The Fray = AWESOME!!

So it's been awhile since i have actually blog about something we have done...well due to the fact that we haven't really DONE anything besides live our lives...work..school...cleaning house...blah blah blah...not too exciting unless you want to talk about construction rental or wisdom teeth extractions! :) didn't think so...hence the not so blog, blog...well i guess i did miss when we went to go see the Fray..which really was awesome. for my birthday..kell got me tickets to go see them...and of course i took him with me! the concert was back in june...but i can remember like it was yesterday! i give props to bands/groups who sound exactly...or almost exactly the same that they sound on their cd. and they totally did...so for any of you fray fans out there..it is worth the money to spend to go and see them in concert..they do not disappoint. the had two opening bands...the first one, i don't remember who they said they were..basically just consisted of three band members..they were pretty good..the bassist/weird small piano player was probably my favorite to watch. he was definitely in his own little world. the next band was jack's mannequin...and i had never heard of them...but some of there songs i quite enjoy now...and they definitely ROCKED the house!
and wow did someone turn the humidity dial up to maximum when the sun went down...every piece of clothing was sticking to us..ridiculous...but it did not deter us from enjoying the wonderful music! here are a few pics!

us....hot as fire outside!

jack's mannequin

the fray!!

kell...this song goes out to you! hit play on the above video...and the read below

I Just Call You Mine

I pinch myself sometimes to make
sure I'm not in a dream. That's how
it seems, I close my eyes and
breath in the sweetest moments
I've ever known
It feels like home, and here
I am I wanna be your everything
There you are turning winter
into spring.

And everyone that sees you
always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
always has a smile
Your standing ovation
after years of waiting
for a chance to finally Shine.
Everyone calls you amazing
yeah-eh
I Just call you mine

I fall apart, just a word from you
some how seems to fix, whatever's
wrong ohh
You reach into the weakest
moments and remind me that I'm
strong
You've gotta know

I'd be a fool, not to see your
even worse
To forget that your more than
I deserve

Cause everyone that sees you
always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
always has a smile
Your standing ovation
after years of waiting
for a chance to finally Shine.
Everyone calls you amazing
I Just call you mine

Nothin' makes sense
when you're not here
as if my world disappears
without you what's the point
of it

Cause everyone that sees you
always wants to know you
And everyone that knows you
always has a smile
Your the dream that I've been
chasin'
after years of waiting
for a chance to finally Shine.
Everyone calls you amazing
I Just call you mine
Everyone calls you amazing
yeah yeah yeah
I just call you mine

I love when songs come out that describe things that you have been thinking yourself..but haven't been able to put into words yourself. I just want to let you know...Kell...I love you very much..and I would be lost without you. In this very moment I am so very blessed to be able to call you mine...forever! You are an AMAZING person..you have such a strong will, work ethic, testimony, knowledge that God lives, and a strong love to give everyone...literally. I know sometimes you feel as thin as a piece of paper about to be ripped to shreds, but I appreciate all that you do for me and other people...cause it's alot. So here's to you...you are amazing...and you are mine. Thank you for being mine! :) I love you!

a note to god

wow...so we have a dvr with our tv service and i have...for some reason...scheduled for oprah to be recorded everyday. i am not a huge fan of her...but sometimes she has some good shows. i was watching an episode tonight and it was about talented young people. a year ago, she had a girl named charice on her show who was from the philippines....and boy does she have a voice. well now...a year later..she has her own song. it is called a note to god...and wow...i cried when i watched her perform it on oprah...awesome... i will probably keep that show on my tv for a long time just to watch that performance over and over...it was moving. i haven't checked to see if it's on you tube or anywhere...but it is an awesome song. upon jumping to my computer to download the song as quickly as i could, i found out that the artist jojo also sings the song....but charice sings it way better....in my own opinion. listed below are the lyrics:

If I wrote a note to God
I would speak what's in my soul
I'd ask for all the hate to be swept away
For love to overflow

If I wrote a note to God
I'd pour my heart out on each page
I'd ask for war to end and for peace to mend this world
I'd say, I'd say, I'd say

