Finally Finished!!!!!

For most of the year, I have been working on a project to "remodel" my front room. It may not look like I did much, but the whole feel of my house is different.

This first picture is to give you an idea of what the wall with the fireplace looked like. So it's the best I have for a "before" picture.

And now . . .

New gas fireplace (with remote control!), custom bookshelves and matching mantel, canned lights, some ceiling fans (I put a new one in the kitchen too), art work, throw pillows, and curtains. Voila!

I officially finished it today because I had a carpet guy come and stretch the carpet to the bookshelves, so everything is now done.

I thought as a thank you, I would post some information as to who I used and where I bought a few things:

Fireplace: Hearth and Home - they have locations north and south in the valley, were the most resonably priced and had a great selection.

Bookshelves: A-1 Kitchens and Tops - AMAZING is all I have to say. Solid, hardwood material. Beautifully stained and painted. They beat the price on everyone. Even the cheap stuff at Home Depot would have cost an additional $800 and no matching mantel and I couldn't get exactly what I wanted. When I get to remodel my kitchen, I'm going with these guys!

Wiring for sound and lights: Lance Beard - he just started his own company, but has been doing this stuff for years (10+). Did you notice any cables from my TV to my equipment? All Lance. He was always on time, effecient, and cleaned up after each work day.

All the frew frew (?): My new favorite home decor store is Home Goods in Brickyard Plaza. That's were I got the piece above the piano and the pictures. Great deal and always find unusual stuff that I never knew I was looking for. Also, found great throw pillows at Walmart - who would've thunk?

Carpet work: The Carpet Fixer - they were great! They were able to come just a few days after I called. They offer a "bid and do". Meaning they'll come and bid each thing you want done right on the spot and then you can choose what you would have them do. They were very efficient and the carpet looks great!

A big THANK YOU to my friend, Erin, who tolerates my lack of decorating skill and is always up for a challenge.

New Family Photos

It's always an adventure to do family pictures and you never know if you're going to get anything decent. These are my favorite 3 pics. Bridger always struggles to find his smile for the camera. He saves it for when we're not looking (through the camera). But beautiful kids none the less!

This scared me to death!

I had an experience with Bridger on Sunday afternoon. It is something that I never even anticipated and I feel it my duty to warn other parents to protect their children.

We were heading out the door for church. I sent the kids to the car, opened the garage door and stepped back into the kitchen to get the bags. I soon heard Bridger crying. I listened for a moment to decide what kind of a cry it was: I'm dying come now, I fell but I'll be okay, Livy is being mean, you get the idea. Well, it was sort of a I'm freaking out and don't know what to do cry. I decided I should poke my head out the door and see what was going on. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw. . . he was hanging from the garage door by his fingertips!!! Just holding on for dear life trying to get my attention. I dropped everyting, sprinted to the door (in heels and a skirt) all the while begging him to NOT LET GO!

I have never held him so tight, then scolded him so severly. Now, every time we walk out to the garage he points at the door and says "No no. Don't touch." I also no longer send them out while the door is opening. It is already opened or I wait until they are buckled in before opening it.

I wish I could have gotten a picture or at least draw something just to bring home the image a little bit better. I hope it's obvious why I didn't get a picture :0).

Yard sale for a good cause . . .

My work is hosting a yard sale to benefit one of our employees who was recently diagnosed with stage 3 colon cancer. He has a wife and two young girls to support and we really want to give him a hand.

So, if you are an avid yard sale attendee, please put this one on your calendar. This will not be a junker sale. Lots of great items: tvs, furniture, baby gear, outdoor equipment, etc.

June 26, 8-12 pm at Nelson Laboratories (south parking lot) 6280 S. Redwood Rd. Here's a link with the a few more details: http://supportcourtyardsale.blogspot.com/2010/06/support-court-yard-sale.html

Easter

We had a great Easter morning. The Easter Bunny brought Livy dress up clothes and some for Bridger (boy stuff) and a fun way to play catch!

