HI? Anyone still there?

Here's a brief run down of the last six months...

Not much has happened.  :) 

No, honestly the last six months have been quite a blur.  Our boys are getting bigger, moving up in school, they are so wonderful and helpful.  Summer is going to be a blast.

I know there isn't any pics that are new.  Shocker, I know!  I am always forgetting my camera.  Partially because when I take the camera, all the boys want to take pictures too, and I have already gone through 3 cameras thanks to their awesome picture taking skills.  So I am a bit reluctant to take it some times.  But I am going to get back to this blog.  I know it mostly for family and myself, but if anyone does read it, thank you. 

Bring on the summer!  :)

New Year... New Post!

As the title of this post states, with the new year, I am determined to better keep the blog.  I don't know if there are many people that read it, but if nothing else, I can use it for a journal of sorts. 

For my New Year Resolutions I really had to ponder on the things I most wanted to accomplish.  Not just the usual, loose weight, get healthy, get out of debt... but really think of things that were meaningful and that were realistic for me to accomplish.  So here are my new year resolutions!  Tell me what you think! :)

1.  Attend the temple at least twice a month.  I live an hour and 40 minutes from the temple and I don't think this is unreasonable.  As a newly called RS 2nd counselor and as a mom to three wonderful boys, it's important to set a good example.  Our RS Presidency has made a goal to attend once a month and I would also like to attend once a month with Joe.  So twice a month is what I am striving for. 

2.  Stay under budget each month.  This is something I have tried many times and by the third month I can usually find a reason to fudge a little on the budget.  But this year I want almost more than anything to stay under budget. 

3.  Study the weekly lessons for Gospel Doctrine and Relief Society.  I have never been very good at making sure I read the lesson each week for GD but I am usually pretty good about RS.  So I want to step it up a little and make sure I'm doing it for both.

4.  Find a cleaning routine that works and stick to it.  Anyone who really knows me, knows I'm not the most proficient at housekeeping.  But I want to be better!  So I am going to figure out a system and follow through with keeping it.

5.  Spend less time wasting time.  Whether it be facebook time or TV time, I want to use my time more wisely. 

6.  Read two new books every month outside of scripture study.  I want to read or listen to two books each month that I think will uplift me and give some stimulation to my mind. 

These are my "BIG" goals for the year.  If anyone has suggestions or comments, please feel free to share.  I am always open to advice.  I may not take it and use it right away, but I always ponder on what others experiences have to offer. 

Happy New Year!!

The House

Thanks to my most awesome sister, I figured out how to get pics off my phone and on to my computer!  Yea!  So here are a few pics of the house.  Please remember these are not as good as other pics might have been had I been able to afford the camera of my dreams! 

The master bedroom will need to be tweeked a bit.  After noticing how gold it was and how it didn't really work well with the bathroom, we will have to change it.  I love the gold, but it is easier to change the bedroom than the bathroom.  So, once that's done, the painting project will be done!  Thank You Grandpa and Grandma Dummar for all your help!  We wouldn't have been able to get this done so quickly without you!

Hello and once again....

So the other day as I was in my room preparing myself for the upcoming excitement of homeschooling, (meaning I was trying to take a nap) I could hear my kids horse playing and I thought about yelling at them but decided to try to ignore them... BAD IDEA!!!  I should have yelled.  Matthew was running around with my camera and Landon was chasing him trying to get it away from him... needless to say I no longer have a working camera.  So unless anyone wants to send an extra one my way it will be a while before I get a new one since I don't want to spend the money on one I don't like so I'm saving up for one I do like:  Cannon EOS Rebel Ti2 from Costco is my preferred but I would take a Nikon D90 as well.  So faithful followers I will keep the updates coming but they won't contain pics for a little while.  :) 

Curbing

Our curbing has gone in!  What do you think?  (not that it matter's all that much because it's already done, but you can have an opinion any way ;) )

 As I walked into my house, I noticed I had another friend that was hanging around!  His name is Bob.  I hope he's not poisonous!  He brought his family to stay too!  So happy about that!

Rain, Rain, Please Stay!

So today it has rained pretty much all day!  I love the rain, but I especially love Thunder Storms with great lightening displays!  Today's storm: AWESOME!!  I don't yet have a camera good enough to take great pictures of lightening, but I did catch some pics of the road in front of our house and our neighbors roof.

 Don't you just love how our street is flooded?

I know it's not the best photography out there, but I hope it conveys a small portion of how cool this storm is!

  And as a cool little afterthought, here's a pic of our resident spider:  I'll name his Pete.  I don't know how long Pete will be residing with us, but once our screen goes in... Good-bye Pete!

