Sisters' Weekend

Last weekend, we did a girl's retreat in UT... It was SO MUCH FUN! Cherry, Mom and I flew out from TX, Dawn flew in from AZ, Lyd and Steph live in UT already, so they were already there. Best thing about it? NO KIDS AT ALL!!!! Friday night, we went to my Grandpa Sanders' cabin in Midway. My mom's sisters and their daughters were all there too... It was a great evening. We all sat around talking and listening to my aunt LeeLee's stories... We even danced a bit (yes, my mom was in charge of that part... we learned the thriller dance!!) We woke up to the best waffles ever. I need that recipie - waffles that were lighter than air - I could have eaten a MILLION of them... but i didnt ;). Dawn and I went running. It was simply beautiful. The mountains are so amazing with all their colors. The weather was perfect - not too hot and not too cold. It was just so pretty. I could have run forever. This was the only pic I got there.... everyone getting ready to leave.

We all went our seperate ways Saturday. Lydia, Julie, Steph and I (the real cool ones) went to the BYU game. It was a lot of fun. So many great memories... Lydia made us all wear blue. It was fun to be back in that stadium again. I wish I would have spent more time walking around campus. I can't believe how long it's been and how old I have gotten... Sad to know I am no longer 19. But anyways... GO COUGARS!!!
We went by Steph and Nate's apartment - oh to be a newlywed again! They are cute and cheesy and I cant help but love them. Then, everyone met up again at Lydia's house for fondue. Cherry and Dawn went shopping with Jen that day. I figure I saved at least $200 by going to the game. They came home with lots of great things from the outlets... Yes, it would be nice to have a cute coach purse, or some cool clothes, but I had a good time at the game, so Joe and I are both happy ;). Lydia's house was fun. Dave and Misty and their kids came by, along w/Jen and Julie. But, at night, we all just vegged out and fell asleep watching a chick flick.
Sunday morning was low-key. We were all enjoying Lydia's struggle to wean her STUBBORN Mckenzie. ;) Then, everyone had to go to church, and Cher, Dawn and I headed up to the airport to return home.

I really feel so lucky to have such a great family! My mom is amazing. Friday night, hanging out with her sisters made me realize how lucky I am to have my mom. Her mom died when she was just 16, (and my mom had 4 younger sisters too). Because of that, my mom had all her babies without a mother there to help her. Her sisters spoke of feeling their mother's presence several times in their lives since her death. I don't know what I would do without my mom. She is the mom who comes and cleans out my cupboards and organizes closets - just because. She plays with her grandkids. She teaches my kids songs and dances (and us too). She is the one who always inspires me to be better, and to do more. She is the voice in my head that tells me I would feel a LOT better if my house was clean (so get up and stop moping around)... In fact, because of her inspiration, one day when I was throwing up and sick sick sick, she told me to get up and clean - that day, I got a call 20mins before a showing - the very showing that sold my house. (I think she helped me clean that day, so thanks again mom). She is so helpful and kind and a great example. She is the world's best mom and the most fun and amazing grandma. I am so grateful that she is here for me. I wish I could have met my Grandma Cherry.

ANYWAYS, YAY for sisters' weekend! I had a great time. It was short, but sweet. Can't wait to see you guys again soon!! LOVE YA!!!

Rainy days

Rainy days are always fun!
Practices were cancelled... so, after school, we went to McDonalds for icecream sundaes.
Michael's was close by, so we raided the craft section. Those $1 crafts are awesome! The kids were in heaven, and I was glad we didn't waste the day in front of the TV.
Looks like we need to go back before IKE comes!

Her is our AWESOME art. Yes, i am the world's best painter! ;)
Aaron is more about speed, so he finished painting 2 ceramic animals, and moved on to this window hanging before anyone else finished one thing. Charity concentrated so hard. Girls and boys are so different in how they do crafts!
Nate was just thrilled to get to participate with his older siblings. He did surprisingly well for a 2yr old.

Last weekend was the beginning of fall sports for our kids. Charity is on the STORM. Their uniforms didn't come in on time, but they still looked so cute! She is pretty fast. I can't figure out if she had more fun doing gymnastics on the sidelines, or playing in the game!!!

