House Plans

Phew! I have been looking at a plethora of houseplans lately, and they're all starting to run together...I didn't know it would be so hard to find a plan I loved! There's always a thing or two (or three or ten) that I would change. And yes, I'm picky. Even though you already believe me, because you know me, I'll show you why. This is the list I came up with of things I want/don't want in my house:


Wish List

-Mud room from garage (little kids get dirty!) with space for coats, shoes, etc.
-L-shaped kitchen counter for a workspace, or an island
-Big kitchen, like 12x14 ish
-laundry room, not hall closet with machines in it
-big master suite with walk-in closet, corner tub, double vanity, and toilet in its own separate little room
-corner/walk-in pantry
-attention drawn to front entrance – don’t want front door down a tunnel
-basement
-rear deck
-fireplace in great room
-foyer/marked entrance, not just a door straight into great room
-2-car garage – not 1 1/2
-High ceilings
-Stairs not RIGHT by front/back entrance, but not down a dark hallway
-Lots of cupboard space
-3 bedrooms up
-Storage
-Open floor plan, but not so open that you walk in and see the kitchen sink with dishes
-Big windows
-Master bedroom not off kitchen
-Walk-in closets off dressing area, not opposite side of room as bathroom
-No bedrooms off the great room or foyer or dining room - some kind of separation (ex. small bend/hallway)


And all of this in a house under 1500 s.f. :)


We actually found a plan we loved, but it's too wide for the lot we have (by 16"). Go figure! The way it's laid out makes it pretty hard to just chop off 16" so we went back to looking at plans. We're not building until spring, but lately I've been wanting to just have the plan picked out so we can figure out how much this is going to cost us. And so I can plan the flooring, and the doors, and the countertops, and the cabinets, and the furniture, and the paint colors, and the decor.....:)

Living in our little apartment will make me grateful to have anything bigger (full-size oven, fridge and bathroom!)! And I'm not complaining; I know my parents and grandparents and their parents and grandparents lived in basements and spider holes and cooked on a woodburning stove and never had a dishwasher, and I'm grateful we have a place to live. :) I'll just be that much more excited to have a house of my own!

16" too wide

12:30 am

This is where I was at 12:30 the other night. Clark and I went to a 10:00 movie (Love Happens) and got back to Raymond at about 12:30, when Clark told me that he needed to get the mail. Of course, I thought he was joking. Until he told me that he thought his latest issue of Sports Illustrated had come that day. So, here's Clark getting our mail in the early morning hours:

And here he is hurrying because he knew I was falling asleep and didn't really feel like getting the mail. :)

He asked me on a date, took me out for dinner and suffered through a chick flick - it was the least I could do. :)

Girls' Weekend!!

We had so much fun on our trip! Getting there only cost two deer, but we finally made it safe and sound!

This post has about a gazillion pictures....be warned....and they're only the ones from my point-and-shoot. :)


Going to get snacks for movie night...with 3 shopping carts! :)




Doing homework...






Going shopping!








A little stop at Wendy's




The 'W' stands for Wendy's. We're just that cool. :)




This little trooper took the whole road trip thing so well!




Loves his puppy




and has a foot fetish - the kid has to touch everything with his feet. So cute.




A little girl night pampering!




Megan and I braided the girls' hair so they'd have wavy hair for church




My job=the right - Megan will hopefully have all of the girls and I'll get the boys...but we're not off to a good start!




Cousins!




Our crazy faces




This kid is seriously so cute. He is usually smiling and toddling around just happy as can be.




I was falling off the couch. Backwards.




He finally let me hold him!






The big girls!



Priceless.




And the good aunties painted fingernails!






He loves to drive




Getting him out of the car for a bit...




Biggest ant hill I've ever seen.




Me and my mom!




Back in the car, but not ready to get back in the car seat.




This is his mom.




Stomping on the ants.




I told you he loves to drive






Mom making him laugh.








Our windshield just after washing it - those dang bugs




My mom!




Getting rid of the bugs




The end!

I'm out of here!

I left work early to get ready to go on a girl's trip! I soooo need a holiday! My mom and my sister and my sister's baby are going to visit my older sister down in the states for the weekend. I really like my job, but I can't tell you how free and relieved I feel to be getting out of here for awhile. This summer was crazy, and I'm not very good at not taking things personally, so it's been stressful! I was going to take a nap before I started packing, but I got home to dirty dishes and a messy living room. Ugh. So, I'm getting lunch ready and cleaning up before I take off. For some reason it's so much easier to clean and do dishes in the morning, instead of at 6 pm when we're both home from work and supper is done.

I had an office over at the pool for the summer, but I was always getting up and walking around doing things - now I have a full-time desk job and it's kinda crappy to sit all day. My shoulders are always sore - I've got to get better posture! I also need to get a better chair. My office is kind of the 'nobody wants it' room and my desk is an old boardroom table with a random selection of chairs to choose from - orange plastic to those padded old church chairs, which is what I'm currently using. When I get back I'm going over to the pool and stealing my nice chair from there for the winter.

Last night I went to see my little sis play volleyball - I love that girl! She did great! She's the starting setter - this girl can actually play, unlike her older sister. My aunt coaches the varsity team, and my mom and Kels came out, so it was fun to see some family! I felt bad, but I just couldn't cheer for Raymond. Two of the lifeguards who worked for me over the summer play for Raymond, so I cheered for them silently. Clark and I were visiting with our neighbors the other night, and their grandson came over. He told us his wife wears her old school's colors at football games where her school plays Raymond - and it's the biggest football rivalry around here. When you grow up with certain views...they can be hard to shake. :)

Before the volleyball game, my sister-in-law came with me to a jewelry party. It was all really cute but it was more fun just to get out and hang out with people! Clark and I have been hermits since we got married and I have been slowly going crazy, I think.

Anyway, I think my chicken is done so I'll stop rambling!

When Clark makes monkey sounds...

This is the face my nephew makes!

Family Recreation

I was recently asked by our ward enrichment leader to help her with a family home evening enrichment. Enrichment is an activity for women in our church. In our church, we hold family nights with our own families every Monday, and sometimes people run out of ideas. Someone requested that the Relief Society (women's organization in the church) show what a family home evening should be like, and offer ideas and host a discussion on things to do.

The lady who asked me to do this mentioned that she was asking me because of my degree in Recreation. This reminded me of my favorite class - Family Recreation! I've been going back over my notes and I get excited all over again! I don't think I even got an A in this class (A-), but it was my favorite. Our professor was working on her Ph.D and she was one of my more hard core instructors. Family Recreation sounds like a joke of a class, but it really wasn't. This lady was serious about the subject. She was passionate about it, and I think she really made an impression on most of the class, if not all. So, in a nutshell, I'm passionate about family recreation!

A proclamation put out by our church had this to say about it:

Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities (emphasis added).

I've emailed a few of my cousins/aunts for ideas on what they do for FHE, and what works/doesn't work for them so if I haven't talked to you, and you can help me out, please email me at ktorrie@gmail.com!

I'm doing this presentation/discussion next Wednesday. Thanks!