Another Party! for Christmas Shopping!

OK fellow blog stalkers and friends I am having an open house jewelry party, and you are all invited.

When: This Saturday, December 6th
Time: 12-2pm
Where: My House
Please email me and I will send you the address.

The jewelry company is Mi Amore Jewelry, and its great. They have a variety of different pieces to choose from and on average the cost is between $5-$35 which is pretty reasonable. I became very excited about this company when I found out about the story behind this company. It started as 2 friends who had some medical bills and needed a way of taking care of them. With that being said these women got together and created this company. I love when someone works hard for what they want and doesn't give up. It gives me a reason to work hard if not harder then usual. Anyway I would love for everyone to stop in come and see what there is. Visit and enjoy a few minutes leaving your worries behind. So if you have a minute please stop by. Oh and the best thing about this is it is open house style so there is no spill on things you just come shop and get to leave with your merchandise. That's right you actually get to be excited about something and take it with you. So anyway with this being said I hope to see all my fellow blog stalkers there.

The Larsen Family as One!

Had to share my sisters cute family picture with the 2 newest additions. Yes I know I keep going on about this, but I am a very excited, and I am a very proud Aunt. The holidays are going to be so much fun.

October Festivites...

So as I said before I have a little catching up to do. So growing up my family always had a Halloween tradition of having scones and chili on Halloween night. My mom would always make homemade scones and chili the night of Halloween so she could ensure that we would have a good meal as well as something to help keep us warm as we ventured out in the cold evenings. Our costumes would usually be tucked under our coats or sweats were under are costumes, but our tummies were full of scones and chili. This is something that I remember doing every year and it didn’t seem like Halloween unless we enjoyed this meal on Halloween night. So with that being said Mom happened to be out of town the week of Halloween and I knew most of the family, ok the Larsen family (the only family with children) had places to be on Halloween night. So I decided to take it upon myself to carry out the tradition. So the night before Halloween my sisters, there hubbies, children, and my other sister Daja and her nephew Oakland came over and enjoyed scones, chili, and pumpkin carving. Hmmm this just made me think of something I wonder if this was a family tradition so we would be full and wouldn’t want to eat any candy till later. That way mom and dad could pick out the good candy before we go to it…hmmmm sneaky, sneaky. It only took me 28 years to catch on to this. This whole time I was just thinking it was a great family tradition of scones and chili that I felt needed to be carried on.


Melisa watching as Cameron, Kevin, and Oakland work on their masterpieces.


Cameron and Oakland playing in the leaves.



Cameron is growing up so fast he is already growing facial hair.

Not just 1, but 2 added to the bunch of us.

So many things have gone on in the past few months and I apologize for not keeping you all updated. So here I go playing catch up again. Let’s start in the month of October.

The beginning of the month of October started out pretty steady and nothing too exciting or out of the ordinary. Then about the 13th of October we find out that there is a possibility of my older sister Melisa and her husband Kevin to adopt a little girl. With that being said excitement was all around the family. The little girl was dropped off for a trial basis of a week at my sister’s house on Sunday and so the adventures begin. The intentions were to see how the family adjusted. (Meaning both families the new family as well as the birth parents.) The birth parents needed to find out if they were really up for this. So with that being said Melisa and Kevin opened there home to Gracee for a week trial basis. Things went well although some adjustments had to be made now having 2 little ones wanting attention this was going to be an adventure. After a week that turned into 2 weeks the birth parents decided yes they would like for Melisa and Kevin to adopt little Gracee, they also asked if they would be interested in adopting her little brother Wyatt as well. Melisa and Kevin said yes of course! They got the things together and contacted a lawyer to get the paperwork drawn up. They had a court date of the following Monday and were anxiously waiting this date. With a few hic-ups they were able to get the paperwork completed and now we have not just 1 new addition to our family we have 2. We are all so excited for Melisa and Kevin and know that things worked out the way they are supposed to. Here are a few pictures of the family.


Wyatt

Grace or as I like to call her Gracee

Free Hand Bag I'll take it!!

Pick me, Pick me!

October 15th this website is giving away free purses all day long. I would like to take one home!
www.handbagplanet.com

Fall is coming and I am trying to prepare.

