New Years

We had a delightful Christmas, the kids were totally spoiled; and it was fun to talk with my little brother, who is on his mission in Eureka California.  It was also really nice to have an hour long church meeting, especially since they had some new toys to keep them occupied and the company of their favorite people sitting next to us. Thinking back it was a really long day but it was so nice to spend it together as a family. We have a new year and yet another anniversary coming up, which I should do something special for....

 a while back we visited the tree house with Liv and Aspen and of course the kids had a great time.

I've started de-cluttering this house and boy is it cluttered. This January I'm gonna hit it hard and make it look like a minimalist lives here, with the hopes of perhaps putting it up for sale sometime in February. I'm thinking that will probably be my goal for 2012, "sell this house". When I get it looking really shabby I'll take some pics and share.
Since it is entirely impossible for me to put my cameras cord in the same place each time I find and use it, I will have to share my families Christmas day pictures at another time.
Have a wonderful new year!

Final tally

I checked my grades for this last semester and I got 2 A's, an A-,B+, and B, and it feels good :).

 Jared thought that he would help me catch up on the laundry yesterday, and now I have several loads of clean clothes waiting to be put away on my couch. If I could hire out any service in my home it would be laundry. I am so blessed that we have so much to wear, but man I hate trying to keep up on it.

My Christmas wrapping is all done, and I actually have my shopping for my in-laws and parents done, but I still don't know what to get Jared. He wants the starwars blueray set but my budget is about $50 short of that, he needs clothes and shoes but I don't know if I want to go shopping with the kids to pick those items up, and really where I could go to get the most of what little money I've got. Maybe tomorrow that will be put on the agenda. Its probably so boring for him to get clothes for Christmas, I'm just not feeling very creative with the gifts though. What I would really like for Christmas is a home depot gift card so I can rip off the ugly white tile that is my kitchens backsplash and replace it with something fancy and nice. I really want to get this home ready to sell, a friend from the ward came over yesterday to give us a bid on the fence and siding hopefully we can get enough to cover the cost of repairing everything ourselves. I still cant believe that the wind cracked my 4x4 pressure treated posts, but I guess it also cracked large evergreens so I shouldn't feel so surprised. The cheapest price for composite fencing I've seen is 3.37 per fence piece at Lowe's, it looks like its good quality, the normal price is 4.90 or something. I tried to dig out some carrots from my garden for stew the other day, and I couldn't even get past a 1/2 inch in the ground which means we wont be able to fix the fence till spring or when the ground thaws. I'm gonna need to have a professional fix the siding because the pieces took flight during the wind storm. I feel like I'm racing the clock but I haven't been given the green flag to go yet.
 Looking around in my ward today made me realize that its gonna be really hard to leave so many friends, Its just so comfortable there, everyone is in about our same financial situation and they are all so easy to talk to and get along with. Who knows we may be stuck in our home for much longer than planned, especially in this economy, but we won't know until we try!

11 days till christmas

This month is going by so fast, I did complete the shopping for the kids, but I haven't even started on anyone else. I'm kinda not in the spirt of it all, like I should be. I'm just tired.. and kinda lazy, I think I need to spend a week without the computer and then I would be far more productive. Hey I graduated! I don't remember if I told you that or not, but I did, now I have my associates, horray! So tomorrow I'm supposed to make 10 dozen cookies and so I will need to go out and buy yet another hand mixer cuz I killed my new $5 dollar one from walmart :(. I'm gonna be all cookied out tomorrow. I ordered my Christmas cards and i'm still waiting for them to arrive... it feels like it is taking forever. I got a letter from my little bro, more like a post it note but yet it had pictures so it brightened my day yesterday. My Christmas card this year just has the kids on it, its easier that way although we had some super cute pictures taken of our whole family I just dont have a copy of the one I like. Jared has been taking the van to work for the past 2 weeks, its been a nightmare trying to do anything in the truck with the two kids, my seat belt doesn't work in there so I just pull it over myself and sit on it so I don't get pulled over- its really doing me no good. It's seriously been such a good feeling to not have class at night, I love being home with my kids. I love the age they are at (except at church with konnor) I wish that they could just stay little forever cuz they're just so stinking cute, they think the lamest things are so cool and are so happy with whatever life gives them. Most of the time they like my cooking although, Makayla is really such a vegetarian she will eat sliced ham, and chicken nuggets but anything else gets picked around. Konnor is my best eater and he will usually dig in to whatever I put in front of him. I'm gonna try to wrap some gifts while I have the energy for it. I hope your all better prepared for Christmas than I am, good luck on the next 11 days.

