water works

After some 35+ man hours to get it installed, we are now the proud owners of a new water softener, tank-less water heater, and reverse osmosis water filter. I still have lots of holes in the basement ceiling too. More man hours are required to fix those.

We are hoping that this will solve the problem of the lukewarm first morning shower and help Dave's eczema in winter. I'm looking forward to the filtered water and endless hot water, not to mention no more water spots on my stainless steel sink. It certainly didn't come cheap so I hope it is all worth it!

inspired by board and batten

This summer, I fully intend to install faux board and batten in my living room. I've been scouring the internet for pictures and tutorials. I think it will add high impact for a relatively low budget. If I could also replace my children-destroyed couches, I'd be really happy. What do you think?

the view from here

Just a few random photos from the last week or so....

Slade received his Bobcat tonight. I got my first pin.

typical Monday morning laundry overflow

I'm on an organization/cleaning kick.

I'm also on a home decorating kick. This is my new family room rug. Pretty, ain't it?

Love it when I catch them playing well together.

Emma performed in her vocal recital last Saturday. We were a few minutes late and missed her opening solo. I felt like the world's lamest parent.

Slade is still convinced he can't read but we keep requiring him to read everyday.

Hopefully he'll love it one day.

Anne seems to be bursting with personality lately. She just cracks us up all day long.

home sweet home

There is nothing like having a new friend come over to your house for the first time to make you recognize all the flaws and imperfections of your home. You know the stuff you want to fix but never seem to get to and pretty soon learn to ignore. Stuff like the broken bookshelf and blinds, the messy backyard, the dirty couches and carpets, the blank walls with no pictures, the pictures still not rehung after painting, old TV sitting in the corner etc., etc., etc.


I generally think of myself as a good housekeeper. The surfaces stay clean, floors picked up, dishes done. This is why I didn't really think anything of it when I invited this family over for a playdate. I was surprised by how embarrassed I felt. Is this silly? Hopefully, she didn't judge me too harshly with this first impression of my home. Hopefully, I will get motivated to fix these small flaws so that my home can match the vision in my head.

not so mellow yellow

These pictures don't really do the color justice. The color is growing on me little by little. Since I have a feeling we won't be spending the time or money to repaint, I'd better learn to love it.

I have always hated how much stuff accumulated on my counter. It is my definite "hot spot". A couple of weeks ago, I decided to try and preempt the mess by making a new "command center" on the wall by my laundry room. It still needs a few things but I like how it is working and looking so far.

It took me the entire day to get the kitchen and family room cleaned up and re-beautified. Hanging blinds. Cleaning counters. Bringing back in all the stuff we moved out to paint. I'm so tired but I feel so much better without the mess. The front rooms still need some work though.

color fiasco

Michael was basically finished painting my living room and hallway when I came in to take a look. I noticed that the color was not looking quite how I expected. He dabbed some paint onto the paint chip and it was definitely not the same color.

I was not feeling well on Saturday so I sent Dave back to the store to get the remaining paint re-tinted or returned. They tried to tint it to the right color. Didn't work. They tried to mix a brand new gallon of paint and it still came out completely different than the paint chip. Apparently the formula for that particular color was just wrong. Grrr. Dave picked the color right next to one I had picked (looked almost the same) and got that instead.

Michael came back today with his brother to paint the kitchen and family room. When I came home in the afternoon I had a "Agh! What have I done" kind of moment. The color is way brighter yellow than I wanted.

It is really sad and frustrating that something I've been wanting for a year and a half is not turning out quite the way I was hoping.

color me gold

Look at what is happening at my house!


My brother-in-law is awesome! He is painting my main level--living room, hallway, kitchen and family room. Its a huge project. I'm not sure he knew what he was getting into when he offered to help. I am so excited to have it done though. Hip Hip Hurray!

daily december: 29

In general, I would consider myself a non-shopper. I really detest clothes shopping because I hate trying things on. I also don't like to spend money on clothes that probably won't fit for very long. My wardrobe is rather pathetic as a result. On the other hand, take me shopping for home decor and I am all over that! Today, Mom, Keri and I went out in search of the after Christmas sales at Tai Pan, The Basket Loft, Wood We Ever, and IKEA. I bought several things at Tai Pan (love that store!). When we got to Wood We Ever, I spotted the pictures I absolutely had to have for my kitchen. Of course as with most perfect things, the price was insane. Definitely not on sale. My mom, who knows I don't get excited about many things like that, told me I better just get them or I'd always wish I had. It didn't take all that much convincing. My dad risked life and limb to get them hung up over the stairs and I am thrilled! They look wonderful and make such a difference in the kitchen. Dave, bless his heart, only gasped ever so slightly at the cost but is happy for me. This is a picture of them but believe me they look ever so much more fantabulous in real life.

