2009 Year in Review

January:

Miles cried through our New Year's fireworks.

We went for a visit in Houston.

Parker played basketball on the Wolves.

Grammy came to visit.

Things got icy here in Keller.

Neal had a birthday.

February:

I blogged every day for 30 days.

We went to Canton.

I was tutoring a friend's son in English Literature.

Audrey started horseback riding again.

March:

I recalled Audrey's heart-pounding birth story in a post.

Audrey was baptized.

We looked for diamonds in Arkansas.

I was still blogging every day.

April:

Parker had a birthday and Daddy Jeff came to Dallas. (I recapped his birth day, too.)

We had an Easter Egg hunt with friends.

We went to the circus with Caroline.

May:

We went to San Antonio for a long weekend with friends.

I had my picture taken.

Audrey had a piano recital.

Pa came into town and filled water balloons.

Mother's Day was nice.

Parker played t-ball on the Rays.

June:

Parker graduated from Kindergarten.

We went to Utah for ten days.

We went to Athens, Texas for a few days to do family history research and attend a reunion.

July:

We went to Arkansas again, this time for the H* family reunion.

It was really hot when we got home, so we went bowling.

We celebrated Caroline's birthday in Dallas.

We went house shopping.

August:

Alaska and Florida in one month, it was incredible!

We saw Aunt Carmen for the last time, and took our first trip to New Orleans.

Miles turned three and I recapped his birth story.

September:

Miles started Museum School.

We started the house-closing proceedings.

We got a trampoline and a tarantula.

Miles carried a suitcase of unusual items around wherever he went.

October:

We went to the State Fair of Texas.

Bramma and Pa came to visit.

Neal and I went to the U2 concert.

I went to New York with my mom and sisters.

We got chickens.

We closed on our house and went ice skating to celebrate.

November:

We began our house remodel.

We went to see Shakespeare in Dallas with friends.

Thanksgiving was at our house.

December:

We moved.

My friends and I went to sushi for my birthday.

Callie came to visit.

All of our chickens died.

to you, from us

We're off to the snow to play around and do nothing. The kids will play, I will do nothing. I can't wait! I hope your Christmas is Merry and Peaceful and full of Love. All of the best things is my wish for you!

pjs and chicken tricks

Today is the first day in a long time that my kids have just been able to sleep in and stay in pjs all day. So they did. And they played with the chickens for hours. Hope you don't mind, Rebecca, but Callie's going to come home wanting chickens!

Parker was trying to teach this one to perch on his arm like a falcon.

Audrey's friend, Callie. Here to visit from Houston!

Apparently, chickens play dead as a defense mechanism. They would not move from this position.

Grateful Sunday

This week has been crazy for us, as I'm sure it has been for all of you. I'm just so glad the kids are done with school and I'm done with shopping! Miles was sick with the stomach flu this weekend, so we've pretty much been shut-ins, trying to keep anyone else from getting the bug over Christmas! Hopefully it will end with him, he's been fine since Saturday.

Tonight, I'm grateful for:

• our house. We just love it. Everyday it gets a little more "us," and I'm excited to get the rest of the furniture we have on order so that I can get everything unpacked. All of our books are still in boxes (shelving, where are you?) and we need some sort of storage piece in our bedroom.
• Neal, who is just awesome all around. He's taking the kids to work with him in the morning so that I can run to the airport. Audrey's friend is flying in and they won't let me bring the kids with me to get her at the gate. Kind of a snag, but we're so excited to have Callie come see us for a couple of days!

Boys' Room

This is a before picture of the boys' room. It's a really great size, and since we downsized, we lost the "playroom," so all of the toys, books and craft supplies will be going in this bedroom. So we're glad it's big. I haven't purchased the craft table or craft storage yet (I'm thinking about this one). My kids pretty much draw, color, cut and paste in all of their free time, and the kitchen table is just not equipped for their stuff anymore (and I'm tired of cleaning it all up for dinner every night). So the opposite corner, which I'm not showing yet, will house all of that. On to the changes!

