Sold!

I can't believe it, but in less than 24 hours I sold EVERYTHING that I put on Craigslist.

I figured it would take me a week or two to get everything sold, I had no idea it would all be sold so quickly. Less stuff for us to move now :)

There has been progress on our house. The bottom floor is framed and it looks great!

Tonight is Junior Prom. Meg's date just picked her up. I took a bunch of pics that I will post later. Right now my laptop is in the shop (yes, I know, I should have bought a Mac!). When I get it back I will post some pics. Until then I am stuck using the kids computer. Lucky me!

Foundation.

**Before I start my post, for those of you who were asking, I put more furniture on Craigslist. The stuff is on my sidebar on my blog. Click on the pic and it will take you to the posting :) **

I know, I know, all I post are pictures of our house right now. I can't help it! It is just so darn exciting!!!

Today I drove by and there were cement trucks parked all around pouring our foundation. Oh boy, did that ever make me smile :) It made it seem more real that we are having a house built when I can actually see where its foundation is.

I survived another week of classes and practicum. I don't know what is wrong with me, but I have been feeling so out of sync. I keep thinking, "Next week won't be as crazy. Next week I will feel like I know what I am doing. Next week I will be more on top of stuff." Well, so far, it isn't happening.

I am not the only one feeling this way. A lot of people in my Cohort at the college are feeling this way. So, at least I know it isn't just me. It is an overwhelming load of work. Six classes (18 credits) and Practicum on top of it. They warned us that it would be all we could do to keep up in the program. Boy oh boy were they right!!!

It will all be worth it though. Once I pass the Praxis and have my diploma in hand, I will be so THRILLED! Then it will be a two year break from school (hopefully a teaching JOB!) and then back to work on my Masters Degree. Yes, as insane as it is right now, it still hasn't deterred me from wanting to continue toward a higher degree. I would LOVE to get my doctorate one day, but we will see.

Today is MY Friday (no school tomorrow) and I couldn't be happier! The sun is shining, the skies are blue and the foundation was poured on my house.

Life is good :D

We Have Our Permit!!!

Progress is FINALLY being made! Now if we could just get the weather to cooperate, that would be wonderful :) They have already delivered the wood for framing and they were prepping for the foundation when I drove by today.

The rough plumb/electric is done and the footings have been poured. Progress! YAY!

They claim that the home will be done in 45 days after they get the permit. They had our permit yesterday, so if all goes according to plan, the home should be complete around March 12th. Time will tell!!! That seems insanely fast to me, especially if the weather won't cooperate!

I am sure I will post pictures daily as I get them. It will be fun to watch the house come up out of the ground in a week or two.

Not Much. . .

A view from our lot with the results from last weeks weather. It isn't all that often that Pine Valley is covered top to bottom with snow. Doesn't it look gorgeous with the red rock below it??? Not much going on. I have been enjoying my weekend off from school and now need to get motivated to do my homework and get ready to be back full force bright and early tomorrow morning.

They are still waiting for the permit on our house, so until the city decides to get it to the builder, they can't do much more. Between that and last weeks weather we have been held up a bit. Really no worries about that though. Other than being super excited about the new house, it isn't like we are in a rush to get moved. Actually, I wish that magical fairies could come and move us and we would only need to just show up at our new house and be all moved in. That would be great!

I am posting some furniture on Craigslist this week. I want to sell the stuff that we know we won't use so that we don't have to move it. Right now I only have my couch listed. You can see it by CLICKING HERE. I have loved this couch. Seriously one of my favorites, not so much for my hubby. He doesn't like the couch at all! He hates couches covered in pillows. So, I promised him that this couch wouldn't be coming to our new house.

Soon I will be listing book cases, a BEAUTIFUL tv armoire, a leather couch and chair w/ottoman, and probably a few other items. I will post the links here when I get them listed.

Well, enough from me today! I need to get cracking on doing my homework :)

No Permit+ RAIN Galore = No Progress

It has been pouring rain ALL week long. Not just sprinkles of rain, but full-on desert rainstorms. With all of that rain, they have not made any progress on our house. Well, that and the fact that the city is being slow on handing out our permit. So, until the permit is in hand and the rain dries up, there won't be much to report out at our house.

It is kind of a blessing (even though it is frustrating and I REALLY want to see the house built ASAP), we are in a lease in the house we are in, so the longer it takes to get our house built, the less money it will cost us to get out of our lease.

