So, there's this guy...

So, this guy...

He is great to have around the house...

He is on-time...

He is good with the kids...

He listens to me...

He is dependable...

He works hard...

He really makes me feel that making ME happy is what is most important to him...

I sleep better at night knowing he is watching out for me...

I don't think he is afraid of ANYTHING...

(...And other than J and T, he just might be the only guy I cant live without...)

Enter:Justin, bug guy.

I was talking with J the other night about the show Survivor. We were talking about what the contestants do for a shot at a million dollars. I mean, its a lot of money. The things I could do with a million dollars! Heck, the things I could do with 125 dollars! (which happens to be the amount of money KW was paid to eat a beetle the size of my little finger). But to be absolutely honest...I couldn't do it. Its not in the Bible or anything but I'm pretty sure after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, Eve looked at Adam and said " You have GOT to be kidding me...I don't remember a mention of bugs in this plan..."

I promised myself these: would not be a part of my life anymore. Once in Hawaii, one of my roommates grabbed a box of cereal and poured herself a nice big bowl of Lucky Charms and Roaches. Oh, you haven't heard of it? Yeah, its full of sugar and protein. Nothing like watching your cereal look back at you before making a clean getaway. As if that wasn't enough for my low bug tolerance later that night as I was laying in bed (in 86 degree weather, no AC in my house, and a sheet stuffed tightly around my body), I heard that disgusting noise of little legs crawling along the walls and the floor. I reach over and clicked on the lamp and right above me on the wall was a cockroach a good 4-5 inches long just waiting to attack me in my most vulnerable state. We made eye-contact, he smirked at me, I picked up a shoe, he ran. As he ran away I'm certain I heard him saying "I'll be back." Didn't sleep much the rest of that night-or that year. I began sleeping flat on my back with a shoe under my arm and a flashlight (left on) shining on the wall above my head. I assumed that since I rarely saw cockroaches during the day that they must be scared of the light. I danno..made sense in my head. I also heard that those particular bugs get eaten by gecko's. I chose the lesser of 2 evils and I recruited a couple of geckos to put in my room.

When we bought our house last year I told J that he had to find me a good quality bug guy. He asked around at work and found a co-worker who shares my animosity for such creatures and she told us about the company she used. She said "I called a bunch of people in the phone book and BULWARK was the only one who GUARANTEED against scorpions." (Um...Come again? Scorpions...add that one to the list.) I verified that with a scorpion guarantee also comes death to cockroaches, crickets, beetles, ants, etc.

Its not just the interior. I mean, its awesome that I can get up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night without a having to check the toilet seat first. Its wicked cool that I can leave dishes in my kitchen sink and there are NO bugs feasting on them when I wake up in the morning. Its flippin extraordinary that I can check on my kids and not find some nasty specimen CRAWLING ON MY KIDS FOREHEAD while he is sleeping (true story). But do you know how cool it is that as I walk down the street at night my house is the ONLY one that doesn't have crickets and cockroaches out on the prowl?!?

Before we put our sod in, we noticed we had ants all over the pre-determined sod area. Not just a few, but like a zillion and 3/4 of a billion. Justin noticed it and said "Hey, I saw you have ants back there, why don't I come back next week and bring my super awesome, powerful, die ants die spray and take a shot at it." Um...OKAY. He did...FOUR TIMES till those buggers were ERADICATED! Gone-done for-outa here. By the way, did I mention that EVERY FOLLOW-UP was FREE! I'm talking no charge, keep your pennies in your pocket, on the house, FREE.

Have I mentioned that in the (almost) year we have lived her I have only seen 2 spiders in my house, and 2 (dead) cockroaches in my garage. Boo to the YEAH.

So, call this a testimonial, an advertisement, a shout-out, or just plain old LOVE. But Justin, You had me at hello...You had me at hello.

For all you Vegas (and AZ, UT, GA, TX) area readers, if you are interested (and I know you are) check out:

http://www.bulwarkpestcontrol.com/lasvegaspestcontrol.php?gclid=CLnstaCPrKkCFQEQbAod_xGPKA

(Please leave a comment if you think this post deserves to WIN 1 year of free Bulwark Service and if you think that Justin deserves a raise... :) )

A few more pix of la Casa

Ahhh...My favorite room. My kitchen. It is a working kitchen so it is rarely clear of dishes and food. It looks okay in the pix. :)

1 more of the kitchen.

Downstairs bathroom/Guest bathroom. It isnt quite as blue as it looks. Its more of a "sea breeze" blue (thats what the can said).

The entry way from the landing. It looks a little weird. I love the tile-its one of my favorite features.

