Will there be APRIL SHOWERS????

The bathroom is really starting to take shape! A double vanity will be so nice for John & I!

Since our last update, we have drywalled, textured, painted, installed lighting and set the backsplash. We still need to hang the mirror and add door hardware to the cabinets.

This picture shows some more tiling we have left to do. Of course there are the glass doors to install as well. And the floor still needs tiled.

Tonight we have been tiling the inside of the shower area. After the mortar sets up we can grout it.

So the question was, "Will there be April showers?" The answer is , "I believe so...atleast inside our new bathroom anyway! April usually brings SNOW SNOWERS outside for us mountian folks." I hope you enjoyed our latest update of our bathroom remodel. It is slow, but sure and we hope to be completley done with the bathroom portion by this weekend. YEAH!

Where's Goosebumps?

Goosebumps decided to take a nap today with all the other stuffed animals. Can you find her?

Our Day trip to Tucson,AZ

A long, overdue trip was deserved to my Uncle Larry, Peggy and cousin Roxanne. We had a great visit and enjoyed our time immensely with them. We were treated to a little drive across the landscape that included the San Xaxier Del Bac Mission, completed in 1797 under the leadership of the men of the Order of the Friars Minors, Franciscans. The mission has withstood the test of time: an earthquake, lightning strikes, revolt, flash flooding and the like. It is a quite a spectacle to behold.

We also enjoyed driving by acres and acres of airplanes, what the locals call "The Boneyard". Old military fleets sit abandoned in every size, shape and color.

We enjoyed a night of dining..., feasting on some true, southwest Mexican Dining; so good!

They spoiled Whitley rotten with gifts and even gave her a little camcorder. She has been making videos left and right and said it was one of the nicest gifts she has ever been given! Hopefully we will post some little clips on here in the future.


"Milagro" means "miracle in Spanish. Here, people pin their milagros to the silk coverlet of the statue of St. Xavier. Surely, from this picture, a loved ones leg is in need of divine healing...a Miracle!

Candles warm the already sultry desert air. They illuminate the church in a gauze of yellow light and fill the air with incence, prayers and hope.

Every inch of the Mission is emersed in sculptures, paintings, carvings, etc. Murals are painted in fresco on the walls. In light of Easter, the Last Supper seemed fitting to post.

Mouths fall open in awe at all the craftsmanship devoted to God. Men remove their hats, children are hushed and reverence can not help but fall upon the place. Rugged doors greet daily visitors and parishoners. They are weathered and have been held together for centuries by forged iron spikes. The door handle depicts the lowly serpent of the desert, still roaming about on its belly.

Sitting on 14 acres, 9 miles south of Tucson, AZ, the San Xavier del Bac Mission dominates the landscape and seeming arises up out of nowhere. It is surrounded by 2.84 million acre papago Indian Reservation, the land of the Tohono O'odham...which means the Desert People.

13 YEARS and Counting.....

I always heard that the more years a couple are together, the more they look alike. This picture, taken just 3 weeks before our 13 anniversary, sheds a truth on that old saying. We DO look a lot alike!

John & I are really enjoying are time in Arizona. The weather is absolutely gorgeous...not too hot, not too cold. There is always a gentle breeze blowing and right now the smell of orange blossoms and honeysuckle fill the air with a sweet, fragrant aroma.

We have enjoyed our time with family and friends and shared many laughs and meals together. Last night, we tried Thai food for the first time. It was really a neat and tasty experience! We have also enjoyed some liesurely book reading, movie watching and naps!

Whitley spends a great deal of time swimming in the pool and playing on the computer. We plan to take her to the zoo down here and gdo some golfing over the last few remaining days of our trip.

As we sit in 88 degree weather, our computer shows that it is a whopping 18 degrees back home. You know what? I miss that weather about as much as I miss being single! NO THANKS!

Well, hopefully, we take a few neat photos before we leave and share with you! Until then....adios!

