Sending out the Valentines!!

Sending out the Happy Valentine's Day cards to our extended families and friends!! Since we were moving over the holidays, we opted to wait and send out Valentine's instead!!




Our letter.


Some of our stacks.

And a little side note, if you want to read a great love story, check out Katie's Blog http://find-my-pace.blogspot.com/2007/01/thanks-for-1.htm and read about how her husband loves her. (For some reason, blogger won't let me do a hot link there, so you'll have to cut and paste.)


More house pictures...this time of the Study.
~Our Study~
(This is for you, Krista!!)



A view of our study from the doorway. It's still a work in progress but it's looking better than it did a week ago!! And notice that great new lamp I found for a bargain price last week in the corner!


Another view of our study. You can see my Valentines letters on the desk!

Basketball and Books!

Every Monday and Wednesday Kyle has basketball practice. Then he has games on Saturdays. I get to sit there and watch him practice and keep Tyler from grabbing all those basketballs and watch the team practice. It's kind of fun, but it happens right during the dinner hour and is kind of chaotic all at the same time!



Here is Kyle with the ball.



Here is Kyle going for a shot.

Something else from yesterday. Thankfully most of our kids are book lovers.


I think it's quite amazing that even our littlest Livingston, Tyler, loves them too!


This is a common site at our house!


Notice how we are hovered around the fire! We had just gotten home and we were chilly and so that is where we go to get warm fast!!


Lately, this is Tyler's favorite book. I must read it to him 5 times a day!! In case you can't tell it's called Arthur in a Pickle. It's about how Arthur (the little Aardvark from the PBS television show, ARTHUR) doesn't turn in his homework and then says his dog ate it and how that got him into a pickle. He then has a dream where everything turns into pickles, the people, pickle toes, pickle ears, pickle snow, pickle pie, pickle milkshakes and Tyler's favorite Pickle CARS!!!

My kids love Arthur. And we love to read the Arthur books. Even I, on occasion will sit down and watch an episode of Arthur with them. It's a fun little show!!

Busy Morning!

This morning has been SO busy, already and it's only 11:00am!! I have gotten 5 kids ready and out the door for school. (Well Tyler is with me, not in school but I still had to get him ready!)

I ran into a friend from church while dropping the kids off. We chatted for a bit, then I got a call from D, the "owner" of the place we rented. We had a long 45 minute conversation. It got ugly at times, but he seems like he wants to work this out without us taking him to court for our deposit money. I was glad he called because he really has seemed like he was avoiding us so far!

I encouraged him to call my husband also. We are managing this professionally and we are good and respectable people and we expect him to deal with this in the same manner! He is one brick short of a full load, I would say. But that is my evaluation so far!

I cleaned the van on the inside. Went through the carwash. Vacuumed it out. (There is some obnoxious smell that I cannot seem to find and it's driving me nuts! I guess I'm going to have to use my carpet cleaner on it!!)

I went to the post office mailed 2 letters, one to "D" that was certified. Came home, tried to fax some papers (to USA Mortgage about the rental property) but the line was constantly busy!

Now, I'm off to pick up Rilyn from preschool but not before I change ANOTHER stinky diaper from Tyler! I don't know what the deal is, but he has been pooping like 3-4 times a day and it's driving me nuts!! And it's not diarrhea either!! (Which is a blessing!)

Some Miscellaneous Stuff...

Yesterday we did some more fixing up and putting away, including laundry. We went
shopping and did a few errands. Laren made a new coat rack to hang on the wall on the landing for our kids to hang their coats. I painted it.

We hung a shower curtain rod and put together the main floor bathroom with new rugs, shower curtain, towels, etc... We hung a couple of things on the wall in the family room.

Today we spent way too much of our morning working on a letter to our former landlord (from our recent rental house). They are saying we left the carpet dirty and that because my husband inadvertently left his guns there we are losing all $1250 of our deposit except $200. I hardly think so!!

We have consulted our attorney, who is also a good friend. And we are looking into taking them to small claims court. It's the principal of the matter! When we moved in the place stunk to HIGH heavens with pet urine and it was quite the stench!!! So, we had to clean the carpets BEFORE we could even move in!!!

While we lived there my husband fixed the rod in the master closet that was broken before by the landlord and the drawer in the upstairs secondary bath that was also broken before we moved in. We cleaned our hearts out on that place to make it look good. We contacted them repeatedly to schedule the walk-through inspection at our departure. They said they would call us to arrange it in a few days.