Give us the strength to make it through
Help us find love, cause love is overdue
And it seems like so much is going wrong
On this road we're on

If I wrote a note to God
I'd say please help us find a way
End all the bitterness, put some tenderness in our hearts
I'd say, I'd say, I'd say

Give us the strength to make it through
Help us find love, cause love is overdue
And it looks like we haven't got a clue
Need some help from you

Grant us the faith to carry on
Give us hope when it seems all hope is gone
Cause it seems like so much is going wrong
On this road we're on

No, No
We can't do it on our own
So, So

Give us the strength to make it through
Help us find love, cause love is overdue
And it looks like we haven't got a clue
Need some help

Grant us the faith to carry on
Give us hope when it seems all hope is gone
Cause it seems like so much is going wrong
On this road we're on

No, No
We can't do it on our own

So,

If I wrote a note to God

she is only 17!!!!

so as corny as this may sound...but this is my new favorite song..i am planning on playing it over and over....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMeu2os1rj8
here is the link to watch it on you tube

it's been a good day of realizing that there is still a lot of GOODNESS out in this world..and i want to be apart of it.

game time

so a long time ago..i came across a mr. potato head match game....and i remember a picture on ashlee's blog of lincoln wearing mr. potato head's glass...a favorite picture of mine. so i knew he had a mr. potato head..or had played with one. so i gave him this match game..and one afternoon we tried playing it...and we did. but then we were cleaning up..and i was getting the cards all straight..and lincoln picks them out of my hand...then dumps the on the bed again...and then proceeded to leave so he could go play with max...he was cooler. :) he was done playing with mr. potato head...funny little moment. sorry if it's a confusing explanation..there's a video attached.

true happiness

if anyone wants to know what true happiness is...you should have been around the stark household last week.

lincoln absolutely was in love with max, my parents dog. he was always wondering "where's puppy at?" or saying.."come here puppy" if lincoln was ever feeling down..all you had to do is either talk about where max was or bring him around and his face would just light up and he would just start giggling. i wish i could record lincoln's laugh..and then replay it whenever i get sad because he has the BEST laugh ever. lincoln loved taking max on "walks" pretty much max would be on his leash..and lincoln would just run around the house with him...and surprisingly max didn't seem too bothered by any of it. he would just follow....tail always wagging.

the pictures below are of lincoln "holding" max. see..they both have smiles on their faces...how cute huh!

about to have an escapee!
i love this boy....such a cutie and very well behaved!

i sometimes wish i was more like a child....when all it takes is a puppy to put the biggest smile on my face and laugh without stopping.

best buddies :)

anyone out there who says that they don't like surprises...TRUE surprises....hasn't really had one yet. i define a true surprise is knowing NOTHING..not even seeing it coming...like surprise birthdays..you know your birthday is coming up..i mean..come on...you know something is going to be done, at least i hope so. anyways...for those of you who don't know i got the SURPRISE OF OF MY LIFETIME....sorry kell it's gonna be hard to top this one. my dear, kind, best friend, twin sister and newphew came to visit us last week.
well this is the story...monday my dad called me twice during the day..so i knew something was up..so i called him back and he said that we needed to have a "family meeting" i was like what the heck...why do we need to have a family meeting...i thought maybe my parents were moving cause he was calling jenn and ashlee. so i get there around 6:30....not there yet. he gets home around 7:00 and sits us all down and starts talking to us. the whole time i am wondering is he just going to talk to us...and just call jenn and ash later..i thought they were involved in this too...so he starts by asking us if we want the good news or the bad news first...i didn't care..but my mom said she wanted the bad news. of course he said there was no bad news. and while he was announcing that..my mom saw something come onto our back porch cause you can see outside from where she was sitting. and my dad was still talking and i heard the back door open..and still nothing clicked..i thought..."who is the world is he about to introduce us to...did he just meet someone that was interested in the gospel....is he about to hand us over to an inspirational speaker...or what?" but sure enough out walks ashlee and lincoln...and i just sat there..i couldn't believe it! it was my best friend. ashlee said i was scwalling...sp? i wasn't..yes i did get emotional, but it wasn't a sob. :) i'm so glad that they came to see us...now i can't bug her about coming to visit me...even though i want them to live either next door or down the street from me!! thanks ashlee and lincoln for coming to see me....it was good to have you here. i enjoyed your company tremendously...and thanks nate too...wish you could have come.....and jenn and bj too...but hopefully we will see everyone all together for christmas!! can't wait!

