened it he pulled out the tickets and he was SO excited! He said "When are we going?" and I said "Tonight!!!"  I love when I can bring a big smile to his face!  That did it!=)  He kept talking about it on the way to dinner, and all the way up to the show.  He said he really had no idea about that surprise, and that I had "done good!"

Sadly, we weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but the show was INCREDIBLE!!!  I would go again in a heartbeat!  We ended up being able to move up closer because they had some seats on the side that nobody had filled, so the usher told a group of us we could move up right before the show started.  The acrobatics were amazing.  The singing and dancing was so entertaining.  We were just captivated all night.  The great thing, is that it was inside this tent, and it really wasn't that big.  Nothing like going to a huge venue like the Reliant Center or something like that.  It was much more intimate.  Joe said it was one of his best birthdays.  Now my only dilemma is how will I ever beat that?!=)  Guess I'm going to have to win the lottery so I can do something extravagant one day. =)  ha ha!

Girls Camp July 2012

  

 Last February I was asked to meet with a member of our bishopric, and was completely expecting to be called to the primary because my visiting teacher was in the presidency and had mentioned they were trying to get me in primary.  Well, you can imagine my shock when the bishopric member said they would like me to be the Young Women's Camp Director! I think my response was "What?!"  I have never said no to a calling before, and this wasn't going to be my first time.  So, I decided to buck up and be a good sport about it.  Everyone was focused on the Pioneer Trek that our stake did in March, so I was asked to hold off on any camp activities until that was over.   I started attending YW on Sundays so I could get to know the girls before camp.  Trek came and went and then it was time to start preparing.  There was a lot of work involved before camp, and it seemed as soon as I finished one big thing, it was time for the next.  We had to organize a "hike,"(here in Houston there really aren't mountains or many places relatively close to do an actual hike) so we ended up going to a park with a walkway, and making several rounds so the girls could pass of 1, 3, and 5 mile hikes.

It got a little warm so the girls decided to use our extra water bottles to cool off.

After passing off their hikes, the next thing the girls needed to pass off was their First Aid.  Our sweet Stake President's wife is an E.R. Doctor and came and taught all of the certifications for CPR and other things the girls needed to pass off one night for mutual.

Next they needed to learn how to tie knots.  The good thing about having a husband in the Young Men's Presidency is I could ask him and the boys for help.  So, one night for mutual the boys took the first 20 minutes or so to refresh their minds on how to tie all the knots the girls needed to learn, while we made signs for our fundraiser.  Then the boys and leaders came in and each boy partnered up with a girl and taught them how to tie all the different knots we needed to know.  It worked out great!

The next big thing(by far the most time consuming and hardest thing I had to do) was the fundraiser for camp.  Our ward is full of young families, many of which are medical or law school students.  So, the bishop really wanted the money to come from the community, not just from the ward members.  Last year they did a big yard sale and were really successful, so we decided to stick with the same thing.  All the leaders helped with preparation, and most of the credit needs to really go to Joe.  I don't know what I would have done without him!  One of the leaders had a big neighborhood yard sale before our fundraiser, and she suggested going around after it was over and asking if people would just like to donate the things they didn't sell, to our yard sale so they didn't have to haul it off somewhere.  Joe was so sweet to go with me that morning to ask people if they'd be interested in having us come by to pick things up once it was over.  Then he went and got the scout trailer and picked up one of the young men to come help us load it up. One of the sweet girls from YW was also there to help us!  We ended up getting some decent things from that, and our ward members were incredible and donated so much also! Joe was always there, never complaining whenever someone called and said they had something to donate.  We stored the items in a couple garages of members, so the day before the yard sale we had to transfer everything from their garages to the church.     It was a lot of work, but it ended up being a huge success and we raised about $2400.00  We had to give about $1700 to the stake for our camp fees, $200.00 for t-shirts, and the rest quickly disappeared also.  When you have about 17 girls and 4 leaders to pay for, the money was quickly spent.  I was so grateful that everything went so well and we were able to cover all of our needed expenses.  It was a success!

It rained the day before, and stormed all night.  It was still raining at 6:30 the morning of the yard sale, but our prayers were answered when it stopped raining right around the time we were supposed to start.  We already had everything inside, so we just moved a few big items outside and the girls held signs out on the street telling people to come in.  My assistant director also put an ad on Craigslist saying we'd have the yard sale come rain or shine.

                                      

    

                                      

                                       

                                     

This was the morning of Tuesday, July 10th 2012.  We met at the church at 6:30am.  Our Laurels were already up at camp so on the way up there we had some extra seats and were able to help out one of the branches in our area with rides.

       

When we got there we checked in with the stake and started setting up tents. Of course it started to rain.  Rain was forecasted throughout the entire week.  So, the girls pulled out their ponchos and we kept working to get the tents set up.

If I went again, I would have taken more pictures of our camp site for sure.  I realized when I got home that there were lots of things I should have taken pictures of.  Our campsite had a pavillion with 3 covered tables, a hose with running water, and a large sink.  There was also a bathroom area which consisted of an outdoor shower(just like the one at home only you're standing on a concrete slab with 3 walls made out of wood, and a shower curtain on the 4th side.  The toilet (which did not flush) was on the opposite side of the concrete slab in it's own little 3 wall hut.  There was also a sink attached to outside wall of the shower, which later that week ended up falling off the wall. =) All in all, it wasn't as bad as I pictured and there was a lot more room in the toilet area than there would be in a porta potty. So I couldn't complain.  I showered at night after the day was over, to wash all the sweat and dirt off and to cool down before bed.  The water was a little frigid but felt fabulous!  It was quite the experience to shower outside, and to be able to look up and see the stars.  We just had a little lantern we'd take out and hook on a nail, so it wasn't much light and most of the time my eyes were on the ground watching for spiders or snakes.  Luckily I never saw one!=)


That night the Stake put on a big party to celebrate the 100th year of Girl's Camp.  They had Elvis come and perform!  Pretty funny!  I think he was more for the leaders than the girls!=)  They would have probably enjoyed Justin Bieber.....and honestly so would I!=)  ha ha!  It was fun though and we all had a good time.

