A Glimpse of our House!

You asked and asked, and things have finally slowed down enough for me to share a few pictures of our house. We refinished the floors before we moved in, so it was a mad rush at the end of the month to get moved out of the apartment. Now I can breathe a little while I try to organize everything into our house so it will feel like a home. We are very excited to be in the house. It has a great yard! Lots and lots of cool plants, but everything needs a little upkeep as the house has been vacant for a while and the previous owners just let the landscaping just do it's own thing.
First off, the floors.
As you can see, there was a lot of wear on the floor. This is the hall going out of the living room. The living room had been refinished more recently, and you can see the line.
The north bedroom.
The living room. As you can see, it's not as bad as the back rooms, but still not great.
View from front door. Living room and kitchen.
Office Floor.

Office floor from the other side. Yeah, it didn't look great. Those hot legs are Michael's.
Bedroom floor.
You can really see the wear. This is another view of the north bedroom.
The hot guy who came and refinished the floors. Mmm-Hmm.
This is between coats of polyurethane. We did a Satin finish, so it isn't super glossy, which I like.


North Bedroom. Much better.
Office.
Putting on the last coat of urethane. Stinky stuff. When we did the first layer it was my job to move the pan and mop up drips as he went. I got SO sick from the fumes though. By the last coat, he was doing it all himself while a stayed in the fresh air, or worked on other stuff.
Mask required. We started out with all the windows and doors open, thinking that would be enough to keep the fumes from getting us. We were wrong.
This is my favorite tree on our property. It's a Japanese Maple, I think. The leaves are soft and it's a short lil' thang. I love it.The benefit of moving to the house at this time of year is that we get to enjoy all the fabulous blooms. We have flowering dogwoods, irises, lavender, rosemary, lilaacs, peonies, poppies, 'grape clusters', tulips, and so much more. Beautiful stuff. Unfortunately I haven't taken pictures of all of them so you will have to take my word for it. The above bush is bright pink.


This is to show you the pretty contrast between the white flowers of the tree, and the deep burgundy of the maple. When the sun shines on that tree it glows! I tried to take a picture of it in the sun, but it was too bright for the camera.
I want to share more pictures after we have things more in their place. Right now all you would see are opened boxes and randomness.
Well, that is all for now. Tune in next month for more.

It' been a while...

Yes, I know, it's been a while. I'm sure I should post more about my life, but that will have to come later. I just wanted to share a project I just completed. I've had the parts for a while now, but just decided to finally put them together. I made a quilt of my old t-shirts from high school. Looking at it you would think that all I did was play volleyball. I did a lot of other things, but they just didn't have t-shirts. :) It was a fun little project to get off my "to-do" list.

I can't remember which year each volleyball shirt goes with. They were the shirts we got as a team and we would where these to school on away game days, and dresses on home game days.
Top row, left to right: 1. Volleyball shirt. 2. Senior shirt w/all our signatures. and yes...those are ALL of the signatures of my graduating class. 3.Volleyball shirt.
2nd Row: 1. The Mousetrap t-shirt. It's a play based on a book by Agatha Christie. I was a lowly prop director, and I rocked. Mom and I made some sweet props for that play. I did quite a few plays in high school, but we only had t-shirts for two of them. Sad. 2.CTVB shirt. This was the volleyball camp I attended each summer. Great camp. Sore muscles to cry for. Aaaah, the memories. 3. D.A.R.E. 'nuff said.
3rd row: 1. Utah Centennial shirt. This is actually from 4th grade. Me and another girl were selected to go sing at the re-dedication of the "This is the Place Monument" in SLC for part of Utah's Centennial celebration. We wore these shirts. :) 2.CTVB Canyon volleball camp, again. 3. My Volleyball uniform from my freshman year. After that, they stopped putting our names on them so they could be re-used. Yes....I was "Number 1" :).
4th row: 1. back of "Annie" play t-shirt showing cast and crew. (see 4th row #3 for front). I was Annie. It was fun. Anellisa's dog Saboka played "Sandy". 2. Another School Volleyball shirt. 3. The front of the "Annie" shirt.
5th row: 1. CVTB Volleyball camp shirt...again. 2.Senior t-shirt. 3. Another school volleyball shirt. Volleyball is fun! :)
Additions: If you look close you will find pieces of my "HOBY" leadership t-shirt, and UREA.
A glimpse at the back. Can you guess what my school colors were?
The End.

