Tagged By Stephanie

My 3 Faves

What are the last three things you purchased? (aside from groceries...)
1. lightbulbs
2. halloween stuff
3. pasta roni

What are the last three songs you downloaded for your ipod? (I DON'T HAVE AN IPOD OR AN MP3 PLAYER)
1.
2.
3.

What are your three favorite movies?
1. Monty Python and the Holy Grail
2. Princess Bride
3. Mulan

What are three things you have not done yet?
1. Fix the sprinklers
2. Fix the cooler
3. Paint the rest of the house

What are three things you can not live without?(excluding people)
1. Food
2. Water
3. Shelter

What are your three favorite dishes?
1. Lasagna
2. Mom's homemade macaroni and cheese
3. Super shells

What are your three favorite T.V. shows?
1. 24
2. Prison Break
3. The Office

What are the last three places you traveled to that were more than one hundred miles away?
1. Las Vegas, NV
2. Yellowstone, MT
3. Hoop Lake, WY

What are your three favorite desserts?
1. Frozen peach pie
2. Cheesecake Factory's raspberry lemon cheesecake
3. Brownies

What are three things you would buy if money were not an issue?
1. Furniture I want instead of furniture I can afford
2. Excercise equipment
3. Education

Three people I tag (I'M LETTING EVERYONE OFF THE HOOK WITH THIS ONE - I ONLY DID IT CAUSE LEAH IS PLAYING EVER SO HAPPILY AND QUIETLY)
1.
2.
3.

In The Meantime

This post will remain pictureless as it is coming from the internet at the libaray. Hopefully we will get the internet up and running from our house tomorrow (between 1 and 5 of course) and then I can entertain you will some photos. Until then, please humor me and read on.

The move this weekend went ridiculously smooth. We got the truck at 9 AM, started packing by 9:30, had everything loaded by 10:30, drove out to the house and by 11:45 everything was inside and in it's place.

To my knowledge, nothing has been broken or even damaged. A huge thanks to give out to all of our family and friends who were able to help us with everything. These duties ranged from decorating, to fridge waiting, to Leah distraction and everything in between. Matt and I felt so supported during this whole thing. We couldn't have asked for more.

As a side note Matt and I went to our second Sunday in the new ward. This is the first ward we've been in that hasn't had ANY apartments. Wow! It's a totally different feel. We've felt so welcomed and are so overwhelmed by how excited people are to have us there. This last Sunday we spoke with the Bishop and he seems like such a nice man. The ward has a huge nursery and youth program but a smaller primary with only 30 kids (although that's big for us).

So, stay tuned for more pictures. Hopefully I'll get some up tomorrow or Thursday. I know you're waiting so anxiously...

FYI

I'm blogging instead of packing – sigh – packing

The following will be a good lesson for all.

SCOTCH MAILING AND STORAGE TAPE + THE INSIDE OF YOUR LOWER LIP = BLOODY LIP

It is NOT a good idea to use your lip as an extra hand for taping.

The House Wars

From the front door into the living room

From the living room to the dining room

Le' Kitchen (nice French huh?) can you see the dining room behind it?

From the kitchen to the 'un-named room'. I have been calling it the fireplace room, but that sounds stupid. This used to be the 'gathering room' until one of the owner's put an addition off of it. Now this room is the... Buffer Zone? Nope, still sounds stupid.

From the 'un-named fireplace room/Buffer Zone' into the family room.

Matt and I have been busy, busy, busy, trying to get this house into shape. It's going pretty slow. We closed on the house September 10 and got the keys the following day. Unfortunately we didn't actually get to start working on the house until Tuesday, 15. And we're now realizing just how fast our actual move in date of Saturday, 27 is coming. There is MUCH to be painted before I'll start feeling comfortable calling the house ours.

This is what the previous home owner's left us with. Nice tile and hardwood floors. The house actually has good bones, we just need to do a little cosmetic surgery on them. Matt and I have been busy painting trim, ceilings, and will start on walls this week.

The kitchen is going to be a huge project. If you can see from the picture it's a pretty 'customized' look. Yes, customized is what I'll say (instead of what I really feel, which is something along the lines of *wretch, vomit, blech*). Don't tell me you don't like the broken plate mosaic countertop in the red-blue-green colors, or the 'Bombay Mahogony' stained cabinets with BLACK doors. Good bones, good bones… that's what I have to tell myself when I think of the kitchen.

I know I don't seem excited, but I really am. I hope that comes through more than the overwhelming sense of doom I've cast over this post. Matt, Leah and I went to our new ward yesterday and LOVED it! Everyone was so friendly (and I don't say that lightly) to us. We met a few of our neighbors and everyone seems really excited to have to new blood in the ward. There's about 10 kids in the nursery (that Matt, of course, had to attend with Leah) and a slightly larger primary than we're used to. Matt and I are just glad that there are more families in the ward than older members (that are getting ready to kick the bucket).

The bottom line is, we're excited and happy about the new neighborhood and house. I've never been more happy to be so poor.

