More Photos of the House

OK, hopefully this isn't overkill on the house photos. Nathan went to LA for a conference and rented a car so he could drive out the coast and see the house. He took 238 pictures and I narrowed it down to 18 to post on this blog and then pared it down again to 8. I was trying not to go crazy with the pictures especially because this is only a model of what my house will resemble and I figure that no one is looking at this blog anyway. :)

So, first picture. This is a view from standing in the family room looking into the kitchen. You can see the pantry on the right along with the nook.Now, looking from the kitchen to the family room. The family room is pretty big, you just can't see that from this particular angle.

This is one of my favorite features in the house. It is from the Master bedroom looking out to our entryway. We have a circular entry that says "the master of the house lives in this room." :) I included 2 pictures because the second one better shows the ceiling while this one you can see the floor better. There a niches on both sides of the entry as well. You can also see out into the loft better on the second picture.

This is the master bedroom. I could have included 10 pictures here to get all the angles and the perspective a bit better, but I only posted 2. The princess balcony is there in the sitting area which overlooks the courtyard. The second one has my glorious wall of windows and the door out to my very large private balcony. The sitting area also has some built in shelving and we moved the fireplace over there as well.
This is the master bathroom. We will have a step up to the tub and we did 1 large widow instead of the 3. There is also built in shelving in a nook on the right side of the tub. You can also catch a glimpse of the separate vanity area at the bottom of the picture. We will also have a large skylight in this area of the bathroom. The second picture shows the relationship of the vanities to the tub a bit better. I'm not lovin' that bright red marble. Yikes!The toilet room and the shower on on each side of that arch and the 2nd walk in closet is on the back wall there. The 1st walk in closet is between the 2 vanities to the left of the picture.
OK, last one. Here is the courtyard. You have access from the family room and the formal dining room to get out here. It isn't a large area, but it will be perfect for a fire pit or a really pretty water feature. I haven't decided yet. Probably a fire pit since there will be a pretty large water feature in the backyard (the pool).
Well, that's the last of the model and I will only post pictures of my actual house from here on in. I do have the other 230 or so photos here if anyone is interested. :) I am picking out the granite tomorrow morning. Yea! I finally get to start picking things out. I was starting to think this day wasn't going to come.

Tagged

10 years ago.......
This took way too much brain power to try and figure out. As far as my math skills can tell and based on Shayla's account of where she was I have concluded that I was living in Concord California. Nathan was finishing up his third year at Podiatry school and we had started the elaborate packing process to make the move home (with his parents and 3 sisters) for a year. We were trying to decide what we would need with us and what to pack away for a year. We needed to move in with family because Nathan's 4th year of med school was an extern-ship in Tacoma Wa with zero pay. I was also discovering the joys and trials of motherhood with a 9 month old baby. I think it was about this time that I also decided that working (out of necessity) was just not doing anyone any good. That was a rough and transitional year for sure.

5 Things on my list to do today.....
1. Wake up early so the neighbor girl could come over before school because her Mom is out of town and her Dad had to go to work.
2. Go to Target and Sam's Club. I needed the basic boring stuff. We did get my little 5 year old boy a "tuxedo" at Sam's. He was so stoked about getting a suit that had the vest and shirt and tie which he referred to as a tuxedo. He had to put it on the first thing when we got home and he just came and asked me "how many days until Sunday."
3. Watch a movie with our plentiful stash of candy with the kids. It was movie night with Mom while Dad is out of town. We all piled on the couch, ate our yummy candy and had a great time watching "Surf's Up."
4. Get the house cleaned up and show ready for my builder to bring over a potential buyer for my home to look at tomorrow. My builder is trying everything to help us get our house sold -so he can make sure we can buy his.
5. Start working on my lesson for Sunday because I wont have time tomorrow. I teach a class at church to young women.

Snacks I enjoy.....
1. Popcorn from Target and the Movie theater and recently my "whirlee pop."
2. Candy, Swedish fish, york peppermint candies, cadbury creme eggs, anything peanut butter, toffee, basically junk food of all kinds
3. I used to like to drink my snack with a coke or dr pepper, but I have recently replaced that with vitamin water (trying to cut down on caffeine and carbonation).
4. I'm not a big snacker of chips and crackers or veggies and fruit. I usually eat these things in conjunction with a meal.

