New Found Love

For the past 5-6 months I have had a cooking bug. I have spent hours reading and researching baking and cooking. No particular reason, just seems like a skill anyone can benefit from. Of course any thing I do must be organized. So all my recipes are digital and sorted by category. I only enter the ones I have tried/changed and liked. I'm almost complete with my "baking station." I have an entire section of my kitchen designated for baking. Well my office and Skylier have certainly benefited from my practice. I usually have two-three new desserts a week. Dinners are not quite as frequently new... I still return to some simple, familiar recipes several times a week. Plus, sometimes buying all the ingredients for new recipes is expensive. I found a neat blog that has photos and recipes. The pics just make your mouth water, and for me, excite me to try the challenging new recipe. I've never photographed my food before but I thought this cake was so pretty. It was simple and has fresh fruit, which I always love. It stayed moist for days. Watch for more delicious food photos!!!

Welcome to the 21st Century

Also while my parents were visiting, my mom discovered the PSP. She was pretty amused with the technology. She sat and watched/played for quite awhile. Skylier was patiently answering her questions and helping her figure it out. Who knows... she might have a PSP on her Christmas List this year.

Along the same lines, I was talking to my mom on the phone the other day, and I needed to call a business in Rupert. So while we were still talking I googled it. A few minutes after I already had the number, she offered to look it up in the phone book. It made me smile when she was just shocked I just looked it up. It will be interesting to see how technology changes and what inventions I will be SHOCKED about. Love you mom!

Dad, Mom & Brian

Rottweiler Plantation

My parents and brother came to town a few weeks ago. They mostly came to see the dentist, but I'll take them any way I can. I thought it was amusing that most of the time, we were out numbered dogs to people. Sky and I have two adult rottweilers, so having my parents 120+ pound rot at my house too... is a whole lot of rots!! But we wouldn't have it any other way. My dad always says "Our house has gone to the dogs."

(right to left) Allie, Harley & Sam

Notice how they are setting on every one's feet. They LOVE people and can't get enough attention. They love it when company comes. Harley would prefer to be home asleep on the couch, unbothered by people or canine.

Living Room

After my kitchen was complete I moved onto the living room. About the same demo as the kitchen... new lighting, electrical, sheet rock and texture, trim work, carpet and paint. This was a lot more manageable and went pretty quick. I'm really happy with the final product, the only thing left to do is some final accessories that I'm having a hard time deciding on.

The wall behind the TV is causing me problems... I just want something more on the wall, but don't want clutter...

This is my lonely piece of art on my entry wall. I'm at a loss for ideas... I wanted a console table but afraid it will stick out too far into the walk way. I have been considering some sort of shelf but just haven't figured out the perfect solution. Any Ideas??

This arrangement in the corner is actually a source of controversy in my house. Believe it or not Skylier has a strong opinion about decor. He doesn't have ideas or suggestion just strong objections when he doesn't like something. So I would love your honest opinion. I personally love the tall vases and the flowers I picked, I love the shadow it puts on the wall and I think the height fills the empty corner without fealing heavy or dark. But since I'm not exceptionally confident in my decorating skills.... I have left the tags on. Let me know what you think - should it stay or should it go.....

Kitchen Mini-Re-Model

I have had several requests for pictures of my "almost finished" mini-remodel. So just some insight on where I started.. I bought my house in Orem in July 2007. Almost immediately I began planning all the changes I wanted to make. None of which would have been possible with out my mom and dad and brother.

The day after Thanksgiving it began....in the kitchen. Holes in every wall in the kitchen, including the exterior wall, all the kitchen cabinets & appliances removed, a large window was removed, soffits tour down, and all the old lighting & electrical removed. To say the least... it was a mess. Over the next month, the sheet rock (walls and ceiling) was replaced or repaired and textured, a new exterior door and window were hung, new under counter lights and recess cans were installed, all new light switches and plug ins were placed, the cabinets were hung, new trim and finish work was done and everything was painted. The kitchen was completed just in time to have Christmas Eve dinner at my house with my family, including my grandma. Since then, not much other cooking has happened in my kitchen. I have a few things left to do. I want new appliances, counter tops and to try staining my cabinets, but that will have to wait until my back yard is finished.

