hail, rain, snow, wind... in APRIL???

Needless to say, those who are currently residing in Utah know exactly what I am talking about.  This spring has been absolutely CRAZY!!!  Snow one day, Sunny and 70 degrees the next, followed closely by a day of thunderstorms.  I am not a fan of moisture coming from the sky, hence my love for Nevada, but the weather these days is offically getting out of hand.

On Sunday Lance and I drove home from Vegas with my dad only to hit a crazy storm of hail. It seems as if everytime my dad chooses to travel to Utah, the weather chooses to be CrAzY.  He officially thinks we are nuts for living here. 
On the plus side, having my dad come up for the week meant more improvements on our unfinished basement and remodeling to our outdated bathroom.   You will be AMAZED at how different our bathroom now looks.
The Lou
1- Tile Floor complete- finishing the tile was a little bit tideous because we didn't have an extra toilet to use while the grout and adhesive was drying.  My dad, the clever man his is, decided to hook up our toilet in the basement. So there I was at 11pm right before bed and needed to go potty. I put on my shoes, walked outside and down into our cement unfinished basement and used the potty.  What a weird 24 hours that was.  But who cares!  The tiling is DONE.  Check.

2. Vanity in place- we chose to replace our old vanity because of its little tile counter and backsplash and the new vanity looks GREAT.  It is not as deep as our old one which is kind of a plus because it makes our bathroom look tons bigger. 

3. Wainscoting?- just as I was about to paint the new drywall that I put up behind the toilet, I realized the waterproof drywall was half an inch, and our existing walls were 5/8.  This little 1/8 difference would have made my paint job look less than smooth so we decided to change our plan and put wainscoting up and it looks beautiful.  I'm really happy with our decision. 

4. New knobs-  I refinished the wall cabinet and doors by stripping, sanding, and repainting.  Now they are hung with new black knobs that compliment the new dark vanity.

5.  Light-   The biggest "little" improvement is one of my and lance's favorites.  We were able to move the light switch from the bedroom to inside the bathroom!  Now we don't have to worry about someone switching off the lights while we are in the shower (not that that has happened before ;) ). So far it has only been switched for 12 hours and I have already attempted to switch it from the outside or forgotten to turn it off from the inside 7 times.  I guess old habits die hard right?

 All thats left to due is some trim, paint, and finish tiling 2 walls in the shower.  Lance is waiting until the finished product to feel his sense of accomplishment.  I feel it already!

Our basement-
 So far Lance finished digging his GIGANTIC hole.  I mean gigantic  its 4feet from the house, 6 feet wide, and 8 feet deep.  He's developed "shovelers elbow," had dreams about the hole, and dreaded the thought of spending another minute digging.  What an accomplishment though!!!! The concrete cutters came on Monday to cut the hole for our new window and when they arrived the guy informed me that they could have just cut the hole from inside the basment instead of getting muddy from standing in the hole for 4 hours cutting.  (I waited to tell Lance his gigantic hole wasn't necessary.  He was a little sad).  We have a huge slab of concrete 8 inches thick now sitting in our basement if anyone is interested!?!

Plumbing- after numerous hours and many "darn its" coming from my dad, his portion of the plumbing is complete.  He was able to hook up our tub and (as mentioned above) toilet in the basement. 

Next is the framing, windows, electrical, vent work, stairs, ..... I won't continue my list for it would decrease my sense of accomplishment :)

Viva Del Sol

I love traveling home to las vegas. It's the best feeling in the world to leave Utah in the morning it's 30 so ethnic degrees and arrive in Vegas before lunch and have it be sunny and 80 degrees. Lance and I went to Vegas this weekend instead of wasting away in Provo at my graduation. When we first arrived we were pleasantly greeted by little Rexi in a swimsuit telling us we were going to the park. Swimsuit? yes! It was warm enough to be in one of those. We spent a fun afternoon at the park with the Oh's and were completely wasted and tired. Few hours after. That night we went to the driving range - something I mused to do all the time with my cousin and something I have never done with Lance. I love the driving range (minus my lack of coordination).

