FINALLY!

Ok....after 2 full years of work, thousands of dollars, and lots of sweat and tears....we have finally finished the majority of the work in our house!  Yay!!

So below are a few of the before, during, and after pictures:

Living Room Before

 

Living Room During

 

Living Room After

Dining Room Before

 

Dining Room and Kitchen During

 

Dining Room After

 

Bathroom Before

 

Bathroom During

 

Bathroom After

 

Backdoor/porch Before

 

Backdoor/porch During

 

Backdoor/porch After

 

Den Before

 

Den During

 

Den After

 

Family Room Before

 

Family Room During

 

Family Room After

 

We love our whole house.  For the past two years we have been living in a construction zone.  Ever since finishing most of the work last week, we have realized how much work we really did put in.  We have also realized how nice it is to RELAX!  Our favorite room is our family room in the basement.  Jeremy put together his surround sound system and it is AWESOME!  Instead of living in a warehouse type building, we actually have a home!  We absolutely love all the work we have done and how it turned out.

 

Now that the work is finished we have other things to focus on.  This last week has been hard because I feel like we are being lazy but Jeremy just calls it relaxing :)  This year, we plan on focusing on our yard and garden.  We love being outside and can't wait to get our yard/garden into fantastic shape!

 

Love ya!

 



2013 Goals!!

Ok ok ok ok....I know I haven't been great at goals in the past and I know that my resolutions two years ago didn't work, BUT this year it will be different!

 

A couple things have changed in our life recently to put things in more perspective for us and our future.  Because of these new events, we have realized that we need to make some changes.

2013 Goals:

1. LOSE 30 POUNDS - I know this is the biggest goal everybody always makes each year, BUT like I said, this year will be different for me.  I have some future goals in mind, but I need to do this one first.  I actually plan on losing 70 pounds, but right now I am just planning on 30 to make it through the next 6 months.  My doctor and I have talked and we have decided that I need to be exercising 4-5 times a week for an hour each time.  To reach that weekly goal, I will begin with walking then work up to running.  My parents so graciously :) signed me up for the Ogden Half Marathon in May so that will be what I am working towards.  I will totally blog about this gigantic goal.
2. EAT BETTER - Along with losing weight, my doctor also discussed that fact that I need to change how I eat.  My goal for 2013 is to change my serving size portions and to focus on less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff.  We are changing to all wheat bread and pasta, fruits and vegetables 5 times a day, meat sparingly, and hot breakfast instead of processed cereals.  We are also eating less dairy (milk and cheese), more chicken, and one sweet treat a day.  These changes will be huge to our lifestyle and I'm hoping we can do it especially on a low budget.
3. STRESS LESS - I am the Queen of stressing, just ask Jeremy.  I stress about everything.  I constantly think about all of our problems and I wallow in despair.  This attitude is bringing our relationship down and my morale down.  This year I am going to try to stress less.  I am going to put more faith and trust in the Lord and believe that everything is going to be ok.  I have seen this in the last several months, but I need to remember it more. 
4. GO ON ONE CAMPING VACATION THIS SUMMER - While growing up, my family always went on a few family vacations a year.  We traveled all over the west coast.  I have very fond memories of these times.  This summer, Jeremy and I would love to go on a camping vacation.  It could be anywhere, but my top places would be Arches National Park, Zion National Park, The Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, or Mount Rushmore.  Jeremy hasn't been to any of these places (except Yellowstone once as a kid), and we would love to go!
5. ORGANIZE MY HOUSE - Oh my goodness!  We have been living in our home for 2 years.  For the entire 2 years, we have been under construction.  We have finally reached a spot where we are almost done in our basement (we still have a few things to do all over, but we will do those as we can).  As soon as its painted, mouldings are up, and the carpet is laid, we will begin to unpack the boxes in the back bedroom and attic that we haven't seen in almost 3 years.  When we start to unpack, I want to organize everything and CLEAN everywhere.  I want to be able to use my house!  We will also organize the garage, barn, and shed.  This summer we will be cleaning up the yard and out buildings.  I AM SO EXCITED!

My five goals for 2013 are huge.  I am so excited for this year.  I know that good things are in store and I can't wait to work through my goals.  I can't wait to feel better about life and myself. 

 

Here we go 2013!!

 

Love ya!

End of 2012

It has been quite the year for us!  2012 definitely was full of lots of ups and downs. 

Here are a few highlights:

• We planted our own garden and it was huge!!  It took up over 1/2 an acre.  We were able to preserve hundreds of quarts of food and stocked our freezer full.  Especially now that times are getting difficult, it is awesome to have food when we need it.  Basically it has cut our grocery budget to almost nothing!!
• We have been working non stop on our house.  The basement is almost complete.  As of today, we have all the first coats of mud done and sanded for the second coat of mud.  Soon we will be priming and painting.  We can't wait to have space to unpack things we haven't seen in over 3 years.  We also can't wait to set up Jeremy's business stuff again.  He is anxious to start using his laser engraver and vinyl machines again.
• I went from part-time to full-time at my job.  I teach six full classes of World Civilization, AP Government, Honors Government, and Regular Government.  I also got my own classroom and it is fantastic.  I have spent time getting it all set up, organized, and decorated.  I have grown to love my department and have made more friends with coworkers around the school.
• Due to an accident in the summer, Jeremy quit his job and started at school Full-Time.  He did so well this semester and recieved a 3.85 GPA!  He worked so hard.  He is excited to keep at it and graduate in the years to come.
• We enjoyed our first vacation since our honeymoon!  We went to Park City for a night and rode the Alpine Slide and Extreme Zipline at the Olympic Park.  It was a blast!
• Jeremy was released from Young Men's and called to Primary with me.  We taught the 5 year olds and have had such a fun time.  Starting in 2013 we are moved to the 4 year olds.  This will be an adventure!
• We have thoroughly enjoyed all of our family time we have had this year.  We were able to welcome new members of the family and celebrate lots of birthdays, anniversaries, and special events.  We had one family member come home from a mission and another member get a mission call.  We also said goodbye to Grandma Lowe after 92 full years in November.  We love and miss her so much.

Although we had such a great year, we cannot wait for what 2013 will bring us.  We have been so blessed by Heavenly Father in our time of need and trials, we can't imagine what to expect.

 

Happy New Year! 

 

Love ya!