What I Have Been Doing

So... You may be wondering why I haven't been blogging. I am about to show you! I have found a love for painting and re-doing things. So, I have been painting and sewing a lot. Once I started painting things, I couldn't stop! I have a long list of project to do, but also quite a few that I have done and am in the process of doing.

My Sewing Table... before


and after


A sleigh bed I found at a garage sale. I forgot to get a before picture, but it was all white and was really scratched and dirty. After some sanding, painting, more sanding, and polyurethane... it is finished. It's all brown, but here is some of the detailing.


I haven't done anything to our dresser, and don't plan to. I just wanted to post a picture of it for those that wanted to see. We got it for free!! Can't beat that!


This table was $1 at a garage sale. It was painted white and was really scratched and the paint was peeling off.


I wish I got a before picture of our lamp. The shade was all white and the part that is blue now was a light brown color. I decided to spice it up.


This valance/curtain was just an idea that I made up. Not super original or all that cool, but usually I have to follow a pattern exactly. So, I was excited that I could actually come up with something myself.


This couch has dog hair and stains all over it. I plan to recover it with pink fabric for Mckenna. I haven't started yet, but stay tuned for an after picture (just to warn you, it may be a few weeks away, too many projects :) )


This one I am working on now... so hopefully this after picture won't be too far away



I am also working on a play kitchen for Mckenna and an end table/coffee table that I found.

This is my new found hobby! It's really not very hard either. Anyway, I thought I would show what I am doing since Devin is studying all the time. The End. :)

VAcAtioN!!!

I forgot to mention that my parents and little sister are coming here next week!! I'm really excited. Mckenna and I will be spending some time with them in Chicago and in Nauvoo. It'll be tons of fun!!!! (and yes, poor Devin will be home by himself for a few days. We will miss him, but he will probably get more studying done without us here anyway.) There are two posts below... enjoy!

4th of July

Our day started off with a 4th of July birthday breakfast in bed (say that 10 times fast) to celebrate Devin's birthday! Let me just tell you a little bit of what a day in his life is like. He gets up around 5am. Leaves for school at 5:50am. Studies for 2 hours before class starts. Has class from 8am to 12 noon. Gets a one hour break for lunch. Goes to class again from 1pm to about 4pm. Comes home. Takes about an hour to an hour and a half to spend time with Mckenna and I and eat. Studies in his "office" from about 6pm to 9:30, 10, 11, or 12... depending on when he has tests and how many things he needs to learn/memorize. This is Monday through Friday. Then on Saturday, he gets up at the same time and studies until about 5pm when he comes home to eat dinner and hopefully takes the night off from studying. Sundays he doesn't study at all, then he continues with the same schedule on Monday.

Honestly, I don't think I could do it! So he really did deserve breakfast in bed for his birthday and day off. We sure love him and are grateful for his hard work not only in school, but also taking time to spend with us.


On Saturday, we had a ward activity with a Bike Wash and bike parade. Mckenna didn't want to join the parade, but it was still fun!




She LOVED the swing though! She laughed and laughed as she was swinging.


She didn't want to get out.


Eating crackers while watching the parade.


Could she even see? :)


Sittin' with dad.




She loved collecting the candy and putting it in her hat.


Sporting her new neclace


Tired from a long, but fun day.


By the way, there is another post below...mine seem to come in two's :)

Tour Guide Baby

This cute little tour guide wants to take you through our new house!





We planted a tiny garden soon after we got here. We can't do too much, but we will see how it turns out! So far it's doing pretty well!




Our living room, what you see once you walk in our front door.


(tiny) Kitchen




Washer and Dryer. I know it's not that cool looking, but it's the first time we have not had to use quarters to do our laundry! It's exciting to us :)


Our "nook". Yes... I will get around to organizing it a little better. One of these days


...and upstairs...


Devin's office


too bad the other half of his office are our clothes! (someone in our ward gave us this idea to use half of our walk in closet as an office. They even handed down their "desk" to us because they just graduated)


Mckenna's bathroom


Our back door/ storage closet


The view from our back porch. The swimming pool and playground are really close


Thanks for joining us on the tour! You are welcome back any time!

Our New Life

Some of these pictures are a bit late, but that's ok :).



Our new home


Our new car! We got a great deal and I am very grateful that we got this car because if we hadn't, I would be home all day every day without a car!


This is where Devin spends every day and evening.


Goin' back to school to study some more


Mckenna has continued to be my little helper. When we moved in, there was only one shelf in our pantry. So, it took a while, but we finally got more put in. Mckenna's job was bringing the cans to me. She did pretty good!






Mckenna likes to hold the dust pan while I sweep. I think she got a little too close to it :)


We planted a few plants in our front garden. Mckenna was playing outside while I was planting. She was quiet for a while and I looked up and she had enjoyed eating some of our dirt!


We also leave a little time to play








All day Mckenna kept saying, "toes, pretty." She loved her painted toenails!

Behind... Once Again :)

Yes... I am behind, once again. I can't believe that the last time I posted was March, and it's now June! But, I do have a reason for lack of blogging, our move to Iowa. We are getting settled and getting unpacked. Devin started school a week and a half ago, and we are surviving! :) Our internet here is a lot faster, so I will be blogging a lot more often. Also, we are away from all of our family now, so the demand for pictures is higher :) (There are a few posts below, trying to update on the last few months. Sorry they are so brief, I will get better! )

Iowa... we finally made it!!

WE MADE IT!! (I'm guessing that a lot of you know that by now... but better late than never :) ) ... and Mckenna's still smiling. She went through a lot of snacks, movies, and new toys... but she was really good the whole trip! In the beginning of our drive, the road was windy and Mckenna got carsick and threw up. At that point, I was wondering what we were in for with such a long drive ahead. But she was happy the rest of the time as long as she had a new movie or toy to play with.

Once we arrived, we had about 2 weeks before Devin started school. So, we went out to do all the fun things we could think of while we had this time together.

Here is the State Capitol building.

Blank Park Zoo

Iowa Science Center

I will post more later, like pics of our apartment and our new car.