"It's about time!" or "The Berries that Fought Back"

So, it's been a while. Not a lot has been happening, until recently. For anyone who didn't know, and that's probably most of you....
WE MOVED !
We moved to Central Point, Oregon. Arrived last Saturday with the help of my parents and Michael's sister and brother-in-law. Going against the family tradition of driving all night, we did the trip in two days. Michael and I stopped shortly to check out the famed Bonneville salt flats. Wow, that is an amazing site, which is so much better in person than on countless television commercials.(I'm not great at taking pictures of myself,...cut half of me out...gotta practice that one)
We moved in on Saturday, went to church on Sunday, played a little Monday and sent mom and dad on their way that night. We spent the week slowly organizing stuff. That job isn't done yet. I will be organizing for weeks to come I am sure. I am related to my mom...to some degree I guess.
Moving in....

Dad taught our nephews how to fold the boxes to make them stay, so they busied themselves making forts while we put stuff away in the Kitchen.
We did a little exploring while Mom and Dad were here. We drove to check out a town called "Grant's Pass", just through the canyon. We stopped and picked blackberries and whipped up some freezer jam when we got back! Yum!
Here is mom working on berries, and then posing in her cuteness with all the jam we made (tons...5 boxes of pectin worth!)















Michael and I had the chance to go pick pears on a church welfare farm here in Medford. We were "platform pickers". They have this cool motorized platform, basically, that goes between the rows and we pick as we go. It was quite the experience. There are two levels of platforms and there were 4 people on the top one, (two for each side), and 3 on the bottom level. We were on the bottom level and were keeping up really well so Michael would switch back and forth to help the brother on the other side from us. The first row took about 2 hours, then one couple left to go get there kids. So we had two fewer people, but the driver went faster (?!). The second row took only 1 hour, but it was quite exciting trying to keep up. It had rained the night before, and we basically got wiped with every branch...so we were very soaked by the end of it all. I may go back again this week.
Harnessed and ready to go...Grandpa Bench would be so proud :)A view down the pear orchard road, and where we parked. They said "choose any row below the platform to park"




















While driving we noticed a bike trail that ran along the freeway. We decided to go for a bike ride and find it. We did, and it is awesome!!! It starts right near where we live and goes all the way to Ashland...wherever that is! But it's far! :) It has blackberries all along it too...well, they grow everywhere. It seems like Blackberries are to Oregon as Kudzu is to Georgia. Except less invasive...and much more tasty. We have since gone on a couple bike rides, and returned with Nalgene bottles full of berries. :)
Here is Michael on the trail...i took this while riding. Yeah, I'm that good. HA HA!

Looking over the bridge of the Bear Creek.
Don't dis the clothes. That is me in full blackberry armor! Long sleeves and pants is a requirement. These bushes are terrible. Thorns everywhere. Don't even think about trying to get those berries way in there. They're only for the lizards that dare climb back into the jungle of thorns, dead vines, and more thorns. My hands and ankles have little scratches all over from our last berry picking adventure.




Bushes everywhere. That little speck in there is Michael. :)
















I found some very big berries. Notice the thorns in the background...mean.
















The aftermath.......
We have enjoyed our week here, and are looking forward to the many more to come. This valley is so beautiful. I'm very grateful to my Heavenly Father for giving me the chance to live on such a beautiful earth, and for giving me blackberries to welcome me to our new home. :) Yeah...I'm still a dork.

My Christmas Project

I don't know what made me think of this idea, but once it was in my head I couldn't get it out. I decided to make stick-horses like we had as kids for my nephew and niece for Christmas. It ended up being quite the endeavor. The "pattern" my mom had was just pieces of clothe she had cut out. So we spent a day trying to figure out what it was supposed to look like, based completely on a picture of Jed and De on their horses when they were Reid and William's age:

Now that I've done a couple, it wouldn't be too hard to do again. I had fun and hope they will be used with as much love as we had for ours. The red one was made for Gavin and the White-haired one was made for Michael's niece Julia. She loved it!

Christmas Tag

Well, I am long overdue for an update. Maybe down the road. I loved reading this on Alisa and Leona's pages, so I am jumping on the bandwagon.

