Condo

Finally, I'm posting pictures of our place. I keep changing things around and even since these pics I have changed a few things. We still have not decorated....nervous about making holes in the walls. Guess that comes with having a brand new condo with brand new walls haha I remember my dad not wanting to put holes in the walls too. We must have that in common :)

Some of these are before pics and others are after unpacking.

Here are the specs:

3 bedroom, 2 bath, kitchen, dining area, pantry, laundry room, master walk-in closet.

This is right after we moved all the boxes in. Living room was full!

Nikki loved exporing (after she got over freak-out mode) and still jumps onto the top shelves in the walk-in closet.

 For a couple weeks we did not have living room furniture (gave our previous couches to Tiff & Ryan) so we sat on camp chairs! We also did not have a fridge since we order a brand new one from RCWilley

 The patio has definitely been an awesome feature of our place. The cats love hanging out there! This next pic is of Tupac taking off from our patio across the roof to the neighbors patio. At the time when he loved doing this, there were no neighbors. Now we have neighbors in that condo and he hasn't been over since.

 I love that we are in the middle level because I don't have to worry about them taking off. They just chill out there for hours watching people and other animals pass by.

There is a cat from the neighborhood that likes to come over ONTO our patio! When this happens Tupac tries to pick a fight so I have to bring them inside and they can hiss at each other through the screen door. lol

I'm thinking about making a little "box of grass" for the cats to enjoy. Also, I really want a hammock for my patio. One that can be put away when I'm off the patio. I'm thinking I will just need to install some hooks...this is on my wish list so hopefully we can figure it out!

 Here is the laundry room with my awesome washer & dryer. Take note that I have not had a washer and dryer for 4 years!! I feel so spoiled now and LOVE doing laundry. Nothing like a warm fluffy blanky fresh out of the dryer :)

 Here is the guest bathroom. We haven't even bought a shower rod or curtain lol It is so nice to have a bathroom that is always clean for guests! I don't get embarrassed when people use the bathroom now cuz it's always clean

 Here is the master bathroom...notice the counters are kitchen counter high. So nice! (The guest bath is normal heighth for a bathroom)

 Here is the master bedroom.

 This is a pic from the living room. Master bedroom at the end.

 Dining room

 Living Room. Lincoln got his recliner! The couch is from the in-laws until we decide on one we want. Lincoln says to do red in the living room, hence the curtains. I'm trying to decide if I want to go that direction.... The tall thingy in the corner is a cover for the patio. Like a screen cover you can pull up and down. Still haven't installed it yet. Honestly not sure how to :) So it will sit in the corner

 Kitchen. I love my kitchen including dishwasher!

 Guest bedroom. There is a bed in there now. Tupac's favorite place to nap!

 Over the sink there is a peek through into the living room. I really like this when I'm cooking dinner.

That's our place. Hope you enjoyed the pics! Once I start decorating I'm sure I will post more pics. I have a crafty idea planned out for the 3rd bedroom (just noticed I don't have any pics of it). It is where I keep all my crafts/office stuff/home decor.
ttfn

Graduation

Here are my Graduation picture from back in April. I walked the same day we moved and closed on our loan! It was a very busy and stressful day!



Sarah Dziuk

Utah Valley University

Woodbury School of Business

the degree of

Bachelor of Science

Accounting

fifteenth day of December, 2011

Cum Laude

Beta Alpha Psi members (aka my nerdy classmates)

My mom pointed out that I'm the only one without a white stole. And that is because I didn't make it to the accounting lab before graduation to pick mine up :( My shoes look good though! I sure do miss all the studying in the accounting lab and classes with all these guys!

 I made the choice to only walk with the Woodbury School of Business rather than all of UVU. That would explain the smaller group of graduates. And not everyone comes back after 4 months (we really graduated in December 2011)

Here is my white stole (borrowed from a classmate) to show my Beta Alph Psi membership

If you focus really hard this is a great photo :)

Clay Springs Fire--Oak City, UT

The following is quoted from Fox13now.com
"Clay Springs Fire grows to 30,000 acres
OAK CITY, Millard County, Utah — Oak City residents were able to return to their homes Thursday morning after the fast-moving Clay Springs Fire forced them to evacuate Wednesday. However, authorities say a wind shift could have them out again.
The Richfield Interagency Fire Center says the fire sparked in Clay Springs Canyon nearly five miles south of Oak City and has raged on, pushed by gusting winds. As of Thursday afternoon, the blaze has burned an estimated 30,000 acres and has no containment.
Millard County Sheriff Robert Dekker says that the town of Leamington may be threatened as the fire heads in that direction. He says evacuation orders may come soon while reverse 911 calls were made to warn the some 400 residents there.
“We notified them by reverse 911 and contacted some of the leadership in the community through the phone trees and different things to keep people notified and up-to-date,” said Dekker.
One cabin was destroyed and three maintenance sheds were damaged from the fire.
“We got damage to several other areas, some minor damage to some homes, but we only had one loss,” said Dekker. “The firefighters did a tremendous job. There’s no other way to put it.”
Residents of both Oak City and Fool Creek had to leave their homes on Wednesday, according to the Bureau of Land Management. Oak City residents have been allowed back into their homes, but they are told to remain on standby in case they need to be re-evacuated.
Evacuees are told to relocate to the LDS Stake Center in Delta (126 Whitesage Ave.).
A type 2 team was called in to help Millard County and state forestry crews fight the fire."

