Some things you just have to share

Like when you go shopping for milk and a welcome mat and come back with:

-a welcome mat

-a set of 4 shelves

-2 silk plants

-2 silk flowers

-a wrought iron bird cage

-a wooden "welcome" sign

-6 cups of blackberries

-a decorative metal basket type thing

-a canister with a rooster on it

-a lemon zester

-a lemon (for the lemon zester, duh!)

-3 hand towels and 2 washcloths

-3 maternity shirts

...

and no milk.

Ok, just kidding. I got milk. But it would have been really funny, not to mention entirely unsurprising, if I didn't.

Wanna know the best part? All this became mine for about 70 bucks. Yeah, including the maternity shirts (and there are three of them, friends). And that's before I put some of it on my birthday list for my parents to gift to me.

**side note: I'm one of those really annoying people that will never tell you what I want for my birthday or Christmas or whatever. Usually, for my birthday, this ends up meaning that my birthday passes and I occasionally decide that there are certain things that I want for my birthday. This could end anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months later, depending on how persistent my mom is in reminding me. And on how much I go shopping. side note over**

Anyway, I am extremely pleased with my purchases of the day. Stay tuned to see just how completely and unbearably adorable they are in my ever-continuing-to-grow-in-loveliness house!

Life Beyond the House

As if buying/moving into/fixing up our new house wasn't enough, life has still gone on.

Don't you hate that? I mean, sometimes there just isn't time for...life.

That was either really deep or really silly. Either way, love it.

So one of my nearest and dearest friends got married. That was joy on a stick.

Sometimes, I put things on a stick. Lots of things are better on a stick. Or at least, easier to eat.

So my lovely friend became a MRS.

Here she is in all her loveliness.

My loveliness was rather shy that day. Maybe if some pictures of it surface in the near future, I will let you see. I was priviledged enough to be a bridesmaid for my dear friend, so there might be a fun picture of us somewhere. I suppose that remains to be seen.

Also, in case you didn't know, we moved on my birthday. Yes, Saturday, August 15 marked 22 years of my being on this planet.

It was definitely a good day, filled with lots of little reminders of how many people I have in my life that love me...or at least won't turn us down when we ask for their help moving. In other news, my grandma called me to sing "Happy Birthday" to me, like she always does (at 7:00 in the morning, also like she always does), and it made me cry. And then I knew I was pregnant. I also cried a couple other times that day, usually because of something nice someone did for me. Ah, I'm emotional.

But anyway, we went out to dinner that night, and then Dallin and I basically came straight to our new home and were dead asleep by 9:30. Good day, but didn't so much feel quite like a birthday, to be honest. I wasn't going to complain, but I think my sweet hubby noticed something, because I had a surrogate birthday yesterday, thanks to him.

We slept in, then got up and went swimming, and then he made breakfast whie I got ready. And a delicious breakfast it was too - complete with a Dr. Pepper which was left in our fridge by one of his employees over the weekend. It makes me feel special to know that Dallin would steal for me.

Then we went to the mall, where we looked at baby clothes (Baby Gap will be my ruin), bought me a shirt and some protective stuff for my sweet new phone, and just walked and talked. Then we headed over to Target to start our baby registry. Key word here is "start." We basically just dipped our toes into this fantastical new ocean full of 23 different types of bottles. Hmph.

And then we went to Red Robin to enjoy my free birthday burger (yeah, sign up for their little club or whatever and you get a free burger for a week before and after your b-day. I don't say no to a free $10 burger these days). I quite love Red Robin. I'm such an American food person. Burger and fries, baby. Aw, yeah.

And then we rented "Coraline" from Redbox. Because that is much cheaper than going to the movies. I'm still not so much a fan of "that kind" of animation, but whatev. I wanted to see that one, and now I have! It was actually quite good. Ok but really, I was a little bit scared by it. It was like...a nightmare in a movie. Thankfully, it did not actually give me nightmares. I did have a nightmare last night, but it didn't involve anyone that had buttons for eyes. It involved someone breaking into a condo place that I was alone in. Shudder.

Anyway, it was a fantastic day, full of many things that I very much love. Dallin did an excellent job of making sure I felt very special, and of making sure we did things that I would enjoy. He also kept saying "It's your birthday!" which was cute and funny, but I had to keep assuring him that it was not actually my birthday, so that there's no confusion next year. We wouldn't want that.

Finally, baby and I had to take a test together last week, to make sure we don't have gestational diabetes. I was seriously dreading this, having heard several less than encouraging stories abou not being able to keep the sugary drink down long enough, being at the doctor's office for hours on end, etc.

It actually went very smoothly though. The actual sugary drink wasn't anything me and my taste buds couldn't handle, since they're probably pretty much made of sugar at this point in my life. And then my groovy new phone and I passed the hour long waiting time playing games together before I had blood drawn.

