Kitchen! It's about time!

So we finally finished our kitchen and I am so happy! It has felt like forever in the making! Here is a before pic and some after pics! We are so proud! We did 99% of it ourselves....(thanks luke and mom and dad for the other 1%...or more than 1%....whatever...who's counting....)

EW YUCK! Nobody was happy with this!








This is a custom pantry that we built into the wall.


This is a hutch we designed and built in the dining room.

Caribbean!

John and I just got back from the Caribbean. We cruised from Miami to Cozumel, the Grand Cayman and Jamaica. I thought I would post a couple of my favorite pictures. There are a couple more that I love that I will post later!

Finally a new post! Bathroom Makeover

Ok, so here is the first of our house posts. This is the master bathroom. It is much improved. Here are some before and after photos.
This is the yellow and green vanity. Beautiful.


This is the nasty stand up shower and beautiful pink accent tile.


New and Improved Vanity


New shower and tile

New tile and moulding

18 Things to do before you're 18???

So the other day I was getting ready for work. I walked into the kitchen and examined my cereal options. John and I have a large stash of cereal. Neither of us ever want to be without cereal, milk, or soda. So I look on top of the fridge and see several healthy options. Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, Fiber One Stuff..... Then I looked down and saw the orange box. Reesey Poofs as we affectionately call them. So I grabbed the orange box of delicious chocolatey peanut butter goodness, poured myself a bowl and sat down at the table. I brought the box with me so that I could read the back as I often do. That's when I saw the title "18 THINGS TO DO BEFORE YOU'RE 18".

I thought to myself, oh, I have done a lot of things in my life. I wonder how many of these I can check off? I would also like to mention that the day that I read this was about three days before my 27th birthday. In the back of my mind I thought that this was some sort of interesting test. I am nearly ten years past this list so I really hoped that I would be able to check all of them off. I could only check EIGHT! The 18th one was reach 18 years of age so that one doesn't even count! I was so disappointed. I went to work and seriously thought about that stupid cereal box ALL DAY!

Here are the 18 things:
1. Ride the worlds biggest roller coaster.
I LOVE roller coasters. I have, however, never been to the Kingda Ka at six flags in New Jersey. I have been to six flags in California (biggest disappointment ever, vowed i would never go back, especially on Latina Day...)

2. Bungee Jump.
reckless. enough said.

3. Score the winning goal/basket.
I scored the winning point in a high school tennis match. Does that even count? I dont think I ever scored the winning run in a high school softball game. Besides, the thing said goal/basket. Failure #3.

4. Win an award, trophy, prize.
First success. I have definitely won a few awards.

5. Learn an instrument.
Success #2. Guitar, Piano, Trumpet.

6. Go backstage at a gig.
Success #3. I have an awesome Hootie and the Blowfish story. If you haven't heard it, you are gonna wanna ask me about it.

7. Meet your idol.
I counted this one as a failure because I haven't met all my idols. I have met a few of them i.e. mom and dad. I figure they don't count though because of course I have met them.

8. Play a part in your favorite tv show.
Failure. This made me think of my favorite TV shows. 48 Hours Mystery. I NEVER want to play a part in that show.
Big Bang Theory. I would love to be an extra. Sign me up. Failure.

9. Meet someone with your own name.
I have indeed met someone with my own name but I have NEVER met anyone that spelled their name like I do. I also count this one as a failure. I have issues with this. No one has ever spelled my name right in the history of my life. Alison, Alisson, Alyson, Allyson, Allison, Alason. Ridiculous.

10. Make a discover, have it named after you.
WHAT???? Huh???? How many people have done this?

11. Get away with the perfect practical joke.
I feel as though this was a success. Ask anyone that knows about the SS, Provo style would agree.

12. Own a pointless collection.
Success. I once collected rocks.

13. Invent a word that makes it into the dictionary.
Yet again, WHAT? I am from here on out vowing to start making up words.
Word number one I am making up......ok harder than it seems. I will get back to that one later.

14. Conquer your biggest fear.
Haven't done it. Working on it.

15. Raise money for charity.
Ok. We have all raised money for charity. But then when I started thinking about it. I dont know. I feel like a failure here.

16. Pass your driving test the first time.
SUCCESS! Despite making the guy in this red booty shorts scream and tell me that I sped through a school zone, ran a stop sign and failed parallel parking. I think he felt bad for me. I teared up and he wrote passed....

17. Complete a road trip coast to coast.
Dang it! Failure. Driving coast to coast. Never done it.

18. Reach 18 years of age.
Ok success i guess. Fake one.


I think the people at General Mills should really think about this list. How many of their exec's have completed all of it. Seems slightly unattainable by the age of 18, or in my case 27. Yes?

Back on the wagon....

Ok so I realize that it has been months since I have posted and I am ready to get going again. Hopefully. A lot has happened this summer. It has been so hectic. We finally closed on our house and moved in only to find that nearly everything is either broken or needs fixed or replaced or something.... I think that is usually the norm though when you buy an older home. I am all fired up this morning because the guy that is supposed to come and fix parts of our AC called to say he doesn't have the part and that he will have to order it from California....seriously? We have been waiting for a month for him to start work. He is just now realizing that the part is in California. Ironic since he didn't come Friday because he was in California. If only he had known he could have made a stop to pick up this glorious little part that will hopefully reduce my power bill from the ridiculous sum of over 500 a month.
Anyways, enough of that. I went to girls camp, we bought our broken house, we went to Pioche for the fourth, we went camping with all of Johns family, and next weekend we are going on vacation to San Diego (despite the fact that we have no money since we moved into our broken house....hotel was non-refundable and booked in June).So here are some pictures, many of them stolen from other blogs because I am the worst picture taker ever.

