Home Sweet Home

Two years ago we had a mama bird come and build a nest in our BBQ. It was actually really funny at the time because Jared opened the grill and asked me why I filled it with sticks and leaves...not sure why he thought I would put dirt and sticks in our BBQ (I hope I could play a better practical joke then that!) Anyway, once we realized it was the beginnings of a bird's nest we cleaned it out, thoroughly disinfected the grill and bought a grill cover which solved the problem. Our grill cover ripped on Sunday and we haven't bought a new one yet. When I opened our window blinds this morning, I noticed a few birds coming and going constantly. I went an opened the grill cover and this is what I found...

Apparently we underestimated a bird's memory (or some other bird thought a BBQ is a great place for a nest). This really happened in only a couple of days because we just used the BBQ at the beginning of the week. I feel bad that we have to destroy it, but we BBQ at least 1-2 times per week. So, once again we will have to go through the pain of cleaning it up and completely disinfecting it. If you have a BBQ make sure you get a cover because you never know what bird might think it would make a great home!!!

Happy Easter Weekend!

The Lord has risen...He has risen indeed!!!

Fridgalicious!

When we decided to stay in this house, we made a "wish list" of things that we would like to update or fix. The list is really extensive and some things will probably never happen; however, we both listed our top 3 items for things we would like to do first. Number 1 on both of our lists was a new refrigerator (new carpet would have been number 1 on my list, but since that was already done, a refrigerator became number 1). This may not sound very exciting, but both of us have wanted a bigger, nicer fridge for a long time. Our refrigerator and freezer was always STUFFED. People came over to the house and comment on how much food we had, but the reality is we didn't have a lot of food, our fridge was just tiny. We could never buy much frozen food or goodies because our freezer was always full (it was sometimes hard to get the door closed). I have wanted to make and freeze meals for awhile now, but that hasn't been an option. Anyway...we now have a new refrigerator and it is REALLY big. We put our old one in the garage, so now we have all the room we could ever want. I honestly can't imagine ever filling both at this point because we have so much room now. Here are some before and afters, with basically the same amount of food (I did go through and throw away some expired salad dressings, but besides that, everything is the same).

Before #1
We had room on both sides of the fridge and room up above that I used for storage.

After #1
As you can see there is absolutely no extra room on either side or above. I think we have about an inch clearance. I know it looks big, but it doesn't really look that out of place, and it doesn't stick out any farther than our old fridge.

Before #2

Here is our fridge and freezer full of food. I tried to organize it but after awhile it looked stuffed no matter what I did.

After #2

Here it is and I love it!

There is actually still a ton of room and everything is easy to reach and see. I love having the refrigerator on top and there is a built in filtered water spout on the side, so we will always have cold water. The freezer is big and holds a lot of big bags of food. I already went to Costco and bought some frozen fruit in bulk (for smoothies) and some meat.

Here is our old fridge, in the garage, all clean and almost empty.

We are excited to continue making our "wish list" a reality! It is so fun to get new things and to make our house nicer to live in!!!

Houseguests and Sleepovers

Last week my brother and sister-in-law came out to visit us for 5 days. We had such a good time with them. We toured Boise and the surrounding area, did some shopping, ate at some yummy restaurants and went to a movie. The weather was pretty nice, so it was fun to walk around downtown and go to some parks. Unfortunately I forgot to take many pictures, except at this one park.

Here is Trever and Anna.

Jared did not want to have his picture taken that day, but like a good sport agreed to take a picture with me (and some ducks in the background)!

Apparently this park has the oldest Ponderosa in the United States... Trever, Anna and I had to check it out!

Like I said we had a great time with them (although these pictures are kind of pathetic) and I always love to have my family visit!!

Last night we had a sleepover with our 3 year old niece. This was the first time we kept her overnight, so I was a little nervous, but she did great and we had a fun time.

We made chocolate chip cookies, played outside, went to Target, had a tea party, ate pizza for dinner and watched Bolt.

Our niece was very excited to get to sleep in a sleeping bag next to our bed. She thought that was pretty fun and Jared kept her up giggling and goofing off for quite awhile.

We realized that hosting a 3-year old is exhausting but is also really fun. She is at a fun age and a real cutie. I will admit that I did take a nap this afternoon when I got home from church though!!

New House...

So, our life has been REALLY uneventful and I haven't been able to think of a single thing to post lately. Basically, we have been adjusting to our new normal without Lucy and working.

In one of my first posts I talked about the fact that we were contemplating selling our house. Well...we cleaned out closets, packed unnecessary "stuff", simplified rooms, washed and painted floorboards, caulked and painted walls, replaced our carpet, had the windows professionally cleaned, had our furnace serviced, cleaned out the garage, and thoroughly cleaned the house. After all was said and done we decided not to sell the house! I know it sounds crazy after all the work we went through but we both really felt like the Lord was telling us that now was not the right time. We spent a lot of time in prayer and in the end the Lord laid it upon both of our hearts to hold off and trust Him.