So far, the only result I've gotten is a nice greenish-purple bruise where the blood-sucking needle was stuck. But that wasn't unexpected. Anyway, I think the test is one of those "no news is good news" things, so I'll assume as long as I don't hear from them that nothing's wrong. Which is great! It's good to be healthy. Especially when you're so bad at taking care of yourself you don't really deserve to be healthy.

So yeah, that's been our life beyond the house. Nothing too out of the ordinary, but definitely enough to keep us extraordinarily busy. Especially once you throw in Dallin's work, which keeps him extraordinarily busy anyway. The next ingredient to be added to the mix: grad school. Starting tomorrow, I'm a grad student! Go me!

Ciao for now, amici.

There's No Place...

like home!

Now tap your heels together three times and follow me on a photographic journey of my new home!

I'm pretty sure you haven't tapped your heels together yet. If you thought I was joking, think again. TAP, people.

Now let us be off! Hang on to your hats, my friends. It's a bumpy ride.

BEFORE... the FAMILY ROOM was:

painted a peachy color (not peachy as in nice and pleasant in a down home southern kind of way...peachy as in, like a peach. The fruit)

And there was a gigantic hole in the wall. We can only assume it was for entertainment center purposes. I think it's also safe to assume it never got finished.

AFTER...the FAMILY ROOM is:

painted a nice, neutral tan color, complete with an accent wall in a darker shade of brown;

COMPLETE with some awesome new shelves built by my awesome, semi-new husband:

Woo-wee! Just look at those beauties.

BEFORE...the KITCHEN was:

lacking working, much less worthwhile, appliances:

and painted the same awesome peachy color.

AFTER...the KITCHEN is:

painted the sweet neutral tan color and decked out with new appliances to boot!

Of course, when I say "new," I mean, "new to us." Craig's List outfitted our whole kitchen for about $1300. That is why we use Craig's List. Thank you, Craig.

BEFORE...the HALLWAY was:

crying because of the carpet that was on it. I don't even have a picture that would do the ugliness of this carpet justice. Imagine carpet in the worst shape you've ever seen. Now go get some mud and rub it all over this carpet. Now wait a month. Now spill some questionable substances on it (hey, I won't ask!). Now get your lawn mower and mow the carpet. Now set fire to it. Repeat. Your carpet still looks better than this carpet did.

This picture was taken AFTER the carpet was removed. It looks better this way.

But now...oh, now. Now we have lovely carpet that I just love to squish my toes into.

The hallway is currently the only carpeted area in our house, but since we love this carpet so much, we are going to have an area rug made out of it for our living room! Hooray!

Also, this entryway lighting fixture:

became this entryway lighting fixture:

These hallway flushmounts:

became these hallway flushmounts:

and these kitchen track lights:

became these kitchen track lights:

All three bedrooms and the den were painted, except the one that had this awesome mural in it:

That one was destroyed.

The curly linoleum in the bathrooms was replaced with some nice new tile. We got a new water heater, since the old one was sick and dying. Several other lighting fixtures/ceiling fans were changed, but I won't make you look at all of them. Dallin swapped out a lot of the old baseboards for new ones, with the use of a new found toy- the nail gun. Toilet seats were replaced (something I could actually do!). Most surfaces in the house were steam cleaned (I could do that too). AND...

the pool is blue and there are no weeds and/or overgrown trees in the yard. You have no idea what an accomplishment these things are. The pool was greener than whatever grass was back there. Toxic, if you will.

So now, we're unpacking. Laundry is getting done (since we had the defective washer hook-ups fixed), boxes are getting unpacked, and project decorate/organize is underway. Some of the projects I've been working on for the past few days...

Cute-o storage baskets for my closet:

Setting up our kitchen table:

cleaning and lining the pantry to make it fit for human food:

and working on organizing this room:

which, as our extra room, I'm envisioning as a groovy hang out room, complete with my books and love sac, Dallin's guitar and amp, and baby's swing and toys. Let's see if we can make enough room in there...

As for all the OTHER stuff we've been up to, including (but not limited to) my being a bridesmaid in a wedding, my birthday, and a rather long and sugary OB-GYN appointment...well, you'll just have to wait. I got tired again just thinking about all the house stuff we've done (and have yet to do).

p.s. If I haven't mentioned how completely BLESSED we are to have this new home, and if you haven't assumed that I feel that way already, consider this your wake up call. I have a beautiful new home that my loving, hardworking husband and I have put a lot of time and work into together. I have an amazing family that has helped us along every step of the way (in fact, they are getting their own post later, I already decided). We were HELPED getting into this new house by a lot of people - not to mention a Father in Heaven - who really, really love us. And I'm going to have a nice, safe place to bring my beautiful baby boy home to in 12 short weeks.

Oh and also, just as a warning, these pictures are not all inclusive, and almost certainly will increase in number. Once everything is clean and put away, I'll probably have to show you more.

