Finally some pictures

Chad and I moved into our new townhouse last weekend and we are finally coming up for air! We've been in the midst of piles of boxes and lots of home renovations. One thing we have learned through this whole experience is that moving and renovating a home at the same time makes for some really busy days! But it's all worth it and we are thrilled to be in our new place. We don't have countertops in the kitchen yet so we haven't been able to unpack a lot of the kitchen things yet, and a lot of the house is filled with boxes. But I wanted to share some photos so you can see the progress and also some of where we started out. :-)

This has been a very familiar sight in our house the past few weeks- my dad has painted pretty much the entire house by himself. Thanks dad for helping us out and saving us so much money! I don't have any pics of my mom helping us pack the old place up but she deserves huge thanks as well. We couldn't have done it without her!

These are samples of the tile and the cabinet wood color that we picked for the kitchen and dining room.

Our countertops will be this color. We don't have them in yet but we can't wait to see them once they are in.

The view from the kitchen of the dining room and living room. The new tile is in at this point. These floors used to be old, messed up manufactured hard wood.


A before picture of the downstairs powder room.

The downstairs powder room with new tile, paint and pedestal sink.

A before picture of our kitchen

The kitchen in progress

The kitchen as it looks right now with a new window, new tile, new cabinets and fridge. Can't wait for the countertops to arrive!

Cabo San Lucas Trip

I am way behind in my blogging but wanted to share some pics from our trip to Cabo that we took a few weeks ago. My wonderfully generous boss took the whole staff for a weekend trip to celebrate her birthday. We were pampered and treated like royalty and kept pinching ourselves wondering if it was really happening. I've included a few photos of our fabulous room that we got to stay in. It was right on the beach!

Losing my aunt to cancer

This picture was taken over 2 years ago when my Aunt, Kieara, read scripture in our wedding. It was a wonderful day and it was so important to me that she be part of it. Little did we realize that day how precious those moments with her really were, and how quickly we would be saying goodbye to her.
We called her "Auntie Kie" and she was my mom's sister. Ever since I was little, I always enjoyed spending time with her. We had great conversations and lots of laughs together. I so looked forward to the times that we would visit her and her family or they would come to visit us. Her daughter, Laurien, and I also became great friends very quickly. Even with our 8 year age difference we have remained close over the years. Together with our moms we were a fun group that never stopped finding things to laugh hysterically about when we were together.
Last July, my aunt entered the hospital for what we thought was a routine hysterectomy. It turned out to be anything but routine and the doctors found cancer. The cancer they found was a rare uterine cancer called leiyomycosarcoma and she had stage 4. It had already spread to her lungs and her bladder. She started a harsh treatment combining radiation and several types of chemo at the same time. But nothing the doctors did could stop the cancer from spreading. It eventually spread to her spine, kidneys and liver and the cancer in her lungs completely overtook her lungs . From the day she was diagnosed, it was only 6 months before she passed away.
We are heading to Denver this weekend for the memorial to celebrate my Aunt's life and mourn her passing. But we are so thankful for the hope we have to see her again in Heaven someday. She had a very strong faith in Christ and because of God's grace we will be with her again someday. She went through so much pain and agony during those months of fighting the cancer, it is good to know she is no longer in pain. But that doesn't keep us from missing her so much right now.
I will miss her laugh, her wonderful smile, and all the love she showed to me and to my husband. In the months before she was diagnosed, we had started e-mailing each other daily. I kept those e-mails and am so thankful to have them now. In addition to the mourning my immediate family is going through, my heart hurts for my Uncle who now has to live without his loving bride, and for my cousins who lost a mom way too soon.
Among the many things I have learned from this experience, the one thing that stands out for me is that life is so precious and fragile. We have no idea how many days we have here on earth, and family is so important. I loved my aunt, and I am so thankful that we had so much fun together while she was here.

Sunset at Green Valley Lake

Sunset 2, originally uploaded by dawnsquilts.

A few weeks ago I took a trip up to Green Valley Lake which is near Big Bear in the San Bernardino Mountains. It was my friend's birthday and she got a cabin up there for the weekend. We took a few walks while we were there and happened to catch this beautiful sunset over the water.

2 years ago today :-)

Two years ago today was an amazing and wonderful day. I married the man of my dreams at the Pepperdine Chapel surrounded by our family and friends. I am so thankful that God brought my wonderful husband Chad and I together and I am amazed to see what He has done in our lives since then.

We have been living in a one-bedroom apartment together for this entire time and I am pleased to say we have enjoyed it. You really get to know one another when you live in tight quarters. ;-) We are so excited because we are about to (Lord willing) purchase our first condo/house together and I'm sure that will provide a lot of new adventures for us.

I am such a lucky girl to have a husband who is strong, sensitive, funny, thoughtful, loving, and kind. He supports my quilting hobby and all the random projects I am working on, and is proud of what I do for a living. I am equally proud of him for all he has accomplished and how hard he works every day. I know he does it all for us and for our future and that means SO much to me.

I love you honey! :-) Happy Anniversary!

A Great Anniversary Weekend

Our 2 year wedding anniversary is this Wednesday so we celebrated this past weekend with a little getaway to the Four Seasons Hotel in Westlake Village. It was the nicest hotel I have ever seen in my entire life. The rooms were like we were living at Hearst Castle and the entire hotel felt like a museum. It's filled with amazing art and there's even pottery in the guest rooms. There was also a chandelier in our room!!! The bathroom was huge and beautiful and had a widescreen television. The toiletry items that were included were from L'Occitane which happens to be my favorite. I would highly recommend this hotel to anyone looking for a wonderful getaway. We felt like king and queen for a couple days. :-)

This is what our room looked like but ours looked out to the front of the hotel

Wiener Dog riding Skateboard

I came across this video the other day and it makes me smile. It reminds me of our dachshund snickers that we had when I was growing up. She never would have stayed on the skateboard though. :-)

The Breeders' Cup 2008 at Santa Anita

Yesterday I went to the Breeders' Cup at Santa Anita and had a really good time. I almost didn't go but when I turned on the tv in the morning and saw the coverage of the event, I decided I really wanted to go. The main reason I wanted to go, is that one of the best horses ever was going to be there. Last year's horse of the year was Curlin, and he was coming back to the Breeders' Cup to go for a second win in the Breeders' Cup Classic this year. He had never raced on synthetic surface so this was a big change for him, and no one knew what to expect. But I just wanted that chance to see him in person and get some good photos. He lives back east and chances are, this will be the only time he will make the trip out here to CA. He didn't win the race, but it doesn't really matter because he's already won it once. He is a gorgeous horse and I was giddy that I got to take some close up photos of him. I waited at the walking ring for 45 minutes to make sure I had a spot. :-) Here are some photos from the event.

Free Blog Layouts

This is a really fun blog where you can get tons of great templates for your blog! I just picked one today and it was so easy to do. I was very impressed by the amount of free backgrounds available so I will be excited to check out the launch party next week. If you add the linky button to your blog, you will be eligible for giveaways!

Chihuahua with crazy radio ears

I thought this was pretty interesting!