This room didn't need much besides new carpet, paint and a lighting fixture. The carpet had a horrible odor, and once it was removed, we realized that even the cement slab underneath this room had pet stains. I scrubbed with bleach and water, they laid down new plush carpet, and it's as good as new. We also installed new window coverings and drapes.

I've always dreamed of having a kids' library, and this is as good as it gets so far. Two Ikea Expedit bookshelves stacked on top of one another (we had the lower one in the last house), anchored to the wall, and filled with every children's book in the house. Except all of Audrey's chapter books. And all of the board books I'm still hanging on to. We just had to have that guitar artwork for our little musician (who insisted on being in every photo).

Isn't that ceiling fan cool? I thought it was perfect. The door behind Miles is the closet and there is a bathroom just to the right of the white dresser. It connects to Audrey's room. Drapes and bedding are from PB Teen.

Have a great weekend! Hopefully more pictures will be coming next week. Audrey's room, perhaps.

i love my kitchen.

We did a lot of remodeling in our kitchen. It started out wallpapered with oak cabinets, no hardware, white laminate countertops and a white laminate backsplash. We (and when I say we, I mean our contractor and his men) scraped the popcorn ceiling, retiled the entire floor, got new black honed granite countertops, white marble subway tile for the backsplash, a new undermount sink, new hardware for the sink and cabinets, new light fixture above the sink, and painted the cabinets white!

And it's so pretty!

Before, hello 1986.

After, all white, gray and black. I know, kind of boring color scheme, but it needed some brightening up!

More before. Love that wallpaper (it was wallpaper layer number two we discovered).

Below, looking from the fireplace toward the eating area. We knocked out that wall, this looks completely different!

That back wall behind the table will change once our bookshelves arrive for the living room. I'm thinking we need some sort of cool art piece or a photo collage on that wall. For now, it holds a sofa table and a large mirror.

birthday fun

It's customary amongst my friends to have a girls' night out around birthday time, and it most often involves the back room at Sushi Sam. This year, I allowed my friend Lauren to shower me with attention (ack!) and plan an evening. Thanks for coming, ladies, it was so much fun.

Grateful Sunday

Pretty much the extent of our Christmas decorations this year.

Today, I'm grateful for:

• a pretty unflappable Audrey. She had her piano recital today and somehow memorized her song, "Bring a Torch, Jeanette, Isabella", despite all the madness that is our life. What a relief!
• Ikea. Just love that place. I got some drapes for the kitchen that I really love, and you can't beat $49 for a dresser for the boys' room.
• Neal and his drill. They've been busy hanging all sorts of things for me this weekend.
• plans for Callie and Audrey. Audrey's BFF's mom called tonight to arrange a get together for them during the school holiday. I'm so glad that we all understand how important it is that we keep these two friends, despite their several hundred mile separation. Thanks, Rebecca and Ed!!

some photos

It's really hard for me to post before and after photos when my "afters" aren't complete, but we love our house so much already, it's getting better every day!

Here is the BEFORE view from the front door. Take special note of the low doorways and ugly window on the back wall, not to mention the carpeting and the tile. All gone on day one!

The AFTER view, and although this room isn't completely decorated (still waiting for art and bookshelves), you can see the changes pretty easily. All new floors, walls removed and doorways made larger. Brand new wood floors and new lighting fixtures. We removed the whole back wall and installed 2 windows and a french door.

My favorite change is the fireplace. We covered over this brick veneer with drywall, designed and had a mantel built, then knocked out the hearth and installed pretty tumbled travertine subway tile, flush with the wood floor. We took out the hideous fan and put in a fixture with a simple drum shade. A new coat of paint on the walls and trim, and voila!


This is the BEFORE view from the back wall (now with french doors), looking toward the dining room. Take note of the doorway openings, we made them bigger.


