So a couple of weeks ago we got another dog. It was my cousin's dog and they were moving and couldn't take her. I never have liked dog hair, and this dog happens to be extremely fluffy. There is hair everywhere, so I have to block her off from the tv room and the bedrooms. Once we get tile downstairs, the neato vacuum will be able to pick it up daily and it won't be an issue. The neato works great on the linoleum in the kitchen, but doesn't do anything for the long hairs on the carpet except flatten them down. For some reason, I just felt like we were the ones that should take her. She's old and probably only has a couple of years left, but she'll be a good match for Max since he has hip problems and can't play well with younger dogs. Random news: -Dave got called to be Webelos Den Leader assistant. They sure do have an awful lot of meetings... -I started decorating & painting our master bath and on a whim decided to do the flooring too. So I went to Lowes and found the perfect thing for 88 cents a sq ft. I started installing the vinyl wood planks last night. It's gonna look great! Going for the spa feel! -I have gone my whole life not learning how to play chess. Will has learned and is teaching me so he can play with someone. Only for him... :) -Speaking of Will, yesterday we were at Cafe Rio picking up dinner and someone had their bag of food on the floor. Some spilled out (still in the food boxes) and Will immediately went over and said, "Oh, let me help" and put the box back in the bag. It was so sweet to see him do that. The people, however, didn't even say thank you to him :/ -Joshua took his first step without holding on to anything the other day and promptly fell over. He took a few more single steps after as well.

Things seem to be going so good this week. I have been so busy, but I have gotten a lot done. I signed Maddy up for a preschool that is right across the street. It's just out of a lady's home in our ward. The lady that a year and a half ago had her husband divorce her and marry the lady who used to live in this house who had divorced her husband. Yes. The couples divorced within weeks of each other and just decided they liked their neighbor's spouses more. I don't know what I'd do if after 11 years of marriage my husband just left. The girl is very sweet though. I hope she finds someone better soon. I have been getting samples together for our kitchen reno. We are closing on the Orem house this Wednesday, earlier than expected, and then we will proceed with getting a new kitchen! I can't wait to unpack the kitchen boxes finally. I had a lot more to say, but got distracted with feeding the baby and now I forgot.

We have 3 fruit trees in our back yard. I assumed they would be peaches, but to my delight, I think 2 are apricot trees and one an apple tree. I am excited about that! The bad news is I think we have gophers... Unpacking is happening slowly since I am gone half the day taking Will to school and tired the rest of the day from driving. Maybe once school is out I can knock everything out quickly. The kitchen reno should be complete in 2 months, so then most of the kitchen boxes will be out of the way. For now, most things are staying boxed. Today I'm going to paint the kids bathroom and then unpack some of the boxes of kid bath stuff. I had a bunch of kohls gift cards and got a good deal on space themed stuff. The kids are very excited. The bathroom currently is very dark navy blue - Dave thought it was black it was so dark. Instead of painting behind the toilet and stuff, I'm just going to paint the top half a light blue and put a planets boarder in the middle. It should look a little less claustrophobic in there after that.

New House!

So we officially closed on our new house yesterday and I could not be more excited to move in! Dave and our realtor went and dropped off Will's new mattresses and picked up the keys last night. I met one of our neighbors on Saturday when we were doing the final walk-through since they were cleaning the floors(they also have a floor cleaning business) and they seemed very nice. Then yesterday Dave met one of our next door neighbors who is the young mens president and he showed him where the bishop and the elder's quarum president live - a few houses down. There are kids like ants in that neighborhood and I could not have asked for a more family friendly area to move into. I am so excited to have a real family oriented neighborhood and a back yard with the awesome swing set we will be getting. The kids might actually have a fun childhood now! More than anything, I prayed the kids would be able to make and grow up with good friends wherever our new home would be and it is all seeming very promising! We will be doing the big move on Saturday in between sessions, but will be going over every day until then to take over other things. On the downside, me, Maddy, and Joshua are all sick, so I just hope Dave doesn't catch it right before the big move.

Susan Boyle - How Great Thou Art (I Dreamed a Dream) 2009

I have heard about Susan Boyle, but never heard her sing. The Motab channel on Pandora played this. This particular version of How great you art brought me to tears.

So, for a while I have been eating whatever I wanted, drinking tons of soda, and too busy away from home to cook any meals for the last couple months; meaning we ordered out a lot. Still at my heaviest weight, I was putting off caring to lose weight until this moving stuff is over - I mean at least I was staying the same weight and not gaining. However, I decided to do a couple of little things before then. I have been too busy to go to the gym at night so I woke up early and went to the gym twice last week AND I stopped drinking soda, and you know what? Ten days later, I have gained 7 pounds. SEVEN POUNDS!! I have never hated looking at myself in the mirror as much as I did tonight. I don't even recognize myself. I'm going to go to bed and feel miserable now.