Brandon is a horse!

Merry Christmas everyone! This post is about a week late, but here goes. Last weekend Brandon and I went up to Flagstaff to hang out with some friends and attend a Christmas party. It was a short trip, but so fun! The snow was beautiful and it was nice to get out of town for a little bit. I made Brandon drive around NAU campus so I could reminisce about my time there. We also had the best sandwiches in the world at Crystal Creek! The party was fun and the food was amazing (Great job Jamelle!) but my favorite part of the whole weekend was when Brandon was a horse! He entertained Jamelle's 4 year old for hours while we prepared for the party. Ironic that I fell more in love with him just because he was a horse!

What a weekend!

It was a perfect Thanksgiving weekend (almost). On Thanksgiving day, we just slept in and then puttered around the house. Brandon played with Christmas lights in the garage while I made rolls for dinner. Josh came over and baked a pie. Then we headed over to my parents' house for dinner. Emily and Preston were there with the new baby and it was really nice. My mom does such a great job with everything. The table was so cute. After dinner, we just layed around and took naps or watched a movie. Brandon's mom came over for a little while. It was fun to have her there. Overall, it was just super relaxing!

Friday was good too. We slept in again and I did a little shopping while Brandon got to work hanging Christmas lights. After I got home, I decorated the house for Christmas. We also got ready for our outing the next day. I finished decorating while Brandon and Taylor (Brandon's brother) went out to fetch some ammo, a quad and a fat cat (dirt bike with ATV wheels).

On Saturday, we got up early and drove up to a ranch in Kearny to shoot and ride the quad and fat cat. Brandon and I, Josh (my brother), Paula (Brandon's mom), Hunter and Taylor (Brandon's brothers) and Lynda (my friend) all went. When we first got there, Lynda and I took the quad for a spin while the boys got all the guns out. When Lynda and I got back, I was looking at the fat cat, trying to figure out how it worked. I didn't intend to ride it, but when I kick started it while it was in gear with a stuck throttle, it took me for a ride anyway. Granted, it was a very short and very painful ride. When all was said and done, I am kind of banged up. I came away with multiple small bruises on various parts of my body, a sprained or fractured thumb (I'm not sure which) and a leg injury. I don't know what to call my leg injury. I would call it scratched and bruised, but I'm not sure that would accurately describe it. Here's a picture:


After resting for a little while, I still rode the quad a little bit and did a little shooting. It was all very painful to do, but I didn't want to waste the day. Hopefully I can walk without a limp soon. Even with the injuries, it was a pretty fun day.

Sunday night, we decorated our first Christmas tree. It was a perfect weekend. I'm so excited to spend this Christmas season with my amazing husband. How did I get so lucky?

Many Thanks!

I have been looking forward to this weekend for a long time. First, my sister and her sweet family (including my newest niece) are here for the weekend. We have to share them with her husband's family, but at least we get to have them for a while. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them tomorrow and getting to know my three week old niece better. I'm also excited to have a four day weekend with which to relax and decorate for Christmas. I just love the Christmas season! Everything seems just a little bit better. Plus, it's my first Thanksgiving with my husband. I knew him last year, but I was driving him to Utah to see his fiance last Thanksgiving so this year is better! :)

I am so thankful for so many things this year that I couldn't possibly name them all. However, I am most thankful for the following (in no particular order):

1. A heavenly father that knows who I am and loves me despite of my weaknesses. I am also grateful for the experiences that he gives me to make me a better person.
2. My amazing husband who is so patient with me and is constantly trying to make me happy. He is so talented and handsome. I cannot imagine my life without him.
3. A job to go to everyday.
4. All of the material blessings I have received. I sometimes forget how incredibly blessed I am to have food to eat, a house to live in, a car to drive, and clothes to wear.
5. My family who has loved and supported me in everything that I have done. I know that any member of my family would be there for anything I needed.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Project update

I will post pictures soon, I promise. It's just that my house is kind of a wreck right now, for numerous reasons. First, because I have 20 projects in process right now and second because I spend all of my time doing projects rather than cleaning! I had a pretty productive weekend and hope to finish a bunch of things up this week. I made curtains for the two windows in our kitchen. I think they turned out pretty good. We also bought a new dining room set. I can't tell you how happy I am about that! Here's a stock photo:

It's not very big, but it's nice because it sits behind our couch in the living room and I got tired of pushing the old table out of the way to get by. Technically it can seat 6 people, so it should do for a few years anyway. I also ordered a new light fixture to go above it, but it's not here yet. The one that's there is very country. Here's a stock photo of the light fixture:Also, my two person table for the kitchen came in yesterday and my sweet husband put it together while I was at work. I'll post pictures later. Now that we have paint, a table and chairs and curtains in the kitchen, I need to take a break from the kitchen for a while because the cabinets and countertop are jobs that are too big for me right now.

