Don't ask me twice

So we had some requests to see pictures of our house. To be honest we had one request, but I did read it several times.

Before I post the new pictures, I want to either show for the first time, or remind people what we moved into. This will only be about the family room. That is all that I felt like cleaning right now.

Here goes.

Take notice of the gross slump block fireplace over there looking a tad 1965-ish.

Make sure you soak in the beauty of the exposed beams in the ceilings. Make sure you also relish in the luxurious "popcorn" ceilings that have marinated in the smokiness of 2 disgusting foremer owners

Finally here is a small sneak peak of the kitchen from the family room. You can only imagine the destruction that took place in there.

Now, hold on to your hats. Here come the afters. This is the current state of our family room. I hope that you find it a little fantastic.

Here is the corresponding picture to the first one posted. Notice the remodeled foreplace complete with flagstone seat. Notice the lovely carpet and repainted walls. But, make sure that you absorb the most significan undertaking. Recessed lighting in a flat roofed house. (Flat roof houses do not have attic space.)

Oh how soothing are the warm colors that flow from the overhead lighting. With the popcorn ceilings removed you actually get a reflection of outside light back into the room from the ceiling. Oh and the french doors are totally new too. Those were easier to put in than I thought they would be.

Finally the sneak peek into the kitchen. We worked hard on this room, and we are totally happy with the way it turned out. Hope you like the new look>

Chad

What used to be fun

Painting. When we first got our condo, back in the day, I couldnt wait to paint. It was fun to see our little place transform just by picking a new color; putting our stamp on the place. I have now decided that a lifetime retirement from painting is in my near future.

We are so happy to finally have our ceilings done. Looking at holes for a couple of years has not been a highlight of our house, but painting these new ceilings has been draining. Everyday they are staring me in the face, taunting me until I finish them. Today I am working on this -what feels like - a never-ending process.

We worked really hard on Saturday and Chad and I finished the painting in our family room. What an accomplishment! Yeah! our room feels home-y and inviting. Its a breath of fresh air! It made me so excited that I am anxious to finish the rest of the house so we can actually wake up on a Saturday and not already have our day planned with house work. I know that is Chad's dream too :)

So, enough with the complaining. Its time for me to get to work. Plus, I just bought some cute drapes for my dining room and I cant hang them up until the ceiling is painted. There's my motivations for the day.

One Final Push

(Picture of the kids at Zoo Walk 2007)

Autism Zoo Walk is tomorrow! We are excited to go, but we need some donations. If you can spare even a small amount to this great cause we would be appreciative.

Just click on the link to the right, under Zoo Walk. When filling out the form in the memo box put "ASU Research Foundation". This makes sure that your funds stay local and are put back directly into our community.

We are really grateful for all that we have received so far from our family, friends and the community. For all of love, support and service that has come to us and into our home, we will be forever thankful. By participating in the walk we feel that it is our chance to give back to a community and honor those who have given so much to us.

What was yours?

Who gave your favorite talk during conference and why? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Mine was Elder Corbridge - in the Saturday afternoon session. It was a talk that was completely different to me. I appreciated his plainess in speaking. He had no stories (not that I dislike stories - Im always glued when President Monson starts talking) and his sentences were short and to the point. If you didnt get to see it, I highly recommend looking it up. If you can get video feed of it I suggest that to. There was something in his delivery that I was completely drawn to. I really appreciated his words about reaching high standards and how life teaches us that if the bar is set high, we learn that only a few choice people can reach it, but how that earthly lesson does not apply to spiritual greatness.