Soooo Not Worth It

Q: How long does it take to put up cheap Wal-Mart blinds???



A: Roughly an hour and a half.

Terrible quality = time consuming

Progress is Being Made

So lately Clark and I have been working on trying to get the house in order and determine what we really need and can live without for now. Here are some recent pictures:

We really thought the light fixtures they put up are tasteful. Very glad they didn't use gold colored fixtures.



Here is the office/ music room before it is put together. There is a computer, desk and chair in the room as well now. Not worth taking a recent picture of because it is Clark's study room and extremely messy.


The kitchen as we unpacked.



The kitchen again.

Clark taking a little break from unpacking. See the foosball table? It hasn't moved. We don't know where to put it and Clark won't let me sell it on craigslist because it was a "wedding present." Why does he have to be so sentimental?

And here it is still...



The new addition to our kitchen. Someday all the appliances will match.

The super sweet blonde colored chairs I bought off of Craigslist. They are from World Market so I was pretty stoked. And Clark not only has his own study room but he also likes to take over the kitchen table as well.


Our little shrine to ourselves and a picture of Jesus. You can't see them very well but they are pics from our wedding. Also, notice the very tasteful light fixture.


Here is our friendly cactus in our backyard. On the right branch you will notice a bud. Clark was so excited about that. It has since died and fallen off. And our backyard is going to be the biggest project of all. Notice all the weeds.

We have been watching plenty of this lately too. We actually had to buy season 2,3 and 4. We could not help ourselves. Must haves for the house.

Hotty Toddy!

Gotta love Ole Miss! Love for the Rebels still runs deep in my veins


The Rebels beat Florida last Saturday 31-30! YEAH!

(I would have posted this sooner but I've been working all week...)

Hotty Toddy, baby!

They're Back....

Like 3 years ago I started to have recurring tornado dreams. I have no idea why, I have never had a fear of them. But they would occur every 1-2 weeks for about 2 years. Then, out of nowhere, they stopped like a year ago.


And now they are back. I just had my first tornado dream in about a year. Does anyone have any idea what recurring dreams/nightmares are supposed to indicate or mean? I thought I didn't have a fear of them but maybe I'm developing a subconscious fear due to these dreams.

We Did It!!

We are officially homeowners! We are both SO relieved that this whole fiasco is over and done with! Whew!

And the Training Begins

I am officially signed up for my first marathon in January of 2009!


Here's the link: http://www.rnraz.com/home.html



It is going to be 26.2 miles of sheer bliss. I am so excited!

September Pasco Trip

Here are a few reasons why I enjoy visiting Pasco...

Chase enjoying ribs. Mmmmmmm

Cute little Cole wishing he could eat ribs

Family bike rides in the nice weather. I actually ran along side and Katie Rollerbladed.

Picture day with Cole

Ty, Katie and Cole ejoying the bbq at the house.

Chase throwing up dust on his Daddy

I tried to be a professional photographer

At the end of the trip. Too bad Ty, Cedar, Scott and Dagmara couldn't be in this self timed photo.

Problem Condo

Though I am thankful that Clark and I both have a roof over our heads and a place to stay while we are in limbo with this whole house buying fiasco, I have to admit that I CAN'T WAIT to get out of this condo! Here's a few things that I can't stand:

1. The condo is on the second story. After this experience I, personally, would never live on any story but the 1st story unless there were elevators. Moving things up and down stairs is not fun

2. There's a bug problem. We told Clark's nursing friend (who owns the condo we're renting) not to worry about cleaning for us after they moved all their stuff out because we would only be here a couple of months. But oh my gosh, if you leave anything out on the counter the little ant type bugs will be swarming in no time. Yuck

3. The skylights let in too much light and sun and there is no way to close the blinds without a ladder! And we refuse to buy a ladder just for this purpose...

4. The air conditioning unit leaks like crazy. attached are some pics of a small waste basket half full- from 2 days of condensation! One night Clark and I heard what sounded like rain in the apartment and walked over to the door (where the air conditioning is located) and saw droplets

of water just pouring out of the unit! I am soooooo annoyed with this.

