We found a Johny's!! We are so excited. It is an hour and a half away but we may have to make the journey for special occasions.  It was amazing! Look how happy he is, the only think that could have made it better was if they had potato soup.

 Louisville, KY

 The Ohio River

We had to post pictures of the snow leopard.  Until you have seen Planet Earth's documentary on how long it took to get footage of this cat you are probably thinking, why post so many pictures of a stupid cat.  

 I can't imagine having one of these on my front porch in the morning as kids are going to school!

 The polar bear was the life of the show.  We sat there for probably 45 minutes watching him.  She would swim down and put logs in the holes in the rocks.  She would do some tricks and try and get the stick back out. Doesn't sound funny, but it was.

 We got there when the trainers were training the elephants.  We saw them do a whole bunch of tricks.

 Look at the baby!  So tiny!

 Churchill Downs was not what I expected.  I was expecting what you see in the movies.  It is actually pretty run down looking.  You can tell it was a fabulous place back in 1847 when it opened.

 Yes, That is the Louisville baseball and football stadium.  I pictured KY would have rolling fields with white picket fences and horse farms.  Well the track is right in the middle of town.  And the ghetto at that...

 They have this fun painting with all the winners.

 I had to take a picture of this!  Take a guess who this is?? Lucien Laurin and Secretariat!!!

 They have this glass replica of the entire stadium.  It is HUGE.  It would have taken three or four shots to get the whole thing in.

 The KY Science Center.  Kinda boring actually...

 Look how big they get!  Brian is just over 6 foot

 This is the thingy-magig they took to the moon.  There is another person that sits to Brian's right.  Tight space huh?

 Before...

 During...

 Getting Closer...

 The final product!

 Brian put an outlet in my island!  I AM SO EXCITED!!

My second batch of Jam.  I am looking forward to doing peach jam in the fall.

I am working on other projects.  I will post them when I am done.

So in KY we went to the temple Friday night.  It was really pretty and really small.  We did Sealings and the temple pres. was the one that did them.  We also did a session and it was really nice.  We went to the zoo the next morning, Churchill Downs, and the science center.  It was a fun little weekend.  We will definitely go to that temple more often.

Handles

I hate these nasty ole' brass handles!  We got some good spray paint and we sprayed them bronze to match the nice ones that they put in.  They look way better!  I was shocked how much each handle would cost!  $27.99 was the cheapest we could find!  And for 8 bucks I got two cans of spray paint and did all my handles.  That is a few hundred bucks in savings right there people! See the after photos in the previous post.

Let the House Warming Presents Start Comin' !

We are really loving our house.  The only thing that could make it better is to have a green lawn and living trees.  It has been so hot that the lawn is brown and the trees are having a hard time.  I really hope that I don't loose my trees.  The grass will come back.  A lot of people in this area have put in sprinkler systems but this house never had one.  We have been hesitant to really bring it back to life because we have heard that water rates are really high here and it wouldn't be unusual to have a $200 a month water bill in the summer.  We are waiting to get all the bills so we can kind of see where we are at and if we can even afford to water the lawn!

BEFORE

 BEFORE....

Before.....

So the day we moved in Brian set to work to fill all the holes in the walls.  He went out of town for a week two days later so last Saturday we thought we would do all the touch up painting.  This house looks very similar on all the walls so Brian would take a paint can out, it would look like the wall color and we would head in to paint.  Well, some walls were a little tricky.  Take this one.  It took 10... TEN paint cans to finally find the right shade of 'tan' or as Brian would say 'too-pay' AKA toupe.  We finally got the right paint can and my kitchen wall looks good again.

 My lovely pantry. Surprisingly bigger than I thought.  I could fit a lot of food in here if I got organized.    It had those nasty white shelves.  You can see of the little lips the slat things.  Well I hate them!  If you don't have food just right it tips over and things fall through.  Our last rental had this.  Brian went to Home Depot and got a board and cut it down to size to place on top of the shelves.  IT IS AMAZING!

 AFTER!!

 Pay attention to the faucet...  notice the spout.  It is so cool!

 Our office...

 The craft I am working on.  Brian painted my frame he made last night.

 What do you think about the thing above the mantle?  I made it and can't decide what to think. And yes that is my bedroom mirror on the floor still.

I need new curtains... BAD

Our closet is big enough for ALL my clothes.... AND Brian's!!!  I didn't know that was possible!

Oh rats... I forgot to take a picture.  Well it is on my phone.  Go back and pay attention to any door handles you see....
I am sure I will take more pictures as we get more settled and figure out how we want to decorate.

I have been slacking off lately.  I didn't even take any pictures in Idaho.  Well I did on Mom's camera but none on mine.  I don't even think  I have taken any pictures of my house yet! Once it is all put together I will take some.  We should finish the last of our loads tonight which means we will have ALL of our stuff here!  Today I made cookies and bread in my new kitchen.  I love it!  Brian made the comment that the house is so much bigger than he thought.  The kitchen seems way bigger now that we don't have all the junk on the counters like the other lady.

Brian was gone over the 4th so I think he is going to take Monday off and we are going to go to the city.  Don't know if it will be Chicago or where but somewhere with a temple.  That does narrow it down quite a bit.

The HOT weather has started to die down for a few more days and we are enjoying every minute of it. We have been for walks around our neighborhood and swimming and sitting out on our patio reading the scriptures.

