Lately,

We haven't had internet since the last time I posted. Now that we do, I've been told to get on top of this. So i dug around in our still packed boxes (Don't judge me, its only been a month) in our spare bedroom that I affectionately call 'the crap room' and found the camera cord so I could download some pictures.
Since July or August, we finished our master bath, downstairs bath, and decided that it would be a great idea to work on the kitchen too. We found renters in October and moved to Provo Halloween night (how appropriate, there's nothing more horrifying).

First off, the master. Oh my goodness....luckily this one went relatively quick thanks to help from Brian's parents. We had such a love-hate relationship with this bathroom. The slate was a nightmare to put in, but we liked the look of it. The paint was scary too. In all of our bathrooms, Brian made me choose the paint color. I wanted to do something different, so the first time I had to choose paint for the main bathroom, I decided to go with a bluish color-
We liked the way it turned out, so we decided to go for another dark color in the master. We chose a white vanity and I loved the way this green looked with it. It took a couple weeks for the green with the slate to grow on me though. All our potential renters LOVED the color when they came to look at our house so I feel validated. :) You can't really see the slate in this picture. I don't have a good one because of the glare off the glass shower door. Not a good idea by the way. not so fun to clean those...

Next we worked on the downstairs bath. This is where I screwed up on the color choice. We went fairly cheap on this one and it went in faster than the rest so, other than the paint, I look at this one as a massive success. I wanted a gray tone in this bath, but the paint I chose turned out to be lavender. Luckily our renter has daughters that think it is awesome.Next up was the kitchen. We debated back and forth for about 4 months whether or not to even touch anything in the kitchen, but one day I got it into my head that instead of replacing our cabinets and making everything expensive, we could paint them because I thought they were hideous and if we are being completely honest here, they did not fit with the rest of the house anymore.

*** This was probably a day after we got back from our honeymoon, hence the boxes, flowers, and chaos***
This seemed like a really good idea, and in no way do I regret doing it, but it was an incredible amount of work and took longer than I care to remember. There was a good 2 weeks where I developed a nervous twitch because all of my cabinet doors were off and open to the world. I cannot handle that. Doors are ALWAYS closed in my house. It's my OCD. That and lights being left on, like the one I just noticed in my kitchen.
Anyway, we had a real struggle trying to find a paint that would cover the wood smoothly and be durable enough for everyday use. 3 primers, 4 paint options, and too many days later we decided on a nice light cream color and borrowed the always amazing paint sprayer from Brian's dad.
We never intended to touch anything other than the cabinets, but then we realized that the sink was terrible and the faucet leaked, and the lower oven didn't work, and the one oven that did function was so small I called it 'the easy bake' from day one, and the stove was malfunctioning...so it ended up being a bigger project than we expected. Then we realized that the counter was the same hideous powder blue that the old toilet seat in the master bath was, only with some bonus burn marks and various permanent stains. In the end we bought a new sink and faucet, new double ovens, a new stove, and we put marble on the counter tops.
Ignore the dumpy fridge. We traded that out later for a less dumpy looking old fridge.
I have several favorite parts of the finished kitchen. The marble tiles I was so against because of the grout lines turned out to look amazing! The stove we got for less than half the price and those glorious double ovens that both work and actually heat to the right temperature brought me endless joy for the short time I had them. I love the way the black outlet covers look too. My favorite favorite thing is the beadboard around the bar though, probably because it was my idea and the color turned out amazing AND, again, it was MY idea!!! Thats exciting because I rarely know what I'm talking about when it comes to these things.
I'm really proud of the way it turned out and how little it actually cost us to do. It isn't exactly what I'd want in a kitchen, but looks million times better and I'm sure it helped us secure renters within 4 days of advertising.

