A Really Big Gopher

Something happened while I was at work today...
I bet I could compete with these babies both in size and weight.

Day 27

A photo from last summer.... My new home!

Day 21

A photo of me standing up.

Uh, ok

Thanksgiving #13

I am so grateful for our new home. As most everyone knows, we had it built earlier this year. I can't believe it has already been just over 7 months since we moved in here. Contrary to what some people may think, we made quite a few major upgrades on the structure of our home to make it our place. We had some neighbors by on Halloween looking inside and said they couldn't believe some of the stuff we had done to make it so open - they have the same model. One of my favorite things is our yellow exterior. I love our yellow house with the blue door.


I am so thankful that we have a warm comfortable place to hang out.

Night at the Drive-In

We decided to go to our local Drive-In.
It was SOOOO much fun. When I became restless, like I always do during a movie, I just moved from my chair to the back of the car and then back again. We saw Knight and Day, a great movie I might add. The second movie was Eclipse. We really wanted to stay but it was already 11:30 and we had to get up the next morning to pick up our Bountiful Basket at 6:30. Our Drive In doesn't show rated R movies. We got their about an hour early so we could get a good spot. We took books so we could just chill and read for a bit. I didn't get much reading done because I was too busy checking things out.

They change movies every week. Sometimes a movie is there for 2 weeks but never at the same time. It gives it a nice mixture. I hope we are able to go again this summer. The place had a ton of people so I assume it is like that all the time and that they will be in business for awhile to come.

Picture Picture

We finally hung up most of our pictures. There are a few left but most are on the walls. We still plan to paint some accent walls but having the pictures up sure make things feel cozier. I am open to suggestions for color and on what walls. Just drop me a comment.

Above are the views from my bed. Then we have our front door and guest room.

The guest room's artwork is all from Italy. As are most of the object d'art on the dresser.

Our guest bathroom has prints of homes from Natchez Mississippi.
Then we have the loft and across from it the laundry room and closet.


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Hooters and White Crusty Stuff

Ok they really aren't hooters, they are rocks but we call the hooters and we have a lot of big 'uns.
Rick found all of these in one day. If anyone needs some rocks for their landscaping, you are welcome to come and get some. They breed every time it rains.

The other lovely thing we have out here...calcium/salt in the soil. Oh heck we don't have soil, we have dirt. The first time we saw the crust of whiteness we weren't sure if it was frost.

Alas, it is not. It is salt build up We are going to have to add a lot of acid to help bring down the pH before we can really grow anything other than grass.

(We are bringing in top soil first)

New Ward and Neighborhood

Apparently I am not going to church the right way...I need a 4-wheeler. (This was taken out my back window)

Our new ward is pretty good. It is VERY loud. The old ward had lots of new families often with no children or lots of single people because of being in an apartment. Where here they have the families and LOTS of children. There are several couples that are in their late 50's early 60's where their children have left the home but man sometimes during sacrament it is hard to hear things.
The bishop is nice and so is the RS Pres. Both have been by to meet me.
As for the neighbors, one couple stopped by and brought us fresh homemade bread. Last week they saved a seat for us at church...it is hard to get a seat. The benches are higher than any I have ever had though and very comfortable. The padding isn't worn down yet.
Anyway, we LOVE the neighborhood. Everyone is so friendly and waves as they pass by. Driving home from work I often pass golf carts on the road. There are the 4-wheelers and dirt bikes cruising around too. And I think we are the ONLY Subaru in the entire neighborhood. Rick said he has only seen one other in the county since moving here. I suggested that they were just visiting. Apparently we need a truck.
We are so very happy to have moved. This is definitely the place for us!

Doing the Laundry

Ok I am really not allowed to do the laundry. I have been told that if I was meant to do the laundry, the shelf in there would be low enough for me to reach.

I have also been told that I have the tv, surround sound, PS3 and all my other toys and that the washer and dryer are Rick's toys. Seriously, I have done ONE load of laundry since we moved in. I think this room might be bigger than my brother's room while growing up.

My Bedroom

I am standing in the doorway....
The photo does not due it justice. I shall see what I can do to remedy the problem tomorrow. Let's just put it this way, it is bigger than our dining room, family room and kitchen in the apartment

Guest Bed and Bath

Since we live so far from everyone now, we decided we needed to have a guest bed and bath for when you come to visit. (Don't forget to pack your picnic basket. You might need it on the way.)The towels were given to use as a wedding gift but had never been used. (Please see the Jeff Gordon Bathroom as to our "old" guest bathroom - Linked will be found and posted later) I haven't found a shower curtain yet so if you come to stay, you can only bathe, not shower.

