Greener Pastures

Our winter grass has come in.
It's soft and bright and we like it a lot.

Sam & Paige's Wedding

Jake's youngest brother got married yesterday. My camera didn't come out much, but I did take a couple pictures. Everything turned out beautifully and it was really a great day.

All is Well

We're doing fine here. The weather has cooled to the 70s for the weekend, and Sam is wearing pants, which makes him look like a little boy and not like my baby. The nerve.

In other exciting news, Uncle Sam is getting married tomorrow AND our winter grass sprouted in last night's rain. (yes, both those news items are equally exciting)

She's 4

Sophie has been counting down months, weeks, and days 'til her birthday. And now that it's finally here, we have one proud girl on our hands. The first thing she did this morning was ask Jake to take the training wheels off her bike, and she dressed herself from the box in her closet that holds clothes that are still to big to wear.

For her birthday this year, Sophie asked for the following:

1. Drum
2. Pogo Stick
3. Clock
4. Umbrella
5. Tree House
6. Guitar
7. Footie Pajamas
8. Sled

She got/will be getting 5 of those things.

Happy Birthday Sophie Girl! We love you!

Welcome, October. Thanks for the Weather.

For the first time since the beginning of May, I was able to tell Sophie "yes" when she asked me if she could go outside and ride her bike this morning. The Phoenix area was all about breaking heat records all through September and let me tell you Phoenix, no one was impressed.


But this morning brought cool breezes and cloud coverage and so we enjoyed the outdoors.














And then this afternoon, a quick 30-minute hail storm rolled through. It flooded the streets, banged on the windows, and howled through the air. And then it was gone and now, 20 minutes later, the streets are dry and the the sun is back. But we'll take what we can get.

30x30 Update: #26

It looks like I may be able to expand my business pretty soon. I started by ordering more bubble mailers from CSN (which came in less than 24 hours AGAIN). I'm very pleased with them. Professionally packaged, quality product, fast shipping.














I also almost have enough revenue to place another order. Hopefully before Christmas!

And, I started selling a lot of my flowers in earring form at GoodieJar. They're all super cute, just ask my model.

OK, I think that's enough links for one post.

Home Tour Part VII: Sophie's Room

I have decorating on my mind. I've been thinking of ideas for my master bedroom (see #13 on my list --->) and have a few things going on now. It's exciting.

As I've been on the lookout for decorating ideas (blogosphere), cheap bedroom furniture(CSN), and lighting (Ross, TJMaxx, etc), I remembered that I never posted Sophie's bedroom pictures, so I thought I'd do that today.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

If you thought the guest room needed lots of work, you were right. But, Sophie's room was the worst. It wins for the room needing the most coats of paint, thanks to the pink and green floor-to-ceiling diamonds, lime green closet interior, and bright pink ceiling. Also, I had to spend time sanding down the edges of the pink diamonds so that they wouldn't show through.

We painted Sophie's room a light pinky salmon color and accented it with pinks, corals, and turquoise. Later, we found a bright yellow headboard at a thrift shop that we couldn't pass up, so it was added. I initally planned on painting it, but I think it looks good as is, so for now it's staying yellow.

In one corner, she has all of her doll supplies. She has a thing for dolls right now, and has 5 favorites (Elo, Ia, Alopsio, Algo, and Fairy).

(picture descriptions below)

Top Left: Two vintage Sunday School posters found at a thrift store framed in garage sale found frames, sprayed turquoise. Pink painted chandelier taken from my parents' new house when they replaced their lighting

Top Right: I made this quilt. I couldn't find anything I liked for the longest time, and finally just decided to do something myself. I combined 2 Amy Butler blanket patterns and I love how it turned out.

Bottom Left: Mirror recovered from my parents' bathroom re-do, sprayed turquoise & hung at Sophie-height

Bottom Right: Thrift store art with pink painted frame & coral curtains

300 to 30

I decided that I was going to make a "30 by 30" list. It's a list of things I'd like to do before I turn 30. It doesn't have anything too dramatic on it like a trip around the world or learning a foreign language, as we're on a budget and I'm already 29 and don't have much time to complete the list.

Coincidentally, today marks 300 days until I turn 30, so I thought I'd post the list now. I still have a couple more things to add to it though. I just need to think of them.

30 by 30

1. Grow my hair long

2. Go to the beach

3. Plan a big party

4. Read 5 books

5. Develop a back-to-school plan

6. Find a budget for a nice camera

7. Go on a long weekend with Jake

8. Read the Book of Mormon

9. Make a good friend

10. Make and sell something creative

11. Visit Grandma weekly

12. Write a book

13. Decorate my master bedroom

14. Be stronger

15. Plant an orange tree

16. Have a flower garden

17. Have only one mortgage

18. Be a regular temple patron

19. Get a life insurance policy

20. Have a will

21. Plan a year supply menu

22. Teach the dog a new trick

23. Help Sophie learn to read a whole book

24. Eat an expensive dessert

25. Buy a scanner

26. Expand my business

27. Sew something awesome

28. Prepare for my BP

29. Find temple art that I like

30.

Any ideas?

Louie

We decided that we're ready for a dog. Not a puppy. A dog. So we've been going through craigslist, petfinder.com, and various animal shelter websites looking for a match. We wanted a small to medium dog, at least a year old, one that doesn't shed too much, and a with nice temperament.

On Friday night, we found him.

Meet Louie.

He was a stray rescued by the shelter from animal control. He came in completely matted and had to be shaved down to the skin. The people at the shelter had him for over a month, and described him as really mellow, kinda mopey, and not into toys or balls or anything. He just liked attention and loved being a lap dog.

He spent all of Saturday and Sunday just following us around quietly, and jumping on our laps any time we attempted to sit down.

Turns out he was just depressed.

Louie Yesterday . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . Louie Today

On Sunday night, he finally figured out that he was home for good, and warmed up to us.




And he ran! And he was excited! And he can fetch! And he DOES like toys!


But lucky for us he's still a good lap dog.

How To Save on Your Energy Bill

Are these hot summer days taking a toll on your energy bill? They were mine. Until I discovered the secret to a low bill. And it was so simple!

Step one: Turn off your A/C completely.

Step two: Watch your energy usage PLUMMET!

(Step three: Spend thousands of dollars replacing your air conditioning unit)

Think of the money you'd be saving! You can't afford NOT to do it!

Sam's 1st Birthday Party

For Sam's 1st birthday party, we threw him a "Very Hungry Caterpillar" family party.











We served all of the food from the book. Apples, pears, plums, strawberries, oranges, chocolate cake, ice cream cones, pickles, swiss cheese, salami, lollipops, cherry pie, sausage, cupcakes, watermelon, and a nice big green leaf salad.

Sam's first year of growth

The guests










Sam's gifts

The goody bags

Sam got some really great presents.
Cathy & Ben's handmade gift may need some closer inspection:

It's Sam's Baby Walker. Patent Pending.



And now, the cake.

Happy birthday Sam!