Saturday Megan and I went to get ur Free spray tan which was just what I needed to make me feel more at home (my body hadn't seen color since last summer... White is an understatement). We did some shopping and spent the evening at a Korean BBQ buffet and the M casino, where my brother works. He failed to mention the room we got was $350, but with his friends and family discount its only $75! If I ever need a vacation I now know who to call!!

Sunday my family (mom,dad,brother,self,husband) ate at the hash house at the M and I believe our pictures will speak for themselves. Our portions were HUGE.

yes. that is just ONE pancake

pork tenderloin- with a knife and tree of rosemary

Lacking Patience

It's true.  I have ZERO patience.  I am go getter need to do it now can't wait for surprises kinda girl.  Lance knew that when he married me, but apparently I took my lack of patience to a WHOLE new level this week, finals week. (Yes.. this week is my final Finals week at BYU.  Yay for graduation this week yay for my bachelors degree.  yay for never having to drive down to provo).  

Our bathroom- the 1x1 inch white tile fortress that I have thought was hideous from the moment I stepped foot into our house got a little DIY makeover.  A few weeks ago I removed our cabinet doors and refinished them, but have yet to hang them back up because our bathroom is in need of a serious make over.  

our bathroom when we moved in.  Those little white tiles are the enemy. 

Friday- I took a sledge hammer to one of our tile walls and completely removed the inch thick tile that for whatever reason was backed with chicken wire.  In fact, there is enough chicken wire in my bathroom to make an entire float for a parade.  Anyone in need? After the wall was gone, next went 1/2 of the floor.  Yes, I took a sledge hammer to my floor and tore it up.  Lance came home.  Saw the disaster that was our bathroom and immediately said "I am blocking DIY from the TV."  

Yes.  The walls floors and countertops all an INCH thick of concrete like mud.

Jared came over and saw the disaster and Lance's only comment was "My wife thinks because she watches DIY and HGTV all day long that she knows what shes doing.  How do I block these channels?"

Saturday- 7am there I was, now taking the sledge hammer to our TILED built in vanity (honestly, I am seeing white tile in my dreams).  After removing the sink and half of the vanity Lance's dad and uncle showed up to help me remove the remaining pieces.  They also helped me lay my waterproof board so our subfloor won't ever get wet and rot!

11:22 am.  :)

All of this was done by 11:22am.  My exact thoughts: wow. we still have the entire day.  lets begin tiling!!!!!

Tiling all finished (adhesive is white under some tiles and grey under others because I ran out of white.  Same brand same thing. 

I began laying the tile (my first tile job might I add) and needless to say by the end if the day the tile was level, the grout spaces were equal and my bathroom is starting to look fabulous.  

Sunday- 9pm  It had been 28 hours since my tile was first laid and so I began to grout.  My instructions informed me to wait 15-20 minutes after grouting to remove the excess, so I waited and then read to container which indicated  I should have removed the excess grout IMMEDIATELY.  ut-oh.  Let's just say I expended a little (lot) more energy removing the excess grout and it took me over an hour.  

Monday- Ahhh... my floors look GREAT!!! just waiting for the grout to set by tonight.

All Finished!! (except under the toilet- that will be done in 2 weeks when our basement bathroom is done)

SIDE NOTE SUNDAY-

Lance's birthday dinner was Sunday and I have never seen his face light up like a little boy getting a puppy on Christmas until today.  We had scones for dinner and he had his arm wrapped around his dora the explorer wrapped present the entire meal.  Finally he opened his present (from his family)......

(drum roll please).

Yes, my 26 year old husband was excited to receive a xbox for his birthday.   A few minutes after opening it he gave me puppy eyes and asked "can i pua-eeze get a game?"   Jared being as thoughtful as he is thought to get Lance a xbox to keep him company those long nights I have a 6::30pm to 7am shift at the hospital.  Oh boy oh boy. 

