My ReStore(d) mantle.

When we moved into our new house, it was pretty spectacular to me. It had so many things that i just adored and that stood out to me and my taste. What didn't? The fireplace..  They did the barebones on that baby. Simply tiled around the fireplace and left it at that. With our 10' ceilings it just looked absurd and plain and was such a sore spot for me.

Unfortunately, the yard has been the "top priority" this summer and my mantle was put on the back burner (among other things, i.e. my library). After pricing what it would cost to make the MANTLE OF MY DREAMS we were looking at a # that we couldn't justify after the $$ spend on the yard. But i toughed it up, put on my big girl panties, and didn't even cry! 

Then!  just like a miracle.. Brian and I were early for dinner with my dad in SLC (this NEVER happens) and had a few minutes to kill. And that's when it happened, we drove past this place called ReStore. We decided to browse because at the time i was searching for a entry table as well. That's when we found this baby.  She isn't the grandest, nor the prettiest, but she rocked my world! And at $30, who can beat that?!

First things first -- she's too big, so we had to trim her down a bit.. then we had to get rid of that god-awful brass that is sooooo 90's.  When we put her back together with much love and care, we decided to paint her white (hi-gloss white) to match the thick baseboards in our house.

When everythind was painted... and painted.. and more painted... we slapped it up on the wall.  Trey thought it was pretty awesome to help dad slap some 2x4's onto the wall for the mantle mount

After she was lovingly slapped to our walls we stepped back to enjoy the sight.  Pretty nice right??  It still left a huge space on our wall though that was ever more noticable.

Luckily, a few weeks back during th huge Hobby Lobby sale i picked up this beautiful black ornate traditional frame. It was PERFECT for my wedding picture that i had never had the opprutinity to frame. Scaled it all down and then my STUD of a husband found the STUD in wall, and here we are, DONE DONE and DONE.  Doesn't it look gorgeous!? 

Now i just need to get a few things to go on the mantle to finsh her off but so far.... beauty!

Total renovation?  $60.00 (for the entire wall)



My Little Man is -1-

Trey is 1 and i can hardly believe it! On August 13th (3 days early) we had a HUGE blowout party for this little monster. So many ppl are just wrapped around this little dudes finger that he had a guest list of about 50+ 

I just can't believe what an amazing year it has been!  This year we have had some amazing moments. Trey has always been such a good baby. He's always been a good sleeper, a good eater, and such a little love bug.

We never could pin point when he could do all that rolling over stuff, but at 2 months he had his first haircut, 4 1/2 months he was sitting, at 5 months his got his first 2 teeth, at 6 1/2 months he could say mama and dadada, at 8 months he was crawling, 10 months he took some steps and by 12 months he was walking. He is so much fun!  Up and down, running around, laughing and playing and he just makes our days better.

I was so grateful for all of my family (my mom, jessica and jeri) that helped contribute to the food and drinks! And Beezy made 100 gorgeous cupcakes and a super dirty boy truck cake.
For his birthday Beez made the cake and cupcakes. He had such a blast eating his cake!  he went to town like it was nobody's business. Little monster just loved it. He even shared with mama and his puppy.

Happy Birthday Bubba.... we cant wait for all the years to come. He is truly the best thing that we have ever been blessed with. I asked Brian the other day, "whats the most amazing thing you've ever seen?" And without any hesitation he said, "the baby". Couldn't agree more!

When Trey was born we joint this club at Smiles Photography and we got pictures EVERY month and for every holiday. It was the best thing I could have done to keep track of this dude's so many changes. Sharon at Smiles has a way with kids, never would have gotten such great pictures if she didn't know what she was doing.

ONE YEAR DOWN!!

How Time Fly's

WE'RE A FAMILY!!

This year has been crazy! Last August Brian and I welcomed our first baby, Russell Brian Taylor, better known as TREY. He is named after both his dad, and his grandpa. What a tradition we are upholding! It was so much fun to tell Bri's dad that we were going on carry it on.

It was quite the ordeal to get Trey here! We had him on the 16th at 7:00 a.m. which was a Monday. But it wasn't just a quick in-and-out, no sir. On early Sunday morning (about 5:00) after hours of not sleeping I SWORE I was in labor. In to the doc we go. They kept me for a few hours, and sent me on my way, "it should be a matter of no time". So then I go home. All day Sunday we were out and about, and in Home Depot i was having contractions about every 5 minutes. Now, earlier they said, "at 2-3 minutes apart come in"... so i'm timing, and i'm timing. 5 minutes -- 5 minutes. Finally we decide to give in at 8:00 p.m and go in again. After an hour of waiting and waiting they finally tell me they'll keep me bc i'm only 2 days from my due date and they will just start me if they have to. They admit me, get me settled, start the ptosin and then what do you know everything starts into the swing of things on my own. Long story short -- several hours later we have our GORGEOUS son!