Well then they said they would just take care of it and their 'person' would just take pictures. Then they tried to say we knocked a hole in the wall. It has just been a complete MESS!

Today we went to hand deliver the letter saying they would give us back our ENTIRE deposit or we would take them to court and that all of their case against us is false, basically. So we rang the doorbell and he was right there wiring his entryway light fixture. RIGHT there, I could see his hands through the window above the door. My husband even saw a glimpse of his face.

We could hear dogs barking and kids carrying on. And then it all got quiet. The hands went down where we couldn't see them. Then we rang the doorbell again, and nothing. No answer. The SUV was in the driveway.

So we waited and knocked again. Still no answer. We waited some more and saw the hands go back up to work on the wiring again. Knocked loudly again, but still no answer!! So we went to our van and waited for them to come out, but would they? Nope!! So my husband called D and he would not answer his phone. S

So he left a message telling him we left the letter and that their accusations are false. And that we are contesting it and preparing to take them to court for the deposit and our legal fees and interest if we don't receive the money by Friday, which will be 4 weeks from the time we moved out.

This afternoon we went to Church. We are starting to adjust better to this new/old ward. As some might remember is was the one we attended before it grew so big they split it and because of where we lived we were put in the new ward. Now we are back in the "old" ward since we bought this house. So we know over half of them. But there are a lot of new people too! In our church we don't pick the congregation where we attend, it is assigned based upon boundaries of where we live.

My kids have been extremely wired today and I cannot wait to get them to bed in a few minutes!!! I also spent part of my morning putting some things away in the study and getting it more organized. It's all coming together slowly, but surely!!

5 Best Things for a Relationship

I found these online from the Oprah website sometime ago. I have saved them to read over and ponder because I think they are good.


Five Best Things for a Relationship

"Stop all shame, blame and criticism. Instead ask for what you want in a clear, specific and positive manner, and express appreciation for your partner. To elaborate: Men need to feel competent—that they make a contribution and that it is noticed."

"Change from a critical habit of mind, in which you're very involved with your partner's mistakes, to a positive one, in which you catch him doing something right."

"When your relationship starts to break down, you need AAA: an Apology, Affection, and a promise of Action. You say you're sorry for what you've said or done to hurt or disappoint your partner. You immediately offer a hug, a kiss—some meaningful gesture of warmth. You pledge to do something that matters to your partner."

"With books on the market like How to Make Love Like a Porn Star, one of the greatest services you can do for a guy is to reassure him that he doesn't have to make love like a porn star. You can show him how to have sex like a woman: creative, sensual, non-genital-based, and more pleasure- than orgasm-focused."

"All relationships grow a bit stale as time goes by, and the longer-lasting they are, the staler they can get. The best thing you can do is pump in some fresh air. A long weekend in a romantic hideaway would be ideal, but even a few hours in a motel helps. Don't tell anyone where you are, turn off your cell phones, and unplug the TV. When you get home, you'll find your relationship has acquired ruddy cheeks."

A HUGE Thank You to my Friend, Victoria

She is the one who gave the new look to my blog! She is SO talented!

She is an excellent home decorator.
She grew up under difficult circumstances and has worked hard to overcome that and is a wonderful mother to her own 4 children, 3 of whom are adopted biracial children.
She nurtures her marriage.
She has a fun sense of humor!
She has a great relationship with her family (despite it being one sided more often than it should). She also has a wonderful relationship with her inlaws.

She has suffered a lot of trial and tragedy in her life.
She is currently without a calling in our church, she was just released from teaching a primary class.
She loves "trendy" music and has an eclectic taste.
She is beautiful!

She has lost over 70 pounds in this last year.
She helps just about anybody with anything.
She is a peacemaker.
She has a close relationship with her 17 year old daughter.
She had that daughter at around 29 weeks gestation. That daughter spent 3 months in the hospital and she was not allowed to hold her for a long time.

Her husband was injured in an accident at work shortly after the preemie birth and she had to take care of both her preemie and her husband.
Her 3 boys like video games.
She is spiritually in tune.
She is compassionate.
She is forgiving.

She treats others fairly and gives people the benefit of the doubt.
She has not gotten a new swimsuit in YEARS, but she plans to this summer!
She is on weight watchers.
She's one of the nicest people I haven't met in real life!
Her birthday is TODAY!!