My dad put this panoramic together using 8 pics from their back porch.

This picture was from a news report

picture taken from my parents' deck

This is where Lincoln has been since it started. My cousin Matt is working on this fire too. And my other cousin Kenny is on another fire in UT. Thanks to all firefighters that are working their butts off to keep us safe! Come home safe to us!

Hanging out with the Murphy's

I spent a lot of fun times with Bobbie, Ryan, and the kids so I thought I would share some fun photos. Ryan talked Bobbie into doing a 5k with the kids...she asked for my help. I loved it! Kaylin walked the whole thing! Even after falling down once. Tough Girl. And the twins were good the whole time. They had the best seat :)

The whole family came over to our condo to go swimming. We had a blast and I can't wait for them to come again.

Kaylin had a dance recital a while ago. Both sets of grandparents were there! I thought that was really awesome of them to show their support. I had been to one of Kaylin's practices and this was really fun to see it all come together. She did awesome! 

 I'm working on getting some "new home" pictures on this blog but I still haven't found my cord for my phone. It's a pain to email pictures from a phone. So I have been doing the small updates first.

If you mix Almond Breeze vanilla, Dole pineapple chunks, Dole pineapple juice, and some ice you get a very yummy drink! I think you are suppose to get the almond breeze coconut flavor but it still works with vanilla flavor. YUM YUM

 and...I'm going to try and piece together a quilt top. I have done it before with squares and rectangles but I'm really feeling a triangle pattern this time. Wish me luck :)

Reading Frenzie

I have read several books since our move. I finished reading the Hunger Games trilogy which I really enjoyed! Super easy read but it really holds your attention. The first book was by far my favorite. The second book I felt like was the ending of the first and the beginning of the last one. So I guess it is a good "bridge" book. The last 100 pages of the third book were really good. I also saw the movie and it was superb :) They did a really good job with it! I really hope they don't get Robert Pattinson to do the 2nd one though. He had his moments with Twilight and I don't want to see him in this one. I did enjoy him in Water for Elephants. (That's a good movie too). Anyways...If you haven't read this trilogy, you should! 

The next series I'm working on reading is Ender's Game. There are 14 books! I have read the first one Ender's Game, then Speaker for the Dead, and I'm currently on Xenocide. I read Ender's Game when I was younger and love it! Still love it! It is a book found in the science fiction section but I'm a huge fan. I'm going to read the books in order of when they were published although the chronological order is very different. I like to read it the way the author stubbbled upon it....so to speak. I definitely recommend this series also. An easy read and very enjoyable no matter what kind of books you are into.

Oh and...they are making Ender's Game a movie! It comes out November 1, 2013. Although the date keeps being moved back. But they are in the process of production. Asa Butterfield is going to be playing Ender! If you don't know who I'm talking about...google it :) Or if you have seen Hugo, he is the main character. Such a cute and talented kid! I can't wait to see him bring Ender to life. It should be pretty good.

As you may have seen on the side of my blog I'm keeping track of books I have read and the one I am currently reading. I never finished Crooked Letter Crooked Letter because I just had to read Hunger Games before I watched the movie. And as you can see I got side tracked. I also got a graduation present from Lincoln's uncle Ed...a nook book! That is in the line to be read. It looks/sounds like a good one! Thanks Ed!

aah yes! finally!

We finally got internet in our new home! Since we purchased a condo we had to go through the HOA people. It's actually a temporary internet service until they figure out what they are going to do....the original company is mad at Payson city (long story) so we have been caught in the middle of the mess! As soon as I find my usb cord for my phone to download pictures I will start the multiple posts of our last few months of crazy! Stay tuned....

haha

De-junking

We are in the process of purchasing a Ridgestone Condo in Payson! We have signed the purchase contract; picked out cabinets, tile, carpet, countertops, etc...; and started processing our loan. I can't wait for it to be all done. Below is a picture of the model home we walked through. We went with the same cabinets. Our countertops will be a similar light color but the tile on the floor will be darker. More pictures will come when we actually have ours built!

So I have been working on de-junking our little apartment. I went through my closet over the weekend and got rid of a lot of clothes that don't fit or I just don't like anymore. I can't believe I was able to detached from clothes! I felt like I needed an intervention like on hoarders :) Causes me anxiety to get rid of stuff that I once was crazy about! But satifaction of a cleaner, more organized closet sounds much better.
Our linen closet has been FULL of puzzles and I knew that I needed to go through them. Today I tackled this project!

These are the puzzles I kept (64--because the big packs on the end have 10/each)
and these are the ones I'm getting rid of (32--1/3 of the original stash)

This puzzle has never been open. I believe that one of my aunts got it for g-ma for christmas, ?maybe. If YOU are reading this and recognize this puzzle, I would be glad to get it back to you. Otherwise it will stay with my new stash. I know it had some sort of sentimental value so I can't get rid of this one :)

After going through my puzzles I decided that I really would like to organize them further. My first thought is to put them in boxes that are ALL the same size so that they stack much easier. I did a quick search and found the above picture that I really like but the downfall is that they are NOT cheap and I need 64! haha Eventually I hope to come up with some fabulous idea. (if any of you come up with one before me, let me know!)

I made this for Wendy's baby shower coming up later this month! Got the idea from pinterest :)

and I wanted to share this picture. Aaawh Nikki sleeps with her mice