his birthday present

i'm not one to show off.... ha! ok sorry. but really, i've never taken the time to show off my super talented husband. so here goes.

all he wanted for his birthday was a baby kitten... No.  so instead he begs me to let him buy a pellet stove off of KSL.  if i get a mantle i can decorate out of it...? you betcha.

it was a process i never want to do again, but i love my mantle.

my husband loves, i repeat, LOVES, to build things.  sometimes it seems like he is just a little boy playing with his toys... just occasionally needs a little refocusing.

so for his birthday, literally on the night of his birthday we started building a fireplace.

the brick is from the old Provo library  before it was
redone and matches our exterior brick.

yep, thats the offspring drilling a hole for some pipe of some
sort because the husband couldn't fit underneath and he
forgot to drill it before hand.... yes i was that mom that instead of
stopping the potentially dangerous situation i took a picture and
put it on instagram.

side note: i helped carry this SOB in the house.
im pretty sure it weighs 800lbs give or take a few.

all painted and finished.  the bottom center panels
are actually drawers that store the pellets and supplies.

drey got creative with all my letters for decor.
i'll give props to Wreck it Ralph for the quote.

first spring project done

check one off. only around 35 more to go. but these were my favorite so they got done first.
i first laid eyes on them at an antique store and had to have them.  they had been abandoned and left in an empty factory for almost 20 years.  the owner had intended to keep them, but i begged and told her how well they would be taken care of,  i love how cute they've turned out.  some cleaning, spray painting (of course), and some cushions from tai pan and they're finished. they are a his & hers version, so there are some differences between the two.  i can't recall the date or company, but they're old. and they're awesome.  and i love sitting on my porch now.

my addiction

the first step is admitting you have a problem.

well i don't have a problem.  i see no problem in taking anything i want, and making it the color i want by using a can.  its like magic in a bottle.  its not the fumes that make me happy, those just give me some severe shakes when i don't wear a mask; no, its the final product.  and i am no more proud than i am of this beauty here.

before

after

ill have to get a picture up as soon as it is hung up.  i haven't been able to commit to a location yet.  my husband says once its up it stays (thanks to our brick interior walls), so i'm having some serious time thinking and photoshopping it where i want....

the proposal- the aloha kind (it means hello, good bye and i love you)

the aloha state. this is where my better half spent a better part of his life after high school.  he loves it there.  he loves the warmth, the water, the people, the speed at which things move and that its practically a world of its own.  but when he knew i was the woman he had to spend the rest of his life with he left it behind, and moved back to the UC (the story of his move will come later).  but he had always sworn he would take me back, he would get me to hawaii so he could share his love for it with me....

so, last October the Husband (who was not the husband at the time), was getting pretty fed up with his job.  he was working for a great company, staying very busy, making good money, we had just bought our house but he was spending 25 out of 30 days out of state on jobs.

i happened to be in Brigham City (which, no offense...  SUCKS), taking a class on fetal heart monitoring with my BCWFF (best co-worker friend forever).  when at about midnight on our first night there the husband finally got reception and called me.  i left the room as to not disturb the BCWFF.

we used Skype while he was out of town a lot.

it went a little something like this:
"i hate my job. my boss wants me to come back in 2 weeks and stay here another 2 weeks and i told him no i couldn't." (my husband NEVER says no to work).
"what did you tell him?"
"i told him i was going to be out of town, we were going on a trip."
"sweet! where we going?"
"well tickets are really cheap right now, and because i didn't want to lie, i bought tickets for me, you, and drey to hawaii the weekend after we're in st george for his baseball tournament."
"uh.... thats in 2 weeks."
"ya, and while we're out there i figured we could get married."
"uh... were you gonna ask me? or drey?"
"will you marry me jami?"
"if its in hawaii...? sure."
"ok, i'll call drey tomorrow and make sure its ok with him. i'm going to bed."

something like that....

so i go tell my BCWFF, swear her to secrecy, call the boss the next morning to ensure i'd get time off and swear her to secrecy, and continue through my fetal heart monitoring class. i got a call from drey later that night.  he was under the impression the husband hadn't asked me to marry him yet, and the husband text me and let me know to act surprised.  all giggles and barely able to contain himself, drey said that he told the husband it was ok for us to get married and he was very excited. (my mom was on speaker phone at the time, and i'm pretty sure she was happy... not positive, but pretty sure).

now i'm not sure, but i'm guessing my proposal is just the sweetest thing you've ever read, and pretty much has you in tears.  its ok. just let em flow.

so, after a bit of family drama, applying for a marriage license, finding a place to stay and ensuring everyone got tickets on the same flight, we were set to get married in Hawaii in 2 weeks.

keep in mind, this is just the proposal, the actual trip, is another story.

back in action- the story of the 50 Shades

we've left the blog of jamandrey behind.... obviously.
we've moved on to a herd of new adventures and another time of stories, pictures, and places.
so my blog needed to change.  i want to remember these things, but mostly just share them, and by share, i mean show everyone how awesome the new 50 shades life is....

The 50 Shades Life.

how it began?  well, i knew this kid in high school, sort of, i don't remember him really ever going.  we ran into each other randomly, and kept in touch via facebook, as he was living in Hawaii at the time.  he came and visited a few times, and needless to say, my awesomeness could not be resisted.  he moved back to Utah, he didn't get rid of me, so we bought a house and got married. (these all have rad stories, but i'll have to get to them later).  we are currently spending all of our time running around with the offspring who keeps us busy, him working, me working, and pretty much all the rest on our house.

