Problem solved

I found a great designer......he has innovative ideas
and he really listens to your wants and needs.
Takes your feelings into consideration and is surprisingly
really great at what he does.

its........

TRAVIS

We were at the house late last night after moving the bedroom
set over. We spent what felt like hours trying to
arrange the bed and dresser to make them work
in the tiny space we have.

after many moves, yawns and ankle sprains (just one of these)
Travis had this brillaint idea to build a raised bed frame and
put our long dresser at the foot of the bed so the tops
at the same height. So we rearranged the room again
to see how it would look.

AND IT LOOKS AMAZING!!!!




I had no idea Travis had it in him.

Oh yeah....and we fixed the doorknob problem we were having too.
We found a really nice brushed nickel knob that I will post a picture of just
so you can see what we have.

Owens family signing out....
(So we can get some things done around here)

It's contagious...

Travis had the same problem last night that I had Sunday.

This is a perfect example: instead of saying something...
he said.........
thomesing.

Beware the new tongue flu going around.....it's very contagious!!!!

DO you ever.....

have one of those days, where nothing you say makes sense.
Well I did yesterday.....I was fumbling up my words so
bad. I should have just stopped talking!!!
I just kept mixing up the first letters of words
in the sentence I was trying to say.

IT wAs HOrriBLe

I am pretty sure Travis was laughing at me all day.
I can't even remember what they were now either!!!

What to do

Man, I never knew owning a home would be so hard.
Travis and I spent 45 minutes in Lowe's picking
out our favorite door knobs.
WE kept going back and forth...back and forth
and we finally came to a decision.
We had to buy a total of 5 bad/bathroom knobs
4 closet knobs
and 2 deadbolt and entry knobs.
Which adds up very quickly!!!!!!
We went with an antiqued brass knob throughout.

We get to our house and put on the first knob
.................I don't know
let's think about it before we open any other ones
........................I think it looks alright
.................I don't know
how about we leave it over night think about for
a while and we can decide.

................I think I would like silver better.
Looks like we will be spending another 45 minutes at Lowe's
If we were in a rental and needed a knob I would instantly
go for the cheapest thing I could find, but it's different
this time, because
everything just has to be perfect.
We are going to be looking at these door knobs
for a very long time.
I can't imagine...how long it will take us to pick out bigger items
I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This is so fun and exciting!!!!!!!!!

I have been inspired

To live a healthier lifestyle......

AND IT SUCKS


at least right now....but I am sticking to my guns!!!! Travis and I
have been exercising everyday for the past couple of weeks
and I hate Hate HATE
working out!!!! Now I love when we play some pick-up
Ultimate frisbee, racquetball, volleyball, soccer and football
(even though I am horrible at those last two). That to me is
a fun way to workout. But going to the gym... BORING!!!

Despite my hate for gyms I have been going willingly and happily to the gym with Travis.
I have tried running on the treadmill and my knees ache when I am done.
So I thought I would try the eliptical.....and other than the
fact that my feet go numb.....it is so much better on my knees.
I have never been one to run....unless it's after a frisbee or softball.
But I am really proud of myself because even though I hate running
and I have no will power to continue working out after about
5 minutes.....I keep going. I started of with 25 minutes on the eliptical
which wasn't really a problem, however I could hardly finish out
2 miles in that 25 minutes. Now I am up to 3.25 miles after 25 minutes
and I have not given up one time.

I am just really proud of myself for not giving up.

Moving again!!!!

But this time......it is really exciting because it will be into our very own home.
Alright....so hopefully on Friday we will officially be HOMEOWNERS!!!
I have a ton of pictures so get ready.....
and they are kinda not in order so sorry

This is our house
isn't she cute

This is the left side kind of behind our house

Our backyard
there used to be a pool and that's why there is
a huge sandpit

the rest of our sandpit....backyard and a shed

This is our fireplace....I am so excited to snuggle up to this
and read a good book, have hot chocolate, hang stockings
I have just always loved fireplaces

This is what you see when you walk in the front door
there are stairs to the right that lead upstairs and
a hallway that takes you to the rest of the main level

from the hallway....on our way to kitchen, dining room, 4th bdr
bonus room and stairs to basement

to the right is the living room, in the middle the stairs to the
basement and to the left the 4the bedroom

here is the 4th bedroom....it is on the opposite side of the stairs
If looking at the front of the house it is the room on the right side.
It looks like it was meant to be a garage and they converted it.

