The Abode

It's about time I posted some pictures of our new place. We've lived here for a little while now but I haven't had much time to sit down and post these. I even went outside yesterday to take some pictures before the sun went down. Here's the tour de grande. Yes, I just made that up.
Here's our place on Apple Avenue. Breathtaking, isn't it? I've never been a big fan of the garage being the most visible element of your home but it sure is convenient having it in the front like this.The back yard is great. It's not big enough to be a mowing pain but it is big enough for the kids to get out and play. Here's Addie's room. This is before we moved in so it still had brass hardware and mini-blinds but it's a cute room.So this is the before picture of the kitchen, which I think we've posted before. It was fine, but could use some upgrading.Here's the before shot of the "Diningroom". It's just some extra linoleum by the kitchen, really.Here's the after shot of the kitchen. I'm quite proud of it. It took me many hours of labor to remove everything and install the cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances and all that jazz. I think it looks pretty nice now, though. It's not the hugest kitchen by any means but at least it's well done now.Here's the dining area now. The flooring makes all the difference in the world. We also extended the counters and cabinets out about 6", which takes a little of the dining area but is much needed for the kitchen. We bought a new dining table and chairs and (by sheer luck) they happened to match the floor quite perfectly. We've got some decorations and stuff up on the walls now but this was taken just after finishing the kitchen. Notice the new lights above the table. Katrina nearly vomited when she looked at the white and brass ceiling fan that was above the table. I'm not sure what to do with the two white and brass ceiling fans that we removed. I'm thinking we might be able to paint them and put them in the basement but the ceilings are already low, so I'm not sure about that.Here's the living room. The photo isn't the best but these are the new couches we bought. I convinced Katrina to get a leather set, which I really thought she'd never go for in a million years. I love the couches and I think she does too. They were a lot more expensive than fabric couches so they had better last until the kids move out :) You can't see it too well but our new carpet is super thick and one of the nicest parts about the remodel. It was also the most expensive, costing us around $2,500. Here's the view from when you walk in the front door. You walk into the livingroom and the kitchen is behind a wall (you can see the table on the right side of the photo). The gigantic shadow in the middle is from my lens. I used a wide angle lens to get these pictures but when you use it with the flash you get a beautiful round shadow taking up half the photo.
Lastly I thought I'd show the glamorous and welcoming basement. To me this actually is a beautiful thing. It's a clean drawing board that I get to do whatever I want with. I think we've pretty much decided that the area you see above will be one huge play room. I'm going to wire it for surround sound and an overhead projector (of course), which means I have to save up for a projector. Oh shux. Ideally, the wall at the top of the photo will be where the screen is. The room goes further behind where I was standing so that area will be a built in office area. It'll be one big room so that I can be a computer nerd while the kids are playing or watching sex and violence on TV. Katrina, of course, would be out at the spa so that we can both ignore the children completely. She's so obsessed with the spa. Yeah, right. Here's the last photo:This area will be a guest room. To the left is a full bath and two big closets. I put together a 3D rendering of the new basement but I can't seem to find it right now. I was actually going to start on the basement yesterday but I gathered information (and fixed sprinkler heads) instead. I'm reading and talking to neighbors who have finished their own basements so that's helped a ton.
Well, there's the house tour. I've finally posted it. I should have more updates over the next 6-12 months as the basement takes shape. After posting all of this I have to reiterate one major gripe that I've mentioned before. Why is it so hard to arrange photos in Blogger? I have to bring them in and they're all stuck at the top of the post. Then I have to move them down a few lines at a time until they're in their place. I've got this small little unexpandable window to work in. It's annoying. Gripe over. Rock On. -Nils

Funny, Funny

I can't help it...I think it's so funny! As a UVSC alum, I think it's hysterical that the rebellious BYU students held their alternative commencement at UVSC. Adding to that is the fact that Ralph Nader was one of their keynote speakers. I love Ralph, actually. And so does UVSC, so it's just super fitting. Another fun fact: Ralph Nader is from Nils' hometown of Winsted, Connecticut. Nils grew up cutting the Nader family's lawn. The whole situation gives me an abnormal amount of joy.