this is the place

Judging by the last three years, we like to move in August. In 2004 we moved from Boise, ID, to Manassas, VA. Dave took a position at Micron's VA location. It was a two-year temporary assignment so we rented our house in Boise, put a bunch of stuff in storage and moved across the country. Our first home in Virginia was a three-bedroom apartment on the third floor. With three kids. Not fun. Because we were being housed in corporate housing, we thought we were going to be stuck in that apartment for two years. Fortunately we were able to make arrangements to move into a house. It was lovely. In Virginia you can rent a lot more house than you can afford to buy. Sadly we had crazy, awful landlords (LONG story) and ended up moving August 2005 into another house on the other side of the neighborhood. We enjoyed that house (after we got rid of all the cockroaches! EEEWWW!!!) and were lucky to have Dave's sister live with us for the year.

When Dave's assignment ended in Virginia, we didn't feel the desire to return to Boise. Instead he took a position with IM Flash, Micron and Intel's joint venture, in Lehi. We spent a fantastic week driving across country, seeing the sights and visiting family. We arrived in Utah in time to celebrate the International Folk Dancers 50th year. Then we had a Daniel Family reunion the last week of July. We were officially moved into the new house the first week of August 2006. Now here we are a year later. Thankfully, were are not moving this year. Three Augusts in a row (with a January thrown in too) was quite enough.

We were sad to leave Virginia. I miss all the trees. I miss being able to go see places like this:


I definitely DO NOT miss the humidity, the traffic or having to take cross-country plane rides with 3 small children to see family.

I never thought I would return to live in Utah after graduating from BYU. I confess, it's still hard to admit that we might end up here for a very long time. Here are some of the things I am not enjoying about Utah:
--the lack of trees (especially in my backyard)
--the local library
--that there are so many people here for family and friends to visit that they don't come just to see me
--my calling

On a positive note, Utah has been great in a lot of ways. Things I am enjoying about Utah:
--my neighborhood and house (though it is still largely undecorated a year later there is so much potential and I have big plans!)
--walking to church around the corner and driving five minutes to the temple
--BYU (we got our season football tickets right away when we decided to move, and we have also enjoyed going to World of Dance, Christmas Around the World, etc.)
--cool summer nights
--good friends in the neighborhood for my kids
--mountains
--LOTS of time spent with family
I know that there is much more to explore and enjoy here in Utah. I look forward to the many adventures ahead of us. I also know that so much of what has shaped my life this last year (photography, Kids Company, blogging) has been because I live here. Perhaps, this is the place after all. Well at least for now....

organizational bliss

I love organization. I love to read about it, figure out ways to do it, and thoroughly enjoy my house being organized. This weekend I felt that inner twitch that says its time to organize something.

I emptied most of the upstairs linen closet and moved the towels, air beds and such into an empty closet in the downstairs bathroom. Then I moved all the games which were in a closet in the playroom into the linen closet and put all our homeschooling stuff into that closet.

I added a bit of sunshine to finish it all. Remember this picture?

Well, I took that as my inspiration and cut lots of circles out of patterned paper and cardstock and put them on the wall. I think it turned out really cute and it makes me happy.

The best part of the day was when Slade came down and exclaimed, "Mom, you made it beautiful! You are so good at making things beautiful!" Aaaww.

happy color

I painted my basement with the help of my brother, Colin. Goodbye boring beige. Hello, Lime Rickey.
Yep, its green. Its rather bright. Maybe too bright. However, it is a basement playroom. Dave thinks its great and when he gives me positive feedback with no qualifiers, I have to be pleased. I see this glimpse of color from upstairs when I walk out of the laundry room. I smile every time.

I think I want black and white furniture/accessories with other pops of bright colors. Wouldn't it be fun to put these on the wall.


I can't put much in the way of furniture down there since that is where I teach Kids Company. However, if I had the room and of course the money, I would buy this chair from Ballard Designs. I would be so happy to sit and read while the kiddos played.
Well, its fun to dream but the reality is that I probably won't do much for a while. At least its painted.