Happy Birthday Victoria!!!
Lots of Love to you and a BIG HUGE THANKS for doing my blog!!
I LOVE it!!

Here is a link to Victoria's Blog:

http://eachdayablessing.blogspot.com/

In Honor of Valentines Day

The Love of my Life and Me!

Since Valentine's Day is coming up and I really love that day (even though the Love of my Life doesn't always do something extra special) because it's a day that gives us reason to express things we may not share often enough with not only our spouse but also our children, other family members and friends!

It's kind of crazy that sometimes it takes a holiday to bring out the best in people and humanity but even if that's what it takes, I'm glad for it!!

I LOVE YOU LAREN!!!

And, just for the record, he DID get me a BUNCH of Valentines stuff last year it was just a day late!!!! :)

Some GOOD things!

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I got this GREAT deal on this lamp! I found it on clearance at Hobby Lobby for $33.40, marked down from $99.99!! And I thought it was such a great deal I went back and bought 2 more just like it! So now I have one for my living room (the other day, my kids broke our other one that we had), my family room and the study. We were in the market for one anyway and so that made it the best kind of deal!!

Another good thing that happened is we were "given" a trip to Cancun last summer for attending a Great Escapes presentation. (Great Escapes is a membership type discount Travel Agency and they do a presentation like timeshares do and for attending they give you a "gift.") But in the "giving" we had to pay $286 for fees and taxes.

Well, they processed our paperwork so slowly that as an apology they offered us new dates or a refund and they would pay us an additional $200. We are taking the latter; it will help buy those much wanted kitchen cabinets, you know!

We got the cell phone number of the guy who owns the rental house we rented for 6 weeks. He has our deposit money and A at USA Mortgage did not want to give us our deposit money back because 1.) He said we knocked a hole in the wall, which was a lie and we have pictures to prove how it looked before hand. 2.) He said we had firearms on the premises and they were not allowed.

We did not know anything about the firearms policy, and doubt it even exists. We had 2 of my husbands guns that are family heirlooms that we mistakenly left in the master closet way up high on a shelf. They missed it at their walk through (which even though we ASKED and ASKED to be there they did not let us), even. They did not notice them until the new tenants came to look at the house.

The firearms seems to be no big deal to H at USA Mortgage, and she is very nice and seems to be honest. But A is a crook, we've come to find out. So we are hoping and praying now that we have D's (the owner) phone number and we've talked to him, etc... that we will not have anymore delays and we can get our deposit back already!!

Some problems dealing with a loved and important member of the extended family is getting worked out and things are calming down. We pray the circumstances continue to work out.

Laren is getting closer to getting the garage door opener on! Hopefully it will be before the next storm hits this weekend. The storm is supposed to bring light snow and cold. So, it seems like nothing compared to the last 5 weeks but you never know around here in Colorado!!


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I got this GREAT scented oil warmer last month at Bath and Body Works when my sister and I went there to go shopping and out to lunch in Boulder and I have just started using it and it is FABULOUS!! If you don't have one, I highly recommend it. The smell permeates my ENTIRE house!! Right now I've got an Apple scent in. Yesterday I did Brown Fig and Sugar. So that is another good thing in my life!

Also, today I started helping out in Alyssa's class. I think I mentioned on here how the teacher took her test paper and threw it away. It broke her heart and the relationship with the teacher and her has been tension filled ever since. Even though the teacher is trying, Alyssa wants out of her class! Alyssa is quite tenderhearted and circumstances like that make a big and lasting impression on her!

So today I went and helped out. I read with the lowest age group, 4 boys. I was disappointed it was not Alyssa's high group (because I would always choose working with my own children's group over any others) but it was good and the boys were much better than the teacher gave them credit for. (She told me they couldn't read at all or very little and for me to just read it to them. WELL...they can read and they took turns reading the story about Pufflings in Iceland to the group. I was VERY impressed!! And told the teacher so!!)

And the last good thing for today, I'm on track to get my goals for the week accomplished!!! YAY!!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!!

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!
Tyler's birthday was yesterday, he is now TWO!!! I cannot believe my baby is two already!!


This is Tyler blowing out the candles in his "car" birthday cake.


This picture is Tyler (on Sunday) when he wanted to go out in the snow SO badly and we didn't want him to, so Laren took him out for just a couple of minutes!



