Weekly update

1. Almost solidified a renter for our house. ( yipee- has been a bit stressful)
2.New house passed inspection. Still a few weeks out from closing but almost there
3.Jonathan has been working insane hours- works all day, then comes home and works till the wee hours at night
4.In between- has done 99% of the packing..our garage is a good chunk full of boxes
5.We hardly have made a dent in the overall amount still to go :(
6.We leave for WY to have some fun with the Bechtold side of the family for a few days. Excited to get outta dodge
7.Met up with some good friends/our kids at Raging Waters( now 7 peaks) in SLC the other day. Let me save you some money-believe me when I say not worth it.
8.Road construction is making me very very grumpy- my nerves are a bit frazzled
9.Not sure how we are going to get through July- but we will-right?
10.Fixed the van...Jonathan rocks

Ragnar 2011

I wanted Jonathan to write the recap of Ragnar - afterall hearing it from his perspective would have been much more entertaining...but hes been slammed at work and so I decided before it got too far from memory to go ahead and post...

My good friend Emily and her Hubby put together a team kinda last minute and asked if I would like to run...well HELLO hanging with my friend and getting to run a race is a no brainer...then someone dropped out and I talked Jonathan into running....well needless to say his training consisted of ONE 3 mile jog in which he hurt his foot and didnt run again.

I was a little worried about him- but hes on the elliptical machine daily so I hoped he would be fine...

A few days before race day...Emily had to bail as her sitter flaked out so I was really bummed, but still excited that Jonathan would be doing it with me. Our team was the Thresher RV Crew and we had rented a HUGE RV to have as our roving hotel/sleep station...while we had our minivan as the shuttle vehicle for runners and back and forth to the RV. Have to say...the best idea EVER! Our team was a mix of guys and girls...some runners some not...we just wanted to have fun. We werent too concerned about time.

Our start was scheduled for 10:15- well we were late...we got off about 11am Friday. Some of our transitions were missed( just having runners at an exchange and the next runner still at the RV etc), in all I think we were about 2 hours lost in transitions- but again we werent concerned.
We finished up 5:30 Saturday.

Jonathan rocked the house with 3- 4 milers and did a way more awesome job than I expected...and I was a bit more tired this year with the legs I was running....5 miles, 5 miles, and then 8 miles. I was super bummed that about 3 miles into my last 8 mile leg my knee flared its old injury and I could barely walk, let alone run. So I had our amazing Milton ( 17 year old STAR) take over my leg.

It was another year of FUN, memories, and a great time. My hope is that this is just one of many that we do in the future!

Jonathan - Leg 1

My first leg...feeling good...

Start of the race...

David- the amazing barefoot runner - he is wearing sandels and probably a good thing too with the amount of rocks etc on that trail...

Not sure if you can tell...but I never got warm..had goosebumps the whole time..

This was so incredibly beautiful...the scenery and weather was PERFECT!

* a big thanks to David and Emily for inviting us to be on their team, but also to my amazing Hubby for being willing to take part. Till next year....

June updates

June is flying by...we have/had some fun things happening..RAGNAR this weekend, HRC Gala Jonathan and I attended, June birthday celebrations...all good stuff.

The biggest news is we are under contract with this house in Draper. The long story of it is this. We love our Lehi house...our neighbors, our ward. We dont like the lot size or that I can hear our neighbors talking in their house when we are in our house. It has escalated a bit to where I felt very claustrophobic and wanted space. Jonathan agreed. We were browsing the MLS looking at some great houses that I would have loved. Gorgeous high end, completely done, new houses. But they were slightly out of our price range and we didn’t want to raid our 401K’s to get them. So I kept my eye out…found 2 more- waited a day or two and when I got the okay from Jonathan to call- they already had offers---within DAYS! So we contemplated a few things…stay at our Lehi house for a while longer, or consider buying something that we could put some elbow grease into and fix it up.