Alright this is the view from the dining room......
I hate having the bathroom right off the dining room but what
can you do....and I don't really know about the desk area
you can see the front door to the left down the little hallway.

this is the kitchen....in case you couldn't tell
and the man you see is our Realtor, Shaun
the kitchen and dining room are one big open room
the kitchen is behind the 4th bedroom and the dining room
is behind the living room

The dining room, and our realtor again.

This is an addition onto the house....we will probably actually
use this as our dining room, but we aren't sure yet
we will have to see once we get moved in.

The addition connects to the Dining room and has the sliding
door to the side of the house.

These are the stairs off of the Living room that go upstairs

Make a 360 and you will see the Master Bedroom

Windows in the Master

A closet and some kind of TV cubby or something

A second closet....Travis will be happy to be able to have all of
his clothes in one spot. Right now he is spread throughout 3 rooms.

This is what you see at the top of the stairs....well except
for our realtor....he won't always be there.

A second bedroom.....it's not huge but it will work

A third bedroom....a little bigger than the last

A very yellow bathroom and the only full bathroom in the house
One day we would love to add another bathroom
Somewhere......any contractors out there?

So I jumped around a little these go to the basement and the are
off the living room and right under the stairs that go up

This is our basement/family room

Again the basement/ family room

Now I need to pick our paint colors and decorate and do all that fun stuff but I need help
I am stumped because of the green fireplace. What color do you think would look good.
Also with the green in the counter tops.....I am just not great with colors
so come on give me what you got!!!

Grandparents Day...

or.....
Special Friends Day


Sammy's school had Grandparents and special friends day
I had the privilege of being her special friend that day.
I took her to school that morning and went and took a seat in the gym
after having some deliscious refreshments all of the grades
K-5th grade performed musical numbers and dances for us.

When all of the music and dancing was done I got to see Sammy's class and
a little of what her day is like. They had a photographer there to take
pictures with you special friend or grandchild, and a bookfair.
Thanks again Sammy for sharing your day at school with me.
I had a blast.

We got our serious shot out of the way

But we couldn't just leave it at that....we had to have some fun with the camera.
This is a magnet that I have on our fridge.

These are not my kids.....

But I sure do love them like they are mine....at least I think I do.
Can I really say that since I have never had any kids....how do I know.
Well if I can imagine loving my children more than these kids....WOW
that's a lot of love.

I have always loved being around kids.....ALWAYS!!!!
You never know what to expect, they are so honest, they
keep you on your toes, they are so cuddly and want to make you happy,
and on top of all that....THEY ARE THE CUTEST STINKIN THINGS AROUND!!!!!
(except for Travis that is)

Here in Maryland there are a few kids that have grown very special to me.....
I see these kids at least 3 or 4 times a week for several hours
and I love them so much!

First we have Corrina....oh what can I say about Corrina
She is gorgeous in the cutest way possible
She loves to get into everything
She just turned 2
She is very stubborn
She says thank you before you give her anything (instead of please)


Samantha is Corrina's big sister and I don't have a lot of pictures
of her because when we are all usually together.....Samantha is in school.
Sammy loves to read
she loves loves LOVES LOVES LOVES animals
and yet she is afraid of the new kitten they have :)
She loves making up stories and plays
she has the most gorgeous eyelashes ever
Now Baby Ezekial or as we call him......Mr.Bigs
is the best baby around....he is always smiling
he rarely ever cries
he loves loves LOVES LOVES food
(we took this plate away from him...of course and he threw a fit)
(FIRST TIME HE GOT REALLY MAD)
And now my little man Gabriel.....
He gave me a singing rose on Valentines day
he used to call me his girlfriend....until Sammy came along
he is really into paper airplanes right now....but his interests change weekly
he calls himself Captain Underpants and runs around in his skibbies :)

Well there is one more and her name is Annika....unfortunately I don't have any good
pictures of her because my camera can be tempermental.....ergh
Annika is another beautiful little girl that is always smiling
she has beautiful blue eyes
she is a total daddies girl
she knows more sign language than most adults
and she is a bundle of energy

Now you know all of my kids....well kinda my kids.
I love them like they are my kids....or at least I think I do...
well you know what I mean.