Aaron is on the COWBOYS! He played against the blue COWBOYS (yes, there are a lot of cowboy's fans here... what other team would we want to be on?) Aaron tried real hard, and did pretty well. There is so much to learn in football. He is pretty hard on himself. Hopefully this next game (if IKE doesnt get us cancelled) will be a little better.

Ode To College

It might be because an old college chum connected with me on facebook.
It might be because I had to dig through a box of pictures this morning trying to find a baby pic of Aaron so he could take it to school.

Whatever it was, I went for a stroll down memory lane today, and it was a lot of fun.

Before I got married, I was livin it up at BYU.

I had a lot of holes in my ears.


Karla was my best friend. She was a rare find - the perfect girlfriend who didn't require the daily phone call. We knew we were friends, but our friendship was not high maintenance. We were crazy together. We did lots of stupid things together... we got in lots of trouble together. When I think of life at BYU, I think of her. I think of the Aspire. I think of fireworks, toilet seats, running around, dancing, talking, laughing, and crying. She made my college experience one I could look back and smile upon.

I went camping a LOT. The "Mesa Boys" were always up for an adventure, and we could sure find them! We jumped from cliffs, we swam in reservoirs, we sang songs, and did so many fun things together! I can't help smiling just thinking about those fun times. Some adventures didn't happen while camping; some came while running around on and off campus. We did some silly stuff... (but I cant actually put it on the internet).


Was it here that we woke up to a park ranger saying we cant sleep in a picnic area?
We lived on granola bars.
We got free t-shirts ;)

It was such a short chapter in my life, but my college experience made me who I am today. It was then that I decided who I wanted to be, and what I wanted out of life. I am so grateful for the friends I had there, and the experiences we shared.

Somewhere, in the same town, a boy named Joe was having his own experiences. He, of course, was dating all the wrong women - until he met me. I haven't gotten all his stories out of him yet. I think it was because they weren't nearly as exciting as mine. ;)

The Y on the mountain always stared at me (freshman year, I even wrote a song about it). Y were you there? As I graduated, I could finally answer the question.

My apt

This morning (beginning in the wee hours of the middle of the night) as I was awake listening to my upstairs neighbor’s “relaxing” music, I had lots of time for thinking.

Let me first say that living in an apartment after a nice big house is an adjustment. For example, I knew a sound wasn’t coming from my house, but I could still hear it clearly this morning. It was a synthesizer piano playing 5 measures of a melody with a very simple (3-note arpeggio) chord progression as the accompaniment OVER AND OVER AND OVER AGAIN. At first, I thought it was some DVD menu music playing that 30 second song repeating itself in an endless loop. So I had fun trying to think of the cheesy movie my neighbor must have fallen asleep watching… But then, it changed! After about FOREVER of one awesome melody, a new song would start – so that means they played this ON PURPOSE!?!?! Seriously, one of the songs was Aluette. Ok, I know I am/was a piano teacher, but really? Does anyone actually LIKE to hear that melody over and over and over and over and over… or is once all you can take before you want to cover your ears and scream? To be fair, it was played quite soothingly but STILL!!!! AHHHHHLUETTE!!!! Needless to say, I was SO grateful when my air conditioner turned on so I wouldn’t have to hear it anymore. Yes, my air conditioner is loud enough to shake the whole room (but that is a whole different awesome).

But that is not the real purpose of this post.

I have been asked what my apt looks like, so for your viewing pleasure... here is my apt:

We are having lots of fun here in our little apt. I dont really feel very crammed (except when everybody is home for extended periods of time). We have been busy with football and soccer, and with the kids at school, we are honestly hardly home at alL!!! isnt this place AWESOME!

you can see we brought the essentials: tvs, computers, xbox... things that don't matter like toys, pictures, decorations, our real bed (joe and i are sleeping on charity's bed even though i think we exceed the weight limit), etc - those are all in storage...

So, it has been another week...
We are adjusting to life here in our little apartment.
We had our 2nd (and final) fantasy draft of the season.
The kids have been quite lonely, I have been lonely. But... the other day, outside, this is what we saw:
KIDS! Aaron has found a couple boys to run around with here. Charity sometimes gets to tag along. Note the nice view from our back patio. The kids think the basketball court is our backyard. I seriously almost cried because I was so happy for them to find friends!!!