Summertime Here I Come!

It is finished. School officially ended yesterday so yet another semester is over. Only 2-9 left and them I'ma gonna gradimucate me. At my current pace, however, that will take a while. I'm so relieved to be done, though. I enjoy my classes generally but toward the end there, I just hated school in every way. Learning Schmurning. I just wanted to be done. I finished an 8 month video project that I wasn't the least bit interested in and I learned how to make PHP interact with a database. That's peanuts for programming types but for artsy types like me I can't seem to do it without a Urim and Thummim. Fortunately I have one. I'm shooting for a D- in that class. I'll be lucky to get it.
So tonight is my first free night. Halle-friggin'-lujah. This weekend I'm going to look into starting the basement but I may not make it that far since we have three completely broken sprinkler heads to take care of. I've never done much with sprinklers (remember I'm from the wet lands of New England where sprinklers don't exist) but I'm sure I can figure it out.
MY PLEDGE: I will now start posting some photos of our home, our renovations and our projects that are completed and to be completed. If nothing else, it'll make me worry less about Courtney sending Anthrax in the mail. Just kidding, Courtney. Kind of. Anyway, I like to document my projects and share my occasional insight so I'll do that in the next two weeks or so.
Lunch is over now so I'm gonna get back to work. Lots to do. I'm in the midst of designing a toy crane graphics package called Captain Claw. It's a tough life I lead. I just finished creating a Mexican Fiesta graphics package for a customer this morning. Lots of Burros, Sombreros and Tequila. Kind of like how I'm feeling right now. To top my happy life off, I ordered a new (used) Panasonic Camcorder from ebay this week and it should be home waiting for me when I get back today. Only $130 plus $16 for a two year warranty. Rockin' deal.
-Until next time.

The Best Cake Ever

Today is our 7-year anniversary of marriage. My mom offered to take the kids yesterday and spent the night with them so we could have 21 hours of blissful kid-free time. But that's really not what I want to talk about.

I want to talk about my sneaky, sneaky husband.

We agreed that we wouldn't do presents, we'd just enjoy the weekend together and do some fun things that we don't normally do. Friday night, Nils took the kids to an undisclosed location. He told me it had to do with our anniversary, but wasn't a present; just a little something he had arranged. When they got home, Anders said, "Mommy! We went to your favorite cookie store! But I can't tell you anything else!" I assumed they went to a bakery and there was cake involved. I love cake. It's my favorite food. I tried tickle torture and bribery, but Anders wouldn't tell me anything else. Friday night and Saturday morning I dreamed about my cake, waiting anxiously for the chance to eat it. I told Nils several times that he should give me the cake so it wouldn't go bad. He finally said, "It's not as perishable as cake." Did he buy me a honey bun? If I'm getting Little Debbie's for our anniversary, I don't think I can fake enthusiasm.

Saturday afternoon we went to Park City. We parked on Main Street and thought it would be great to sit and relax in the car for a few minutes. Pathetic? Yes. So there we were, reclined, watching people walk up and down Main Street. I thought, "What a good opportunity to eat some cake." I requested that Nils now present me with my cake, or honey bun, or whatever. He started giving me a romantic little speech, and then pulled out a small box. I was confused, because cakes don't come in small boxes. Honestly, I was expecting and truly looking forward to a baked good. Here's what I got instead:

I lost my engagement ring in December. After getting a metal detector, sifting through the central vacuum system, and looking in literally every speck of my mother's house, we came to the conclusion that it is gone forever. It's really crappy. I didn't just like my ring, I loved it. Nils had the center diamond upgraded for our first anniversary, and I was quite pleased with it. I assumed I'd get a replacement someday, but no time soon. Losing it was and still is really sad. This makes it a teeny-tiny bit better, though. :-)

Being genuinely shocked, here are some of the wonderfully romantic things I said when Nils gave me the new ring:

"What the????"

