Makeover Pictures - Part 2

Kitchen:



This is what it looked like before I bought it:








First, we put in a tile backsplash:













Then we added moulding and re-stained the cabinets:







Now we just have to make cabinet doors! This is the project that never ends!!!!

Makeover pictures - Part 1

Kitchen Island
Before:

After:

Where did all my hair go?

Summer hair!

I had to cut all of my hair off because it was just fried from an unfortunate experiment with chemical straightening. I will probably grow it out again, but it's fun having a change. I guess it wasn't change enough because I got it in my head that I wanted pink streaks in it too, so I bought some temporary hair color. I love it and am thinking of getting more colors and having fun with unnaturally colored streaks all summer. What do you think?

You know what happens...

when you are doing 12 house projects at once? You don't have time to blog!

Update on projects

Okay, so we are in the midst of a poor man's kitchen remodel.

Our first project was to build a kitchen island. We went to a used building supply store and bought an old and very used cabinet base unit. I took the doors off and sanded it down to bare wood. Then we took off the base of the cabinet and added 4 legs. We also added a back to the cabinet and moulding to the bottom and to finish the corners. Then we stained it a dark walnut brown. The kitchen island is basically done except for tiling the top of it.

Last night, we put up the tile on the backsplash. Tonight I will finish tiling around the window and then grout tomorrow. What I did was cut 13x13 inch ceramic tile into 2 inch strips of various lengths and made a kind of mosaic with no particular pattern. It was a lot of work, but I think it will look good and I learned how to use a tile saw! This weekend I will take down the cupboard doors and start to sand down all of the cabinet boxes, then add crown moulding to the tops. Then I will stain them the same dark walnut stain as the kitchen island. Next week, I took a couple days off of work to build new cabinet doors (and stain them). I bought beautiful cabinet handles for a smokin deal on ebay. By the time we're done, it should look like a new kitchen. I will post pictures when it's all done- hopefully by the first week in May. Wish us luck!

Things I do that drive my husband crazy...

Lately, I've been invading the garage a lot to work on a couple of house projects like building a kitchen island and cutting and painting beams to update my kitchen lighting a little. My sweet husband is pretending that it's okay with him and that he likes spending time with me, but I can tell I'm driving him insane. So to honor his patience with me, I thought I would write out a list of things I know drive him crazy, yet he rarely ever comments on. I love you babe!

1. I use all his tools and never put them back where they go. I usually try to clean up my sawdust, tools, etc., but never do it the way he would.

2. I invade his garage space with my projects, then boss him around telling him how he can be of assistance to me.

3. I leave all of my grooming products all over the bathroom counter constantly. Seriously, you can barely see the countertop.

4. I jack his side of the bed all the time and leave my stuff on his night stand. Sometimes I take a shower then lay on his pillow and get it wet right before we go to bed. I don't do this on purpose, but sometimes I do it nonetheless.

5. If I do lay on my side of the bed to read or do whatever before he comes to bed, usually CJ (our smallest dog) lays on his side and leaves behind special dog hair on his pillow.

6. Everytime he makes a bowl of popcorn, I usually eat it all before he gets a chance to.

7. I leave my shoes everywhere and I mean EVERYWHERE! I don't know why, but I just kick them off wherever and whenever I feel like it.

8. I lose things all the time and then ask him where I put them (mostly my keys and cell phone). Usually this is how it goes "Babe, have you seen my _________? Oh, nevermind, here it is." That happens at least once a day.

9. I do not have the same sense of home security that he does. Sometimes I leave doors unlocked and have even left the garage door open when I left for work once or twice.

10. I ask a lot of questions about everything. He calls it nosy.

11. Every time we go through a drive-thru, it takes me FOREVER to decide what I want, even if we've been there 100 times. Also, I always have special requests and hardly ever order straight from a menu without substitutions or changes.

I'm sure there are a hundred more that I don't even know drive him crazy, but I wanted to publicly thank him for loving me anyway! I bet he didn't know what he was getting into when we got married.

The Rock

Below is a paper I wrote in law school and just ran across again recently. I am publishing it on my blog for my benefit more than anything else so that I don't lose it. Don't feel obligated to read it. It memoralizes my law school experience really well.

The Rock

(originally written February 25, 2006)

I’ve always wondered where the rock came from. How did it get chosen? I imagine it used to be a boulder the size of a large tent that was hauled off a mountain from the red rocks of Northern Arizona. At least it looks like it used to belong there. Then, someone must have sliced about a third of the boulder off, turned it flat side up and scooped out the center. Somehow it found its place on the lawn between the law school and law library.

I crawl to the center of the rock and assume my normal lounging position. It’s a little sharp along the edges so I prop my bag behind me. That’s not much better with the corners of my textbooks poking me in the back through my bag. After a little adjustment, I settle in and stretch my legs. I kick off my sandals and lay back. Today, it’s cool outside and the rock is even colder, but the sun offers a welcome respite as it grazes my face. If I never move from this place, I will be happy. I’ve even gotten used to the occasional cigarette smoke that floats over from the café tables a few feet away.

