New Blog

Bernd and I have decided to combine our blogs to one family blog. Several of our friends have mentioned the idea to us and after going back and forth about it we just decided to do it. So you can now find us at www.berndandjodi.com.

To all of my friends that will now have to read Bernd's blog posts about technology I apologize!

House Update

People keep asking me how the house projects are going. I haven't wanted to blog about it because it looks like we aren't going to be moving soon after all. Our complex HOA is in the middle of a lawsuit with the builder. We have several neighbors that currently have their houses up for sale. Two of them went under contact pretty quick, but the week they were supposed to close it fell through because of the lawsuit.

So it looks like we aren't going to be able to sale our place anytime soon (at least until the economy gets better or the lawsuit gets resolved). So needless to say I've been a little sad. I was really looking forward to moving.

Anyway here is a quick update on the house projects.

Here is the ceiling fan we installed in our bedroom.

Here is our new kitchen sink and faucet. I wasn't sure how I was going to like the single basin sink but I love it.

Here is our new fridge. Notice the size difference between the new one (stainless steel) and the old one (white). We love our new fridge. If you want a laugh about the fridge visit Bernd's Blog and read his Ode to fridge! Oh, and I am so happy to have an ice maker again.

Here are the new knobs and pulls we put on our kitchen cabinets. We got an amazing deal on these.

We finally hung our diplomas and Bernd's Eagle Scout Award on the wall in the office. These have been sitting in frames on the floor for months.

When we first moved in we took down all of the blinds so we could paint. We finally re-hung all of the covers over the top on the windows. I think they are called valances (not sure). When we took them down a year ago we broke a lot of the clips. So we had to find another solution which I like better because there are not clear plastic clips showing now.

Bernd has also been patching holes left behind by the furniture movers and touching up the paint. I think that's about all for now. I think we are going to do tile floors next. We need to paint the bathroom walls and we also need to find new door handles for the whole house. So if anyone knows where we can get a deal on door handles and hinges let us know.

It's hard to stay motivated to get things done knowing that we aren't going to be listing our house soon. But hopefully we can get through these last couple of projects soon. I'm looking forward to everything being done.

Father's Day

Ok, again I’m a little late but please bear with me.

I just wanted to say Happy Father’s Day to my Dad and let him know how much I love him. I would not be the person I am today without my Dad. Most of you know that I’m a total Daddy’s girl. People always tell me that I know exactly how to get to my Dad (Mom) but it’s not my fault that he loves me so much!

My Dad has always been there for me. I tried all kinds of sports and hobbies growing up and my Dad was there for all of it. Every soccer game, dance recital, t-ball game, piano recital, swim meet, water polo game, and more recently Triathlons (to name a few). What I love about my Dad is that he learns all about whatever sport or hobby I’m interested in so that he can try and give me hints and continually encourage me to do better. I always teased him that part of why I played water polo is because he knew nothing about it so he couldn’t give me a hard time. Oh was I wrong, he is a quick learner.

My Dad was so patient with me growing up. Consistently trying to talk me into doing the things I needed to do like practice the piano and go to soccer practice. He would sit with me at the kitchen table for hours helping me with my homework. I didn’t make it easy on him either, I would put things off to the last minute and even though he didn’t like it he would sit up with me late into the night until I finished.

When I was young I thought my Mom would brush my hair too hard so I always wanted my Dad to brush through it after I got out of the bath. Hardly anyone knows that my Dad was the one that knew how to French braid hair and he would do it for me anytime I asked him to. He was the only one that knew how to tie my soccer cleats so that they didn’t hurt my feet. Only my Dad had the magic touch when my shoulder was so sore from swimming and I didn’t think I could swim my next race.

The night before my wedding my Dad called from the airport and told me that his flight was canceled because of a problem with the plane. I literally broke down. I instantly started crying because if my Dad couldn’t be there then I was going to cancel. I wasn’t going to do it without him. Luckily my Dad has amazing faith and devotion and he promised me that he would not miss my wedding, whatever it took. Thanks to faith and platinum status on Delta Airlines he was able to make it home.

I’m pretty sure when my parents had me they had no idea what was coming their way. I wasn’t the sweet little princess they had hoped for I’m sure. But I know deep down that my Dad always loved that I stood my own with the boys and that I made a couple of them cry in water polo. I think he loved that I was the only girl on my first soccer team.

My Dad is the rock of our family. He set an amazing example for my brothers of what it means to be a patriarch. He set the bar really high for me to find a husband because I wanted someone that was as wonderful as him. As I watch Josh with Harrison I’m so grateful that my Dad taught him so well.

