Home Remodel

To all my adoring fans, I'm sorry that it's been over a week since I've updated this, but here's another update.

Chris, the contractor we hired to finish our pantry, finished what we contracted him to do. Unfortunately, we still had to do the trim and throw in a rug to finish up. He did a fairly good job. We just had him sheet rock, paint, and put up the shelving. On Saturday, I measured, bought the trim, and installed it. It looks a lot better, but the door was hung crooked by none other than Michael, the drunk contractor. His craftsmanship is sub-par for a professional; he also did the fascia and trim wrong on the front of our house and it didn't solve the problem that I hired him to do. I guess I'll call him tomorrow >:(

The weather's been strange for this time of year, quite cool. I'm hoping summer will make a reappearance.

It's depressing the think about getting out on a trip with gas prices skyrocketing. I only hope they never reach $5 a gallon.

Our neighbors to the north of us don't like us. We only did three minor things to make them mad at us. First, we don't have a driveway so we have to park on the street. They, on the other hand, have quite a large driveway but only like to park one care in there. In the past, they've parked their car in front of our house. One day I got tired of it so I asked them to not park there. They agreed, and for the most part, have complied. The second incident came when their teenage son swore in front of Micaela and one of our girls. Micaela asked him not to swear in front of our girls; since then he hasn't even acknowledged our existence. The third incident occurred when a drunk friend of theirs came to the house at 11:00 pm with his stereo blaring. I asked them to turn it down; don't know if that also offended them. Since those incidents, no matter how nice we are or what we do (we've said 'hi', taken them cookies, etc.) we can't make it off their black list. They really seem bothered that they can't park in front of our house (despite the fact we don't have a driveway and they do). They're Mexican and I only bring that up for one reason: can anyone explain their culture to me to help me understand what it was that we did wrong? If they're like Filipinos, being direct is definitely a 'no-no', in which case we should have a used an intermediary. Whatever the case may be, they certainly don't like us.

Next week is Hannah's fourth birthday and we'll probably be going to Liberty Park for an informal party. Anyway, that's all for now.

I'm Home

I never have enjoyed long flights, especially red-eyes. The flight from Honolulu to Salt Lake is about six hours leaving at 9:30 pm Hawaii time and arriving in Utah at around 8:00 am Utah time. Airline seating is awful unless you're willing to fork out the extra thousand or so they demand for first-class seating. I only dozed off once and that was for about a half hour. Needless to say, when I got home, I was pretty disoriented. I ended up taking a three hour nap.

Later that day, we went down to my parent's home to visit for Mother's Day and give her some gifts. When we got home, I started feeling sick and it went downhill from there.

I had an awful night and was aching all over my body. In addition, my throat and stomach weren't feeling well. I ended up staying home from church with Eliza, who was also sick. Even today, I'm feeling a little queasy, but I'm improving.

We've had another contractor over to finish our pantry, which Michael never got to because we fired him. If you don't know about that already, send Mic a PM on her Facebook account. She'll tell you all about it. Our new contractor is much more reliable and good to work with.

By the way, what's wrong with you Utahn's? I think I specifically requested good weather when I got home from Hawaii; after all, that's why I chose Feb-May timeframe for my business trip: to avoid the cold Utah weather.

I've got a lot of projects on the table now that I'm home, but it's taking me longer to recuperate than I realized it would. I think I'll be pretty busy during the next few weeks catching up.

One thing that's encouraged me is Eliza is pulling herself up to standing (with support) a lot more than when I was here last. She's still pretty clumsy when we help her walk. We think it's a sensory problem. On a sad note, Hannah is really struggling with her potty training. We don't know how we can convince her that it's much better to use the toilet than stay in diapers. It's really concerning because she'll be four in less than a month and should be starting pre-school this August.

The home looks a lot better with the improvements; I especially like the new master bedroom. I've included some before/after pictures.


This is looking to what is now our bedroom closet


This is our bedroom closet after the remodel


The side opposite the bedroom closet

Time to go home

Well, now that I know that I have a fan (Jamie), I guess I'll have to post something once in a while.

Yes, it's my last week in Hawaii and I'm glad. I don't hate Hawaii or the people, I just miss my family and Utah. Hawaii is starting to become my second home. I've made some good friends this time around. The perfect arrangement would be to come out here for work from October to May and then go back to Utah for the other six months. The weather is awesome, the scenery is breathtaking, the people are great, but it isn't home. The other downsides are the cost of living (astronomical, but not as bad as California) and it is a small island (Oahu) so one tends to feel isolated.

I leave on Friday night and will arrive in Utah on Saturday morning. I've been taking it easy... too easy. I'm supposed to be preparing for a PRT in a couple of weeks but the closer it gets, the more I detest exercising. I hate it anyway, but having to be tested on it makes it that much worse. It's my last one (cross my fingers) since I'll be going IRR (inactive ready reserve) beginning in September. After that, I'll have two more years left on my contract and I can almost guarantee I won't be resigning.

I finally got out and snorkeled; three months here and I've only been snorkeling once. I went with a bunch of my friends. I've also had the opportunity to go to the temple in Laie a couple of times; sadly, more than I usually go at home.

On the homefront, Micaela hired someone else to finish our pantry and I've been impressed with how fast he's progressed. I haven't heard if he's finished (I'm sure he has), but I also haven't heard any complaints from the Misses.

Eliza actually stood up on her own without any support of any kind! While Mic was in the playroom with her, Eliza just randomly stood up. I don't think she's done it since, however. I wonder if she's just not wanting to learn how to walk right now.

