Trying to Stay Positive...

We have had our share of challenges but never have we been so challenged as we have the last two weeks. It's seriously been a test for me and Zach, not to mention a test on my little Brooklyn. (note: Red=Bad Blue=Good)

Incident #1:

A few weeks ago we were headed home from Salt Lake after a friend's wedding and we hit a pot hole. We didn't think anything of it especially because Zach was driving and because I have hit numerous pot holes in the past. We kept on going home and all of a sudden Zach pulled over because something didn't seem right. We had a flat tire. He was getting the spare out and I hopped out to "assist" him and noticed we actually had two flat tires. They were slow leakers, which I guess is better than a blow out. So we called Zach's Grandpa and he gave us a number for a tow truck. We had the car towed all the way home, but because the guy knew Grandpa he gave us a huge discount and the insurance company will probably be reimbursing us. When Zach took the tires in to see what we could do about replacing them we found out we not only needed new tires, but new rims as well because they were so bent. The good thing is that there is a fabulous guy at Archibald & Sons who helped us out and got us some good rims and brand new tires for less than we thought we would spend on tires alone. The good thing is that I got new tires and we won't have to replace them later this year when it is so close to Christmas.

Incident #2:

We all know how hot it gets when you are pregnant and this last week has been killing me. Zach was getting the swamp cooler running for me when we discovered there is a leak, wait a minute two leaks! Did I mention that the water line for the cooler is ran through the house? And that we found the leaks because the ceiling in the Kitchen and stair way started dripping? Yeah, not so fun. What kind of an idiot runs the water line through the house for a cooler? anyways... We called in my dad (because he is such a handy man and can practically fix anything). He told us to turn off the water and disconnect the line and don't turn it back on until we had the water line ran outside. He looked at my ceiling and helped up prop some boards so all the water would come out in one spot instead of all over our ceiling. Problem solved, or so we thought.

Zach got sent home early from work yesterday and was cleaning up the house when he noticed the board had gone through the ceiling and now the ceiling was falling down completely (in the Kitchen/Dining Room). I came home right in the middle of him trying to hold the ceiling up and cut down the wet parts so it didn't keep falling. It was terrible. All the insulation was coming down the ceiling was still falling and sagging and the paint is ruined. So apparently it wasn't the swamp cooler because it had been off, we have a leak in the roof, sorta. So now we have a white trash vaulted ceiling. Zach was so patient with me and even let me cry with out saying anything. So we were ok with it all because when we bought the house it included a one year warranty and we still have a month left on it. We called and called and called. They were a pain to get a hold of but it's ok because we thought they would cover it. Nope. All they cover are appliances. So they are sending some one out to make sure the swamp cooler is ok and that's all they do. So now we were freaking. We have all this water damage and we are going to have to pay for it. Then we remembered we have home owner's Insurance, hallelujah ! The only bad thing is that we just made a claim on our car insurance and now the home owners so we'll see what our rates do. Oh yeah and while we are going through all of this Gunner decided to have an accident and as soon as that was cleaned up Brooklyn had an accident. Grr... Stress!!

Garden...

Step 1: Build a 4X4 square

Step 2: Fill it with the dirt mixture

Step 3 & 4: Put the grid on and plant the plants!
(Step 5 will be to get the gravel around all the boxes)

We finally got our garden in! This year we decided to try out the square foot gardening and see how we do. Zach has been wanting to get it done for quite some time but it took me a while to get the "umph" to do it with him. It's been a week and no sprouts yet other than the peas we pre-planted in the house in little peat pots. I really hope it works out, we love VEGGIES!!

Getting Ready for the COLD...

This past weekend we had three days off together and decided to start getting the house ready for the cold weather that is coming (well it's already kinda been here). We got stuff organized, door knobs exchanged, the shed cleaned up a little, the sprinklers turned off, and the swamp cooler off and covered. While Zach was on the roof getting the cooler taken care of Brooklyn found the hammer that was sitting on the back porch steps. She walked over to this post and saw a nail sticking out and knew just what to do. Isn't it amazing how they can pick up on the littlest and strangest things? It was so cute because she knew what to do when I first pulled the camera out and even said "CHEESE." Then she went back to hammering her nail while I sat back and snapped away with the camera. I just LOVE her!

Our House...

So I finally Got the pictures of the house you have all been waiting for...well at least pics of the outside. I will get pics of the inside little by little (or cleaning week by cleaning week) and try to post them as I go...

The Front view of house!
Kinda hard to take a picture because of the tree in the front yard, but you get the idea.

Back view, when we first moved. Now the scooter is moved and there is a BBQer there. oh and the garbage can is kept elsewhere :O)

More pretty roses. They were quite gangley when we moved in but Grandma Pam and Kristen at work helped me figure out how to cut and shape them. Now they're pretty again.

I believe these are Lillies and I have like 5 or 6 of them in the side flower bed. They are very pretty.

Boky looking in the sliding glass door.

I love this girl :o*

House Activities...

Things that we have done since we have had a house...

• mowed the lawn
• trimmed roses
• ran through the sprinklers
• BBQ ed our own dinner :o)
• went on a bike ride (this may not seem like a big deal but in our apartment there were no blocks to go around, but I guess that shouldn't have stopped us seeming how we did 3.2 miles)
• Sprayed weeds
• Sprayed bugs
• planted some grass seed
  
• bought a bug zapper
• Ate in our dining room
• Moved the piano in!! (Thanks Dad)
• talked about buying furniture
• pulled weeds
• set up the work out equipment
  
• stocked the pantry (mostly with JUNK)
  
• Hung a few pictures on the WALL

I know I said I'd get pictures on here, it just hasn't gotten to the top of my 'to do' list yet. We are SO loving the house and being able to do whatever we want. I still find myself trying to be quiet at night because of not being able to do anything at night in the apartment. Brooklyn is still wanting to go outside every minute of the day and I find myself wanting to go out as well now that we have our own space. The sidewalk chalk has been put to a lot of use since the move. We also had our first sleep over (with Jamie and Jade) this week. Now we are going to be getting ready to have some BBQ's with our friends and family :o)