What I love the most about my Dad is his strong testimony. I don’t know where any of us would be without his devotion to the church and his family. He is my strength. When I think about my Dad I get a glimpse of how much my Heavenly Father loves me because he sent me to him.

I Love You Dad!



I also wanted to wish Josh a Happy Father’s Day and let him know that I think he’s an amazing Dad and husband. Like father like son. When I think about when I’ve seen Josh the happiest I think about the day he left on his mission, the day he got married, and the day Harrison was born. But I think the day he became a father was the day that his most anticipated calling in life began. He was meant to be a Dad that's for sure.

Tag & Harrison

My friend Jodi tagged me because she knows how much I love to be tagged. But this one is a little more interesting then most. At least I think so, so I can see what others are reading.

Directions: 1. Get the nearest book to you, or one you're reading that contains over 123 pages.
2. Go to the 123 page
3. Find the 5th sentence
4. Post the 5th sentence
5. Tag five people

Book: Lance Armstrong, It's Not About the Bike



5th sentence: "As the days went on, all we heard from Nike, Giro, Oakley, and Milton-Bradley were words of support"

I tag Bernd, Josh, Sabrina, Margaret, Marisa

If you like to read and haven't heard of Goodreads you should check it out, and add me as a friend!

Jodi also requested more pictures of Harrison. So I guess you can thank Jodi for inspiring this post.

Last weekend Josh and Sabrina ran a race as a team and asked me to come watch Harrison. I never turn down a chance to watch him. I guess it's a first and only nephew thing, I can't get enough of that kid. So these are a couple of pictures I took last week at the race.



Harrison loves to put things in his mouth and suck on them right now. The orange object in his hand is a fish finger puppet. Just the right size to fit in his mouth!



The proud parents after their race.

For Sale?

So Bernd and I decided on Sunday if we really want to get serious about moving we need to get our house ready to put on the market. There are a few things that we need and want to do to finish the look and feel of the house that we started a year ago. So we decided to go shopping...

This is the new fan we bought to replace the ugly gold and white fan in our bedroom. Once this one is installed we will only have one light left to replace.

This is our new kitchen sink. The white sink that came with the house is stained and scratched. Plus it doesn't match our stainless steel dishwasher and stove.

This is our new kitchen faucet. The old white faucet leaks and I've never been able to get it totally clean from the renters that lived here before us.

Which leads me to our final purchase of the week, our new fridge! We have wanted a new fridge since the day we got the keys to our townhouse. After we moved in we realized that the fridge had a leak. We ended up getting that fixed instead of getting a new fridge, mostly because it was cheaper to pay the $50 home warranty fee then pay to replace it. We also realized after we moved in that we had a "midget" fridge. It's seriously tiny, just look at all of the room between the top of the fridge and the cabinet. Also when we moved in the fridge smelled terrible and there was food spills and stains all over. I scrubbed and scrubbed but I just never really felt like I got it totally clean, sick. (In case you haven't heard about the renters that lived here before us they were disgusting)

So this is our new fridge! It doesn't have all of the bells and whistles that we really want in a fridge but we got a killer deal on it. Before we went shopping we decided that we didn't want to spend a ton of money on a really expensive fridge and then move and leave it behind. So we went to Sears looking for a decent fridge that would match our stove and dishwasher. We got a great deal and we are both so excited. (Not that the fridge is totally awesome but that we got such a great deal on it)

So needless to say Bernd has some honey do projects this weekend! We really want to get everything done quickly so that when we find a great place to move we can put our house on the market right away. After these purchases are taken care of we will have a microwave to buy, a light for the stairs, new door handles, and tile to put in the kitchen and bathrooms. So we are getting closer! I'll take some pictures and post them after Bernd gets everything installed!

Moim

So this is a little late for Mother's Day and a little early for my Mom's Birthday, but oh well! For those of you that don't know, my brothers and I call my Mom Moim. I'm not really sure how that started but she loves it! I've been thinking a lot about my Moim lately with Mother's Day last Sunday and her Birthday on Thursday.

I have an amazing Moim. I'm not a very sappy person as most of you know, but I read a bunch of blogs about Mom's today and it made me a little sentimental. So here are a few things I love about my Moim.

My Mom has always been there for me. She has been a big part of every major event in my life as well as all the small ones. I don't think she ever missed a soccer game, swim meet or water polo game. I know she wasn't extremely proud of me beating up girls but she came and cheered me on anyway!

She always made sure that I had a hair bow to match each of my uniforms.

She made me wear a necktie to my first day of school. I think she wanted to make sure that I was strong enough to overcome embarrassment.

