So happy he is now with his wife. So sad he is no longer with us. I can't find the words to express the deep connection and love I feel for him. Everytime I hear him speak or see his photo my heart overflows with love and my face breaks out with a smile.

What an amazing, amazing man.

Progress?

...I think so. A big mess? Definitely and that's an understatement! The layer of dust that is covering almost every surface in my house and filling my lungs is evidence. I've finished the mantel. I'm happy with how it turned out. Now I just need to figure out how to properly decorate it...and I think I want to change the wall color, too. Is it just me or do home projects just breed more home projects? I've made some good progress on sanding the spindles on the stairway. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that is turns
out like I hope....no going back now.

Good work, Andrew!

Congratulations to Andrew who earned his Wolf badge in scouts last night. He is such a hard worker. He is very meticulous in making sure he does exactly what he is supposed to! Andrew and I had a fun time working on it together, especially gathering trash in the neighborhood in 20 degree weather. We are lucky to have such great scout leaders in our ward...I think that makes a huge difference (especially when you are clueless like me!). Keep it up Andrew! :)

A little BIRTHDAY shout-out to...

Lisa

and

Shay!

Lisa's birthday was yesterday and Shay's is today!

I love you both and hope you have a wonderful day :)

I watch too much HGTV....

and it might get me into trouble! It's like a sickness...no, really it is. I watch these shows full of fantastic projects and creativity and I just cannot turn my brain off. You think I'm kidding, but I'm not. I can't help, but look around my house and think, "hmmmm....I wonder if I could..." Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't love my home because I do...don't ever want to leave it. I'm a creative person and I think this is one of the ways to express it. I love putting my personal stamp on things. I just have to remind myself that I don't have a professional design team and a tent full of tools with a hunky carpenter sitting in my driveway!
So back to the point of this post. I've wanted to change a lot of the wood finishes since we moved in(everything is a natural finish, knotty alder). Way too much money to think about replacing everything, plus it's perfectly good wood. So, I've been working up the guts to make changes. A couple months back, I stripped and re-stained my master cabinets. It was a lot of work, but I was very happy with the results. Ultimately, I'd like to paint my kitchen cabinets. I actually borrowed a paint sprayer from my brother-in-law (thanks Cameron!), but I think I'm going to have to watch the user video 10x more to figure out the thing. So, I'm still working my way up to that project, as the kitchen would be a very, very costly mistake! lol So, tonight, I ran to Home Depot and grabbed some white primer and white gloss paint to do my mantel. I had toyed w/ the idea of staining it like my bathroom (please don't tell me now that would've looked better! lol) but, decided I liked the idea of the white base board trim running seamlessly into the mantel. Plus, I'm thinking white is more traditional (might equal boring to some, but traditional nonetheless!). AND I bought sandpaper...all sorts of sanding tools. What for you might ask? Umm, I want to do my railings. Yes, I know, an insane amount of work, but I'm a expressing my creativity, remember?!



( < stairyway and mantel inspiration)

SO...as of right now, I have a primed mantel and a partially (emphasis on partial) sanded railing. Have a bitten off more than I can chew? Maybe. Who knows maybe it will all turn out just like the pictures I've saved from Better Homes & Garden, or at least that's what I'll tell myself when it's all done! ;)

3 Hours?!!

So, this morning I had the chance to meet Camille for a quick breakfast. I met Camille about 5yrs ago through scrapbooking. I have kept in touch with some of these "PKPT" girls and have truly grown to care and love each one of them....who knew that such great friendships could be made and maintained through the internet?! Anyway, Camille is visiting from AZ. I am so glad she made the time meet up with me. We had such a great time talking about kids, church, family and the music scene. Before I knew it, we had sucked our diet cokes dry and 3hrs had gone by! Would you believe that not once did we talk about the very thing that brought us together? Go figure! lol Camille...I came home and checked out "Need to Breath's" site...really enjoyed what I heard! So fun to hear about your adventures...and keep me posted on Kaitlyn!

Road sign wisdom...

I'll be the first to admit that I am a thinker...often over-thinking things...sometimes even deep thinking about things, but I'm not that great at expressing my thoughts so this all may sound a little silly. Oh well. That being said....am I the only one that sees the great wisdom in this road sign? When we first moved into our home a couple years ago, the street did not go through, hence the need for this sign. When I first noticed it, I had someone close to me going through a very difficult time. With my thoughts on this person, it immediately jumped out at me when I was walking one morning. I think the words hold such a beautiful message. I love thinking of this sign when I feel like I've reached a dead end of sorts in my life...beyond this temporary dead end will be future development for me. Development that I hope will make me stronger. I think in large part how temporary that dead end is can be controlled by me...I can hang out there or hopefully immediately push past it and find a new path. So here's to coming up on dead end's and seeing where the development leads!