They started school on Monday. Charity is in Kindergarten, and her teacher is Mrs. Smith. Aaron is in 2nd grade and his teacher is Mrs. Schiff. They both seem to be great teachers, and, all day kindergarten is really nice... Anyways, as expected, they love school. I think they are pretty cute.
Aaron has been playing TONS of football. He is really enjoying (most of the time) his first year in tackle. He is on the Cowboys ;) so of course, I am thrilled! Anyways, I am preparing my little tight end, so he has the best number: 82 (somehow, it got into his head that Mr. Witten on the Cowboys is really cool - maybe it is because mom is a big fan, and maybe she might have bought him a Witten Jersey too...) So far, 3 days a week we have been doing football. I am just waiting for charity to start soccer then it will officially be fall sports season.

Nate is very lonely while the kids are at school, but we have been having fun. I took him to the zoo the other day. He is my little buddy and gets lots of mommy time. I am ready for him to find a little playmate though... it is tough entertaining a 2 yr old all day when I have been so used to my kids entertaining him!

So, here is the question: why do we buy clothes for back to school? I buy the school supplies (from the PTA so i dont waste my time or effort finding all the items on the list) BUT i didnt do the whole back-to-school shopping. I bought Aaron NOTHING. I bought Nate NOTHING (he isnt going to school) WELL, I guess I ended up buying charity a pair of sneakers, and on an impulse i also ended up buying her 1 outfit for the first day of school (yes, that outfit came from walmart saturday night when i went to the store to get milk and a loaf of bread)... but really? I just moved into this apartment, and as I was unpacking all their clothes and hanging them all up, I just thought to myself: WOW THESE KIDS HAVE LOTS OF CLOTHES. I even budgeted and planned on going out and doing the obligatory shopping... but we got busy. then one night, i decided to make an inventory to determine what was needed, and as of right now, my kids are very well stocked. This is probably because i buy clothes year round (it is just so hard to resist those super target and walmart clothes! i swear, i go to buy ONLY groceries, and somehow cheap & cute kids clothes jump into my cart!) if i only bought clothes in the fall it would make sense. I guess soon enough my kids will start thinking walmart clothes aren't the coolest...what do you guys do?

So, there are a few things I have done lately that are worthy of a blog update:
1. I went to the breaking dawn release party at the barnes and noble here with a bunch of girlfriends. It was the night before we moved. I had a BLAST! notice the piano in the background... ya, that's mine. The Brann's are just kind enough to babysit it for the next little while in their home. sniff sniff. Even though it looks amazing in their house, i will see it again in mine... someday when we get another house... ps, i think that was my favorite of all the books. fun light reading. :)
2. We went down to Houston last weekend. Joe's dad was in a very serious horse riding accident, so, rather than going solo with the kids, joe accompanied me so we could go visit him (and of course see his bros). I have been looking for a house for the last few months. Joe's dad has been building his dream home for i dont even know how long. here is just one pic so you can get the idea... ok, honestly, how beautiful is that? you can see their dock on the lake. they will also have a pool out there too. I AM SO EXCITED!!! it is the mega house for fun (complete with a bunk room and play room with a stage for all the grandkids)...

We also were able to go to sydney's birthday party at chuckycheese. It was fun to see all the cousins. Of course the kids spent most of the weekend in Jeff's pool, and I spent most of the weekend lounging around. We had the first fantasy draft of the season there as well. I AM READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL!!!

3. Tuesday, I took the kids to go sleepover at my mom's house. I feel like it has been FOREVER since I've seen my family... so sad to have moved away... ANYWAYS, the kids had a blast and then yesterday, we woke up and took the kids to the mall to ride the carousel and to pierce charity's (and sarah's) ears!!! she was quite the drama queen, but the tears stopped as quickly as they started, and she is the CUTEST little girl ever. I thought i got a pic with both girls, but i will just have to get it from cherry... 4. We bought Aaron his football equipment... he is getting excited for his season to start. i am very nervous for him to be in tackle, but i think it will be ok.

If walls could talk...

So, this morning, we officially sold our first home. We are now in a lovely apt here in plano... fun times. I didnt get at all emotional during the whole moving process, until I was at my house, alone, last night. I was doing that final walk through making sure everything was clean and out (and yes mom, i even hosed out the garbage cans). I was about to pull out of the driveway for the last time and i got really emotional. Lucky for me, my camera was in the car, and I was able to do a final walk through so I could jot down the memories I had with my house.