Forgive the 3 day no sleep face and the puffy pregnancy-ness. What not to forgive? That cheesy happy as hell face slapped on my husbands face. He still has it on a year later!

After having Trey i got to spend a wonderful 2.5 months at home with him before going back to work. Because my boss just ADORES me, i was able to work out a schedule where i'm only working part-time now and just happened to luck out AGAIN by having my AWESOME sister as my nanny. Going back to work was a peice of cake (all things considered) when i knew my sister, who we lovingly call "Beezy", would be looking over him. She has been a godsend and a trooper! Trey is pretty much the easiest baby i've ever seen, but that doesn't mean that everyday has been easy and we've been grateful to have Devan who is so patient and loving.

Aside from Trey, we had another HUGE change in our lives. We went from our little red brick house which we just adored to a new home. The circumstances of our move are pretty much defined simply as LUCK. We had had our house up for sale for about 8 months. 2 sales had fallen through. I was getting discouraged because it felt like there was little we could do and that i was doomed to my house forever. I must say, i loved my house, but getting your hopes up and trying to plan a move with a new baby was not the easiest on my nerves.

Then we had a lucky hand dealt. Finally. Pocket Aces. Now -- we had looked at a house in August that was still under construction. At that time the FIRST sale on our house was "in the works" and we were trying to work out the deets on if we could buy and finish "THE HOUSE" on our own. That was actually why we were at Home Depot when i was in labor. Anyhoo... finally... in March things worked out and the owner of THE HOUSE (who was actually John Hansen Realty) bought our house and we bought this one! Yay!

The house is perfect for us. But boy do we have our work cut out for us. It has been perfect for having ppl over tho. We had Trey's FIRST BIRTHDAY at our house and we had about 50 guests! For just this one little dude! That's the thing about Trey tho, he is just so sweet and happy that he gets everyone wrapped around his little baby fingers.

This house and our son are the reason i've decided to take to blogging. Between all the accomplishments and milestones Trey hits --- and all the projects and crafts for the house -- i have just sooo much on my mind and so much happiness just BURSTING out of me that i needed an outlet. No tto mention, i'm a total BLOGGER THEIF and just LOVE to see all the cute and amazing projects everyone else is doing. Sooo... here's to the beginning of a blogging era!

that damn Pyper...

Last night Brian and I felt like having some drinks and hangin out so we invited some friends over and played some blackjack against the bottle... naturally the bottle won. ha. We got to schatting about friends in the kitchen though and who we still were friends with and not and things along those lines and i just really thought.... that damn Pyper... she should be here still b/c that's the bestest friend that i have and i love her. Drunk pictures just aren't the same without her.

This is at Cinco De Mayo 4 years ago!! (2005) Dunken times.... the best times...

New Years 2006

Halloween 2008

shooters at the sink

Just another night...

And at my wedding... my maid of honor

This chicky is about the best friend even money could buy and i love her VERY much. Never a dull moment with the Py Py!!

I LOVE YOU PYPER!!!!

A few more pics...

Me and Pyp--- Aint she a hottie!!!

Kade is a freakin perv...

My hubbin is a freaking hottie! Look at him!!

I love CodyOdy...

Cody, KR & Mikey

Oh funny times

This is my baby!!

And my loveee!!

Birthday Celebration

So Friday was Kade and Drew's B-day party.. we all went to Rumors. The boys got a little room upstairs and needless to say it was a BLAST (Happy Birthday Kiddo's)

I love being the Mrs.. .

Sooo just a quickie cause it's fresh on my mind... but i really have the best husband ever. He never lets me be sad or upset.. we never argue.. and on top of all the great things he already is and does for his wifey.... he topped himself this last week.

So last Thursday I had surgery.. nothing bad... but still. I was under, i'm in pain... and that man has taken care of me EVERYDAY SINCE. He's even had to wash my hair... and let me tell you, this is a first... and he's done it all with a smile and an "I love you".

He really is the best and I'm lucky to wake up to him EVERYDAY forever and ever... sappy pathetic whiney i know.. but I've never met another person like him and i'd never trade him for anything in the world.... LOVE YOU BABY!!

This is a REALLY old pic from September, but oh well..

OOO... and just a side note.. PYPER HAS BEEN AMAZING TOO! She'll get a seg all to herself as well. :-) Love you PyPy!!