Are We Crazy?

It is strange what I find fascinating lately. We have decided to take the plunge and remodel one of our bathrooms... by ourselves.... Maybe we're crazy, but we figure if we totally ruin it we can have someone come fix it for us. Hopefully this will be one of those times when our perfectionist personalities will actually be a benefit instead of a hindrance. I'll keep you updated.

Today we were halfway though watching this movie before I started laughing at how seriously we were hanging onto every word and even repeating things he said aloud.

Home Sickness

I love my hometown, Saint George. It is beautiful and has addicting sunshine. This scene may look familiar to my fellow Saint George lovers. The red bluffs, the arid landscape, the gorgeous sky. Surprisingly, however, this photo wasn't taken in St. George. Last Christmas I found myself in a very old van with eight strangers driving through this landscape - in Morocco. In Africa. Weird huh? Doesn't it look just like Saint George? I had been travelling with just my husband and backpack for a month and hadn't spoken to my family in weeks. It was Christmastime and I was in a strange land that didn't acknowledge or celebrate Christmas at all. It made me feel a bit homesick and as the mountains became bluffs and started to turn red it was impossible not to think of home where all of my family was gathered together doing all of our traditions. It truly was remarkable how much the landscape looked like home!

Like I said in a previous post, I like looking at my photos from our year abroad when I feel like winter is never going to end and I will be stuck in my house forever. This may inspire posts of previous trips that I never really posted about. I hope you don't mind. It is just something to get me through this last (hopefully) stretch of cold gray days. Thanks for your patience.

Ice Storm

We had an ice storm this weekend. The temperature hovered right at the freezing point so it would rain for a few minutes then dip below freezing, then it would warm just enough to melt the ice a little then it would freeze again. It was miserable while it was happening, but today was sunny and it looks stunningly beautiful. I was so inspired on the drive home from work that I grabbed my camera and went for a little walk.

I went out for a few minutes and was so excited about taking photos that I didn't know my hands were slowly progressing toward frostbite. I hadn't worn gloves (I swear, sometimes my actions would lead people to believe that I've never lived in a cold climate before!) My sister called me and as I tried in vain to bend my fingers to grab my phone I realized that I had waited too long to go back to the house and get gloves. I ran home and made Scooter warm my hands. I almost cried - it really HURTS to have your fingers go from really cold back to warm. After I could bend my fingers I went back out - this time wearing gloves.

Every twig, every pine needle, every blade of grass was coated with ice. I loved the minuscule bubbles in the ice droplets. As the sun was setting it hit the ice and made the trees look like they had subtle Christmas lights on them. Gorgeous!

Saint Louis Temple

A couple weekends ago we went to Saint Louis temple with our friends Gene and Diana. St. Louis is our nearest temple - about 4 hours away. We were so grateful to be able to make the trip. A Kansas City temple has been announced and we can't wait until it is completed - it will be a quick 25 minute drive. I miss going to the temple regularly!

Pathetic

Every time I hear a radio commercial for On Star I cry. Every time.

When Winter Weather Gets Me Down

The skies have been gray for what feels like months, but when winter weather gets me down I look at my photos from our surreal year in Europe. These are the moments that have been making me smile for the past few days...

Before and After

We have really been enjoying our new home. It is great to have a place to settle in. We feel really comfortable and keep discovering things we love about it (as well as things that aren't as nice, of course, but we are focusing on the positive). It has been fun for me to watch Scooter be a home owner. One funny thing to watch has been his near obsession with keeping our driveway snow-free. I think he really enjoys being out there with his shovel, taking care of his home.

Unbeknownst to the neighbors, he has a competition going with them - who can keep their driveway looking the best. One day after shoveling he came into the house, sweaty and disheveled, wearing a huge grin and said, "Our driveway looks the best on the street!" Well, at least he's having fun...

Aside from shoveling snow in below-freezing temperatures we have also been working on some interior projects. We actually got these done between Thanksgiving and Christmas but haven't had time to post about them yet. One of the things I liked about the house before we bought it was the spacious kitchen. I wasn't crazy about the cabinets, though. The weird "rope" that was running down the center of the cabinet doors was ugly and dated the whole room. The cabinet doors were really cheap, thin, and even stapled together. We decided to do our best to update it on a budget.

Before.
After.
I feel like it looks more clean and modern. The backsplash and countertops don't match with the white as well as I would like, but it is still a work in progress. We never would have painted nice solid wood cabinets, but since ours were so cheap we decided to go for it.

I wish that the picture conveyed how many hours went into this project. We had to remove the doors, pry the "rope" off, sand them down, prime them, then paint two coats of white front-and-back. Once they looked how we wanted, we had to install new handles and hinges. The hinges proved to be a problem. The new hinges were a standard size, but because the cabinets were built so long ago the "standard" hinge size had changed so we had to literally chisel a notch for the new hinges in the back of the doors. Without the newly chiseled notch the doors wouldn't close all the way. We also had to paint the actual cabinets themselves. The last thing was to pry off and replace the crown molding. It was a huge project but really rewarding in the end.

Scooter was a huge contributor on the cabinet project because we did most of it over the Thanksgiving break so he had some time to help. This next project I did completely on my own though because he was basically locked in his office studying for his final exam. I wanted to try and update this entertainment center that my parents gave us. It is a really solid piece of furniture, but it was not a color we planned on using. So, I decided to stain it.

Before
During
After
I was pretty nervous when I was in Home Depot and just wandering around trying to get advice on how to begin, but I really wanted to try to do it on my own. I sanded it down, then put a bunch of coats of stain and let it dry for a long time between each one. Then I put a seal on top. I think it turned out pretty well. The best part is that the whole project only cost $15! Actually, the best part is how proud Scooter is that I was able to do it alone.

Next project - painting!