I finally got all the pieces put together for some new art for our living room. I found these prints I loved on art.com (I love that website). I bought 16 x 20 prints thinking that would be a standard size to find ready-made frames for, which it is if I didn't want to mat them. However, 20x24 frames are not so easy to find. I finally found some at Aaron Brothers, but still needed mats. I called around to several framing shops. Apparantly mats are made out of gold these days because everyone wanted a LOT of money to cut plain white mats. I finally found this little mat store in the mall that would do it for a reasonable price. Yay! They also earned my business forever! I called ahead to ask them to have the mats cut for me when I went to pick them up. That was bonus number 1, because none of the other shops would cut them before I paid. Then they told me that they would put everything together for free if I brought in the frames and prints. Cool! So I take all my stuff in and they take my art and frames to the back room and are taking FOREVER! Finally I ask what is taking so long. Apparently, I gave them the wrong measurements for the mats and they had to re-cut them. Not only did they not charge me for the first ones (even though it was my mistake), but they also gave me a 30% discount because I had to wait so long. Holy Cow! If anyone EVER has framing needs in the greater Phoenix metropolitan area, you have to use this place. It's called Frame Up. They have two stores- one in Superstition Springs mall in Mesa and one in Paradise Valley. They will also beat any printed framing quote by 10%. I wish I knew about them before!

So the end of that story is that I got the art framed and hung on the wall last night and it looks great. I finally hung up all the pictures in the staircase and hallway as well. For the rest of the week, I just hope to paint and install the molding for the shelves, finish the living room furniture (it's so close it's ridiculous) and clean my house so I can put up Christmas decorations on Friday. I'm so excited for this weekend!!!!!! Yay!

Projects!

Gosh, my house has been all about projects for the last couple months. I wish I had taken before and after pictures of everything, because we've made a lot of transformations. Luckily, Brandon and I enjoy working on house projects together, but boy, is it tiring. Here's what we've been up to (in no particular order):

1. Stripping and refinishing all of our living room tables (Coffee table, side table and sofa table). Brandon came into the marriage with really nice furniture. Unfortunately, it wasn't my style and didn't go with anything else in the house. It was a light wood with intricate engravings. So, I took out the engraved pieces and replaced with straight pieces of wood, stripped off the stain, re-finished in a dark chocolate stain and replace the hardware with modern, silver handles. We had some issues with the polyurethane coats, but now we're almost done. Brandon finished the coffee table last night and we should finish the other two this week.

2. Redecorating both of our offices. The pictures of Brandon's office in a previous post(his birthday present). After my sweet husband installed a wonderful, but enormous desk in my office, I realized I couldn't paint the walls, so I painted the ceiling instead (with the help of my fabulous friend, Janette). It's a dark turquoise, to match the satin and velvet turquoise curtains that take up most of one wall. Oh, I made the curtains, too. (I hate sewing, but I love that I can because I can never find cute curtains in the store.) I hung some art by one of my favorite artists (Steven Meyers) and now I love it!

3. Redecorating our bedroom. When I moved out of my law office recently, I took all of the decorations and put them up in my bedroom. I hung shelves and pictures and bought new lamps and made some curtains. I couldn't find material I liked for the curtains, but I did find a shower curtain, so I cut it up and made curtains. The sink and vanity are connected to the bedroom, so I put up curtains on a shower bar to separate that part from the rest of the room. Now, the only thing left to do is refinish the bedroom furniture in a dark stain (I already ripped off the engraved panels.)

4. We put up shelves and new art in the living room. I also bought new lamps and made curtains to frame the french doors (but that was a few months ago). I also repainted the shelves in the living room that are also connected to the staircase. It's hard to explain without seeing it. I'm also working on spicing those shelves up with some fabric backs. I think (HOPE) we're going to buy a new dining set this week. That will really make a difference in the whole room. After that, I think we'll be done with that room.