Here is Tyler playing with some of his toys. He had just eaten dinner and his face was still a bit stained from it (thanks to the sweet and sour chicken!) and he refuses to wear a bib these days so he got his shirt slimed as well!!



This picture is kind of blurry but I LOVED his big smile, so here it is! This is Tyler playing with one of his new birthday toys, a new remote control car - of course!! He LOVES cars!!

Also, you will see the gash on his forehead from Sunday when he bumped into the wall right where one of the holes are (from previous owners) that we haven't gotten fixed yet! I cannot believe how ugly and at the same time symmetrical that wound is!?!!



This is Tyler sporting some of the new clothes he got for his birthday. We put them on over his pajamas and he would NOT let us take them off!! We finally managed to do it, but it was a feat to do without him throwing a fit. And since it was his birthday, I just try to let it go if I can and so I really would have let him sleep in the new clothes but Laren really wanted them off. Thankfully it all worked out without it being too big of a deal!!


And just to let you know what a picture happy husband I have. He LOVES to take pictures, especially unposed ones of me! So, here is one of those from last night!! And that is me giving him the "look" when I saw that he was aiming the camera my way. Apparently I didn't deter him because he snapped the picture instantly!!

Tyler, we love EVERYTHING about you! I love your sweetness and your quick thinking the most!!

So life is getting a bit more settled

And I REALLY need to get my act together and get a plan for my days and weeks. Yes, we are still moving in but it is time to get my day back to a regular schedule. I really need some consistency of my own rather than just running my kids to and from school.

This week basketball is supposed to start for my son, I'm semi-lined up to start helping in Alyssa's class. I have a doctors appointment and a few other obligations.

Slowly the house is getting put together. I got all of the hardwood floors and bathroom floors cleaned this week, finally. Last night Laren got the double ovens in. I helped him hoist them up after he got everything connected, and boy are they heavy!! I have to say though I really like the stainless steel with the cherry finish, it looks sharp!

Yesterday we also got our bed put up on it's bedframe and our armoire, bookcase and entertainment center secured to the wall so my precocious almost two-year old will be safe around the furniture. Speaking of my ALMOST two year old, his birthday is on Tuesday and I'm SAD that my BABY will not be a baby any longer!!! I cannot believe how fast he is growing up!

Today, we got 8 more inches of snow and it is still snowing. Laren spent part of his day shoveling us out, again, and meeting some more of the neighbors who all seem to be nice. We ended up staying home from Church because of all the snow. We just switched to an afternoon schedule with the move. Laren had been Ward Clerk in our old ward up until today so he went to be released and to help train the new guy, who incidentally had been serving as an assistant financial clerk. So, thankfully, the long hours of training will be lessened since he already knows much of what is to be done.

My kids are rather hyper. I think it is from being house-bound and the weather. It will be nice to get them back in school tomorrow (if they have school because of the weather).

So, my goals for this week: Get the Study organized and set up.
Pay the bills.
Have Heidi over for lunch.
Have Sarah over for lunch.
Help out in Alyssa's class.

SNOW!!

So, I think I've mentioned how we've gotten a lot of Snow and Cold in Denver this Winter, so far. Here are a few pictures, keep in mind it hasn't snowed here in about a week and last time it was just a few inches. We have now had snow on the ground for more than a month. In fact, to be precise, it's been a month and 2 days that we've had snow on the ground.



This is what it looks like down our street. Most of the secondary roads are snowpacked and icy. They have been this way for a month now.



This is what it looks like out our front door and acrossed the street. Keep in mind we have had some time for melting to occur. We haven't had tons of melting because we've had a whole lot of cold. But on days like today, where we are up in the high 20's for a high that snow does start to melt. I'd say overall a good foot of it has already melted in the past few weeks overall. And then we've added some here and there.



This is what it looks like up our street. I don't know if it helps or hurts to know that more snow is on it's way. We are supposed to get up to 6 inches more this weekend!! I guess, ultimately I 'm okay with the snow. I actually enjoy it and LOVE to watch it fall from the sky inside a cozy house sipping hot chocolate or warm apple cider. I also enjoy catching snowflakes in my mouth while standing outside in it.

