Slowly but Surely

There are some days that we feel like nothing is accomplished and some days we check off a million things. However we are are getting there slowly but surely. WE only have the counter top and floors left before we can move in. However, those are the two BIGGEST things!!! The counter top will be done this week which we will be so glad when that is done! Other than those two projects were in. I still plan on having Christmas there. What? I want to open presents in our own house this year -sue me...(office fans?)

Romney had fun taking off the original tiles. Now its ready to turn into a bar!

Rom hard at work setting up the plywood!

Now it is officially ready for tiles. There are so many steps to this one project. We are putting in 12x12" granite tiles.


While Romney is working downstairs I've been working upstairs on some paint. Most of the rooms we used an airless paint sprayer (highly recommended) but some areas we didn't! Like the bedrooms...so dumb.

Before you judge my stripes hear what I'm doing! This blue isn't just any blue it happens to be TWILIGHT BLUE, so I am doing the same blue in stripes just one stripe is a flat finish and the other one will be a semi gloss finish. So it'll be a slight stripe...hopefully. HGTV moment.

This room used to be the brightest spring green..yikes! Now all it needs is chair rail.

Here is the old smurf blue room. It is supposed to have a green tone. Some see it some don't.

A Fresh Coat...

Well seeing that Christmas is around the corner and we want to be in the house by then, we have been extremely busy. After much thought and swatch after swatch we found our colors. We really like earth tones. SO, we found some really great colors to work with and they look great with our area rug. Its amazing what a fresh coat of paint will do for a house. I'm sorry for posting the same things over and over but its our life right now and I don't want to forget this time either. So soon enough I'll be done with the house postings. I know photos don't turn out the exact color but it's something. So here is the latest...



The darker brown is the whole living room color and it changes to tan up on the main wall. From that wall over to the stairs and up the stairs is the tan. We love it.





The tan color was brought all the way up the stairs and in the upstairs hall way. Im really happy with the way it turned out. The cupboards and doors are a fantastic white. I never knew there could be so many shades of white out there.





Our family room now has an army feel to it. We love the olive and boy scout greens. I loved the swatch from the store and Romney didn't. Once the paint was up I was nervous and he LOVED it. But now I am so happy with it. I have to say around 2:00ish is the prettiest shade. These pictures really dont show the green but I promise its a green tone.






...and here is the dreaded project...pulling up the floor. These little peel and stick tiles are hard to pull up. Soon enough we'll have our floors in. I cant wait!

A busy weekend!!!

MY MY MY what a busy weekend. We are so tired. However a lot of progress has been made. On Friday we textured all the walls and painted all the doors downstairs. While Romney textured the downstairs, I was upstairs preparing for texture and paint. I hate that blue tape!! On Saturday we went back and the texture was dry so we primed AGAIN! While the primer was drying we textured upstairs along with painting the baseboards and doors. Now all the upstair walls are ready for primer and the downstair walls are ready for paint!! I am so excited.

I am sanding off the excess texture before priming.


There was once a HOLE in the ceiling but Romney did a great job patching that up (yes we are repainting the ceiling). He put in some recessed lighting along that wall too. What a stud!



It really is making progress! ITs just primer but it looks better already!



The upstairs! Two things I want you to notice. One: look at all the bedroom colors...hello?(if you cant see the colors I did a post below just of the colors) Two: on the wall directly in front you may notice a BIG white rectangle on the wall; well that is because there was a bookcase there and the people did not want to move it while painting...so they went around it.




AHHH the bathroom. Im not a mom however, I bet there are other ways to make your child feel special than letting them paint a beach scene on the wall. This isn't the only painting on the wall either. There is a great butterfly downstairs too. One never knows....

A splash of color

One thing is for sure, the previous owners were not affraid of color!!!!


Master bedroom: Im not sure what color to call this. Its kinda pinkish orangeish brown!




bedroom 3:This blue is up there with smurf blue.




bedroom 2:This one isnt too bad, just a tan.




bedroom 1:This spring green was brought to a whole new level. WOW its bright!

What a mess!

Wow the projects keep coming. The money keeps going. We have made alot of progress though. We have primed all the walls down stairs, the holes are patched, the cabinets are sanded, and the baseboards are pulled off. We are so close to painting the rooms. Hopefully by next week we can start the painting. We just have a few more little things to get done.


Handy man indeed. Romney is up in the attic fixing the house fan...I have never heard of one until now. Apparently we have one and its supposed to be really cool.




The kitchen prep is almost done! We have taken off the cabinet doors and sanded them down. Yes I did the sanding...very messy. Romney took out the fluorescent lights and put in the recessed lighting above. Go Romney!!!



It already looks so much better with the cabinets that were hanging above the counter GONE!!! It has opened it up so much.




The dreaded doggy door.....gone!!!! patched that puppy up...no pun intended

I too have been tagged!

Six interesting facts about me? Um well I have facts I'm not sure they are interesting.

1. I love watching romantic comedy movies! Not only watch them but re watch them over and over and over. If they make me laugh and I quote them I'll watch them 100 times. i.e. how to loose a guy in 10 days---so funny! My best friends wedding--classic. Return to Me--can those old men get any better?