We did a ton of stuff to this house now that I think about it. We pretty much gutted the enitre main level. There's all new carpet, paint, hardwood floors, and tile. Outside we moved 15-20 yards of dirt the previous owner was stashing for an unknown and unfulfilled purpose, tore out bushes, laid 900 sq. feet of sod in the backyard, planted grass in the front, planted flowers, painted the garage door, and tamed the wild rose bush that was growing 15 feet up into the tree next to it (no joke. it was terrifying).
We miss it. Here are some pictures of a couple rooms I missed today:
We couldn't have done it all without help from both of our parents! It was a lot to take on and we are really proud of the way it turned out!!! And after all that work we were still happy to leave. Our commute was terrible. With Brian headed to Lindon and me to Provo, and with all the construction on I-15 and an icy winter looming in the distance we decided it would be better, cheaper, and life-preserving to move closer. So we found us a gross little apartment that met our two requirements: W/D hookups and an extra bedroom for all our stuff. It isn't really so bad, just different. Especially when we see little things like outdated outlets and weird extra light fixtures that we could fix so easily if it was our property. It is nice to have everything contained in a small area. I swear there were areas of our Riverton house that we never used and set foot in twice. The worst thing - my lovely carpeted bathroom with no outlets. I know it's a generational thing, but really? Who thought that was a good idea?!
Other than that we are adjusting well to being in happy valley again. I switched my school schedule to get done faster so I go until 10pm 3 nights a week. Brian uses that time to play basketball or watch games without me rolling my eyes at him. We are excited for Christmas and looking forward to our 1 year anniversary. :)
I've heard that doing a remodel is a difficult thing to put a marriage through. After 9 months of continuous remodel in our house, I'm feeling pretty good about the future! Now if I could only get him to close cabinet doors...

6 MONTHS

from tomorrow anyway, but still!

To help y'all get in the Brian and Heather celebrating mood - Brian and Heather Trivia and Random Facts!


Brian first became friends with me because he could not handle the fact that I could beat him at every game of speed, regular AND California. He NEEDED to beat me, so he kept coming over to do so.

I first became friends with Brian because, after watching Bruce Almighty with that one guy from apt 33 who refused to talk, laugh, or smile during the movie, Guitar Hero sounded really fun.

Brian told me he "maybe kinda" liked me and that I "grew on him" over Google chat.

Brian first told me he "maybe kinda" loved me in Benton City WA. I guess he needed a way out if I didn't return the sentiment.

I knew Brian loved me when he took me to the Nickelcade...TWICE!

I beat Brian at the basketball arcade game really bad so he had to play me, and not just until he had won once, but until he had won his manhood back three times.

I can't handle surprises, so I bullied Brian into telling me when we were going to get engaged. After picking out the ring and getting a reservation at The Roof, I was confident that this thing was actually going to happen so I did the most shameful thing a single unengaged girl can do. I went wedding dress shopping 2 days before our getting engaged date. It was my mom's fault. She bullied me into it. So of course we find my dress and of course it is on sale, and of course it was perfect because it needed minimal alterations....so the day of our date I bought it. I bought my wedding dress before I was actually engaged. I'm a dork. I didn't think anything could possibly go wrong.

The day we got engaged (also the day I purchased my wedding dress), Brian tricked me into thinking that my ring had issues and that it would be stupid to get engaged without a ring, so we wouldn't be getting engaged that night. I cried. I cried because I was the dork and had bought her wedding dress 6 hours earlier and now I wasn't getting engaged. I cried/hyperventilated for a good half hour. Words cannot describe the relief I felt when I got my ring later that night.

Brian did not ask my father for permission to marry me. He was going to call my dad before coming to pick me up for our date the night we got engaged, but forgot because his friend got in an accident in Farmington that afternoon and he had to go pick him up off the side of the freeway. Naturally, my mother views this as an acceptable excuse.

My mom made Brian pick me up and drive me to the temple the day we got married. She was afraid he wasn't going to show.

Brian didn't want a wedding ring because he would just lose it, but i bought one for him anyway. He proved his point 3 weeks later.

It is commonplace in our house for one of us to randomly roll off of the couch and onto the floor. Not for any real purpose, just because that person is bored and needs a change of scenery.

We still refuse to hang pictures on our walls because we just painted

We refuse to buy any new furniture because we plan on moving. Its a weak excuse. Really we just don't feel like dropping a couple hundred on an entertainment center. Our plastic yard chair works nicely.

We like to put each other in situations that make the other uncomfortable. For example: I drag Brian into shoe stores and Brian manipulates me into using power tools.

We teach the 4-5 yr. olds in Primary. Our class consists of one girl who likes me because I fix her hair when she messes it up and she likes Brian because he tells her she's silly. She also likes to tell me I'm old. I like to point out that Brian is ancient compared to me, but she never teases Brian about being old. We have one other boy who comes a couple times every 3 months or so, but he doesn't like us because we don't bring graham crackers. Every Sunday after church Brian says "See? Thats why I don't want kids!" right as we are getting out of the car and walking up to our door. It's like clockwork.