Anyway....so here is the link to the spinach and leek soup recipe. It is so tasty, and healthy. I always omit the cous cous too because it would make it way too thick! Let me know if you try it!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Spinach-and-Leek-White-Bean-Soup/Detail.aspx

One Great Recipe

I made this recipe the other night. I don't even pretend to be a great cook (Clark actually has the gift) but Clark and I both agreed that this dish turned out fantastic. And the best part is that it is SO simple. here is the link:

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Garlic-Red-Potatoes/Detail.aspx

there is also a spinach and leek soup recipe I will have to find and post. it is unbelievably good. my mother even liked it, and she happens to be the hardest woman to please.

Also, in other news, we should be closing on the house this Friday....keep your fingers crossed! The selling bank has been such a hassle to work with but hopefully we will seal the deal by Friday. If, for some reason, we are unable to close, I am going to take that as a HUGE sign that God really doesn't want us to have the house after all....

Sad Week....

The course of this past week was notably sad and discouraging for both Rachel and Clark. Our long time friends Arian and Karemu are moving to Utah. Our Morgage company is unable to meet the closing date for our house, breaking our contract and causing us to possibly lose our beloved future home in Gilbert (more details later). And the guys in Clark's Band decided this week that life had become too busy to dedicate so much time to a band and the Mid-life-Crisis rock band that Clark was a part of dissolved.

Rachel and Karemu

Arian and Clark

All of us saying our good-byes

Cool Car Wash and Clark's New Baby

Here is the car wash we discovered when Mom and Dad Tobler were visiting. It is so sweet. And it isn't one of those do-it-yourself ones either! Its the mechanical one- the real deal! Probably our new favorite thing. A great idea for a date :)

Here is a picture of Clark's pimp new ride. It seems to drive a lot smoother than the last Lumina but we just hope it lasts for another year or so....we'll see! And it just passed emissions so we are relieved.

House Pictures

Friday we were able to go look around our future home with Mom and Dad Tobler. Here are some pictures! Because we are purchasing the home with an FHA loan, which means we put absolutely no money down, the house has to meet certain requirements. So before we move in, the walls will all be repainted (hopefully in a color that isn't stark white), the light fixtures will all be replaced and the carpet will be replaced. Hopefully they will also fix the grouting in the tile too...

The kitchen. Definitely have to change the wall color and the appliances. But overall, not in bad shape.

Sideways photo of the pantry. So much space!

The backyard. There's even a cactus in the corner! We will have to get rid of the gravel and reseed the grass.

Living room near front door

The living room leading into the kitchen.

View of part of the living room from the kitchen.


Karl waving from the front of our house.

Master bedroom

We are getting very excited and are looking forward to making improvements in the home. Mom and Dad Tobler have shared many inspiring ideas with us. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Inspection: Complete!

Our future house was inspected today. I worked last night so I was sleeping soundly while Clark and the inspector throroughly checked the house. I guess it looks ok! No major problems or defects. We just need to get the AC unit serviced so it adequately cools the house and fix some tile on the roof. So that's a relief!

Also, Clark just bought a car off of craigslist because his other car was totalled 3 weeks ago. He got another Chevy Lumina- a 1997. If anyone wants to pray to Heavenly Father that this car will last longer than a year we would surely appreciate it!

We'll post some pics of the house and the car later in the week!

Just for Kicks

I am passionately and completely in love with my husband, but I have to admit he is not the most photogenic person in the world. He is truly so intelligent but from certain pictures you would never believe it. Take these next few for example...

Here we are at Clark's nursing friend's house. (PS their house is so amazing, I am going to include photos of some of the things they have done). From far away Clark just looks like he is having a good time with some of his nursing friends.

And here is the picture up close....

Clark states he was shaking water out of his ear....

Is it wrong of me to post embarrassing pictures of my husband on the blog? I just had to share them, they are so funny!

Now here are some pictures of Wendi and Rob's house:

Gorgeous sink faucet and tile that they installed on their own.

Beatifully painted cabinets

Raised designs on the walls done with stencils and spackling.

We can't wait to move into our home so we can have them come over and help us!

A much improved picture of Clark :)

Here's a Blog for Ya

I've noticed a consistency in Clark's picture poses over the last year...

Though Clark doesn't actually pee, he loves having his image captured in this pose. I guess boys will be boys...