My Mom made me learn how to swallow pills. I know this probably sounds strange to most of you but I had the hardest time taking medicine. I would try and swallow pills and I would just gag and gag until I gave up or threw up. So every time I went to the doctors and he would want to prescribe something I would ask if it was available in liquid. That or else I would chew about 10 children's Tylenol. Finally my Mom had enough. I was at the doctors for something (not sure what but it was probably an ear infection). The doctor was getting ready to write a prescription so I asked, do they have that in liquid, and my Mom said no she'll take the pills. When we got home with the medicine my Mom stood in the kitchen with me until I got that tiny little pill down and I'm not talking a short amount of time. I wouldn't say she was extremely encouraging about it. I remember her saying things like, come on Jod just swallow it, take a drink and swallow it's not that hard. She sat and listened to me cry and gag but she was determined. She knew that it was something I had to learn to do. Turned out to be a very valuable skill I developed!

She made me take piano lessons forever. I'm not really sure what she was trying to teach me with that. But for what it's worth I still know how to read music and if it was a desperate situation I could probably play a hymn or two.

My Mom always made me apologize to my brothers even when I didn't want to.

My Mom knows that I hate meatloaf so she makes sure to only make it when she knows I'll be out of town.

My Mom is amazingly talented. Any hobby that she has ever decided to take up she has mastered.

My Mom is a great cook.

My Mom is very strong and brave. I have watched her deal with some difficult things and she always gets through it and becomes stronger because of it.

My Mom is really funny! She can always make us laugh.

My Mom is an amazing Mom, wife, and now Grandma!

There is no way that I could ever repay my Mom for all that she has done for me, she's amazing. I think she and I were meant to be together as mother and daughter. She always told me when I was mad at her that I choose her, but I think we choose each other. I love you Mom. Happy Birthday!

Tag, I'm it...

My friend Rachel tagged me. I don’t usually participate in these kinds of things because frankly they annoy me a little. But I’m bored and I love Rachel so I decided to humor everyone!
6 habits, things I like to do, or things about myself:

1. I have a love hate relationship with my shoes. My philosophy is you can never have too many shoes. However the first thing I do when I get home from work is take my shoes off and avoid putting them back on at all costs. Anytime I go somewhere and can appropriately take my shoes off I do. At work under my desk, socked feet all the way.

2. Dr. Pepper. I can’t live without it. Anyone that knows me very well can attest to that. I try not to drink it everyday. Recently I’ve only been drinking it on the weekends. But when I’m stressed or have a headache nothing is better than a cold Dr. Pepper. On our wedding day I got so thirsty between wedding ceremony and photos that by the time we got to our wedding dinner I downed several glasses for DP. Bernd quickly learned that I should not have caffeine after about 7:00pm or else I don’t sleep!

3. I LOVE ice cream. Chocolate based ice cream is the best but really I’m not picky, ice cream is ice cream in my book. I have been sick for going on six days now. The first really bad day of my sickness Bernd got on WebMD to try and figure out how to help me feel better. One thing he read said that you should avoid dairy products when you are congested. So what does Bernd do tonight? He asked me if I want a fruit bar (in case you don’t know what fruit bars are they are the best popsicles in the world). So as I’m sitting in the bedroom eating my fruit bar I hear the clang of a spoon and a bowl coming from the office. Bernd is eating ice cream without me. I’ve gone six days without ice cream and he knows its killing me but he eats it in front of me anyway. Rude!

4. I have recently been told that I have a strange habit of looking in things like pop cans and sauce bottles to see how much is left inside. This really bothers Bernd because usually the object is see through but I always look in through the opening at the top, squint one eye and check it out. I had no idea I did this until recently but apparently I do it a lot.

5. I like to color coordinate things. At some point in my childhood education I learned all the colors of the rainbow and the order they appear. Ever since then I can’t not put things in rainbow order. When I highlight things at work it has to be pink (red), orange, yellow, green, blue in that order. My closet, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple. It’s crazy I know.

6. Another of my ODC habits is arranging money. When I have cash in my wallet it has to be arranged smallest bills to largest, all of the money has to be facing the same way and turned in the same direction. All of the corners need to be unfolded. Unfortunately this extends beyond my wallet. Monopoly, Life, Masterpiece, any game that has play money I have to arrange all of the money before I can fully enjoy the game.

So that’s probably more than anyone every wanted to know about my crazy brain and my boring life! I’m supposed to tag 5 more people. I fully understand if you don’t want to participate but I feel obligated to play the game! Bernd, Josh or Sabrina (or both), Marisa, Mom, and Margaret.