Ok so it’s been a while since I have posted anything, and I have been getting razed about it again. Well you know me I want to make everyone happy so I better update just a little bit.

So here I go. Life has been going good. Busy, but good. Time just seems to go by quicker and quicker as I age. It seems like yesterday was the beginning of September and now it’s the 23rd. As for what I did during the last 23 days well I can honestly not tell you. Maybe I should work on making my life just a little bit more exciting.

Seasons are changing and I am enjoying that. I love the season of fall. I love to see the leaves changing colors, (although I may have some different thoughts at the end of the season due to the fact that we now have 3 large leaf baring trees in our yard that will loose there leaves in the near future.) Something else that I love about fall is sweaters and sweatshirts. What is more inviting then putting on a nice warm sweater when there is a chill in the air? I love finding new sweaters each season and love sifting through the old ones.

Then there are the shoes…. “fall shoes” I know it sounds funny, but really you need to have just the right type of shoes to get your through the fall and winter. I love boots, but unfortunately have been blessed with large calves so until I can shed part of my calves I will have to stick to ankle boots or a basic shoe. I have been on the hunt to find the perfect shoe and Fernando has been very patient with me as I try on shoes and walk around the store for ten minutes or more finding out if I like the way the feel and look. It is a very tricky thing and can not be acted on to hasty. I know, I know…I didn’t use to be like this, but well I have come to the conclusion that if you really want to be happy you will be patient to find just the right pair. I want to be happy with them so I am being very patient. I do have a price point though that I will not go over. I have to do this to help eliminate some as well as keep me grounded. Because believe me if money were no object then patience would not matter. So my thoughts on finding that perfect shoe or shoes is that I will need a basic black pair and brown pair. They can’t have to high of a heel because snow and heals don’t go so well together ok so lets be honest… high heels, snow and me don’t go very well together. Something that looks good with jeans and slacks. Comfortable is always a plus but not a necessity. I do like to have a variety, but I am not against buying the same shoe in both black and brown if it is the “one”. We need to stay somewhat in the trends of today because I have always told my self I would not be the lady who stays with her trends from when she was in High School. You know exactly what I am talking about you know you can pick out the girls who were in high school in the early 90’s because there hair has not changed since, and they are still trying to wear there tapered jeans with zippers on the bottom (or are those jeans coming back..hmmm) Oh gosh I just realized as I went to step up on my “soap box” and I looked at my shoes I am wearing my old Doc Martins right now…hmmm. Ok I guess what I need to say is that I don’t want to be the old lady wearing all of the trends from High School…uhhh I think that’s right. Hmmmm, maybe I need to take a look at my wardrobe. Oh well so now the task is at hand to find the shoes for this season…I will worry about the wardrobe later.

So it has been brought to my attention that people are somewhat tired of seeing me morph into Tara Reid. So it is time to update. Now here is the big question what do I tell you about? Not that Fernando and I haven’t been doing anything, because we have, in fact we have been pretty busy.

Well here it is a little recap on what has been going on inside the life of the Espejo Family.

As some of my friends, family, and faithful readers know Fernando and I have been working on getting our house remodeled oh since February. What started out as a project thought to be done in April or May and now we are in August still plugging away. We have been working hard, but seemed to feel like it was not getting any closer. So what did I do I set a date. I put an absolute gotta have things ready for carpet date. In the past we had moved back the carpet install date oh I would say about 4 different times. So I decided it was time to put my foot down and stick to it. So with that being said it was scheduled for the 28th of July. Mind you this was put into place on the 16th of July. That gave us 2 weekends and 8 weekdays to get the house ready for the carpet. Well knowing that we had this much time we decided to this would be the perfect amount of time. We needed to get 3 rooms painted along with all of the trim. Finish the wood laminate leading into the rooms and prep and clean the stairs for carpet as well. So as I look at it I think to myself not to big of a task, but it will take a little time. So what did we do, well you would think as I thought that we got right on it and started to finish up the work to spread it out across the days left. But NO that’s not what the Espejo’s did. Instead we decided to procrastinate, and thankfully to our family we were able to accomplish the tasks at hand. With a late night of painting trim and an early start on the Saturday morning prior to the 28th we were able to get the painting and everything else done and ready. Thanks Cindy, Matt, Maria, Fernando, Melisa, Kevin, and of course Cameron. We really appreciate all of the sweat and tears (wait did I write tears) hmmm I hope there weren’t any tears.