Hunt Campout 2009

Ok here a few of my favorite pictures from the Hunt Family Campout! I, yet again, took no pictures so all of these are stolen from Lari and Kit. Included are some of my favorites.

This first picture totally confused me. John and i didn't go to the creek and apparently it was the biggest mistake of our lives. I got home and checked Lari and Kits blogs and was SO confused when I saw this picture. Where in the world did this miniature goat come from? Was it just wandering around down by this so called creek? Is it real or did Lari whip out a plastic goat as a prop. If you know Lari you know that she probably has one. I mean come on, this must be the most awesome creek ever. I deeply regret not going.... I had a good nap while everyone was there, but I could have seen the mini goat had I gone! Clearly a big mistake.


Kids at the creek.

How cute are these girls!

A very exciting conclusion to family olympics.

Silly bubble blowing.

John with a mouthful HA!

Our Broken House

So the projects have begun. There are a lot more than either of us were prepared for. We are both trying to keep things in perspective and not get overwhelmed!
I will update more as we make some improvements!

Here is the nasty 70's opening in the wall.

Mike ripped it out and the rest will be coming out when it cools off a little.

Here is a picture of one of our lovely little problems..... fantastic.

Pioche!!!!

Fourth of July is a wonderful time. It is a time that makes me immediately think of family, homemade rocky road, Pioche and Alicia stinking the place up! I must admit it is one of my favorite holidays. The last two years have been kind of a bummer for us because we haven't been able to go to Pioche and join in the festivities. It appeared as though this year was going to be the same. A few days before the fourth John and I were talking and we just decided what the heck, lets go. So what if it's 10 hours away. So what if I feel like barfing everywhere! So what! We told my Mom we were coming and told her to keep it quiet. We wanted it to be a surprise. It turned out to be an excellent decision. We arrived in the middle of the night and snuck in to one of the houses that no one was sleeping in. When we woke up around six the next morning we startled a few people. There may have been a few moments of heart failure. We had SO MUCH FUN! We relaxed, ate good food, watched movies, slept, I ate a ton, John worked, we went sight seeing, I ate a ton, played with nephews and niece, I ate a ton....
There's just no way for me to explain how fun the Pioche experience is! I love my family and I love Pioche. I can hardly wait for next year!
And of course I was a slacker and didn't take any pictures...so the few that I have are stolen.
Kids waiting for the fire works to start in Caliente. It was so nice and cool!

Grandparents eating their ice cream.

Marcus and Dallin in a jail cell in the million dollar court house. Marcus looks scared and Dallin looks delighted! Cute boys!

Kids posing with the mannequins in the court house. Click on the picture to see Dallins face. Hilarious!

Cutest little boy I HAVE EVER SEEN!

Girls Camp

Girls camp was fun...and hard. It is so different going as a leader. I guess I kind of expected it to be a little bit like when I was in Young Womens. I was wrong.
I will say that my young women were the best behaved, most considerate, caring, kind, and strong young women there. I couldn't have been more proud of them. There were a few times when my jaw actually dropped when they would say or do something not knowing I was watching (jaw dropping out of happiness). It was great to have a small number of girls. There were only six young women. Anne and I had it easy!


It was cold!

Our Bishopric came up for the day on Saturday.

Trisha and Hannah fooling around. They were probably supposed to be in class and I was yelling at them or something.

Vern, Hannah, Trisha, Me and Sabrina. Lovely costumes. I don'e even know where they came from but they were very stylish.

I'm not sure what we have happening here. A mullet, a scary princess and a knight?

I am not entirely sure why we were scared but it appears as though something terrifying was happening.

Well....this is Anne with a mustache.

And of course one of my young women stole my camera and took a picture of me when I was supposed to be escorting them between classes. I didn't find this picture until I got home, but it is evidence that someone (besides me) was ditching fire building! Shame.

Graduation Suit Style

This was one of Johns graduation presents. I think he looks pretty good!!!
Thanks again mom and dad for everything! We love you!

I told him to strike a pose and this is what he came up with! Pretty striking?

I would like to point out several things in this picture. A) he is very handsome
B) please notice the briefcase on the floor next to him.....he is such a little business man.

GRADUATION CELEBRATION!!!

So My parents came into town this week to help us celebrate and we had such a fun time. They got here on Tuesday and we basically just shopped all of Wednesday and Thursday. Then on Friday night we went to a D-Backs game. Saturday we went shopping and they bought John a new suit to celebrate his graduation! He looks so good! (pictures of his handsome face in a suit to come) Then that night we had Johns official graduation celebration with all of his family at Coco's. It was a success!
A special thanks to all of Johns family for coming and helping us celebrate. John had a great time and you all helped to make him feel very special on his day. I couldn't be happier to be part of such a large and loving family!

Here is our view from our cheap seats that actually turned out to be really good!







Here is a blurry Kit and Jaden trying to decide what to order.

Aunt June with an ADORABLE Claire in front!

Dennis holding Colby while he eats a fork.....

I had to put his picture in cause Kit and Jaden are so cute....and cause Johns face is hilarious!

Cute Maren, Emmett and Ian.

Johns brother Duane with his sister Ally and the two babies!