Pack Rat

I used to save everything.  Now I purge and save much less - way less.

John saves everything.  Even those little 2 inch wires that comes with who knows what. 

I'm glad he does though.  It comes in handy.

We hung a new light fixture from the 18' ceiling (post to come later when our printer is fixed and I can upload photos from the memory card).  Kerst helped.  He is a great assistant when it comes to doing projects around the house.  He loves to help his Dad.

At 9:45 on Friday night, John realized that the light fixture he picked up - a floor model - was missing some hardware. 

Kerst and John head downstairs to John's "stash of stuff".  John proceeds to tell Kerst that this is exactly why he keeps all of these odds and ends.

Kerst smiled and said, "I'm going to start saving my stuff too and be just like you."

Oh boy.  Two pack rats.  Two amazing guys (with Kendall following in their steps).

Licensed

Better watch out ... Julia is now officially licensed.  Yes, she is just over 17 1/2 ... she was not quite ready to drive at 15 or 16 ... but she is ready now!  Way to go Jules!  Be safe.

Kendall's Room

A couple of weeks ago, my sweet beautiful and overly talent friend Emily came to help me paint Kendall's room.  It was nice to have someone to talk to while working on the house ... especially since John was gone for 16 days on a trip of a lifetime with his parents and siblings.

Kendall's room has the Book of Mormon theme from the boys' room in our other house.  I love it!

Kendall shares a Jack-and-Jill(Jack) bathroom (toilet and shower) with Kerst.  You can see his separate sink to the right of the picture - Kerst has one in his room too.

Looked out the window

Our heart stopped for a second as I finished part of the maneuvering of the van to head up the driveway this morning to drop Jaley off at the bus stop.

Right along the landscaping (retaining wall) of our driveway, we saw this.  (Thankfully Jaley had a cellphone with a camera).  He was big.

When I came back he was gone, but two does were in the same place.

Ceiling Project Finished!

I know color and light can effect a person.  It does me!  With the ceiling painted the same dark color of the walls, I felt closed in.  I need light!  I love color ... but in limited amounts - not to include ceilings.

While John was away, I painted the ceilings I could reach.  The Master Bedroom - before pictures - after pictures.  The hallways, kitchen and eating area - before pictures - after pictures.  When John came back he helped me finish up the 18' ceiling.  He painted the entire day on Labor Day ... a day of Labor, right?!   I helped too ... don't worry!

Julia hanging over the banister ...
Notice the "light fixture"?  This is where the Chandelier used to hang.  The previous owners must have sold it or taken it with them - and this was painted too!  Thankfully they didn't strip the entire house down like other foreclosed property owners have been known to do.

Thank goodness for scaffolding!  You can get an idea of how dark the ceilings were.  You couldn't tell where the walls ended and the ceilings started.

What a huge difference!  The house is so much brighter ... and seems bigger too!

Entry way looking down from upstairs landing

Looking into Kerst's room ... Kendall's room is down the short hallway right next to Kerst's door.

Love my pantry



I do miss my other kitchen.  My induction cook top.  My cabinets.  But I have found something I REALLY love about my kitchen.  The pantry to the right of the oven and cook top.





My apron hook would look great adorning one of my friend's, Lisa, beautiful creations!   Time to start a Christmas Wish List!

I love the baskets on the top shelf.  They are plastic and have long handles that hang down.  It makes it easy to grab down and put back up (although on my tippy-toes).  Wal-Mart carries them - Mainstays is the brand.  I have large ones in my pantry.  The smaller ones fit perfectly in my kitchen cabinets to hold salt and pepper, spices, etc.



John met some neighbors and told us that the previous owner did work on the house 1/2 notch.  That explains the quality.  I'm glad John does things 2,000% - just love him!



All Better

Almost 2 months ago I was hit by a semi truck ... just clipped on the front passenger corner of our van while the semi was doing a left turn in a double left turn lane.

The van went into the shop last week (after finally giving up on the trucking company and going directly to their insurance company).  We missed our van.

The van is back.  It's all better.  You would never know looking at the van that anything was ever wrong.  They did an amazing job!