A facelift for the kitchen

Ever since we moved into this house we (I think me more than Bryce) had planned to refinish the wood floors --which needed to be done very badly the past few years-- and change the color to something more our style. Bryce was in the middle of getting his master's degree so we decided to wait till he was done before undertaking such a big project. He has now been graduated for almost 4 years and with lots of convincing on MY part... he conceided to finally taking the plunge and getting it done. Well... since the cabinets and railing matches the floor, and I wanted the floor a darker color, those things needed to change too. I wanted white cabinets and with our white countertops that we already had... the countertops needed to change too. :) After lots of looking, price checking, stressing, etc... here is what we ended up having done: *Put in laminate countertops in the granite color that I loved *Installed a new stainless steel sink and faucet which I love cause it is way bigger and deeper than our other sink! *Painted the kitchen cabinets white, repainted the kitchen doors and kitchen trim *Added handles to the drawers and cabinets *Removed the wooden ballisters from the railing and replaced them with iron oil rubbed bronzed ballisters *Stained the railing darker *Sanded, stained and refinished the wood floors a darker color. Luckily we had most of the work done by professionals and that was such a blessing to turn those things over to them! I have to give a big shout out to our painter, Mike Stevens, who did an absolutely AMAZING job on the railing, cabinets, doors and trim!!! He was also a HUGE lifesaver when the copper pipe that feeds water to the fridge decided to crack and leak all over in the basement in the middle of this project. He stopped what he was working on and came down to help me get it stopped and guided me on what to do to start drying everything out. (Of course Bryce was out of town when this all went down.) I will have to do lots more thanks at the end of this post cause I wouldn't have survived it without lots of support! :) Anyway- on to the pictures!
Before: Ignore the mess-- I can't seem to find the picture I took where it was actually all cleaned up.  And those are little paint cards on the kitchen cabinets from
 me trying to decide on which "white" I liked.

I am SO happy it is all finished! I love the way it looks and am dying to go find some sweet rugs and a few other colorful accessories to add into my new look! It has been one insane month and a half but we survived thanks to lots of great friends and family assisting me along the way. Big hugs are owed to Bryce for the projects he did himself and for all of the inconvenience it caused him when he didn't have one bit of interest in doing any of this. THANKS EVERYONE!!! Now to paint the kitchen stools red.... :) P.S. I have many more important posts to make-- like Mason's 2nd b-day and such but after fighting this website for the past hour and a half to do this simple post-- it is going to have to wait for another night.

A small toilet triumph!

Mason peed in the toilet for the first time today! Such a proud and happy moment! He likes to get on the toilet several times a day and half of the time I find him naked from the waist down cause he wants to get on but it is always AFTER he has done his business in his diaper. I am sure it was a fluke tonight that he went and I don't expect him potty trained overnight but we are taking steps in the right direction!

It is funny cause Bryce and I always joke that he will be potty trained before he talks. This might be true. Mason now has 4 words in his vocabulary (doubling that from the last week of 2 words) and about 10 different signs. He is my little "stealth mode" child.

Cross your fingers we will have more toilet triumphs and can get this kid out of diapers!!!

FYI- Mason is almost 22 months old.

Heartbroken and Grateful...

For all of my tears you would think that I had just lost my own mother and in a way I kindof felt like I did. Judy Dimond, aka... Matt & Michelle's mom, aka... Sis. Dimond was like my second mom. I spent practically every spare second I had in high school over at my best friend, Michelle Dimond's house. I had many chats with her mom at the kitchen table as we hung out or I waited for Michelle to finish getting ready for something. I was included in many family get-togethers, went up to their family ranch with them, attending church basketball games for the boys and giggling with the girls. Judy was always so welcoming, loving, funny and busy serving everyone around her, especially her family. She lived for her family and fought valiantly to stay with them as long as she could. She was a huge example of what it meant to be a loving mother and wife to me. I hope my home is filled with the same love that she filled hers with. It was a place that was always nice to be.

I can still remember just like yesterday one night that the group of boys that Michelle and I always hung out with (including Michelle's twin brother, Matt) thought it would be funny to scare the living daylights out of us girls by turning off the car's headlights and driving down Canyon Road in Cedar Hills towards Pleasant Grove. We were so scared, mad and totally shaken up by the experience and we wanted revenge. We were sitting at Dimond's kitchen table trying to come up with a plan (and this is at least 10 pm) when in walks Judy. We hushed our talking since we didn't want her to know that we were planning something mean against her own son and instead she had already caught wind of our situation and came in to HELP! I was blown away by her sense of humor. We ended up making some cookies with horrible ingredients in them and took them over to Jon Taylor's house where the guy's were hanging out. We had attached an apology note on the plate of cookies saying how sorry we were for yelling at them. They were pleased with our peace offering and immediatley dove right into the cookies. It took about 5 seconds for the shock and disgust to hit them as they realized they had been punked. Judy's just laughed as we told her the reactions of the boys. Never did Judy have a mean bone in her body but she did have a sense of humor.

Today as tributes were made and goodbye were said I can't help but think of all the angelic work that she did while she was here and what great things she must be doing in heaven. There isn't a life that she didn't come in contact with that wasn't deeply touched by Judy. She taught her kids well and they will continue on her legacy of faith and love. I know that she will be reunited with those that she had to so sadly leave behind this week and that does bring comfort. My heart still breaks and the tears flow as I think about all of the times that they will wish that she was still here with them as new grandbabies will be born, her last son will be married, birthdays will be celebrated and quiet moments of advice and hugs can't be given.

Sis. Dimond- thank you for making such a huge impact on my life, teaching me true happiness and letting me be a part of your family for so many years. I will miss your infectious smile, your contagious laugh that filled the room and your warm heart that enveloped everyone. You are truly an angel and I wished I would have told you sooner.

Putting things in perspective

As I whine about small inconveniences in my life I just have to take 30 seconds to log in and read the update on my sweet friend's family and I have no more complaints. I am actually embarrassed that I was even complaining in the first place cause not once have I ever heard Lisy or Tyler complain!

Lisy is the cute little mom of this amazingly strong little bunch. Lisy has always been such a positive example to me in my life. It has also been fun getting to know her husband, Tyler, a little bit more over the past year and a half that Lisy and I have had a chance to reconnect (thanks to Braxton and Matthew becoming instant best friends in kindergarten).

Anyway- if you need a reality check on how good your life really is-- take a moment to check out their blog. Just a warning- have tissues on hand.

http://fishesformarrowwishes.blogspot.com