And now you know more about us! So the next time someone asks you about us, you can say "oh yeah Brian? He's making Heather remodel the house. And Heather? She's crazy! Did you know she actually bought her wedding dress BEFORE she was engaged?! Who does that??!!!"

Luckily being crazy works for us.

6 Months down!

And it only gets weirder from here.

I think I'm stressed...

For about a week and a half now Monday-Friday nights I've been waking Brian up by talking to him in my sleep. The first time I just asked him to help me find something, which he laughed about and then fell back asleep. Lately my sleep talking has been escalating. Last night I grabbed his wrist as he was turning over, forced him to sit up, and muttered something unintelligible. He asked if I couldn't sleep and I said sadly "That's about the only thing I can do"

Poor Brian.

Once there was a bathroom...

And that bathroom just happened to be hideous. Take a step inside.


It wasn't just the dirty linoleum or the bulky shower door that was installed backwards. No, the pink counter top, the goopy caulking around the shower, and floral blue wallpaper also contributed to our unfortunate master bath.

And yes, that is a powder blue toilet seat. Thanks for noticing.

Despite its obvious problems the space isn't bad. It isn't huge, but it has a good sized shower and and room for a bigger vanity. All in all, I didn't mind it when I was forced to use it. After a while I learned to ignore the gobs of caulk that attempted to clog my shower drain, the "girl tiles" (Brian's special title for the rose-and-ribbon accent tiles), the baby pink counter that oddly extended over the toilet, even the backwards shower door that would often slide off its track and trap me in. I got used to everything except that powder blue toilet seat.

Just when I got comfortable this happened -

and i couldn't be happier about it.


Demo happened a while ago, here's where we're at now -


We're kind of at that phase where we really just want easy remodeling solutions because there is so much to do. We decided on slate for two reasons - a. We love how interesting and different every tile is and b. We suffered a momentary lapse of brain function.
Has anyone ever tried to lay slate? It makes my perfectionist brain seize uncontrollably. Yes, every beautiful tile is beautifully different in color and pattern. Every beautiful tile is also slightly different in size and thickness making it that much harder to maintain a smooth surface and a consistent grout line, something that Brian needs in his life to achieve inner peace. I also discovered the tiles are a little tricky to cut since they break apart easily in the saw if you push them through too fast. Brian decided he needed something to distract him from his obsessive tile adjusting and made me use the tile saw. I don't think he actually wanted to teach me how to use the tile saw for any useful purpose. I think he just really needed to laugh and I'm an easy target. The tile saw involves several things that Brian knows make me nervous - loud noises (I'm jumpy), large rotating blades, and projectiles, or in this case the possibility of projectiles. Little did he know, I'm an impatient speed demon. By some miracle the piece I cut, which I remember cutting at an agonizingly slow pace, didn't disintegrate and was usable. For the safety of the limited amount of tile we purchased, I have not been invited back to the tile saw.

life so far

We got married

Then we went on a cruise to Cabo. Our cruise started off great, then we hit ridiculous weather that made our entire ship sea sick for 2 1/2 of our 4 day cruise. We also had a mild outbreak of food poisoning so if the 25 foot swells didn't get ya, the food did. I think Brian was the only person on our boat who wasn't throwing up or on Dramamine. Once we got down around Cabo the weather was amazing. We went on a mini jeep rhino excursion that took us through the desert and to a beach away from the tourists. We had a lot of fun!
This was supposed to keep the dust out of our faces. It didn't work. Now we're just left with memories of tying used, sweaty bandannas around our faces.

10 points to anyone who can name this towel creation. It just looks like a giant folded napkin from the mandarin to me.

Then we came home and had to unpack/finish ripped out bathrooms/rip out other bathrooms and deal with our inherited dog. It was a lot of work that we are still working on 3 months out.

Brian loves his life. Chance does not.

and as if the large blue cone of shame wasn't enough to cement in this dog's brain that I am not to be trusted, I recently tied him to the door for 2 hours while I cut the extensive matting out of his hair. That sealed the deal. He hasn't willingly come within 5 feet of me since.