18 Hours Until Take Off

Well the weather was near 60 degrees today and tomorrow's forecast is much the same, so a sudden spring blizzard should not be the culprit of an airline delay. God willing, there will be no mechanical failures, etc.

It is 11:25 pm and I am wrapping up loose ends for our trip. Today consisted of running Whit to and from school, going to the bank, the post office, cleaning the house, several loads of laundry, packing, making final arrangements for cleaning coverage, sealing tiles in the bathroom, cooking, going to night class for 4 and a half hours, and now pulling all those last minute things for the trip ie. camera, Goosebump's paperwork/food, etc.

I work all day tomorrow so John will board the dog and pick up Whit. I have two houses to clean and a 15 minute shower to grab before we head out the door.

We are looking fwd. to seeing friends and family, warm weather and few day excursions as well! We hope to get some neat pictures to share with you from our trip. Until then, be well and have a blessed Easter!

Bathroom Progress

Handy man John is making progress on the bathroom. He works on it every night after work and on his days off and the hard part is done. Now we are ready to lay the tile!!! I am getting really excited!

The picture at the very top is taken outside of the bathroom which is really seen from inside the master bedroom. We moved that wall out 4 inches, removed a jog in the bedroomm wall, and added a pocket door. It obviously still needs drywall, texture and painted.

The next picture shows that by moving the wall out 4 inches, we gained enough room to have a double vanity. We went with kitchen sized base cabinets, which make the vanity much higher up...I nice thing for us tall people! I stuck up the travertine backsplash and a faucet set so you can kind of see how it is shaping up. There will be a big mirror on the back wall, a sconce on each side (you can see the wiring), door hardware, and we added to spot lights up in the ceiling that you can't see from this photo.

The third picture is the foundation of the shower stall with bench seat. We modeled this off a display we featured earlier, except in reverse. We will have 4 different sizes/patterns of tile for a hopefully interesting look. We will also add clear, thick seamless glass doors.

Last shot is a close up of the sink. The backsplash is just sitting there and is not grouted into place yet, but you can get an idea from the photo.

We still have another wall to build that will be part of the walk in closet which is in the master suite. Hopefully, it won't be much longer before we present the final photos and John can rest!

GOOD NEWs....aside from feline information

Tonight I got home an hour early from school. I finished up my last midterm for the Spring Semester. I think I scored in the mid-to-high 90's on the test I took tonight. I got a 99.5 on my Biology Lab test that consisted of all the muscles, organs, bones, blood, in cats, frogs humans! That was a TON of information and it is nice to have that one behind me! In Algebra, I got 105% (because I answered the two bonus problems)! I am officially 3/4 thru my first year back in college! Didn't that go fast? I have only four classroom days and 9 actual days now til Spring Break!

Whitley has made progress with her harp. I have to find a way for her to make a CD so you can hear what we get to enjoy! She has a discovered a new thing...Friday Night Live. For $10, she goes to a lock-in at the rec center for three hours. There is an on duty police officer and lots of staff. There is swimming, dances, open gym, rock climbing, contests, etc. for kids ages 8-13. It really is healthy entertainment for her and gives her a little space from us, and us, a little space from her! Fridays are officially John & I's date night now! (or will be, after the b-room is done)

John has really been working hard on the bathroom every night after work and on his days off. I think he will make significant progess this week in the bathroom part and then will divert his energies to builing the new walk in closet. He really thinks of the details and I am so thankful and touched by how hard he works to give us a great home.

We went to Elyse's 2nd b-day party. She is so loved and so blessed! She is starting to lose that baby face and is starting to look like a little girl. She went on a trip to Disneyland in CA with her family and enjoyed a birthday breakfast with Ariel (The Little Mermaid). She loves the Disney princesses. She came back home to not one, but two parties and TONS of gifts! It was a special day with her and her family. We love them all more than ever before with each passing day!

