another sneak peak...

These original 1988 faucets were ready to go...

and these ones wanted to move in....

down pour

It is pouring rain today.
And it is LOUD rain.

The last time I was in a down pour I was in Vatican City!
We walked out of St. Peters greeted by unexpected rain!
But, got the rare opportunity to be the only ones in the plaza.
Pretty amazing!
Look at the lights that reflect on the cobblestone streets. Beautiful.

So when I was making hot chocolate this afternoon I opened my blinds hoping to see reflections in the backyard....
NOPE....
just mud.

another year...another project...

THE MASTER BATHROOM

Out with the stand only shower pan
and in with the bathtub...
and tile...

Rom stayed up all night last night putting in the floor....

to be short two tiles.
ARGH!!!

she's infertile too....

Meet my sister Alison.

Meet her darling little family whom I adore!

Anyone who really knows me- KNOWS I am a big fan of my sister.

People who know us, think we are a lot alike. They think we look alike, talk alike, and laugh alike.

All growing up I always wanted to be just like her.

....little did I know I'd get the opportunity...

Alison is infertile.

She has endometriosis!

The problem lies in her fallopian tubes.

I remember being in the hospital recovering from my colonless beginning thinking-

Heavenly Father sure knows what we can handle cause I couldn't handle going through what Alison is going through.

oops. lesson learned.

Alison has done invitro 5 times. Yep 5 times.

Her first three attempts were not successful.

She didn't give up.

She didn't loose hope.

She kept trying.

On her fourth attempt she got one baby. One sweet baby girl.

Her fifth attempt she got twins. Two more sweet little girls.

Yes she had three babies under the age of two....

Alison understands exactly what I am going through.

She understands my frustrations and my tears.

She is the first person I call with good and bad news.

She is the person that says the right thing to make me stop crying.

She is the person that makes me not want to give up.

I look at her family and have hope that one day we will have one too.

Her babies are miracles and there is room for miracles in everyones lives.

Thank you to Romneys brother for that reminder.

I never thought I would be experiencing this.

Didn't I say Heavenly Father knows what we can and cant handle?

Should have kept my mouth shut.

So here I am getting the opportunity to be my sister.

So hopefully our "alikeness" will hold true and

my fourth attempt will be a success too.

a little late.....

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning is just such a fun thing. It never gets old. Even as an adult you wonder what is in each box that is wrapped up and you think because it has a bow on it...its the "big" present this year. It's just a fun morning! Santa was good to me this year...as he is every year. He brought practical things that needed replacing and new fun gadgets that will make me a better cook and he brought thoughtful things one of which will allow me to talk with my sister in Chicago even more! Oh that Santa-he's a cute one! Now don't think Santa went home empty handed. He got a GPS which will hopefully direct him to the master bathroom to finish up that darn project! Of course he got new awesome tools to accomplish this minor remodeling task! See I'm thoughtful too...

Merry Christmas!

Third Wheel....

Well the season is here. We should have had our baby by now. Who really wants a December baby anyway? So instead of wallowing in sadness of what "could've/should've been" we played at Disneyland. And that is ALWAYS FUN

Though we didn't go alone. We brought along with us my nieces FLAT ANNALIESE inspired by the great childrens story FLAT STANLEY. She made her flat Annaliese with her Kindergarten class back in cold Chicago. Hopefully her flat went the farthest distance and did the coolest stuff out of all her class.

The three of us were able to see Mickey
Ride fun rides,

and walk down Main Street holding hands in front of the Christmas Tree.


SO, I am pretty sure

this totally makes us the coolest aunt and uncle ever....

Venice...

This my friends is St. Marks Chapel. The gold mosaics are indescribable. Every night here in St. Marks square there are 4 orchestras that all play amazing music. On our last night in Venice we stood in this square taking in one last moment of this trip. As we continued to eat our gelato one of the most beautiful songs ever written started to play by one of the orchestras. It is this song that is now playing on my blog that we heard. As the music started, I reflected on our whole experience in Venice.

I wanted to stay a little longer-

just to experience it all one more time...

... I wanted to walk through this arch way one more time to get to our hotel that was orange with green shutters. I wanted to see just how many shirts could hang dry in one day...

...I wanted to to go back to Murano Island to play for an afternoon. How fun to see blown glass, and window shop for things we couldnt afford...

...I wanted to see the reflections one more time...


...I wanted to wear make up in Venice for goodness sake...



...I wanted the chance to see more bright buildings on the water...



...I wanted to see my honey stand by this canal one more time showing off his new jeans...

...I wanted to see one more gondola parked bobbing in the water...

I needed one more sunset in VENICE!

As the song ended so did my wondering mind. I just wanted one more day. One more day of this amazing place. The novelty of Venice didnt disappoint. We loved our stay here. So many great things to see. Hand in hand we left St. Marks square a little sad that the trip was coming to an end but so happy for the opportunity we had to do it.
So we kissed and thanked each other for such a fun adventure...
and promised for more world travels...
lets just hope it isnt for heart mending...




You know your fairytale vacation has come to an end...
when THIS is your luggage:
One bag of clothes and one bag of Souvenirs.
This is our slap of reality...
welcome home!