But what I do not enjoy is the LOW temperatures that we've been getting. I get cold easy and below zero and the single digits and the teens are just TOO cold for me!! I have noticed that there is a BIG difference between 10 degrees above and that that is almost tolerable. But below 10 degrees it is FRIGID feeling!! It is similar to me as when we lived in Mesa, AZ and the difference it felt like over 100 degrees (above zero!), and how that was intolerable. If it was 115, it might as well have been 105 or 125 because it all felt HOT.

I do enjoy tracking the weather. It is one of my favorite parts about the "news." And so for Christmas my husband got me this home weather station at Costco. I am loving it. I love to check the high and low temp for the day at MY house and compare it to the highs and lows recorded by the news at DIA (Denver International Airport). It tells us all sorts of interesting things like if rain or snow is on the way or if it will be a clear night, the barometric pressure and much more.

So, I'm happy we are getting snow. We need the moisture to end this drought and it is pretty to look at and fun to play in. But it's the bitter cold that needs to stop! They are saying we will be mid 40's by the middle of next week. Oh, how I'm hoping that will be the case but it has a funny way of changing as we get closer to the actual date!

Pictures, FINALLY!!!

Okay, as promised here are some interior shots of our new house. These ones are of the main floor. In the coming days I will get some shots of the upstairs, basement, backyard, etc...


The Fireplace in the Family Room.



The Family Room.


Another shot of the Family Room.


The Formal Dining Room.


The main floor bathroom that is presently missing a door! And notice the missing shower head as well.


The bathroom faucet.



The kitchen. Notice the white rectangular shapes on the walls, that is where the cabinets USED to be. Those ugly shelves are temporary until we order and install the new cabinets that will match those you can barely see! LOL!



This view you can see the kitchen island where there is no cooktop. We are still trying to find a good cooktop for a bargain price! We thought we had a good one, returned it because we were going to change the location of it and didn't want it vented since we would vent it out of the house. Then we got another one without the venting. Finally, we decided we DID want the vented one so we could install it in the island afterall.

When we went back to the Sears Appliance Outlet to buy it back, it was gone!! So, I'm being creative with the microwave and crockpot for now! (My husband has yet to install the double ovens. That was supposed to be a project for today, but he has done a lot of other important things instead!!)


The Formal Living Room.



The Entryway and Gallery. To the right is the doorway to the basement, also missing a door which we think we are going to leave off to make the basement more "friendly" to the rest of the house so the kids will WANT to play down there often!!

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the stained carpeting before I cleaned it. I might have mentioned that they played paintball in the house and left the blue marks to prove it. Amazingly, the paintball cleaned up well! That is the downstairs minus the Study and a shot looking to the upstairs from the Family Room. I will post pics of that soon. I suppose I need to clear a bunch of boxes out of this study first, huh? That way you could actually see it!!

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 9 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

So, it's kind of interesting to find out many other people in the US have my same name!! How many have your same name? When my parents named me my Mom decided to spell my name K.A.R.I. instead of C.A.R.R.I.E because she thought it would be easier for me to spell. At that time (way back 34 years ago, LOL) she thought she "invented" the spelling to my name! Well, let me tell you I come across quite a few people who spell their name like mine all the time! There is even another gal in my ward who spells her name exactly like mine. And there are a total of 3 Kari's, but the third one spells her name differently (Carie).

And one other thing of note, I was named after one of my half brothers, Rob. Well actually his name is Carey Robbin. We have the same Dad and different Mom's. When he was born his Mom already had my older brother who she named Corey Robert and she really wanted a girl the second time around so she picked out the name, despite the gender. Rob has always went by Rob instead of Carey. But he had a hard time with his parents divorcing and so my Mom thought it might help him to feel more a part of the family to name me after him. And my middle name, which is Lynn is after my Mom, Linda. How did you get your name?

The Move!

Our move was delayed a few times and then when we did move, it was in over 2.5 feet of snow including 6 inches of fresh powder but.... We are FINALLY moved, but not moved in!! I don't remember if I have mentioned this here or not but this house we bought (which we LOVE, by the way) is a foreclosure house. It was built in May 2005. The previous owners lived in it for 6 months and couldn't make the payments and moved out. The foreclosure process is a long one, and it finally came on the market at the end of November 2006.

We happened upon it one day while looking for a rental house since our house was under contract to be sold. We noticed the dead grass and a couple of red stickers in the window by the door. We stopped and I ran up to read the stickers, one said the locks had all been changed 5/5/06 and the other said the water had been shut off from the street and the pipes winterized.