As I sit on “the rock”, as it’s affectionately known, and think about the last three years, I am overwhelmed with all that’s happened. I am a different person than I was when I first got here, hopefully for the better. Sure, I know more about the law than I did that first day I walked into law school orientation, but my legal education isn’t what has had the greatest impact on my life. What has changed my life is the rock I’m sitting on now.

I guess I should back up. Going to law school was a very hard decision to make and once I got here, I wasn’t sure it was the right one. It seemed I possessed every insecurity possible. I had no idea what to expect because I didn’t know any former law students to offer advice. I didn’t know any of the people in my class. I felt like I had nothing in common with anyone in the whole building and I certainly wasn’t smart enough to keep up with everyone.

The first few weeks passed by quietly. I was scared of most of the professors. No one had warned me about the Socratic Method. I didn’t really socialize with anyone and kept to myself between classes. If it was going to be like this for the whole three years, then it was going to be a very long three years.

As I frequently traveled between the school and library, I passed the rock. Between classes, it was always occupied and it took a few weeks before I noticed the same people seemed to be on it. One day, I retrieved the courage to go meet the rock-dwellers. Three women and one man just stared as I approached, wondering what I wanted. I started with small talk, but the conversation quickly turned to controversy. It wasn’t contentious, so I thought it was just “intellectual.” It wasn’t until about two years later, I found out I had been tested that day on the rock.

Word had apparently spread that I was “the Mormon girl.” I wasn’t the only Mormon in the class, but I was the only one that was a woman so I guess that made me different. There are some people who don’t know who Mormons are and then others who just think they do. I don’t think I was welcome right at first because of some of the rock- dwellers’ inaccurate preconceptions about my religious beliefs, but luckily I won them over.

I quickly became a rock-dweller as well. Rock discussions about classes, cases, politics, and personal lives took hours from my first year in law school. Those people became my close friends as well as my greatest teachers. Each of them affected my life in a way that only they could, some deeper than others.

Kim and Ally are the two who changed me the most.

Kim is 38, but looks 25. Her short, spiky, dark hair suits her small frame. There are not two people more different than Kim and I. All of our religious, political, and social views seemed to directly contradict each other (she practices Wicca). Kim and I would sit on the rock and talk for hours, comparing beliefs and ideas. We had only respect for each other and never judged. Kim never persuaded me to join her in her beliefs. In fact, she never even tried. What she did do was open my mind to understand why she felt the way she did. That was much more profound for me than I can articulate. Law school may have taught me how to think like a lawyer, but Kim taught me how to think about the world.

Tall and slender with eyes full of tenacity, Ally is a beauty queen turned ninja. I doubt that she was ever a beauty queen or a ninja, but the description seems to fit. Ally taught me how to be strong. Ally is the kind of woman that will hold you while you cry over a broken heart, but only for a minute. After your minute is up, she will shove you back into the world with a new resolve to conquer it. She also taught me to recognize my value and see the value in other people. I don’t think she always knew how valuable she was, but I think that’s why she was able to help me.

Today, I’m sitting on the rock alone. I don’t come out here much anymore. Life just got too busy. Even though the rock-dwellers have all gone their way, I still would pass by the rock and remember. Soon, I will trade the rock for a desk chair in a stuffy office. I will be breathing recycled air instead of enjoying the soft breeze on the rock. I may not ever see the rock again after graduation, but it will always be a part of my life. I will be grateful forever that the rock made me a better friend, a better person, and a better lawyer.

Sea World

Just for fun, Brandon and I went to San Diego for the weekend. We spent Saturday at Sea World and just cruised around Old Town San Diego on Sunday. It was a nice weekend. Sea World was almost empty and the weather was great! My very favorite part was when we could touch and feed the dolphins. Sure, we succumbed to paying Sea World $5 for 4 minnows to feed THEIR dolphins, but it was so worth it! My second favorite was the killer whale show - they are so beautiful! Brandon really liked the Clydesdales. They are amazing animals too. It was a good day. We had good food and got a killer deal on a really nice hotel from Priceline. Here are some pictures:

Animul 2

Car shopping has concluded! Last week, Brandon picked out a White GMC Sierra Pick Up. He loves it, but is still mourning the loss of the Animul. For anyone who doesn't know, the Animul is what we affectionately called the Lumina that he was driving that is now resting in peace in the big racetrack in the sky. He pried all of the "Lumina" letters off the back of his car and reversed them to spell Animul. Below is the license plate he is going to get for his new truck:

Apparently, the universe hates both of our cars because we were parked in front of a gas station yesterday in Jacumba, California, when a man in a Tahoe thought it would be a good idea to back up right into our car- the Avalon this time. Geez! It's only a dent, but I have to deal with yet another insurance company now. I guess I should be grateful he had insurance, right? I'm going to start riding a bike!!!