Our Family Is Growing...

By 4 Paws! Ha! ha! Ya'll probably thought I was going to say I was pregnant -- unfortunatly that is not the case (hopefully soon, keep those fingers crossed).
We are adopting a doggie next week. So she will be our baby for the time being. We are adopting her from the Southeast Texas Labrador Rescue in Houston. She is 3 years old, yellow and sweet sweet sweet. I can't wait for her to join us. I'm still trying to figure out what to call her. Right now her name is Sissy. I'm going for Cali or Sadie. I guess I'll have to call her both and see which one she responds to the most and easiest. I spoke with her foster mommy last week and she was telling me alittle about Sissy. She doesn't chew on things she isn't supposed to, but she is a kleptomaniac. Apparently, when her foster mommy is in the shower, Sissy will go into the bathroom and take her clothes from the floor and take them to her bed. I have a bad habit of throwing clothes on the floor, so maybe she will help with my bad habit. We get to pick her up next Wednesday (the 23th). I am so excited! Here are some pics of our soon to be little girl.

Norman Flood 2009

The Norman Flood 2009

I came home 2 weeks ago to find that we had a water leak somewhere. I assumed it was a sprinkler since Josh has been replacing them, I thought one just popped off. I only thought that because the lawn looked VERY wet. But when I opened up our garage door, I found water dripping from the door, then I thought it was our water softner or water heater because of where I saw the water in the garage. I had Josh on the phone telling him about the water. While talking on the phone I opened our door that leads into the house, only to discover that my first 2 thoughts of where the water was coming from was WRONG -- it was coming from the house because we had at least 3 inches of water EVERYWHERE!!

As I turned to go get my neighbor to help me find the problem and turn the water off, he was already half way up my drive way ready to help. As I was checking to see if the water was coming from the wash room, he ran into our bathroom and found the leak. I quickly called my parents because I didn't know what to do. I think I was getting ready to go into shock. While I was waiting for my parents, my neighbor went and got his 2 wet vacs. to help me start getting the water out. I don't know what I would have done if my neighbor hadn't been home when he was. I am so thankful for him, and especially my parents. My parents came and helped us call the insurance and figure out what needed to be done. Our insurance recommended a 24-hour clean up company. We called them because we needed that water out fast! The clean up crew was soooo helpful and stayed way into the morning getting our water up, putting up huge humidifiers and air blowers to help prevent molding. They also went around the house to see if any of the drywall had gotten wet, and unfortunately it had. So they had to rip up 6-12 inches of drywall and all baseboards around our house. It was quite emotional to see our newly painted house getting tore up. To prevent molding in our kitchen and other rooms, holes about the size of a quarter or a dollar coin was drilled in most of our kickboards. The guys were pretty confident and they got most of the water up from our carpet in the bedroom and thought it would be saved. (Oh, luckily our whole house is tile, except our bedroom and closet.) But the next morning when the managers came to see the damage, we were told the carpet had to come out. I wasn’t so heart broken over the carpet because we were going to replace it next year anyways. On Tuesday night when I was calling our insurance company filing the claim, the lady told me that this probably wouldn’t be covered by our insurance because it is considered maintance. So, that put Josh and I into a major depression (even more so, then the water being in the house), because we don’t have all that extra money for repairs. But the next morning we were relieved to find out that it will be covered. Thank goodness!!! So, for almost 4 days, our house had at least 10 huge humidifiers and atleast 12 air movers. These were all to help prevent molding. That house was so hot!!!

We had an insurance adjuster come last week and we should be hearing soon from the insurance what they will cover and how much they will give us for the damage and repairs. We got a copy of the invoice from the company who came and cleaned, it cost nearly $7000.00!! I couldn’t believe how much they charge. Josh and my dad say that they are in the wrong business and need to head up a clean up business to make that much money in just a few short days. Besides the cosmetic damage of the home, the only “real” things that were destroyed was Josh’s camera (the one I gave him for his birthday this past year), his camera lens, his college graduation diploma, our new dog bed (we were in the process of adopting a lab), a portable DVD player and our wedding album. We have a lot of things that were wet, but it’s amazing we didn’t lose more items. I’m mad about the camera and wedding album, but they can both be replaced rather easily. It just gives me an excuse to re-do my wedding album with my cricut machine.

We are so grateful for all the help that my parents have given us. If they hadn’t been here, we would have to be in a hotel till our house is finished. Heavenly Father has really helped us A LOT the last few weeks. I’m not saying it’s been easy, but considering the circumstances, we are doing good.

Below are a few pictures from our flood:































This is what powered all the humidifiers and dryers for 3 days:



(I would love this big generator for the next hurricane season)

Our New Home

It's official!!! We are homeowners and we couldn't be happier! No more apartment living. No more wall to wall neighbors. No more fighting to find the closet parking space. No more walking through VERY overly watered grass to get to the vehicle, no more muddy pant legs because of the walk across the overly watered grass. And last but not least, No more buggies because of dirty neighbors!

We decided to look for a home when we got our renew lease for the small, cramped 1 bedroom apartment. When we found out our rent was going to be close to $900 for no space, and it would cost close to $1100 a month for a 2 bedroom, we set out to look for a home. It didn't take long for us to find a home, maybe a month. We were actually getting ready to put an offer on a home around the corner from our house, but the more we looked at it, the more we found problems. So, we looked at our home and fell in love with it. The house we bought was a very beautiful foreclosure. When we found out it was a foreclosure, we couldn't believe how nice it was. The price wasn't too bad either. After many back and forths with getting things fixed, we were able to close June 30. Besides many things we love about the house, the thing I love the most is, it's only $130 more a month then was we were going to be paying for our small 1 bedroom!! After the repairs were made, it was pretty much move in ready, but we wanted to get rid of the "apartment feel" wall color, so we painted all the rooms. With much help from my parents and Josh we were able to get it all done the week before we moved in.