Delta Blanket + diaper box = Barn

 So I said that I was working on a diaper box project and tonight I got to finish it. It cost zero dollars and it was pretty easy to make. Below is a picture of the boxes I started out with.

 Above is the box with most of the outside covering, and below is the finished product sorry its such a dark picture :(

 It has velcro in the top two corners to keep the barn closed when its being toted, but it should be easy for Konnor to open up the barn and add his cows to it, so we'll see.

If you want to see the whole process with pics I'm gonna be putting it on my search for simple blog -
searchforsimple.blogspot.com

November B-days (ps I'm random if you didn't know)

Today is Jareds birthday, last Sunday was Konnors birthday. All together it is kinda a crazy end of the month. Today was frustrating but its all okay now. The reason why it was frustrating is because our house was a mess and I needed to make dinner after church then make cake for Jared's b-day and have the house cleaned before family came over and you know when its your birthday you kinda don't have to do much.. like chores, so I felt like I had to be super woman doing alllllll of the everything so Jared could just have a day off (playing *DAMN* batman) and it wasn't that cool. ps I don't like the batman game, but that's another blog post that I'm gonna not write. So eventually he was a good husband and tried to help tidy up and even vacuumed on his birthday, poor jared... And we had family over and it all went smoothly except pearl running away and me chasing after her to Monroe, it was a nice night for a run. I put too much cocoa in the frosting so it was too chocolaty but the cake seemed to do well for substituting some oil for butter, and margarine spread for the other part of the butter.
 My emotions have been all over the landscape today if you haven't noticed. Today at church the husband of a lady in my ward let me know that his wife would be calling me for a haircut, and that the situation was that she has cancer and she wanted to donate her hair (its pretty long) because she would be starting chemo soon and would be loosing it. When I went to sit down by Jared I just lost it, I have no idea what cancer she has and what the circumstances are, but I could not stop crying. She is really one of the most selfless people I know, I can't even think of a time that she has said anything bad about anyone else, and I cut her hair so usually I hear about stuff like that. She really is completely a good, good person. I seems like all of the really great people who have done nothing to warrant any bad luck end up with cancer. Am I so weird for bawling? I'm really not sure.. I had an uncle die from cancer, another uncle is a survivor of brain cancer, a best friends dad die from cancer, an aunt survive breast cancer. I feel like I have a preview of what the months to come with chemo and everything that comes along with it (kind of) entails and it breaks my heart that her and her family will have to endure it. Don't I sound hopeless, good grief, all will go how its supposed to but I can still feel sorrow.

diaper box gifts

So this is gonna sound super cheap, thats because it literally is. I'm thinking and partway doing some gifts for the kids made out of diaper boxes. The one i'm working on right now is a fabric barn type of tote for konnor, I've been taking pictures so i'll show you the finnished product when its finnished. What I was thinking would be good for Makayla is a baby doll bed made from a diaper box, she doesn't have a bed for her dollys yet and I could really soup up a diaper box for that intended purpose. I may have to go buy some fabric for it but we'll see what I can come up with....

Dreaming of Christmas Toys

I do love Christmas, and I do think that it belongs in December but every December we don't seem to have much money for gifts and such. So this year I'm trying to be ahead of the game and get most of the kids gifts in order before our poorest month of the year arrives. I took the kids to Smith & Edwards yesterday to check out the toys there and see if any would truly entertain them. What I like about Smith & Edwards is that the toy section is really so different from other stores like Walmart, theres very little Dora, no barbie, no super hero action figures, they have lots of farm related toys, lots of Melissa & Doug toys (I love them). I'd like to cut back on the toy clutter and the thought of adding more toys to end up all over the house isn't a pleasant one, especially since I just put all of the kids stuffed animals into a large garbage bag to go downstairs till we someday move and have room for them (you can't imagine how much that helped with the clutter). Makayla liked a baby doll that cries until you give her a bottle and also liked the umbrella stroller for a little doll. Konnor liked everything, he is my tractor boy! Its his birthday in 12 days and I picked up some little metal airplanes, a hotwheel size tractor pulling a trailer and some plastic cows. He'll also be getting a hot wheel garage that I picked up for him a couple weeks ago.
I'd like keep the toys simple and to a minimum otherwise the kids seem to just toss them aside and it feels like such a waste. Have you seen any great toys for your kids/ nieces and nephews?