"Is it real?"

"How did you pay for it?"

and my favorite, "So did you go to a bakery or not?"

Turns out that the Shane Company has cookies and drinks, so the kids thought they were at a cookie store. Anders didn't even notice the jewelry and had no clue what Nils bought.

Needless to say, this anniversary will go down in the history books. Nice one, Nilsy Nils!

Blessed Children

Please tell me my children aren't the only ones that fight from sun up to sun down. The last week or so they have been on one big time.

The screaming...oh the screaming!

Apparently we're all suckers...

I can't take credit for this, but thought I should pass it on for the good of humanity. Many of you know Josh Keeler, who was kind enough to send us the link. We thought it was pretty darn sweet. Here's what he had to say about it. I hope he doesn't mind my unauthorized use of his e-mail.

Like the subject says, I'm changing my faith. This entire decision is based upon me going to the link below. This church's website makes our church's website look like some dusty old Cheeto. And since their website is cooler it is only natural to assume that their church is cooler as well. Hasta luego suckers! I'm saved!!

josh

http://www.newbirth.org

Easter et al

Now that it's Thursday, I thought I'd share an update about Easter and the week proceeding it.



The kids stood still for about one picture, then couldn't resist a rousing rendition of Ring Around the Roseys, and then they broke out into a jumping fest. They had a good Easter. We decided this is the year to actually implement the Easter Bunny into their lives. He didn't bring candy, because they got buckets full from 2 egg hunts, but they got some little presents. Anders is fascinated by the concept of the Easter Bunny. He wanted to see him so bad, but I kept telling him that no one sees the Easter Bunny because he's soooo sneaky. He's still trying to grasp the concept; yesterday he asked me if the Easter Bunny has a wife. He also asked me if Ronald McDonald has a wife, to which I had almost nothing to say. I generally try to think as little about Ronald McDonald as possible, the creepy red-haired clown. But I digress....

Here's a boring recap of our week:

*We're really looking forward to the end of the week. Nils has been up until at least 3 a.m. every night this week working on his senior project video, either at school or at home. The final presentation of it is tomorrow night, so it will finally be done forever. It's been an 8-month process and a huge pain in the arss (pardon my French).

*Addie is sick, and it's miserable for everyone. She's super whiney; I'm guessing because she's a girl. She won't just lie on the couch like Anders does when he's sick. She has to be held, but then she screams if I breathe wrong or adjust her when she's elbowing me in the bosoms (again, pardon my French).

*There's a stupid cat that lives across the street. We really think it's brain damaged; it comes into our house if the door is open even a sliver. When we try to scare it away, it just stands there and stares. If you pick it up and throw it, it just sits down where it lands; if you chase it, it goes in circles. If you hit it with a broom (hypothetically speaking, of course), it just lets you. But run away? No. Also, right outside our bedroom window is apparently a favorite spot of neighborhood cats to meet in the night and do their thing. It's seriously disgusting. The other night we woke to it, and Nils said, "Should I call the cops or something? It sounds like something violent is happening." We feel so dirty.

*And finally, for those of you losing sleep over my dental anxiety, here's a happy update: Turns out I didn't need a root canal at all. There was just an old filling in the tooth that had decayed or something, so the dentist took it out and refilled it. It was $150, and the whole office was very nice to me. They even gave me some complementary chap stick. My dental fears have been put to rest.

Congratulations if you've read all if this and still like me...it's just been one of those weeks.

