1 Year House Anniversary

A year ago today, we were in the middle of moving into our house!! We closed on our house on May 23 of last year, and spent the few days after moving in and thankfully had help from both Trent and I's parents to get things up and running in our first home.

A year later, I feel like we're still very much in the process of getting everything settled, but have crossed a few things off of our house project to do list.

In June of last year I posted this list of things we wanted to do throughout the coming years. The list has already changed a little as we have lived in the house and decided we wanted to do things a little differently or added or just completely taken things off the list. Here's a more accurate list as I would say it stands right now:

* Paint the family room and kitchen Done - June 2012
* Paint the living and dining rooms Done - August 2012
* Paint the laundry room
* Add cabinets in the laundry room
* Add a countertop over our washer and dryer in the laundry room
* Put washer and dryer on pedestal
* Replace the plastic-hangy-stick shades on our sliding door to the backyard with a new curtain
* Add stone and a mantle to the fireplace in the family room
* Add curtains in family room
* Add curtains in the living room
* Decorate living and dining room with stuff on walls, etc
* Put curtains up in the master bedroom
* Tile the laundry room floor
* Paint half bath off kitchen Done - March 2013
* Put a few decorations in half bath off kitchen
* Add under and over cabinet lighting in the kitchen
* Replace the patio door with new french doors
* Paint the master bedroom
* Decorate master bedroom
* Wall mount TV in master bedroom
* Paint the master bathroom and closet
* Put cabinet up above the toilet in the master bathroom
* Get some shelves to go next to the vanity in the master bathroom
* Frame the mirror in the master bathroom
* Add shelving units in the master closet
* Repaint guest bathroom and add board and batten
* Tile guest bathroom floor
* Repaint guest bedroom
* Repaint "my room"
* Add window seat and book shelf in the nook above stairs* Insulate the garage
* Add edging in the front yard Done - May 2013
* Add different plants and flowers in front yard Done - May 2013
* Spruce up landscaping and add edging in backyard
* Add a cement patio next to our deck (possibly change the steps on the deck)
* Put in little shed in backyard
* Finish the basement

Whew!! What a long list!! And I know there's a lot of not so fun and noticeable things that we will need/want to do as well... like getting all new toilets (oh joy)... so these things may not all get done until the end of time! But it's still fun to think about! I love all the little things that make our house more like ours and make it special for us. I'm looking forward to crossing off a few more things throughout the summer!

We actually just finished some sprucing up in the front yard over the past few days by putting in some edging, putting in new wood chips and adding some new plants and flowers. I'm going to do a post with all the pictures from that little update, but be low is a little sneak peek at what our front yard looks like with the new edging (before the new wood chips, plants, and flowers). I absolutely love the little addition! And I absolutely love my husband for doing all most of the hard work to get it all done!

Here's to seeing what we can get accomplished in year #2 of living in our house!!

Done, Done, AND DONE!!! Almost a CPA!

Yesterday was the day that I found out that I am DONE taking the CPA exams! After 17 long months of studying and 15 months of taking tests, I am finally done!! 

Waiting for this score was extra nerve wracking and horrifying because if I didn't pass my test this time, I would have lost the first test that I passed back in November 2011 because you have to pass all 4 tests within an 18 month period. 

I took my this last test back on April 29, but just because of the timing of the score releases, I had to wait until this week to find out whether I passed or not. I had been living the past three weeks like I was done studying and I REALLY didn't want to go back to having more tests hanging over my head. I was so nervous about actually finding out whether I passed or not, that I hadn't even been paying attention to the exact date of the score release (because I really didn't want to know).

It wasn't until yesterday when my mom texted me asking if today (Thursday) was the "big day" that I actually looked to check what the release day was. When I looked, I found out that I was actually only a few hours from my score being out there for me to see. I instantly got sick to my stomach because of the nerves! I decided not to tell my mom (or anyone really) that I found out that this would be the day because I decided it'd be cooler to surprise her with the news if I passed and also if I didn't pass, I'd have a buffer day to deal with it before I had to break that bad news to her.

I have the best mom! She always has faith in me and
is so supportive!! I love her a lot!