sweet little visitors

...so as i was watching kell...hard at work on our laundry room...i looked up and noticed something different. we have always had this nest up in the awning(sp?) but yesterday i looked up and i saw that we have some baby birds up there!!! they are soo cute...i found myself checking on them very frequently just to get a look at them. at first we thought that there were only three...but today i counted that there are four! they are smooched in there...i don't see how they do it..being all cramped up in there. well at night i'm sure they keep each other warm...but during the day when it gets hot! and i thought one birdie was going to fall out today..they were shifting themselves around...it came close..but all are safe. just thought i'd share! i love watching new life..well...i was about to say no matter what it is...but bugs i could just do without. :) but mammals....definitely.

there are four birdies there..just look closely and you can see them all!

another project complete!

thanks guys for all of the comments!! we love our house..it's the perfect size for us.. :) we don't live in a one bedroom home, it has two...but unfortunately the "office" space has been our dump zone...and as most of you know if you have a small space with lots of stuff...it all can't fit on the wall and shelves...so when all of that gets organized I'll get a picture of that!

well i need to congratulate my husband, kell, for being so deligent on our laundry room over the past couple of weeks. when we were applying for our home, the type of loan we were getting had certain requirements, one being no broken windows. there were a few that weren't broken, but had cracks in them..and the inspector lady said they had to go or we didn't get approved..........so they got knocked out and we said we would "replace" them. :) well panes of glass/plexiglass...are not cheap. and the money on my money tree...well let's just say it never produce any fruit last year...so we have been without a window in our laundry room..which is like an extension to our house anyways..since we've moved in. so we couldn't put a washer and dryer in there because it would be exposed to the elements...hot, cold, rain...and the two snow days we got. by the good graces of my mother in-law we have been transporting our clothes over there everyweek for a mass laundry day at her place.

no more!! kell fixed the broken window....which is beautiful. and we used the paint we had left over from when we painted the walls on the inside of our house....and caulked and painted out there. today was the marvelous day of the arrival of the washer and dryer. i don't think i have ever been this excited about doing the laundry. :) don't know how long that is going to last, but i'm just rollin with the punches. i'm excited that i can just do the laundry as i go during the week..instead of this massive 3-4 hours of laundry in one day. ALLEULIA!!


so thanks kell for all of your hard work to get that room laundry ready!! love you lots

my new window!! we are planning on putting a tranparency film on it so you can't see right in the window...girl's gotta have her privacy!

ahh...the dryer...what would you do without...............guess just hang it up:)

my sweet washer...we are also going to put storage units in here!.......maybe food storage??

p.s.....amy..i got the rug from the pottery barn outlet store for 50% off...great deal for it being PB...bargin shopper here i come...well...at least i try......

our house and the improvements....

our house has come ALONG way from what it was when we first bought it. i mean..whoa...for those who saw it in it's struggling stage...you know exactly what i am talking about....i'll try to find those pictures...but here is what it looks like now...we just recently mounting our tv..and as you can pretty much tell we mounted it too high the first time. so we have to do some adjusting...and repair to the wall..but this is our living room.

i love love love how this turned out. i got the letters from hobby lobby...spray painted them silver..i already had the families are forever board. and the squares below...i got the idea from my sister, ashlee's blog..on a craft project she wanted to do...it's just styrofoam and scrapbook paper...simple! but i love the look.


this is the dining room...

this is what is opposite the table...for a long time this was just a huge blank wall..that we didn't know what to do with..but we also found these at hobby lobby where all of there furniture is always 30% off...SWEET! beats the pottery barn price for shelves like these...okay so they don't look as great as PB...but hey i think i achieve the look i was going for.

