Thursday, January 28, 2010

Moving!

I think I have an addiction to moving. Something about packing up every little thing I own in a box and moving it to somewhere new just brings out a different side of me. But no, we aren't just moving so I can pack my things in boxes haha.





After much thought and deliberation, Jeff and I have decided to move back to Greeley. Last may, we decided to move back to our "hometown" Longmont. We thought we hated Greeley and looked at moving back to Longmont as a way to fix it all. We missed our families, and they missed us. So we broke our lease, packed it all up, and moved into an apartment here in Longmont. It took a lot of sacrifice, some of which I don't even want to think of. I lost my job when we moved and remained unemployed throughout the entire summer, we were always cooped up because we didn't even have 5 bucks for gas to go anywhere. Jeff's job performance has sufferened because his zone is in Greeley, so he has to drive for an hour to respond to a simple call that would've taken 5 minutes when we lived there!





Also, we feel like our relationship with Jeff's family has suffered. When we lived in Greeley we saw them once every couple weeks. We would drive down and stay with them for the weekend. It was always a pleasure to see everyone, and everyone was happy to see us. Now that we live 5 minutes away from them, we feel like everyone is getting sick of eachother. It seems like there is always a family fued going on and tensions are high. We think maybe some distance would improve our relationships.





My little sister is going to UNC in Greeley for college next fall. I am worried about her being all alone up there. At least if we lived up there she could come over if she was starving to death, or if she was just lonely and needed some company.





So without further adue, here is one of the home styles we are looking at to rent.


It's a gorgeous home in a brand new community. 3 bedrooms 2 baths and a full finished basement. 2 car garage, with a doggie door, and dog run outside, huge backyard fully landscaped with while vinyl fencing. All for less than we are paying for our apartment now, and a ridiculously low deposit!

We are checking it out on Feb 13th, we will update as our plans unfold!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Product Reviews

I have been using some new home cleaning products that are definitely note worthy.



Dyson DC14 all floor model vacuum- I LOVE this thing! My hubby bought it for me for christmas and I am still obsessed with it. When looking at the different models, we decided the Ball was not for us. Though it was "easy" to manuever, it felt a little awkward to me, and didn't seem as sturdy as the regular stand ups. Also, the canister size on the Ball is so small, I didn't want to have to empty it every 5 minutes.
I couldn't be happier with this vacuum. I have two cocker spaniels and a cat, all of which shed like crazy. The first time I vacuumed our apartment, the canister filled up with just my hallway. Full of hair, pet dander, and god knows what else, I couldn't believe the nasty things it picked up! After the first time I vacuumed, I could feel the air in our home get better and Jeff's allergies seemed to be improving.

And it comes with a 5 year warranty! I can't complain about that! If you ask me, it's the best $400 we've spent so far!
Shark Steam Mop- Just purchased this beauty tonight, and boy am I happy about it! We immediately hooked it up and mopped our kitchen. The mop glides with such ease, and the handle is long enough that we can mop our entire kitchen without stepping food on the floor! It heated up within 30 seconds just like they say, and it cleaned deep down and got all of the sticky messes up! I could't believe how nasty the pad was after we were finished. YUCK!
I love the shark because there are no chemicals, meaning it is safe for us and our pets. The kitchen smelled clean afterwards, but not masked by harsh chemical odors.
I would recommend purchasing the diamond shaped attachment and pads however, because it was hard to reach the small nooks and cracks in my kitchen with the rectangle pad.