Throughout the afternoon, every time that I thought about it, I got nervous again, and the drive home was not fun at all. I was dreading the moment of truth!!

I walked in the door to the house and Trent was right there in the kitchen finishing up supper (because he's an AWESOME husband like that). I hadn't even told him that I knew it was THE DAY yet... So finally I let him in on it and when we sat down to supper, I got my computer out to just get it over with.

When I check my scores, I like to make the internet window really small first so I can look at the score on my own terms and it doesn't surprise me, so I entered my information and pushed the "Score" button. I freaked out a few times and put my face in my hands saying things like "I don't want to look" but finally I just did it... I scrolled down and saw THIS:

 AN 83!!!! YEEEE HAWWW!!!!

I instantly smiled and looked at Trent and said "I passed!!!"

I took a while for it to sink in but I was instantly relieved  I took a little bit for the sick feeling to leave my stomach, but that didn't matter because I was so happy. I only cried a little after it sunk in a bit just because it is all such a whirlwind of emotions. I wish I could explain exactly how I was feeling... I knew after I looked I would either be VERY happy or VERY sad. The thought of not passing and going back to only being half done instead of all of the way done was just an unbearable thought!! It was just such a weight off of me to see that passing score.

As soon as we got done eating, I called my mom and shocked her with the news. She was pretty excited! :) I was glad I got to give her some great news. I then called and sent out some texts to share the news and later in the evening called to tell Grandma and Grandpa Kock. It was also a great feeling to give Grandma some happy news to end her day!!

So now I have to find some long term plans to fill my free time since I don't EVER have to study again if I don't want to!! (And those long term plans aren't a baby at the moment either so don't get your hopes up!) I'm going to continue to work out (something I had been neglecting for the past year and a half) as I'm just wrapping up my 3rd week at Kosama, and we are going to get to work on a lot of little house projects that have been pushed off since we moved in a year ago. (We closed on our house a year ago today!) I am also going to enjoy spending some time with my husband because I've been studying for these tests ever since we got back from our honeymoon in September 2011! 

AHHHH I'M FREEE!!!!!!

Pray

The song Pray by Sanctus Real is a song I heard for the first time on the radio a while back and instantly loved. I now listen to it at least once or twice a day while at work and today I really felt like I wanted to share this song.

 

I don't feel like I have ever been as good of a "pray-er" as I would like to be and I'm sure I don't do it "right" but I don't think God so much cares about that as long as I talk to Him. I pray more now than I ever have before in my life. A lot of times, I don't know what I should pray, and I usually pray about the most random things... but I figure, God knows me pretty well so I'm sure He knows what I'm trying to say. Sometimes they're long, sometimes they're just once sentence, sometimes I'm asking for forgiveness, sometimes I'm thanking God, and sometime I'm asking for His help... and I usually end my prayers by asking God to tell my dad hi. And I'm sure He does for me.

 

I just wanted to share this song because I think we all get to a place sometimes when we just don't know what to do anymore, but we can remember that God knows our hearts and knows what we need. We can tell him anything and ask him for anything and he will always share the weight of our burdens with us. We don't have to and aren't supposed to try to make it through life on our own, God wants us to lean on Him.

"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

Pray by Sanctus Real

I bow my head to pray, I don't know what to say
I'm not sure how to fix the things I'm dealing with
I'm in a desperate place, I need to share the weight
But I just don't know how, to let it all pour out
Though I'm silent, my heart is crying
Cause I was made to come to You
So I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I failed to find the time, but You've been calling out
I let the days go by as if I could live without
But it's gotta be here now, I won't be pulled away
Cause it's just You and I, so let the world around us fade

As I pray
God I need You more than words can say
Right here in this moment
You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I'm gonna pray
Will You meet me here right now?
I surrender, lay it down
And every time I close my eyes
I know that I was made
To lift my hands and pray
I lift my hands and pray

You know my heart, You know my need
And every single part of me
So even if it's just to speak Your name
I'm gonna pray
I'm gonna pray

You know my heart, You know my need
You know every part of me
More than words you want my life

Take it as an offering

Community Supported Agriculture

A few months back, I got an email at work stating that all employees at Union Pacific had the opportunity to participate in a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Program. This would allow employees to enjoy fresh produce while supporting the local Nebraska farm economy. And the best part is that the goods would be delivered to us right at work! Each week for 15 weeks we would get a bag of things like asparagus, broccoli, radishes, tomatoes, potatoes, sweet corn, cucumbers and much more!

