Recent Events

We love living in our new home! And we are having so much fun making it OUR home! Not much else exciting has happened lately... Tom's still plugging away at work and school, and he did just find out yesterday that his affiliation for BYU-Idaho and Summa is FINALLY done so he should be able to get his last semester clinical hours done in the next few weeks!!! Yeah! And this semester's clinical hours are going to be done with a Nurse Leader that he works with! Things are finally working out in that area!
I had my first little Piano Recital last sunday and it went really well! I've been teaching 8 students and they are all awesome!!! (I actually decided to start teaching full-time in August and have already added 8 or 9 new students already.... hopefully more in the next few weeks!) I'm so proud of these kids! There were so many people there to support them at their recital! The whole Relief Society room was packed!
(Morgan, Jacob, Maddie, Braxton, Brianne, Derek, Jewel, and Ella)
We had to say "Goodbye" to one of the Sister Missionaries, Sister Haycock! =( We really got close to Sister Haycock and Sister Grimnes, and it was hard to see her go, but we are excited that she gets to begin a new journey somewhere else in Ohio! This is a picture of the day before she left! We now have Sister Dabro and she is great too! (All three of them are from Utah! What a small world!)
(Tom, Me, Sister Grimnes, and Sister Haycock)
On our way home from the Temple a few weeks ago, we stopped in Ashland, Ohio at Grandpa's Cheesebarn!!! It was so fun! Lots of candy and fudge and cheese dips to taste-test! It was really fun!
And.... we finally got our chimney fixed! The previous owner had a lining put in to vent the furnace, but they didn't fix the outside of the chimney, which was all falling apart. So our friend came over and replaced the yucky bricks and then covered the entire chimney with stone! We are very happy with the outcome!
(Old Chimney)
(New Chimney)
Well, that's a little of what has been going on in our lives. My last day of work as a nanny was last thursday. I had fun taking care of Jacob and Nathan, and I'm going to miss them. Glad I get to see them once a week for piano, still.
We leave in a few weeks for our trip to Utah! We are SOOO excited to see our families again! The time can't go by quick enough!

Our New House!

Ok... I know we moved in over a month ago, but we've been really busy! Plus, I wanted to get some stuff done and decorated before I took pictures! We still have a LONG way to go, but we are having SO MUCH FUN making it our very own! I (since Tom was working) spent several hours on saturday planting such shrubs in the front of the house! We really love it! Hope you enjoy these pictures!
(Our New House!)
(Front Porch with new hanging plants!)
(Driveway)
(Garage)
(Backyard)
(Living Room)

(TV and Piano)
(Dining Room)
(Over Entryway from Dining room to Living room)
(Kitchen)
(The Wall in the Kitchen)
(Stairs)
(Bathroom)

(Our Bedroom)
(My Craft room)

(The Office)
(Outside side door, leading to Kitchen and Basement)
(Laundry Room)
(Basement)
(Home Gym!)

Tom's Birthday - The Big 31!

It was Tom's 31st Birthday on Saturday, April 24th, and we had a great weekend! He works in Cleveland and he had to work on Friday night, so after I got off work on Friday, I drove to Cleveland, found my way to his car, left a note and the GPS in his car, and surprised him with a night at a cute little Bed and Breakfast! It was all working out so well, until.... I left the GPS in his car and tried to get myself back to the B & B! I totally got lost! Tom called me when he found the note and I told him where I was at and he came and found me! Haha! Not quite how I'd planned it, but it was still a surprise to him!
We stayed at the J Palen House! It was so cute! We were the only guests there, so we kind of got pampered! We stayed in the Webster Room and we were served a yummy breakfast in the morning!
(J Palen House in Cleveland)
(The Webster Room)
Then we spent the afternoon driving around Ohio City in Cleveland and seeing all the cool buildings and bridges, and we went to the Cleveland Zoo! We had such a fun day! We felt kind of like a couple of kids, spending the day at the Zoo! Haha! But it was really fun!





