We've got the keys....and are moved in!

Remember me?  The person that does in fact have a blog at this site?

Well, I am back with some exciting house updates. 

We have officially signed our life away, ahem, I mean we are officially home owners.  *Squeal*


Maybe I really am a grown-up. :)

And we now are all moved in.  Phew.  While every box has been unpacked, I am still in full-fledged organizing mode.  Call me crazy, but I actually really love organizing.....at least most of the time.  I think my husband will testify that there were moments when organizing the kitchen was driving me bonkers. 

You know, just when you think you have absolutely unpacked everything and it is in it's proper place, then you find the box that has the dishes that were in the dishwasher from the morning of the move.  But anyway.  This post is not titled, Ramblings of a housewife's determination to get the house organized....

So, now that it's really real, I will proceed in giving you the details.  As promised.


When we moved here, Dan and I knew that it was unlike the the last two moves that we had made where we lived somewhere for a matter of months.  It was more for a matter of years.  Now this was all contingent on the fact that Dan liked his job.  And thankfully, he does.  With his career, we know the best thing for him is experience.  And to get experience you need time.  So we were prepared to stay for awhile.


But not being familiar with the area, we decided it would be best to rent for the first little bit in order for us to get our barrings and see where we would like to buy.  So we did just that. 


And a few months before our lease was up, we started looking at houses. 


We looked and looked and looked.  And we learned a ton.  Here's just a little of what we learned.


We learned:


- houses in Arizona are different than houses in Wyoming. 
-basements are really non-existent.  And if there is a basement, there are no bathrooms in the basement.  They have to sub-pump the sewage which makes for problems.  You do the math. 
-most houses in our price range are one level.  And that is quite common around here anyway. 
-we don't know much about landscaping here and most yards have very little to no grass.
-Three car garages are not nearly as common here as they are at home.  Maybe it has to do with the fact that the weather is not as cold? 
-we value sidewalks more than we thought. We live in more of a rural town than Laramie.
So after having looked for a few weeks, we thought we found the house we were going to make an offer on, then on our way to look at that house for the tenth fourth time, our realtor randomly stopped at a different house in that same subdivision. 


After looking at the exterior of the house, I commented to Dan on how ugly the stucco color was.  I believe I referred to it as a mustard yellow. (I since have changed my ways.) And then I asked if we really had to look at it.  But I quickly learned that you never should judge a book by its cover.

We now refer to it as "gold".  And Dan says it was meant to be since we are in fact, brown and gold fans.  All we need is a bucking horse hung over the garage...


It took just that one time for Dan and I to really start considering it instead of the other house.  And soon, we put an offer on it, and got it! 

We ended up buying one of the model homes so all the decorations came with the house.  I know, every girl's dream, right?  Who doesn't want their home to come decorated?  While I do like most of the decor, I will be changing some things as my budget allows because after all,  this is my home and I want it to feel like mine....and not someone else's.

It's the perfect starter house for our family and we look forward to making our house a home.

A few pictures just for fun.

A view looking down the hallway into the family room.

 Looking back down the hallway towards the front door.

 The colors look a little dark in this pic, but you get the general idea of our kitchen.

And how could I not let you see this little gal?  She is seriously growing like a WEED!  She is in 3T clothes and really starting to look like a little girl not so much a toddler anymore.  Get a load of her cowboy boots.  She HAD to wear them.  And by the way, she is in LOVE with the backyard.

Do you think I could capitalize anything else in that paragraph....sheesh.

She pulls at my heart strings

The other day I was in the living room cleaning up, when something Alayna said caught my attention.

She was holding her baby and sternly said, "No baby.  Be nice."

Then she turned her baby over and gave her a little swat on the bum and told her she needed to sit in time out and promptly placed her in the time out spot.

It was so cute.  I couldn't help, but smile at her knowing the discipline routine.  (Disclaimer: I do not spank Alayna every time she gets in trouble or every time she goes in time out for that matter.) 

And I also couldn't help being a little sad at the same time.  It pulled at my heart strings and really made me reflect on how I am as a mother.  I think every mom has mommy guilt every now and then.  And this was one of those moments that I wondered if I was doing my best.  It's clear that she is learning from me.  Am I teaching her good things?  Am I doing my best?

Then after she put her baby in time out we had the following conversation:

M: "Oh, was your baby not being nice?"

A: "Yeah."

