This is Our Life

Well...here we are June 12, 2011! I totally bypassed May all together!!! May was a really crazy busy month, so I have an excuse...promise!! On May 18th, we received a call from Jenny...Richards Sister. She was the first one to tell us that Richards brother Matt, has been hospitalized. He wasn't breathing on his own, and he was hooked up to life support and was in a coma , and the entire family didn't think he was going to make it....WOW! That was a shocker! You're never ready to receive that kind of news. So we dropped everything and drove down to Idaho. It was really touch and go for a while, not knowing what direction Matts recovery was taking, but with weeks into everything, miraculously he's awake now, still in much pain, but he's awake! He's breathing on his own, and everyone can now stop worrying about "what might happen". He's going to make it!!!! It's unfortunate that Richard and I's first time going back to Idaho together ...

I must say that I am soooooo totally excited for Summer! It feels like it's never actually going to happen, but I'm still anticipating it!! So ya! How r u? I hope fantastico!!! Things have been super busy as always here! Last weekend Richard took a trip down to Utah/Idaho as I mentioned in my last post, and so I had a fun weekend with my Mom! We watched Ryan & Ace on Friday nite, and then had a girls day with Hayley! So we are now on a time crunch(wish is a FANTASTIC) thing! Ione, Jenny & Anea are coming up here on May Long weekend. We're super excited to see them. But this means that we have to pick up the pace to get our house liveable again for company! I love having this excuse to make things go faster. It's so easy when doing renos to just find any excuse to "take a break", lol! As much as I'm sick of living in a mad house that is TOTALLY huge mess and things thrown everywhere, I get so tired of working all of the time too! But any...

My Guy For this long weekend, Richard wen't to Utah & Idaho Falls for a family reunion. Unfortunately, I don't have a passport(which is in the works), so I couldn't go with him! OH MY GOODNES.... I am such a sissy! The last few days have been totally miserable! I am so thankful for my husband. I mean, my life has been so blah the last few days, and it feels like apart of me is missing. So I will stop being such a drama queen, and just say that I'm so thankful that he's coming home to me tonight!

WOW! I want to be FINISHED RENO'S!!! lol So ya, I know I'm going to TOTALLY and COMPLETELY love the end result, but I tell ya, the middle part...sucks!!! I hate having our home such a ginormous mess! But, it comes with the territory right?! So I just wanted to post a few pictures from our renos so far. Yest. we tore down the old sheet rock, put up the vapor barrier and tore out all of our old cupboards! The next step is to get our tile flooring down so that we can have it finished before putting in the new cabinets! So here are some pics... I know you're all probably thinking...where are you Mindy??? Yes, believe it or not I am working SUPER HARD TOO!!! lol I just happen to be the one that's taking the pictures! He's so cute!!! We just got a 3d tv...yes you heard me correct....a 3d TV !!!!! It so SOOOOO SA-WEET!! Who needs a theatre when you've got one in the comfort of your own home, lol! Night all!!

So we've had a really busy weekend. As a lot of you know we've started doing reno's in our home, and will be doing them for probably the next 2-3 months. It's really great, and exciting....but here's comes the BIG but!!! Tonight, as I was attending a baptism, I had this total wake-up call. If I don't have the gospel, I don't have anything. Yes, I already knew this, but I don't think that I have been completely appreciating all of my blessings. As I sat their, with Richard arm around me, it took me back to my Mission. What an amazing experience it was. *I miss bearing my testimony daily *I miss feeling the spirit 24/7 *I miss having these powerful spiritual experiences every day *I miss seing the look on people's faces when they "get it" *I miss watching people enter into the covenant of baptism Of course there's SO MANY more things that I miss, but the bottom line it was like a smack in the face! DUH Melinda....yo...

The above pictures if of my niece...Ryan! She is such a hoot. She has the most sickest sense of humor, it's just great! A few weekends ago as she was walking out of my house and down the porch stairs...she stops...turns around and looks back at me and says " you need to oil that thing" That "thing" she's refering to is our screen door...because it has a tendancy to stick! That makes me laugh EVERY TIME I read it! "you need to oil that thing"-I asked Miranda(her mom/my sis) how she would know that and Mir says she has NO IDEA! I guess she's just that smart!

WOW...what a busy few weeks! We're in the process of buying our first home, so it's been really crazy busy for us. It seems like we've been livin' at the bank with how many times we've had to run back and forth...not to mention all of the other craziness that comes a long with it! But, tomorrow should be the final day! We're signing everything off, and should get everything finalized, so we're really EXCITED !!! We were able to get a little bit of extra $$$$ , so we're paying off all of our debt, and then we'll have a little bit left afterwards to start doing reno's on our place. It's going to be FANTASTIC! Here are some of the things we're going to do in our house... *tear out the walls and put up new sheet rock *put in new flooring - some of the house will have tile and the other part of it will have hardwood floors *putting in new kitchen/bathroom cabinets *new kitchen/bathroom countertops *new "tap it"...