We went and walked through the model home (it is the same floor plan that we are building). I am SO in love with the house. The flow of the house is wonderful and I LOVE the feel of it. I just can't wait until it is home sweet home. I REALLY hope that we get to call it home for good. Enough moving, let's just settle down and stay put this time ;)

Other than the house, the only other project (besides being in school full time) I have been working on is something that I am doing with my daughter. We wanted to find a way to help girls have access to Prom dresses for just the cost of cleaning the dress. I put an ad on Craigslist and have had some response. I also started a blog about it.

**CLICK HERE to read about what we are doing**

Also, if you have any dresses you want to donate, let me know!!!

Our HAPPY News!

I mentioned a while ago that we had some HAPPY news that I wanted to share. Since the word has leaked out, I figured it was time to write a blog post about it.

Since I am apparently not busy enough with school and Bryan apparently isn't busy enough with work and driving back and forth on the weekends, we decided, "Hey, why not build a new house???!".

So, that is our HAPPY news! We had mixed emotions about leaving the area we are in right now because we love our neighborhood and our neighbors, but this opportunity to build this house was just too good to pass up!!! We jumped right in with both feet, and as of last week, they started digging the footings.

This week things have pretty much come to a halt (because of all of the rain), so we are patiently waiting for the rain to dry and then hopefully progress will be made.

Our view:

Our Lot:

Our dirt pile ;)

Our trenches:

Ready for cement footings:

Our Floorplan:

Our home won't look exactly like the one above because we did change the elevation on ours a bit, but it will look pretty close :)

jUnIOr prOm

He had attached a firecracker to her door so that when she opened it, it exploded. She was in such a state of shock at the way her room was decorated that I don't think she even noticed that the firecracker went off until she could smell it!

Her Answer: She went and filled his truck with balloons and put the sign on the dash board. Sticking with the "stars" theme that he used, she attached Star Bursts onto paper stars and outlined the YES with them.

Now all the work begins, finding a dress, finding the shoes, figuring out the hair-do, etc. (All of which I have been told that I am too UNCOOL to be a part of. Gotta love teenagers.)

What is JOY?

In one of my classes yesterday, the Professor posed the question, "What is Joy?". We had to ponder it for a bit. There were a variety of answers. It was interesting to see how joy was defined by each of the students.

Some of the answers given in class were:

*Happiness
*Laughter
*A day without anxiety or depression
*My husband
*My Children
*Contentment
*Achievement
*Blue skies
*Being in this class (okay, so this kid was a bit of a brown-noser, haha ;)
*Etc.

Webster defines joy as:

joy (joi), n. 1. a feeling or state of great delight or happiness; keen pleasure; elation. 2. a source or cause of keen pleasure or delight. 3. causing or bringing joy; delightful.

For me, I think that joy can be found in the simple things. For instance, yesterday morning I was rushing around like crazy. It isn't easy to get myself and all of the kids up and ready for the day so that I can leave the house by 7:10am. It was hectic and insane. No time to eat. Grab a yogurt and run out the door. Get in the car and find that I am leaving 5 minutes later than I needed to, kind of a morning.

I got to the school and parked. I was getting out of the car and out of the corner of my eye saw the St. George temple standing there with its lights on. I thought how lucky I am to live in this beautiful place and to be finishing up my degree.

As crazy as life is, it really is the simple things that bring true joy. A glimpse of the beautiful white building surrounded by the red rocks caught for just an instant out of the corner of my eye did it for me yesterday.

Have you ever thought about what brings YOU joy?

Hi Diddly-Dee, It's Back to School for Me.

So much going on this week! I start back to school this week. Six classes a week and Practicum on top of that. It will be interesting to see how this semester stacks up to last semester. Last semester was INSANE!!! At least this semester will be night class free! Gotta love that!

I enjoyed my break, I am not sure I am ready to start back yet though. I am thinking that one more week off would be a GRAND idea! Oh well, the sooner I start, the sooner I will be done.

We have made a lot of important decisions lately. I can't share them yet, but hopefully I will be able to soon :) Kind of fun and exciting news! (Well for us anyway)

I have been working on projects. A bunch of projects. I have shared some on my craft blog and I am hoping to get my bread box transformation posted on there by tomorrow. I do so LOVE the way it turned out!!! It is divine. (Since this post I have posted pics of the Oh So LOVELY Bread Box!~CLICK HERE~ to see it in all its glory!)

As of this week I am officially in the Bachelors program and will be with the same cohort of people until I graduate. Here's hoping that none of them are too annoying. How sad would that be to be with a really obnoxious person in all of my classes for the next 4 semesters???

I have a meeting to go to on Tuesday and I will know more about what to expect for this semester. Wish me luck ;)

Long List.