Sunday was Brian's birthday!  He is officially in his late 20's.  The big 2 - 7.  He says he feels old.  We had the most delicious dinner!  I am quite proud of myself.  We spent the evening with J&E  and had a great time.  We had my super yummy grill potatoes, chicken kabobs with lots of veggies.  Yuck!  But I like the chicken part :)  a yummy green salad with homemade dressing with hot bread and brownies and ice cream.  Maybe it was because we hadn't eaten very good the past week with Brian being gone and it being so hot and moving, but it tasted SOOOO good!

Today we are borrowing a trailer from Brian's friend at work and we are moving the dresser!  YEA!!  It is so big that it would kill be if I tried to lift it.  Other than that nothing new here!

And The Big News...

We bought a house!!!!  Well not technically for 6 more days but a week from today I will be putting boxes in my car and taking them to their new home!  We are so EXCITED!!

We really haven't told anyone yet because so much can go wrong in the home buying process but it looks like everything is good to go!

Sunday

Today has been a great Sunday.  We went to church and Brian did all his exec. sec stuff and then we went to a CAT party.  It is their 30 year mark here in Lafayette and on Friday they fed all employees, even all the factory workers a really nice lunch and today they had a company picnic with good food and treats.  They really went all out.  I got to see where Brian’s desk is and got to go on a tour.  It is amazing what they can do.  The factory is HUGE!!!  Dad you would have enjoyed it.  We were really surprised that they shut the factory down.  All the shift workers got the day off. Brian said that they were really happy about that. 

Tonight we watched the show on ABC called Secret Millionaire.  Ya know, there is a lot of filth on TV that portrays the lifestyles of people that only Satin himself can appreciate.  Every once in awhile a show comes along that actually shows the good in the world.  If you haven’t seen the show you really need to watch it.  Tonight one of the organizations they featured was one that help people who are in need of prosthetic limbs.  Did you know that it costs $10,000 per limb?  So for children that need them, they are going to go through a lot of them!  They grow like weeds!  Insurance companies will only pay for 1…. If that. 

I have been thinking a lot lately about the life hereafter.  I have been thinking about what it takes to live in heaven with Heavenly Father. Who will make it?  Will it surprise us how many go with us, or will we be shocked how many won’t make it?  But more than anything I have thought about how beautiful it will be.  Not the scenery or how pretty the houses will be but how glorious it will be to be reunited with those that we have lost. How beautiful it will be to see those that we saw with physical ailments.  Can you imagine what it will be like to see a little boy with a prosthetic leg get his new legs and be able to run and jump and climb trees?   How beautiful if will be to watch someone hear for the first time and see the look on their face.  How beautiful if will be to see all of those things! 

I have been following several blogs lately about people who have really just been put through the ringer.  I know that bad things happen to good people.  In my head I can understand that.  In my head I think that I would be one that would rely on the savior and grow closer to him.  But in my heart I question if I would be like that.  I would hope that I would be one of those that turned the bad in to the good and grew closer to Heavenly Father.  But I have seen the best of people really turn their back on Him when bad things happen.  What happens to people when bad things happen?  If you were to ask them 5 years ago they would have said the same thing, that they would never turn their backs.  What switch is turned off in people’s brains? 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell said: “The
 submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we 
have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we ‘give’ … are 
actually the things He has already given or loaned to us.”

Wow, isn’t that powerful!  Our families, our friends, our spouses and children aren’t even ours!  We have just been given them as a gift, or a ‘trial period.’  We only have our will.  With that will we decide how we treat those special people in our lives.  How we choose to live and more importantly how we choose to react and cope with the things that we are given and when those precious things are taken away.

Anywhoo,

There are millions of books published in a million languages that ‘teach’ us about true love.  We look to these fictional characters as role models and models of what our love should look like.  I however have found a much better source of what true love really is.  Don’t get me wrong, I sure do love a prince in shining armor and I got one.  I love reading talks from conference and from the past church authorities talk about their spouses.  They have the true understanding of what an eternal love is! 

“I am satisfied that happiness in marriage is not so much a matter of romance as it is an anxious concern for the comfort and well-being of one’s companion. Any man who will make his wife’s comfort his first concern will stay in love with her throughout their lives and through the eternity yet to come”-Gordon B. Hinckley

I love, love, love hearing the apostles talk about their sweet hearts!  I am very lucky that my prince charming also has the eternal perspective and treats me like he is the luckiest guy to get to be with me not just until the ‘happily ever after,’ but the hereafter as well.  I am so blessed.  I don’t tell Brian how much I appreciate and love him as much as I should, I don’t think any of us do, but I hope that we will continue to grow closer and closer together for the rest of time!

Last week I went to MN to see Chadd and Suzie.  We had a great time!  It was good to see them after not seeing them for over a year.  We went to the Mall of America, had our eyebrows threaded, the MN zoo, Zumba, Vampire Diaries and so much more.  It was really fun.  And sad to say… no pictures ha.

There are a few exciting things in development at our house but it is too early to disclose them.  Can’t wait to share them!

 The only minivan this family will ever have in it's driveway!  Well that is what Brian says ha.  Brian had a last minute trip and a van is all they had left.  Don't worry, he did a burn out at 4 in the morning outside my window.

 For those of you that want to send me a gift just for kicks and giggles, this is what you can get me.  I hate white kitchen floors!

 Me next to an engine block.  This is what Brian work's on! The above turns in to the below pic. Crazy isn't it! Brian hasn't had to go inspect any quite this big yet but he travels to look at some just a tiny bit smaller than this several times a month!