I finally did it!

I have seen pictures of houses with a room painted with stripes and I absolutely love how it looks but never really dared do it to my own house, just because one false measurement and you are in serious trouble or even worse, what if the paint bled under the tape??? Well, I was sitting in my family room the other day and all the sudden the vision came to me and with a 4 day weekend coming up I just said, what the heck, I am DOING it! And it turned out awesome! It is subtle but lights up the room and adds such a modern twist. Check out the before and afters...

Spur of the moment

When I was eating dinner the other night I decided I was going to stain the rail. After dinner I started taping it off and committed myself. Sometimes I feel bad for Marsh because when I get these itched he kinda just gets roped in and is automatically signed up to help me. Luckily, he is not to resilient as long as I do the taping (he HATES that part). Ignore Brynlee's toys all over the floor in the family room, we are currently training her to pick them up but it is trick training in process.

BEFORE:

AFTER

Pepe le pew

From the title and picture you may all see where this is going, but here it is anyways. Last Sunday night Archimedes started whining, he whined and whined and whined and we had no idea why. We checked on him a few times and everything was fine but he would not shut up. So out of frustration at about 3:30AM Marshall went and let him outside. About 15 minutes later Marshall let him back in and this NASTY smell started circulating our house. Marshall brought Brynlee up to me to see if I though she smelled like she got sprayed like a skunk and it stunk so bad I thought for sure she did until I went down to check if Archy smelled too and I only got about 3 steps in the family room and my nose started burning. I immediately put him in the garage while we figured out what to do. Marsh read online that we need to create a chemistry lab and bath him in peroxide, baking soda and dish soap. Easy enough, as long as you have all three of those ingredients. And of course, we had about an inch of peroxide so that was not going to cut it. Marsh couldn't drive so we got in the car and headed to Harmons, which doesn't open until 6 so we started trying the gas stations. Maverick had it, we paid $2 for 8 oz of which we needed 32oz and of course that gas station only had 2 bottles. Long story short, after we finally got peroxide we went home and Marsh washed the dog and I started looking up what time pet stores opened so we could get him properly bathed with de-skunking shampoo. At this point we were super tired, super pissed and super frustrated. The pet store didn't open until 9 so instead of having Archy freeze in the garage we put him in the basement. Well, he didn't like that and instantly started whining and barking. He did it consistently for 3 hours and we were about to pull our hair out! Marsh was calling every pet store within a 100 mile radius trying to find one that could take him first thing. With the dog whining, us on little to no sleep and our house freezing because we were trying to air out the worst smell in the world, Marshall finally had it and he went down stairs to shut the dog up. In his frustrated haze he accidentally fell down the stairs and in lou of trying to save his foot he laded on his left hand and he said he heard a crack. We laid there regrouping and just taking some deep breaths and then got up stairs and continued to call pet stores, apparently Sunday is bath your dog day and everyone was booked. We finally got Petco to take him at 9 and we took him the second they opened. When we got home I dozed off on the couch and when I woke up I found Marshall dead asleep in the recliner and Brynlee dead asleep in the middle of the floor, sprawled out like she was dead. It was a rough morning to say the least.

Back to Marshall's hand. So, Marshall has been riding one of those wheeled scooter things that you rest your leg on and push with your other leg and apparently it is pretty touchy because he keeps taking spills. Well, he took a spill that broke the cast on his foot and the only time they could fit him in to get a new one was the time he had schedule for the x-ray of his hand. It is kind of hard to see the crack in his x-ray but it is a triangle and you can sort of see one side of it just above his knuckle.

So now the guy has to deal with a broken cast on his foot for another 5 days until he has a follow up appt. and the doc it going to put him in a walking boot. The results from the x-ray showed that he broke the crap of his hand right about his ring finger. So now he has a bandagey cast thing on his right foot and a bright green hard cast on his left hand. He is falling apart.