The door and window use to be one big window.. The only way to get to the back yard was out the front door and around the house. This is a huge improvement, especially with our dogs. This is also the reason I need a deck, since there was nothing there before, there are no steps.

The lighting is probably my favorite change. These pictures don't do it justice. I plan to stain my cabinets to match my dark mahogany colored table.

The under counter lights are all along the counters and are controlled by their own switch. It looks so cool to have all the other lights off and just the under counter lights on. THANKS BRIAN!!!!

More Cali Pics

Skylier and Crystal at the Beach in Santa Cruz.

That's as far as Skylier would go, he didn't even get his feet wet.

"It's too cold..." What a wimp!

Shelby wasn't scared, she went completely in and was riding the waves!

The pier at Santa Cruz

Skylier, Shelby, Athina & Crystal

So a kind of funny, after the fact story. At Lake Tahoe, which I have no pictures, Sky & I got really sun burned. Anyone who knows me, knows I always get sun burned. But this time Skylier got it worse. He actually ended up at the emergency room twice on Thursday. He had a severe reaction to his sun burn and broke out in hives, was itchy and in a lot of pain. So after three shots in the rear end, poor guy, and three days of 4 pills every 4-6 hours, and some r&r he was back to normal. So Tahoe went from one of his favorite spots to a "I'm never going there again." Of course this is funny now that he is completely recovered.

Trip to Cali

Skylier and I just returned from a little sand and sun in California. We went to see his sister that lives in Sacramento, to bring his little sister home and to just get away. And boy did we need it. Life has been a little rough the last few weeks but everything seems better in California!! We started in Oakland - where Skylier and I met two couples at dinner and ended up spending the entire evening with them. One was from Salt Lake and the other from Oakland. We didn't see too many sights but had great conversation. The next day we headed to San Francisco where we met up with two of Skylier's sisters (Athina & Shelby) and a couple from Orem (Steven & Bobbi) that came with us. Neither Sky or I have been to San Fran before so we did the basic tourist things. We spent 2 days there. Too many favorites to list but loved Pier 39, the sea lions, the boat ride around Alcatraz, the golden gate bridge, the bay in general & the Giants game. We missed out on all the shopping... :( but maybe next time. On day 4 we headed to Santa Cruz. We only had 1 day & 1 night there and I could have stayed days. It was REALLY cold but we went down to the beach. Shelby was the only that went swimmng but we all got our feet wet. We walked the pier and the board walk, enjoyed more sea lions and great food. Especially the candied apples! We had a great hotel, within eye sight and walking distance of the coast. Monday morning we left pretty early to head to Sacramento. We stopped at The Mystery Spot. It's a phenomenon where the gravitational force is off. We took the tour, it was pretty cool but made me and Shelby dizzy... The pictures didn't turn out great but it's only $5, if your in the area it's worth stopping. Tuesday we spent the entire day at Lake Tahoe. This was probably one of the high lights of our trip. We spent ALL day in the lake playing Frisbee, we rented a paddle boat and laid out. We ended up with serious sunburns!! This will defiantly be a place we will return, it would be fun camping and boating! Wednesday we headed back to Oakland to catch a flight home. We are glad to be home and missed our puppies... Athina was a great host! If your in Sacramento area let me know, she knows all the great places.

Skylier, Shelby (click on the pic to see her hair) & Athina AT&T Ball Park - San Francisco Giants vs LA Dodgers

Manny Rameriz just got traded to the Dodgers and is one of Skylier's favorite players. So it was a really exciting game to watch.

After the game we went for dessert. Athina new his great restaraunt that served giant pizookie's. I love this pic of Sky & Me, who know a cookie could be so fun. Upper right is Athina & Shelby, lower right is Steven & Bobbi.