I am enjoying my last week of freedom. I have a LONG list of projects that I want to complete before my life is consumed with school again.

1. Bread Box Transformation

2. Dining Room Chair Redo (for a sneak peek of this one CLICK HERE)

3. Dining Room Table Redo

4. Growth Chart (this one is done, just need to post pics!)

5. Washer Jewelry w/Bracelets

6. Some Scrappy Layouts using my NEW BAMBOO that Santa brought me :)

I am loving having some free time, but I think that I pretty much have it all filled up with all of the projects I want to complete!

Well, that being said, I am off to create something :)

Slacker.

I don't know why, but, I have not sat down to write any New Year Resolutions. Each January I always sit down and write down some goals for the year. This year I have hesitated to do it.

Perhaps it is because last year was so unpredictable and crazy that I feel as though I have no control over so many aspects of my life, so why bother? Why not just roll with the punches and see what happens?

Perhaps it is because since I am back in school, this year is pretty much planned out for me. (6 classes each semester, homework, papers, projects, practicum, etc.)

Perhaps it is because then I have to feel guilty when I realize that all the goals that I placed on paper aren't being met.

Perhaps it is just because I am not feeling like I have much I want to accomplish other than the usuals of being a good wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend.

I am not sure what it is. Maybe at some point I will change my mind and sit down and figure out some goals for this year.

Until then, well, I guess I will just keep plugging along and hope that 2010 is the best year yet! :)

H1N1.

My oldest son called us bright and early this morning. He sounded like death warmed over. He said that he couldn't breathe and that he was feeling really, really sick.

Bryan got dressed and met him over at the hospital. After testing him, they diagnosed him with H1N1. Dang! I thought that maybe our family was going to get by without any of us getting the stuff.

This flu is going to be really hard on him because he has asthma. Anytime he gets sick he has problems with his lungs. I hope that all four medications that they gave him kick in soon and that he can start to feel a little bit better. He wasn't well at all this morning.

I am hoping that he doesn't end up staying a night or two at the hospital because he can't breathe!!! We have spent countless nights with him as a child giving him breathing treatments, now he is living on his own and I hope that he realizes how important it will be to keep taking his medication and let us know if he has any problems.

I asked him to stay here with us, but he said that the way he felt, he didn't want to stay here and then get all of us sick. He said he was certain that none of us would ever want to feel as sick as he is feeling right now.

I hope he gets better SOON!!! Poor kid!

Things I Learned in '09

Happy New Year!!! I cannot believe that it is 2010! Where did the past 10 years go? It seems like only yesterday we were celebrating Y2K.

2009 was an interesting year for our family. It brought about a lot of changes and some challenges. I wonder what 2010 has up its sleeve for us?

Some things I learned in 2009:

1. I learned that a house is just a house and your family is what makes it a home.

2. I learned that I can survive 15 credits of classes over a Summer semester and still stay somewhat sane.

3. I learned that I can turn around and start an even more insane Fall semester and survive that as well.

4. I learned that working for someone you don't respect is a very difficult thing to do.

5. I learned that being on tv really isn't "all that and a bag of chips" ;)

6. I learned that I do LOVE being creative. (I always knew that, I just found that finding an outlet for my creativity is something that makes me happy).

7. I learned that I really, really, really hate living in the snow. It is not my friend.

8. I learned that I was accepted into the Bachelor's program for Elementary Education and will be pursuing that degree.

9. I learned that moving several times in one year really isn't all that fun to do.

10. I learned that no matter how financially stable you think you are, it can change in the blink of an eye.

11. I learned that things are just things and that it doesn't matter how big your paycheck is, you can learn to live with less.

12. I learned that my kids are the 5 best kids on this planet :D

13. I learned that my husband will support me 100% with my crazy school schedule, even if that means moving 350 miles away.

14. I learned that my husband will do whatever it takes to provide for his family.

15. I learned who some of my friends really were and some that really weren't. (Having good friends you can trust is a great thing!)

16. I learned that I can survive turning 40 even when I really don't want to.

17. I learned that letting my daughter finally get her driver's license really wasn't so bad after all ;)

18. I learned that having two of your children grow to be taller than you is a strange thing. (It is strange to discipline someone when you are looking up at them).

19. I learned that my knowledge of the gospel of Jesus Christ is more precious to me than I ever realized it was. It is my strength, my happiness, my foundation. Because of my beliefs, I can survive anything that is thrown my way.

20. I learned that family is the most important thing in my life. They may drive me crazy at times, but I couldn't go on without each one of them.