2. Having been told by many: I have a potty mouth when I'm drugged up for surgery(which I have had 8). It doesn't matter if the bishop calls to check up on me, apparently I still swear. Whoops. I always wanted to be a sailor.

3. I love falling asleep to the sound of cars driving by in the distance. Its not super busy at night, but the occasional late driver, aughhhhh I love it.

4. I am terrified of Earthquakes!! Living in California does not help the situation.

5. I'm not a picky eater except for CHICKEN POT PIE! I can not stand chicken pot pie. The crust is so gross to me, so yes that includes me not liking Pie either.

6. My first job was at Sportmart. That's right Sportmart I was 19 (It was a summer job...what?) I never once spoke on the intercom to announce that we were closing except for my last night. SO I picked up the phone and said "attention WALMART shoppers the time is now 9;45 we will be closing in 15 min." Um I'm pretty sure I work at sportmart not Walmart...I was embarrassed.

Our House....is a very very very fine house...

Well this post took me over an hour. Romney is at work and I have no idea how to down load pictures onto the computer. But, I did it. I wasnt willing to wait for him until tomorrow morning. Literally it took me an hour to figure out this downloading the chip thing. However here are new house pictures that were requested ( mostly by my sister and sisters in law ). Last night Romney patched up all the holes in the wall. He replaced a toilet seat cover and worked on ripping the cubboard out. Im working on cleaning the upstairs right now. Lucky me.

Stairs. I just love the three tone paint on the wall. Check out all the colors of paint on each section. Now the chandlier is the prize. But upstairs to the right is the master bedroom and to the left is the linen cubboards and bathroom and 3 additional bedrooms.



Kitchen. She is coming along. The cubboards that are hanging right in front of this picture are coming out- to open up the area.



Family room. This is the room where the leak WAS (no more leak) coming down on. This was taken from the eating nook/kitchen. We can not wait to fix up the fireplace and put up a mantel



Living room. The doggydoor is on the right side of the wall.



Dinning room. This is connected to the living room and to the right is the kitchen. Notice the awesome lighting. And get close to see our amazing backyard....yes its an above ground pool and tree house and shed all klumped together. (pool is going, shed and tree house are staying)




Here is our doggy door. I wasnt kidding...




Yes it is crazy. But all an easy fix. WE love it. We cannot wait for all the changes to happen. It is wierd to be a homeowner. Doesnt feel real at all. But it is ours and I cant wait to move in...someday and call it home!

Housekeeping!!!

This house is soooo dirty. I have no idea how long its been vacant but its bad!!! We have spent HOURS cleaning and cleaning and cleaning. The downstairs bathroom and kitchen are ready! They are completely scrubed and sanitized. The cubboards were so gross. There was so much grease, food, and dirty finger prints on them...so gross.



Now they are ready for some paint. The cabnits are going to be painted white and get some stainless steel knobs on them. Hopefully that will help tons.....Oh does it need help. (I promise Im helping too)

Water Leak....check

Well the projects have begun!!! I did say that the tub leaked but I might have left out that it was leaking from upstairs through the ceiling. Yeah there was a little water damaged hole so Romney made it bigger and began to fix it. There is a new pipe line and we are hopefully leak free. Final leak check on his next day off.



With this ceiling open now, were going to continue to open the whole section and put up some recessed lighting.

IN ESCROW BABY!!!!!

We are so excited! We are getting a house!!!!! We've been looking a little here and there but nothing serious. Especially with the prices the way they are here in California. But one just kinda fell into our lap. So, we found the perfect house for us (not to mention we got a killer deal). With that being said...it needs love. It is a bank repo and the previous owners took NO PRIDE in it. We are so excited to fix it up and make it ours. It is in a great neighborhood, truly this house is a "diamond in the rough". The paint is so ugly, I can not wait to paint to our liking. The floor is disgusting, we (romney) are going to install wood flooring. The kitchen faucet is busted, the tub leaks and did I mention that there is a doggy door in the middle of the living room wall? Yes a doggy door in the wall not in a door, but in the middle of the WALL. So there will be some patching up too. It is so fun picking and choosing what we want to do. We are so excited about this and can not wait. Oh, and the perk...its around the corner from my parents house, litterly. SO fun!!!!!! SOOOO here's to ESCROW!!!

I love the 80's!

In defense I am the youngest of four. They are all to blame that I know DM,OMD,Pet Shop Boys, and The Cure. However I do love the 80's...its back right? So really I belong to the 2007's!

You Belong in 1980

Wild, over the top, and just a little bit cheesy. You're colorful at night - and successful during the day.

What Year Do You Belong In?

I'M SAILLLLIIIIINNNNGGG!!!!!!

Well here has been our most recent hobby. We are having so much fun sailing on the Hobie Cat. We go to Lake Perris just a few miles away for the afternoon. It is amazing how fast those things go. The wind is blowing and you are halling. The Cat is maded up with two pontoons that keep you afloat and a trampoline in the middle of the those two things. You sit on the edge and go. When the wind is really good you go up on one side. So FUN! Kinda scary and yes we have tipped the boat a couple of times but that makes it even more fun. We invite lots of friends to go out with us. A family from our ward goes all the time and we have a ball together. They are good sailors and are learning a ton from them especially Steve"o". It's fun to get both boats going at the same time.