Now for the pictures!

Before pictures are on the left. After pictures are on the right.

Front of the house ~



Living Room ~



Dining Room ~ (previous owners used as a dining room, we are using it as my computer space because it is connected to the living room)



Family Room ~ (previous owners used as a family room, we turned it into our dining room because it is connected to the very large kitchen -- notice in the before picture, no lighting. In the after, a very pretty chandiler. Josh and a friend/handyman put it in for me)



Kitchen ~ (the kitchen is pretty much the same, except we bought all new appliances)



Master Bedroom ~



Master Bathroom ~ (No after picture of the bathroom. All that changed is the color of the wall. We painted it a light purple like the bedroom)



Guest Bathroom ~ (which we haven't done anything in it yet, still deciding what to do. It will be done by November when we have our first out of town guests come. Josh's parents will be coming for a visit)



Laundry Room ~ (again, haven't done anything in there. It's a laundry room, what can you do in that?)



Secondary Bedroom ~ (this will become the baby room -- No, this isn't an announcement! Just planning ahead. Right now, it's Josh's "staging area" as he puts it. The new fans we are putting up are currently living in that room)



Another Secondary Bedroom ~ (will become Josh's office AKA homework room)



I found the desk and the rug at a yard sale for $5 a piece. What a bargain!

The backyard ~ Which will house my dog when we get one. We are in the process of adopting a yellow lab from a lab rescue in Houston. We hope to have her very shortly!



We feel that Heavenly Father really put this house into our lives. It's perfect for us. We are really grateful for all the help we received from Heavenly Father, he really did provide for us. We thank Him every night for His help.

In sweet loving memory...

The Norman family dog, Henry, has passed away. Josh's mom noticed he wasn't his normal self and took him to the vet, only to discover that he had cancer and has probably had it for a VERY LONG time. Apparently, he wasn't fat at all, he just had a big tumor growing. Henry loved laying in the sunshine and underneath blankets. Whenever Josh and I visit, he is always laying on the arm of the couch waiting for us to walk through the door. He follows my mother in law EVERYWHERE! He loved squeaky toys and his "chewy" (dog bone). It's amazing how a dog is so much a part of the family. He is going to be missed.

How cool is this?

My sister Julie got to meet & take a picture with Alaska's Governor Sarah Palin!
How cool is that?!?

A glimpse into the future

So Josh has a wonderful knack of making homemade popcorn. Whenever he makes us popcorn I picture a Friday or Saturday night in the future of a couple kids around Josh and he is explaining how to make homemade popcorn for our family pizza and movie night. Even during Hurricane Ike, he still managed to make popcorn for us and the neighbors on the BBQ. The Hurricane popcorn was a big hit with everyone! Here are a few pictures of him making the goodness that is called Homemade Popcorn! I love it!!

My Dad, The Farmer...

So, my parents have a few Squirrel feeders in their backyard that they try and keep stocked with corn. Well, obviously a few squirrel's come and eat the dry corn and pieces fall to the ground. With the rain and sprinklers, not 1 but 2 stocks of corn have started growing. Amazingly enough, an ear or two is also growing on the stock. My dad is pretty proud of his corn.

Good bye...

Mr. Hair Towel!

Thats right, I'm saying good bye to a towel I use to put my hair up after I shower. My mom has been trying for years to get me to throw it away. She thinks it is gross looking, I on the other hand think it is the perfect towel to use to get excess water out of wet hair. While I was packing for our Utah trip, I thought long and hard about whether or not to pack it. I opted not to pack it, and went to Bed Bath and Beyond to find an actual hair turbin thing. Not as good as my trusty blue towel, but it works.

Some of my favorite things...

I love watching tv. The shows I enjoy the most are:

CSI: NY -- why I like this show is beyond me because it can be get pretty morbid at times.
NCIS -- that Abbey is hilarious! Thanks to my dad, I got addicted to this show, now Josh is addicted.
Jon & Kate plus 8 -- somtimes I watch it and apologize the whole time to Josh because I feel like I am a "Kate" and always nagging about something.
18 Kids & Counting -- have to agree with a friend on this one, as she put it, "there has to be something wrong with this family. No family is that perfect" I think that was the phrase she used. :)
Greys Anatomy -- don't judge me please!
Private Practice -- really don't judge me on this one!

Ferrero Rocher Hazelnut Chocolates. Don't get me wrong, I love anything chocolate, but these are my favs.


Daisy Flowers -- Simple but elegant.


Temples -- While in Utah last week, we went to the Draper Temple Open House and the Manti Temple. Both are equally beautiful in there own way. I'm extremly proud of this pic of the Manti Temple. I took the picture myself and it actually turned out pretty decent.



The Ocean, Mountains and Snow -- There is something peaceful and pretty about all three!



Sea World -- Yes, at the age of 25 and 27 I went to Sea World and enjoyed it just as much as I did as a young girl! My life long dream, besides getting married and having children, is to swim with the dolphins. Josh and I went to Sea World in San Diego for our honeymoon.



Scrapbooking -- I am one of those people!

Babies -- I have always loved them. Can't wait till I have my own one day. For the time being I get my fix through a neice, a couple nephrews and a friend that allows me steal her baby during Relief Society every Sunday. I had to borrow a few pics from my friends blogs, hope you girls don't mind. :)

Kirra, my neice
Benjamin, my nephew
Holden, my unofficial nephew Daniel, my little buddy on Sundays.

Family -- Life wouldn't be complete without our Families, no matter how crazy they are.




And last by not least, Josh! He is my all time favorite person! I love him dearly! Forever and ever!