{Kitchen Remodel}

It has been SO long since I've posted, but here are the results from the recent kitchen remodel finally! It has completely transformed our home!

This is what it looked like before:

Randomly, there were 2 stove vents..

 

 

The first step in the DEMO

Luckily, Cam, his dad and brother demoed it all!

 

This is what we were living in DURING!

This is what it now looks like!

It is SO open now!

I designed the brackets under the counter and had them made! They turned out pretty cool.

The granite has so much character! The drop lighting is very simple too.

I fell in love with these stools when I first saw them!

I think our favorite part is the back splash- chosen by Cam!

{One Year Down}

I really can not believe it has already been one year since Cam and I tied the knot. It has been one amazing, difficult, crazy, special year. We got engaged in May of 2011, got married in September, went on our honeymoon then picked up and moved to California. Whaaaa? It was really hard for me moving away from my family and friends and especially my nieces and nephews. I felt like I was so alone while Cam was at work all day. I can honestly say, one year later, that it is really starting to feel like home for us now. That scares me for several reasons, ha! If we end up moving away, it will be extremely hard to say goodbye to this beautiful place and the wonderful friends we have made. I have gotten so close to Cams family which has been a huge blessing to me having them close. Anyway, it has gotten a lot better for me, and has truly been great for Cam and I to really be forced to lean on one another out here.

Cam surprised me with the most fun weekend up at Disneyland for our anniversary. We stayed in a hotel for a couple of nights and spent the weekend up there. We found this AMAZING restaurant Fire and Ice- I highly recommend it if you're in Anaheim (there are only like 5 in the world.) We wore ourselves completely out by spending every waking moment we could at the parks. Oh, how I love Disneyland- and Oh, how Cam knows how to make me a happy girl. Usually when we go to Disney we just spend a day there and come home. This time, we had two days so we had time to see all the shows and parades. It was so much fun, we both hadn't done all of that in a long time.

I think the highlight of our trip was waking up in the middle of the night (literally like 4 AM) to a woman (we think she was African American BTW) screaming with pleasure saying some R rated things and moaning. Whaaaa? It was very.. funny, awkward, LOUD, and.. well, did I say funny? We felt like we were on the movie Just Married. If you've seen it, you know what I mean. It went on for about a half hour or longer. It was too funny.

Cam and I spent our actual anniversary night with some Beni Hana and some wedding cake.

Cam,
It has been such an amazing year, and I am so grateful for you and all that you do for me and our family. Many say the 1st year is the toughest. I say, we conquered it. I know we will have hard times and trials we will have to endure- but I know we can make it through anything. I can't wait for all the many years to come.

One down, eternity to go..

"Bring it onnnnn, Willy!"

{Real life is Unpredictable}

A few nights ago, Cam and I fell asleep around 11:30 (which is pretty late for us on a week day.) It was one of the few nights I've fallen asleep with ease. Around 12:40 or so, both of us woke up abruptly from a deep sleep to a really loud sound from some sort of air craft above our home. We were both very startled and had no idea what it was, and why it was so loud. As we sat there for a few seconds and listened, we noticed that it was circling our complex over and over again. That is when I had a bad feeling that something wasn't right. "CAM, WE ARE UNDER ATTACK!" We heard a man on the intercom coming from the helicopter but we couldn't quite make out what he was saying. All we got from it was "Get off the balcony!" and "Canine unit!" What in the world? We both jumped out of our beds faster than I knew my body could even move! I was struggling trying to find my eye glasses. Nothing worse than a vulnerable blind girl. Cam told me to "Get into the closet, NOW!" All I said was "GET YOUR GUN!" This was the first(and hopefully last) time that Cam had to legitimately get out his loaded gun from the safe beside his bed. 

As Cam and I hid in our closet, while listening to the helicopter circle our complex for about 45 minutes, not being able to tell what they were saying- what do you think was going through our heads?! What would YOU have done? We just knew there was trouble, and it scared us half to death. We had one cell phone with us in the closet, and didn't want to leave just in case someone was in our home. Of course, we had NO reception to make phone calls- so we texted both of our parents to see if they could turn on the news or call the police to find out what was going on.

I literally think I said about 18 prayers that we weren't going to die that night. It was the first time in my life I truly didn't know if we were going to be safe. After an hour or so, Cams dad let us know that he had talked to the police, and "The person they were looking for is now in their custody, and everything is OK." We were still a little uneasy, not knowing what had happened. It took us awhile to get back to sleep (ESPECIALLY paranoid me.)

We found out the next day, that the police were telling some dude to get off of his roof across the way from us. We still don't know what he was doing, or what was going on- but I was definitely relieved to know that someone wasn't in our complex causing harm or trouble.

