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Monday, October 31, 2011

The amazing guy that chose me...

There is nothing like having a bad dream to make you realize how grateful you are that your life is the way that it is. Yes, it's 2:30 AM and I am blogging but I just had a really bad dream and I am feeling incredibly grateful for my Jake and that he chose me to be his wife.

When Jake and I met, I wasn't very nice to him and really blew him off because I thought he was "too nice". Man am I glad I came to my senses!! He is so thoughtful and affectionate and is amazing at doing acts of service for me - he is always trying to do whatever he can to help me. He is such a good listener, and gives really good straight forward advice. He is the least controlling person I have ever met and has a very fun sense of humor - always making cute faces and knowing what to do to make me smile. He is just amazing. I am so lucky to have him all to myself.


I love those blue eyes


The day I became his wife 


One of the many times I have caught him doing something to help me


He took this picture on my phone and made it my wallpaper and the next time I looked at my phone I burst out laughing - he always knows how to make me laugh


He makes me so happy - I love him so much. 

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Goals & Ambitions, Hopes & Dreams...

So I have been thinking about a lot of goals that I have and what I want to do with my life and decided to write them down somewhere that I will see them and I figured my blog was a good place since I can look at it from my phone if I need a reminder. These are not in any particular order, just as I thought of them.

1. Go to the temple with my amazing husband Jake & be sealed to him for eternity.
2. Become a mom (to a human being, not just a dog)
3. Get my bachelors degree
4. Pay off our mortgage early
5. Plant a garden (with edible fruits & vegetables)
6. Have 6 months worth of expenses in savings (our "Emergency Fund")
7. Go Skydiving
8. Go on a cruise to Alaska
9. Visit London, England
10. Go inside every temple in Utah
11. Pay cash for a 4 wheeler
12. Own property (for camping - something besides our home)
13. Remain debt free (never use a credit card again)
14. Go to the Olympics when they are not held in Utah
15. Become a BYU season ticket holder that gets to sit on the west side, 50 yard line.

Obviously some of these things are going to be many years away, but some of them are attainable sooner rather than later. As I accomplish any of these goals, I will post updates! And as I think of more goals, I will be sure to post those as well!

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

BYU vs Idaho State

Last Saturday I had the chance to go to the BYU vs Idaho State game with my mom and Popper. It was my first game ever with Popper and we had so much fun! And it helps that we won 56-3 haha.









Monday, October 24, 2011

Home Sweet Home

Ok as promised. here are some pictures of our wonderful new home! I'm going to post them kind of as a virtual tour...


This is our house on July 4th - we were waiting to close on it, and showing it to our parents for the first time! 
(Notice how beautiful {cough cough} our lawn is compared to the neighbors to the left)


We got the key!! Officially homeowners!! 



Jake standing in front of the house as we are about to go through it for the first time as the owners!! 


Before picture of the carpets and how nasty they are - this picture doesn't do justice!! 


After!! 


Ok starting tour.... This is the front door... 


When you walk in the front door, this is the view that you see (this is the Family Room)



The view of the front door from the inside & our "McClellan Est 2009" glass wall frame fabulousness! 



The other side of the front door - the Family: Proclamation to the World and a wedding picture on either side 


This was our Family Room before we mounted the TV... 


This is our Family Room after we mounted the TV!! (And our Fall decor is on the ledge)


Another view of the decor

 

The other side of the Family Room - haven't decide what to do on that ledge yet... 
The blocks on the shelf say "Family" with different pictures of us
The little hallway leads to 2 bedrooms and a bathroom... 


Close up of the Manti Temple picture my mom gave us for Christmas in 2009


This is the bathroom... 


And this is one of the bedrooms - our office where we keep the Mac Desktop and paperwork stuffage... 
(Sorry its dark - lighting wouldnt cooperate)


This is the other side of the same office bedroom - that wall was covered in the most awful hand-painted acrylic stripe paint in the universe when we bought the house but Rick (my step dad) & Popper (my sister) fixed it all up and made it beautiful!!!! 

And there is nothing to see in the other bedroom - it was a spare bedroom but we no longer have the bed so its just empty. So you can't see it haha. 


This is the kitchen, which is to the left of the Family Room (so we have walked out of the hallway and back into the main living area)


The dining room 


This is the stair case that leads to the bonus room above the garage - right now it is messy and full of crafting things that are Christmas Presents so I'm not posting any pictures of up there... 
But it's an awesome room that's very long and open and has a nice view over the neighborhood. 

Ok, so then there is a hallway to the right (the left hallway led to the 2 bedrooms and 1 bath) that leads to the laundry room, the garage, and our bedroom... 

I didn't take any pictures of the hallway because there is nothing hanging up there yet because I haven't decided how to decorate it yet... and the laundry room is just a laundry room so no pictures of that either... 


Our garage that fits both our cars!!!!!!!!!!! 