Emotions, the good the bad and the ugly

Hey so I'm at a calm tonight because I finished one of the 3 papers I need to write for my DANCE class... who writes papers for dance? Anyway, I just want to share my crazy emotions even though they are perfectly useless to anyone else :) This past Saturday Jared and I went for a drive looking at a couple of houses for sale in the clearfield/ Layton area, and we ran across one that I had told Jared about but he had completely dismissed because he thought it was in a bad part of town. So by complete accident we drove by it and I made him turn around to check it out and see if it really was the house I had thought was a pretty good deal (its 95,000), so we walked around the yard and looked in windows and he thought it was great especially in comparison with the 160,000 house we originally went out to look at. So we get ourselves excited about really nothing because we don't even have our house up for sale, Jared has yet to have a permanent job position at work and I really don't know if he will want to find a job (far away) drafting once he has his degree by July. But even though theres all these reasons why we should totally cool our jets and see how everything turns out come July, I really just want to deep clean the whole house and put it on the market. While checking out the pictures of the house I noticed another house just around the corner that is a rambler style with .8 of an acre of land for just 4,000 more and I also began scheming how I would fix it up and how great that would be... I think I'm a remodelaholic. So all this time I should be focused on school but instead I'm being a dreamer with a desire to put my children to bed in separate rooms and have my husband 20 minutes closer to work, let alone not be awakened after my husbands left to work (he leaves super early) by a crazy guy screaming profanities outside the house. All would be good, but yet were gonna be here through the holidays cause I imagine that would be a hard time to sell a home. 
On a good note school will be over in 5 weeks! Then I feel like I can devote more quality time with my children and focus on being a better mom.

 Jared and I had a date night this past Friday and so we went with friends to castle of chaos. I don't know if I'm just getting too old for these things but haunted houses really are not scary, I've been scared much worse for free. But it was fun hanging out with Bonnie and Shawn for a night.

I also had the pleasure of seeing most of the ballet Dracula last night. We would have stayed for it all (i think) if I hadn't thrown up. The day of I felt so yucky, I think I might of had food poisoning or my body was just really not too thrilled about how much sugar I had the night before. So I spent most of the day in bed or the bathroom waiting to throw up but nothing happened, even though I felt super gross I was gonna go to this ballet come hell or high water cuz it was expensive and I have to write a report on it. So at four I got dressed and put on enough makeup to hide my green complexion and was off. I went with a girl from my class and some girls she works with, we rode the frontrunner down to slc and had dinner at the applebee's. We barely made it to the ballet on time and after the first act I was dieing. (here's were I get really complainy so bare with be) So the guy in front of me had a huge head that managed to block most of the view and the guy next to me had awful cologne and because the seats are small he also occupied some of mine. Right before the end of act two (both acts being 45 minutes long) I knew I needed to go find ANY restroom before I ruined capitol theaters carpet. So after 3 flights of stairs (no kidding, we were in the nose bleeds) I finally spotted a trash can and became the first non-ballerina to barf at capital theater. The lucky thing is that there was not a soul around to witness this, but the unlucky thing is that this trash can was right next to the expensive concessions stand where in a couple short moments later people would be gathered to buy their treats. Being the horrible person I am I didn't tell any of the staff about what I did, but maybe someone noticed and it was taken care of... gross. We left before the last act because we didn't want to wait for the last frontrunner at 11:57 that night. So I got home shortly after 11 and was very happy to be home. I really think I would have liked it if I had been feeling better and had the energy to watch it,  it was just super exhausting watching dance after dance when you don't feel well in the first place.

He snagged a job!

Jared got a customer service job in SLC today! His first day is on the 26th of September, which is still two weeks away. I just sent him out to find a fast food job until then, we'll see if he can get hired anywhere quick so were not waiting till the 26th. The job pays the same as the last which is good but it is gonna be a long commute which I don't think anyone likes. He will be riding Front Runner then Traxs to get out to where the E center is for this new job. I'm relieved that we have a starting date for employment, things could still change if he hears back from the other places he's applied but it will be okay if he doesn't hear back.

