If you're wondering if we moved into our house this weekend . . .

The answer is most definitely, NO.  Not even close.  We did, however, move out of our apartment in Salt Lake.  Thank goodness Larry's new job came with a moving allowance so we had packers and movers!  I can't even describe how wonderful it was.

As we were moving out, we were scheduled to move in to the new house on Tuesday.  We were staying with my parents for the weekend.  Even though their house is also in the middle of a smaller remodel, we thought we could handle it for the weekend.  Then we checked in on our house on Saturday, and it is still missing stairs, a kitchen, and lights, not to mention everything is covered in plastic and tape, waiting for the whole interior to be painted and there is dust and trash all over the place from the drywall work that's going on.

We are not moving in on Tuesday.

The new plan is Saturday, but I'm not feeling very optimistic.  I just finished calling to reschedule the movers, the cable hookup and the appliance delivery for the third time.

I'm feeling pretty discouraged tonight, but now that I sit to think about it, I feel a little depressed every time I move and that's probably what this is.  The renovation is a little stressful, but we can stay at my parents' as long as we need to.  I just hate leaving our friends and starting all over again.  We are only an hour away, but with little ones, I will not be driving to Salt Lake everyday so I'm anxious to move into the house and start growing roots here.  Plus, it's always nice to keep busy unpacking and organizing while I'm feeling a little sad.

On the bright side, The tile for the laundry room arrived and we can't wit to see it installed.

And while there is not supposed to be a hole in the wall so Creed can talk to people where the stairs are supposed to be, look at that new maple floor that matches the floor in the rest of the kitchen!

Now let's cross our fingers and hope that a whole lot of work happens at the house this week and we will be ready to move in this weekend!

Sycamore Street Press 2011

I love seeing all the new stationery that is released this time of year during the National Stationery Show.

  Kirk and Eva, of Sycamore Street Press fame, stayed home with baby Ingrid this time, but they've been really busy putting together their new line.  I truly feel blessed for the opportunity to work with them.  This year, I added three new art prints and three new cards to the Pop Line and we're working on a few surprises to be released later this year that I can't wait to tell you about.

 You would laugh if you saw the first rough drafts of the So Happy Together poster and the You Make Me Happy poster because they were so bad.  Maybe a post for another time?  Luckily, the designs came together at the last minute and Kirk did such a beautiful job printing them.

Can we talk about how complicated lining up the plates for the camera print is?  We weren't sure that it could be done because plates that big are hard to line up and there is no room for error there.  We all held our breaths and crossed our fingers and Kirk really pulled it off!

It's funny to think that people out there ordering these may see them in person before I do because we've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to get together with Kirk & Eva to check out all the new prints. I get a few prints each time Sycamore Street Press prints one of my designs so I usually have my own little stash of all of my designs (and I often trade them for items from the Lark and Folk lines so you should see the letterpress hoard I have.  Heaven I tell you!) 

If it wasn't too late at night I'd be tempted to post all the new additions to the Folk and Lark lines too because they really are amazing.  Here's a sneak peak of a sweet new poster from the Lark line that I'm excited to get a copy of.

And I can't believe the detail on the new Folk series of fruit art prints. Eva's drawing skills always leave me in awe.

I work with such a talented group.  You can pop over to check them out here.

All photos by Nicole Hill Gerulat

Did I mention that we decided to renovate the house before we moved in?

I'm so behind on blogging, but while we were in Las Vegas a few weeks ago, we hired Geoff Tice, a friend of a friend who specializes in remodeling mid-century modern homes, to help us remodel our home.  We knew the budget would be tight, but the house is sitting empty for a month so we decided to take advantage of the that time.

We stopped by Saturday and this is how our kitchen is looking (so exciting and scary at the same time).  See that hole in the floor? It used to be a wall.  The old kitchen was not that bad, but they had very little cabinetry so they kept all their food in a pantry in the basement so it was not very functional.

 They had to rip up a bunch of the flooring to move the thermostat to the next wall.

 And did I mention that we decided to replace the stairs?

 And while we were at it, why not put holes in all of the ceilings and many of the walls so we can add overhead lighting?

 Did I mention that we're supposed to be moving in on Saturday?  Is it just me or is that not looking very likely?

Last Day in Vegas

Our last morning in Vegas, we did our best to live it up in such luxury.

We cut through the Bellagio on our way to some shops and Creed asked me to stop and take this picture of him because he loved the glass flowers on the ceiling.

After some window shopping we stopped for a healthy lunch at Serendipity.

And then it was home again, home again, jiggity jig!

Creed & Ollie Take a Trip to the Hoover Dam

Our second morning in Las Vegas we visited the Hoover Dam.  I loved the art Deco Details everywhere.  We rubbed the toes of the Winged Figures of the Republic and then headed over the dam on foot.

You can tell by the change of color on the stone that the water levels are way down from maximum capacity right now.

We were all filled with awe, except Creed, who didn't want to be anywhere near the edge.

In the background you can see the new Memorial Bridge.  It was built after 9-11 so traffic now drives over that bridge.  You can still drive over the Hoover Dam, but it's now just a scenic route and you have to turn around and come back.

We skipped the official tours figuring the boys weren't ready for that, but we did walk out on the Memorial Bridge to get the grand view of the Hoover Dam.