The view from our bedroom when you stand at the end of the bed (obviously). Our bedroom is long, so its hard to get a picture of the whole thing because there isn't anywhere to stand to get the whole view... 
On the opposite wall is the TV and dresser and Max's crate (where he sleeps)


OUR BATHROOM!!!!!!!
I just love how much counter space we have - it is wonderful!!! 


Our tub and shower 


This is our backyard, about 3 weeks after we moved in - and this is SO much better than it looked when we moved in. It was so dead and sparse that we thought we were going to have to re plant the entire backyard! 






And this is our backyard after Jake released his green thumb!!! The grass was able to be revived!!!! 


Our BBQ - Jake is the worlds greatest BBQ'er!!!  


This is our house today, with the greener yard and our Fall decor outside (a wreath and a pumpkin stake)
Next spring we are going to plant trees and bushes and such in front of the house!! 


And this is Max's favorite part of the house - the window that looks out the front. He will sit there for hours, watching the cars drive by and watching the kids in the neighborhood play. It's our puppy size window :) 

So that's our house!! More pictures will come as I get more things up with decorations, and once we start doing things in the yard!! 

And I decided there won't be any crafting pictures going up because a lot of things that I have crafted are Christmas presents and I don't want to ruin any surprises for anyone!!

Yay for our beautiful home <3 <3 <3

Sunday, October 23, 2011

MUCH Needed Updates!

Oh my gosh - I was thinking I would be so much better at blogging than I am at journal writing - TURNS OUT I WAS WRONG!! Ok here is the last year of our lives summed up!!

We bought a house!!!!!!!!! We absolutely love it - we live in the Highlands development in the Ranches, which is in Eagle Mountain haha. We have been here since the end of July and just love it. Prior to buying our house, we had been waiting for another home (a short sale) in another part of Eagle Mountain for 4 months. After all our slightly impatient waiting, we found out that the waiting had been in vain and they were going to have to start the process of selling that home all over again. Gotta admit, I was devastated. ABSOLUTELY loved the house - had a view right on Utah Lake, 2 story 4 bedroom 2 1/2 bath house, but we had to move on. Our amazing realtor Joanna Williams found us some options and we liked them, but I was so stuck on the other house that nothing compared. Then, one brisk June day (it was a cold start to summer this year), we came to see this house in the same neighborhood our realtor lived in. We got to the house, and there was already someone touring it (without an appointment, mind you) so we decided to be polite and wait until they were done. 20 minutes later, they are still in the house looking around and another car pulls up in the driveway and more people get out and start to walk up to the door.

At this point, we decided to stop being so polite and walked over and said that we were waiting to see the house too and we all walked in the house at the same time. While we were starting to look around, the first people left and 2 more realtors and their clients showed up (making a total of 4 realtors and 4 separate clients in the home). It was a foreclosure that had just been re listed because the buyer backed out last minute, so apparently everyone wanted to see it! The house was extremely filthy, with really bunchy gross carpet and some major paint needs and a slightly different floor plan than anything else we had looked at. I was starting to think "yeah not so much" when we walked into the master bathroom - HOLY BANANAS!! It is fit for a movie star - humongous counters with mirrors on 2 of the 4 walls, with a separate tub and "party shower". But still, I wasn't sold on the house. So we walk into the kitchen, which is gorgeous and very open but has less counter space than the house we had waited so long for, and at that point I had ruled it out - there was no way we were getting this house. So, being a good wife, I look at Jake and say "so babe what do you think?" and he goes "I absolutely love it - lets put an offer in on it tonight." I pulled him aside, away from other clients and our realtor, and had him explain, or try to explain, why he liked it so much when I really didn't. He proceeded to talk about how he loved the floor plan, the rock wall floor to ceiling fire place, the yard, the golf course just past our back yard, the square footage, how open it was, that it was a rambler, etc. At this point I am thinking "Heavenly Father knows which house we should move to and this isn't it, but I will go along for the ride and something will fall through and we won't end up getting it and it will all be good and we'll find another house." Our realtor drew up the paperwork at her house, 2 streets over, we signed it and sent it off, and were told by the selling realtor no one had submitted an offer yet or really called on it. He was optimistic that our offer would be reviewed by the selling bank the following morning (a Friday) and that we would have our answer by the weekend. Jake & I were stunned!! After waiting 4 months on the one house, here we are being told that we might know within 24 hours!

But I still wasn't in love necessarily with the house, just the idea of being a homeowner so quickly, and thought it would all fall through. Next morning comes and we find out from our realtor, who found out from the selling realtor, that there was a lot of offers put in over night (I want to say including ours there were 5 or 6 offers). I called Jake and we decided to raise our offer by a few thousand, to make it above list price, because Jake was so adamant about getting this house. By the end of the business day, nothing had been decided and we were going to have to wait through the weekend. I hate waiting - that was so hard for me!

