Melissa, Andy and the kids' Blog

Andy and I went on a little weekend trip to Las Vegas because he was sent there for a conference. This was good for me, since I used to live there and have family and friends to visit. When I lived there, I only visited the strip when family was visiting. This time I was the visitor, and I got to stay in the the Stratosphere Friday night. (This was paid for by the pharmacist that sent Andy to the Conference.) We were supposed to get a regular room, but they didn't have our room when we got there. After asking a few questions we got a free upgrade on our room. Here is our suite: I've always wanted to stay at a place with a jetted tub! While Andy was at his conference at Ceasar's Palace, I went and saw one of my childhood friends. Linda and I were best friends in Jr. High, and this past year we connected on Facebook. It was great to have lunch with her and catch up on each other lives. That night I went to my friend, Kim's, house for dinner and games. Saturday nigh...

This is our guest bathroom. There is not much to it. I put up the same stuff that was in my apartment bathroom. We don't like that there is carpet in our bathrooms. Putting tile in will be a project for another year. It does have a very small counter, but it left room for a hamper. Currently the hamper holds our beach towels, but I'm sure someday it will be used for our kids' clothes.

This is our guest bedroom. Thankfully Andy and I both had a bed before we got married, so we were able to put his mattress in the guest bedroom. (His was older, but still in great condition.) This room never got painted. It is just the plain white that was painted when the house got built. It reminds me of going to some old cottage or something. This room kind of got a lot of my old random wall decorations. The bedding was Andy's. The nightstand was mine from my last apartment. The hope chest was made by my grandpa. For years it held the kitchen stuff that I had been collecting, but I never used it until last year when I got my own place. Now it holds my old baby clothes and baby books. The wall hanging (quilt) was made by me my senior year. I made it for my mom, but she insisted that I should have it back now. Well, I think it will be cozy enough for our guests. Mom and Bill used it when it was mainly just the bed. Trisha and Jeremy will be the first ones to try out the...

I know I said I was only going to blog about one room a day, but I made an exception for the downstairs. I feel like the kitchen, dining room, and living room are pretty much one room anyway. Here is a picture of our kitchen before we moved in. Below is a picture of our dining room and part of the living room. The entire downstairs was green (along with part of the upstairs), and green is one of my favorite colors. However, this green changed every time we saw it, and the previous owners didn't do a great job at painting. There were splotches on the walls that didn't get enough coats, and there was green paint on parts of the white trim and ceiling. We decided to get rid of the green downstairs. I think it took us a whole day to tape everything, and 2 or so days to paint 2 coats. Andy and I decided we wanted a more neutral color, so we went with Porcelain Skin. It really lighted up the downstairs, which makes it feel more open. It was way too dark before. I felt like I ...

I am finally ready to show you pictures of the inside of my house. Thanks for waiting patiently. I've decided I'm going to blog one room a day. My first room is the master bathroom. You may wonder why I am starting with a bathroom. It is because Andy and I actually built some shelve for it in the past week and a half. This is how our bathroom countertop looked for the past 3 months. I'm a girl, and I come with a lot of stuff. We only have 1 cabinet and 2 drawers in our bathroom, so I needed some more storage space. Above our toilet was an empty wall, so I thought it would be neat to make shelve to go above there. Wednesday: Andy thought it would be easier to just buy some shelves, but I convinced him that it would be fun to build something together. It was his last day off before his rotations started, so we set to work. We bought some wood and wood brackets, and then we headed over to his parents' house to use some of his dad's tools. We cut the wood into 2...

Okay, so I know most of you have seen these pictures on Facebook, but now I get to include the details. We got married on June 4th, 2011 in the Draper Temple. We were supposed to get married at 11 a.m., but I think it ended up being more around 11:30 a.m. We came out of the temple a little after noon. Then we took pictures with everyone and then my family. Unfortunately the Bayless family had to leave to go get the luncheon ready, so we took pictures with them at the reception. I'm very grateful for my friends and family who were able to come from far away in order to be here for my special day. The weather was warm, but it had a breeze to cool us off. It was a little bright out (especially for my northwestern family members), so you wil l see some people squinting. Can you see all the little girls squinting? Then everyone besides Myntillae (my friend/photographer), Andy, and I left. We went and had our pictures taken all around the temple. I loved how they turned out. Th...