 

The program is through Tomāto Tomäto, which is a year-round indoor Farmer's Market that carries locally grown, raised and made products. When I told Trent about the program, we were both excited to have the opportunity to support the local economy and farmers and to start bringing in more fresh produce into our home to eat. Also, a lot of their products are natural or organic, which was also a big plus for us. And since we don't get to pick what we get in our bag each week, this would be an opportunity for us to possibly try some new things that we may not have bought ourselves at the grocery store. (Scary!!)

 

Yesterday was the first delivery of produce to UP. There was a little welcome letter in the bag along with an explanation that things may be a little sparse for the first few weeks but we will get more than our fill of produce as the weeks go on (and when it stops snowing radomly).

This week our bag had:

- Beefsteak tomatoes from Garden Fresh Vegetables

- English cucumbers from Garden Fresh Vegetables

- Romaine lettuce from Pekarek's Produce

- Local raw honey from It's All About Bees

- Fresh corn meal from Clear Creek Organic

Along with the goods in the bag, was a couple recipes with some ideas of how to prepare what was in the bag. There was a recipe for a tomato and basil pasta, a cucumber salad, and corn bread. There was also a little information about the raw honey and its benefits. Like that eating a spoonful of the local honey a day, which means the pollen was collected from within 50 miles, can help to treat allergies to those plants and flowers that are giving a person troubles since those are most likely where the bees are producing the honey from.

Some of those spoonfuls out of there may just be helping Trent's allergies :)

Right away when I got home, we got to eating what we received. Trent had chicken breasts and potatoes on the grill, so I cut up the romaine lettuce to have some salad with supper. I also whipped up the corn bread recipe and we had corn bread for dessert. It was an awesome supper if I don't say so myself!

 

 

I should have taken a picture before I stuck my fork in it,
but I didn't think that fast :)

I am thankful that everything we got this week was "safe" and they were all things I am not afraid to eat! I am definitely looking forward to what the coming weeks will bring!

The Weekend

This past weekend was a busy one, but sometimes, that's kinda how I like it!

Friday night, Trent and I had a little movie date. We went to Iron Man 3. I love the Iron Man movies and I love Robert Downey Jr., so it was great! AND, in proper moviegoer style, we each got our own large drinks and shared a large popcorn (I think they called it the Super Deluxe Combo or something appropriate like that). I love going to the movies and having popcorn, so it was just perfect. Talk about a nutritious supper!

Saturday morning I had my Initial Assessment at Kosama. Kosama is basically a workout program made up of high intensity classes. They have several different class times, six days a week. I had bought a Groupon a few months back because I had always wanted to try one of these places, and, now that I am not studying anymore, I am jumping in to working out each morning.

At the initial assessment they weigh you and take your measurements and go over some information about the program and things like that. It was about an hour long appointment and we only "worked out" for about 5 minutes of that time just so they could show us how a few things were done. And just from that, I was quite sore the rest of the day and through Sunday... So I knew I was going to be quite sore come Monday morning when I was going to take my first class!

Saturday afternoon, Trent and I went over to his co-worker, Ben's, house for a Kentucky Derby Party. There were eight of us there. We were the only lame ones who didn't dress up in Kentucky Derby attire, but they still let us participate. :) Before the race we hung out and ate and drank Derby-style food and drink.

For drinks, Ben had Mint Julep's. They are made up of four ingredients: mint, bourbon, sugar and water. Everyone else there seemed to love them, but I guess I learned that bourbon is not an alcohol that I like, so I stuck to the Dr. Pepper!

Other "Kentucky" items we had were Kentucky Hot Browns and Bourbon Balls.