So this year Valentines Day was my responsibility. Richard and I try to take turns-one of us does Valentines Day and the other plans our Anniversary. Anyhow, I had a lot of fun planning Valentines day this year. It was super fun. I got most of my ideas from a new website that I'm TOTALLY LOVIN'!(datingdivas.com) So I started the nite off with a fun scavenger hunt! Each envelope that he opened, there was something that we had to do before he could read his next clue...here's a few pics... We had to paint a portrait of something that we love about eachother...Richard painted my Makeup on his, and I painted that I love his lips and his eyes! We had to feed eachother Chocolate Dipped Strawberries.... We had to dance to "our song" ...for the entire song... The last clue lead to a bubble bath for Richard to relax in while I finished getting our supper ready!) Here's our Yummy Supper...a yummy pear salad with a fabulous( if I do say so myself ) pasta I made. After...

So today's post really is about MY brother...Con. The above video is a clip from an American Idol episode a few years ago...and this guy sings about "brothers". Although it really has nothing to do with my brother, I think it's fun! Last night he had a gig at an event in Lethbridge, where his band played two different segments. The name of their band is called the clapping Monkey's. My brother is the lead guitarist. I must tell you, that that boy has some talent! I mean, to put it that way wouldn't even come close to how talented he really is. As I watched the band play, of course I mainly focused on Con. He is so talented! I mean, his fingers moved SO FAST! The songs that he wrote are beautiful, all very unique and nothing alike. I just sat their, almost in tears as I watched, feeling so proud to be his sister. I've always known that he was GOOD but it was really neat last night to see him in his glory. Love u Conny.... YOU ROCK!!!!!

How often do you use that excuse? Maybe you don't say it out loud...but seriously how often do you think it? Come on....YOU KNOW YOU SAY/THINK IT! I can plead guilty to that one! I think it, ALL of the time! I tell ya, it's kinda pathetic. I get home from work on a good night between 6:30-7:00 and so that leaves me 2 1/2 hours before we start to get ready for bed. (going to bed between 9:30-10:00 is another story). So by the time we have supper and clean up it's like 8:00 some nights...that leaves me 1 1/2 hours...I said 1 1/2 hours! That's not a lot of time...so what do I do with this time???? Let's just say it's not what I should be doing with it. I should be getting more done around the house, more cards made, more cleaning, more practicing the piano and the list goes on and on and on! So I'm going to start saying (or thinking) the oposite and try to get more accomplished. I feel like on a night where I just sit around watching tv (which is wha...

Happy Birthday Richard! Wow...THE BIG 29 lol! We are now the same age for SIX MONTHS! So as I sit here, on the couch with the streamers/balloons up, pancakes and bacon cooked(Richards favorite b-day breakfast), while Richard is still snoring away I can't help but think of how grateful I am for today. BECAUSE OF TODAY.... * We were able to meet on my Mission * We have been been "together" for 8 years * We have been married for 7 1/2 years * my life is compelte * our "someday" children will have the BESTEST FATHER EVER! * my life has been changed forever!! I love Richard, so much that it's nutso ...LOVELY! There have been so many GREAT THINGS happening right now in our lives, and I'm so excited for 2011 because I get to spend another year with Richard! Happy Birthday You!

Ok, so as we sit and try to relax before heading to bed, Richard and I watch our cat Bella, playing with her favorite toy....A BOTTLE CAP! She goes nutso when she sees us opening up a water bottle...or anything that has some kind of lid. I wish that I could be entertained on something as simple as a bottle cap!

So a few minor things have gone on over the last week. First off, after working out our budget, we've been able to set plans to travel down to Idaho in August. It's not as soon as we had wanted, but it's the soonest time that we can go down due to finances. We're SO EXCITED to go back...it's been WAY too long!) We plan on going down in the middle of the month. We have a lot that we have to accomplish by then, but we're super excited. We hope to spend a lot of quality time with friends and family. SO...I have to say that I am REALLY EXCITED for next Christmas. YES...I am fully aware that it is pretty much ONE YEAR away but Jenny...Anea and Ione are going to be here....YEAH. It's going to be a blast. We're already planning it out. We're excited to be able to spend Christmas this year with them. Ok, so it's been a little over a week since we've started our new life style, and I have to say I'm totally proud of us. We've been e...

So for Richard and I, this year feels like we're just starting our lives, in so many ways. Now that his Canadian paperwork is done, we don't feel like we're having this huge thing hanging over us, and limiting us on what we can and cannot do with our lives. We've set a lot of goals for this year and I'm REALLY excited to start accomplishing them. Some of the goals that I've set for myself are: *Practicing Piano EVERY day for 30 minutes *Be able to play every song in the Church Hymn Book by the end of the year *Work out Daily *Write in my journal Daily Of course I have more, but those are some of the ones that are less personal to share. I really feel that this is going to be our year. That it's the start of something GREAT! So, with an excited attitude I'm really going to give it my all, because as they say " you get out of life what you put into it"