Cafe de Valentine

we are making progress on the house. slow progress, but progress just the same. we spent 13 hours there on sunday after the wedding doing paint prep work and then primering the walls so that we could paint walls and ceilings. it took longer than i thought it would. i think i forgot how much taping and cleaning you have to do before you can really paint. i must say just getting the primer on the walls and having the whole house be one color makes a HUGE difference in the overall look of the house. i'm not sure if i had posted that photo before... but this is a before shot taken from the living room looking into the kitchen. lots of COLOR going on here. it will be much "softer" looking when we're done. we did eat our first meal in our new house on sunday night. most of the work crew had gone home but my parents and our faithful neighbors jeff & candi were still there helping out so we called and had pizza delivered to the new house (first time i was able to call and...

ozzie and katie are married! everything went great, she looked BEAUTIFUL and ozzie looked as though he'd never been happier. they both seemed to enjoy the process and the evening was a grand time. their wedding photographer was very good and super creative. she had them stop on the way from the ceremony to the reception to take some photos in this field along highway 43. we happen to be driving by as they were walking out, i snapped this quick shot. ozzie's aunt did all of the flowers and centerpieces for the wedding and they turned out WONDERFUL. this is one of the table centerpieces, there were three.. i'll try and post more photos of the others later. the bridesmaids wore brown dresses that were all the same color and fabric but all different styles. they each got to pick their own and i think the styles they chose reflected them and their personal style a bit. they all carried these green bouquets. ozzie's aunt did such a great job. the bride and groom danced their...

so i realized that while we seemed excited at first about buying our house, that tone soon changed to chaos and stress on the packing front. i do want to assure you all that in the process and madness of the actual move we are super excited about what the move will mean for us in the end! 1. we can call it OURS! (even if the bank does own most of it, we'll gladly claim that one blade of grass that we've earned with our down payment!) 2. we can paint the walls whatever color we want. while each wall is a color right now, this will soon change. we've decided to paint the whole house one color to start since we have one short week to do a lot of painting, however i'm sure we'll add accent wall colors someday. either way, they're not going to be WHITE! 3. we won't know which neighbors are fighting and what music they're playing and won't get nervous each week when a firetruck pulls in that our whole building is going to go up in flames. while i know we...

Well this is our living room in its current state, boxes everywhere can't watch tv, and really there is no room to even sit down. It's pretty amazing at what a young married couple can accumulate in just two and a half years, especially with a limited budget. But this is just our living room, we also have boxes in the hall, the spare bedroom, our bedroom, the bathroom and even in the garage. This really makes me think that this maybe the last move I may ever do. But with all the chaos of buying a house, packing, moving, in the midst of starting a new job, being in debt for the rest of my life, lving the American Dream and never having a true day off again :p LOL. I am still truly excited and truly blessed. -R.Valentine Psalms 107:21 - Let them give thanks to the LORD for His unfailing love and His wonderful deeds for men.

we are T minus two weeks and counting to moving day. in the process i've learned a few things about myself. most of which i knew... but never wanted to admit. 1. i'm a procrastinator. i love to sit and ponder all that has to be done and begin to panic about it but often can't make myself get up and get stuff done. (hence the fact that i'm blogging rather than packing). 2. i clearly have some form of OCD. i'm not as bad as kate gosslin from jon & kate plus 8 (she's a little extreme for me) but to me everything has it's own place and things are organized by size or shape or "like kind". i blame my mother for this (hi mom) as she's the same way. yet, while packing and moving NOTHING has a home. my apt is in TOTAL disarray and i'm not enjoying it in the least bit. since i still have a lot left to pack, there are empty boxes everywhere, as well as the packed boxes, as well as all the stuff that still must be packed... i can't find a thin...

after two years of primaries and campaigns and countless dollars given to one side or the other... it's OVER. i did my civic and social duty and voted and i watched countless hours of news reports last night. at the end of the day i'm ever so thankful that God knew the outcome of this election long ago. while i'm sure it's going to cost me more money in taxes and i'm not thrilled about some high speed rail thing going into CA, i am thankful that regardless of how much space animals have in their pins and what marriage is symbolized as... GOD IS STILL GOD. so today, the day after the election i say: "here's my whole paycheck God, put it where it has to go". and on the moving front... i can't find a thing, i can't get to my closet over the boxes and the walls are far to bare in the apartment right now. i'll post pictures of my mess soon. in the meantime, pray for me!