You're Invited!

We are having a house warming/open house party this Saturday from 5-7. Everyone is invited to come join the fun. If you need the address, give Jason a call or write an email. See you there...er uh...here!

My name is Sarah, and I have an addiction...

to HGTV that is. One of my favorite tv shows is 'Designed to Sell". A professional realtor will come to someones house while they are absent and will go through the house with the cameras and tell them why their house isn't selling. Having looked through SO many houses this past year, I could apply for this position as 'Critique' and do just as good of a job. Every time Jason and I watch it together, he says, "you could do that!" Honestly...almost every episode is the same! Step #1: De clutter! #2 Hide the kids toys. #3 Add some color #4 De personalize
So one of my long term goals, now that we have a house, is to bring these steps into action.
Jason and I have spent the last week painting, painting, painting, and oh! did I mention painting? When I say we, I really mean HE. I only helped by doing the trim and putting up decorations. Jason did the rest. So here is the before picture:










We painted the mantle black to match the temple frame that we have, and Jason surprised me last Sunday by having painted three of the accent walls. He stayed up until about 4am working on it. The next morning when he told me he stayed up too late I thought it was because he was watching Sports Center or something stupid like that ; ) Needless to say I was pleasantly surprised when I went downstairs.
Jason put up the curtain rod, and hung the temple picture above the mantle. I hung the drapes, spray painted the rod iron art piece, and did the rest of the decorations. Here is the finished product.






















And after a long day of work, Jason finally gets to relax.

Things that we still need for the house

I know, I know. You are right. Everybody kept telling us that when we got a house, we would soon realize all of the things that we need to go with it. So, here is a list of things in no particular order, that we still need. Okay, some of them are not so much needs, but wants.
1. lawn Mower
2. Weed eater (maybe a trimmer, what's the difference?)
3. ladder
4. Tape measure
5. level
6. Stud-finder
7. Paint (We, meaning I, started painting the living room, now Sarah gets to trim it up.)
8. Queen bed for guest bedroom
9. small table/desk for the computer nook in guest bedroom
10. computer desk for my Office (or as Sarah says it, "our study", but really MY office)
11. Bookcase - Probably 2 or 3, actually
12. Kitchen Table and chairs
13. Clothes dryer (we already got a washer, but I spent too much, so we have a drying rack.)
14. coffee table for the formal living room
15. Drill Set (and other tools)
16. gardening tools, i.e shovel, rake, trimming shears etc.
17. hose attachment/s for watering once the irrigation is shut off.

That seems like a pretty complete list for me. Sarah may think otherwise. Does anybody have any suggestions of things that we need that we don't know about yet?

Odds and Ends

here are some of the things going through my head, but addressed to all of you out there:

Summer is over (Pest control Summer that is). It was a good summer. As always, it could have been better, but I am pleased with how things turned out. To everybody that was there with me, thanks for the good times that we had.

Buying our house is done!! At least I think. Thanks Chancey, for helping me pack all of our stuff into a trailer, so that it can be unloaded as soon as we hear back that everybody has received their money. Hopefully that happens tomorrow, and we can unload the trailer into our new garage, and can start unpacking the boxes. It will be great to sleep on MY bed. WITHOUT Walker in the same room. I think I am looking forward to that more than anything else. Thanks Mom and Dad, for letting us crash at your place, and take up WAY to much of your space. 2 bedrooms and half of the garage is probably enough. (oh yea, and the storage unit)

The ManCation was awesome. I have been wanting to go backpacking for a long time. It has been about 10 years. Seriously. Kyle, thanks for starting that tradition. I caught 11 fish. zzone of them was under 12 inches, and the rest were between 12 and 18. Check out Kyle's Blog and link to see the pictures. Why do I always look retarded in these pictures? Oh, and from now on, I am definitely taking my hammock with me. It took up quite a bit of pack space, but it was so comfortable. I would have to say swinging on the hammock watching the wind blow the waves in the perfect 65 degree weather was extremely relaxing. Laying in my sleeping bag on the ground was not as comfortable. (in 30 degree weather.) Needless to say, I am so looking forward to next years pack trip. I will have better shoes, a better pack, be in better shape, and have better fishing gear. The food was good, and the company was great. Thanks to all who went.

The Hunter family reunion was fun too. Seeing my wife and son after (what seemed like) forever was fun. Though Walker was suffering from some sort of sickness, which happens any time he travels, it was pretty pleasant. My one regret from the reunion was not swimming. Yea, I got in the water up to my knees, but I didn't actually go swimming. I wish I would have. it was nice to see all of you that I haven't seen for a couple of years, and to meet a few people that I hadn't met before.