The bedroom furniture was my grandma's and her sister's when they were younger. The needle point on the bench was done by my great grandma. The other stuff in the room is mostly from Italy. The same great aunt brought back a painting in inherited from San Gimignano - one of my favorite places in Italy - where I bought the blue vase on the dresser and not far from Siena where I bought the bowl. (It incidentally is not too far from Volterra which is a real place) I have thought about painting the wall at the head of the bed a lovely grass green. We shall see.

New Fridge

I have an AWESOME refrigerator. Not only does it hold stuff like, 6 packs of uh, candy bars and anything you want to keep cold... (name that movie and I will give you my address)

it has LED lights!

It can hold 8 gallons of milk in the doors. Yes, I have tried it. When the closest grocery store is 10 miles away you will try it too. I never thought I would like having a freezer on the bottom

but I love it. It is so great knowing if I ever have a party...hahaha...there is room for platters in the fridge too. Darci, I have cheese for when you visit. ;)

Blog Worthy

I don't really have anything blog worthy to blog about lately. Not that that really means anything. Usually I blog just cause even though I know most people don't care and I think I only have like 2 or 3 blog readers and only those because they know I will talk with them about what's on here. WOW that is an awesome run on sentence.
So yeah, we are in the new home and I have nothing to blog about. I guess I need to get my pictures hung and some photos on here eh?
Thanks for reading my blog, even if I don't know you read it.

The Great Move

Our move actually took us 2 days. One day for our storage unit and stuff from my mom and one day for the movers to actually do the apartment. Let me tell you, if we ever move again, it will only be done by movers. We hired some great ones. We were planning on it taking 5-6 hours and they were done in 4! It was awesome.The unpacking didn't take as long. By Saturday last week we had both our cars in the garage. Everything is all moved it. I guess I should take some photos. Tomorrow we will be hanging pictures. I also need to get some walls painted but hey...Life is good!

Oh My Goodness!!

I just looked at my moving day countdown -
28 days and 15 hours!!
WHOA!

Weekly Update

Here are photos from our weekly trip to our new home. This week we have an inspection meeting with our contractor to go over plumbing and electrical =)

Golf in January

On Saturday Rick and I decided we needed to do some exploring around our new stomping grounds. First we had to check out the home. The foundation is done and ready for framing.
We know where the Stansbury Park Clubhouse, Swimming Pool, Tennis Courts and Golf Course are because we drive past them to get to our new home. As Maddy and Marissa pointed out, Of course I still have a swimming pool within walking distance of my home.

We decided to find the Miller Motor Sports Park. We had been there once in 2007 for the Le Mans race and were not impressed so we thought we would see if they had upgraded. Yeah, not so much.

Then we went a mile up to road to the Deseret Peak Complex. That place has everything including Chariot Races on Saturday afternoons! Seriously! Rick promised I could go to them but I can't remember what I have to do to full fill my side. Crap!
Next we visited the Phillips 66 on Main Street in Tooele. They have very clean bathrooms unlike the Mavrick at the entrance to Stansbury Park. PLEASE - DO NOT STOP THERE! They are horrible. Just keep on driving the mile to our home and if you don't want to go in my home, stop at the Flying J in Lake Point. Their's aren't too bad either.
So anyway, we had our drinks, my orange cream icee cause it isn't carbonated! And we were off to find all the golf courses in Tooele.
We went to the Oquirrh Hills Golf Course which is near the mountain. They have a lovely driving range. We also drove part way up Middle Canyon. I saw some critters up on the edge of the hill. They looked like Ostriches. I am going to find out.
Then we found The Links at Overlake. That place was a crack up. Seriously, you drive on gravel roads to get there! This is the GOOD road. The place was as flat as could be. The funniest part of it all was that the parking lot was half full of pick-up trucks and it was snowing! That's right ~ there were tons of people out playing on January 3oth with flurries flying all around them.
I knew that Tooele would be hard to live in but seriously!

Cause He's That Awesome

When all this house stuff started, the Dude told me that he wanted to have new towels in the bathroom. I said, Cool.
Then he told me that he wants new pots and pans. I thought, this is Great.
Yesterday he told me, "We need to get some really nice hand towels for the guest bathroom and the kitchen. You know, ones what we don't use but LOOK really good."
How dang awesome is that!?!

Foundation, Concrete and Back Fill - Check

As you can see, this week they finished with our concrete work and backfill. It is so neat to see things taking shape. I decided I needed to stand on our porch and check out the view. It is amazing what 20ish inches can do for one's perspective when you are only 5'1" to begin with.
The funniest thing is that our construction manager said the "crawl space" would only be about 4 feet deep. HAHAHA what a joke! (There really isn't a kink in the cement, that is just how my panoramic turned out.)