Marshy is very very broken

Back in July of 2011 Marshall fell off a climbing wall (with no harness) and landed directly on his right foot. We immediately got it x-rayed and the doctor said nothing was wrong. After months of his foot still hurting Marsh started to get really frustrated and decided to go to a different doctor. This doctor told him that he needed to go to physical therapy. So after two months of that and no results Marsh was starting to get pissed. He went back to the doctor and demanded he get an MRI. Well, it is a good thing he did. His ankle was MESSED up and required surgery. So a few weeks ago I took Marsh to the hospital and the doctor said it would be about a 2 hour surgery with a 1 hour recovery, this was at 1PM. So at about 6:30, when I hadn't heard anything I started to get seriously worried. It was at the Surgical center in the Avenues in SLC so it is a smaller facility and everyone had gone home besides the doctors working on him and the nurse and I didn't know where they were so I just waited... waited... waited...waited. At about 7 thedoctorcame in and said he could not believe how bad it was and once he got in there it just kept gettingworse. I finally got to go back and help Marsh with recovery and he did not come out of the anistesia very well. He was throwing up the entire hour he was there, he threw up on the car ride home and he sat in the drive way for another 20 minutes throwing up when we got home. Poor guy. He has been wrapped up with instruction to put NO weight on it for 2 weeks. But don't worry, he has had a great nurse.

We are HERE!!

Wow. Why has it been so long since I have posted? Probably because I can’t do it from work anymore ;o) Anyways… I guess I should take a minute and get everyone up to date. One disclaimer that I would like to make is that Marshall and I just got a new computer and I have been using a PC my entire life and Marshall talked me into an iMac so to avoid me throwing it out the window it may be a while until I post again because it is going to take a while for me to get the hang of things.

Marshall’s summer project.

While I was studying, Marshall found a project to keep him busy. This is the left side of our house BEFORE:

AFTER:

We moved the fence up about 30 feet to add more room to our backyard, built a retaining wall flush with our neighbors yard, added rocks and a few plants out front and bod a bing bod a boom!

Addition to the family #1.
Long story short. While in college, Marshall’s roommates got a dog. Marshall’s roommates moved out and left the dog. Chris adopted and cared for the dog with Marshall’s help. Chris moved to NY. Chris’ parents adopted and cared for the dog with Marshall’s help. Chris’ parents adopted a new dog. Chris’ and Marshall’s love child dog came to live with us.Why hasn’t this happened before? Well, you see, I am NOT a dog person. Especially not a dog that lives in the house. Ever since we have been married Marshall has wanted his college dog (Archimedes) to come live with us. When we were in the apartment it was not a problem because they didn’t allow dogs and Marshall knew it was not smart to keep him cooped up all day and in an itty bitty apartment. Well, since the day we started looking into buying a house the topic of Archimedes coming to live with us has come up once or twice (a week). I have been trying to get myself prepared and let the dog join our family and stop acting the part of the wicked witch of the west and to be honest I was not ready when he finally came but I will be the first one to admit that I was WRONG about dogs living in the house. It has been a total joy with him! He is amazingly well behaved, I feel safer when I am alone and it has made some amazing changes in Marshall. The only thing that bothers me is the shedding but since Marshall knows this was a huge sacrifice for me he is totally on top of the hair business. He vacuums at least twice a week, the dog is not allowed upstairs or on the couch, and he dusts the furniture items that may collect the hair. It has made things a lot easier for me to say the least.

And there is more...

Addition to the family #2.

Well, things with Archimedes had been going so well (1 week in) and I thought… well, the poor little guy is left home alone all day and having a dog inside has been nothing like I thought it would be, why not get him a little friend? So I started looking… I have always loved Yorkies but never though I would get one because they have to be house dogs and I never thought I would have dogs in my house. Since that was no longer an issue… we got this little delight!Brynlee Kay

The minute we saw Bryn we both knew she was coming home with us. We did however resist the temptation and go home and really put some thought into it but you can all see the outcome.
It has been so much fun! She is super smart and catches onto things pretty quick, especially for being only 13 weeks old. We got her when she was 6 weeks and she would fit in one hand, and she loved sleeping there ;o) she has more than doubled in size and also in personality. She has been a TON of work but Marshall and I came together and have been getting through it with minimal stress. Even though sometimes she drives me a little nutty I do not regret bringing her into our family for one second. We absolutely LOVE our new life.