Pictures to come!

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celeb

I did it!

So I have to brag, because well I am dang proud of myself. OK so Friday the plan for Fernando and I after work was for Fernando to go to the Geek Expo in SLC and for me to pamper myself a little. So here are some of the accounts of what happened.

Well it started with me watching the clock at work waiting yes waiting for the clock to turn 3. Now please keep in mind this is not my normal time when I get to run out of the doors screaming FREEDOM!!, but it just happened to be this last Friday. Shelly and I had it all planned out. Our department had planned a bar-b-q in a park starting at 3, meaning we all got to leave at 3.

The only catch with the bar-b-q is that we couldn't invite family. Now honestly I find this a little weird, I mean come on its a Friday night, you get out early and instead of going to hang out with your loved ones you go to a park enjoy food stay till 6 and then go home...huh? does this really make sense. Well it didn't to me. If I was going to a park to enjoy someones company and eat till my hearts content what better company would I want, but Fernando. Well I had decided I wasn't going to go and participate, the other problem would be transportation. I mean it would be a little difficult to get from the canyon to my house that evening without a car, and since we are a single car home that would leave me without.

OK so back to the story. I made a decision no taking time to brown nose or get in good with the boss at an after work gathering I am just going to spend time with the hubby. Well that plan lasted for about a day or two and then Fernando asked if he could go the Geek Expo. I knew it was coming to town I had seen the advertisements so honestly I wasn't surprised when he asked. So being the loving and caring wife that I am...lol hmmmm probably should work on that. I said sure go ahead!...

So with that being said I thought to myself well what am I going to do on a Friday night all by myself? So good'ol Shelly came to the rescue she invited me to get a pedicure after work. So that's what we did we took ourselves to the "ghetto mall" OK actual name Valley Fair. (love the mall, but unfortunately it is referred to as the ghetto mall). We were able to get a little pampered and our toes all pretty. After enjoying the pampering we walked around a little bit and of course made a stop in the food court. Really do you think you can go to the mall and just walk past the food court...I don't think so! We enjoyed a little something to eat and then went on our way. Shelly then noticed the cell phone cover kiosk and we had to stop, and somehow I ended up with a cover....hmmm funny how that happens. After enjoying our time at the mall we went on our way home. Shelly then dropped me off at the trax station and I made my way through the city to the Frontrunner. I was able to sit and chat with a man named David from Ogden. Really nice guy he commented on my purse said it was really cute and made a comment on my pedicure. I would have tagged him as maybe someone who went for the same gender, but then he began to talk about his girlfriend and them going out to dinner tonight. I am not good at picking people out. We began talking about restaurants as well as his life in California and how he moved back this way because he needed to be with his elderly parents. It was a very nice chat and it really made the trip go by.

We made it to the Clearfield station and well, I didn't call for a ride, so I decided I should walk. OK its not that I had forgot, but I thought if I walk home tonight I wont have to workout tonight. So I started off. It was nice I was in my flip flops and soon realized that there was no way I was going to make it with these sandals. I don't know how girls do it. Little pieces of rubber that are no more then an inch thick is just not going to cut it for these delicate toes. So I took a seat on a bus bench and put on my tennis shoes. Yes you are thinking to yourself, huh...what, where did these come from. Welllll lets just say I had planned this out already. In the morning I had thought i better take my tennis shoes just in case I am up for walking home. I actually had 3 pairs of shoes that day. It was kind of funny the ladies at work were laughing saying I was such a girly girl. Which I find extremely funny, because honestly I never would consider myself such. Anyway the reason for the 3 pairs would be i had a pair of sandals that went with the outfit for the day. A pair of flip flops for after the pedicure, because they are the easiest to put on as well as the best to make sure everything is dry. And lastly the tennis shoes if i was ambitious to walk home. So this being said i switched out the shoes Mr. Rogers style and started back on my journey.

Three pairs of shoes and my nice new pedicure.