We knew of this house from before. We actually had a house almost exactly like it under contract a year ago in Thornton (another Denver suburb) but found out they are going to build a Super Walmart across the street from the subdivision so we decided against it. We knew of this house a year ago also and actually tried to get the builder (Richmond American Homes) to build us one like it, but it would have been in the lower part of the neighborhood by a bunch of "smaller" homes and we didn't think that was a good idea for property values. So we didn't do it. We ended up getting this house for almost $80,000 less than what the people bought it for a year and a half ago!!!

But....there's always a catch! The house is missing 2/3 of it's Mocha Colored Mastercraft Cherry cabinets. All of the appliances were gone (though we've replaced everything but the cooktop...still trying to decide on that one) and it had/has a "gourmet" kitchen meaning double ovens, separate cooktop and island. Most of the interior doors were also stolen. And the doors that were remaining, a lot of them anyway, had the door handles gone. But the door handles that are still here, as well as all the faucets, etc... are the oil rubbed bronze and it is beautiful!!! So we have replaced them all to match the originals. In Home Depot we saw the exact same faucets that we have in all of our bathrooms and they are priced at nearly $270.00 a piece - just for the faucets alone!!! (I tried to link up to it to show you what they look like but the link keeps bringing up a silver faucet instead).

We will order our kitchen cabinets soon (hopefully) but they will be kind of pricey (but a fraction of the cost they could have been if we had them upgraded through the builder like the original owners did or if we paid full price.) But we are getting them through a discount cabinet place in Denver for a fraction of the cost.

There are a few minor holes in the walls, some dinged up rounded corners, a broken water pipe in the master shower that Laren says will be an easy fix (after looking at it), a few scratches in the hardwood floors and dead landscaping. But despite all the "problems" this house has many upgrades including the "Super" (larger) Family Room, the Gourmet Kitchen, the most expensive elevation (the way the house looks from the front/curb), hardwood floors, upgraded hardware, full bath (instead of powder room) on main level, 3rd car garage and it has a stamped concrete patio in the back. If it were not for all the "problems" we would have had to pay a lot more for the house. And thankfully Laren is Mr. Fixit and actually likes to fix things (for his own house).

I am LOVING having a real home office/study!! We have so much "office" stuff, I can't believe we kept it all since in our prior home it was in our bedroom!! Our bedroom is larger, really, than any bedroom needs to be. But it is SO nice...we just need to get our bed up on it's frame!! The room looks totally empty with our 2 dressers, bed and small armoir we used to house our computer in!! I spend the least amount of time in the formal living room, and the room I love the most is our family room. It has a great fireplace and it is 2 stories high. It is large and somehow the noise of my 5 kids doesn't seem nearly so loud in there.

I'm still trying to dig out from our mountain of boxes and I found the camera docking station to recharge it but need to find the cord for it. Once I do, I will be posting pictures!! I need to ask Jenny and all you who's blogs look so great how to get this one fixed up and looking nice, how to link up on my sidebar to other blogs and my 100 favorites post, etc...

So far, we are also loving the neighborhood, the school seems good too - (minus one incident with Alyssa's teacher taking her math paper away and throwing it in the trash yesterday...it was a timed test and Alyssa did not know that and so she started in as soon as she got the paper. Her teacher just came up to her and tossed it in the trash without saying a word to her!! Needless to say, I was into the school first thing this morning to talk to her.). The other kids all have had really good experiences so far.

The ward that we split off from before we are now back in and they seem so happy to have us back. It's always nice to feel wanted!! Kayla has already attended her first Activity Days for Girls and said it was funner than the Activity Days was in our old ward. It's a friend of mine who teaches her age group and she also has a daughter Kayla's age.

A friend from our "old" ward (sounds so weird to say old ward since we just attended there last Sunday) brought us dinner the first night we were here in this house and while she was dropping it off a neighbor/ward member who we did not previously know (they moved into this ward after we split off from it) also came by with a yummy chicken and rice dish for us! That was SUCH a nice welcome!! It's been so good, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak!! But, I have decided to just enjoy the goodness while it lasts. Life experience has taught me the good, like the bad/difficult times, ebbs and flows. So we might as well enjoy it!

