Kreativ Blogger Award

The rules are I have to list 6 things that make me Happy and 6 other bloggers to give this award to!
1. Having a job that I can truly say I enjoy 99% of the time! In this market, that is huge!
2. Having a wonderful husband and a home to call our own.
3. My health!
4. Having my family close by and my in-laws as well, yes I love them too! This includes watching Kaylie grow up!
5. Good friends I can count on even if they live in Utah!
6. Living in a country I can freely and openly worship God

2 People I want to pass this on to are:
1. Trisha Clark - her blog is great!
2. Ashlee Rutter - she has a young mind and figures out all these cool things to show off her blog!

Girls' Nite Out!

I was at Tammie's house last night doing a Body Shop at Home party and from this you can tell how much fun my nieces had!

From Left: Julietta, Melania, me and my other sister-in-law Cameo. We snacked, laughed and tried everything! That's all for now. I'll post a final on my house soon.

Before... and After...

The master bedroom before carpet.The master bedroom with carpet and baseboard!!
Here's the vent style I chose.
Here's the beginning of my master walk-in closet!

Here's a shot of the fancy trim work Lance did around the french doors.
We hope to be moving in this weekend but we'll see! I'll post again as soon as we are moved in!!!

My Grami's Birthstone Ring

One thing I will always remember about my Grami is how beautiful her hands were and how she always wore numerous rings and it looked elegant on her not gaudy. When she passed away in early 2004, way before her time, my family was going through her things to see what each of us wanted to have of hers to remember her. This ring was the first thing that came to my mind - I didn't know at the time that it was her birthstone ring. When I realized that, I knew my mom would want it and that was fine with me. My mom did know however that I wanted the ring so this year for my birthday she gave it to me. Whenever I wear it I think of my Grami and miss her but I am comforted knowing she is in Heaven with God. I will wear and cherish this Peridot ring and the memories for all my days.

Thank you mom!

Tagged...

Here goes . . . .

4 random things about my husband:

• I think he has a fetish for a cheap vehicle. In the last 6 months he has owned a 1990's Toyota 4-Runner, 1990's Dodge Shadow, 1980's Subaru Hatchback, ummm I am sure I am forgetting more...
• He is working on converting the Dodge Shadow to an HHO system - instead of gasoline. He already built and installed a HHO fuel assist.
• He rides a Unicycle.
• He used to race street bikes at the Portland International Racetrack.

4 movies that I would/could watch more than once:

• Grease - the original
• The Usual Suspects
• Jim Gaffagan - Beyond the Pale "Hot Pockets anyone?"
• Honey

4 tv shows I watch: I have Windows Media Center (Microsoft version of TiVo) So I will keep the list short...

• One Tree Hill
• October Road
• My Boys
• So You Think You Can Dance

4 places that I have been:

• Germany (Konstanz, Berlin, Tuebingen, Frankfurt, etc. I lived in Germany for a year)
• Ensenada, Mexico
• Italy (Venice, Sienna, Milan, Rome, Naples...)
• France (Paris, Nice)

4 people who email me regularly:

• My Mom (Brooke)
• Lance
• Trisha
• My Aunt Jenn

4 favorite foods:

• Italian - anything except seafood
• Mexican - anything except seafood and my favorite is El Tapatio
• German - anything, I think... Even Sauer Kraut!
• Doenner Kabab!! A wonderful middle eastern burrito/wrap with shaved meat that I believe was pork... I dunno but it was GOOD!

4 places I would like to visit:

• Germany again with Lance this time
• Italy again with Lance this time
• Cancun - I am working on earning an all inclusive trip with The Body Shop at Home!
• Jamaica

4 things I am looking forward to in the coming year:

• TRISHA COMING TO VISIT!!
• We are getting carpet installed in the Master Bedroom and closet Monday 9/15 so I am looking forward to moving into that room!
• Earning a free trip for Lance and I to Cancun, Mexico!
• Maybe planning to start a family?