We're still working on the furniture arrangement of the piano room (and we bought drapes tonight). I'll be putting the drapery rod over the top of the arch, so that from the inside, the arch is somewhat camouflaged. I don't love arched windows. Obviously, lots of our larger art is stored in there right now, and once Christmas is over, it will look a bit different. We may move the piano to the other side of the window. We purchased three large bookshelves that were to go on the wall behind the chairs, but if we move the piano, we may have to put the bookshelves behind the new sectional in the living room. We go back and forth on it! What would you do?

Stats on the house: It was built in 1986 and is about 2400 square feet. It is one storey, 4 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms on .70 acres. Photos of kitchen and bedrooms to come . . .

coldy

Did I mention that it snowed last week and that today it's 29 degrees? I thought we lived in Texas. :)

First dinner in the new house (thanks to lovely friends, we had delicious pizza and veggie sticks!)

More photos will happen. We are not unpacked enough yet!

Grateful Sunday

Oh boy, this has been a week. I'll just say that. Remind me not to move for a long time! No, really, everything has gone smoothly, you all know how much work moving is! Short story: we LOVE our house. It feels so good to be living here, and unpacking is going slowly but surely.

I have so much to be grateful for this week: good (although cold) weather, unmarred furniture and happy children, but most of all, tonight, I am grateful for my friends.

I was making a mental list in my head of all the people who have helped us this past couple of weeks, from the friends who offered to watch my kids, to the men who helped move our life into this house, to our contractor, whose middle name should be "above and beyond". I love my friends. I learned long ago that when you don't have family around, your friends become your family, and that is precisely how we feel in this area where we live. We are blessed beyond measure, and Neal and I both are happier, stronger people because of the friends who surround us.

THANK YOU EVERYONE!!

I'm looking for the camera cord, and need some drapes. I'll get pictures up soon! I wish you could all come through our house for a tour, we love it so! (If you live here, please do stop by anytime!!)

Grateful Sunday

photos from the weekend

Today, I'm grateful for:

• the fact that our lease isn't up until the end of December. Although I plan on us moving in this Saturday, I have a feeling we're going to need a couple more weeks to get the house completely empty. Our timing worked out great.
• our family who came to see us this weekend. Neal's brothers, Shelby and Jeff, came with their families. Fourteen people was much more doable than 29, like we had last year. But that was fun, too!
• the forced organization/purging that moving requires. I have about 13 bags sitting by my front door waiting to be donated tomorrow. And that's post-garage-sale cleanout. We are, unfortunately, not organized people by nature, so we need a move now and then to keep us on our toes as far as clutter goes.
• going back to the grind tomorrow morning. Although a week off was nice, I kind of need the kids to go back to school so I can get some things done!

details

This is a close up of the floor texture, for those of you who were wondering what "scraped" floors look like. Despite everyone's comments otherwise, we decided to scrape. Our floor stain is one part coffee, two parts ebony. Super dark and pretty. Obviously, the baseboards aren't done yet.

And how pretty is our white marble subway backsplash tile!! We are completely thrilled with our choices so far, hooray!

the floor scrapers

Apparently floor scraping is more of an ancient trade than I thought. The minute I walked into our house this afternoon, I thought of this Caillebotte painting from 1875. I've had a magnet of it on my fridge for years! All I can say is, floor scraping is some hard work (and makes a terrible noise). These dudes looked real tired by the time I left around 4:30.

countertop preview

One of the things we're most excited about in our remodel is the black honed granite countertops we put in the kitchen. Honed granite doesn't have the glossy sheen of polished, they almost look like soapstone, which is our dream material. They went in yesterday, and we love them! The before shot of the kitchen is quite hideous, as you will soon see. This is already such a major improvement! Everything else is moving along. Today they're finishing the floors. In case you are curious, we decided to go with a very light scraping and a very dark stain. I think it will be beautiful. Perhaps I'll post a picture tomorrow as they're drying . . . until then, Happy Cooking!

to scrape or not to scrape

I need to make a decision today. I don't even know if "hand scraped" floors are a "thing" anywhere besides here, but we're trying to determine if we want a light scrape to our new red oak 3 1/4" floor planks or no scrape at all. Thoughts? Opinions? We'll be staining the floor quite dark, just can't decide about the texture . . . We're leaning toward unscraped . . .