And last, but not least, Martha's new line of cleaning products! They are 99% biodegradable, and the containers are made of recycled materials. We ran by Home Depot tonight and picked up the All Purpose Cleaner, and the Carpet Stain Cleaner to start with.
Overall I am very satisfied! The cleaners aren't that expensive ($3.98/bottle in my area) and the bottles are a lot bigger than they look on the website. All of the cleaners have almost no odor what-so-ever. The only one I noticed was the Bathroom cleaner, it has a very faint scent but still smells natural.
The carpet cleaner lifted stains out of the carpet great! However, it does not mask or life pet urine odor. If you are looking for something for that, check out Simple Solutions Pet cleaners. The all purpose cleaner is great and leaves behind no residue or smell.
If you are the type that thinks of "clean" as the smell of bleach, lysol, pine, etc. then this is NOT the product for you. It cleans and sanitizes, but leaves virtually no smell behind. This is a fantastic cleaner for me, since I attach scents of cleaners to the mess they are cleaning up (for instance cleaning up dog messes with Febreze Lysol ruined it for me, now everytime I smell the Lysol I think DOG URINE!)


If it isn't obvious, we are trying to clean our home the green way. For our sake, and our pets sake. What products are you loving?

Art Photography Giveaway at Censational Girl

Check out this awesome giveaway on one of my favorite blogs. This photographer truly has some talent and I would LOVE a piece of this artwork in my home!


http://www.centsationalgirl.com/2010/01/art-photography-giveaway-2/comment-page-4/#comment-31135

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

2009 Recap

We're gonna start with December 2009 and work backwards...

We had a great year with our pups, and grew closer than ever to them, we also got a kitty!
I hosted my first christmas eve party, and we were goofy and wore our festive christmas sweaters!

We had a great christmas with our families


We started redecorating our apartment and making it our own



We finally got a kitchen table!




The stockings were hung by the chimney with care, and the dogs were very impatient!





We played in the snow...






Jeff turned 23, and we discovered I should not be allowed to light candles, I lit the cake on fire!







We dressed as a zombie toddler and crazy grandma for halloween








Ashley turned 21!









We realized over the summer what really matters. We were so broke it wasn't even funny and regained our respect for the small things in life.










I finally found a job! And one I love! Working at a Petsmart Petshotel











We spent our 3 year anniversary of dating in estes park


























I got a new tattoo. It hurt like hell!














It was a summer of tornados, and many times I had to pack up the pets and rush out of the house to find shelter.















Post wedding chop and color!
















We were married! May 16th 2009!

















Merik molly and tyler stayed with us a week of the summer









We went to the car show and had a blast!









Hung out with more family!







Along with the tornado, we had crazy hail storms!



We had a fantastic honeymoon in Las Vegas!




We had a great rehearsal dinner and Jeff loved his guitar cake!




Margarita Night!
Had my first pedicure, and first massage!











My friends and family gave me a great bridal shower!











We got our marriage license! It finally felt real!






I got my first spray tan, and I wasn't THAT orange haha



I Dyed my hair REALLY dark, and established the nickname Pochantas at workI learned that I am more creative than I thought


And spent countless hours on projects for the wedding








New years Eve 2008, it was crazy it was fun and it was over a year ago! WOW!
































Other things that happened this year...

  • We moved back to Longmont to be near our family
  • We went from being ok on money to being dirt poor, to being stable again.
  • I found out that I have PCOS and could potentially have some big issues having children, I was devastated for a couple months, then I started researching, got on new meds, and started feeling SO much better about it. Jeff and I finally have hope :)
  • My SIL found out she's expecting a baby this upcoming June!
  • My friend Kayla found out she's expecting a girl in May!
  • I started talking to old friends from high school again
  • I found my love for home decorating and blogging!

Sorry it took me until half way through Jan to post this! I saw it on a few other blogs and really liked it. I'm really excited for 2010 and already have some very fun stuff going on!!! :) :) :)

Wednesday, January 6, 2010

Next Task- Bedroom Remodel

Our next task is to remodel our very random bedroom. We have mixes of red, orange, green, brown, maroon, etc etc etc. Its just no good. So here's the plan
Brown and orangish with a nature/bird feel


One wall silver blue and the other walls a yellow based tan











Small blue accents throughout the room
Look for updates in the next couple weeks!