The 50 Shades Casa.
our home we purchased was built in 1898, has a pretty rad story too, so needless to say it needs some updating/additions/revamps etc.  i LOVE my house. its my favorite house i've ever owned. it's also the first house i've ever owned. but when we purchased it, EVERY SINGLE wall, ceiling, railing and trim was the same beige color.  ya, that didn't work for me.  so i told the husband, i want to paint.  to which he replied with a huge sigh and eye roll.  he knew very early on whatever 'I' wanted to do, meant work for HIM.  so after coming to a very civil compromise we decided we'd just paint the dining room right now. so after searching the best website in the world- pinterest, i found the color i wanted and sent him on his way, gift card to Lowe's in tow.
You see we had this AWESOME real estate agent, he's the best one i've ever used, again, also the first i've ever used, and it just so happens he was my big brother. and because my big brother has a lot of making up to do for tortures he performed on me as a child he gave us a cool 'house warming/wedding gift' in the form of a 500$ gift card to Lowe's.
So upon my husbands return home from Lowe's he had quite a lot more items than i anticipated. these included: 11 (one) gallons of paint, tape, brushes, trays, drop cloths, etc.  i was in a little shock.  i wasn't expecting all this stuff for one room.  i asked how much.  all he could do was ramble on about how expensive it can get, which i know. so again, i asked how much.  he said something like "526$" i was speechless, which NEVER happens to me.  but i decided instead of ranting and raving and carrying on like a crazy person i just smiled and said, well where are the rollers, i'll get started.  now i'm not for sure on details, but when my husband told me he had forgotten to purchase the roller brushes that whole ranting and raving thing came rushing out like usual.  but thats not the point.  my husband does not believe in wasting. well, wasting anything on purpose (sometimes things happen).  so instead of just painting the dining room the beautiful chelsea gray i had selected, i know have a gray dining room, gray living room, gray stair way, gray bedroom for the offspring, gray hallway, and soon to be 4 more rooms of various shades of gray- as we are not wasting ANY of our original 11 gallons we purchased.

so now everyone is caught up on the story of the 50 Shades residence... we will surely keep you posted of future happenings, and in the mean time try and get you caught up on the past ones, which in my opinion, are pretty awesome.

Holiday wish...

Merry Christmas everyone!

Underwear

These last few weeks have been crazy.
Trying to figure out where i fit in the RN world, how to do this job, can i do this job, am i insane?
Trying to figure out why the good die young.  I have come to no logical explanation for this other than some just seem to accomplish so much in their short time that in order for us all to learn from them they must leave us early so we can grow more.- but who knows.
Trying to figure out how to be with someone.  We all know this is utterly foreign to me.  like learning how to be Left handed when i'm a Righty.  But i've learned that like all things, i need to enjoy the ride instead of trying to figure it out.
Trying to learn how to be a good mother.  This, of course, is ongoing education.

I've been blessed with some of the most amazing people to call my friends and family.  So, with recent events i called someone who i knew would give it to me straight, no matter what, and that it would be honest, not just what i needed to hear.  Funny thing about that.. i've decided whats honest is usually what people need hear.- funny how that works.
So, this wise, funny, caring, loving, and wanting nothing but the best out of me person told me- "Look at yourself.  Are you doing what you are expecting of others."  (damn him for being right….)
So after this good talk (and some tunes & pinterest of course), i've come up with some insights on how i can portray the things i expect from others.
Im taking a good look at myself and going to TRY (mind you… i am not perfect, and i'm sure this will take time) and be the person i know i want to be, can be, and expect others to be.

In honor of the month of Thanks i'm going to tell a few people a few things.

Dreytonius- Thank you for making me a better person and reminding me every single day why i love my life.
Roberto- thank you for making me feel beautiful and special every day.
Nana-  Thank you for being there for me no matter what… and sewing for me because i don't know how.  And teaching me what the meaning of 'taking care of someone you love' means.
Papa John- Thank you for teaching me that a sense of humor is a quality.  And teaching me that the measure of a man is where he stands during times of trial, not during comfort and convenience.
Seester-  thank you for reminding me that there are truly GOOD people in this world. that people do care and everyone should be given a chance.
Founder of the Nerd Herd- thank you for always being honest with me, and reminding me that i am human and will make mistakes, and i can move past them.  and also for reminding me why i will only have 1 child (:  
Golden Child- thank you for being solid as a rock.  for showing me how hard work pays off, how dedication makes you strong, and how you can do one million things in 24 hours.
My nieces and nephews- thank you for giving your parents grief and making me so proud.. but more so thank you for being such good kids, cousins, friends and family.  you guys are each so special and i'm so proud of every one of you.
My in-laws- thank you for helping me understand why it is you chose to marry my siblings… wait, i still don't understand… how about…. Thank you for teaching me how to love people like family.
My co-workers- thank you for teaching me patience with myself.  that i cannot do it all when i want.  thank you for believing in me and supporting me through school and everything else in my life- i could not ask for better people to surround myself with.Daniel Dean-  Thank you for showing so many people what it is like to truly accept people for what they are, and loving them no matter what.  For showing your children what it feels like to have your world revolve around them.
Brad-  Thank you for helping me realize you can be an inspiration to anyone, and you never know who that is, so try to inspire every person you meet.
My cousins, aunts and uncles- thank you for giving me some of the best memories i have in this life.
My grandparents-  thank you for teaching me what unconditional love is- quilting, yankees, and never missing a grandchild's 'special occassion' whatever it may be.
And for everyone mentioned, and not mentioned- thank you for being like underwear….
Some crawl up your butt..
Some snap under pressure…
Some don't have the strength to hold you up…
Some get a little twisted…
Some are your favorite…
Some are cheap…
And some actually do cover your butt when you need them.


love you all.  i'll leave you with this:

jami