A few of my favorite things...

I have failed once again at regularly updating our blog. I partly chalk it up to the fact that my camera broke and blogs just aren't as fun without pictures to view. (I apologize now for some of the pictures on this post. Because my camera is broken I have been using my phone and Ipod to take pictures.) Yesterday we taught our primary class about expressing gratitude and it got me thinking about all the things that I am grateful for. Being here in Connecticut now for a little over a year has opened up so many new experiences that I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for. Here are just a few:

1- Fireflies - I had no idea that Connecticut had fireflies, so the first night I saw them I literally freaked out and ran to find a jar to catch my very first one. Each night I sit on the couch and look out the window at all the twinkling lights and I can't help but be thankful for such beautiful creatures.

My first firefly

2- Nature - Being able to live out amongst nature and be so close to it has given me a greater appreciation for it. I love opening the door each morning and stepping out into our little forest of trees and seeing the sun gleaming off the leaves. I love walking among all our countless colorful flowers and picking fresh raspberries off our raspberries bushes. I can't think of anything more peaceful and calming than nature and we get to live right in the middle of it.

Freshly picked raspberries

Purple hydrangeas

A mixture of colorful flowers

3- Our House - I never imagined at the age of 23 that I could say "I am a home owner". I feel extremely blessed to have somewhere I can call my own.

4- Living here in Connecticut - When we were first deciding whether to stay here permanently or not, I was kind of against it. I really wanted to be closer to family and was struggling with the idea of living so far away. As we talked about it though, Clint and I felt that this is where we were suppose to be and looking back over the past year I know this is where we are suppose to be. We have been blessed with awesome neighbors and friends, a great ward, many school and work opportunities, and many other experiences that we would not have had if we had moved back to the West. I am grateful for all the opportunities that we have had and will continue to have. 

One blessing of living here in Connecticut was being able to graduate!

5- Family - Living so far away from family has been really hard. I miss them every day. Living this far away from them has given me a greater appreciation for them. I am grateful for the support and love they give both me and Clint in all the decisions and choices that we make.

6- Gardening - I have always wanted to start a garden, but the circumstances just weren't right until now. Being able to plant a garden this year has opened my eyes to how amazing nature is. It is amazing to watch a little seed grow into a plant that provides food for us and then to watch it produce seeds that can be planted the following year for another harvest. It is a gift that keeps on giving. This has strengthened my testimony on the flawless design of nature by our Father in heaven. 

7- Animals - Living so close to nature means living close with many forms of wildlife. I have already seen deer, bunnies, snakes, woodpeckers, frogs, toads, fireflies, countless bugs, etc. It is so neat to wake up in the morning and eat breakfast while watching a deer walk through your backyard. Or to pet a little bunny rabbit that is hiding under one of the bushes. I also love hearing the birds chirp all throughout the day, especially in the morning when I first wake up. 

Baby bunny I found in our bushes.

8- The Gospel - Living so far away from family has given me a greater appreciation for the term "ward family". Our ward has become like family to us and they are such good examples of living great and extraordinary lives. I know that this all stems from the gospel teachings and further more from the teachings of our Savior and Heavenly Father. I am so grateful for this gospel and the fact that no matter where I may end up, I will always have people to turn to for comfort and companionship. 

9- Air Conditioning - For some reason there is quite a few people out in New England who haven't figured out what air conditioning is. Our house has no central AC and that has been hard for me to grasp. We finally went and bought one window AC unit that is in our bedroom and I am grateful for it each and every day, especially when it is hot and humid. 

10-  My husband - I am not one to get mushy, but I am very grateful for my husband. Clint does so much for me. He spent a lot of time in school that paid off with this awesome job he now has. He goes to work each day so that we can have this house and food and everything else that we have been blessed with. I am so grateful that he allows me to stay home and develop some hobbies that I have wanted to. Me not working also allows me to completely focus on school during the school year. He is so good to me and I am grateful for that each and every day. 

I know I need to do better about being thankful for all my many blessings. To often I get caught up on all the things I don't have and don't take the time to think of all the countless blessing I do have. I encourage you all to take more time to be thankful for all the many things that make your lives great. I am so grateful for the primary lesson that reminded me that I need to do that more. 

P.S. Update: Here is a little house update. After a few months we finally got the living room pretty much done. I still need to paint the hallway and decorating the dining room and living room are next on my to do list. Stay tuned for more updates and pictures. 

Before

After

Before

After

My finished herb garden window

Spring is here...gardening...more home renovation...

Spring has come to Connecticut and I am so excited!! Spring means shorts, flip flops, ice cream, and gardening. This year I am going to try my hand at my first real garden. From what I hear it is not hard to get things to grow in New England. I am going to put that to the test and see if it's actually true.  I planted my seeds a month ago and they are getting so big. In the next couple weeks I am going to put them outside. I am already having cravings for fresh juicy watermelon. Fingers crossed!!!