What is my personality anyway?.....

So I guess I am a "caregiver". Kind of a fun test to take. I learned some things new about myself that I never gave much thought about until now. Take the test for yourself and maybe you will learn some things new too.

You Are An ESFJ

The Caregiver You are sympathetic and caring, putting friends and family first. A creature of habit, you prefer routines and have trouble with change. You love being in groups - whether you're helping people or working on a project. You are good at listening, laughing, and bringing out the best in people. In love, you value harmony and mutual understanding. You will apologize or give someone the benefit of the doubt, if it means getting over a fight sooner. At work, you are good at building relationships and connecting with people. You would make a great nurse, social worker, or teacher. How you see yourself: Organized, dependable, co-operative When other people don't get you, they see you as: Opinionated, critical, and know-it-all

What's Your Personality Type?

FOUR YEARS.....

FOUR YEARS? Where has the time gone? I can not believe how fast time is going by. These last four years have been so great. We have had so much fun together, and have been through a lot too. We've been able to finish school (probably not on the time line we thought, but we got it done), we have been through a couple of "out patient procedures", we've payed off those out patient procedures...ouch, we've gone on some fun vacations, we recently discovered we love to go sailing. Its just been fun to go through life experiences together and grow.

I love Romney because:

He is the easiest laugh...he thinks everything is funny

He never gets mad when I "accidentally" buy something just my size....whoops..."how did that get there?"

He takes me to the temple every month

He is a great sailor....Yes Captian

He takes great pictures

He makes yummy breakfast

He watches movies with me and has ZERO interest in them

He likes to play games

He still opens my door

He lets me have the left side of the bed and he HATES it

He encourages my hobbies

He is so good about my health

He lets me sleep in all the time

He notices when I do the laundry and clean the bathroom

He can fix anything!!!!!

He can build anything!!!!

He is so smart

He is loved by EVERYONE!!!

He looks so dang cute in his Fire Uniform!!!

He still makes me smile

Even though he still cannot seem to put away his laundry I still love the guy! I wouldn't have it any other way. I did good, I got a good man and I am very happy ! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

CHICAGO TRIP!!!!

So we went to Chicago! It was great. We filled our week up. We flew in Saturday Night and flew out Thursday afternoon.

Monday (7-16-07)we went on an awesome tour around and in between the city and finished the night up with a ball game. We took the L train and it was packed. Seriously the whole city goes to the games. There are Cub shirts everywhere you turn. The cub fans are awesome. It was an awesome old field. I have never seen anything like it.

Tuesday(7-17-07) we did the zoo.( Well it took us forever to get to the zoo because my brother could not parallel park to save us.) While there we peddled around a small lake too. That was pretty cool to be in the middle of the city and see the huge buildings behind tall trees while in a dinky boat. We played around in Lincoln Park. The kids loved chasing all the butterflies. We went and saw the play Wicked that night. It was amazing. I loved it. I would see it again. The theater was incredible. We took a taxi and that was pretty fun too.

Wednesday(7-18-07) we did Navy Pier. SO fun. The childrens Museum is there along with rides and shops. We ate at a Jazz resturant. Fun atmosphere. A lighting and thunder storm chased us out by the end of the night.

On our last(7-19-07) day Romney and I rode bikes around and went to a yummy Chocolate shop called Ethels. It was divine. Every time I go to Chicago I want to go there and I finally did. I think I sampled everything there. It was such a fun week to spend with my family. My dad and brother Derek and his family didnt make it out. We did miss them though. All the nieces and nephews and brothers and sister are great. It was awesome.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!!!!!

Happy fourth of July!! We had the best day! It is Romneys family tradition to go to the University of Redlands for the 4th. We wait in line in the blazing heat and at 5pm they open the doors. It is held out on the football field. We set up camp and bring our coolers. We eat our dinner on our blankets and wait for the sun to go down. We play card games and wait some more. While we are waiting for the firework show planes fly overhead doing different things. There are skyjumpers who also put on a show. IT is so fun. The atmosphere is just great. Every year we bring more friends and they keep coming back. Happy 4th to all!!!



Here is Romneys brother Roger and his wife Lyndzee and their kids Charliee and Jett



This is Romneys sister Penny and her husband Jared with their kids Keegan and Ellie




Mom and Dad came and they thought it was pretty fun too.



Charliee was so excited to watch the airplanes and skyjumpers!




The skyjumpers are crazy. A whole buch of em jump from 10,000 feet and make there way down to where we are sitting. They land going about 20-40 MPH. It is so cool to watch them do flips in the air. The last jumper came down with the flag attached to his leg.



Here are the planes that go back and forth and do different things. It's really fun to watch and see all the kids go nuts for airplanes.



This firework show was so awesome! It went for about 30-45 mnutes. They shot off the fireworks and it went along to music. The ending finale was to the Star Spangled Banner. Everyone stood up and sang along and it was amazing. The whole sky was lit up.



What a fun fun day!