It may sound silly now, but it was very scary for Cam and me! It literally sounded like the helicopter was RIGHT over OUR unit, and the light was so bright and the intercom was so loud. I thought it had to be one of two things: OBAMA, or ALIENS.

Thank Heaven, it was neither.

We sat in bed for several minutes before we fell asleep again, talking about how we really have no idea what is going to happen each day, and how important it is to live our lives to the absolute fullest. That sounds so cliche, I know- but it really is true. Don't ever hold back from loving the people in your life to the absolute highest capacity, and being happy NOW. Don't focus on the past, or always look forward to the future- try and be happy in the now. We never know what could happen to us or our loved ones every day. Why waste time in our days that we don't even know how many we have- with dumb arguments, complaining or negative energy. I definitely have a lot to work on!

Til' next time.

{From a Wedding to Half Dome}

Yikes. It has been quite a while since my last post- I'm sure none of you have even noticed, so we're good! I can't believe summer is over. Well, it doesn't seem like it's over because my days continue to be the same as well as Cams- but kids are in SCHOOL already! What the? I'm sure all of you mama's are happy about that!

Cam and I have had a really fun summer. After my family left from the beach house extravaganza- I was depressed, drowning in homesickness! However, I lived. We got to make a trip out to Utah for my cousins wedding. We had a blast, and were really glad we made it out there. It is always a great time visiting family and friends. My favorite part is always seeing my little nieces and nephews. They bring such joy in this hell of a world!

 There was a big family reunion at our cabin while I was in town. It was great seeing cousins I haven't seen in YEARS, and to spend time with the ones I'm closest to as well. It's always a good time at the Cabin.

The nerd batch

Girly cousins

My lovely mother

My buddies

 

We were able to spend a night up at the cabin while we were there, too. Oh, how we love that magical, beautiful place of nature. My parents and our best friends Dave + Kalee came up to have elk adventures with us.

Right when Cam and I arrived back to CA, my brother Micah and his beautiful wife Carly were staying at our home for a few days to visit! We were so excited about that. Cam kind of has a man crush on Micah- they are so much alike and get a long really well. Carly and I get along a little TOO well when it comes to candy and sweets! We loved and cherished every single moment we had to spend with them. I took them down to Old Town SD, and we had a blast. Unfortunately, little Eleni was in Utah with her grandparents while M + C were in CA for IVF. On that note, CONGRATULATIONS to lovely Carly! She has got a bun in the OVEN folks! Seeing how absolutely beautiful Eleni is, I can't even imagine what God has put together for this next one.

Cam, our 2 friends Matt + Amanda and I spent a weekend in Palm Springs recently. It was a lot of fun- despite the 2 billion degree weather and the flaming old men everywhere. It was fun to just be able to relax and not have a schedule (as my schedule is just SO full and busy and important each day.) As we took a late night swim in the pool one night, we were aproached by an interesting maintenence worker. When I say interesting, I mean Texas-Chainsaw-Massacre Creepy. This dude came and talked (at) us for an hour and a half, while we were sitting in the pool. He was full of "stories" of his acting career and did many Elvis impressions for us. Weird. He left to "go get something" in his golf cart, and we all literally thought he was going to grab something to murder us with. We lived- and left the pool that night with some great stories.

A few weekends ago, my parents went to Fresno, CA for 2 friends baptisms. My dad actually had the opportunity to baptize them! It was a really special day. We met them up there, and we all spent a day in Yosemite. It was all of our first times! My mom had been when she was really young, but didn't remember much. If you know my family, we LOVE national parks! So we were very excited. It was absolutely incredible. I wish we could've spent more time there- however, we saw a lot in just one day! We saw the Half Dome, Glacier Point, and the beautiful Sequoias. Cam and I had a wonderful weekend with my parents.

Half Dome

 

Our awesome plane to Fresno

Thanks for tuning in- if you're still there and made it to this point of the post :)

{Fun in the Sun}

 Last week, we had the AMAZING opportunity to have my family come and visit us here in Carlsbad, and stay at a beach house. It was one of the most fun, relaxing, entertaining, hilarious weeks of my life- to say the least. It consisted of a lot of food, laughing, fried desserts, Youtube videos, surfing and boogie boarding, and beached whales. It was so nice to have a whole week to spend day and night with my family, especially the little ones. It was just what I needed. For those Twilight  fans, it was just like the Vampires week long hunt for food to keep them satisfied for a couple of months. I will be satisfied for a few.. well for a little while, until I get to see them again :)

Seaworld

Fried Klondike anyone?

These two became such good friends

Asher loved Seaworld

Long live Louis

Oh, the nook- how I miss you.

Jon washed up all the way to the toilet

The Fair

We owe it all to this amazing man I call daddio

Precious Nev- and Toonie.

Straight Legger came to California

The Pit

Twinners

Rubys Diner at the Pier