Grateful Sunday

This week is Thanksgiving, so gratefulness is in the air! I love that. Today, I'm grateful for:

• this great video put out by the church. These Mormon Messages are really fabulous!
• family coming in for dinner this week. I'm grateful in advance for their patience, they're going to need it. Packing has begun!
• a great bishop, who, at tithing settlement today, directed almost his whole conversation to our children. He is a wonderful teacher, and I'm grateful that he is a part of our lives.
• my eleven years with Neal. We have created a wonderful life for ourselves and have been blessed immeasurably. I'm grateful that I get to be with him forever.
• sugar cookies. I can't get enough.
• a week off of school. I love not waking up my kids!

lucky me

With baby Audrey, on the porch swing in Tyler, Texas, where we were engaged. This was taken in 2002, before Neal's parents moved away from this house.

Today Neal and I are celebrating 11 years of being married. I'm so incredibly blessed to have met Neal that one magical fall evening in Provo in 1997. Little did I know how much that night would change my life! Our wedding day in Los Angeles is thankfully still very fresh in my mind. It was perfectly perfect and we are still so happy. There's no greater feeling than knowing we made the right choice.

Today, we've celebrated by taking a mongo trip to Lowe's (hello, new lighting fixtures!) and admiring the painting that is going on at our new house. It all looks so good (and WHITE)! Tonight, we'll grab some seafood from a fancy restaurant, just the two of us.

Happy 11 years, Neal!

See our tenth anniversary post here

our ninth here

our eighth here

i love blogging! how fun to have all these posts about this one day!

we're grown ups.

Since we're in our thirties (Neal's almost to the midway point!), I have decided it is high time we go on some grown up dates. So I talked a few friends (and their reluctant husbands) into attending a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream in Dallas last weekend. Lobster fajitas helped bribe the men out on the town, but in the end, we all had a great time. We were able to visit a fabulous new modern theater venue in the city and rather than having a traditional clap session for each actor, the hilarious production ended in a dance party with the whole audience. The cast performed top 40 hits and we danced and danced. Until the men had enough.

Great times, y'all! I'm thinking it's time for another grown up date soon!

hugs for lunch

Another lunch date with my favorite blue-eyed dude. On Mondays, we usually hit up a quaint little bakery near TCU before Miles' little preschool class starts. Soup, fruit and cookies, some hugs in the sunny window, and we are a happy pair.

Grateful Sunday

This week was crazy, but all good things, thankfully. Today, I'm grateful for:

• mini paint samples. The process of us trying to choose paint colors for our new house is utterly ridiculous. I'm sure it won't matter to anyone but us in the end, but we've tried at least a dozen colors out for size. This is one of our sample walls in the family room. I thought this was so funny that I had to take a picture of it. We are dorks and can't decide. I think we're going with the last one on the bottom right, Benjamin Moore's Paper White. I think.
• Neal, who turned the car around for me, when on the way to church this morning, I realized that I had inadvertently skipped mascara. For a blonde like me (whose eyelashes are invisible), this was not acceptable. "Look at me! I can't go like this!" I said. He just smiled and turned around, thanks baby.
• swine flu vaccines. Sounds like in some places the vaccine is rather hard to come by, but we were grateful to have ours quite accessible. We were just sure that if we didn't get the shots, that we'd get the flu over Christmas. Just a hunch we had. So now we're good to go!
• my parents, who are coming to visit this week. Neal and I are taking a night out for our eleventh anniversary, and Brama and Pa are the best babysitters. (Hope you guys don't mind!)