I will have to admit, staying home and playing with Walker is pretty fun. He has been cranky, not sleeping enough (he is just too excited to see me every day to want to sleep) but I've had a blast. He loves looking at the pigs, Swinging on the tire swing, and seeing Puppy. Oh, and jumping on the trampoline. He loves that too. Another of his favorite things it see 'Pampa' (Grampa Woodbury)

I suppose that is all for now. We will keep you updated on the projects for the house.
Oh, and golf. I parred twice on Monday, and am going again on Friday.

The Itsy Bitsy Spwaaaaah!

While Walker and I were at the family reunion, the last rainy night I was getting Walker to bed. Silly me, I forgot to bring any 'beeps' or books, so I was trying to sing a few songs to Walker. We did Popcorn Popping, and Row, Row, Row your Boat, and then he put his thumbs and first fingers together and said, "Mama, Ants!" At first I didn't understand, but then I remember that any 'bug' he sees is called an ant. Looking at his hands I realized he wanted to sing the "Itsy Bitsy Spider" His spider was ready and I got my spider ready and started to sing, "The Itsy Bitsy...." Right as the word Spider was about to come out of my mouth, out of the corner of my eye, I see a pretty good size spider sneaking across his pillow. Of course as I see it, the word that was working its way out of my mouth turned into something like, " Spwaaaah!" as I flicked it off the pillow. With no one else to laugh at me, I started to chuckle with Walker. He muttered something that I didn't understand so in response, all I could say was "yeah, Mama's silly, huh?"

To any "pest control" friends who might ask, "What kind of spider was it?"....Who cares?! When camping, a spider is a spider.

I should be packing and cleaning...

I should be getting ready to drive back to Idaho, or taking a nap, but seeing as how it will be a little while before I post again, I decided to indulge myself in some ME time. Looking through everyone's blogs, I discovered I had been tagged! (sorry it took me so long Marcie.) So here we go:

3 Joys:
1. Spending time with Jason and Walker. It doesn't matter what we do as long as it's together.
2. Reading. This usually gets me tired, so I should say reading/sleeping.
3. Seeing the looks in peoples eyes after doing service for them.

3 Fears:
1. Feeling Alone. I always like to know I can call anyone, anytime.
2. Car Accidents.
3. I am afraid of not living up to my own expectations. I set my standards, and must meet them.

3 Obsessions:
1. Jason would shoot me if I didn't put down Laundry and Dishes. He is not allowed to fold laundry because I like it done a certain way and he always puts the dishes in the wrong place! Like one time, I went to make dinner and was looking and looking for my blue casserole dish. I could not for the life of me find it, until the last cupboard door opened and on the very top in the furthest corner, lay my best cooking buddy. Since Jason put it all the way up there, I called him into the kitchen (he now has the "what did I do" look on his face) and just pointed to it for him to fetch down.
2. Jason and I have moved so many times that I have packing down to an art. There is a magical way to make everything fit into so many suitcases.
3. I have to get ready in the same order every day: Shower, get dressed, breakfast, makeup, hair.
(I'm sure there are more obsessions, but I think these are the most obvious)

3 Surprising Facts:
1. Both Jason and I have had plastic surgery. He on his nose and me on my thumb.
2. We have moved 10 times in the less than four years we've been married.
3. Well, it's not a SUPRISING fact, but a fact nonetheless. I love my family very much!

Passing the torch:
Star Wiley
Jodie Borg
Jentri King

I am turning into my Mother...

For those of you who don't know my mother, Andrea, I will let you in on what I am becoming. My Mom has her Associates Degree in Accounting/Bookkeeping, but also has always been very proficient in grammar and proof-reading. While living at home as a teenager I would always hear her correct my brother, "Mike and I", instead of "me and Mike". Or if I answered the phone, "this is her", she would quietly correct me, "this is she". I could go on and on for hours on proper grammar, but I know I would lose your interest.
For the past three and a half months we have been living with the Standlee family. Their daughter, Sariah, is only five years old and has the grammar of...well...a five year old. I constantly find myself correcting her. Hearing phrases like, " he takded that away", "her brought this for me" and "I gotted a new toy" are making me cringe. Of course her mom and I correct her as much as possible, but there are just too many hours in the day to do that. It makes me realize how much I appreciate the (for lack of a better word) Nagging my Mom did in order to save her ears and to help me at least sound more intelligent.

Thanks Mom!