People I have tagged:

• Laura Plunk
• Mark Spires

The Memory Game

I participated in this on a friend's blog and thought it was kind of fun. Leave it to Trisha to break me out of the "house update" mold! Everyone please join in on the fun and leave a comment with a memory that you have of me, or Lance, or a memory you have of us together! Then if you leave the same post on your blog, we'll leave a memory of you too! Thanks!

Some Finishing Touches

Quarter round finishes up the shower. We used PVC quarter round to give a finished look in the master bathroom and it's plastic so there won't be any moisture issues.The door is trimmed in and you can see the quarter round in this photo also.
I love our crown molding! This is in the master bedroom and you can also see we did the trim for the window in the same style as the french doors. Thanks to Joy, the Bamboo color paint and the Navy blue paint have a straight edged line!
I'll leave you with a photo of Morial sporting her latest hair cut! She rolled in something foul at my grandparents house and I had to trim it out so then she had patches missing... I had to take her to the groomer to have it evened out.
Look how cute she is!

Change in Plans...

So I called my mom in a little bit of a panic while she was on the plane home from Philadelphia.

While I liked both the Navy and the Brown, they were competing and it was not the soothing and relaxing combination I was hoping for. My panic however was how to choose and what to change it to...

Luckily my mom is awesome and spent the day Saturday helping me even though she had just arrived back in town at 10pm Friday. Below are the swatches of color I used.
Calvary is the navy blue on my walls, Bamboo is the wall color that replaced the brown and Wicker is the ceiling color and will be the trim and accent color. I had white on the ceiling before.
I decided to go with the navy instead of the brown for two main reasons. First, the master bathroom has a blue color scheme and second, I have a lot of other rooms in my house that are brown or a close variation. Plus our quilt that my mother-in-law, Joy, made is blues and greens.
Here's what I will be doing the next couple weekends when I return from Reno. This is the base board, door and window trim and crown molding. Here's a closer look at the crown molding.
That is all for now, I'll update again after I get back from The Body Shop at Home conference in RENO!! I can hardly wait, this is my first conference and I have heard they are amazing!!

Overdue Master Bedroom & Bathroom Update!

The beginning of the tub surround. We have it finished now but my camera battery died so I don't have any new pictures of it yet.

Yeah Paint!! I was up priming until 8pm after a full 8 hour work day Monday and then last night I was addicted to the progress I was making so I didn't wash my hands and finish up until 9:30pm last night!!

The brown will be on two walls and the navy blue will be on the other two walls. I completed the first coat of the brown in the bedroom and closet and painted the ceiling with a fresh coat of white! Tonight I am having friends over to watch So You Think You Can Dance - it's the finale! But I plan to paint until they get there :) I'll update again as soon as I get a new camera battery!

I can see the Light!

Well, we got a bit more done this weekend. We moved the vanity in and attached the faucet. We have carted this vanity around for 4 years now, I am soooo glad we bought it when we did because it looks perfect! We also caulked most of the shower, but then we ran out of caulk so that is why there is a blue tape border in the window :)Here's a better picture of the mirror and you can see the linen closet on the edge.
I stained the door to the lavatory and Lance dry fit it last night so it will probably get hung this week.
Here's a picture of the stencil border I did in the bathroom. It is about 14 inches from the ceiling.
That's all for now!

Grouting complete!

It's been a productive weekend starting Friday evening after work. Lance finished cutting all the travertine. Then we spent Saturday adhering the tile with thin set mortar.Here's Lance and I grouting. Lance spread it on and I cleaned it up. We made a good team but man was it a lot of work! Here's the finished product! We decided to dry fit the shower heads to make sure it all fit right. We tiled in the window so we could keep it for light, it is already privacy glass, and it turned out really good!
Here's a close up of the glass mosaic tile, love the pop of color!
My favorite and most recent addition to the bathroom is the mirror! My mom and I were shopping at Costco looking for a linen closet when we came upon this mirror. It is wood with a bronze crackle treatment on the frame. The fixtures in the bathroom are all bronze so this was a great find and it was the only one left! I wanted a big mirror and this one is 38" x 50" and it was only $70!! Lance had to move the light up a couple inches so it fit but I LOVE IT!!
Next we seal the travertine and grout and then we can move the vanity and other items in the room permanently!!

