It's Make-Up Week! - Getting Ready to Sell Our Home

It's make-up time since we finally got internet. Over the next few days I will update all of our recent adventures.

First and foremost, we moved! We put our home up for sale, and before we could do so we had to finish a few minor projects.

We first remodeled our bathroom. We ripped up the old linoleum and sub-floor (which had water damage from a leak which we fixed also). Kenneth put down new tile, and we also put in a new pedestal sink and mirror. We forgot to take a before picture, but here are some "during" and "after" pictures.

Ripping out the sub-floor

Where the sink was

Our toilet in the hallway (we had to put it somewhere!)

Our old cabinet

Our old sink

New sub-floor

New Tile

Painting

And the finished product...






Our second project included re-siding our house where we had filled in windows for the past 2 years (I'm sure our neighbor was very happy). We also put in some flower gardens in front of the house. Here are a couple of pictures of the finished product.



Since our house has been on the market we have had several people come to see it. As of last week, someone made an offer on it (for the full asking price) and he just needs to get his financing situated. We are hoping this will all work out so that we can buy a new home in Sunny Southern California.

Teaser for next post: Beach, Rock Climbing and Pool Adventures in Sunny Southern California

We're Alive!!

Hello! Despite what you may think, we are, in fact, alive. I have been crazy busy with the move to Corona, CA and on top of that, we don't have internet at home. So, while I am here at the library I will do a quick update of what has happened in the last couple of weeks:

First, in an effort to get our home ready for going on the market, we updated our bathroom. We redid the floor, put tile down, and put in a new sink and mirror.

...apparently the internet at the library takes FOREVER to upload a photo...so those may have to wait seeing as I am almost out of my alloted 1 hour time limit.

Before we left for CA we were able to attend the baby blessing of my nephew Jonathan. It was wonderful to be there, and to see the love that surrounds that little guy. We are sad to be away as he and Danny are destined to be best buds.

Since getting to CA, we have unpacked into our apartment which is actually a lot nicer than we expected. Danny's room is montrous. Danny and I spend a lot of time at the pool (which he loves with a passion), at the park down the street (he prefers the swings) and at the library. The weather is beautiful here, and so are all of the trees.

Kenneth is enjoying his job (or at least what his job will be once his computer is set up). His boss seems very nice, and we are anxious to see all the benefits we are told comes about with working for the federal government. Because it takes a whole 5 minutes for Kenneth to get home from work, we have plenty of time to do things in the evenings. The other day we checked out the rockclimbing and found both sport & trad climbing just about 10-15 minutes away. Better yet, the rock is at GROUND LEVEL!! That means no hiking to the spot, and a very level ground for Danny's pack-n-play. Apparently I haven't been climbing enough lately because my fingers blistered while climbing the granite wall. Kenneth laughed at me (and I think was slightly disgusted at my lack of callused hands).

This last Saturday we headed to the beach in San Clemente. We really like it there...it seems more like a local spot versus a touristy spot, and it is cheap to park there. The last time we were at the ocean Danny was not a fan, but this time he LOVEd it! Apparently the ocean warms up quite a bit in only a month. We spent several hours there and enjoyed the sun and ocean. Did I mention that I love living here?

Speaking of loving CA, we are absolutely loving the people here. Everyone here is SO nice! And I mean everyone - including the lady at the Taco Bell drive-thru, the man in the checkout stand at Stater's Bros (the grocery store), the people at church, the neighbors both downstairs and across the way, the numerous people we have met at the pool, and the nice father with his 3 year old daughter at the beach. Seriously, everyone is nice here! We are loving it out here, and feel so good about our situation right now. We are still hoping and praying that our home in Salt Lake will sell quickly and that we will be able to get into a home here soon. Although we love our neighbors, we are anxious to get back into our own place!

Here's hoping for pictures next time!

10 Months, Accidents, Projects & More

So, I haven't blogged in about 2 weeks, so here is a quick update of what's been going on:

- My sister Alisha stayed with us for about a week before flying out to Germany where her husband is serving in the British military. She had a lot of fun watching and playing with Danny (or "Puppy" as she calls him) before she left.

- As many of you know I usually can't stand my hair. It bugs me a lot...so, before Alisha left to Germany she helped me to "be brave" and to get it cut in a way I never would have chosen before. I got a bob and it is also dyed back a little darker (rather than the leftovers of the red I had). I absolutely LOVE it! It forces me to do my hair everyday (rather than just throw it in a ponytail/bun) but it still only takes like 5-10 minutes. I'm so happy Alisha helped me conquer my fear of going short!



- My brother Michael, his wife Kim and their new baby Jonathan just returned from 6 months in Las Vegas (where Michael was transferred for work). We are very excited to have them back and that Danny has a new little cousin to play with (i.e. eat his hand). Kenneth flew out to Las Vegas to help pack up their place and to drive back with Michael. It was a quick turn-around, but he had a great time, and we are happy everyone returned safely. Michael and his family were able to come over to our house the night after they returned so that Alisha could spend some time with Jonathan before she left.



- Next on the list...Kenneth is DONE with school!! He had his one and only final last Wednesday (he was only taking 2 classes, and only one had a final). His graduation is the 10th, but he is not going to it. He can't stand the long speeches and general waste of time. Anyway, I could not be prouder of him. He has worked so hard over the past few years and has done great with his school work. He already has a job lined up and we just have to wait until the official "graduation" until they will transfer him from part to full-time. Go Kenneth!

- On to home projects! As most of you know, we bought a house in Salt Lake City about 2 1/2 years ago and have been slowly updating different portions of it. We finally got around to tackling the hallway. Yes, our hallway is small, but it still required a lot of work! We had to mud and sand the main door-frame, pull out old "industrial-style" baseboards, replace with new baseboards and paint. It looks 1000x better and am so happy with it.





- Now for the most recent accident! Kenneth was attacked my the screen door yesterday (Tuesday) and a huge chunk of his skin was ripped off. When he showed me the damage, you could see part of his tendon! It was absolutely disgusting. A picture is below for those who wanted to see:



- Now my favorite subject: DANNY!! My little boy is TEN months today! I can't believe how fast the time is flying! He is absolutely adorable, and I couldn't love him more. Unfortunately the little guy is teething with his 3rd tooth (again on the bottom - none on top yet). He army crawls like mad, and will get on his knees, but hasn't quite figured out how to move on them yet. He can stand up when you give him something to hold onto, but I have only seem him pull himself up once without any help from us. He also babbles a lot more and makes the sound "dada" though I don't think he knows what that means yet. He loves books, DVDs (he likes to pull out ALL of the DVDs he can), and jumping in his little jumping-chair. He can feed himself finger-foods now and especially likes bananas and cheese. I love this little man!

Danny playing with his favorite DVD's

Danny eating fettucini with spinich-alfredo for his 10 month birthday

Danny's 3rd tooth coming in - it is on the left.

This is for you Mom. It got really cold here so I had to pull your afghan out!

(click to see the full screen version)