Day 2 of looking

I know it sounds unrealistic but were completely on a timetable for when Jared has to find a job. This week is the max he can go without, even then its too long. So today is day 2, he has sent his resume out to the jobs he would rather get and now he is going to several retailers and teleperformance to find out about their openings and maybe apply in person if possible. I don't know what timetable these other jobs are on, and whether they will contact him in a couple days, weeks, months or ever; so he needs to have at least a filler job until he gets a better opportunity. I know that there are plenty of people out there who are unemployed and have been so for a long time, we just can't do it, he will take a job at a fast food place before too long passes because we just have to have more income coming in. He can't apply at Lifetime because he would have to go through another temp agency and since he signed some papers with the one who got him his past job, he is legally bound to stay with that agency for some time. Its super stupid, and something I bet nobody thinks about. Send us good thoughts, and prayers please!!

we may be getting good at this

If there's anything I've learned for certain from the past 3 years is that nothing is for certain. Jared got laid off today, anyone hiring? I think that if he can't find a job soon I'll be looking for work here soon. I'll try to keep you posted of any changes, if you know of anything let us know!

I should be sleeping

This semester is a killer, I have to do math at least 4 nights a week, my interior design class wants two assignments turned in each saturday, my tbe class wants an assignment each week, my dance has me doing a chapter assignment each week and a large group project with 2 concert reports for the whole semester. And finally i haven't touched my part d class, it only wants 6 assignments done the first one is due in 2 weeks. Usually the first two weeks of class are overwhelming then everything irons itself out, but I'm thinking this wont be the case since my classes are so freaking needy! Speaking of needy... I went to buy some diapers late tonight and decieded to pick up some meat too so that my husband will come home at nights. He told me tonight that I let him down because I made waffles for dinner, and he hates waffles for dinner. It would have been funny if he hadn't been so serious about it... jerk. I think he thinks I have a secret freezer stocked full of steaks hidden somewhere in this small house and I refuse to play texas roadhouse for him. I'm having a hard time figuring out my priorities right now, I dont do what I naturally want to do, i'm still the robot maid that does all the housework and laundry, weeding and watering, child caring and feeding, dog feeding and walking. I dont feel like I have a small moment to myself or that i'm being selfish with my time even right now its almost 1a.m. and i should be sleeping. Being a mom is crazy, being a student mom with a job attached to her house is difficult at best. So my question is why can't you freaking be greatful for WAFFLES? ( I kinda wish i could just spend the day playing texas roadhouse, maybe when i'm old.)

Limitless

My little girl turned four this past week and I really wanted to post pictures but I cannot find my camera at the moment or the other cameras usb cord, so pictures to come eventually.. I hope.. no promises.
This week school started and so don't be suprised if I fall off the face of the earth, it happens. I'm taking 14 credit hrs this LAST semester (last meaning I should get my associates, perhaps I'll take more classes, perhaps I'll take an extended break, I don't know yet) its a pretty full workload. Two classes are at Weber State, the other 3 are online. I'm taking dance and the TBE class at Weber, it'll be good if i can keep up with the homework. Today in church one of the speakers talked a small amount about someone who needed help with a hairy math problem and found that reading the scriptures helped her learn/study better; if she put the Lord first and made scripture study an intended part of her day she was able to get those things done for school that had been difficult without the scripture study. This is something I would like to incorporate into my day, I was good the first two days of the school week then it all fell apart. I have goals this semester to fit those things that are better for me physically and spiritually into each day, so I try to read from the Book of Mormon while eating my morning breakfast, then I try to either go out for a run or a walk. In today's paper they had a article on ways to improve your memory and one of the ways was to exercise, because it creates more connections in the brain where it can become weak (really interesting, not surprising though).
I watched the movie "Limitless" this past Friday and it really makes you want to extend your brain function and physical performance, but there isn't a small clear pill that you can take for that. I get these moments where I just feel so lazy, I look around and see what needs to be done but I have no desire to get up and do it all (I hate those moments). Other times I'm wired and can get so much done (occasionally triggered by anger), I should write down what I ate or did that day to create the bursts of energy and maybe I can also figure a way to be "Limitless". Until I figure out that special formula I've gotta be an extra good time manager (which means no more bachelor pad) and really make the most of each day. wish me luck!!

odd fact

When we first move into our home I was out on the front porch and a kid told me that his grandma said my house was haunted or that a witch lived here I'm not sure which... So that day I went out and bought some red planters to put by my front porch to plant some pretty flowers in so that my house would not appear to be haunted anymore. I have yet to successfully grow pretty flowers in the planters, but maybe someday I will get the knack of it.