This room was the practice decorating room: it was the first room to be painted and it was the first to get crown moulding. Purple use to be my favorite color when we were first married. This room was a tribute to that color and that phase in my life. This is where my grand piano use to reside. I LOVED walking into my house and seeing my beautiful piano. We added the lighting and the chair rail. Becky Eastman helped me paint the room that color. The drapes cost less than the rod they hung on... I had most of my piano recitals in this room. I taught several piano lessons in this room. Choir practice and other music practices were held here too... And now, to my kitchen... I painted the room that red color (all by myself) - then i went ahead and added a shiny stripe (you cant really see it...) i also made the drapes, but they aren't my fav. (again, rod cost more than the fabric). This is the place we had lots of people for dinner and settlers games. This is also where i tried to avoid cooking.

Notice the back door? that was one of the GREATEST investments we made in the last year or so... even though we opened a big can of worms when we replaced it, SO worth it. oh ya, we also put in that 25$ light from home depot... a big step up from our ugly brass one people cracked their heads on.
This is just a shout out to my geek of a husband. He and his dad wired our entire house. every room was wired for highspeed and all of the wires came back to the master closet and the big networking station. we always had a server and maybe even more computers buzzing in my closet. now, many nice homes come wired like this, but not 5 years ago (and esp NOT in our price range). joe you rock.
This is the backyard my kids played in. This is where we had our trampoline. This is where Aaron would play baseball. This is where we put the bounce houses we rented for my kids birthday extravaganzas.
This was my office. It started as Joe's office, then I was able to move in with him, but then I kicked him out and it ended up all mine. Joe put up the crown moulding and chair rail and picked out the paint colors (and even helped paint!). This was the BOYS room. My mom helped me paint this. They built forts on the bunkbeds. They giggled at night and allowed charity to have sleepovers in there too.

This was where I would stand when we couldn't decide which room to have prayers at night. that way, all of the kids could be in their beds, but we could all participate together.
This was charity's room. mom helped me paint it and put the flowers on the wall, and dolled up the little valence with ribbons....
This is how we built out the closets. I needed a way to make my kids more able to hang their own clothes up... joe needed an excuse to use his pneumatic nail gun.
This was my room. I made those drapes the week before I put my house up on the market. I painted the room a few days before it went up on the market. (i was SO tired and did a terrible job - lots of areas need touchup - but that is for the new homebuyer to deal with, not me!!!) cherry and joe helped. cherry thought it was a waste of time, but painting my bedroom and bathroom made a HUGE difference! While all the houses on my street were still getting built, i walked up to one of those painting contractors (who doesnt speak english) and paid them 500$ to paint all of the main living areas which is almost the whole house -(and that included paint!) - these high ceilings were just too intimidating. 4 guys came one sunday (i felt so guilty for it) but they got it done in 2 hours... The drapes were a fun project too - cheap fabric (LOTS of it) and joe on a 18foot ladder about to kill himself as he installed the hooks and hung the drapes on them! SCARY! but speaking of ladders... in the middle of this ceiling is a smoke and carbon monoxide detctor - there were a few times we had to replace the batteries. we would call our buddy greg eastman over to help joe hold the ladder straight up and down so i could climb to the VERY TOP and replace those stupid things... lots of cuss words... scary.
This was my kids toy room. the kids would drive me crazy dropping toys down and popping their heads over the ledge. This was the only fan we installed successfully in the house. too bad it was in the upstairs office.
my mom and i made this upstairs bathroom the under the sea room... that was a fun project - messy paint!
I made the bench with my dad, and laid a bunch of stones to walk on...

After we closed this morning, I drove the kids by so I could take their picture in front of the house so they could remember it. Good ol' 11512!!
This was such a great house, and this was such a great neighborhood. We picked out the house when Joe was finishing grad school (and we were living w/his parents in houston). I was pregnant with Charity. We moved in when she was 2 months old. Nate was born while we lived there. We had so many wonderful memories there. I loved this house and was really attached to it. I love the people I met while living there. As I was packing, the song from "unsinkable molly brown" kept playing through my head... "She's my friend, and she'll stay my friend..." it is a great song, and I really feel like I will keep in touch with the great people I met while living there in keller. My friends are so wonderful! Thanks to all the people who helped us move.