our house is a home....

so. i've been working on a family history book/scrapbook for my grandpa neilson the last few weeks. i've been digging through old pictures and came across these golden eggs.... 

apparently this is what our house looked like when the parentals bought it...

whoa. right?

and this is what our home looks like now...

{no more girly-ness}

so my little sister is officially all settled in at byu, adrian is lo-ooo-ng gone, and im trying my hardest to find a job so i can move in with nicole.... that leaves austin all alone with mom and dad. a couple weeks ago, austin requested that we change the bathroom from the girly all purple and flowery bathroom to something more masculine. poor kid grew up with all sisters, and has been stuck with girly everything for his whole life. mom jumped right on it, we ordered a new counter and picked new paint and everything... and this is the story in pictures. be excited.

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[before]

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[during]

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[after]

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and voila! a non-girly (but still cute) bathroom! and austin likes it! :)

{pantry fun}

so... last week there were shade t-shirts at costco... mom bought me and kelsey two each in exchange for organizing her pantry. well last night me and kels got a movie ticket pass [and a promise to do her pantry on the morrow] so we could go see year one. anyway... point of that story was that we organized the pantry today. it was pretty incredible. we did a rocking good job.

we should have taken a before picture so that you could see what it looked like. we [as in the fam] have this terrible habit of just keeping all sorts of stuff in there... well, its all food stuff... but a lot of it is old... or still unopened [and we have a other room titled "food room" for that kind of stuff] so me and kels cleaned it out- and this is the result....

oh... and we recently got a laminator machine thing... and me and kelsey have gone a little laminator happy... we made labels and naturally laminated them.. pretty cute! :)

and this is our happy [and pleasantly surprised] mom

and this is a happy [and rather proud] us

{hello from arizona!}

okay. so last week was crazy busy trying to get everything finished up to move home. i finished the last four professors' bulletin boards [i'll have to ask paula to send me pictures of those ones...], was taken to lunch with paula and patti at the pita pit... as a final goodbye thing. i finished packing... including the car [which by the way was ca-razy! i seriously have way too little of a car for all the junk ive got... lol!] oh and i even took some stuff over to paula's for safe keeping until my mom brings kels up there in august.

actually... i was over there and locked my keys in my car. and i seriously dont remember the last time that has happened.... it was rather embarrassing. i called my dad to see where he had taped the spare key on my car [almost 4 years ago] and this is what i found...

1. 

lol... it was just the skeleton of the tape... and no key. haha... kevin drove me back to my apartment and we got the spare key and everything was fine.

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i passed cleaning checks... had a final farewell/jamie birthday party on saturday... said goodbye to the roomies and panini....

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i drove home on sunday... caravaned with the townsends- devin rode in my car with me... it was nice for me... gave me someone to talk to and to laugh at my "singing" ... i dont know if it was as fun for him... but i liked it! and it went surprisingly fast! i drove the first bit... then devin drove from flagstaff to tucson [i hate driving through phoenix, so he was my hero and drove that part for me! :) thanks!]

we got home just in time for sunday dinner [the townsends stayed].... and everyone was there! tino was out waiting in the yard... and nicole and kelsey and travis and dustin came out to help... and mom and dad and grandpa and adrian and hayley where inside waiting! it was quite the little welcoming committee! it really was the best...

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this week has been fun... trying to get everything unpacked and settled and what-not. we [as in me and mom] had too much dang stuff so we ended up getting a storage unit... and things are fitting nicely now. im all moved in... and the little gallery room feels more like my space now... and monday starts the job hunt.


{i got new curtains and put down my wicked sweet zebra rug... i love that thing!}


{i figured i should make myself a spot to get ready if im going to be here for a few months... so i wouldnt have to be in kelseys room all the time... so i moved my cedar chest... found that mirror in the closet and viola! its the perfect spot... and its close to a power outlet... so i put a little bin of my blow dryer and curling irons and straightener and stuff... anyway... im happy with it!}

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oh and edmond [and chester & edgar] made the drive back to arizona safely. i think edmond likes arizona better... his color looks better... and he is more lively, maybe its the elevation change lol. anyway... he doesnt look very healthy in this picture... he kinda just chills there on the bottom with his nose up- it makes me laugh...



things are going great... i love being back in arizona! and i love being with my family! tomorrow is the gaslight theater with the townsends and bakers... ill try to get pictures of that up saturday...

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oh and i figured out a new way to do my hair... i think i like it better spiked in the back a little... yep- im going to have fun with this hair cut!