Hannah's finally starting (the key word being starting) to want to complete her potty training. You know the Iraq War? I was beginning to think Hannah's potty training was like that: a lost cause.

Justin leaves for an internship in DC the day before I get home. He'll be gone for three months as well.

This is probably the last time I'll write before I go home.

5 months later...

It's been a while. I guess I just got lazy and the winter blues just overtook me. I'm not a fan of winter at all. Oddly enough, I actually enjoy January and February more than November and December. Micaela thinks I'm odd because, as she says, at least there's something to look forward to in November and December. For me, it's the fact that we're plunging head-long into winter that makes me hate those two months. On the other hand, January is the beginning of the end of winter. I also hate the build up to the holidays and how busy and commercial they've become, especially Christmas. I'm a simple guy and I like to keep everything simple, including Christmas. I enjoy Easter much more because it is warmer and the true meaning of the holiday hasn't been steam-rolled over by big business. I guess it's just nice to get back to normal after the holidays.

Well, a little bit of news from the past five months: Thanksgiving and Christmas came and went before we knew it. Micaela had a hard time without her parents. They're in Guatemala on a mission. They'll be home for next Christmas. We spent Christmas day and the next few days at my in-laws' condo up Beaver Canyon. It was nice except Eliza was grumpy. Jumping forward to January, Micaela and I took advantage of a free night stay at Johnsonville Bed and Breakfast in Midway, Utah in February. Probably one of the best getaways we had. The view was breathtaking and it was so peaceful up there. There was also about 3 feet of snow. We plan on returning this summer.



Unfortunately, the Monday after I took off to Hawaii for a temporary transfer. Because of the circumstances, I couldn't bring the family. I spent the first five weeks of my free time working on an online class and then Micaela came with Eliza. It was nice having them but one week is too short. We were able to do some whale watching where we spotted two humpback whales. My parents arrive in a week for a little R and R.

While I've been away, Micaela hired a handy-man to do various work around the house. The biggest project he took on was remodeling the playroom into the master bedroom. Unfortunately, the handy-man gave Micaela a lot a grief with that last project so we had to fire him before he completed it. Eliza has also been developing slowly; she rarely pulls herself up to standing and she's 15 months old. Micaela's been working with health professionals to determine if there are any serious issues with Eliza. Hannah has been Hannah; her speech is really developing and I can have a basic conversation with her now.

I've got a few months left in the navy and have one more PRT cycle, which I need to prepare for. I'm looking forward to going home; I've been really busy at work.

Jazz Game

I'm not a huge sports enthusiast, but I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go to a Jazz game with a friend of mine. The last time I had attended a game they played miserably and lost by a huge margin. We left at the end of the third quarter.

This time the Jazz were coming off an incredible season where they had made it to the Western Conference Finals. It was their season opener at home and it was a rematch of one of their playoff foes, the Rockets. Though the Jazz lost, it was still an exciting game to watch. At first, we were in the 'nose-bleed' section, but in the middle of the third quarter my friend's grand-mother-in-law (who is a Jazz usher) called him and told him there were some seats available six or seven rows behind the Rockets' bench. Now that was cool! I had to resist the temptation to rub my eyes several times because I'd never been that close to the action. Of course, I had to call my brother Ryan (who's a rabid Jazz fan) and brag to him about my experience.

Moving on. Life's going well; today is Mic's 24th birthday. There were a few firsts for us today. Eliza finally started saying 'mama' and Hannah bore her testimony in church (kind of).

That's all for now.

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Church Callings

Well, I'm alone because my wife and daughters went to my brother-in-law's new house to help clean. I didn't get home from work until after they left. I was gonna read a book I checked out from the library, but it looks like Mic already took it back.

Anyway... I have been serving in the Young Men auxillary since around March of this year. Initially, I was called as the second counselor, but prior to our leaving for Hawaii, the president moved and with the new president, I was called as the first counselor. I've enjoyed working with the youth; it's reinvigorating. However, I'm not pleased with the organization. Through the last two presidents, we haven't had a single presidency meeting. Currently, we're having issues planning more than a few months out. The disorganization is appalling. We were supposed to all be at a meeting this last Sunday, but I was the only one there (admittedly, I had forgotten to call the teacher's quorum president on Saturday night); the president wasn't event there. So church, starts and no sign of the president. We're down to the last meeting, Young Men, when he finally shows up and asks me to teach the priests. To be fair, his wife just had a baby; and I expect that he'll miss a meeting here and there. But he doesn't even call me and he almost always seems totally unprepared. This is just one example of the issues we face. Don't even get me started with the scouting program in this ward.

Despite the problems, I love this ward (much better than my last ward where I never really felt like I was welcomed). There are some wonderful people here, but we are really lacking in priesthood leaders.

Other news: Shellie had a birthday on the 23rd and Mic will be having a B-day on November 4th.

That's about all.

Fall is in Full Bloom

Yeah, I know. Fall doesn't bloom... it falls. But I think it's appropriate considering that almost all of the trees leaves have turned yellow, orange, and brown; the temperatures are a little cooler; and there's snow in the mountains. Winter is fast-approaching.

Hannah has FINALLY begun potty-training. She has her good and bad days.

Eliza continues to crawl and actually likes crawling to explore different places rather than crawling to find mommy or daddy.

I had drill last weekend and I finally past my physical fitness test. I have one more test to go with the navy and I'm done. I can't wait to get out.

We've been helping my brother-in-law finish his house in Grantsville in preparation for their baby to come (which she did last Wednesday). Unfortunately, he probably still has a good month's worth of work left on his home before it it finished.

Don't have much else; it's been a slow few weeks.