Ollie had no fear

Creed was happiest sticking close to the walls.

If you ever have a chance to stop and check it out, you really should. We'd love to head back when the boys are older (and they can fully appreciate having the excuse to say things like, dam tours, dam souvenirs, dam photos, etc.)

Creed Sees a Show in Vegas

Now that Creed is getting older, it's so fun to watch him experience new things.  We bought cheap (and by cheap I mean not full-price, but not very cheap) day-of tickets to the Blue Man Group and The Lion King.  Larry took Creed to the Blue Man Group while I put Ollie to bed at the hotel and the next night we swapped and I got to take Creed to the Lion King.

Larry was excited that He scored front-row center seats for the Blue Man group, but I think that was a little too upclose and personal for Creed.  They had to wear ponchos because they we splattered with paint and mushed up bananas.  If you ask Creed about it, he will tell you he was terrifed, but Larry says Creed really enjoyed about 80% of it.

 I think he liked going out for pizza afterwards more than the show.

 Creed's only seen the movie the Lion King once a few years ago, but he was so excited to see the play.  The elderly people by us glared when we took our seats, but he was so cute and excited and so well-behaved, and then adored him by the end of the show.

 The play broke down so we had an extra intermission (I've never had that happen during a play before). I tried to convince Creed to make a bathroom run and get snacks, but he would not leave his seat because he was afraid of missing even a second of the Lion King.  He's asked me everyday since then if we can go see Lion King again.

The other major highlight of Las Vegas for Creed was seeing this castle.  He kept asking to see the princess inside.  Good thing we're headed to Disneyland in January.

Creed and Ollie Visit Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Park

While we were in Las Vegas, the weather was hot, but the mornings were nice so we went on adventures in the morning and spent the afternoons letting Ollie nap at the hotel while Creed and LArry swam.

Our first morning we headed out to Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Park to drive the scenic loop and do a little hiking.

 When we travel, I always try to seek out a place where the boys can rome free for a while and this park was perfect.

 The peppermint-striped rock was so beautiful

And Creed even took a few pictures (his very first time with my camera)

 Not too shabby for a four-year-old!

Viva Las Vegas

 Larry had a few days off last week and we had no plans, but wanted to take advantage of his flexible schedule before he starts his new job. The morning of, we got on Hotwire, picked an incredibly affordable five-star hotel in Las Vegas, booked it for the next three nights, and hopped in the car.

I had never even heard of the Vdara (same hotel line as the Bellagio, but much more modern right next door), but we lucked out on booking a room there.  There is no Casino in the Vdara so no smokey loud rooms to dash through with our kids.  All the rooms are suites with kitchenettes (can you spot Creed grabbing a snack from the supplies we stocked the fridge with?).  Kitchens are pretty unusual in fancy hotels, but so helpful when you have young kids and you can keep snacks and milk on hand!

 The room was nice

The boys loved baths in the huge tub.

But our favorite part was probably the view.  Creed mentioned how excited he was to see the dancing fountains and the lights when we were checking in so they spoiled us with this view.  In case you were wondering, the Bellagio fountains are still magical after you see them 23 times.

We've been traveling

Can you tell where we've been?

So glad I brought along my Fuji Instax Mini.  I've been waiting for just the right moment to break it in.  Thank you Santa!  Now I might just need the full-size Fuji Instax or one of the new polaroid cameras/printers (It's an addiction, I tell you!).  The credit card sized Instax Minis are pretty adorable though.

Did I mention that we bought a house?

Sometimes I'm so busy trying to document the little things around here, that I forget to mention big things.

A few months ago, Larry decided to join The Central Utah Clinic where he will finally be practicing his specialty in Infectious Diseases.  It's been a long ten years of medical training, and we are so excited to be moving on to this stage of his life.  Larry has been joking that he has been putting off making any money as long as he possibly can.

Neither of us would have predicted we ever would be moving back to Provo, Utah.  I have to admit I was not so excited about the location (I am a big city girl, through and through), but it's a great career opportunity for Larry and an extra bonus is that we'll be close to some of our family.

It feels a little weird moving back to a place we lived ten years ago.  We've both grown up so much since then, and the city has changed a lot too.  I have exactly one friend there, but I'm telling myself that we're sure to meet cool people there, right? And you know I love exploring new cities.  I'm sure there will be lots of things to fall in love with there as well as some old favorites (J-Dawgs, drives up to Sundance, and breathtaking views of the mountains to name a few)

We looked at homes a few months ago and were far from falling in love with anything so we decided to build.  We had plans in hand, but after a few weeks of frustration, we saw every lot on the market and came up empty handed because none of them were ideal.  That night, I checked the MLS and saw a home I new Larry would love.  The very next day we made an offer and we were in contract.  We got our keys last week, and we'll probably be moving around the end of the month (third move in a year, and hopefully the last for a very very long time).  

It feels good and a little intimidating to be a home owner again.  I'll try to post pictures soon, I promise!

Happy May?

I know we don't have much to complain about compared to the recent earthquakes in Japan or the tornadoes in Alabama, but what the big idea, Utah Weather?  This is what we woke up to yesterday morning, and the snowpack in the mountains is already record breaking so we're waiting for flooding to start.

 Creed couldn't resist the chance to go out and stomp around in my parents' yard.

 And we had a chance to make one last teeny snowman this season.