1. Have you started your Christmas shopping?
Oh yes. I am pretty much done. Only a couple more things to get!

2. Tell me about one of your special traditions.
We have always used our own socks for our stockings instead of the fancy ones you see. When we were kids we used to use my dad's socks because we figured he had the biggest sock which means more stuff. Now that I'm an adult I realize my dad's feet are actually pretty small and that I should have used my tights instead. . . :) I remember the Christmas orange stuffed all the way to the bottom in the toe. I definitely want to continue that with my family.

3. When do you put up your tree?
Depends on the year. It was different every time, and honestly there were a couple times we did it on Christmas Eve. Yikes!

4. Are you a Black Friday shopper?
Nope! There isn't anywhere to do it in the Basin except Wal-mart, and like Alisa said, no deal is that good. I did it one time when we were in Arizona for Thanksgiving. Missed the doorbusters, but there were some good deals. I'm just really not much of a shopper. Maybe I'll try it for real sometime.

5. Do you travel at Christmas or stay home?
Both! Right now we travel to be with family. When I was growing up we stayed home sometimes, and went places others. We went to South Carolina one Christmas to be with the Fillmores. That was a blast. We spent Christmas at Bench's one time, and we took a random trip up to North Dakota around Christmas time as well. I don't believe we actually spent Christmas there, but Alisa and I did freeze our hair so it stood straight up! That North Dakota weather!

6. What is your funniest Christmas memory?
I don't know if this is the funniest, but I can't remember any others. This is when we spent Christmas with Fillmores. They had this rule that everyone (especially the parents) had to be awake before we could come down to see the Christmas tree. Kelly, Celina and I conjured this plan that whoever woke up first would wake the other two up. Then we went into the brother's room (which was right above Brian and Reida's room) and jumped and stomped as hard as we could. We were ready for Christmas to start! Fun times.

7. What is your favorite Christmas movie of all time?
Oh dear! As a kid, probably Charlie Brown's Christmas, then A Christmas Story. Now it is a tie between A Christmas Story and Elf.

8. Do you do your own Christmas baking?
Not really. I'm usually at one of the parent's house. I help cook though.

9. Fake or real tree?
Fake. I remember this one Christmas we went up on our hill next to our house to find a tree. It wasn't a pine tree, it was a juniper tree that was shaped the most like a Christmas tree. Then we went home and drank hot cider. I loved it but my mom said it smelled funny. (like cat-pee to be exact). After that it was always a fake tree that my mom scented with essential oils, or burns a candle to make it smell. I don't mind a fake tree. Ane says we used to go up in the mountains and get a REAL pine tree. I don't remember that.

10. What day does the actual panic set in to get it all done?
Hmmm. . . I remember finishing up shopping on Christmas Eve a couple times when I was growing up, but I was never paniced. Maybe when I am trying to shop for a whole family, then I might panic.

11. Are you still wrapping presents on Christmas Eve? Many times. Sometimes mine, but USUALLY everyone else's. I LOVE to wrap presents. And they know it. But I still like to be surprised, so the ideal way is that they put the present in a box with who it's to and from, then I wrap it. I've even wrapped my own at least once. I don't mind though.

12. What is your favorite family fun time at Christmas?
Opening presents I suppose. We take turns opening one present at a time. It lasts longer and we all get to see what everyone gets. Jed thinks he has to make it last even longer, so he usually brings a knife and carefully unwraps without ripping the paper so it can last even longer.

13. What Christmas craft do you like the best?
Don't really do specific crafts around Christmas time. I do like making presents though.

14. Christmas music, yes or no? And if yes, what is your favorite song?
Umm! That's a hard one. . . YES! I love O Holy Night, but my favorite Christmas CD is the Carpenter's Christmas. Good memories.

15. When do you plan to finish all of your shopping?
This weekend? Monday at the latest.

So now that you've read this, TAG you're it! Copy the questions on your blog and answer them! It's so fun seeing what everyone's traditions and favorites are!

Merry Christmas!

Call me! No Texting for now.

If you want or need to get a hold of me in the next 3 weeks or so, Call me and leave a message. No texts. Here is why . . .