M: "Are you going to go and talk to her when she's done sitting in time out?" 

A: "Yeah."

Alayna then walked over to her baby and told her that she needed to be nice.  And she gave her baby a big hug and a kiss.

My confidence was boosted a little after having witnessed that. 

Boy, she is growing up fast!

Wedding Festivities

I know you are all dying to here details about the house.  Or maybe it's me dying to tell you details about the house...

but first thing's first. 

The wedding.  

I've had a few requests for wedding details. 

So here they are in the form of pictures because, well, pictures are so much better than any story that I could tell.

The wedding was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!  It took place in the Mt. Timpanogos temple. (They picked a great place if I do say so myself.  I remember a good lookin' couple getting married there a little over 6 years ago. Dan, I hope you remember too :)

So, without further ado, the happy couple right after they came out of the temple.  Don't they look good?  Alicia's dress was gorgeous.  Seriously, so pretty.  And it helps that she has a darling little figure.

The little kids rushed up to them.  Alayna was quite taken with Alicia's princess dress.

Before we left for the luncheon, I was fortunate enough to capture this precious moment.  As you know, I babysat Easton and Kendree when we lived in Laramie so they were over at our house quite a bit.  With the big move, Alayna just doesn't get to see them (except on skype).  I think it's safe to say they miss each other because before they embraced, they said each other's names and held out their arms.  Too stinkin' cute if you ask me.

The next few pics are at the reception in Star Valley.  For some reason Alayna thought she was the star of the show.  She would come and stand in the line for a while, sit in their chairs, and twirl and dance for everyone.  Occasionally that dancing including her lifting her dress for all to see.  We had a couple of talks about keeping her dress down.  Maybe she wanted to do a little belly dancing, I don't know.  :) 

(Sorry about the sideways glance, Adam, but I opted for the picture that Alicia looked best in.  Don't worry, Alicia, I got your back.  We girls got to stick together.)

Getting ready to throw the bouquet.  Here the bridesmaids are anxiously awaiting....although neither one of them got it.  :)

 The throw. 

Now on to the garter.

 I love how cute Alicia's face is.

 Adam, you're so weird, but we still love ya. 

 This picture all sweet and innocent, but what you don't know is two seconds later they are shoving cake in each other's faces.

A family photo.  It actually turned out pretty good.

While we were in Star Valley, we stayed at these adorable cabins.  They were so nice and cozy. 

Now, on to the Laramie reception. 

Alayna with her curlers in her hair helping us set up.

 This little duo.  They were almost inseparable.

 I had to document the puff balls that we made.  Sarah, my mom, and I stayed up 'til almost midnight the night before making these, but it was worth it.  We got a lot of nice compliments. 

 And the final wedding festivity that I was able to document was the opening of the presents. 

Here is Alicia.

 And here is Adam.  Why does this not surprise me?  Seriously, what would we do without you Ad?  I'm glad we have you around to keep things fun. :)

There you have it.  The wedding festivities.  I am so grateful that I was able to be there for it all.  It was such a blast.  And I am so glad Alicia is a part of our family.  Congrats you guys!  We love you!

Home Again

Layna and I are home. 

After being away for three weeks we are finding that we need a vacation from our vacation.  Actually was just need to recuperate.  Mainly we are recuperating from the nasty flu bug that hit us the NIGHT BEFORE our plane ride home.  Wow. That was interesting to say the least. 

After being up half the night, we somehow managed to get to the airport (thanks for your help mom and dad!), entertain Alayna until we boarded the plane (thanks, mom!), survive the plane ride (thanks to a portable dvd player and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang), and manage the drive home (thanks, Dan!). 

I am fully recovered.  Thank goodness.  And Alayna is getting there.  She is still trying to get over her runny nose and cough that she got before the flu.  Lovely, I know.

There really is no place like home.  While we miss all our family and friends, it feels so good to be home and reunited with Dan/Daddy.

We missed him terribly.  And apparently he missed us because he had a little gift for each of us.  Here's mine:

There's nothing like a fresh bunch of tulips to brighten your day...especially when you have the flu.

They make our home look so springy.

And while we're talking about homes, I thought I would mention a new home.

This home specifically:

Yep. You guessed it.  We are buying a house!  We close the middle of this month.  And this is not an April fool's joke.  :)

We are thrilled. 

You can bet we will be filling you in on all the details soon.  Once, we have recovered from our travels.  :)