CATCH UP

I know it's been a long time. Between the end of a school year, moving out of our home of nearly 5 years, and moving into a house practically still under construction...blogging has been low on the priority list. I am typing this from my phone while I wait for Andrew in the Home Depot parking lot.

I promise that once our life (and Internet connection) settles back to normal I'll have so many fun things to share with you: painting tips, cedar siding, bamboo blinds, our leaky skylight fiasco, wood pallet ceiling diy, concrete countertops diy, wood floors, and the building of some new wood furniture! But here's a sneak peek of the gorgeous kitchen I spent all day wiping down. I LOVE our kitchen. I promise photos with a real camera in the near future.

KATIE'S SENIOR PHOTOS

I was honored when my lovely friend, Katie, asked that I take her senior pictures. She has such a soft, natural beauty that my camera loved to capture. With her permission, I'm sharing a few of my favorites. 

The lighting was delicious.

And she has an easy, ready smile that I am envious of. 

Love this!

Pretty blue eyes.

She played the violin through high school. 

What a beautiful instrument!

It was a special treat to shoot in this orchard, at sunset, while being serenaded by the violin...

It almost makes me think of a Thomas Kinkade painting.

Southeast Idaho is all in bloom right now.

She felt that an important part of high school for her was a love of reading and writing. This inspired these next few.

This makes me want to back with my own book. So serene!

This sun flare may be a bit dramatic...but I love it all the same. Doesn't she kind of look like Taylor Swift?

I had a blast taking these pictures and learned so much from the experience. Thanks, Katie!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME.

{source}

The brownie pan to end all brownie pans. Andrew won't come home anymore to find every single edge piece carefully carved out with only the gooey middle left behind.  

Ha! Who am I kidding...now there'll be nothing left!

My purse exploded with a strange sound on our way out for dinner. What I found inside was Andrew's cleverly hidden gift to me: my very first smart phone. 

.

I hope to learn to operate it in the near future. Keep me in your prayers.

I received the sweetest, homemade birthday card from my little sister. I labeled it for you so you would understand the story. Cute, huh? Her likenesses are impressively accurate.

In case you're wondering, this is not from one of my 5-year old twin sisters. Or the eight-year old. It's from my twenty-four year old sister in grad school. But it tops the list as one of my most favorite birthday cards ever. 

Did I tell you Lane is living with us right now? Well, he is. And he enthusiastically announced that his gift to me would be homemade gyoza. 

.

Even if I didn't LOVE the stuff (which I do), I never would have argued with him. He and Andrew lit up like Christmas trees discussing all of the Japanese ingredients they would need to purchase. 

Deep concentration. Lane and I are filling the won ton wrappers and sealing them shut with water. The insides consist of cabbage, pork, mushrooms, and a whole lot of spices and herbs I've never seen before.

Gyoza...pot stickers...mandoo...about the same delicious thing. We ate lots and lots of them with sticky rice and chopsticks while I tried to follow Andrew and Lane's story swapping about their crazy experiences in Japan. 

Anyway. It's official. I am 27 now. I suppose I should start feeling like an adult sometime soon...

When did you guys start feeling "adult-like?" 

COUNTING DOWN

Right now, everything in my world is a whirlwind of looming changes, large and small. The anxiety of waiting for the debut of this entirely new life feels like I'm teetering at the top of that first wonderfully, awful drop on a roller coaster. Here are all the countdowns going down in this little life of ours. 

• Of course there is the house...I swear, it's all I talk about these days. Every conversation begins with a variation of the question: "How's the house coming?" A month MAX. And we really do mean it this time. We are in a race against the clock to have it ready to close before our June 1st deadline. What a year it's been!

.

• A new house means a new neighborhood, which means a new ward for church, which means a new calling, which means new people I have to learn to be comfortable around, which means feigning calmness while experiencing heart palpitations.

I'm not antisocial, I promise. 

.

• It's the last leg of the school year, yet there is SO MUCH TO DO. I know my 3rd grade sweeties sense the nearness of summer vacation, because it's getting harder and harder to keep their attention. Between warmer weather, assemblies, field trips, field day, the class play, and standardized tests, this dreaded month of no structure or routine to speak of makes classroom management nearly a bust from here on out.

• I just took part in the interviewing and hiring process of my new third grade partner teacher for next year. When it came down to it, I was basically allowed the final decision. This was very, very generous, and having been on my own for so long made it mean all the more. Having the new gal to work with is going to change EVERYTHING, and I am nervous and excited and full of hope for next year. 

.

• My birthday is coming up.  I'll be 27. Yes, I count down the days until my birthday. Because simply put, birthdays are awesome. This year's countdown has been especially hard, because Mom's wrapped gift arrived in the mail a week early. And then Andrew placed it in the middle of the living room with the instructions that I am NOT to touch it. He did it on purpose just to torture me. Punk. 

Don't tell him it's working.

• Even the weather is getting in the mix. Spring is so close! My tulips are blooming, the grass is green-ifying, and it was in the 80's this last weekend. And then...I drove to work this morning in a blizzard. Countdowns shouldn't go backwards--it's not fair!

.

• According to the receipt from the DMV, my brand-new driver's license will arrive in 10 days. The lady had me stand against a blue wall for the picture while she clicked away on her keyboard. I stood waiting for her cue, contemplating happy thoughts that might incite a non-awkward smile...when a bulb flashed in my eyes! That woman forgot a countdown altogether! I was indignant but didn't say anything. Now, for the next eight years, my I.D. will illustrate me as a seriously sullen, slightly spacey organ donor. 

FEATURE {Master Bedroom Wood Ceiling}

We are so honored to have remodelaholic.com feature our ceiling today! 

HOUSE UPDATE {stone, lighting, wood floors}

We are almost there!!!! These pictures were taken today. 

Here is my crazy, color coded diagram to help you (sort of) picture what the exterior will look like. 

It'll look better than this, I promise. 

The stone has been started. It was what was in stock for a really good price. So, we took it. Color good. Price even better.

This stone will go on the living room fireplace too. 

Andrew works with our brother Lane and our dear friend Josh. It is their help that is going to help us get this house finished before we have to close on June 1st. 

Inside, we are putting up fun lights. This Lowes find was installed over the kitchen sink. 

Three smaller lights of the same style hang over the island. 

I have been anticipating our bamboo floor going in for a long time. Beautiful, eh? 

It will continue through the kitchen, great room, and hallways. 

Above that lovely new floor in the dining area, hangs a new chandelier. 

Lowes find.

But the happiest new installment has been that of the toilets. It is a joy not to have to drive to the nearest gas station every time we needed to "take care of business" while working on the house.

Hooray for indoor plumbing!

PACKING

It's begun. We won't be out for a  month, but I'm getting antsy. The house is so close to being finished, I can taste it. And I don't want a mad, unorganized dash at the end.


What's depressing is the fact that I have three times as many boxes packed then are pictured here...yet you can hardly tell. How the HECK did we ever acquire so much StuFf?!


For any of you more experienced movers out there, any tips you have for packing and a smooth move would be much appreciated. And any Rexburgers who would like to donate boxes to this cause, let me know! We are definitely in need of more boxes. Lots and lots and lots of boxes.