Projects on hold for a little while

So as I finished the bathroom, and Joe started more hours at work, I decided to take a mini break from projects. 

Only because I want to do them with Joe... and I'm a perpetual procrastinator.  ;)  So this week we are just going to take it easy.  But I am going to be giving a lesson in Relief Society on Sunday on Eternal Marriage.  This is a wonderful opportunity to reflect upon my own marriage.  I must say that I have the best husband in the world.  He inspires me everyday to be better and more.  I am so thankful that we have been sealed in the temple.  I am so thankful that so long as we are worthy and work together for it, we can have a marriage that lasts through out eternity!  I feel so blessed to be able to have this future ahead of me! 

I can hardly wait to have the chance to help the sisters in my ward to learn and grow from this lesson, as well as be inspired to have eternal marriages regardless of all the trials they are facing now.  Wish me luck!

Project 3

So this one isn't a wood working project but I decided it was time to put something other than the nasty flat paint on my walls.  So I thought to myself, Self, which room would be the quickest.  I know! said self, The bathroom called "pool bath"!  (even thought I have no pool ... perhaps I will change it to Tramp bath... )  So I picked out a green that I thought would be fantastic!  It's a bright room normally so I picked a darker color to bring out all the bright trim.  I love it!  The boys even helped along the way... ;0)  But I did soon find out that just taping off that room would probably take the longest ever!  Because of all fixtures that are cemented to the walls and the taping off the shower, floor and ceiling... it became a larger project than originally planned for...

  So Yes we have some touch-ups to do, but over all I think it turned out quite well... That is if you don't pay too much attention to the items below:

Missing toilet ring happened when Landon was painting the corner and stood on it... 'nuff said on that. 

Evidence that I was not alone in my painting project:

Once the minor touch ups happen and the toilet gets put back in place, I'll post the final outcome. 

Project 2

So for our second kind of big project we made three small simple bookcases.  These were so easy to make!!  They still need another coat of paint, but I love them!!


Here are some pics of the process:

I hope everyone love these as much as I do!!

There was only one thing that happened, I accidentally put a nail through Joe's finger.  He was marking where I was supposed to nail, and his thumb slipped and so did the gun right as I pulled the trigger.  I stopped using the nail gun after that.  Don't worry, He's fine.  The nail went right through.  (I felt so bad I had to put myself in a big timeout!)

So Yes this project actually does have blood, sweat and tears mixed in with it!

Project 1

I labeled this Project 1 because it's our first wood project.  We have many projects that need to be done and some we have already accomplished, like hanging ceiling fans.  But Joe and I have decided instead of purchasing items that are over priced, we would find a way to build them ourselves. 

Now in the beginning, I thought to myself, "Great!  Joe will get to utilize his tools and stretch our imaginations on how to accomplish these projects!"

Joe on the other hand was thinking along the lines of, "SWEEEEEET!!!  I get to buy all those awesome tools I've been drooling over for the last 6 years!!!" 

You'll never guess whose thoughts actually panned out....

That's right.  You guessed it... Joe's were much more accurate than mine.  We are now the happy owners of the following power tools...

Skill Saw
Miter Saw
Table Saw
Nail Gun
Air Compressor
Brad Nailer
finish Nailer
Kreg Jig
Belt Sander
8' Ladder
18 Volt Cordless Drill
Cordless Electric Screw Driver

I think that's it,  but I'm sure that will also shortly include a plainer (spelling is limited to writer's knowledge of tools) and a Jig Saw, an actual work bench complete with clamps and anvil, along with a slew of other tools unbeknownst to me. But in the end I will have the ability to create and build just about anything wooden... I hope... maybe.  (by I, I really mean Joe, not me)  Any who, our first undertaking was to build us a new bed.  My old bed was fine, but after ... 5 moves, it's a little "worn".  So I found a website that I think everyone should look at called, www.ana-white.com  I love this site.  Any who, I found a simple farmhouse bed that I fell in love with.  On this site, she, Ana, explains how to make these fantastic items.  So we checked out the list of purchase items, went to every home improvement store and found all the tools we needed and got to work.  The process was simple and I would make a dozen of these if I had a reason to do so. 
Here is a look at the finished product:

Please don't mind the mess on the floor, I'm still trying to find places to put things.  (I've only been in the house 3 weeks, give me a break!)

I wish I had taken pictures of the whole process.  I absolutely love this bed.  It's rustic and if it gets beat up, I didn't pay $$$$$$'s for it. 

Our next project will be book cases for the kids books.  I will let you know how they turn out.  And maybe I will remember to take pictures of the process! ;)