The tree in our front yard is starting to bloom with beautiful purple flowers.

Clint said I went a little overboard for my first garden. He literally had to pick me up and carry me away from the seed turnstyle at Homedepot.

All planted and ready to germinate.

Sunflower starting to pop up out of the soil.

So far so good...

The sunflowers got so big so fast. I am sooo excited.

The plants got big really fast so I had to transplant them into their own cups.

My garden window. It makes me so happy!

After taking a break for a month or so after our dinning room renovation, Clint and I decided we were ready to dig into another project. This time we are working on the living room. Clint and I don't like the popcorn ceilings so we decided to remove it in the living room. It was very messy and challenging, but we feel it was totally worth it.

Finally got the baseboard heaters painting in the dinning room. They look so much better.

Clint starting on the long process of scrapping off the popcorn ceiling.

Clint was such a trooper. He got the whole ceiling done in a day and a half.

Gotta have the mask. Taking the popcorn off was soooo dusty.

Oreo got pretty bored with the whole process.

Oreo wanted a mask too. NOT!

What a mess!

Oreo likes being right in the middle of everything. Can you tell?

I don't think we will ever get rid of all the dust.

Look like anything to you?

Hmmmm....

The culprit.... ;)

4 Month Update

So life has been super crazy the last four months and needless to say updating the blog was the last thing on my list.  But life is starting to come together once again so I thought I would put an update of all the things that have happened in the last four months (which has been quite a bit).  

November

November started out with the leaves changing beautiful colors of yellow, orange, red, etc.  I was so amazed with the actual season change. In Utah there is not much of a fall (or at least in the areas I have lived in). Things went really quick from living in summer to dead in winter. So I was really excited to experience a very beautiful fall.  I also cut my hair for the first time because I didn't want to spend the money to get it done and it makes me nervous trusting other people I don't know with my hair. I watched a bazillion youtube videos and then took the plunge. I was pleasantly surprised and happy with it, so I have continued to cut my own hair.  Thanksgiving came around at the end of the month. It was our first Thanksgiving not being with family. It was really hard for me, but we are blessed to have made great friends in our ward that invited us over and took us in as if we were there own family. That weekend I decided to do a little Thanksgiving with just Clint and I. I have always wanted to try cooking a turkey, so I decided this is the year.  I must say it wasn't too bad. Clint and I had a lot of fun cooking it and trying something new. I also made my first pie and it was yummy! It was an caramel apple pie and I would totally recommend the recipe for those that are looking for a twist on apple pie.  Caramel makes everything taste much better. 

My first time cutting my hair

Beautiful fall colors

The weather was so nice that Oreo was just soaking it up

My first time cooking a turkey

Oreo loves turkey, can you tell?

The first time we have cooked our own Thanksgiving dinner

 December

 So many things went on in December.  We were planning on closing on our house on the 15th so we spent the first couple of weeks packing and getting things ready to move.  We ended up closing one day early and then we had four days to get everything moved in before we flew out that weekend to Utah for Christmas.  We didn't have a ton of furniture because we have been out here on an internship, so we made many small trips back and forth from our apartment to our home to move everything. That took a long time since we moved about 40 minutes away.  Amongst all this moving Clint was still putting in a full work day and I was finishing up all my finals for school.  We finally got everything moved out and checked out of our apartment and then moved onto packing all the stuff we would need for three weeks out in Utah.  Sunday morning came around and we went to church that morning since we needed to teach our primary class.  After church we booked it to the airport and then flew out not long after.  We flew into Vegas and my parents were really nice and picked us up there.  It was so nice to see family after eight months. We were pretty much going through withdraws and were so excited to see them.  We had a really enjoyable time spending a couple weeks hanging out with them. We got spoiled by both Santa and family with many gifts and cards.  Thank you to all those who were so gracious and kind to be thinking about us on Christmas.  At the end of our trip with my family we spent a day hiking Zions because Clint had never been to Zions before (he is a Northern Utahn that's way). It was a beautiful warm day and we had lots of fun hiking and spending time together.  For New Years we headed up to Ogden to spend time with Clint's family.  We had a mini second Christmas there where we got spoiled once again. We are so lucky to have great parents, family, and friends that we get to spend these holidays with.  Near the end of our stay, we headed down to Provo to pack all of our stuff up at the storage unit. My family, Clint's family, and our friend James all came to help us move. They helped us pack so fast and everything went so smoothly. We are grateful  for there help. It would have taken us a long time if it was just Clint and I.  

We have keys! :)

House warming gift from our Realtor

The view from our front window. I love all the trees.

Isn't it beautiful?

