Halloween (aka what to do with boxes after you move)

Zane and Isaac were so excited about being Tetris pieces for Halloween this year. We have a garage full of moving boxes that I've been meaning to sell on Craigslist that worked perfectly.
Isaac is red, Zane is blue. (note: if you are ever spray painting boxes, use primer first. It will save you a midnight run to the store.) I think they turned out cute.




In this photo you get the full effect of our scary spiders on the house.

Which brings me to celebrating my favorite holiday. I've included some pics of our house. I realize is quite amateur, but it's a good starting off point for future years in the new house. Having lived in a condo for years, I haven't had a yard or home to decorate for Halloween. We had so much fun putting it together this year.


Here's the candy all ready for trick-or-treaters. Also scary, bloody footprints in our entry.


No yard is complete without a spooky graveyard!



Most of our pumpkins rotted and were thrown away last week. Luckily, Isaac did one at church this week. Also- lit skull on black pillar, witches broom and rats. We have spider lights around the door, fishing line hanging down so you feel like you walk through webs and a spider descending right above the door. Rick came home later with dry ice so we had a bubbling witches cauldron as well.


Here we have the big spiders ready to attack. On the balcony are a skull strobe and spooky music.

I'm in costume and ready for the trick-or-treaters! Oh... there's the doorbell.
Happy Halloween everyone!

Happily Ever Aftering

I've been thinking a lot about integrity lately. With Roman Polanski and David Letterman in the news, I am shocked at what people accept. I believe people make mistakes and I'm not writing to judge these men. My problem comes with how people react to it. Martha Stewart's comment regarding David Letterman's affairs was, "Men are men." What!!! So because he's a man we can't expect integrity or fidelity! Do decent men of the world not take offense at people having such low expectations of them?

I was driving home from work yesterday thinking about my expectations of a man. Growing up I had a huge crush on King Arthur (Richard Harris' version from the musical Camelot). There is one scene in the movie that I would watch over and over. It is when Arthur realizes Guinevere and Lancelot are having an affair. He goes into a room and gives, what I view, the most moving monologue in all of film history. He says how Lance is his best friend and Guinevere is everything he would choose in a woman. These two people whom he loves more than anything betrayed him. Then he says, "I will have a man's vengeance." Then he softens and says, "But I am not a man. I am a king, and a very civilized king." He goes on to talk about how it's not civilized to destroy what he loves. He resolves to forgive and love them. The scene makes me swoon. I have always and will always love that man.

I was in my 30's when I realized that movie set a very high expectation for me in finding love. I wanted man with the integrity and compassion of King Arthur. I also realized it was a movie and perhaps I should live in reality. I haven't thought much more about it until last night. I was driving home and thinking of Rick and everything he's been through in his life. I am often floored at how amazingly he has handled the cards he was dealt in this life. I suddenly realized that I married King Arthur. I got the man with the compassionate heart and forgiving nature. I am not exaggerating when I say that his integrity is right in line with my favorite movie scene.

I love moments like these when I realize my life is everything I dreamed it would be. On my not-so-secret dating blog, I gave Rick the code name of Grant because I said he made me feel like a leading lady in an old movie (Grant from Cary Grant). I should have called him Arthur.

the new house

Here are few pics from the new place. We will start with Zane's room (simply because I'm tired of trying to rearrange photos on this stinking Mac).

We went with modern masculine with a hint of Asian influence. We still have a cool mirror and some art to hang up.
This is the view from Zane's bedroom window. It's beautiful at sunset!

Please ignore clutter. Zane has not completed his chores yet this week.

Isaac's room. (also has great view). He has glow in the dark stars on the ceiling and on the canopy part of the bed so when it's dark it looks like the stars are floating.

We also did a magnetic wall in Isaac's room. Then we bought a bunch of magnetic poetry and magnetic children's stories. We've missed many bedtimes because we all end up in Isaac's room coming up with wacky sayings.

Here are some before and after shots.

Main living room. The carpet was so stained and disgusting.
We love the color. It's called something like Morning Mist Gray but it looks more of a subtle green. I have to say that I don't like the brown carpet as much as I thought I would. It's so hard to tell how one little inch square of carpet will look through the whole house. Rick and the boys really like it, so 3 out of 4 isn't bad. :)

Master bedroom before. (Yes, I think it's kind of scary having a door to the outside in my bedroom)

We went with a grape colored accent wall in the bedroom (hoping it would make up for the lack of headboard at least for now). We like it. Once we get the art up, I'm really going to love the bedroom. It's on the main floor, as is the laundry room, which is so convenient.

Here is the kitchen. This is the before picture, however, we didn't really change it much. A fresh coat of paint, but basically the same. If you stand at the sink, you are looking into the main living area. I LOVE the open floor plan.

So there is a sample. Come visit us to get the full tour! We love having people drop by.

Zane's Birthday

It's official, we have a teenager in the house! Zane turned 13 last Sunday. Here are a few pics.


My favorite. Zane wanted ribs for dinner. He was wearing white pants and didn't want to get BBQ sauce on them so he put on my apron. This pic is showcasing sticky fingers and food in his mouth. (this is not typical for my family)


Rick made his famous carrot cake and mom and dad and some friends came over to help eat it.


Opening presents! Isaac gave him a body pillow (now they don't have to share mine). Rick and I gave him some camping clothes/gear as he left on Monday for Scout Camp. We also got him a Halo bookbag, which STILL hasn't come in the mail. We wrapped up a photo of it for him to open.

Zane's birthday also marks one year since I met them. Rick brought me to birthday festivities last year to meet his kids and some other family members. Wow, a lot has happened since then.

It was a fun day.

My Bike

Have you all missed the "I love my bike" posts this summer? Me too! Unfortunately, this isn't one of those posts. Rick and I rode up Emigration Canyon last week. It was not fun. I could blame that I didn't eat first, it was hot, my calves kept cramping up so I had to flex my feet hard the whole ride, my tires were a little low on air.... the truth of it is... I'm out of shape! I used to ride up that canyon on mountain bike and, this time, I barely made it on the road bike. I'm a total wimp!

I've been riding about four times this year. Each time had 3-4 weeks in between. Funny how that doesn't seem to work towards conditioning. It did make me determined to get out more. Our new house is on a hill... a big hill, which will mean any biking from home will be killer. This is a good thing.

The one redeeming part of the ride was going down. Ahhhh. Such a great reward. I actually froze at the top. The canyon was shaded and I was wet with sweat. I loved feeling the air temperature change as we sped down. I'd almost say it was worth the climb up. I hope before too long I can enjoy going both directions.

Side note- I also played tennis this week for the first time this season. Tennis does not disappoint. So much fun! (Thank you Rick for playing to my level.) Good times!