Can I just give a props to Fernando or a thank you. About 4 years ago Ipods came out and became the "new" thing. Well I wanted an Mp3 player, but not necessarily an Ipod. If you know Fernando at all he cant just get me any type of Mp3 player he needs to get me the best. I remember telling him no really, besides that they will be cheaper and better in a year or two. Well he said no only the best for my wife and I received a pink ipod Mini (which isn't very mini compared to them now). Anyway honestly it really was nice of him, but I really didn't use it as much as i should especially for the money spent on it. So I kind of felt like it was a gift that went to waste. I always keep it in my purse though just in case I want to make my life into a musical...so with that being said I decided it was time to put this thing to use. I only hope it has a charge.? Well it did and lets just say it helped set the pace. I was singing along to the tunes and it really kept me going.

The Ipod that made it just a little bit better!

On my journey home I was about 3/4 of the way home and could see the light at the end of the tunnel. The 2nd wind had come and gone and i was very much ready to be done, but seriously what do you do. I mean every car that went by i looked to see if it was someone I knew, but it wasn't. So I had to go on. I was looking around myself trying to keep my thoughts off how hot as well as tired I was. I was able to stop at a little taco stand and get some cold water that helped me keep going. I watched as two little girls probably about ten years of age raced up the hill on their bikes and then down the other side and around the corner. i thought to myself hmmmm maybe I should tackle them and take a bike, that might make this trip just a little easier. Well don't you worry (all talk no show), but it was odd the next minute after seeing these girls laughing and talking and riding down the hill and around the corner i see only one of them coming back over the bridge...hmmmm that's interesting and then shortly after I see another walking back up the bridge with tears in her eyes and holding her arm. I looked at her and said are you OK and she lifted her hand and I saw that she had hit the pavement pretty hard and had some nice road rash. I asked her if she could make it to her house and she said yes. I said where is your bike? (hmmmm now is my chance I could b-line home on 2 wheels..Yahooo) ok ok that's not really what I did, but i did ask and she said down the hill. I told her I would grab it so off I went tired, but knew I couldn't just walk by her and not help. I went down the hill and picked up the bike and then headed back up the hill and down and then up and down again. Wow and I was supposed to be home by now. At this point I was getting tired, but I could see the neighborhood so a third wind kicked in. I could do this! no backing down now. I made it home in one piece and it only took me an hour and a half. I know that sounds pathetic, but for me this is a big feat. I'm somewhat out of shape so things like this are good for me but somewhat of a struggle. Anyway i was proud of myself so I had to call mom and say "I did it!" which she replied...did what??? and I then proceeded to tell her the story.

Cameron with the hose!!

4th of July with Family and Friends

Ok so it seems like there is just not enough time in the day to update my blog and do everything else that needs to be done. So needless to say I am a little behind. So let’s play catch up.

July 4th, has come and gone, but it was a nice day spent with family and friends. In the morning Fernando and I enjoyed a nice breakfast in the Cogdill garage in Ogden. This is the old family tradition of going to Grandpa and Grandma Cogdill’s house and lining up the tables in the garage. We fire up the industrial size grills and start cooking pancakes and bacon. Nothing is spared when it comes to the pancakes and we have not changed the recipe that Grandpa and Grandma perfe cted using buttermilk in the pancake batter. Yes no calories are counted that is for sure when it comes to cooking at grandpa and grandmas. The buttermilk in the pancake batter is just one of those comfort things. If they were made any differently it just wouldn’t be the same. After enjoying the hot pancakes cooked by the “new” cook in the family (dad has accepted the spatula duty as it was passed down from generation to generation….hmmm maybe if Ben moves back to Utah he could receive the next roll of the cook in the years to come.) We enjoyed talking and catching up with the family. Good’ol times! Cameron found the hose and nozzle and had a great time seeing how fast people could run. He entertained us for a while.

After enjoying the breakfast Fernando and I set off to enjoy the rest of the day. We headed home and did a few things around the house and then cleaned up and went down to Sandy. We met up with our friends Breck (aka John) and Johanna and enjoyed a nice dinner at Spaghetti Mammas…nothing says the 4th like an Italian meal…hmmm does that make sense. Anyway we then went to the Sandy park and met up with Colby, Elliot and there cute little boy Priest, enjoyed a concert in the park and fireworks. It was great enjoying the summer night leaning up against Fernando. After the fireworks we put it in Fernando’s hands to maneuver through the traffic. Which he did very nicely!! We then met up and Elliot & Colby’s house and enjoyed chatting and lounging around. After chatting for a few hours into the early morning we decided it was time to head home. Thanks Colby for putting up with us even though you had to get up early in the morning to go to work. It was great to sit and visit.