Monday comes along and we find out by the end of the day that we are 1 of 2 offers being considered in the final phases and that the selling bank had asked to see all of our letters of pre approval (otherwise known as "our file"). Both our realtor and the selling realtor felt this was a very good sign that our offer was selected, but we wouldn't know until the next day. Ever the skeptic, I still was thinking it would fall through. But first thing Tuesday, we find out our offer was submitted and we are set to close in 3 weeks. Only problem is, we are leaving on vacation to San Francisco in 2 days for a week and need to have the home inspection done before the end of the following week because of our due diligence time frame. Frantic, and still skeptic, I voiced my concerns to my realtor who promptly used a favor from an inspector she frequently works with and got us our inspection set up for the NEXT DAY!  The inspector came, everything looked good (a few little cracks and things but there weren't from the foundation) and no signs of water damage, so Jake still was gung-ho to get this house. We go on our vacation, only to be plagued the entire time with thoughts of our new home and all the things we need to be doing back home to prepare to move and to make final arrangements with our bank for our mortgage loan. We left our trip 3 days early so that we could come home and get things squared away. Trip was so fun - a few of the pictures are posted below.

So we get home, talk to the bank, get everything set up, and because of the amazing communication between both banks and realtors and title company, we ended up moving the closing date up a week! We closed on July 15 (a Friday) and went home ready to puke - we had just bought something that would take 30 years to pay off - after we were debt free!! (Oh yeah, forgot to update you on that - we are debt free! Paid off the Jeep by Thanksgiving!! WOOT!!!!) We got the keys the following Tuesday and went to look around by ourselves - no realtors, no parents, no other clients - just us. We made a short list of things we wanted to work on and then left. Over the next 2 weeks, we cleaned and cleaned and cleaned (I decided to be a chemist and mix cleaning chemicals and had swollen eyes for 2 days!) and then painted (huge thanks to my family) and cleaned some more! We weeded the back yard (huge thanks to my amazing sisters!!!) and Jake and his AMAZING dad built some shelves in the laundry room, fixed the stairs in the garage, installed smoke detectors, etc.

July 30 we moved in (and when I say we, I mean Jake & Brynne & Blake & Danny & Dustin && not me - I was at work haha). I got off of work and went straight to our old house, where my sisters met me, and we made sure we were all moved out and cleaned and scrubbed the basement. That took a few hours (mostly because we were singing so much we got distracted) and then we left to go to our new house!!!!!!!!!!

I parked in the garage, and then walked in through the front door and oh my!! It was a mess, but it was our house with our stuff in it!! My mom and sisters helped me unpack for the next few hours while Jake & Blake made some Home Depot runs, and then we decorated!! There was quite a few things I didnt know where to put, but everything that did have a place got hung up that day. The dishes were unpacked and put away, clothes hung up in the closet, bed made, washer and dryer all hooked up, etc!! Then we took a much needed break and went to Chili's with Blake & Brynne and then came home and watched a movie :)

The last few months haven't been quite as eventful but still very fun! Jake & I are loving our house, and have made some fun improvements - we mounted the TV above the fireplace which REALLY opens the room. Jake has GREEN thumbs and brought our grass back to life! It looked beautiful all summer and was soft to walk on, almost weed free!! We have found a place to hang almost everything else, and I have put up a few vinyl letterings, and have a few things I want Santa Claus to bring me to decorate. I have really gotten in crafting lately too, and have put up a few things that I made myself. So far though, most of the crafts I have made are for other people (Mothers Day & Christmas Gifts mostly). I will post pictures of the crafts I just finished tomorrow hopefully - they are on another computer and its midnight and I have to get up at 4 AM so I am not switching computers haha.

And last but not least, I am getting ready to go through the temple to receive my endowments! Brynne is receiving hers this week and to prepare, we are going to the temple everyday to do baptisms in the dead in the morning before my sisters have school. We are going to do a different temple everyday and tomorrow is Provo - at 5 AM. YAY!!! Lol I am so not a morning person - this should be interesting!! But I am so excited :)

And here is the last year summarized in pictures (except there aren't any pictures of the house...)

New Years Day 2011 @ Chuck & Sally's


Jake & I at the Celtics vs Jazz game - Celtics won!! 
Santa Claus got us tickets to the game :) 


Miss Brynne entered the Miss Eagle Mountain Pageant and won 2nd Attendant!!!


Otter Pops in the summer with the nieces 


Max getting some snuggles - I love his expression haha


Jake & I at Lake Tahoe (part of our end of June vacation)


Jake & I at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco


Jake & I at "The Ranch" in California


My 2 year anniversary surprise!! I love orchids!!


Married for 2 years - haven't killed each other yet!! ;)


Right before we went to dinner at Olive Garden for our anniversary! 



Ok that was a lot of updates but hopefully it made sense. Pictures of the house & crafts to come soon!!