Um my rant about ogden?,,, ya that sounds good.

So I added some pictures to spice up the text... Jared has started his new job, today was his second day and so far it is going great which is super. We will see him a grand total of 2 hrs or so on most days which isn't much different from the past but we will be seeing him around lunch time so that's a little different. We planned out the next couple years on a blank sheet of paper last night that pretty much confirmed that will wont be seeing much of him for a real long time. He wants to do the Pre-Engineering Associates degree at Weber then transfer down to the U for the last couple years of a bachelors in Civil Engineering. Its much cheaper this way because he can cover a lot of ground in the required courses at Weber then move on to the ones only the U offers (the U is much more costly). We were robbed for the second time a night or so ago, only they just took my new bike and the bike trailer that was attached to the back of the bike. Good news is that the trailer was recovered from a ladies backyard on 15th street, supposedly her neighbors are trouble makers and it wasn't a surprise to the cop that a bike trailer would be found next door. So if you live in the Ogden area, watch out for guys who kick in back doors (make sure your dead bolt works, and put super long screws in the hardware that the lock secures into) and dont leave anything unattended or unlocked cuz it'll disappear.

So I want to move but I don't have my house up for sale yet for a couple reasons, First I have several projects that I would like to complete before I take pictures of my home and second I start school next week and I have difficulty keeping a clean organized house when I'm also doing school. But all that doesn't keep me from looking at blueroof to see what houses are out there. Jared is working closer to home again, so that means that we would look closer, but not Ogden, as much as I love the idea of Ogden... close parks, newer entertainment,beautiful views of the mountain, close to the valley, hiking trails, homes with character. Also I've got a pool, schools, the kids Dr, grocery store, gas station, really great neighbors, and a place to get an ice cream cone within a half mile of me and I'm not on main street. But unfortunately crazy __ keeps happening on our freaking street, there is just no other way to explain it, I look out my front window and sometimes its like an episode of cops, or csi, or ghost hunters :) haha jk but really i'm no longer entertained by it. I didn't sign up for the my stuff is your stuff (that you'll never see again) thing, plus it'd be nice to live in a home with more than 2 bedrooms.

No pass

Well Jared did give it his best effort and made it to chapter 10 in the homework :( so he will be finishing up the class this coming fall semester, and doing 1050 in the spring. He has until July of 2012 to finish up the AAT degree for Weber state, so he will have to pass 1050 in the spring in order to get the degree, scary but possible. We had some good news this past week, we heard back from his job interview for a drafting position that he got the job! Its not coincidence that everything fell right into place, were very blessed to have a Lord who is mindful of our needs. I'll tell you a little about the circumstance. Jared didn't apply for the job and he wasn't looking for a new job, but he got a call from a temp agency asking for a Steve? Jared said that he must have the wrong number and the guy asked if his number was his number and then said that he was looking for a drafter, Jared then said that's what I'm going to school for and the guy said that he must of gotten the name mixed up and proceeded to tell him about a job opening, asking if he was interested in the position. Jared had an interview on Friday of the week before and heard back from the temp guy on the following Friday, the people had liked him but the corporate office didn't approve the position, So he had an answer to the job. He called me and let me know and then a couple hours later he was called again and was told that they have fought for the job position and corporate approved it and Jared was offered the job. So he is very very excited to be doing what he has been going to school for (for so long), and I'm excited that it is just down the street and he will not have an awful commute anymore (although he has lost close to 20 pounds biking to and from the train station and work each weekday). It sounds like they'll have the work for him but right now it is temporary and then perhaps he'll be hired on, if not at least he'll have on the job experience for drafting, but were really hoping for something more permanent.