Our friends back in Draper live in this fantastic neighborhood. Next to a park, elementary school, near trails, amphitheater, pool…they said that their neighbors were foreclosing on the house and we should take a look at it. Needless to say Jonathan fell in love. Lots of potential, no backyard neighbors(backyard opens up to the park, and pool) and space. I left after looking at the house slightly depressed….after seeing all those gorgeous new houses, and then to be considering one with much needed upgrades and a home that would require lots of work( um we both work full time, and jonathan is in school...what time would we have?)…well anyway after a few times going back to see it, talking about the things we could do, the benefits of the house…I got on board. We have plans to add a bonus room in the garage( it’s a two story garage so we can easily add a room above it), update the kitchen and baths, do some painting, finish off the basement and do the landscaping. While some of these projects have far out completion dates, others we will do right away. We are supposed to close in a few weeks, so baring anything with the inspection, this will be the house we hope to spend the next 20 years in....

House has a lot of great landscaping in the front when in bloom. I imagine a porch swing and lots of flowers...

The house was built in the late 90's. So lots of gold fixtures and lighting that will be the first to go...this is the formal dining area. When the house was on the market ( a total of a week with 3 offers- we got the house by less than a 1000.00 dollars) they put in new pad/carpet and repainted the walls. White. So before we move in Ill be doing a lot of painting...too much white for me....

Family room. One thing that I love about this house that we dont currently have in our Lehi home...is Light. There are tons of windows and wonderful natural light.

Kitchen. This was the biggest sore point for me. The layout and the lack of a pantry. While there are lots of cabinets- we have to replace all the appliances and the entire thing needs updating.

Another view of the Kitchen.

Master bath. Counters are very low. You have to bend down even. So we will pull them out and replace...Also they put new carpet down. EK! So we will be pulling it back up and tiling in the bathroom asap.

Backyard. It has never had landscaping so we will be looking to do this as well. I envision a new deck, trellis, grass near the house...with some leveling, in ground trampoline, trees, garden, playset on the top level of the yard and a new fence.

So there you go a quick tour of the house we will hopefully be calling home. Our plan is to rent out the Lehi house for a few years perhaps and sell when the market comes back around.

So anyone have any moving boxes?? LOL

Happy Birthday Baby!

Happy 35th to the man who can always make me laugh.

Supportive, kind, loving, BRILLIANT, mischievous, hardworking ROCKSTAR....

today is HIS special day.

my love...xoxoxox

Weekly Rant

Notice the red dot on this map( bottom one)? We live a quarter mile to the east of that dot. That dot indicates the top of Utah's flight park...why am I pointing this out. Well
if you have been reading the last couple of posts you will have known about the feral cat issue we face. People dumping cats in the mountains behind our home, and or NOT spaying/neutering their cats and increasing our neighborhood feral cat problem. Dont expect Animal Control to help out either. They now expect you to catch and bring in the animals, pay for the euthanizing ( if needed). Gotta love our beloved animal control! But no, really why I pointed that out is that we get FIERCE winds in our area. Hence the reason the STATES flight park is our backyard. Last night the winds were so strong that it lifted our deck umbrella that was anchored by a weighted base --out of the
the table in over the backyard fence. It was then, that the neighbors dog started barking. And it didnt stop for 2 hours. 2 hours people. In the middle of the night. WHY didnt the people bring their dumb dog inside instead of keeping me, and how many other neighbors up? GRR. Im on the hunt for a new house. FYI.

On a super bright note- we are headed to this part of the country...hopefully escaping the cold and rain that has plagued us. Did you know that snowbird( ski resort) is planning on staying open through July 4th? - you heard right. You can ski during the summer because we have had so much snow and rain that its a record base up there! Needless to say, when I heard that this morning, I was more grateful for our upcoming trip. 100 degree weather and pool? Yes please.

The boys are so excited to be going and seeing Noel. Both are giddy and keep asking " is today the day we leave?" Soon- soon!

More CATS!