Friendship

Last Saturday....I was able to go the Washington D.C. Temple
with my two best friends Kim and Erin.
We three have been through a lot together in a very short time.
We have laughed till we cried, leaned on one another for support,
and given to many hugs to count. Times have not been easy for our
little group of three, but together we have seen the light and made it
through the storm.
Erin had the honor of doing a session for her Grandmother....which
was an amazing experience. There wasn't a dry eye between
the three of us. Kim who is amazing at her geneology work, had several
names and I was able to do a session for her distant relative. It was an amazing
experience to share with these two women whom I have grown to love so much.
After our session we found a quiet place on the temple grounds and Kim
shared her blessing with us. She had been praying about it and just felt that
with everything that we had all gone through together it was something that
needed to be done. It was a beautiful moment and we were
all in tears by the end.....the spirit was so strong on that
tiny little bench that held us so close togeher.

I just wanted to tell Kim.....I love you like you are my Sister !!!!!!! I love your
cute little family like they are my own and I am honored that
you shared your blessing with me. I will always be here for you!!!!!
I am so happy the Lord has placed you into my life.

The worst blogger ever.....me!!!!

Alright so.....a long long time ago...I can still remember, I went to Indiana and my little sister got sealed in the Chicago, IL temple. I arrived in Indiana a week and a half before the wedding to help my mom with all of the decorating and shopping and cooking and everything else that goes along with getting ready for a wedding.


The first day I was there this is what I saw....how cute is he. This is my nephew
Noah and his school was having cowboy and cowgirl day. It was so good to be reunited with my little buddy again....it is so hard being away from all of our families!!

Noah is my little helper....I can get that kid to help out with anything I want...I
had better be careful with that. We painted about 7 HUGE tree branches white to place around the gymnasium for the wedding and we had 2 teams painting and we
raced to see who could get done first. This was probably the messiest way we could have done this but it was fun anyway.

Now, Savanah couldn't have gone the easy way out and just set up tables no....she had us slaving away(but she is totally worth it) for 3, yes 3 days setting up the gym at the church. We had to call in all the reinforcements.....I think we had about 10 -15 people helping each of the days, and it was still cutting it close. We hung wire across the ceiling to drape fabric and My brother Josh (who really tweaked his backpretty bad) and cousin Tiffany and
Aunt lisa and mom and Aunt Sandy...well you get the picture they got it done.

These were the tiniest helpers we had there that day....and boy were they good helpers. they kept their cousin Sarah very busy and out of the way of all the workers... :)
Dirk and Amelia

I just had to get a picture of my Mom's make shift make-up bib so it didn't get on her dress
she is pretty creative in a pinch.

This is the ceiling of the gymnasium at the end of the first day

This is what the side walls of the Gym looked like, and the tables are partially set up.

Alright now to the god stuff.....I will have more pictures of the bride and groom later.
But let me just tell you a little about the sealing and reception.
So Savanah flew in from Utah on Thursday evening before the sealing on Saturday.
Daniel was supposed to fly in on Friday night before the sealing because he had a test that afternoon. Well as he was pulling up to the airport in Utah he got pulled over and his friend was driving, so Daniel thought I am just going to run in so I can catch my flight. Well the officer had other plans and pulled his gun on Daniel. So needless to say Daniel missed his flight. There was no flight in the morning that would get him to Chicago on time for his sealing so , Daniel had to fly to New York to catch an early enough flight to Chicago.
Well he made it to the Temple in time for the sealing which was delayed an hour.
During the ceremony my dad got to be a witness and the Sealer accidentally called him Brother Ferguson (Fernandez) and he kept calling Savanah, Susanah. But they were sealed and the ceremony was beautiful.

Now the reception was amazing we had a huge buffet of Mexican food, dancing, mingling and loads of fun. But still the DJ kept calling Daniel, David and kept saying that they were the Fernandez's instead of the Rodriguez's. All in all it was a visit filled with tears, laughter, near disaster, and a whole lot of love.