Breck & Jo waiting for the fireworks!

Fernando and I enjoying the 4th!

We had a very nice 4th and really enjoyed the time with family and friends, although the weekend went by so fast.

Fun filled Saturday with the Fam...

So it has been a busy couple weeks and a while since I have been able to take time to post. So lets see if I can catch everyone up a little. Fernando works for Rio Tinto which is the company that owns Kenecott, long story short they also owned the land that they built the Daybreak community on in South Jordan.

Daybreak is one of those communities that is straight out of a magazine. We fell in love with this community while driving through it and dreaming, and well needless to say right now we will just have to keep dreaming. One reason is that it is all the way in South Jordan and that would make quite the commute if we were looking for free childcare in the future...(once again please keep in mind we are just planning for the future, not announcing anything). The community is made up of some very beautiful homes with some great architecture, anyway I could go on and on about the community. Well the reason for me bringing this up is that the community had an event or should I say the builders had a large event to bring in prospective homeowners in to look at there homes. It was a huge open house in a nutshell. We decided to go because I figured it would give me time to drool as well as get ideas for decorating.

loved the brick wall, although we believe it was foe

OK yes there was another reason for going as well. The real BIG reason would be that if you attended you would receive free tickets to the new Disney Pixar movie Wall-E, and if anyone knows Fernando and if given a chance to get free movie tickets to a new movie just opening that same weekend he would snatch it up in a heartbeat. So with that in mind Fernando said we might as well see if anyone else would like to come along. So I went ahead and asked around. I was able to get Cindy, Matt, Melisa, and Cameron to come along for the fun. After doing the inviting we planned the day out we met up at our house and carpooled down with a sack lunch in hand.

The plans for the day were as follow meet up and be on our way by 10 am in order to be at Daybreak at 11 (start time). We didn't want to miss out on one of the major reason we showed up (free movie tickets) because we were sleeping in or playing around. So off we went we were able to get there and man I think everyone else had the same idea. There were a ton of cars! We then unloaded and started on the adventure.

The beginning of the adventure. Filling out the important registration forms so they can track you down and try to sell you something, but so we can get our Wall-E tickets.

Fernando and Cameron getting ready for the fun ahead. (the sun was bright)

First goal get the tickets, while second was to walk through some of the houses and get some ideas. Well we did it! We accomplished the first task of getting the tickets. Yahooo...now the rest was cake, well OK cake for those over the age of 2. Lets just say taking Cameron through a bunch of homes that are not his or families can be quite the adventure with lots of neat things for him to touch, hide behind, and run around. He did pretty good, but we didn't want to push it so we cut it a little short and headed on over to the theatre. It was a pretty hot summer day so instead of eating our lunches outside we decided to use the theatres tables and chairs. I am sure the employees of the theatres saw our 2 coolers and bags and thought wow these people are really prepared for the movie. No worries we didn't get in trouble though. We went ahead and enjoyed our lunches in the dining area and then cleaned up and headed into the theatre with a few minutes to spare. Our timing was great!! We then were able to enjoy the movie Wall-E. It was cute. Cameron did really well for being in a theatre for over an hour I was very impressed. He got a little squirmy, but heck what 2 1/2 year old wouldn't.

The adventure gang, minus the camera woman Melisa.

After enjoying the show we made our journey to Cindy and Matt's house for a nice refreshing dip in the pool. It was great to take time and sit in the shade and watch Cameron have a good'ol time in the pool. He is a little fish who thinks he is ready to take on the pool all by himself. Little side note about Cameron being a little fish. Melisa had dried him off to get ready to go home and she turned her back for a minute and Cameron had decided he still wanted to swim so he ran over to the stairs and started to jump in. I yi yi... I haven't seen Melisa run so fast in a long time. I guess that little guy can make miracles happen!!...lol No worries he was OK, just scared his mom and got a little scolding. After the adventures of the pool, movie and idea shopping it was time to head home. We were all pooped and ready to head home.