Gummy is getting OLD

Yesterday was Lance's 26th birthday.  "After you hit 25... you just feel it," said Lance to me a couple of months ago.  I have no empathy for this "getting old" seeing as how I just barely entered my legal years of being 21.  Needless to say, Lance was not very excited to celebrate his birthday this year.  He woke up at 4:45 am to go train a Jordan basketball player before school started, went to work at Kearns High, went to do some pest control jobs, played basketball with his boyfriend Mark Green, went to their basketball banquet, and finally came home at 9pm.  

During the middle of the day Jared, Lance's brother, stopped by our house thinking Lance would have taken the day off and enjoyed his birthday.  Instead I was the one home enjoying my day off watching HGTV and DIY.  With all the craziness aside Lance has many things to be grateful for on this anniversary of his birth. 

Our basement is really starting to roll!  - The underground plumbing and rerouting of pipes will be finished by Thursday.  The duct guy is here working away rerouting our ducts.  Our building permit should be here any day now and framing should begin in the next week (hopefully). 

His bush is still alive! -  Last night I was startled to hear Lance's "what the FREAK" coming from the front yard.  I walked outside to see what the issue was and one of his little bushes he just planted in our front planter had been dragged across the walkway and into the grass.  ELLIE, the monster, had dug the bush out and moved it out of its little soil home.  After planting and watering the little guy, he is still alive and surviving his almost deadly attack. 

Who says your too old for presents!  - I'm am much more of a "can't wait for surprises" than Lance is.  My patience is very thin, and by buying Lance's presents 2 weeks ago, I have been no anxious to give them to him!  A few days ago he spotted one of them in the basement and asked me what it was and my inability to lie gave away that it was in fact a give for him. 

Shopping for Lance, or boys in general, is difficult.  I can't buy him clothes without him there or they will never see the light of day, cologne is out of the question with his 15 bottles lining our bathroom wall.  Watches-forget it.  He has a case of about 8. Video games?  What wife really wants to endorse that in addition to him never having time to play them.  So I seem to always settle on the practical gifts knowing he will like them and they will get some use.  

A new Pillow- Lance has been complaining about his pillow for months and with my numerous trips to IKEA I found the perfect pillow to fit his needs.  It has the memory foam, but it is surrounded by down so its soft, yet firm, and your head melts right into it.  So far he has "slept like a baby."  

 Whiteboard- 

During every basketball game I see Lance pull out his whiteboard to draw up the next new play.  I thought "how cool would it be if he had an awesome white board at home that he could draw things up on." Thank heavens for quilted bear!  I found this AWESOME Utes whiteboard there.  He loves it and has already started compiling plays for next season!

Quotes-  If there is one thing I know about my husband it is that he LOVES quotes.  Before we got married he had a bulletin board of quotes on his wall along with MANY basketball posters with great motivational quotes on them.  He has been suggesting for quote awhile that we should get a quote board.  I was at quilted bear and saw this quote and thought it would be awesome for his desk or office or whatever since its very applicable to life as well as to basketball.

Ability is what you're capable of doing.  Motivation determines what you do.  Attitude determines how well you do it.

Of course it wouldn't be right if I didn't make Lance his FAVORITE treat.  So there is a pan full of Reese's brownie bites sitting on my counter as we speak!!!

New and Blue

Lance and I have been online and instore browsing for the materials we would like to use in our current bathroom as well as our new basement bathroom.  This is what we have come up with. BLUE BLUE and BLUE.

This is not the exact tile we plan to use on our backsplash, but it's the closest I could find a picture of!

We LOVE dark cabinets.  We also love the style of this sink!

For those of you who have been in my current bathroom and have witnessed first hand feeling surrounded by the 1 inch by 1 inch 60's tile, be happy it will all be GONE soon.  In it's place will be a wall of white cabinets, this lovely vanity, and BLUE walls.