about nothing, and everything

So yesterday night was a horrible night and what got me past completely freaking out while I was cleaning Roy was composing what I would put on my blog in my head. It started out like hate mail and ended up more like reasonable collected anger, then I decided that I really didn't need to vent all of my frustration out because I had fake written it down and all was well. So blogging could definitely be therapy for the incredibly cheap or poor (in my case both). If you want to know an odd truth about me I have a journal that I have kept from when I was first married that I usually only write in when I am irate, on occasions it has real journal entry's but for the most part its just me writing down my bad days that I can't seem to get by. My poor posterity is gonna think I was a very upset/picked-on woman when they get a hold of it. Any way its early Monday morning (12:37) and I should be in bed but I had a nap and I'm wide eyed and bushy tailed, so I'll share my other night with you (censored and mild). Jared's math 1010 class will be over come this Saturday. He is close to being done but really not comfortably close enough, and I want to have a panic attack every time I think about it. So we "talked" some of it over yesterday and no matter what was said it was just too much for us to discuss it civilly. I'm signed up for math 1050 this coming semester and I was hoping to have Jared be my study partner in 1050 too, but that may not be. This class was a good $1300, and completely wiped out our savings :( so you may understand the freak show that was going on in my mind. I'll have to share how this week goes, all i know is that its not gonna be pretty or easy for anyone in this household. If you feel so inclined.. send us good thoughts or prayers that he gets through it, heaven knows he needs them.

A camping we did go

a lake we picnicked by were calling it Mirror Lake (its not)

Provo river falls, its really cool it looks like steps were cut out for the falls.

The boys by the falls

Makayla excited about the falls. Earlier she had told me that "dinosaurs live by water falls" just some food for thought...

on our attempted hike to castle lake this was just getting out of the car maybe 10 feet away, Makayla still has her backpack on which she insisted putting a rock in and the flowers she picked. A short time later both Jared and I got to wear the backpack. I think we made it two miles, it took at least an hour if not more to get 2 miles and it was hot. The lake was 4 miles away (good thing we gave up), Jared is still sore from it. oh and we took Pearl too, so it was like a traveling circus.

ready for marsh mellows

Yellow Pine Creek a short walk from our campground

Konnor in his harness

not sure about the face, i'm eating smores.

We went camping (obviously) over the 24th of July weekend at yellow pine which was plan b if there really was a real plan b. Plan A was to go to sunset campground up farmington canyon, but farmington canyon is still closed. So we headed toward the Uintas since in my camping book there were lots and lots of camp spots close together there and we would have a fighting chance of getting one. We arrived at yellow pine campground and fell in love with it because it is how I figure camping should look with mountains and tall shady pine trees. The campground had a vault toilet, picnic table and fire pit, no running water or drinking water. Drinking water was about 5 miles away at soapstone basin. Our whole bodies were filthy and our hands were all just gross in a matter of minutes and stayed that way for 3 days. I tried my hand at dutch oven cooking and... I need more practice. My chocolate cake turned out good, and after HOURS my dutch oven potatoes were good too but it was too little too late, my biscuits were okay... I'll get better if we ever muster up the courage to go camping again. Its tuff with two young kids. Jared and I did get some time alone at night looking at the stars and talking which was nice. Maybe in a couple days the kids will chalk it up as a good family memory, but even they need time. If you enjoy watching other peoples sub-par family videos please by all means watch ours and you can get a taste of camping with small children!!

Journal post

Its Sunday night and I'm finding myself trying to organize my thoughts about life and where I'm headed, and instead of being a normal person and writing it all down in a journal I'm typing it out here. Being as it doesn't involve anyone but me it's perfectly fine (under my own standards) if I post about it. We recently got to replace our van with a newer more expensive van, and are no longer debt free, but hey we've got a working car! The truck is currently parked at my parents because it broke down on the way there :(. Eventually we'll get it fixed and have 2 working cars!! Its amazing how blessed being absolutely normal really is. Jared is doing well at his new job in North Salt Lake, and so far we've come up with a tentative plan to live here for a year to test out the new job's stability and if all goes well then in a year we will sell our home and move closer to North Salt Lake. One of my closest friends and best running partner is moving far away in the coming weeks and I feel super sad about it all, but am so happy that everything is working out as planned for her cute little family. I will have to find a new running partner and confidant or I may go crazy... so, so, sad. I like the idea of moving myself, I'm pretty restless and pretty soon I'll have all the projects done in my home that I care to do and will need a new project. I should just start drawing or painting again, its just hard to find the time or space.. alone space. I've got one more semester (its seems) of school and I'm dreading the thought of math 1050, people pass it right? The other classes I'm praying will be a breeze, we'll see. Hey my birthday is coming up! I'll be a big 25 years.. ugh that seems old... what do people do when their 25? ... I guess I'm already doing it. Jared and I talked about how many kids were having on our little day trip today, he's still stuck on four.. tops.. I told him we will need a bigger vehicle when we come across 5 :), he said the only way were having 5 is if I were to have triplets, poor boy doesn't know that I may push him past 6, bigger is better right? heck yes. There is just something about seeing a family of 14 kids interact when they've all grown up, that makes you wish you were a part of something big.