Melisa and her little fishy.

It was a very full day, and lots of fun. Thanks sisters for coming and hanging out with Fernando and I we really enjoyed ourselves. love ya.

Family time...

This past weekend Fernando and I were able to spend some time with his parents. Friday evening after work Fernando and I headed on our old path back to the home in Kearns to meet up with the Espejo parents. We met up with them at the house and then headed out to see "Hulk". Yes, now please keep in mind this would be the second time seeing this movie. Why you ask would we see it a second time? Well Fernando doesn't want to miss a thing, as well anytime he can get to share a movie with someone in his life he will jump on it. He loves to watch others experience things for the first time as well. We had a nice time with the Espejo clan, in fact you can always enjoy a movie with mom and dad especially since you can always count on something in the beginning of the adventure to make you laugh or smile.

So picture this we are at the house and I see my mother in-law grab an empty plastic back and stick it in her pocket. I think nothing of it and we are on our way. We purchase our tickets and then head for the necessity's popcorn and drinks. We purchase the large bag of popcorn the one with the free refill that nobody is ever able to refill, because they cant even get through the first one. We grab our sodas, large water for me (trying to behave), and head off to find our seats. Of course for me before entering into the theatre with a large water I figure I better stop in the restroom. So after visiting the little ladies room I head into the theatre to meet up with the fam, and what do I notice, dads gone, where is he?? Hmmmm I think to myself, and then I look at mom she has a plastic bag full of something, oh wait its popcorn. Yes that is right, the in laws have won the system!!! They are thinking on their feet. We got our free refill and we were all able to enjoy popcorn. Genius if you ask me. Hmmmm we Utah families think of everything. Although it was funny, because both Fernando and I looked at each other and smiled. Hmmm I wonder if we too will do that with our children?? Ahhhhhh good times.

The following day was Saturday and Fernando and I had made an agreement to work on the house. So after doing a few things in the morning and eating breakfast (we always need our breakfast) we embarked on the joys of laying more wood laminate. Fernando and I had been working on the task at hand when to my surprise my in laws show up to help. Yes I say surprise, not in a bad way, but honestly I had no idea that they were coming. Come to find out they talked about it the night before at the movie, but I didn't hear it (or should I say understand it, Spanish is not my strong suit, still working on it). Anyway I was happy to have them there. So after figuring out what we were all going to do I was able to get mom to help me paint the trim white and dad helped Fernando measure and cut the flooring. Although after those two had been working on the flooring for a while and making quite a few mistakes we came to the conclusion that they don't work so well together. Meaning they don't measure, and cut well together. By them selves as a solo Fernando they can handle it, but for some reason when you put Fernando Jr and Fernando Sr together and try to have them measure the same thing it comes up too short. They were able to work through this though and were able to get most of the hallway and closet done. What a task. Thank you mom and dad for your help!! We love you both!

Mom working hard!!
Fernando Sr. and Fernando Jr. trying to measure twice cut once!

Summer Nights and Nature

Summer nights are one of my favorite things. Some of my most wonderful memories of childhood are those of playing outside as the sun is going down and the night is starting to cool off. I would ride my bike around the neighborhood as fast as I could thinking that nothing could pass me. These are some of the simple things that I love and enjoy.

Even to this day I love just sitting on my porch and watching and listening. Watching and listening to the birds. I love to just sit, think, relax as well as enjoy the time as it goes by. I could honestly spend hours on my porch in the evening, not saying a thing. I know it sounds weird, but try it. Right before the sun goes down in the evening just sit outside and enjoy hearing the beautiful sounds out there. Looking at nature and enjoying life. I love to sit on the grass as well as walk barefoot through the cool grass. I would have to say I am somewhat of a nature lover. Especially of all things that are green. Green grass, and trees these are some of the things that truly make me happy. If I could just have a small little retreat in my backyard to sit and relax, and enjoy nature my life would be perfect. I would have to say I am somewhat of a tree hugger. That's what happens when your first few years in life get to start in Oregon, one of the most beautiful states I know. I have included some pictures of around the house, as well as my experimenting with my camera.

My Dad...