Totally 80's....like, totally fun!

So, for New Year's this year some friends of ours threw an 80's party. What a good time it was! Half the fun was getting ready for the party. Chad and I headed to the DI to do some shopping. It wasn't too hard to find lots of possibilities. I found an awesome prom dress that I really, really wanted to work out, but alas, my hips have birthed 4 children. So, I found an awesome dress and cream pumps (completed w/ cream nylons)....think circa 1987 fireside. It was perfect! Chad went for the Miami Vice theme. He found a great linen blazer and pants, a turquoise t-shirt and some great shoes. Of course, the pants had to be tightly "pegged" at the bottom. It was so much fun that I had to do a "dry run" on the hair and make-up as soon as I got home from shopping. The kids were so confused....wondering what in the world happened to their mom! On the night of the party, Chad watched with perplexity as I got ready. He asked, "Did it take that long to get ready in the 80's and did you use that much hairspray?" Yes, I think I did! These pictures don't do the look justice. My hair had the "wings" on the sides and the nice puff or "claw" of bangs on top. The look was completed with teal eyeliner, extra thick mascara and a thick line of blush below the cheek bone. Ohh and you cannot forget the frosty pink lip gloss! We had such a great time at the party laughing at everyone else's interpretation of 80's fashion. Who knew there were so many options in the 80's??? Man, there was really a bit of something for every personality and every facet of society! lol We did a lot of reminiscing and laughing at dance pictures and yearbooks. We also busted a move on all the old dance moves. Chad and I even practiced our best school dance pose and faces for the picture at the top. Good times!

Holiday Highlights...

So, the holidays have come and gone. So much anticipation, a moderate amount of stress, not enough sleep and definitely not enough Christmas music (but you just can't listen to it once Christmas is over!) All that and then....it's done. Now to un-decorate the house and get back on a schedule. The kids started school today, but I let them stay home (yes, I know, I'm a cool mom...ha) because their cousins from CA spent the night last night. All in all we had a wonderful holiday. Here are a few highlights (in no particular order):

--Megan taking out her Endowments and getting married to Cameron. It was a beautiful wedding...Heidi did gorgeous flowers and Heather took amazing pictures.

-- Christmas Eve at G'ma and G'pa Jensen's house. Even as a little girl, Christmas Eve was the pinnacle of the holiday for me. It's the day/night we focus on the Savior. We enjoy a dinner of fish, grape juice and bread...eaten by candlelight. A dinner maybe a little reminiscent of what Christ would have eaten. Then, the Nativity story that the kids dress up and act out. Love this tradition...hands down my favorite.

--Christmas Eve breakfast with friends. We've been doing this for years with whoever happens to be in town. Love this opportunity to catch up! Numbers were small this year, but not any less fun. For those of you who weren't there or haven't been back to UT for Christmas in a couple years, I missed you!

--Watching the deer in G'ma and G'pa's backyard...they come to eat the birdseed almost daily!

--Sarah being so consumed with excitement on Christmas Eve that she couldn't sleep. The kids slept in our room...fun for them...not so fun for mom and dad.

--Volunteering at the Bishop's Storehouse with my kids. We peeled skins off onions and packaged toilet paper. They loved it...well, not the onions so much. They want to go back...I think we will make it an ongoing off-track activity.

--Learning to play Guitar Hero. This was Josh's biggest wish on his Christmas list and Santa came through. He watched GH3 clips on YouTube for weeks before Christmas to prepare. I've given it a try, too....this game is harder than you think. I've become adequate on "Easy," but still stink on "Medium." Fun stuff.

--The Christmas program at Church and Relief Society this year was amazing. Loved being filled with the holiday spirit and listening to and singing such beautiful music. Like I said, I didn't get enough Christmas music.

--Honey Baked Ham and funeral potatoes. Need I say more?

--Eating an entire box of Fernwood mint sandwiches....yes, I did and I don't regret it.

--Frequenting the gym to keep up with my holiday appetite. AND...running for 24min/2miles straight without stopping! I know, it's a 12 min mile, not great, but this was a big mental step forward for me. A long ways from a marathon, but a step forward nonetheless.

--The 80's New Year's Eve party....serious fun! I will post more later.