New Projects!!!

As many of you know, owning a house means a lot of projects. One thing gets done, and there are ten more things that turn up.

Well, we started this project on New Year's Eve, and we're not even half way with it. However, when it's finished, I will be so happy! It will look beautiful. So, what we're doing is redoing our kitchen and hallway floors. This is a hard task for us, because first, we had to pull up the carpet, and guess what we found . . . 50 year old linoleum! Not only was it super old and disgusting, but it was hideous! It was tan, but it looked like someone stepped one shoe in green paint and the other in red paint, and walked all over the floor! It was horrible! So, we pulled that up as well. Underneath all those layers is hardwood floors. We have decided to refinish our hardwood floors, but it is taking a long time, because the paper backing from the linoleum was glued onto the hardwood floors. Now, we are in the process of scraping up the gluey paper. We COULD just rent a big sander and get it done, but that would create so much dust that we'd be cleaning up dust for months. So, for now, I spend 1-2 hours a day scraping the floor. But hey, I think it's worth it for beautiful hardwood floors. Plus, all this manual labor gets me in shape. :) So, after all the scraping and final sand job, it will be time for stain and then the polyurethane topcoat. Wish us luck that it will work out like we plan!

Lance is pulling up the horrible carpet. Seriously! Who wants carpet in their kitchen? That's just asking for mold problems!

I'm cleaning the hideous linoleum floor. This picture makes it look a lot prettier than it really is. I'm glad to be rid of it!

I'm scraping away!

Another project that I have been working on this week is a French memo board. It's kind of hard to explain, so there is a picture. Here is what I did: I got a big picture frame that I never use. Then I hot glued some cotton on it to make it soft and padded. Then I covered the whole thing with fabric (attached with hot glue, or you can staple gun it). Then I attached ribbon in a diagonal criss-cross pattern. I attached them only at the ends. I elected to sew it by hand, but you can also staple gun it. I still haven't decided if I want to attach buttons or not. It looks good now, but buttons might give it a better look. But I don't have enough buttons to cover it, so I'll have to buy some. It's really cute and super easy to make!

Finished product. Right now it's in my kitchen and I slip some of my favorite recipes into it to remind me to make them.

I'm excited for many new projects in the future!

-Michelle

Fight Like a Girl

This week has been a very emotional one for my family. One of my cousins was diagnosed with breast cancer, and another cousin, on the same side, passed away from having cancer. Two of my aunts have recently recovered from cancer, and so the girls in my family have a new motto, "Fight Like a Girl." I decided, as a tribute to all women who have suffered with cancer, to write a poem.

Fight Like a Girl

When you get the news of that dreaded disease,
You immediately start to fall on your knees.
You think God will never hear your pleas,
Try instead, to think of the day you can seize.

Think of the many people you love.
Think of the many gifts from above.
Life can be gentle as a dove,
Or it can be harsh like a push or a shove.

Life has its mysteries you want to unfurl
Before you go out with a curtsy and twirl.
You feel very weak, your head's in a whirl,
But remember to fight, fight like a girl.

-Michelle

Texas

Well, Lance had to go to Texas again for work, but guess what!!! This time I got to go with!!! His office is in Austin, so that's where we stayed. Austin is a pretty cool city. I got to drive around a lot. It was hard to find a parking spot that didn't cost a fortune to park, so driving around was mostly what I did. However, I found a couple places to stop.

Lance showed me the bridge that has the world's largest bat colony in it. However, since it's January, the bats decided to migrate south for the winter. There were still a few left, though. I know most of you are thinking, "ewe! Gross!! Bats!!" But the only gross thing about it was the smell. The bats don't attack, so it's fine.

Me in front of the bat bridge, letting you know it's stinky.

While Lance was at work, I drove around a bit. I stopped at a series of boutiques. I didn't want to buy anything there, not because I'm cheap, but because it wasn't really something I would buy, but it was fun to look. There was this antique store with a bunch of cool things. There was also this blown glass boutique that had cool stuff, but they wouldn't really fit in with my decor.

Austin buildings. Look at the swan paddle boats!!! SWEET!!!

Austin city skyline at night

When Lance was off of work, we drove around a little further, in the outskirts of Austin. There was this hill area that was awesome! It had huge houses. Apparently a few famous people live around there, so maybe we drove past their houses.

Our hotel had free breakfast. Lance's waffle was shaped like the state of Texas. I laughed about this the whole day.

The day we came home, we had a long time before we needed to be at the airport, so we drove to San Antonio and saw the Alamo. It was awesome!!! There is a lot of old architecture and pretty plants, and we learned a lot about Texas history. We also walked around the streets of San Antonio. There is a river walk there that was absolutely stunning! I wished that we'd had another day to stay there, because it was really beautiful, plus, there were lights on the trees that would have looked pretty amazing at nighttime. We also saw the San Antonio temple, and Lance showed me the resort he stayed at a long time ago (amazing, by the way!)

The resort Lance stayed at in October. HUGE!!! And very beautiful!

Plants inside the Alamo

The River Walk

The Alamo

San Antonio Temple

We had a great week together, and I hope we can visit Texas again some day.

It's Goal-Settin' Time!

Hi there! I hope that everyone had fantastic holidays! Mine were super fun! We got to hang-out with family a LOT, I got some great presents, and the people who I gave presents to were happy with what they got. I couldn't ask for anything more . . . well, in all reality, I could, but it would seem ungrateful of me to do so. There's always more to ask for. :)

So, it's another new year, and with that comes new goals. Well, not always for me, but this year, I'm trying to set goals to become a better person. So, here are my top ten goals for 2011 in no particular order:

1- Read my scriptures and pray daily. I do this most of the time, but sometimes I forget or get too busy. I need to knock that off!

2- Go to the temple once a month. I really need to work on this big time.

3- Organize my house, and KEEP it organized. Seriously! I organize all the time, but two seconds later, it's cluttered again!

4- Think positive. If I have a negative comment, I have to think about three positive things right away.

5- Write down the stories that I think about in my head. I can't tell you how often I daydream about crazy stories. Maybe I'll become a famous author one day. :)

6- Serve others more. You can never serve enough!

7- Actually do my visiting teaching. Seriously! I THINK about going visiting teaching all of the time, but I never actually get around to going. Sorry to the ladies I visit teach! I really am thinking about you!

8- Learn more about plumbing. Holy CRUD!!! I can't tell you how many times something involving plumbing acts up! I'm sick of leaky sinks and nasty drains! I should just learn to fix it!

9- Exercise three times a week. Ever since I've been done with school, my exercise program has been a little sketchy, because I don't have a regular dance class. I need a regular routine to get rid of the newly acquired pudge on my body. Not to mention how much I need a cardio boost.

10- Make a new friend. I am a little shy around new people, so it's extremely hard for me to make new friends. Sure, I'll talk to people, but once the conversation is done, it could be months before I actually talk to them again, and usually, they're the ones asking me questions. I need to ask others questions too!

Well, there are ten of my many goals. Let's hope that writing them down and sharing them will help give me motivation to achieve them. If you have any tips or would like to nudge me along, feel free. I've got a lot of work to do this year. Wish me luck!