We miss you Steven

As many of you know, my older brother Steven has been missing since Christmas time. Today marks six months since anyone has heard from him. It has been a challenging and humbling experience to go through something like this. Our family has truly been blessed by thousands of people (many whom we don't even know) praying for and helping our family during this time. We will never be able to properly thank everyone who has taken the time to think of us this year. Unfortunately no new leads have come forth, but we still have hope and know that our Heavenly Father is mindful of Steven and when the time is right we will know and find peace in the situation.

{Steven would kill me for posting this picture. He was very much a University of Utah fan and only when this was the only sweatshirt around would he ever wear BYU gear. =) }

(My dad, nephew Peter, and Steven at my wedding)

Those of you know Steven, know he is a kind hearted and caring person. He enjoys sports and being outdoors. He started playing the guitar a few years ago and even had a pretty decent voice to go with it. I admire his willingness to help others and his faithfulness to the Gospel.

{Me and the boys...}

We've had to find a new "normal" in our family. And even though at times it feels as if we've moved on, we sure haven't. My parents still tirelessly search for clues and travel many miles to keep the investigation active. We pray daily for him and our hearts are tender when we think about a brother/son/uncle/cousin/friend whom we miss.

{All five siblings at Moon Lake a few years ago}

We love you Steven and we miss you.

Memorial Weekend

Last weekend Andrew and I went to Dallas for a much needed mini-vacation. We hopped in the car Friday afternoon after work and made our way to Dallas. We found a great deal on a Marriott hotel in Las Colinas. Saturday morning after a leisurely breakfast and workout we headed for the Dallas Temple. I miss being so close to a temple like we were in San Antonio, but it is always refreshing to attend the temple when we can.

After the temple we had a nice afternoon walking around South Lake where we met up with my former roommate Mandy and her family at The Cheesecake Factory. YUM! (except for the raw chicken in my salad, but they fixed it and the cheesecake was still amazing!) It was great to catch up with Mandy and Matt too!

Matt, Maddy and Mandy

On Sunday we met up with my long time friend Katie and her family for church. Katie and I go WAY back. We grew up in Amarillo together and probably have known each other since we were 1 or 2. She now has two cute boys and will be moving back to Amarillo with her husband Scott in a few weeks.

Me, Katie and Elliot

We drove back Sunday afternoon. On Memorial day we had a great day relaxing at the pool and BBQ's with friends. I sure could get use to having Monday's off!

Almost done!

Here are a few pictures of our kitchen now. We are not 100% finished, but for the most part we have completed the major projects. Here is a quick list of what we did: removed wallpaper, textured walls, painted walls, tiled floors (thanks to Tim and Amy for all their help!), new countertops, new dishwasher, new faucet, sanded-deglossed-oil painted cabinets, new hardware, new blinds, new wall decorations. Oh and btw each one of those projects had set-backs (sometimes huge problems) as does any home improvement project does! Feel free to visit anytime!

Oh and this a yummy fruit pizza that I made this weekend for a BBQ.

I'm Back!

Okay so my 4 followers probably don't believe me, but my goal is to get better at blogging!

I love reading my friends and family blogs but have been selfish and have not blogged my own updates. As my disclaimer states, I don't promise to be great at this but I hope to be more consistent.

So for my first update I wanted to share some pictures of our never-ending home improvement project. We began in late February. Andrew had time off in March and he worked tirelessly on this project. Everything took longer than expected because of complications, but we are slowly seeing signs of completion.

I need to thank my dear husband for all the hours of frustrations he put into this project. I am very proud how he tackled obstacles with determination, where I probably would have given up. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Here are some before and during pictures. We cant wait to have all our after pictures to show you!

Here is our kitchen pre-remodeling. Don't you love the dark wallpaper!
Hard at work--grouting tile in the kitchen and Andrew scraping off wall paper in the bathroom. Looking good hubby!

Here is our bathroom before and after. No wallpaper and painted cabinets. Much better!

Catch Up

So I have a lot of things I wanted to post since last week, but this is first the time I've had a chance...

This is what I found on the table after my 9 hour terrible drive to Shreveport last weekend.


Two dozen red roses! What a sweetheart. We had a great weekend together.


We talked a lot about our wedding date and decided to really think about moving it up. So we decided we better start registering if we are seriously going to move it up. Here are a few pictures of that event. It was a lot of fun! Andrew was having so much fun, I had to beg for a turn! Although after an hour or so, we both had enough!

Blog Help!

I am trying to add a new cute background but I am having a hard time with margins etc. How do I fix it!? It's a work in progress...

Engaged and loving it

Wow, I didnt realize anyone read my blog since it's so sporadic! Glad to know you bloggers out there still check to see if I have anything profound to post.

I think an engagement is a pretty good excuse to blog! {Thanks Mandy and Michelle for encouraging me!}

I did get my real engagement ring last weekend! I love it. I didnt make Andrew re-propose but maybe I should have, it was so fun the first time!

I am going to try to be better at posting and keep you updated on my wedding plans...which are slow right now. I have ideas but nothing official yet.

The long distance is hard...I am ready to move. Anyone have a job for me in Shreveport??

If you have any wedding tips send them my way...I can probably use all the help I can get.