The hot browns are basically turkey, bacon, cheese, tomato and green onions on top of a French Toast type bread... Although an interesting concoction, it was pretty good. I'm not exactly sure what makes up the whole "ball" part of the Bourbon Ball, but I can tell you that it has Bourbon in it and it's coated in chocolate. :)

Before the race started, we each picked a horse that we thought would win the race, which made it a little more intense.  One of the 8 horses we picked did win the race, too. My horse, Normandy Invasion, was ahead for a while in the race, but just couldn't stick it out. I was still proud of him, though :) After the race, we all hung out and chatted into the evening. It made for a very fun day.

On Sunday morning I headed up north to Sioux City for some fun.

My friend Bailey's husband, Josh, graduated from Law School on Saturday and her sister, Jamie, also graduated from college this past weekend, so they had a party at Miles Inn to celebrate. It was great to see Bailey and enjoy a wonderful Charlie Boy over lunch.

THEN, I went to hang out with my sister for a few hours and she just happened to be babysitting the O'Connor kids, John Paul, Anya, and Cooper. They are just putting the finishing touches on a new house that they built and it is beautiful. I was very glad that Kellsey was able to show me around the house and even more happy to see the kids again. It had been about 10 months since I had seen them!


Their beautiful new house

I got to see around their rooms and they told me all about some of their new stuff and it was just very fun to be around them again. I even got to play chess with Anya. I really don't know how to play chess, but she sure seemed like she knew how to play. She set all the pieces up correctly (I didn't even know how to do that) and she knew which direction each of the pieces should go (or at least she acted like she knew and she was consistent with it!) I was thoroughly impressed. She really is one smart little girl. And pretty cute too!

I sure hope that I get to see them again soon!! It was a great afternoon of seeing my favorite Sioux City people all at once!!

And to start off this week, I had my first three days at Kosama. And WOW am I sore?!?! The first day was rough and I my muscles were very jelly-like at the end of class as well as sore throughout the day, but overall it wasn't as bad as it could have been, so I thought I could handle it. Then came Tuesday morning, and that was really really rough. My muscles just didn't want me to do anything very well. They were so sore and weak and that made everything ten times harder... I couldn't do much squatting down or anything without my legs wanting to give out. That made the rest of my day pretty interesting as I hobbled around at work. This morning wasn't as bad as Tuesday. The class was yoga type moves, so I was happy to get some stretching in (even though the huge knots in my leg muscles kept me from stretching too far) and not have to do much high impact stuff. As I'm sitting here now, the part of my body that hurts the most is the insides of my elbows (which is a very strange pain!). It kills to straighten my arms all the way! I am hoping that gets better before tomorrow morning's kick boxing class! I know these classes are going to be rough (especially the whole getting up in the morning thing), but I'm excited to be active again and am hoping that I see some changes in my body after a few weeks of this. (And I told Trent I can't wait to show him when I can do more than 5 push ups in a row!) In the end, I know this will make me healthier and I know I'll feel good after I get done each morning!

Hope you're having a good week! Halfway to the weekend! Woot!

Painting: Dining & Living Room

 Way back in August, Trent's parents came for the weekend and were kind enough to help us take on the HUGE task of painting our living and dining room and up the stairs to the upstairs hallway. I cannot imagine what it would have been like having to do it with just Trent and I. I don't think we ever would have gotten it done!

When we moved into our house, every wall in the house was the same tan color except for one red wall in the dining room. Although tan isn't a bad color, having your whole house be the same flat, tan color really isn't very fun. It also just made everything seem dull. It was amazing how much having the space repainted in a new, lighter color made the whole place brighter and made it feel more like our home.

Here are some pictures of the room from before we moved in...

The red dining room wall.

The view from the top of the stairs

 

 

 

 

The color we picked to paint the room was Cream in my Coffee by Valspar.

 

We had done a little analyzing of paint options before we decided on the color, but in the end, I'm glad we decided on the one we did. It has a little bit of a pink tint to it, which scared me at first, but I really liked it after it was all done!

  

All the options we picked up at Lowe's.
We just grabbed anything that we thought we MIGHT like.
I'm pretty sure the one we picked is the third from the left on the top row.

This painting marathon was all happening on a weekend when I had a test the next Monday, so Trent and his parents were nice enough to let make me go study for most of the day with a few breaks to help them out, too. I did have enough time on my breaks to take a few pictures of everyone working hard!