What I would to if I were suddenly a millionaire......
1. I would pay off the house and vehicles and get some sweet landscaping for my new house.
2. Pay off student loans.
3. Get some new furniture for inside and outside the house.
4. Put a big chunk in retirement.
5. Go on several humanitarian missions to war torn countries like Afghanistan. I would also love to do some mission where we go and fix club feet or cleft palates or anything else medical. Obviously I would not be performing the medical tasks, but be there to serve as moral support to the patients.
6. Use the money to help people --and that is not just the standard Miss America answer. I really truly mean it.

3 Bad Habits.....
1. I eat way too much junk food. It is a miracle that I am not 500 lbs!
2. I am too quick to anger with my kids when they are fighting or just generally doing something wrong. I am working on "entering easy," I'll let you know how that goes.
3. Seriously, I only get 3? There are way too many to count which can fit into one simple phrase.... I am way too hard on myself. I do more damage to myself than anyone else ever could.

5 Places I have lived.....
1. Longbeach and Longview Washington
2. Provo Utah back to Longview then back to Provo then back to Longview and then back to Provo.
3. Concord California
4. Back to Longview
5. Albuquerque New Mexico and soon to be in Rio Rancho New Mexico.

5 Jobs I have had.....
1. Figaros pizza. Many positions were held at this job which I had from the ages of 15 -18.
2. The Bon Marche (Macy's now owns) I started in the stock room and ended up selling children's clothing. This is also where I ran into Nathan for the 1st time when he came home from his mission---great story there!
3. Food 4 Less and Western Direct. I had packed up my life and headed for Utah to see if Nate and I liked each other on a day to day basis. I had to hold down 2 jobs to support myself and help Nate out a little.
4. West Side Pedal Power. This was a bike shop that I worked at when I moved in with Nate's family for the 1st time while Nathan was still living in Provo --Long story.
5. Macey's grocery store in Orem after Nate and I got married and I joined him back in Utah.
6. Ok, I know I'm over the limit, but who cares? GTE Mobile Net. This is where I worked to put Nate thru medical school.
7. Target as a night stocker when we realized how poor we were while Nate was doing residency.

5 Things people don't know about me.....
1. Not many people actually know me. I blame the fact that I am a Gemini on my split personality. It would depend on who you ask what adjectives you would get to describe me. Some would say that I am shy, quiet and reserved and others would say that I am opinionated, loud and perhaps funny. I am more inclined to let others talk about themselves and interject with advice or validation instead of personal details. This, however, is not true of good friends and family.
2. I am a self diagnosed snuggleaholic which has subsequently rubbed off on my children. My little boy has it the worst and my husband likes to tease me that he has Edopis (sp?) Syndrome because he is constantly hugging and kissing me and always has to sit next to me. What can I say, we are a lovey dovey family. The interesting thing about this is that I don't feel the need to touch or hug anyone else. In fact it is quite unnatural for me to show affection to anyone other than my husband and kids.
3. I can't be in the bathroom getting ready without the music or talk radio on. It is just a must. In fact the real secret here is that I will often linger because I am singing and dancing in the mirror. I still carry around dreams of being a rock star. What can I say? I think I have passed this crazy gene onto my oldest daughter who I now catch doing the same thing.
4. I stay up late at night even when I am tired because I love the peace and quiet and enjoy my time with the tv or computer all to myself.
5. I have this constant feeling of "there's something more." It's a feeling like I was meant to do something and I just haven't figured it out yet. My husband thinks I am already doing what I was meant to do and I just have to learn that for myself, maybe that's true and maybe it's not.? I know I was meant to be a mother and I am fulfilling that, but I also think I am supposed to be doing something like my #5 on my millionaire question. For that there is a time and season and this is definitely not the time or the season, so maybe there is something local. Politics and the road we are going down as a country has me all fired up and very worried lately. It makes me want to rent my garments and raise the title of liberty. Seriously.

So, there you have it. I have finally caved and done one of these things. Hopefully all the crazy things I do and say make a bit more sense.

What is Love?

I have recently had to ponder over this question in my mind for the umpteen millionth time. The problem arises when you are trying to show someone love by their set of rules. These set of rules put both sides in a place of conditional love instead of unconditional love. I have a situation in my life for which I will forgo details that has forced me into the rules of conditional love to keep from destroying a relationship. To say that this relationship is complex is a vast understatement for which there are many factors to consider. With this issue weighing heavily on my mind I came to my computer this morning to find 2 quotes that reassured me of what I have always know was right, but find it hard to impliment.

