Friday, January 13

Finally...our new home!


So as all of you know we moved out to Washington in July and bought a condo. We did quite a bit of work on it, and can now officially say...we are ALMOST done with all the updates.  When we first got here, I was really overwhelmed and wondered what on earth we got ourselves into, but I love my home now and can say...it was all worth it! We feel so blessed to have found such a good home within our price range! I took some before and after pictures, you'll have to let us know if you like the changes we made. :)

So this is our front room... it started out with really old gross carpet and weird paint...but we fixed it up just the way we like it! There was a big old hole in the ceiling, but my dad and Don where able to fix that up! We still need to get baseboards for this room...but then it will be done!








cute baby!! :)
This is our dining room. I wasn't a big fan of the blue so we changed that and moved the food cupboard down so we could have room for our table.  I love the hardwoods and the french doors.
This is the kitchen. I love the white cabinets, and with new paint... I love it!
This was the laundry room...missing baseboards, a big old hole in the wall.  I forgot to take a before picture of the bathroom part and I wished I would have because we did a lot of work in there...oh well.  This was probably the room that took the longest. 
The stairs...with new carpet. Honestly these old pictures don't do the old nasty carpet justice.
The next two pictures are of Jackson's room.  One thing I really didn't like about the house when we moved here was the lack of color.  The white walls, the white carpet...everything was white! That needed fixed for sure! :)

Much better...

There isn't much storage space in the bedrooms, so Don built shelves in both of our rooms, I love them!
This was our bedroom...notice again all the white. Because these condos are so old there are no light fixtures in the rooms, we hated how dark it was in our room and how hot it was during the summer and we were really wanting to buy a ceiling fan, but we knew they were expensive so we didn't think we ever would...but the very next day we went to a garage sale and found one for $5!! You heard me right! I LOVE garage sales!

Don is so talented...he taught himself how to install it!
The main bathroom...  I really didn't care for the green above the tub because it didn't match anything.  Luckily I found the perfect color that goes really well with the tile around the tub.
The area where I get to be vain... I love all the space! :)

Notice the hole... now it's all fixed and luckily we found out what paint was used for the walls, so we didn't have to repaint the whole bathroom. I was so excited about that because I liked the color too!

Saturday, January 7

Our Christmas...

We had a wonderful Christmas this year! We missed being around family, but we were both able to see them during December which was so fun. We can't wait till Jackson gets older and understands Christmas better. There is so much to be thankful for, it really does make me realized how blessed I am. I love my little family! :)
 This toy was given to Jackson by his Aunt Candy and Uncle Rick here in Puyallup....easily his favorite toy. He literally runs around with it now, he will be walking in no time!
 Loves playing with the buttons and music on it too!
 The thoughtful gifts my husband gave me! I love my new straightener! It goes from dry to wet and saves me tons of time blow drying my hair. And I am so excited about the 30 day shred DVD...hopefully it will help after the baby comes! I'm also excited to watch 'The Time Traveler's Wife', we haven't seen it yet, but have heard good things....we will see!
 Don's gifts...we are officially addicted to scrabble! We love playing word games.
 Jackson's presents, my mom made him that towel.  I secretly want to steal it though because it is so soft! Thanks mom!
 So do you remember this...
 It turned into this! We use it all the time, I love it!
 When we were getting ready for bed the other night, Don said "now we are like all those cool people who have flat screen t.v.'s!"  He was so excited, he's so cute! But I guess he's right...we are officially cool! ;)
 Don also made me this stable for my nativity set, he is so talented.  He also made me a sewing table in his closet.  Yep that's right, Don gave me half of his closet for my sewing and crafts...I love him! :)

Monday, December 26

A lot to get caught up on...

So a couple in our ward threw an ugly sweater party! It was our first one we had ever gone to and it was a lot of fun. There was a lot of fun games and delicious foods.  We didn't have an ugly sweater lying around, so we went to the DI in Federal Way and found some...for a dollar, can't beat that! I particularly like Don's.  Everyone at the party commented on it, saying it looked like a vest for a heifer because of all the nifty pockets! :)



 The white elephant gift we won! Jackson seems to already like it.
 Don threw a party for the Sunday School class he teaches, I forgot to take pictures throughout the night, but at least I got a picture of all the foods I made. I was pretty proud of myself. It was my first time making a cheese ball, Don loved it!
 On Christmas Eve, we decorated Christmas cookies(This was my first time making sugar cookies. They turned out perfect!) while we watched a Christmas movie and opened one present.  It was  lot of fun! Don got 12 of his favorite chap sticks, and Don made me a frame for my broken laptop.  The screen to my laptop is broken off, so it doesn't stand up.  Don was so creative and made a frame to hang it by in front of my elliptical so that I can watch movies while I work out...he's so creative, I love it! It's going to be like having a flat screen TV in our room...sort of! :) I will take a completed picture once we get it put together!




Don also got me these beautiful flowers a few days before Christmas. They smell sooo good, and daisies are my favorite... I love that boy! :)
 Yum, yum....completed sugar cookies! I will be posting our Christmas pictures soon, I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!