new beginnings come from some other beginning's end.

So....we moved. Almost 3 weeks ago. This is a little out dated but this is so la familia can see our place if they missed out on the skype tour. We liked our first apartment, but we LOVE our new place. The more we live here, the more we ignore the kids upstairs and love it here.

*Sorry if the pictures are a little small --- my computer has been struggling lately.

**I need to explain about the benches - this basement wasn't here originally, so when they dug it out they had to dig around the existing foundation of the house. So, they made the rooms bigger and just covered the old foundation and made benches out of them. So we have benches around the whole room. The walls are whiteboard.

This is the corner of the living room. This bench is larger than all the others; we are not sure why. And we are working on getting curtains....

Bookshelves and rugs are new.

Our hallway kitchen. The sink, dishwasher and more cupboards are on the other side across from the fridge

Part of the bedroom. You can't even see the desk in the corner.

It's huge.

Our new dresser!

This is a wreath I made to take up some of the HUGE WHITE wall space in the living room. You can see it in the first picture - even there it looks small, but it is a 24" wreath, so really it is big.

And there you go. I left out the bathroom, because let's be honest, no one really wants to see it anyways. Also, the closet and the storage room, because they just aren't very pretty. More utility, less beauty. We just need to put up curtains and a few more pictures and we will be all set! We left our first married apartment for this one and we are so happy we did! I am glad we will not be moving again for a long time.

Today was not a fun day.

I am very very very very very VERY grateful for 2 really nice guys named Kirk and Ryan who towed our broken down car (after jumping it to get it OUT of park and into neutral) out of the off-ramp of the freeway in Orem. And then for driving us all the way back to our house in Provo.

Everyone understands what it is like to be in an unfortunate situation.

Nice people are the ones who help you get out of them.

good days

I am grateful for the good days.

The days that make all the frustration and stress worth it.

The days when things fall together instead of apart.

The days you get to spend with the ones you love.

The days that have to end no matter how much fun you have.

The days when miracles happen.

The days that make you smile.

The days that are filled with tender mercies.

Those kinds of days are the most wonderful days.

Today was that kind of day.

Uintas!

So we went backpacking last weekend with Daniel and Lynette! We had such a blast! This is the view from our campsite:

We hiked up to a little snow patch on the mountain. This is another view of the lake we camped by:

I got a snow ring:

And I finally caught a fish! We had so many bites and we caught so many little fish. It was so much fun! I was so bummed I woke up with a sore throat and that we had to hike down early. We did go get ice cream in Heber, which was delicious! Having this guy as my camping partner definitely makes for some really awesome times:

For the birthday boy (and girl)!

Today is Dad's BIRTHDAY! I missed posting about Mom's because I was going crazy trying to write essays and finish college. BUT, since we are giving you a double birthday present, I figured it is okay to do a double post about it. :)

So, Happy Birthday Dad! And Happy Late Birthday Mom! (My card and phone call were on time, just not my blog post) I am so excited for you guys to be able to go to CAMBODIA and pick up Will!!! I loved the idea when Christian talked to me about it, and I am so grateful that we could contribute. I fully expect you two to have a MAGNIFICENT time there, and to take LOTS (!!) of pictures so I can see them too! And of course, to bring back my little brother who doesn't really want to leave. But I kinda want to be selfish and have him come home. So I'm glad you guys are going to get him!

I love you both SO SO much!!!

So the waiting is killing me.

I'm trying to make time go faster here. But I can't seem to figure out where the fast-forward button is.

There are no projects to work on currently, and I've checked all the blogs I regularly do.

Facebook is no longer fun - excellent sign the browser window needs to be closed and not reopened for a good few days or weeks.

I also had this random urge to buy a puppy. So of course, I looked into it.
I went through all of my wedding photos (I am anxiously awaiting the disc in the mail with them on it so I can get to filling all the lovely, beautiful frames we got for gifts) and laughed a lot.

All the taffy is gone from the candy jar on the counter behind me. Good thing there were only about 10 pieces left anyways.
And I'm still waiting.

Waiting for a very decisive phone call,

Waiting for a chance to go get a bite to eat,

Waiting for today's extra long shift to be over so I can go home,
Waiting for the husband to come home from playing golf,
Waiting for today to be over so we can go backpacking tomorrow,

but the waiting is taking forever!

because he told me not to.

everything is better with a husband. waking up is more fun with a husband. summer is more fun with a husband. eating dinner is more fun with a husband.

pretty much life is more fabulous with a husband.

I found these today:

Please note the two lovely ladies in front:

the mayhem:

the eventual winner:

these pictures made writing my proposal a plan a lot more fun.

Just In Case......

SO, you know the days you worry about being prepared for a zombie attack and can't sleep at night? (yeah, I can't sleep either.)

well, this gym in Chicago has exactly what you need.

Oh man. I died laughing when I read this.

Maybe it was the mood I was in,

maybe it was the ridiculousness of the whole idea,

but I was laughing for a long time.

My favorite line in the article?

(discussing the workout of running and jumping over obstacles:)

"You've got to land that or the zombies are going to get you."

HAHA.

oh what a great day.

July 2

I feel like I'm intruding on guys' night. I'm here:


With these boys:



My phone makes it look farther away than we really are. We've had a GREAT view for all the shots we've taken so far!!
And there are fireworks tonight, yay!!!
- Posted from my iPhone

Location:Rio Tinto