Unfortunately, Archimedes, wanted NOTHING to do with Brynlee. He growled at the very sight of her. A side we had never seen of him before and we were quite worried. But a revelation happened a few weeks ago…Brynlee was getting a drink, when Archimedes came over she moved, let him drink, then she finished her drink when he was done. And since that moment they have been getting along MUCH better. And now, almost 2 months later, they are the BEST of friends...

Yeah, so big changes. We went from being a little family of 2 to a family of 4 in 2 weeks! Good times. And I could not help posting this picture...

Halloween.
Simply put. This lasted for the length of the picture.

One last disclaimer... I know small dogs have a stereo type attached to them and pictures of her in a sweater don't help that but she has hair, not fur so she gets really cold and if it is super cold outside she won't go out to go to the bathroom but the sweaters take care of that problem so don't judge the sweaters man, you would wear one too if you had to go outside to go potty!

Repelling

While Chris and Ashley were in town we decided it would be a good and much needed break for me to get out and do something that would take my mind off of studying. And what better way than to repell down a waterfall.Looking downGetting instructions from Chris. As you can see, I am listening very attentivly. Marshall starting us offHere I go...You can hardly see me but I am there at the top

Unfortunatly I don't have any pictures of Chris & Ashley but they rocked out too. It was so much fun and after the first time going down and getting the initial scare out of ya you just want to do it over and over. It was a great release.

Reply Letter

Dear Jennifer,

We are concerned about you. Where have you been for the past 7 weeks. We haven't heard from you or seen you and we are genually worried.

Sincerely,
Your concerned friends and family


Dearest concerned friends & family,

I deeply appologize for the dissappearing act. I am in fact alive and have not run into any sort of trouble over the past 7 weeks. This is what I have been doing...

STUDYING! For the new job I had to get my Series 7 & Series 63 licenses so they were kind enough to provide the above material in exchange for my LIFE.

I lost 8lbs over the past 2 weeks (test time) due to the fact that I couldn't sleep and night nor did I have ANY kind of appetite because I was so sick to my stomach all the time because if I didn't get these licenses I would no longer be employeed...no pressure, and Iwent through 2 ENTIRE notebooks full of paper.

But ALAS, I took my last test this morning and now I am back and ready to resume life. If I can remember how.

Sincerely,

Your haggard, tired, exhaused friend & family member Jennifer

Updates, getting robbed, Corporate America, our new hobby & a little trip

So, it has been a while and boy has a lot happened. I am going to do five posts in one so here it goes.

First of all - Updates...

We have been doing a ton to our house lately but these are a few of the things I have pictures of so I will post more later.

One of the biggest things that I wanted to do was replace the carpet. I saw this special on 20/20 once and ever since carpet really weirds me out, especially living on carpet that was somebody elses. You see a stain and have no idea what it is, how it happened or where else more are that may be hidden. EWE. Even before we moved in I told Marshall I wanted new carpet even though the old carpet really was not it that bad of shape.

BEFORE:I don't know who's bright idea it was to have like a cream carpet but I found it to be pretty stupid. Especially since this is the highest traffic area of the house because the garage door is to the right of those 4 stairs. So we did away with it and while we were at it, we added some tile in front of the back doors because it doesn't make much sense to have carpet their either.
AFTER:
We also added a super thick cosheny pad to our family room so it is way cozy. We LOVE it! For the stairs we got the short carpet because the shag just wears so quickly on stairs and looks terrible.