Honestly it was one of those moments in life in which I felt an incredible peace knowing the comfort that comes from trusting the Lord. I was feeling like it might not be the right time to sell the house and Jared was thinking the same thing. We didn't know how to tell the other person thinking that they would be disappointed. Once we finally talked about it, I felt so encouraged by the fact that the Lord was so good to speak to both of us and give us both the same answer at the exact same time.

Now, we have a great house that is clean, has new carpet and is organized! I am thankful we did everything because I don't think I would have been motivated to clean and organize the entire house otherwise. It is very freeing to have less "stuff" around and to simplify. We both are now motivated to keep it that way.

I am not worrying about the future, knowing that if we need a different house someday, God is going to be faithful to provide. Right now I can just be at peace knowing that I have a God who loves me and cares enough about my life to take care of little details such as buying and selling a house!!

"For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will hear you. You will seek me and find me. When you seek me with all your heart, I will be found by you, declares the Lord..."

Jeremiah 29:11

Amen!!!

Lucy

Today was one of the hardest days of our life. Last night, Lucy was doing good... She went on a nice long walk with Jared, devoured her dinner and cuddled up and fell asleep with me. She knew we needed a really good night, and being as amazing as she is, she gave us one. About 2am I woke up to Lucy struggling to breath. Her breathing was short and heavy and it was clear that something was VERY wrong. She would not move, eat, drink, and her neck lymph nodes had swollen severely; it was obvious that she was suffering.

Two weeks ago we had received final confirmation that Lucy did in fact have Lymphoma. We decided not to pursue any chemotherapy, and put her on the drug prednisone (a steroid) and were given an outcome of 10-14 days. Lucy's lymph nodes reduced dramatically and she returned, for the most part, to healthy activity. We have watched her energy slowly decline, but had made a deal with her. We asked her to fight as long as she could and when she couldn't fight anymore, we would let her go.

We had a very special night with Lucy, loving on her and cuddling. This morning we had a very nice time with her that allowed us to say goodbye. At 10:45 we had to do the most difficult thing we have ever faced, and we put Lucy to sleep. She was such an amazing dog that words will never do her justice. God was incredibly good to us and allowed us to have much more time with her than any of the doctors and information that we had read diagnosed. Lucy was a sweet puppy (4 years old...) full of love, and is at peace now. No pain, cancer, ear infections, seasonal allergies, pink eye, water sensitive skin, etc. She will be greatly missed.

I know in my heart that we will see her again in heaven and that she is having the time of her life right now. We have a huge vacancy in our hearts and the house already doesn't feel right. However, God is good and He will take care of Lucy for us until we are reunited.

We love you and miss you dearly

Compliments?!

At work this week we had a "team building" activity where we had to write down 3 compliments for each co-worker. I tried to think of core values each person had such as friendly, compassionate, generous, caring, etc. Apparently some co-workers don't know me very well or some decided to just get through the activity quickly. I had some very nice things written about me and then there were others that made me laugh...I thought I would share the top 5 that made me laugh and say "hmmm"

5. Beautiful Eyes

4. Dresses Lovely

3. Nice Hair

2. Stays so Teeny Tiny

1. Excellent Penmanship (this one actually made me laugh outloud)

More to come later on my Valentine weekend!

P.S. Lucy is still hanging on and we are thankful for each day we have left with our sweet puppy. Her lymphnodes are getting really large and swollen again, but she is still eating and going potty. We think we are down to our final days, so please pray for us. We have both been experiencing a deep sense of sadness again.

Friday Night Lights

Jared and I were getting a little bored of some shows on T.V. and decided to add "Friday Night Lights" to Netflix to see what it was all about. We hadn't heard much about the show, but decided to give it a shot. Well....we LOVE it!! I don't know why the show doesn't get more attention because it is soooo good! I love watching football games and watching football movies and this show allows me to do both at the same time. Plus, the plot and characters are so good that it almost feels like I am watching reality T.V. (which I also love). Last night Jared and I decided to watch the Pilot episode. We got hooked and 7 episodes later we finally went to bed. We stayed up until 1:30 in the morning watching episode after episode. A little obsessive I know, but it was so much fun watching it together. I love that they are on Netflix because then we bypass all of the commercials. Anyway, I thought I should share my latest T.V. obsession. I am a little bummed though because the show is only on its 3rd season, which means we will be caught up soon :(

In other news, we found out for certain on Tuesday of this week that our sweet puppy definitely has lymphoma (cancer of the lymph nodes). We had to make some difficult decisions and decided not to pursue chemotherapy. Although dogs respond well to chemo and it doesn't make them sick like it does humans, best case scenario would only give us about 9 months to a year and the cost would be around $5,000. Instead she is now doped up on a steroid called prednisone and feeling good. The prednisone will work for awhile (weeks at best) and will allow her to eat and have energy again. Needless to say, this week has been tough and many tears have been shed. It seems silly to some to get so attached to a pet, but she is a part of our family and a big hole will be left when she is gone. We just really love her a lot. We are enjoying the time we have and are glad that for now she feels good. Once she stops eating again and shows some other signs of decline, it will be time to put her down. Since this is not a fun topic, I thought I would post a cute video of her playing in the snow to show how cute she is!! This was on our trip out to Oregon over Christmas. We stopped and let her play for a bit and she loves the snow!