February 2023

February was crazy. I remember feeling overwhelmed and crying in my back closet at school during my prep period about all that was happening at school. Home life was pretty crazy too. Mark took care of all the construction management and a lot of the labor as well. He went and got almost all the supplies so our contractor guys could use their time  working at the house. Everyone was busy and life was pretty non-stop and a bit chaotic.

Our bathroom and bedroom area was looking really good! Mark's mom helped Mark paint everything.

Thankfully the flooring we got for a great price on Black Friday looked AMAZING when Mark started installing it.

We tried to enjoy the fish tank for a little bit because we knew very soon it would be going away.

I had to grab some pictures of our main living area even though it was already a mess with construction in the other part of the house. It was time to pack EVERYTHING up and move to our basement apartment...

...because construction had already begun in the main part of the house! I came home from school one day and the closets were gone and new framing was going up in their place.

I was not looking forward to packing up this pantry mess. I knew we would be ripping it all out soon, so I just kept throwing things in there with no plans to organize it until packing day. It's good for me to remember it this way. It gives me motivation to keep my new amazing pantry organized and beautiful.

This kitchen junk drawer was worse than the pantry. I was already halfway through it when I took this picture. It took a bit of effort to go through all our stuff in the kitchen and living room and get it all packed up. We were so blessed to have the basement apartment to use during this time. I don't think I would have survived without it.

We took a night off of work to go find some Peruvian food to eat.

 

That was good for my soul. I will always have a special place in my heart for Peru and it's food after living there for several months when I was 19.

One night we had a huge owl hooting outside late into the night. It was perched out on our tree in the back.

Mark's flooring install in the bedroom area was looking beautiful! He had to squeeze in working on the house between his regular job and church jobs.

Paul and Chad were hard at work during the daytime.

We said goodbye to Mark's fish tank. He sold it all.

We got everything cleaned out and it was time to start ripping out the old kitchen! Brian was confident he could rip the counter right off by himself. He happened to be very sick and home in bed when it was time for Mark and Chad and Paul to start the demo. Brian got out of his sick bed to give it shot. I was surprised when I got home that he was able to do it even so sick!

Demo was pretty messy, but also pretty cool to see the room open up after so long of just imagining what it would look like with the middle walls removed.

Between school and homework, the boys helped to demo the fireplace hearth.

They took many trips to the dump. I went on one with them because we had to stop at the cabinet company after to choose cabinets and countertops.

Choosing cabinets was a big deal. It stressed me out just a little. Kitchens cost so much money.

The boys helped put our food storage up in the storage space Mark left for us above the pantry.

I didn't get any pictures of the apartment, but we opened up the door between our house and the basement apartment and lived down there during constructions. Here we have another Spiderman again just hanging off the ceiling in the basement.

We celebrated Daniel's birthday by eating at his favorite place and visiting his burial site. Oh how we miss him!

Brian went on a four day tour to California with the school music department. He plays the cello in the school orchestra. It sounded like a grueling, cold, fun experience!

And that wraps up one crazy February!

January 2023

 The fact that it's the end of July and I am just updating for 2023 shows how busy this year has been. January started with a massive amount of snow. This winter was amazing in regards to the amount of snow we got! 

The boys still enjoy the mountains of snow Mark can make with his tractor.

Timmy bundled and sold some wood in January using the shed as a place to keep it dry.

Mark has only perfected his pizza making. I think this was the last time making pizza in the old kitchen.

Time with family is always so precious.

Spiderman?

I was asked by the school administration at the beginning of January if I would become the new Student Government advisor for the next school year. The current advisor was moving and for some strange reason they wanted me to do it even though I'd only been there for a few months.  I said yes not really knowing exactly what is involved. Now I understand that they asked me because I am probably the only one stupid enough to say yes. I was asked to move rooms a few days later to be next to the current SBO advisor. Then at the end of the school year I will move into the SBO advisor room. This began the Student Government advisor learning process. It is currently July and I am still overwhelmed and feeling like I have no idea what I am doing. What have I gotten myself into?

Timmy and I went skiing. He was more excited about it then he looks in this picture. I sadly was unable to use the ski passes much this winter. Luckily we have a neighbor that took Timmy a few times. 

Mark and contractors Chad and Paul continued with construction on our bedroom, bathroom, laundry room during January.

Timmy still takes great care of Tank the tortoise.

We had a great time celebrating Chinese New Year with the Hsiao family. I love Alice's Suan La Tang!

Mark's grandma was staying with his mom for a few months. We were blessed to have her here and we are blessed to have family live so close to us!

We all love Nai Nai's massage chair!

Brian ran a race at BYU's indoor track. It was fun for him to run at BYU, but not fun to to try to get back to running after having COVID in December. He didn't run very well at all and came in last in his heat. Sometimes coming in last is as valuable an experience as coming in first though.

It cheered him up a bit to get a few things at the BYU bookstore after.

Construction on the house continued along with what felt like some pretty permanent decisions on the design and colors. Choosing everything was stressful for me.

The Cooke's came over for a little Chinese New Year party. we love the Cookes!

Timmy got braces!

We cleaned out these closets in preparation to start demo and work in the main part of the house.

This space will look very very different in a few months.