Vacay, Eh?

In celebration of Dallin's dad's 50th birthday (not to mention to just get the heck away), we flew up to Seattle last week. And if you think that sounds fun, hang on to your shorts, because we didn't stop there. We then drove the 4-5 hours to Vancouver, or, more specifically, the IN-famous ski resort known as Whistler.

This place would truly be a skier's paradise in the winter. Or a snowboarder's paradise. Or a snow lover's paradise. I am none of those things. But it is also not winter.

Green is good.

You know what else is good? Bungee cords. I've never really been grateful for them before, but I am now. Without them, I would no longer have a husband.

Of course, I would like to think that my husband would not throw himself off a 160 ft tall bridge towards a raging river of death if bungee cords had not been invented. So maybe I should be thankful for both bungee cords and my husband's...um...good sense. Combined.

Also, I am grateful for the smarty pants engineers who created this:

in such a way that it did not fall to pieces even when we were doing this:

over this:

This crazy gondola ride, known as Peak 2 Peak and built for the 2010 Winter Olympics, is...nuts. It takes you from one mountain to another. Yeah, uh huh.

Oh, and here I am at the tip top of a mountain. I am also 6 months preggo.

You betta believe it.

We also made s'mores:

(This is the better of the two pictures I got of Dallin eating his s'mores. Just trust me)

We sat in a bobsled:

and visited the bobsled track for the olympics.

Tour guide man says you can get up to 150 km/hr on this baby. You know that some people go down this track on a little sled, face first? It's a sport called Skeleton. I think it's called that because that's all that's left once your skin flies off.

We also visited a very pretty lake/park, at which I decided to look fat in every picture that was taken of me, except perhaps this one:

Oh, and a float plane dock:

and a giant stone man, more accurately known as an Inukshuk, which is a symbol of friendship and the mascot for the Olympic games:

AAAAAAAND, because I believe in saving the best for last:

Now, don't get too excited. I taught everyone long ago that guns are not safe in my hands. But hey, just the fact that we got to visit THE Biathlon site was good enough for me. Don't know anything about Biathlon? It's only the most random, and therefore possibly one of the most wonderful, sports out there. Here are the rules:

I told Dallin I was going to be a Biathlete someday. He then reminded me that I hate the cold, I don't like skiing, and I don't like guns.

So much for encouraging my dreams.

We had a fantastic vacation!! It was wonderful to spend time with family and be somewhere where our shoes don't melt into the ground. This is the closest thing I have to a group picture of all of us:

so you can work with that. Imagine 3 more people in it and everyone looking at the camera. Close enough.

Have a good one, eh? Stay tuned for info about and pics of our NEW HOUSE.

Am I Insane?

Don't answer that right away, all you gun-jumpers.

Ok so...I've been thinking about this for a while. Probably too long. Maybe not long enough. I don't know. But I think I need some other opinions.

Two words for you: cloth diapers.

Ok but seriously - don't freak out. You'll most likely scare people around you. And really, people are scared enough in general as it is.

First read this:

http://simplemom.net/3-compelling-reasons-to-try-cloth-diapers/

And this:

http://www.naturalfamilyonline.com/5-diap/45-diaper-cost.htm

And look at these:

http://www.fuzzibunz.com/one_size_diaper.php


http://www.rumparooz.com/catalog.php?category=65

And then you may freak out. If the urge is still there.

From a purely financial standpoint, this makes a whole lotta sense. I mean really - about $350 to buy a set of one size, adjustable cloth diapers, probably a little less than double that if you're going to have 2 stinkers at once. But no more than $700 to diaper all your children. Forever. Compared to about $2500 per child! Plan to have 4 or 5 kiddos and...

That is huge. Tell me that's not huge.

I used to cringe at the thought of cloth diapers because I saw them as little cloth rectangles that you had to fold and pin around your baby's bum while trying to get him to hold still. Then when you took it off you had to dunk it and scrub it a little bit before trying to get it to the washing machine without it dripping poop water all over the place. All while holding your nose. Seriously, in my head you needed 8-9 hands to do this job.

But, in reality, you can get cloth diapers that already have the look/shape of disposable diapers, so putting them on and taking them off is no different than with disposables. I mean, disposable diapers are still gross, right? You still have to pull the diaper off and wipe the baby and roll the diaper up and throw it in the trash. Cloth diapers just adds the step of dumping major solids into the toilet. They even make little sprayers that attach to your toilet to help you do that.

Oh yeah, and a couple extra loads of laundry.

But from what I've read, cloth diapers are a lot more comfy for baby, and they are super absorbent so you're less likely to have lovely (ahem) blowouts.

In theory, this idea makes sense to me.

I don't have children. Theories have not been tested. But I'm trying to do my homework here.

So you tell me- would you ever consider this? I mean, ever? In a million years?

Because I'm getting really close to talking myself into it.

Lord, have mercy.