So, I work outside all day. The other day I dropped my phone while working. (It's these darn girl pants. The pockets aren't deep at all and my phone got splooched out when I bent down). Well, upon discovering that it was missing, we retraced where we had been and couldn't find it. My coworker, Lauren, kept calling it as we went to each stop as we looked. At one point it stopped ringing and went straight to voicemail. We had been working near a school where there is a lot of foot traffic, so I figured it must have been stolen because somebody had to turn it off. I sadly admitted that I would have to buy a new phone and get my sim card deactivated to avoid anyone racking up bills on my phone. I called my mom to let her know and . . . aha!! Someone had turned it in to the T-mobile store. So, good new is that I have my phone for anyone contacting me. Bad news is, THE SCREEN IS BROKEN! I can't tell if I have any missed calls, texts, etc. I can only call those people whose phone number's I have memorized (or that Michael has in his phone). So if any of ya'll want/need to get a hold of me. . . call me and leave a message. :) I have a new screen on its way (from Hong Kong so it will take a while). Meanwhile I reminisce about the days when I memorized the numbers of my friends and family vs. entering them into my phone. Remember those little black books to keep telephone numbers in? Sure wish I had a back up of one of those. :)

I Love the Mountains, I love the rolling hills, I love the fountains. . . . . .

Once again I think of things to blog about, but just don't get around to doing it. Michael recently got called to serve with the Young Men. His first duty was to go on "High Adventure". Man I wish I could have gone. They hiked to King's Peak. I guess it was a pretty grueling hike. It was 28 miles total, but they did 20 miles of it in one day! They hiked 8 miles the first day to the base camp. Then the next day they hiked 6 miles to the summit and then turned around and hiked the total 14 miles out! Killer! Michael's knee started hurting, but as he put it, "Couldn't do anything about it," so he continued to hike. He said he just took some Ibuprofen and the swelling went down overnight. They ended the trip spending a day of swimming, cliff-jumping, and mountain-biking at Flaming Gorge. I was very jealous of that part. I have actually been to the spot they were cliff-jumping at. It has some fond memories for me. Ones of De and Toby decorating themselves with moss to create green belly-button, armpit and facial hair. Good Times. I was glad to have Michael back. He has to leave me all the time for Guard, but i usually can talk to him. Not this time. Here are some pictures he took. What a beautiful view.

Michael says they were doing a "Caber Toss"

Lost? . . .

Oh yeah, my hero! :)

The following Monday, we decided we would go on another hike. Cache Valley is so wonderful and I feel like I have wasted a lot of my time here focused on school (go figure!). So I am trying to take advantage of these last few months. We decided we would hike to the "Jardine Juniper". It is said to be Utah's oldest tree. It is said to be 3200 years old. We looked online and found out the trail is 5.2 miles long. Easy hike right? Well it really wasn't all that bad. We just didn't know where it ended, so we kept thinking we were almost there. When you think the trail ends just around the bend, and it ends over two more mountains, it makes the hike feel a little longer. Michael's knee and ankle started acting up again from the previous trip, so it was no surprise when he got a little frustrated. "Where is this stupid tree!" "I am going to burn down this stupid tree." Don't worry . . . he was joking. . . it is still there for anyone else to hike to. The hike down felt a lot faster of course because we knew how far we were going, but it wasn't completely pleasant for either of us per we were both sporting injuries. Looking back on the hike, it was fun. I ended up with some wicked sore calf muscles. Ouch! I haven't been that sore since endless calf-raises at volleyball camp.

Not the Jardine Juniper but a Narly Juniper just the same!

I have no idea what kind of snake this was. We saw it on the way up. It was so smooth that I thought it was some kind of liquid at first.

Finally! The notorious Jardine Juniper! Supposed to be alive when the Eqyptians were building pyramids.

After a lunch of smushed tuna sandwiches, we hiked down. We saw these berries. They look like rasberries, but I wasn't about to eat them because the leaves looked all wrong.

Look how big those leaves are! These berries were all over! I smashed one in my fingers and it had s raspberry-ish smell to is, but it also smelled different. Maybe if we were starving and desperate, but I kept thinking of some saying someone told me about the colors of berries. . . "White, take flight. Red, your dead."

(I was told that at a very young age, and I am sure it isn't true.)Michael is just about healed up now. He doesn't say anything but I notice he walks different sometimes and some movements are checked. I am sure he would have been back to 100 % capacity a few days ago if I hadn't suggested the hike. Oh well, right? Gotta take advantage of Cache valley while we are here. Injuries aside. The scenery, sweat, and conversation made it all worth it.