My own HGTV

HGTV is my favorite thing to watch... all the time. I try and get ideas and dream of grand home decor. Whenever I say.."I could totally do that" in relation to home decor, my husband thinks I am crazy. But regardless I am having a blast trying to decorate my home on a very tight budget and trying to repurpose the stuff we already have!

Before: Ugly paint color, old furniture

After:

I painted the entire room by myself- a task harder than I anticipated, our new sofas, and a few new items for the walls. I still have this amazing rug I want to buy but its $$$ so it will have to wait.

It has come a long way!

I looove my new sofas

Our little dining room- I painted in the chair rail

My little reading corner!

My project: I found a bunch of old frames at Goodwill or garage sales and painted them all.

The whole room will have a shabby chic feel- but I am not done with it yet- my vision is still coming together. More pics when its finished!

Iowa State Fair

This past weekend my parents came for a visit! It was their first time to Iowa and we were excited to show them around. One of our activities was the famous Iowa State Fair. For all you non-iowans- its kind of a big deal around here. Everyone looks forward to it all year. So we went and actually had a really fun time.

!Yep- That is the world's biggest boar- 1200 lbs

The famous "butter cow"- made entirely of butter

I made Jimmy take this picture- he hates taking pictures

My parents enjoying the fair

We all had to eat food "on a stick"- my teriyaki meat was surprisingly good!

July wrap up

So-it has been a while and I thought I would just do a quick post to say what we have been up to!

Jimmy has just about completed his first month as a resident! Its been a long one! I basically never see him- he leaves at 7 am and gets home at 7 pm and is on call every fourth night. But I am very proud of him!

I made him take this picture on his first day- he puts up with me though

As for me...I keep very busy somehow. With Jimmy working so hard I take care of everything else- moving to a new state and getting all of our bills, registration, licenses, unpacking, running errands, and putting the house together has taken up my days. There always seems like there is so much to do. I also was asked to be a chaperone at girls camp this year. I am new to the ward so it was good to be able to get to know the girls and women of the stake!

Now as August is approaching I am starting to focus on finding a job- trying to certify for teaching in three states in the past three years has been difficult and frustrating for me but I am just hoping something will work out. I also look forward to my parents visiting in a f

ew weeks! I am taking them to the IowaState Fair- should be an experience.

On a less serious note...we got a new computer and we goofed around with photo booth

In LOVE with our House!

It was a very stressful few weeks while we packed up in NY and moved to Iowa. I will try and make a long story short (few people ever read everything you write anyway-especially if its really long)

June 5-9 - packed up our tiny apartment

June 10- hit the road and said good bye to NY! will we miss it? most things-no; the people and the adventure-yes

June 11-12- drove to Des Moines- I drove our car and Jimmy drove the moving truck- 2 days by myself in the car- not very fun

June 12- We arrive at our beautiful house waiting for us!

June 13- We unpack like crazy

June 14- We go to our new ward and then I fly ba

ck to NY to finish school. I did not want to leave

June 14 (later)- flight gets cancelled and I am stuck in Chicago without clothes or a toothbrush.

June 15-18- Finish teaching at New Rochelle High School

June 18- Get stuck in Chicago AGAIN trying to get home-without clothes or a toothbrush

June 19- Jimmy drives to Chicago to get me and we drive home- I was done with airplanes

We are finally here and we are all settled in! We love our home.

Here are a few pics- its not decorated yet and our new couch is on order but its coming along.

We LOVE it!

I am trying to do a picture tour .....
Our living room window over looking the front lawn

The entry way- I love my wood floors

Our bookcases are the only furniture in the living room- our old couch will move in here when our new family room one come

The living room connects to the formal dining room
The hallway off of the front entry way leading into the kitchen
Powder room
Family room- I am painting next week!

Kitchen- so big and spacious!
I love looking out of my kitchen window!

We have a nice deck- and yes that is a corn field!
Off of the family room a door leads to our basement
We turned the bedroom into our dual office
Our basement is huge and we have absolutely nothing to really put in it yet
My little workout area- its a little sad at the moment- Jimmy has a weight bench we want to get from AZ

I am going to try and do a before and after when I have painted and actually hung stuff on the walls. So far we really like Des Moines, our ward, and Jimmy's program.

A little of this and that....

With Jimmy's parents in town and Jimmy now done wi

th school- we were able to do some fun stuff. We saw 3 broadway shows- yes 3- God of Carnage, Memphis, and Wicked. I enjoyed all of them- they were so good. We did a little sightseeing around the NY area and we also took a trip to Philly and Boston. We had a really good time seeing the historic sights and going on the tours. We drank a lot of egg creams and ate a lot of black and white cookies (purely NY creations)! Aleta went home with specialty syrup to make the Egg Creams which you can only find in NY. I did not take many pictures- mainly because Jimmy HATES taking pictures but I did manage to squeeze a few in.

The Freedom Trail

The Boston Harbor

Enjoying the Harbor Cruise

Independence Hall

The Liberty Bell- which has several spelling errors including Philadelphia

Hello Dr. Gunn!

Jimmy graduated from New York Medical College with his M.D.! I am so so proud of him and glad that I am officially a doctor's wife! It has been a long, long, long, road for Jimmy and I am so glad for him and all of his comrades and their accomplishment. Here are a few pics of that beautiful day!

The ceremony was short and sweet with a great lunch afterwards!

Jimmy and his fellow graduates

We were really thankful for Tom and Aleta (Jimmy's parents) who came all the way from AZ

Its official! He has the document to prove it!

Our first home!

This past weekend we flew to Des Moines and went house hunting. We had about 1.5 days to look at homes, pick one, and put in an offer. It was a whirlwind weekend but it was a complete success! We knew several areas of town we wanted to look in and we had a great realtor to help us. We saw a lot of homes that were just OK. We were so lucky to find a house that had everything we wanted and was extremely well maintained. We LOVE it!

Here is our new home...

basic stats- 4 bedrooms, 2700 square feet (which includes a finished basement) and 2 1/2 baths.

Before we left town, we drove by one last time and I was so excited to see the SOLD sign!

Now we just have to wait two months before we move in! We can't wait. We love our house!