Next, we added a tile a back splash. That came out quite nicely I might add.
BEFORE:AFTER:
SECOND POST - Getting Robbed:

Yes, I got robbed. Our garage door was left open for all of 45 minutes on day and some little punk decided to help themselves to all of the electronics in my car. 2 iPods, our GPS and my folder. The kicker is that I have been working on compiling a list of all of our accounts for Marshall in case something happens to me, well, yeah, it was in that folder. It had all of our accounts and the log in and password for each.

As soon as I realized my folder was missing I got online and on the phone changing our passwords as fast as I could but I was not fast enough. As I was changing things I got an email that said my transaction was completed from PayPal. As if my all my stuff wasn't enough they tried to transfer money from my paypal to theirs. Luckily I got onto PayPal as soon as I received the email and canceled the transaction. Then the next day I got an email from our bank saying that our password was locked for too many incorrect attempts.

What a nightmare! We took fliers to our neighbors warning them that there was a thief among us but we don't anticipate anything will happen and we will most likely never find out who it was or get out stuff back. LAME!

THIRD POST - Corporate America:

I am super excited because I finally made the next step in my life and got a job in my career field. As overwhelming as it has been studying for the Series 7 exam I am really looking forward to being part of Corporate America and beginning the next phase of life. I have every intention of climbing this ladder and achieving great success in the financial world. I actually got offered the job at the end of February but my old employer and I worked out a deal for me to stay through tax season because it is their busiest time of year and when I told them I was leaving I think a few of them wanted to cry. I left on great terms and they made it really hard for me because they were a great company to work for the past 5 and a half years. But since I waited so long to switch jobs it didn't really hit me until the last day, it was way weird, sad, happy and seriously weird...

Anywho... So I have been waiting 2 months to get started at my new job and this past Monday that first day came. It feels so right. It is pretty serious stuff so I am in training for 5 weeks then I move onto training for another 5 weeks for a doosey of test that I have to take at the end of August. I have started studying and it is a TON of material. Good thing this is not my first rodeo.

FORTH POST - Our new hobby

Marsh and I love to do things together but it is sometimes hard because he thinks I am an Olympian and can do things on his level. Well, he is wrong. But we finally found something that we can do together and that we both enjoy and if I am a little slower than him it doesn't really matter.

We picked me up a new full suspension Mountain Bike and wasted no time putting it to use. We headed out to Antelope Island a few weeks ago for a little adventure. I though we would be taking a nice ride around the island but instead we took a hell of a ride UP the island. All in all we had a good time and I didn't puke like I though I was going to the entire time so that is good. I cannot wait for it to stop raining so we can go all over and play with my new toy!
And last but not least - A little trip

Well, somehow, I have no clue how, but it just so happened that I had a week off between my old job and starting my new job... weird how that happened since I am the one that picked both of the dates... Anyways, we all know that I am not good at sitting around and I figured what better time to go on a little adventure, especially since I don't know when the next one will be.

So, the minute my friend Gabby heard I had a week off she had the same thought I did and she has been begging me to go on a trip for the past 5 years but I just never had the time and well, now, I had the time. So we decided to go on a cruise to the Bahamas. We visited 2 of the islands, Nassau and Freeport and it was friggin' amazing! Especially since when I left Utah it was snowing, ha ha ha.

Atlantis in Nassau
The flamingos just hang out at this little park/zoo thing and although I was a little apprehensive because they are a pretty big bird and I though they might flock at me and peck me to death, I went against my greater judgment and jumped in with them for a little picture.
The government building of the Bahamas
Our ship

We took a jeep tour of the island of Freeport and it was beautiful. We stopped at a little cove and saw dolphins jumping in the ocean. It was breathtaking.

Some little shops in Freeport
One of the coolest parts about the Bahamas is that any beach you go to, the minute you step on the sand a guy comes up to you and tells you he is your "beach assistant" anything you need he is at your beckon call, I don't see one down side to that.

Just because I don't post doesn't mean I haven't been as busy as ever with things to post about. I will try and keep up a little better in the future ;o)