After we got home, we made him a Lemon Birthday Cake and we watched "Hachi" Happy Birthday Tom! I sure do love you!

Broadcast and Conference Weekend!

Ok, so I know I'm not a Young Woman any more and I don't have a calling with them either, but I did watch the General Young Women's Broadcast online and LOVED it! What a great message: "BE STRONG AND OF A GOOD COURAGE" I forgot how much I miss having such powerful inspiration given to the Young Women! I especially loved President Uchtdorf's talk, about "Once Upon A Time" and "Happily Ever After"!!!! Oh my goodness! That was just the talk I needed to hear right now! Opposition is a part of life, and we all have to overcome it... We just need to do it the right way! Withe help of our Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, through prayer and faith.... we most definitely can overcome anything that comes our way! If you haven't watched this broadcast.... YOU MUST WATCH IT!
(WATCH YOUNG WOMEN'S BROADCAST)
In preparation for this weekend and General Conference, I have decided to re-read all of the talks from October's Conference! I've been under a lot of stress lately and I have let a lot of the "little/simple things".... you know the ... "a very large ship is benefited very much by a very small helm in the time of a storm..."(D&C 123:16) types of things, and I don't like the way it makes me feel. It is so amazing how just by striving to pray and study the Scriptures each day can make a whole world of difference! I have all the help I need.... I just can't let it slip again. Anyway, I want to be totally SPIRITUALLY and MENTALLY prepared for Conference this weekend. I am "STARVING" for the words that are going to be spoken! So, I'm going to attempt to read all the talks! And, Tom and I are going to the Temple of Friday, to do Endowments and Sealings! I love this Gospel, the Scriptures, the Prophets, the Temple, and most importantly.... My Father in Heaven and my Savior Jesus Christ!
What a great weekend it is going to be.... We get to hear from the Prophet of God and celebrate Easter and remember the INFINITE Atonement of our Savior and His TRIUMPHANT victory over death! Does it get any better than this? I think not!
P.S. We moved into our house this last weekend! We absolutely LOVE it! Pictures are coming, I promise! I just need to get everything unpacked and then they will be posted! Be very excited.... I know you can hardly wait to see them!!!! =)

House Update

Well... after a little bit of stress last week, everything seems to be in order for us to still get this amazing, cute, little house! We have the BEST agent that we are working with and she is helping us out so much! So, if all continues to go well... we'll close on the loan on the 23rd and have possession by the 25th! And then several men from the ward are going to come help us move that weekend! I'm going to order blinds today so we can have them up by the time we move in! We are really excited! Now, I just need to find the motivation to pack! Oh, after this move, I don't want to have to pack up my house for several years! It's not my favorite thing to do!
Tom and I are both sick and trying to get over these silly colds. Tom has almost completely lost his voice. Poor thing! And I'm starting to feel a little better, except I can't hear out of my left ear and haven't been able to for almost a week. Not fun at all!
Well, life is going pretty well and we are happy!

New Home!

Ok, so I posted pictures the other day so that my family could see this house that we really liked, and then things changed!!!! I took these pictures on Saturday afternoon and posted them. Then, a few hours later, our agent called us and said that the owner countered our offer that we put in, but if we would agree to his terms, the contract would be ours. So, this was late Saturday night, and she also told us that for the next day, Sunday, they were having an open house and showing it 3 more times to serious buyers..... But if we agreed to the terms, the house would be ours and they would cancel all the rest of the showings! We jumped on the chance! So, we have the home inspection this coming monday, and if all goes well with everything, we'll close and have possession of the house by March 25th!!!!! We are so excited! We've waited a long time for this!

Valentines Day!

I got home from work last night and Tom surprised me with a candle-lit dinner, balloons and a dozen red roses! And the best part of all... "How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days"! Not so much because it's a great movie, but because a few weeks ago I had mentioned, while in Walmart, that I really like the movie and wouldn't mind having it, and he picked up on the hint I was dropping!!! haha! He is so awesome! Love him so much!