The first quote is by C.S. Lewis
"Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness."

This 2nd quote is scripture found in Luke 17:3-4
"Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him.
And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him."
(emphasis added)

The "stern" part of love is the ability to rebuke the ones you love and then show forgiveness toward them. Loving someone doesn't mean that you overlook their wrong doings in order to show "kindness" towards them. This kindness that we often feel so necessary to preserve a relationship is nothing but a shallow and conditional way to love someone, which often results in resentment-not love. Being stern is the hardest part of loving someone. The hardest thing in the world is to sit back and decide to let someone self destruct before your very eyes and watching this distruction take down not only them but others involved. This doesn't mean that you have abandoned them but that you are there ready and waiting in the wings to shower them with real and true love that will build and strenthen them, not enable them.

Breaking Ground

After waiting and waiting on our builder to do a 'ground breaking' cerimony we decided to take matters into our own hands. Last week we loaded the kids and some shovels into the burban and headed over to our lot. As you can see by the pictures, our oldest daughter was the only one interested in this little ceremony. The other kids were off in the mounds of dirt playing with their cousins. The wind chill on this day had to have been zero degrees. It was freezing! My children however have no nerve endings apparently because they are never freezing. I think my youngest was the only other one that was smart enough to wear a coat. The clear blue bright sunny skies trick you into thinking it is going to be warm outside.

On a recent trip to CA over the holiday season our builder went and snapped some pictures with his cell phone of the house our house started out as. The roof line isn't the same over the mid level library on the front and we will not have that canopy over the door either. I think I am going with the coloring of the exterior with the exception of maybe a bit more contrast with a lighter color stucco, but I really like the chocolate brown tile and trim. We will also be a lot further back from the street than this. We are starting the house 60' back from the street.

This second picture give a better idea of what the area around the front door will look like. The door is recessed back 7' from the front. We also rounded that arch to match the arches in the balcony. The roof line over the front door is also different because there is no longer a balcony with a door there. We also added another garage. So, like I said, our house started out looking like this.

Here is the kitchen. My cabinets wont be this dark and I am doing a stucco and tile range hood instead of the steel. You can also see from the picture that there ar 2 dishwashers which I will not be doing. One is sufficient for me. Other than that. It will pretty much look excactly like this. You can see the door to the pantry on the right with the other stainless fridge showing. An extra fridge in the pantry instead of in the garage is so freakin awesome! The only thing that might present a problem in this kitchen is a lack of counter space. It is pretty non-exsistant. I will fix that by not having the cabnitry come all the way down to the counter and by putting a little bit of counter under the microwave (it's next to the fridge). So, there you have it. We are hoping that the plans are out of the cities hands by the end of next week so we can get rockin and rollin on this house. We are hoping to be done around July-- I really don't want to be moving after school has started. Cross your fingers for me.

This Is Me

Well, here it is. This is me. This is me post 2 major jaw surgeries, 3 times in braces and a year in a mago. This is the final product of many years spent in pain while trying to fix my jaw. I took 10 pictures of myself trying to find one that I thought resembled what I think I look like. It is the strangest thing to see yourself in the mirror everyday and think you have a pretty good grasp on what you look like and then see yourself in a picture and wonder who the heck is staring back at you. Am I the only crazy person that feels that way? I know I am being narcassistic, but I can't seem to help myself. What are the changes, you ask? Well, when I smile now, all you see is teeth. No gum line. My upper lip is different now because my stiches ran all along the gum line leaving it pretty tight. I don't know how to describe what I see other than to say it is person that I am not used to looking at.

The 2 pictures below were taken right after surgery number 1 when my lower jaw was lengthened. The second picture clearly shows the gumline, however, the 1st picture more accuratly captures what I thought I looked like. So, there you have it. I was going to include a picture of me before I ever even had surgery, but I couldn't find one where I wasn't either pregnant or post baby. My other discovery in trying to find a photo of myself is that there are only a handful of pictures that I am in going back as far as 1997. Truth be told- I have never liked what I look like in pictures. Factor in that with the fact that I am usually the one taking all the pictures and you get......me in no pictures.