So being as fathers day is just around the corner and I came across these photos. Well I thought I would say a little something about him.


My dad is a man that would give the shirt off his back to help another, especially his children. My dad has been such a great help with the Espejo's new adventure of owning a home. Without him so many things wouldn't be possible. First he was there to help us take out the old nasty carpet, (along with Mom and Melisa don't want there help to go un-recognized) He was there to help us tear down the wall as well as build a wall again. He has helped us take down a tree so our home owners insurance wouldn't be cancelled, climbing it and all. He has just been such a big help, and has really made it possible for Fernando and I to reach our dreams.



Thank you Dad for all of your help.








Dad working hard!





Dad posing up in the tree for me.

Closing of the weeklong vacation

So Fernando and I have been enjoying a week long vacation in the walls of our own home. We had decided that since buying a home and spending most of our money on trying to fix it up (as I am sure you can see from the pictures below that it needs to be done) we cant really justify spending more money on traveling. So instead we enjoyed a little vacation at home. It was nice Fernando and I spent some time together being lazy as well as each of us spent some time doing things on our own.

We were both able to sleep in which is nice especially since we are so used to being up in the morning at 5a.m.. In fact this last week was perfect weather for sleeping in. Rainy weather. Cuddling up in your blankets and watching a nice movie is ideal on a rainy morning, and it was really nice to actually be able to do it other then be at work thinking about how it would be nice.

Something else Fernando and I were able to do is start on the adventures of laying wood laminate. So the plan for the last couple weeks was for Fernando's dad, Fernando Sr. to come over and help us lay this flooring due to the fact that he has expertise and experience in this process. Well Fernando Sr. ended up having to have knee surgery due to some broken cartilage and things. It all happened so sudden. Last thing I knew he was having physical therapy for his knee and now he is getting surgery done. Well long story a little bit shorter. He had his surgery and is doing great, but unfortunately for us he wont be working on any flooring in the near future. So with that being said Fernando and I took it upon us the task of laying the floor. We both did our homework that is for sure. We both took time to read the instructions yes I know I didn't studder we read the instructions (that is one of the things I love about Fernando he will do his research) and Fernando borrowed his dads saw, which honestly I was a little leery and nervous about Fernando using and whether or not he had the capabilities when it comes to power tools. In our 4 years of marriage I have never witnessed Fernando using power tools, other then a drill to hang pictures on the wall or such. So lets just say my confidence in his power tool knowledge wasn't very high. I know, I know...that is terrible how can you not have faith in your husband. Welllll its difficult I am somewhat of a perfectionist and I want this house to be beautiful..floor included. So I decided to get over my fears and just have a little faith in Fernando, and lets just see what he can do, and well he proved me wrong. Fernando has just opened the door for projects to come. He knows how to handle his power tools! I know this sounds silly, but it is comforting to know that if we had to build an ark...well Fernando could hold his own. Although I really don't want to pay for the materials for a project like that.

Fernando working hard!

Flooring starting too look like a floor!! yahoo!!

My new kitchen is just about done!!!

Just another view.

Small little improvements with lots of help

Well I thought I better post some updates on the coming of the home since the first set of pictures may leave some of you thinking....uhhhh why did they buy that house? Yes, I know, I sometimes might think that same thing myself. I'm sorry the below information is somewhat brief and maybe even out of order on the timeline, but it seems like this was done a few months ago so its somewhat difficult to go back. Oh wait it was done months ago...hmmmm I am very much ready to move forward. So here is just a quick recap along with some pictures to help keep you up to date.


Well we have been busy. We had all new windows put in. Which has halved our energy bills which is very nice for the budget. We have also removed all of the carpet and the entire kitchen, including a wall. Yes a wall! We actually removed the wall that separated the kitchen from the living room, making it somewhat more open. With the help of family and friends we are moving right along. We have our new kitchen cabinets in as well as our new dishwasher.....yahoooo. Yes I know I am excited about a dishwasher, but when you don't have one for over a year you start to miss the small things.


We have painted most everything including my nephew Cameron and are working on getting the flooring in...what I mean by this is we have purchased the flooring and well it is sitting in a room just waiting to be installed. My little time line has become a lot bigger then I really wanted it to.