Entry way to stairs from front door. Living and dining are to the left and family room is through the large archway at the right of the stairs.

Living room area. I know the pictures aren't centered on the sofa. I am still playing with furniture placement. If only I had a piano then I would know where to put everything.

Dining area. We use this everyday. We always eat out meals as a family at the dining table.

Still to come is the master bed/bath, family room, and guest room. I will keep you on edge till the next post.

My 4th Anniversary.

Today was my 4th anniversary of becoming a mother. My sweet little TJ turned 4 and it was a big day for me. This was the first birthday he had that he wasn't my baby. This was the first time we had a big "all for TJ" party. It was the first birthday in a new house and a new place, and his first birthday without cousins and grandparents. :(

It was a good day though. He woke up happy, he was thrilled the whole day and he couldn't have been happier about us falling all over him. This afternoon he looked at his daddy and said "I sure do like it when its my birthday."

I love this little guy so much. He has changed my life. Because if him, I got something that I can never lose or have taken away from me. He made me a mom. 4 years ago he stole my heart (and every night of sleep since then).

Happy Birthday TJ! I love you so much. You are the funniest, sweetest, smartest and most handsome 4 year old I know!

The new digs

This is just the upstairs landing area. I just really like our wrap around banister and I am going to make that wall with a lot more family pictures.

I am still doing LOTS of work on this room. Its the Hockey and hobby room. Still have lots of hockey stuff to hang up and it needs furniture. We have a twin bed to use as a secondary guest room and we want to put a computer desk in here. For now its where I do all my sewing projects.

T's room (obviously) The blue wall isnt quite as bright as the pictures makes it seem. Still working on his decor as well. (Cant quite figure out what to do on the wall above his bed!)

Kids bathroom and my cute boy. There are frogs everywhere...cant really see them in the pic though.

This is MJ's room. I still have a lot of work to do in terms of decor... I thought about buying a black crib but opted out. Above her bed there are flowers and butterflies and the frames say "MJ" and ladybugs surrounding the frames. And...to draw your attention to the ADORABLE dust ruffle...yeah, I MADE THAT. (quickly becoming my favorite room in the house -other than the kitchen- and the room I am most proud of!)

This is our loft which we call our playroom. :) On the wall above the couch I am going to put lots of pix of my kids playing and on the wall above the hockey net I am going to put a large corkboard to display all of the beautiful artwork that is accumulating on my fridge. :)

So enjoy this post, it could be awhile before you get another one. I still have the whole downstairs to take pix of as well as the master bed/bath. Aren't you excited. If you dont want to wait for pictures you are WELCOME to come and stop in. :)

I need to update

I need to update the blog, and the layout. I just dont know how-I will figure it out somehow. Plus I dont know if I have any cute recent pictures of baby MJ--pictures where she looks like a girl and not a replica of her brother and father. Shes cute, dont get me wrong-she just needs a little more hair or something. This is a big week for me. My good friend is coming to Vegas for a photography conference and she will be taking pictures for me. Pix of my kids, pix of the fam, pix of it all. Not sure this has happened in YEARS. It will be fun to have new updated pix of us-add a little flavor to this drab blog. Im excited to have new pictures. The world deserves to see the beauty that is my children.

Resolution

Lets try not to stress out so much shall we? Done.

Our Christmas Card

We aren't Christmas Card people but if we were to do one, this is the year to do it I guess. It has been quite a year for us.

We started the year with J in his last semester at the University of Utah completing his Doctorate of Physical Therapy and having some interviews for jobs. He graduated in May and began working for Las Vegas Rehab (a Kindred Health facility) shortly there after. T and I stayed with my mom in Orem, UT until we welcomed MJ, the newest addition to our family in the middle of June. The first week of July the kids and I made the trip to Las Vegas. A few months later we were able to purchase our first home. We are so blessed to have such a beautiful home.

J is continuing to play hockey as well as ref. He enjoys his job and he is very good at it. He is pretty much the go-to guy for wounds in the rehab division.

T is quickly approaching 4 years old and he is getting way to smart for his own good. We are all very anxious and excited to get him in school! He adores his baby sister and has a deep love and concern for her. Every morning when he wakes up the first thing he does is run into her room.

MJ has now passed her 6 month mark and is learning and developing perfectly. She is getting all to close to wanting to crawl and she and her brother have such an incredible bond. She prefers him to everyone else and smiles for him in a way she wont smile for anyone else.

I am trying to keep up with two children. Its true what they say...it is more than double the work of one! But completely worth it.

We are excited to see what a new year brings!

We love all of our friends and family and the support we have received from everyone.

Merry Christmas!