Week 6 ... uuggghhh...

Here it is Tuesday night, Lance and I are working on the bathroom floor after working 8 hours at our "day job" I wonder what we will do in the evenings after work when our house is done.You'll notice the orange mesh with blue wires in it. That is so we will have the option of heating our travertine floor! It doesn't go in the shower of course but it does go from entry all the way back to the toilet.
My mom came over during the weekend and we painted, now I just need someone with a steady hand to make a straight edge between the wall and ceiling colors. After the wall color cures I plan to add some brown elements, stay tuned for details!
We still have a bit of tiling to do but we are definitely making progress. Then comes the grout... that will be a whole weekend with all that tile! It will be worth it though, I love the way it is turning out!

Memorial Day Update

Visualize with me for a moment...

On the left, picture the toilet instead of a green towel. And on the right, picture the finished shower with glass doors.

And here is a Jacuzzi tub.
Here is the hard wood vanity with marble counters and a linen closet.
The day dreams keep me going as we start week 6 of this project. You will notice that we have lights installed and electricity, the sheet rock is mudded and taped and almost all the tiling is done in the shower - just need to finish the shelves, the window ledge and one small row along the top.

Shower Update!

From Friday evening through Sunday evening Lance and I were in here measuring, placing and setting our mammoth 18x18 travertine tiles. This time frame was only interrupted by rescuing my brother from being stuck in the snow. Yes, I said snow and he was stuck in it, even though it was 100 degrees this weekend! Gotta love him!Here is a view of the floor, not grouted yet but man it is pretty!!
This is the outside wall, the shower spouts will be on this side.

You can see the blank spot in the middle where the glass mosaic tiles will be.

That's all for now. Maybe next weekend we will have it done and grouted!! Keep your fingers crossed for us!

It's starting to take shape...

Here's Lance cutting out the Jacuzzi tub surround. We finished building the supports. It's cool to see the space filling up and becoming defined areas versus empty space.
Here's the tile in the floor of the shower, we decided to cut our 18x18 travertine into 4x4 squares for the floor.
This is how we will do the edge.
So tomorrow we hope to get it set in mortar and then off to spend mother's day with our moms!

Custom Shower

Last Friday Lance and I decided to do tile instead of a custom concrete floor and shower. I found 18x18 Travertine on clearance at Home Depot for a screamin' deal so we decided that is what we would use. The only catch being that the Home Depot here in the valley did not have enough to complete our bathroom floor, shower and jacuzzi tub surround. In true Lance and Amber style we ended up driving to Corvallis to get what we needed. We left at about 5pm, arrived in Corvallis around 8:30 and arrived home about 1:30am. Did I mention we took my beamer and the total weight of the tile we needed was about 600 pounds?!

Ya well, it was worth it!

That was Saturday, Sunday we were pooped so luckily my dad came over to help Lance and my mom came over to help me run errands and stay sane! I was, well let's just say in a "mood"... nothing was going my way and did I mention I was REALLY TIRED LOL!!!

Here's my dad helping Lance with the first layer.

So custom size and layout for a shower = you "get to" pour your own basin and make sure it has the right layers and pitch so the water goes down the drain and doesn't puddle. Below is the first layer of mortar. Below that is metal lath and tar paper as a barrier and of course the wood base board.
Next layer is a rubber membrane. Once I found someone to help me find it at Lowes, the rest of this layer wasn't so hard. Lance did this tonight, it's Wednesday.
Here's Lance making sure the pitch is correct on our final layer which is also mortar.
We even got some of the backer board hung and hope to get to tile this weekend!
That's all for tonight, hopefully we'll make good progress this weekend and get a normal amount of sleep!

It's been a LONG weekend!

View to the left of the door where the

Jacuzzi tub will be...

View to the middle, you can see we framed in the potty room! To the right is where the custom over sized shower will be built.

For this view you will need to imagine a vanity in place of the pile of tools on the right wall near the door.
So this weekend we finished plumbing (THANK GOD!), we re-installed the floor and framed in the potty room all in three days time! If you scroll down past Lance's birthday photos, you can see what the room looked like Friday night before we started this weekends madness!!