Cameron and Fernando working hard on priming the kitchen.




Cameron realizing that he has paint on his shoe...and keeps saying to me. "my shuuueee" " my shuuee". Hope Melisa isn't upset I did warn her before she dropped him off that we would be painting.



Slave labor is great...now I remember why we are supposed to have children. Mind you we were babysitting when putting him to work. Fernando and I are very mean aunt and uncle.




This is looking into the kitchen from the stair well. you can see that the wall is gone.



A view with the wall gone as well as my lovely appliances sitting in the living room entry way.



Another view from the hallway looking towards the staircase. If you notice to the left we added a sliding glass door to open up the dining room even more.
Melisa, Mom, and Fernando working hard at painting the house. Yes Fernando describes the color as "baby blue". I hope my whole house doesn't look like a baby boys bedroom.




Daja and Melisa getting the little details done.




Aunt Tammy working in the closet.


Might I just say thanks to all of you who have helped us so far in making Fernando and my dreams come true. We truly do appreciate it! We love you all.

Our "roots" are being planted.

So this is all new so I feel like I need to give you all a little bit of an update as well as some history into the Espejo family life.


In February Fernando and I were able to reach a goal that we have wanted to accomplish for some time. We were able to purchase a home. Some might say why would you want to make a commitment like this? Why would you want to be locked in to a home with a mortgage to tie you down? Well we asked ourselves this quite some many times, and weighed the pros and cons and honestly came to the conclusion of wanting to establish some "roots". Fernando and I have lived in 4 different places in the last 4 years of marriage and we now feel like we have a place to call our own.


We started our first year of marriage in Ogden. We liked our little basement apartment, but found it hard to think that Fernando was only making such a little amount of $$ and paying the price for commuting back and forth to Salt Lake was somewhat silly. So I started out looking for a job in Salt Lake so that we can have a central location for all of life's adventures. A year or so had passed and I was able to find a job in Salt Lake as well, and well I found the job and within a week or two we moved to Salt Lake (Rose Park to be exact). Now that was an adventure. Fernando and I lived there happily for a little over a year and had a few ups and downs happen. After about a year of living in Salt Lake Fernando and I decided it was time to make a sacrifice and move in with the in-laws to save some money so we might be able to accomplish some goals. So we packed our bags and thanks to my big sis' Melisa moved most of our stuff into a cheap storage "unit" (some might call a free basement). We then lived for a little over a year in a small home in Kearns, Utah. Fernando and I had one bedroom in a house of 3 bedrooms. We had one bedroom for our office, living room and sometimes dining room. It was tight, but we made it work. Some may say that living with your in-laws could possibly end your relationship, but honestly it was good for us. It was great insight into the Espejo's and really helped me see where Fernando is coming from. I was able to learn a few things from my mother in-law. However I wish I would have learned more. She is a great cook! After living with my in-laws for a little over a year we were able to find a home.


We found a home in Clearfield, Utah.... I know, I know isn't that where you grew up. Yes, pretty darn close. Ok lets just put it like this. I can walk to my mom and dads. Now this wasn't planned to live this close to my mom and dad, although I don't mind. The plan was to find something somewhat close to mom and dad as well as Melisa due to the fact that childcare (I'm not announcing anything just thinking ahead) is always a little cheaper with family. So here it is we found a nice home with a lot of potential. Please keep this in mind as you look at the attached pictures. We have already began working on the home and it is looking better and better every day. The home is a rambler with a full basement. We have 3 bedrooms with one bathroom upstairs and 2 bedrooms downstairs with a partial bathroom (meaning they put the toilet in and a sink, but that's it!). We have a good size laundry room (I never thought that would mean anything to me) with a sink for spot cleaning some of those spills (Fernando has tendency of getting something on his shirt). The yard is a good size yard. The home sits on a corner lot and lets just say it has a lot of "potential". Well enough talk, here are the pictures.














The front of the home with all the snow!


Living room as you walk in the front door. I know I know you love my designer carpet!

Another view of the living room looking to the hallway and bedrooms.

Kitchen with my plastic cupboards, and no dishwasher!


Dining room with the lovely geese border.


The basement. Yes we actually paid extra for that lovely arch way in the middle of the family room....uh huh