There has been a lot of mountain lion movement here in the neighborhood. One ran in front of my car last Tuesday. It was the first time I saw one in the wild. A neighbor saw one on the road behind us a few days ago. He said it made a 10 ft. vertical jump up in to the tree and just watched him. FREAKKKKYYYY!!!! Needless to say Goosebumps and Whitley are on a short leash for awhile!

Well, that's the scoop on us. No news is good news. I ramble on another time!

MARCH: "In like a lion...."

This is my March bathroom disaster inside.

This is my March disaster outside! See all that dreaded snow!

The growl of winter is back after our short-lived 72 degree day. We received 15 inches of snow out of the storm. They shut the interstate down for a couple of hours because there was so many accidents on this stretch of road which is about a mile from our house. Whitley was over at a friend's house and so I was not able to get her until late that night after they got a grip on the roads. They are calling for more snow tonight. March is notoriously Colorado's "snowiest month" and it is usually measured in feet, not inches. This is the harderst part of winter for me, because I am so ready for Spring when we are getting our heaviest snows.

Another kind of disaster is occurring right in my bedroom and bath. It is completely gutted and the last special order item came in yesterday, so John is ready to roll tonight! He said he should have the room fairly wrapped up in about two weeks.

So between the weather and the remodeling project, maybe the end of March will go "out like a lamb!"

The First Day of March

March 1st was spent at the Denver Zoo. One stop was at the Lorikeet Bird Sanctuary. The Lorikeet is a very social bird. They love to imitate people and will even walk up your arm to your shoulder. Not a bad thing, unless you have shiny earrings. They are notorious for trying to snatch them right out of your ear! There were little cups of nectar that you could purchase and feed them with too! The picture above shows the bird drinking the nectar

The majesty of God's creation is beheld in the beautiful colors of the Lorikeet!

Whitley and her friend Madison at the Denver Zoo. As you can see, they donned short sleeves and capris on this beautiful 72 degree day! However, as I sit here and type, less than 24 hours later, the snowing is blowing sideways outside, the ground already has six new inches of snow and it is in the 20's. Tomorrow, it is supposed to be nice again! As they say in Colorado, "Stick around awhile and it will change!" Nothing could be farther from the truth from yesterday til today!

LEAP YEAR

This picture is not Jeremiah, it's of Jill, his girfriend. About one inch to the right of my thumb, you can see a purpleish ball. That is the spleen. The spleen is critical in embryos (humans too) as it maked the red blood cells for bone,etc. Without it, an embryo will not survive. However, many people have their spleen removed due to traumatic abdominal injuries. How can this be? Well, as we mature, the spleen then serves as a blood resevoir for the liver. One more thing: the two, pinkish bean-shaped organs are the what make "Jill" a female. These are her ovaries.

This is "Jill" again. You can see the black eggs at the bottom of the picture. I chose to use Jill for this picture because her gall bladder was in tact. My purple gloved fingers are holding back the lobes of the liver. Seated right in the midst of the liver is a whiteish-yellow shiny ball. That is the gallbladder. It is filled with bile (poison) that is secreted from the liver. To the right of that you see the stomach, the intestines and the darkest brown spots are the kidneys.

Here's Jeremiah! Isn't he adorable? Obviously, he is still smiling and has not gotten the news about "Jill's" demise.

Here's me & Jeremiah. Would you look at the size of this frog!

As we hop from February to March with the LEAP YEAR, I thought it would be a fitting time to post my frog dissection. I'm pleased to introduce "Jeremiah the Bullfrog" and his girlfriend "Jill". As I mentioned before, he is so big, he barely fit into a gallon ziploc bag! He really is cute; one picture looks like he is smiling for the camera. And no, he was not alive in that picture. I wouldn't have the heart to hurt a living thing. At the end of the month, I have an opportunity to dissect a human cadaver. I'll spare you the postings of that event! So without further delay, meet Jeremiah and Jill!