We still had snow, so we bundled up for an outdoor egg hunt.

You"ll have to bear with me as these posts are way over due. Better late than never!

Thing 1 and Thing 2

The twins' birthday was a few months ago and I had so much fun putting this party together. The theme of Thing 1 and Thing 2 from Dr. Seuss's Cat in the Hat was a perfect fit. The twins' are everywhere and do the opposite of everything that I say! I made them each a small cake and then we did cupcakes for everyone else.

Travis (Chad's brother) is helping Livy unwrap presents.

The big hit of the night was their tricycles. All of the kids loved them!

Livy was too busy playing, so I thought I would try to feed Bridger his cake. Well, you can see how well that went!

It was such a great night. I'm so grateful to have so much wonderful family close by.

We had a ton of balloons left over at the end of the party. So, we went outside and let them go. I think we may start that tradition each birthday, but I haven't decided.

A moment on my soap box . . .

I just had a very nice lunch with my insurance agent. He wanted to get together to ask me some questions about my experience surrounding Chad's passing. He will use our interview in a new letter to help sell life insurance. I was more than happy to pass along anything I may have learned. I soon realized that I would like all my family and friends to get the same information. So, this is me on my soap box about life insurance and maybe a few other things:).

When Chad started working at ARUP ~ 6 year ago, we had the world at our feet. We both had 4 year degrees, careers in excellent companies, and our only care about the future was that we wanted to create it. So, Chad signed up for a life insurance policy of $100,000. That seemed like a large sum of money, so we went with it. Three years after getting this policy, Chad is diagnosed with liver cancer at the age of 33. Wow, we were not prepared for that news. About 18 months after Chad's diagnosis, ARUP changes life insurance companies. The new company offers a no questions asked $50,000 boost to your current policy, so we jump at the opportunity and increase Chad's policy. Then, 6 months later, I give birth to twins. We now have 4 mouths to feed, a new mortgage (oh, yeah, we moved a few times, too!), and pharmaceutical and medical bills coming out the wazoo! Turns out, the only chemo that was even hopeful for us was $4600/mo! Insurance helped to lower it to $750 a month, but we still couldn't afford that, so we applied for assistance through the manufacturer of the chemo and had it taken to $250/mo. Still a lot for us since I cut my hours back to 10-15 hrs/wk. At this point, we are still hanging on, but so much for that extra money in savings, or paying down any bills. During the summer of 2009, Chad's health continues to decline and the chemo is no longer keeping the cancer at bay. Chad passed away on September 21, 2009. It may seem odd, but it came as a surprise to me. I still had hope that Chad would make it a few more years.

Okay, so the point of all this rambling is to get you to realize that we didn't see any of this coming before Chad was sick, when we could have done anything about a life insurance policy. I want all of you to take a moment and think about all of your bills, debt, and hopes for your family: mortgage, student loans, cars, credit cards, heat, electricity, insurance (health, home, car), phone, medical expenses, trips, new car needed down the road, home repairs, music/dance/sports, retirement, etc. Now that you have thought about it, how much life insurance is enough? Don't forget that if you cash out the policy, it will be because of a death, so you will need to pay for a funeral and most likely some medical bills.

All I know is, my work just changed life insurance companies, and they capped the allowable amount at $180,000. Let's just say you purchased this policy and this is how it was spent: $15,000 funeral; $1,500 medical; $10,000 car; $15,000 student loans; $20,000 credit card debt; that leaves ~$118,500 for you to refinance your house or buy a place. Not much in today's market, and there is also nothing left for savings for emergencies or college funds. I was able to sign up for a policy that is more than double what we had for Chad for ~$35/mo. All it took was a call to my agent (who also sells me my car and home insurance), a medical exam (they came to my house, so convenient), and my signature on a few papers.

Please, please, please look at your policies and make sure that they are enough. If you don't have one, then get one!