i want to get this picture to put in between the two shelves.....they are individual 11'' squares...

we have a small hallway...so this is what is up currently ....haven't done much with this....going to eventually change out the 70's doorbell thingy...:)

oh this is the bathroom...the most improved room thus far!! we put up the wayne's coating...however you spell that...we got but the light and cabinet on SUPER SUPER sale... you know how lowes has clearance items sometimes just randomly in the floor...the cabinet was originally $98..we got it for $25 and not sure of the original price of the light..but we got it for $15!

our bedroom....

this is the new comforter that i want for our room...the furniture is black..and that's a brown comforter...just like the other one better...minus the checkered sheets.

simply stated...the reason why it all is what it is.

found my camera cord!! :) kell's man project and my garden

my little garden! it is right beside the house....for those who don't know what the front of our house looks like...i'll snap a picture of that and post it too..

what a pretty pink flower....i planted white ones of this type too...can't remember the name of the flower.

i really like this one...also can't remember the name...but this one spreads so i am looking forward to seeing how this grows

now these are my snapdragons! know that one....they look kind of pitiful now..but yesterday they were beautiful!

this is hanging out on our front porch....doesn't get much sunlight there so i am a little worried that the flowers aren't going to bloom....might have to rethink this one. the porch looks rough because we are taking up all the old paint on it so we can refinish it with some stone.


this is the beautiful japanese maple that is also on the front of our house...i didn't plant this one..it came with the house...but i heard these are expensive trees...and i really do enjoy watching it change colors...this winter it looked pitiful..all the leaves were gone i thought i kill it...but here it is springtime and it's back with full force.

kell's weekend project


that's our neighbor's dog "elle"...aka watch dog...but this picture isn't about her...that pole sitting on the ground use to be a clothes line....it is going to someone in the ward who wants it. :)

there use to be bushes there....

see the nubs on the branches there...he wacked all of those...i made him stop here..because we were meeting some friends or all this greenry would be gone.

the pile of all the branches!!!

so....that it...pictures for the above blog....enjoy.

Hello everyone! Ahhh...my very first blog. Now I just need to find my camera cord and I'll be set. I don't have a very good memory of where I left that cord...so my blog may be pictureless for a while. Well not too much is going on right now...my life is pretty much boring, so I don't know why anyone would be interested in looking/reading my blog.
This past year has been a hilly one for us. With losing our two dogs within 8 months of each other really has us realizing how precious life is...even if it is just your animals. Give them a kiss and squeeze them tight while you have them. I mean what is better than a dog? You can be spitting mad at them, and they know it...then 30 seconds later they are back to being your best friend. What a great example of forgiving and forgeting...:) Sometimes I wish I was more like that sometimes. I have been thinking a lot about people and their grudes/dislikes towards other people.....it can ruin peoples lives...days...what a waste of time. When in all actually..SOMETIMES...we ourselves are the ones we need to focus on and change. Food for thought for those who care. I am trying to be better about not being sooo concerned about what he/she said about him/her..it's just ridiculous to me and such a time waster....:)
ANYWAYS...off of that soapbox...I planted some flowers a couple of weeks ago..I'll take some pictures and post them later..yah know when I acutally take the pictures.....and find my camera cord. Let's hope that I don't kill them. I have beeing talking sweet to them..lol...trying to give them love....so far so good..I had some snapdragons bloom the other day!! Got me kind of excited! My green thumb kinda stays shades of brown. :) We will see what happens.

This past weekend Kell brought a man toy home from work...and "mini" excavator...however your spell that...and attacked the backyard with full force....again I'll take pictures. Most of the "weeds that over time just grew into trees" are gone........it is all in preperation for the privacy fence that will be going up...........a long time from now. Hey if we start buying the wood now..piece by piece...maybe a year from now we will have enough to do the yard..:) No, our next "project" is to tile the kitchen floor. Let yah know what happens there. Alright...I'm done with my first blog, I hope you enjoy the read...sorry I told you at the beginning that it was going to be boring. Have a good night!!!!