5. We also painted the hallway and stairway. Painting stairways is a big fat hastle. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband to help when I get these ideas in my head. I just need to repaint the handrail, put that back up and hang pictures. I'm also working on the shelf project I mentioned in number 4. On the stairs side of the stairs, I'm stapling up some fabric and framing out all of the shelves in molding.

6. Jill and I repainted the guest bathroom one night and then Brandon and I framed the mirror with painted molding and replaced the light fixture. I hung up a painting, added a little cabinet, some candles and matching towels. I also replaced the towel holders. It's amazing how easily those things updated the previously old and ugly bathroom.

7. This last weekend, Jill and I painted the kitchen. Well I helped her tape the kitchen and then she painted it while I sewed some curtains for her kitchen. I bought fabric for kitchen curtains and will probably have those done in the next day or two. I ordered a small table for the kitchen, and then I'll take a break on the kitchen for a few months.

8. Replaced all the door knobs in the house.

Projects on the horizon:

Refinish bedroom furniture
Refinish kitchen cabinets and add new hardware
Resurface kitchen countertops
Paint master bathroom
Refinish master vanity
Build dog house for 4 dogs
Build a closet under our staircase
Paint all the trim and baseboard in the house



I'm sure I'll come up with more projects, but that's all we have planned for now.

I am recalling the November 6th Post

I would like to now boycott my November 6 post "What city are you?" Six out of six people that I know of who took the city quiz all were London. Unless someone who takes the quiz gets another city besides London, I am putting my foot down and saying "WHAT A FRAUD!"

My cousin, Mindy, tagged me!

1. Where did you meet your husband?

At my house. A mutual friend brought him with him to home teach me because his normal companion couldn't come.

2. What is the first thing you said to your husband?

"I've heard about you. You were a jerk to my friend Lindsay."

3. Where was your first date?

That is a tricky question. We went on a fake date to Serrano's when he was engaged to someone else. It was fake because we were just friends and his fiance lived in Utah, so he was bored a lot. :) I don't remember what our first real date was because we were friends for so long before we started dating.

4. Where was your first kiss?

In my kitchen, waiting for a frozen pizza to cook.

5. Did you have a long or short courtship/engagement?

Pretty short, I guess. We were friends for about a year and a half before we started dating. We dated for 3 months before getting engaged and were engaged for three months.

6. Where did you get engaged?

Also a tricky question. We started talking about it at my house one night. It was more of a process than an event. We were engaged for a while before he actually proposed. I think I got my ring about three weeks before we got married.

7. Where did you get married?

Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple

8. How did your reception go?

It was perfect and beautiful. We ate a yummy dinner and then just mingled. I refused to stand in a receiving line.

9. THE HONEYMOON...

Cancun, Mexico. It was beautiful and we had a wonderful time. Even though I was sick most of the time.

10. Who's turn is it next?

Jackie, Cristin, Holli.

What city do you belong in?

You Belong in London

A little old fashioned, and a little modern. A little traditional, and a little bit punk rock. A unique soul like you needs a city that offers everything. No wonder you and London will get along so well.

What City Do You Belong In?

Job update

So I've been at my new job for just over a week. People keep asking me if I like it. That is a very impossible question to answer at this point. Training is long and tedious. I spend 95% of my time reading everyday about a portion of the tax code. I'm learning a lot and I know it's necessary but I seriously want to poke my eyes out just so I don't have to read anymore. I'll let you know how it is when I actually am able to start doing my job. I do like the environment and the people that work here. I do like the part of town that I work in (but I don't like the commute). I think I'll like the job. That's all I have to say about that right now.

I start Tuesday

I finally got an official offer of employment from the company I was hoping for. I am so excited to finally have a solid plan. It should be great. I will be working for an investment company facilitating real estate transactions. The company is a subsidiary of a Fortune 500 company which means great benefits. My division only has 11 people, so it is the benefits of a huge corporation with the feel of a small company. I think I will really like it. I'm not excited about the commute to Phoenix every day, but that's really the only down side. Plus, I'll be making more money - WOO HOO! Of course I had to go shopping this week for new work clothes!