Let's get back in the swing of things.

     I know blogging has gone on the back-burner for the last, well, forever. I have to say that the last two years have been extremely insane, but I finally feel like things will start to slow down - knock on wood. I'm two and quarter semesters away from my master's degree and I can't wait! We officially booked our flight to Honolulu for the Utah State v. Hawaii football game in early November - I'm amazed that we both decided to go and things are running smooth to get us there. The travel called for a new credit card, we had been talking about it for a while, Matt is very discerning when it comes to money - which is great, he has made me a better saver, etc. Lodging is also booked and we bought a little travel guide so we can get the most out of our trip. I know we should go and relax, but just like my mother that is not how I travel. It's fun, crazy and always moving, but mom has taught me to get out and enjoy your surroundings when you travel - it's no time for sleeping in (well, maybe a little). Matt has mellowed this a bit, he does not run on a schedule, so I think I'm molding into the best of both worlds.
     We are also planning a Disney World trip for next spring in celebration of my graduation. By the way, you will have to call me 'Master Erin' from that point on ;). This will be a trip with the whole fam and will be the 17th anniversary of the first time we went to Disney World - wow! It will also be the first visit for Ivy, Matt and Uncle Justin! All the traveling we have done in the last three years has really opened up our eyes to where we want to go and who we want to go with. I think I'm even getting Matt talked into a Europe trip sometime soon. Yay!
     We are still loving life in our neck of the woods. Can't believe the year is flying by!

Lovely friends that I have made in my master's program - next spring is my turn to dazzle in my regalia! Love these ladies!

And now, some more photos!

Ivy loves Tempe and Uncle Matt!

The cutie nieces and nephew born of my siblings!

Celebrating our sixth anniversary! What!

With dad!

With mom!

My NAFSA ladies in San Diego watching Michael Franti and Spearhead!

With Paula on the San Diego pier in a surrey with no fringe on top! 

Newport beach

Newport Beach Temple!

San Diego Temple!

Mini Disneyland adventure with Paula!

Vegas vacation with my Matt!

Tempe loves a carrot and we love her!

Erin

Little Redesign

We are in the process of redesigning our blog and then we will actually be posting to it!
Stay tuned!

Snow Day

Matt and Tempe have such a wonderful time together!

Enjoy the snow day!

I still have paint under my fingernails...

    We have been painting our new apartment like crazy these last two weeks. We started with the cabinets in our bedroom, which were an odd combination of olive green, orange and yellow. They are now white, as is the previously mauve and green stairwell leading to our patio and garage. Both of those projects took three days, each! It seemed like we would be knee deep in white paint forever. But then, we saw the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel.

    Now the good stuff starts! We decided on chevron stripes for the spare room, which will be my office. Our green plaid couch will go in here and I thought a coral color would look perfect on the wall! So, after looking at several tutorials, including this one (a huge help), we got the supplies together and got movin'.

    The blue lines you see were made with a chalk marker that I got a Lowe's for $6-ish. I was amazed at how cheap that was. Anyway, you will need to measure the height and width of the wall, then figure out how many lines you will need to make the size chevron you want. Now that the chalk lines are up you can tape off the chevrons - I used Frog Tape, it looked like this:

    Then we started painting, we ended up using two coats of Valspar's Homestead Apricot (2005-3C) in semi-gloss. I, of course, tried to stay in the lines, but I am such a messy painter it was nearly impossible.

    Once finished we let it dry for a little bit, then we took the tape off. I used a magic eraser to get rid of the chalk lines and paint that wandered out of the tape lines - that worked perfectly because the paint was still a little wet - and voila!

    I absolutely love it!

    Next came the front room wall - I ordered our stencil here, and it has turned out to be so much easier than  I thought! We are just doing one coat of Valspar's La Fonda Deep Blue (4011-7) in semi-gloss, we really like the faded, varied look it gives us. I used painter's tape to tape the stencil to the wall, a level to make sure I had the stencil level, obviously, and a 4" foam roller. Dip the roller in the paint and then roll it a couple times on a paper towel, you don't want too much paint on the roller or it will drip and your stencil lines will not be as crisp (I learned that one the hard way). 

    I will post the photos of the complete rooms soon, we move in on Friday!!

    Have a wonderful Wednesday!

    Erin

Moving

    We're moving and I could not be more thrilled. I have gotten used to moving about once a year since we got married and I guess I've fallen in love with the new start we make every time we move. It has been a stressful year and I'm hoping to leave that stress with our current place. We have been through massive bouts of anxiety (on my part), the birth of a preemie niece (which is now so wonderful, but truly scary at the time) and the wedding of my aunt this last week (that one was fun). 

    We have also had wonderful times in our current place, this was the home we brought Tempe to when we got her last year. We have grown stronger as a family in this home, we now know how to breathe and keep moving on.

    So, with this new home comes new possibilities to learn from each other, gain a stronger love for one another and paint. I'm really looking forward to painting! I have big plans for this place, including horizontal striped walls that Matt is not totally on board with, yet. It is an apartment, but it feels a lot like a house - it has a fireplace, garage and terrace/balcony area for barbecuing and what-not. The master bedroom is humongous and the cupboard space in the kitchen is insane! We have not been given a move in date, so for now I will start the packing and cross my fingers that we're in by the end of the month.

    On a side note, we are so proud of our Aggies - they beat the Utes 27-20 on Friday! It was a fantastic game, one that we will never forget!

photo by Eli Lucero of The Herald Journal