100 Things about me.

1. Autumn is my favorite season. But I love ALL seasons. I like the change in weather.
2. I like to hear and feel the Autumn leaves crunch beneath my feet.
3. I love to hear the silence of a snowy winter.
4. I like the sound of birds chirping and a soft breeze blowing on a hot summer day.
5. I am a people person.
6. I like to stay informed by reading the newspaper or watching the news.
7. I am not a movie watcher, except for chick flicks.
8. I don’t watch much tv either, though I try to watch Oprah when I can.
9. When I was little I always dreamed of being a Wife and Mom. It was my dream job, and still is but sometimes I wonder why I am not enjoying it more.
10. I like to find solutions to problems rather than wallowing in them for more than a short time.
11. I went to Ricks College and graduated with my AA degree in Communications.
12. I went to Eastern Washington University in Cheney Washington where I met my future husband at the Institute and it was there that I switched my major to Education.
13. I graduated from BYU with my degree in Elementary Ed. in August of 1996.
14. Education is important to me (and my husband), we want our kids to have a positive educational experience and it is important to us that they go to a good school and have good teachers.
15. I like “Classic” looking clothes instead of all the trendy ones. Though, on occasion a trend or two can be nice!!
16. I don’t like to spend too much money, but I do like to shop.
17. Walmart is a necessary evil for me.
18. Kohls, Costco, Target and Bath & Body Works are some of my favorite stores.
19. I get cold easily.
20. I like pretty packages.
21. I like my home decorated and the walls painted something other than white!
22. I love bargains.
23. I love pizza.
24. I used to weigh 35 lbs. heavier and lost that weight 1 ½ years ago.
25. When I eat things I shouldn’t early in the day, I will often times make up for it by eating oatmeal at dinner.
26. Since I lost weight, I like my wonderbra!
27. I played the flute from 5th-10th grades.
28. I like watching sports including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, The Olympics and Rodeo’s. (Though I seldom find the occasion to watch).
29. I grew up in Northwestern Montana, in a small town named Libby.
30. I come from a blended family of 10 kids, I fall in at number nine.
31. I am the youngest daughter in my family and I live close to one of my sisters who also lives here in Colorado.
32. I like a clean house.
33. With 5 kids, laundry adds up faster than I like it to!
34. I LOVE things that smell good, like Wallflowers from B & BW.
35. I like to cross country ski.
36. Exercise makes me feel good.
37. I like cookies.
38. I love to eat at Cinzetti’s (an Italian Buffet here in Denver).
39. I do not like icy roads!
40. We are moving into a new house sometime this week.
41. I like a grassy yard (after living in AZ, I didn’t take the grass for granted anymore).
42. I love Pine Trees.
43. I love mountains.
44. I like to garden.
45. I love beautiful flowers, especially Orchids and Daisies.
46. I like foot rubs with no strings attached!
47. I like Toyota’s.
48. I’ve always claimed blue as my favorite color, but in truth it is probably green like a sagey green since more often I choose the color green for things than any other color.
49. I like debit cards.
50. I enjoy listening to my husband about his work.
51. I like talking to my husband.
52. I love taking long, hot baths!
53. I don’t like talking on the phone for long periods of time.
54. I like jewelry.
55. I am a big time safety nut, especially for my little almost 2 year old who is very accident prone at the moment!
56. I like looking at old barns and fields.
57. I love long walks – alone, with my husband, or with my whole family.
58. I like bike rides.
59. Spelling things correctly without having to use spell check is a big deal to me.
60. I wish I were better at grammar.
61. I’m not much good at math.
62. Jelly Belly jellybeans are one of my favorite treats.
63. When I get into a project, I can’t stop until I’m done.
64. I like candles.
65. I like to help out in my kids’ classes.
66. I have lived in Montana, Idaho, Washington, Arizona and Colorado.
67. My dh and I have a dream to invent some things someday.
68. I like to associate with people who inspire me.
69. I hope to someday visit Washington DC and tour all the great historical sites there.
70. I also have long had a dream to visit the New England States in Autumn.
71. I would like to go on a Church History tour.
72. I LOVE my 20/10 vision since having had LASIK in September of this past year.
73. I like my new Kenmore Canister Vacuum cleaner, it makes vacuuming pleasant.
74. I hope my husband and I can serve 5 missions for the church someday, one for each one of our 5 children.
75. I’m not a high maintenance person, but I don’t consider myself low maintenance either.
76. I like trivia. And I used to love to watch game shows when I was young.
77. I think it would be fun to travel the world and visit different cultures.
78. I like squeals of laughter from my children.
79. I like to make my husband and children happy by helping to meet their daily needs.
80. I like to browse magazines…and I stock People magazine in the grocery store while waiting in line but I never buy it.
81. My Piriformis muscle gives me grief and flares up from time to time, like it has been lately (it runs down the back of the leg from the spine through the hip and down).
82. I like the beauty of uncomfortable shoes more than I enjoy the comfort of comfortable ones.
83. I love to “people watch.”
84. I like to go on roadtrips with my family.
85. I like to go on dates with my husband.
86. I like to tour model homes to look at floor plans and decorating ideas.
87. I like to chew gum.
88. I like sweet things.
89. I like ribbon.
90. I chew my finger nails to get them 'even' when I don’t have a nail file with me, which is almost always.
91. I’m about 5’3” (give or take).
92. I like to dance, though my husband doesn't like it so much.
93. I like to look at sunsets with my husband or look for the rainbow after a rain with my kids.
94. I like music, particularly top 40 and country.
95. I like books and reading though I haven’t taken the time to do much of it lately.
96. I love Plays and especially love Musicals, the last one I saw was Mama Mia with my sister, Kallie and it was a lot of fun! Gotta love Abba!
97. I like to do the hardest tasks first, saving the easier ones for last.
98. When, I do watch TV I always mute the commercials.
99. Our family enjoys camping in the summer.
100. I’ve never had a professional massage, but I want one!

