We have been busy

Prepare, this post is full of pictures.  We have been in our house for almost 2 years.  We have been busy making it not look like a short sale.  We have worked really hard with the help of various family, friends, and of course HGTV (He he, i love that channel.  But Eldon says it gives me too many ideas.)  We have made some significant changes to the house and it is looking alot more like my vision of it.   I love when people from the ward come over and see the house because they knew the previous tenants (it was a rental before we bought it).  Everyone who has seen the house before, has a hard time believing it is the same house.  So since we are so proud of our house, i thought that i would share some of the before and after pictures.  We are not bragging, but definitely beaming.  The first big change we made was painting every room in the house.  I dont like white walls and now no walls in the house at all are white.  We also tiled the kitchen and entry way because the disgusting blue laminate flooring definitely was not working in my house.

 

The next big step was putting in granite counter tops because the ugly blue definitely had to go!

 

Next was getting our entertainment center, couch and book shelf to make the living room look comfy, cozy and stylish.  

 

Then we decorated the guest bathroom and bedroom.  I am really glad to have a nice and comfortable place to offer family and friends when they come to visit.  

 

Next I got a desire to texture the walls of the master bathroom.  It looks like venetian plaster.  i love it!!!  And I am so proud that I did it all by myself!  

 

The office and the master bedroom came next.   The master bedroom is still missing some beautiful art pieces that my nephew is working on, but he is holding them ransom from me, so once he finishes them, the bedroom will be completed!  

I also have been working on the Shadow Memory Boxes for my baby boys.  They are finished for now, but i am sure with how picky I am, and how precious they are, that this may change in the future.

The next big projects came after we lost the boys.  I needed something to occupy my mind and help to bring some joy into my life, so Eldon let me do alot of the projects that had been on hold for a while.  So i textured the kitchen and with the help of friends put in fake bricks.  I got a buffet and painted our table.  

I got my coat rack and bench for the entry way.

Then we put in carpet because the old carpet was beyond disgusting!  

 

We also put in french doors where the ugly and annoying sliding door was. 

 

It made a huge difference.  I added curtains, new light fixtures in the kitchen and hallway and master bathroom.    

 

Most of our changes have been made on the inside of the house.  We really havent done much with the outside, but after the boys died, we bought baby rose bushes to go outside the house.  They have only bloomed sparatically, but they are still growing.  

 

We will do more in the backyard and front in months to come.  Most recently for Mother's day, Eldon bought me cupboards for the laundry room, so that was finally painted and the cabinets added.  I absolutely love it!

There are definitely more projects that i would like to complete like the nursery, changing the cabinet colors through out the house, tiling the bathrooms, changing the countertops in the bathroom, adding canned lighting in the living room and then moving to the outside for grass and a pool.  Poor Eldon :P  Oh well, its a good investment, and I am having a blast discovering new abilities and talents as we transform our house into our home and into something we can be proud of.  

Its about Love

I am sorry that i have been a slacker in blogging.  I just didnt want to overload my blog with unhappy posts and while we truly are greatly blessed, it has been hard for me not to focus on the sad things.  This post does have a little bit of sad, but also some hope and a request for help.  First off, after several months of waiting, we finally got the headstone for our little boys.  They finally have their resting place marked so all can know they were here and now they have the proper place to put flowers, so now the gardner cant steal mine!  We are really pleased how it came out, and we are very glad that their plot is no longer just a mound of dirt!   Since losing our twins, my optimism for having a family has really decreased significantly, but our desires have only gotten stronger.  Unfortunately we have already suffered another miscarriage since our boys, which only brings more dismay.  So while we will forever try to get our own little ones here, we are turning to adoption to assist us with our desires to have a family until we are blessed to have our own.  We are looking into adoption with the State of Arizona.  This course began in March when we almost had the opportunity to get a cute little 6 week old girl through some friends.  The birth father ended up stepping in, so, now we wait to see if he changes his mind and decides to let us have her or to see what else Heavenly Father has in store for us.  All the websites I have read, have stated that many adoptions come through personal contacts, so I am reaching out to our family and friends.  If you know of a little one who is need of a good home, or have any recommendations or connections for adoption, we would really appreciate your help.  I know that we will be able to have a family someday.  Heavenly Father has promised both Eldon and I in our patriachal blessings the blessing of raising a family, but we may need help in getting our family here.  We ask that you continue to keep us in your prayers that we might be guided by our Father in Heaven and be able to know his will for us and to follow it, and if adoption is his plan, that we might be led to the little one/s that are meant to join our family.  We appreciate all the love and support we have recieved in our recent trials and heartaches and hope that future posts can be filled with more happy news.

Bountiful Baskets

Check out our latest find. Its a co-op for produce. It is called Bountiful baskets and it is all over the phoenix valley. Basically, this company buys produce wholesale because they buy in bulk for all the people that join. Some of it is fresh from local farms and other products are the same are you would get a store. This was our first week trying it, and we love it! It costs 16.50 each time you do it. (the first time there is an additional 3.00$ charge) Pick ups are on Saturdays and you select your location from about 30 different location choices. you go to the location at the designated time and they have 2 small round laundry baskets full of food ready for you. The food is different each time, but basically you get about $50.00 worth of fruits and veggies for 16.50. This week got a huge bag of potatoes, a huge bag of broccoli, a giant cauliflower, a carton of cherry tomatoes, 3 very large cucumbers, a carton of strawberries, about 4-5 oranges and 4-5 apples and 4-5 plums, 2 big peppers, a large package of ready made salad, and 2 bunches of bananas and a cantaloupe. I think that is everything. Anyways, it was a lot of stuff( ps. its hard to tell from the picture, but the laundry basket is a large one....it takes up half my table) which made us wonder if we would really eat it all. So far we are doing really good. We figure as long as we eat at least 16.50 worth of it, we are doing good. Everything is really tasty and helped us at least this weekend to eat healthy. If you want to check it out go to http://www.bountifulbaskets.org. I definitely recommend it!!!

I <3 Hobby Lobby

I found Hobby Lobby about 4 or so years ago in Ohio with my best friend Erin. It was an amazing store with awesome deals..... well its better (at least than what i remember). There is now a Hobby Lobby in Arizona and it happens to be about 3 miles from my house (YEAH!!!). I just wanted to show off a couple of things i found there for my house! I love it!

Bye Bye Blue....Hello Beautiful

Before.....




After.....


We got new granite counter tops!!! No more ugly blue (sorry Donna :P ) I am so excited. It has made such a difference in the kitchen! Now I just have to stain the cabinets and the kitchen will be beyond beautiful!!!! I just wanted to say thanks to Valerie and my Scot! They hooked me up with my beautiful new counter tops!! If anyone wants granite- Epic Renovations has the best stuff!! I would definitely recommend them to anyone!

My First Time

Lame, I know, but yes this year was the first year that I carved a pumpkin all by myself. Eldon did give me some good pointers, but I did it! This is definitely a tradition that I want to keep. It was a lot of fun, but I had no idea that pumpkins dont last very long. :( It didnt even make it to Halloween. Sad, oh well. I am still proud of myself. Eldons pumpkin is the transformers symbol for those of you who arent in the know. and mine is eating the small pumpkin. I was laughing so hard carving the small pumpkins scared face that i think it turned out more like a smile ( or at least that is what my grandma saw when she "oh its cute" ha. oh well..... Happy Halloween!!