It's official!

It's official!  After hours of waiting, being sent away for other documents, searching for those documents, coming back (three times!), taking a driving test, and paying a bunch of money, Oregon finally decided to let me be a resident.  I also got Oregon license plates.  I love being an Oregonian!  I'm lucky to have found such a great guy in one of my favorite states!  It's crazy to think that I could (and mostly likely will) live here the rest of my life, raise children here, and even possibly be buried here in like 70 years.  This is the beginning of something really great!

p.s. the house across the street is for sale.  I'm a pro at becoming a resident, if any of you need help.  And, if you don't want move here (you're crazy!), you can at least come to visit!

Sisters.

Way back in February, I left Brian during Valentine’s Day weekend (our first VD…needless to say, this was not the weekend I would have chosen…but obviously it wasn’t up to me) to spend a long weekend with my sisters.  We had such a great time! 

Rebecca, John, Mom, Me, Annie

The highlight of the weekend was seeing Annie play at her BYU sophomore harp recital.  She is one talented girl!  I’m so glad I was able to see her perform.  My mom also had the fun opportunity to accompany Annie on one of her big pieces.  They both did a fabulous job! 

We had a great time catching up—lot’s of talking, a little shopping, great food, late nights, and even a little Rook. 

We missed Ofelia!  She was still in Honduras-- now they are in Hawaii.  Sisters in Hawaii next year?

Hydrangeas.

 

My dreams just keep coming true.  I’ve loved hydrangeas since I was a little girl.  My mom had these Victoria magazines— they were filled with hydrangeas and other beautiful things.  Then I moved to Oregon where hydrangeas seem to bloom like wild flowers.  I just can’t get enough of them. 

Brian planted these for me last night!  I am a happy, happy girl!  He bought me the two on the ends, and a neighbor gave us the middle one because we didn’t kill their dog while they were away (we thought we did…but luckily he lived). 

I can’t wait for these to grow so big!  I want to fill my yard with them!

Mom!

My mom came to visit for a week! 

Unfortunately (only for her), we worked more than we played.  It wasn’t much of a vacation for her, but I appreciate her help so much!

Here’s what we did:

We cleaned the garage.  Oh, how I wish we had ‘before’ pictures.  Just imagine a garage so filled with stuff that you can hardly walk in.  Now take a look at this:

For a while, our house looked like a Cat In the Hat house—one thing led to another, and to another…

Two of these chairs came in from the garage—and they needed pillows, so Mom made a few.  I love them!

With all of the stuff coming in from the garage, we needed more organized space in our closets, so Brian put closet organizers in 3 of our small linen/coat closets, and I organized them.

While Mom figured out how to make a bed skirt out of some Ikea curtains I had.  She can do anything!  We also decided to raise the bed 7 inches, and we were able to fit all of our Christmas stuff and suitcases underneath!  Yay for more storage!

 

She also made this pillow out of some linens I had.  I love it!

While she did these sewing project, I learned how to make my mom’s whole wheat bread.  I made it 3 times (15 loaves)  I wish I had taken a picture.

The day before she left, we got up early and went to the temple.  Then we went downtown and saw a sandcastle building contest thingy.  We did a little shopping too.  We stopped by a huge sale at Sacs 5th Ave.  Oh my goodness!  Even at 60% off the prices were outrageous!  It was very enlightening for both of us.  We had a great time at Nordstrom!

I miss her!  I wish my parents lived here!

Me & Mom on a hike with Brian to Wahclella Falls

A house becomes a home.

I finally hung some of our art work.  Our house is starting to look and feel more like our home. 

Dining room

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

Family Room

 

Master Bedroom nightstands

Living Room

Hall Bathroom

We still have a few more to hang, but so far, I’m quite pleased!

Company.

Me, Clark, Brian

 

In May, we had our first overnight company.  Clark and his family were driving through Portland, and stopped to spend the night at our house!  Clark is getting so big!  He’s walking and “talking” and just so cute!

Table & Chairs.

After all of the money that we put into the remodel, we figured we’d be eating Japanese style for a while.  But, we were lucky enough to find a great deal on a table on craigslist.com! 

However, the table didn’t come with the chairs, and I had a tough time finding a great set of chairs that matched.  After a lot of searching, I finally found a set of 4 chairs that seem to match the table pretty well.  Unfortunately, the seat on each chair was a different fabric AND color.  Together, Brian and I (but mostly Brian) reupholstered the chairs.  I love how they turned out!

  These were 3 of the seats before.                                                                              Brian cutting new wood for the seats.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                      After!