 

This did not look very safe to me, but it got the job done!

And here's what Mattie was doing during this. I got up from my study spot in our bed and she decided to take over. She had had enough painting!

 

I didn't do a very good job of taking "after" pictures... So you can't see a good before and after of the same space, but here are some pictures after some months had passed, during December... So you can see some of our Christmas decorations as well! (Since the weather outside feels kind of "Christmasy" I think it's only appropriate!)

This room also looks a lot better with furniture. We are very lucky to have such loving parents who let us have/borrow their furniture to fill our house until we can get some of our own!

The walls pretty much look just as bare today as they do in the pictures, but we're working on that! And hopefully curtains will make an appearance soon, too!

Sorry I don't have very good/comparable before and afters... The light is really bad so you can't tell the difference in the colors. Oh well, it's different, you get the point!

Happy May Day!?!

It has been 2 days since my (hopefully) last test and they have been A.MAZING! It has been so nice to be able to think about other things for extended periods of time without feeling bad about not studying. And it's been great to actually start to plan to do some projects that I have been wanting to do at home. (AKA - Be able to start working on and doing all the things I've been pinning on Pinterest!)

It's hard to say how I think my test went... I feel pretty good, but then again I keep thinking about some questions that I didn't know 100% and then feel bad about it... So who knows. I got done with a half hour left at the end, which I don't think has happened with any of the tests I've taken, so I'll take that as a good sign even though it's impossible to tell! I'm just hoping that my little bit of confindence isn't just something that I'm making up to make myself feel good...

I won't find out for a few weeks yet if I passed or not, and when I think about it I already get super nervous. Seriously, the feeling before finding out is the WORST! If I don't pass, then I loose my first test that I passed back in November of 2011. And that would be so horrible to have to go back and revisit all that and be only half done as opposed to being done for good! Ugh! That would be so bad!

But let's not think about that... Happy, positive thoughts!

After my test, I went and walked around a few stores. I didn't buy anything, just looked! It was nice and relaxing, but I was starving, so I had to make myself go home. Trent had smoked a pork butt on the grill last weekend so I had left over pulled pork at home to eat and that was heavenly! I love having an abundance of that meat to eat when we want it! Trent got up at 6 on Saturday morning to get it all started and checked the grill and the meat every half hour until 10 pm when it was done. We had supper after 10 that night so we could have the meat right away for the first time. Definitely worth the wait!


Our big bowl of meat. I should have taken a picture
of it before I put it in the bowl so you could see it all,
but you get the point!

In the afternoon after my test I did a little much needed cleaning. The weather was soooo nice and it was great to have the shades and the windows open and just be able to be home and get stuff done. I love those days! (Even though it's 37 degrees and rainy now!)

Two friends and I are going to be hosting a baby shower for another one of our best friends in August at our house, so thinking about how we're going to decorate and all that has really got me excited to really get the house decorated and look lived in. We still have only about four things hung on the walls in our entire house since we moved in almost a year ago, so this is great motivation to actually get going on this!

I'm going to be making some DIY "Canvas" prints soon to hang up the stairs, so I can't wait to see how those turn out. I'll definitely share those when I'm done so I can document the project! For now, I've got some Observers up on the wall to mark where I think they'll be going to make sure that it'll look okay. :) Yet another use for the Observer!

I also started cleaning out "my room" in our house last night, which has just been a dumping ground for all things decorative and random... I'm boxing things up and moving them down to the basement to be stored (to later be sorted out again and reorganized) and trying to make it an actual usable space for me to do some projects and crafts and possibly even do my hair and makeup in there in the morning... We'll just see how the space evolves I guess.

Well, here we go again. My latest attempt at getting back to blogging. And hopefully this is permanent because I won't have to go back to the torture that is studying for the CPA Exam! I've still got lots of posts in my Drafts thave I have yet to complete... From Thanksgiving and Christmas and from when we repainted our living/dining room in August... wowsers. So I'd think I have a lot to write about and document!

Hope you all enjoyed this cold, rainy and snowy May Day!