Search for Simple blog

To try to keep things slightly organized I decided that I'm gonna have this blog be more of a family blog, and I will post more of my creative endeavors on my 'search for simple' blog - http://www.searchforsimple.blogspot.com , Otherwise I feel like this blog should be renamed Zjani, cuz really its pretty much been all about me. I don't know that many people even follow this blog anymore because I've been a slacker lately, but hey if your still out there and interested in all the projects I do you'll find them on the other blog.

Country mudroom just about completed

This is how our back porch looks now
this is the view from inside the salon

I drywalled and skip troweled the walls then painted them blue

Here's our new door with with two sidelights

The view to the old door, I painted the old paneling white and put up a fake wainscot on the bottom section where the wood was so damaged, I also slated the floors in a brick lay pattern.

my country mud room

This was the start of a post a couple weeks ago, I couldn't find the cameras cord and didn't end up posting, but I'll share with you what I figured out and how my country mudroom is looking.

Hey I'm back... yet again... So for all of you who don't know our house was broken into last week and aside from important things going missing I also have a missing sense of security. To aid in my missing sense of security I plan on adding an outer door to my back porch and making it a mud room. I ripped off the siding of the back porch yesterday, so now I have the lovely country exterior... only it isn't whole like I had hoped. I still want to use it because I like the country feel of it all, I just have to figure out how I can make it work. We should have our new door and half sidelight combo coming in sometime next week. I know that you guys can be pretty crafty so maybe you can give me some suggestions on how I can keep at least a portion of the 114 yr old siding in view.

I went to take some pics of the whole new revamp but my cameras battery is dead... I'll post them here soon.

I cant seem to locate my USB cord that connects my camera to the laptop, and my other camera that I took pictures with while we were in Vegas needs a driver that has been erased to load up any pictures from it :( So its kind of boring to post without pictures but I figured I'd give you an update anyway..
School has been in for 5 weeks now and I cant say that I am loving it this semester, I feel like all I do is assignments and schoolwork but yet I am just making the deadlines not progressing ahead. It wouldn't be so bad if I wasn't putting forth so much time and effort (mostly time) and just barely cutting it... why do classes have to be so demanding? Lame. Anyway, I'm looking forward to spring, it can come anytime now.... you have my permission....
Hey Jared and I went to Vegas for our 5 Year anniversary, we stayed at Microtel Inn and Suites which is approximately 3 miles south on the strip, walking from Mandalay Bay its 3.4ish miles (a very late night adventure). While in Vegas we saw The Lion King, it was amazing, and we won $50 gambling (We split it, he purchased a UFC shirt, and I got some suede black knee high boots). Jared was nice enough to come with me to the extremely small art gallery in the Belagio, I was hoping for more of a museum but it was more like 4 large rooms with pictures... the high point would be that I saw original artwork from Picasso with my own eyes. It was a really fun vacation, the hotel was great, we had free breakfast there every morning and I got us a pretty sweet deal so definitely worth it. While in Vegas my friend from high school and hair school Caitlin and her hubby, Steve were nice enough to come clear out to pick us up for church and let us hang out with them Sunday in their great new home! They even drove us over to see the Las Vegas Temple (which is beautiful). Everything was so out of the way for them, and they were just too sweet to cater to our whims, Thanks guys! The only thing I would have changed was the time away, it was just a day too long and I really missed my babies.
If I ever get my camera figured out I'll share our pics. So that is all I can really come up with, life is pretty routine but always busy, I really can't wait till summer break.. only 10 weeks to go.