Why I'm Going to Hell (reason # 476)

We went to Home Depot, and Nils & Anders ran inside while I waited in the van so Addie could keep sleeping. After a few minutes I saw a lady come out of the store with two big patio chairs similar to the one pictured. She tried for several minutes to stuff them into her Mazda Protege. To her left was parked a Dodge Ram; she tried for several minutes to wedge the chairs in that side. I estimate she had about 3 feet to work with. After trying every which way, she realized there wasn't enough room on that side. She went to the other side of the car where no cars were parked, again trying to wedge the chairs in, but no luck. I wondered what she was going to do- she didn't even try to get them into the trunk, but since the chairs were half the size of her entire car, I'm 99% sure they wouldn't have fit in there, either. I thought to myself, "I have this mini-van with the back seats folded down, perhaps I should offer her chairs a lift." After thinking about it for about 3 seconds, I decided not to. I decided to watch her struggle instead.

Fortunately she had her cell phone, so she called someone with a truck and they came to her rescue. If she had sat down on the chairs and started weeping, I probably would have offered her chairs a ride. Probably. That's why I'm going to hell. And because when Nils came out of the store, I told him all about it and we had a good laugh.

Can I Go To Bed Yet?

So it's 3:12 AM and I have just finished editing six hours of video down to 27 minutes for my Senior Projects Video. I have to wait for it to finish compressing before I go to bed because if something goes wrong I may kill myself. I don't even want to do videography for a living but I got stuck doing a video for my Senior Project. Go figure.
Three more weeks and I'll be done with one more semester. Per Katrina's request/demand, I'm taking the summer off. That will continue my streak of never having attended summer semester. A good streak. I'm really looking forward to being out of school for a bit. The day after finals I'm heading to Home Depot for 2x4's to start framing the basement. Heaven forbid I should be stagnant and projectless for a day, right? I actually took pictures of our completed house to post here but then accidentally erased my hard drive- but that's another story.

I have to take a moment to comment on my life. My life is good. I do what I love for a living. I have the best wife on the planet (no offense to our loyal female readers). I have the cutest and most awesome little kids a guy could ask for. We live in this good sized nice home that I love coming home to. I'm an active member of the church and we're in a great ward. Spring is pretty much here. I have all kinds of fun geek toys to keep me entertained. I have mad skills. OK, so that last part wasn't true but I'm a great faker. I think you get the gist of this story. I'm a blessed man. How lucky am I?

To finish I'll post a couple of logos that I did at work yesterday. This is the kind of stuff that I do for a living. It's pretty darn fun if you ask me. I do all kinds of things but logos end up in my workload once in a while, too. The alien one isn't finished (obviously) because they decided to go with the Buddha one. Kind of strange that a couple of Mormon businessmen decide to use Buddha as their company representative. It's one of several companies they run but still... whatever. OK, my file is done and it's 3:31. I'm going to bed for nearly two hours and then tomorrow begins. G'night.

Scared of the Dentist

I haven't been to the dentist in an embarrassingly long time. There are a number of reasons, the primary one being no dental insurance and no excess funds to put into dental bills. I've gotten away with it for a long time- I've had no problems or pain. I'm a devout brusher and flosser. Nils, on the other hand, has at least one root canal a year and I'm always annoyed about it because he doesn't floss.

Well, it's my turn. I'm pretty sure I'll need at least one root canal. I can't ignore my nasty molar any longer. Because it's been so long since I've been, I have developed a fear of dentists. Well, it's mostly the dental hygienists that I fear. I've never met a nice one; they're always yelling at you because you don't floss enough and scraping your teeth until the gums bleed. I don't enjoy those people.

Anyhoo, I have an appointment with the dentist on Thursday, and I almost started crying when I hung up the phone. The dentist I chose out of the phone book has an ad that says "We cater to cowards!" That would be me. I'm afraid I'll get yelled at by some mean hygienist because I haven't been for so long. I don't enjoy the shots, drilling, and tooth dust flying about either. Oh- and the $1400 we'll have to shell out is also an unpleasant thought. I would happily go through labor and delivery drug-free in lieu of this upcoming dental visit.