Moving Day

It's finally moving day! Almost a week late, but it's here!! This morning I will be taking the kids to the dentist then home for lunch then to the Title Company to close on the house!! Then it's moving like mad!! We have to be out of this rental house tomorrow!! I'm hoping and praying it all turns out good. I need to get in that place and do some serious carpet cleaning before my husband comes with the first load of stuff. Plus Laren needs to fix that broken water pipe!

Like Christmas All Over Again...

We had plenty of gifts of Christmas. And the kids have been playing with them all week. But a couple of the gifts required the remote for the tv to work (because we needed the "input" or "game" button). Our remote died on us, so when I was out and about Monday I got a new remote (I swear we go through those like water, they constantly seem to stop working or get lost!) and so the kids are in heaven! Since Monday they have been playing the Digi Makeover and the Dance Mania. We still also need to set up the Game Table, but we are waiting until we move to do that so it will be less bulky to move!

Our New Years Eve.

So I'm a little behind on posting about this. But we had a fun little New Year's Eve Party with just me, Laren and our five children. We ate some fun (yet not so healthy) food like chocolate chip cookies, Ritz Crackers, cheese, salami, carrot sticks and Poppyseed Dressing for dip (since I realized I had no Ranch Dressing and it was Sunday)...really was pretty good!

We also read some books my mother-in-law sent the kids for Christmas and played Uno Attack. Then we put the kids to bed at their regular bedtime. We just didn't feel like we could do a late nighter with grumpy kids the next day.

Welcome 2007!

Happy New Year!

So the New Year is here and I'm kind of in a funk of sorts!! I'm tired for one, for being up too late last night. Laren and I had good intentions of going to bed earlier but got caught up talking and then the fireworks at midnight kept us awake. The kids woke us up early this morning.

I went to Kohl's 3 times today! I was looking for Terracotta/Copper colored Bath Rugs/Towels. (To my credit, it was 2 different Kohl's stores.) It was productive, I found what I was looking for. I wanted towels to match these pretty ones I got at Bed Bath & Beyond.

Despite my funk I do have some big plans for the New Year. Here are a few of my goals:

Use my time better.

Be more patient with my kids.

Develop some hobbies.

Get organized!

and Maintain my weight.

Happy New Year everyone!! I hope to have a busy week moving, starting tomorrow but this whole process seems to be going way too slow! I will partly blame myself since I talked Laren into us changing Mortgage Brokers 2.5 weeks before closing since we could get a much better interest rate to save over a hundred dollars a month on our mortgage payment. But ultimately, I think it is this darned snow holding it up (between that and the holidays everyone has been out of the office)!!!! Plus, since this house is a foreclosure, the bank that owns the house takes three business days to process their paperwork once the lender and underwriting are done with it, then it still has to go to the Chicago Title Company!!