Another house update

So it's been a week since we last saw the house (being on vacation and all...), so it was so much fun for us to go out there tonight and see everything that has been done in just one week!The outside of the house is just about done. I think all that is left now is to pour the steps leading to the front door, the sidewalk, and pour the driveway.A close up of the entryway.

The windows on the garage. I've never seen these windows on another house, but I thought they looked neat.
Here's my kitchen where lots of yummy meals will be made. I can hardly wait to have so much cabinet space! And while I would have loved the staggered cabinets, Jarom said that he'll get the molding to finish off the tops. I love having a handy hubby. :)Here's a close up of the vinyl flooring. Yeah for easy to clean floors with little kids!
And here's my counter tops. I saw these in a few of the spec homes and thought it looked so pretty! Here's the powder room that we were too cheap to have the builder put in.... for some reason, they installed the toilet and sink anyway. We asked them to just rough in the bathroom and we were planning on finishing it after we move in. I half expect them to be gone by the time we close, but if not, less work for us to do as soon as we move in! This is the doorway leading into the laundry room. I just love the beadboard pattern on the doors!!!
This is the counter in the kids' bathroom. The master bath looks about the same, only with two sinks.
Some of the lights are already installed, the outlet plates are on and the deck is up in the back. It all looks so nice! They also put in a garage door opener that we didn't order - another thing we were just going to do ourselves after we move in, but if it's still there when we close, I won't mind! Still no word on a closing date, but we don't have much farther! Maybe 3 weeks or so?

Breaking Dawn

If you have not yet read Breaking Dawn and do not want to hear some plot spoilers, please do not read this post! Ok, now that you have been warned, I want to just write a few things that I have been pondering this evening after finishing Breaking Dawn this afternoon.

I thought the beginning of the book was WONDERFUL! The wedding, the honeymoon, the pregnancy, loved it, loved it, loved it! But then it started going downhill for me. By the end, it seemed more like a sci-fi movie than a romance thriller with everyone and their special powers and protection shields.

It seemed like Renesmee's growth just sped up a little to fast, but I guess they did just skip a few months there. But still, it seemed a bit convenient that she was talking in complex sentences just about instantly. And the name Renesmee?!? Yeah.

And the whole "fight" with the volturi seemed so lame to me! I was expecting a huge battle, a big climax, lots of tension, but no. the Volturi just gave up, realized their defeat, and backed away. I would have love to have one of them die, especially if it would have been some accident that one of them killed another. Something more severe than just a tittle shame would have been more satisfying. It seemed to me that by the end of the book, Meyers was too intent on getting her paycheck than finishing the story more completely. (don't even get me started on the typos!!) I am disappointed in the way this series ends. Even Belle should have been left with a little bit of a scar from her encounter instead of becoming some mega vampire who, all of a sudden, has this perfect life with her perfect husband, perfect child, and perfect tie now with Jacob. Even her human family situation is working out a bit too perfectly with Charlie all of a sudden embracing her strange new life. A little too perfect, she should have had something off to have to deal with as a result of her becoming a vampire.

I would have also liked to have seem more about the Romanian vampires (for obvious reasons). Couldn't they have brought some younger vampires along for the show? Maybe some women in the group? Ok, I know this is a mute point, but it would have been more fun for me. :)

Ok, there's my rambling for tonight. I know that I am often unusually opinionated and picky about books, but I had such high hopes for this one and was a bit disappointed. Please tell me what you think!

California vacation

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Shameless plugs

So there's been a few good finds lately that I thought I would pass along. The first two have to do with our little trip down here in sunny (and humid!) California.

The first is my awesome Aunt Chris's little boutique called Curby's Closet. I knew that she had some cute things that I had seen on her Etsy page, but we went by her house last night and I actually SAW all the adorable dresses she has in her house and was AMAZED!!! She had two long racks of dresses, plus a few more hanging on other racks, not to mention the shoes and bonnets and other adorable accessories! If you are looking for some adorable vintage dresses, whether to collect, to dress your baby in, or just to love, please look at her website and fall in love with the gems that she has acquired! Look at her blog to see the cute little fashion show, Through the Garden Gate. She will have another one coming soon with babies in the flower bed featuring the cutest little girl this side of the Mississippi, so stay tuned for that! :)Our next great find while in California is a restaurant down the street from our hotel, El Torito. We went there for dinner on Saturday night and LOVED it! It ranks right up there as one of the best Mexican restaurants I've ever eaten at. Both Jarom and I had carnitas tamales, cheese enchiladas, and hard tacos, and it was tasty! It was my first time having a freshly-made hard-shell taco, wow! And the biggest test - Isaac even ate! So if you come down to OC and are looking for some good Mexican food, I would suggest eating there.My next shout out has nothing to do with our vacation, but something that I just think is hilarious, the cake wrecks blog. I would highly recommend subscribing to this RSS feed so that you don't miss out on a single entry. I have never laughed so hard at (1) the hilarious pictures and (2) the even more hilarious descriptions and captions. (My favorite so far is Drew's Birthday Wish on July 30th.) If you're ever having a bad day and really need a good laugh, go check it out.

Please help!

For a while now, Isaac goes around the house singing "Rawley Dahlis! Rawley Dahlis!" We have NO idea who or what Rawley Dahlis is, and we can never get a straight answer out of him what it is. In fact, when we ask questions, he answers with even crazier questions, like "is going to the temple to get married?"

Rawley Dahlis
Known facts:

• is a girl
• wears a pink shirt and blue pants
• is not a truck
• is not on TV
• is not learned from nursery
  
• all stands up, then falls down
  

Does this sound at all familiar to anyone out there?!? Any clues what on earth a Rawley Dahlis is? Thanks for your help!

Cute kiddos

Happy Birthday to Lincoln last week! He had a fun Dinosaur birthday party last week at the park. We all had such a fun time!
And look at these darling cupcakes Rachele made for the party - how cute are these?!?!?
Last night we got together with Jarom's brother, wife, and kid at his parents house and took some pictures of the cute cousin girls together. Emilie is almost 2 months older than Michaela. Aren't the adorable?!?
It was nearly impossible to get a picture of them with both of their eyes open, and towards the end, Michaela didn't want anything to do with the photo shoot. She still looks cute though! Emilie was a pretty good sport and was mostly curious about what all the commotion was about.

House Update

We went out to the house on Thursday night and took some more pics. All the dry wall is done and the outside of the house is prepped for stucco. I can't wait to see what it looks like at the end of this week! It looks like things are still on schedule to be done by the end of this month. Wow! It's starting to get a little scary now that it's really coming down to it! Anyone want to help me pack my junk? :)