* update: they all found good homes( I hope) via the humane society of utah. with no takers I took them last night. :( the little things were so adorable following me around the house and purring constantly when I held them...but alas the time had come. they needed a chance at getting perm. homes.

goodness it hasnt ended yet! george-hobo-bobo has officially been given a home-as our outside cat! he decided everytime that he was allowed out of the bathroom to spray some part of the house soo- we of course put a collar on him, got him a little doggie house, and put him outside. I fully expected him to run away, but hes been sitting around the house crying to be let back in. Hes a totally reformed lovey cat- a few pounds heavier and I couldnt be happier with the arrangement. :)
NOW how did we end up with 5 kittens you may ask? GRRR well another feral cat - that I noticed a month or so ago being pregnant decided to have her kittens in our neighbors backyard under the deck. I had to check them out - and because our neighbor didnt want to deal with them we offered to take them and try and find homes for them. SO we decided to keep one ( oh my goodness another cat!
(WHEN DO I GET MY DOG? Lol)
We need to find homes for the other 4. They are seriously the cutest things ever and about 5 weeks at the most. unfortunately didnt catch the mom although we will still keep trying. If not she will likely get prego and we will be dealing with this again in another 6 months. Help me I hope not!
So anyone want one? haha!!

What we have been up to

What have we been up to? Too much and too little in my book. Jonathan started his job- and things are rapidly proving themselves to be correct. Full days, and lots of opportunities. He is traveling a bit( actually he will be gone all next week ) implementing ideas, spending some time on the golf course ( choke ) in all - hes looking forward to his days rather than dreading them. As you can see from the swag- tshirt below...the culture is a bit different....but he loves it.

A few weeks ago this cat- George, Hobo, Bobo- we cant decide made an appearance on our back deck. He and Bob would be found just sitting near eachother starring at one another...I initially thought AWWW - BOB made a friend! Isnt she cute! Well several days later, and we noticed that it didnt have a collar, and wasnt neutered ( its a boy!) and that in all reality it was a stray. Not uncommon in are area as we are back to a deserted mountain range, however we didnt know what to do. Not really interested in adding another cat to the family, but cant let the poor thing keep wandering the neighborhood without being neutered either. So over the course of a week we got friendly with it, he let us touch him and he would venture close to the house when we left food out. Finally we caught him and we decided to do the responsible thing...take him in to the vet to be checked out. ( That was an adventure- boxing him up and taking him on THAT trip) Anyway we got him all his shots, found out he was 12 months old and in good shape albeit slightly skinny. With the harsh winters - I didnt feel good about letting it out again - so Jonathan and I decided we might try to adopt it. Its been a mix of two steps forward and 1 step back. Wild cats are unpredictable, and this one sprays. We have been told that they can still mark territory regardless of being neutered now and thus we are at an impasse. Hes currently holding up in one of our bathrooms and getting used to human interaction, but Im not ready for him to have free reign of the house ( and maybe never) So we are still trying to figure out a long term solution for George-hobo-bobo.

Khory has been out of town for almost two weeks. TWO whole weeks where Ive gotten our son all to myself! Ive absolutely loved it. I miss that kid when hes away from me...

Next weekend we are headed out to see Noel! Super excited- not for the drive( the last time we attempted such a drive, Tristan had cried almost the entire 12 hour trip except for the brief 2 hour nap he took...that trip ended all plans for vacations for our family for the next 18 months. SERIOUSLY)- but to see Brook and the family! And hopefully we will get out of this horrible, raining, snowy, windy, WINTER weather!

Elijiah has been invited to participate on a competitive soccer team for next year! We are so excited for him and this opportunity. He has struggled for the last couple of seasons to find a home if you will. Tried several leagues, and we werent happy for a variety of reasons. Elijiah started to show some real talent and passion for the game that wasnt being developed on the rec leagues- and we thought this was the year for him to try out for the next level. However he was just asked to join a team due to his abilities and we are stoked!

Other than that- we finally got around to planting our garden during one weekend when it didnt rain, we are busy busy with everyday life, and the continued juggling of our lives. All is good. :)