Oh and by the way… we will figure out something to do with the kitchen counter AND that mantle is going to be painted black!

Grow Old With Me

Wouldn't everyone rather eat cheesecake over regular wedding cake?

I know these two would.

Happy Anniversary, Matt!

WE NEED YOU!

Can you help us?

Throughout this whole house buying process a lot of people have mentioned they would like to help. Babysitting, moving, painting, etc. We appreciate all the offers and would like to pose an alternative way of helping.

If you can, please keep your eye out for good moving boxes. If you go to the store and see some laying around would you mind grabbing them for me? Obviously, let's ask a clerk first, but I'm really hurting here. I can usually find free moving boxes on Craigslist or even KSL, but I can't right now and we move in 1 1/2 weeks. I'm sort of going crazy, usually I have about half of the apartment packed up by now, I'm not even kidding.

Target and Wal Mart boxes are GREAT! Thanks for your help!

I'd Say That's A Goose Egg!

Doesn't it just seem like a lovely day to play a friendly game of football?

BYU

UCLA
Oh, I sort of feel bad for the guys. They don't even know what's coming. Sad.
Look, I'm over it! Shall we see some touchdowns? Okay.

Here's one of the touchdowns.

Oh, and here's another touchdown. I especially love Max Hall at the top.
I'd like to now show some of UCLA's touchdowns. Hmm, they didn't score any, so... onto the kicking!

I don't know who #42 Blue is, but he blocked the kick... and UCLA remains scoreless.
That's enough of the UCLA highlights.

Alright, I'll be fair, one more for UCLA.
This field goal wasn't blocked, but the kicker still missed it.

Shall we go over some of the stats? I knew you'd want to! Total Plays: BYU 85, UCLA 55; First downs: BYU 30, UCLA 13; Passing Yards: BYU 337, UCLA 230, Rushing Yards: BYU 184, UCLA 9 (ouch!).
That adds to a final score of BYU 59 - UCLA 0

Do you feel bad for them as well? I know, it's pretty sad. That poor PAC 10 team.

Oh, you want one more touchdown? Fine...

Please pardon the excessive use of parenthetical statements in the following post. They are, most likely, used incorrectly.

These are the shiny new (to us) keys that go to our new (to us) house! We probably won't be moving in until the end of the month but it's going to be fun to clean it (not really, I don't like cleaning other people's dirt) and paint before we move in.

Matt, Leah and I went to visit the house last night and despite the massive amounts of garbage the previous owners left for us (lame, lame, lame) we were really excited to be in OUR HOUSE (in the middle of our street, our house).

Along with the purchase of the house, of course, comes the purchase of many other things. We're going to need a fridge, lawnmower, lots of paint, a few light fixtures, blinds (it's weird that I didn't notice the complete absence of blinds on most all of the windows before we put an offer in), and lots of other small housewares. It's going to be a lot, but Matt and I remain excited if not a little overwhelmed.

Oh and have I ever mentioned that I don't know how to decorate? Yeah, I'm going to needs lots of help in that department. Tracy? Lisa? Any takers? I'm sure I've boasted many times before of the ridiculous amount of talent my sister's posses in this department. Am I buttering you two up at all? If not, let me go on. Tracy, Leah thinks that her Prince Charming figurine (from Cinderella) is Rick. You obviously have good taste, you married a Prince Charming look-a-like. She has aptly named him so. Lisa, you know how my daughter loves you probably as much as she loves me? Please, let me know if you need more buttering... I've got loads more.

September 10th Is The Day...

...that Matt and I close on our house!

Countdown Clock by Zoodu.com

We've been waiting to post something until we had a closing date. So now we do! We are very excited to be moving out of apartment life and into something a little more permanent. We weren't actively looking for a house and this one just kind of happened. It's located in West Jordan at about 7200 South and just west of Redwood Road. It's a little older but Matt and I feel it has a certain charm to it and we just fell in love with it.

Football

Matt posted the story I'm about to retell on his blog also.

Last night we arrived home from a family gathering at about 10:00 or so. Matt and I heard the tv on and each asked the other, "Did you turn on the tv?" Neither of us had, so we assumed that it was the only other member of our family qualified to do such a job. Leah. Matt went out to the family room,turned off the tv and sat down at the computer. Next thing I hear is a sweet little voice saying, "Football." Leah had been watching football, Matt had left the television on some sports channel. I asked Matt if he'd heard what she said.

MATT: "What Leah?"
LEAH: "Daddy, I wanna watch football."
MATT: "Oh come here," as he picks her up and gives her a giant hug.

At least he's gotten one of us into his obsession. All weekend Leah was shouting at the television with her dad. Yes, football season is upon us and I have two huge fans in the household. During any game that's on, you can count on Leah copying anything her dad is saying to the tv. She'll yell, "Touchdown," and "Go Cougars, "even if they aren't playing.

Maybe Leah should take the other BYU ticket this season.


Oh and by the way...

It doesn't matter how you slice or dice it... a win's still a win.