Our really long driveway

The house from the back

Misty's Christmas choir program

Cute :)

I think the dogs like us

My two favorite boys

Hanging out with the family

At the movies

Tink and I hanging out

She doesn't like Clint at all ;)

Crazy Larsen nativity night

Behind the scenes staff of the Nativity

Oreo's Christmas gift from Santa

The new pots that I have wanted for awhile

Tink loved her bone, even though it is practically the same size as her

Wonder who my Secret Admirer is ;)

Think we have enough dogs?

Oreo got something stuck to his nose that looks like a heart

Our first Christmas together with Oreo

Oreo's first Christmas. He looks totally enthused.

Coby's call home! It was so good to talk to him.

Merry Christmas!

Oreo and Dad bonding

We are kind of goofy, except for Dad of course. He is good to put up with all of us.

Got to play train. It is a tradition.

A little scary, I know!

Zions National Park

Oreo loves drinking out of water bottles

Clint and Misty

Being our goofy selves once again

Beautiful overlook at Zions

I thought this was a really good picture

Pretty river flowing through Zions

Candid moment between Misty and Oreo

January

We started out the beginning of the year driving across country the second time. It was quite the experience driving a huge Uhaul all the way across country in five days, but we did survive.  It wasn't as fun as last time because we just wanted to get home whereas last time we made it into more of a sightseeing trip. When we finally pulled up we were ready to finally enjoy our home. In December we only stayed in our house like four or five days before we flew out.  We got all of our stuff unpacked and set up the bed immediately. Sleeping on the floor for eight months made us gain an appreciation for our bed.  We got a great nights sleep that night.  Our first week back home we got the itch to start home renovations so that is what we did.  Clint started tearing out the cabinets and re figuring them how we wanted them.  We installed the new stove that my parents spoiled us with for Christmas. (It is absolutely amazing by the way)! Clint was so ambitious that one night I feel asleep early and when I woke up he had tore out the wainscoting on the one wall. I told him it isn't safe for me to fall asleep anymore. Who knows what I would wake up to next? So the kitchen became our project the last couple months. Clint tore our all the wainscoting (we aren't much into the country look) and spent a week putting up joint compound to try and smooth out the wall.  Then we got busy painting EVERYTHING!!! And I mean everything. We don't like the natural wood look so we painted all the moldings, doors, and windows in the kitchen. We also painted all the walls grey. This took a long time because we didn't know that with dark colors you have to do MANY coats of paint.  We also changed out all the electrical outlets to new white ones since the previous owners painted over theirs and it just didn't look good.  We are currently painting the heating baseboards as well, which will hopefully get done this week. Oh, we also painted the sealing which we no fun. We both had kinks in our necks for a couple days from staring straight up for a couple hours.  We finally put it all back together this week and now I am ready to decorate it! :) We had our first real snow of the winter as well. It was so deep Oreo would basically disappear in it when he jumped into it.  We had fun playing in it and then we were ready for it to melt and go away. 

Happy New Year

Oreo peed right on time. Happy New Year to him!

On the road again

I love seeing these

Pretty sunset

He was pretty bored with driving 8 to 10 hours a day if you can't tell

Our first time being in Nebraska

Thank goodness we had our Christmas candy to keep us energized

Oreo loves putting his face by the air conditioning

He likes being Clint's right hand man

Second time driving over the Mississippi River

Oreo loves licking the remains of Clint's DQ strawberry shake (see video above if you don't believe me)

Yes, we drove through Scranton, PA!! The Office all the way baby!!

Ready to play in the snow

It snowed a lot!!

Isn't our home beautiful with snow on it

He loves the snow

Clint tried sledding on our hill in the backyard. It wasn't very successful.

February

Not a lot has happened this month. We basically have been just working on home renovations every free hour.  We did have a good Valentines day though. While Clint was at work he had a delivery company drop flowers and a bear off to me at home. He is so good at remembering what I like. Lily's are my favorite flowers so he got a dozen of them for me, but then went even farther and had them mixed with a dozen red roses.  We had a fun night going to this fancy restaurant called the Mill on the River. It sits right on the Connecticut River and has some beautiful views. It was fun to get dressed up and go spend some well needed time away from the house.  Down below I posted some of our dinning room renovation pictures.  I am sooo excited to finally have some of my own before and after pictures like all the blogs I have been spooling over for months now. :) More to come...

My gift to Clint

The beautiful flowers Clint got for me!

We changed out the sink faucet! I love my new one. 

Before ripping wainscoting off

After ripping wainscoting off

A ton of joint compound later

The finished paint job!! Now onto painting the baseboard heaters and decorating and then it will be done!

My new little yucca plant I bought. It is my first step in starting to decorate the room. 

That was more than just an update. That was a complete book. Sorry about that. Hopefully that gets me caught up though for the last few months.  Thanks again to all those who have been so great to us.  We love you all and hope every thing is going good in your lives!