       

        

It rained every day, but it was such a blessing!  When I was called, my biggest concern was having to be out in the heat.  The rain kept the temperatures somewhat bearable (probably around mid 80s) and luckily I had gone to buy rain boots the day before camp.  Best investment I've ever made.  One of our leaders did end up having to make a trip to the laundry mat and Walmart because some of the girls' bedding, pillows, and things got wet.  Some girls just brought one pair of shoes, and a few pairs of socks.  With it raining every day they went through them fast.  Girls ended up with blisters and all sorts of things.  Luckily some of the older girls knew what to do to help the younger ones bandage up and dry out their feet at night.

The Stake leaders did certification, and then the ward leaders were assigned to help certain levels.  I was with the 3rd years.  This was the morning they had to certify "cooking with fire." Of course it was raining!=)  What we did was put a #10 can over a tuna can filled with wax and a wick that was lit.  Then the girls took a brown paper lunch bag, took a couple pieces of foil and put 2 strips of bacon in it, and then cracked an egg on the top.  They wrapped up the foil, and stuck it in their lunch sack and on top of the can to cook.  It wasn't the most amazing breakfast I've ever had, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  They were all good sports about it though.  They also used these grilled cheese makers on a pole to make a grilled cheese or put pie filling between two pieces of bread.  I didn't try that.

One of the days I had to be a "cut victim" and the girls would come around in groups and treat me.  This involved a temporary tattoo and fake blood!=)  

This was the path to our campsite.  One day it rained so hard and for so long that the dirt road was flooded.  We couldn't drive during the week, we just walked so it wasn't too bad for those that had boots.
                                      

More certification in the rain.

This was another part of the trail back to our camp site one day.  Muddy!  

One of the afternoons there were 4 classes that a stake leader put on, and we got to chose 3 to go to between a certain time slot.  One of the ones we went to was about different hair dos and then skin care and meditation.  They had a cucumber mask they had made out of cucumbers and yogurt and stuff.  It wasn't the best texture to be putting on our faces, nor did it smell too good, but we were good sports and did it anyways.

The theme this year was "Happily Ever After" based on a talk from Elder Uchtdorf.  Each ward had to choose a fairy tale and a name.  Our girls chose Peter Pan, and they decided to the the "Found Girls" as opposed to The Lost Boys.  This is Autumn, and she and her family made the flag for our ward.  They did an AMAZING job!

 

This is our group with the bishop the night he came.  We are missing our YWs President (she's the one in the middle of the cucumber mask picture) because she's pregnant and could only stay a few days.  Other than that, this is everyone that came.

This is where we had our meals every day.  They would serve them family style most of the time.  The food wasn't bad.  There were a LOT of salads, which I'm sure they did because it was supposed to be hot in July and normally the girls don't feel like eating much when it's that hot.  I can't complain though because it saved us so much time not having to make meals.

We had some ward time Wednesday Evening and my assistant director had some really fun team building games.  The girls LOVED them!

Then we built a fire and made smores before the girls went out "snipe hunting."

 
                                      
We have such a fun group of girls and I absolutely LOVE the moms that stepped up and helped us out.  None of the YW leaders or Presidency could go, except the President, because they had young kids or work.  So, I REALLY appreciated Cali and Shawna being willing to go the entire time!  The girls loved them, and we all had a lot of fun together.
                                     

Friday night was Bishop's night.  The girls love our bishop, and he was a good sport about letting them paint his nails and spray glitter in his hair.

After dinner and a little program, we went back to our camp site and had testimony meeting and ate the cookie cake that the bishop brought.  Then we sang along to him playing the Ukulele and the girls played the game Spoons.

Every day each ward had "kapers", which were chores around the camp to keep things clean.  This was the last morning we were there.  The girls had to clean the bathroom near the kitchen and common areas.  You can tell by their faces that they LOVED it!!!=)  Ha ha 

      The morning we left, I had been advised by those that had been before that it was best to wake up early(we got the girls up around 6) and get everything packed up and our campsite cleaned before breakfast.  I am SOOO glad that I listened to that advise!  They had an awards ceremony after breakfast, and by the time that was over it was REALLY hot and muggy!  Packing everything up in that heat would have been miserable!  I think we were the first ward to leave.  All the leaders and girls worked so well together, and I was so glad we got it all done!  It was about a 3 hour ride home, and as soon as we got back to the church everyone worked together to get the trailer unloaded really quickly!  Joe and I spent the rest of the afternoon setting up and cleaning out the tents and tarps with one of the other leaders and her family.  Needless to say, we were so happy when everything was finally done!

                                      

I really had a wonderful time, and learned so much!  I would do it again in a heartbeat!  The youth are SO incredible!  I remember my leaders saying that my generation was so much stronger than theirs when I was in YW.  Now, I think they are even stronger, and more valiant.  I was just blown away by their testimonies, and their courage and strength in living the gospel and standing up for what they believe in.