So I know this is silly but I'm really upset that in ALL of my pictures the walls in my house look PINK! I promise they are not pink, they are a gray brown. It's a red based paint so I guess it looks pinky in some lights-and that includes the light of my camera. Grrrrr.

Foster Care

So, Erica's garage sale post sparked quite a few questions. Guess we should've seen that coming. ;)

We've decided to get licensed to be foster parents. We've only just started and had one visit from a social worker from DCFS. Her visit was simply an informational one so that we could get some questions answered.

Here's what we know:

1. We have to take 4 weeks of classes in August, 2 nights a week for 4 hours each.
2. In the second class we'll get fingerprinted and have background checks started.
3. Once the our paperwork and classes are complete, we'll undergo a home study. It may take 2 or 5 months to schedule and complete the home study.

Those are the basic steps and once that's done, we'll be licensed and can start fostering children. So, we're guessing it'll probably be around Christmas before we're licenced. We are planning on taking children from ages 0 to 10. We are willing to bring in sibling groups no larger than 3 children.


We also wanted to let everyone know that we haven't given up on fertility treatment. We're currently looking at options for specialists and what kind of assistance our health insurance can give. Basically, things are at a bit of a standstill until we get all that figured out.

We know that Heavenly Father is watching out for us and we are putting our trust in Him. We feel like this is the right time to open our family to children who are in need of a loving home. This is one way we can be of service to our community while we work on the fertility challenges that we've encountered.

Speaking of deals...

There's a$400 HP printer, fax, scanner, copy machine combo on sale at Office Depot for $259.99

http://www.officedepot.com/textSearch.do?uniqueSearchFlag=true&Ntt=m1522nf

Plus HP is offering a $200 mail in Rebate: http://hpshopping.speedera.net/www.shopping.hp.com/shopping/pdf/rebate_s129_lj_mfp_6-29.pdf

That's like $60 bucks! ($77 if you live in Utah)

Office Depot's site is down so I ordered over the phone and got free shipping.

The rebate is good until August 2nd and I don't know when the sale ends but it's worth a shot if you want one!

Garage Sales!

I've rediscovered my addiction to garage sales! We're starting the process of foster care while we are waiting for our children to join our family. Which means we needed some furniture to get started, mainly beds. I turned to my own obsession with garage sales to find what we needed.

I found some GREAT deals this weekend.

A post 2000, 3 in 1 crib with mattress for $50.

A chair for $2

A bunch of cabinet doors that I'm re-purposing. for Christmas presents. (If you live in Utah please don't look! ;)

They're chalk boards! It's sitting on my $2 chair that I need to refinish. I love love love to garage sale! Thanks Lyss for going with me! Congrats on your own great deals!

Awsome Library Service

So I heard about this on the news/morning show the other day. The Salt Lake library will do a customized reading list for you. You put in a book you've read recently, a genre and some other preferences then the librarian will give you a list of books that are similar. Jason and I just tired it and are waiting for our results. Let's cross our fingers that its good! Check it out-They'll do it for anyone!

http://www.slco.lib.ut.us/booksnmore/personal_booklist_intro.htm

The Mirror Has Two Faces II

So I have to amend my review. Jason and I caught this movie on TV and LOVED IT! After renting it, we still love it, but it has a few scenes with strong language....

It is so HOT right now in Utah. I've become obessed with frozen fruit. Grapes, blueberries, watermellon balls...mmmmm. Today I looked for U-Pick farms in Utah county so I could go get some blueberrys that would be cheeper then $5 a pint. We have one in Payson-30 minutes from here.
http://www.pickyourown.org/UT.htm

Just out of curiosity I looked up how many were listed under Lane County at:

http://www.nabcblues.org/upick.htm

Eight U-Pick farms in Lane county-most within 20 minutes of Mom's house. And the site didn't even have all of them-just the ones where they grow blueberries!

Congratulations Krystal and Dan on your baby girl born yesterday! I'm sure she's beautiful.

The Mirror Has Two Faces

SO I'm a big fan of this Barbra Streisand Movie. I hated Barbra Streisand in the past, but now I think I have to give her other movies a chance. This movie was a perfect mix between reality and entertainment. It was about intimacy between men and women. Streisand explores how intimacy with the wrong person under the wrong circumstances can affect someone. Then she explores how lack of intimacy between two people can influence a relationship. I highly recommend this movie! Jason says it's funny too. http://www.imdb.com/video/screenplay/vi4176871705/

PS-The background music in the trailer is the same as the music in "While You Were Sleeping."

So I tried to do some vinyl lettering. It is a lot of work! In case you can't read it, it says, "Gifford-Be true to who you are and the family name you bear. Gordon B. Hinckley".

Oregon 2X

Early last month I made it to Medford to spend a week with Aimee and Ben. It wasn't fun and games-it was lots of work! Their house was grimy and smelled bad but was huge and has some great features. Mom, Brenda and I went down to help and we washed walls, painted, cleaned and a whole lot more to get their house ready. I must say it was WORTH it! They have a beautiful house now that is a BLAST to visit with their hot tub, swimming pool, large yard, huge play room....



I have a better appreciation for those of you who helped get our house in order! Thank you! Especially Krys and Dan we couldn't have done it without you!

Aimee had a beautiful little boy who looks nothing like a "rat." He was born the day they received the keys to their new house and is growing fast! We were able to come for the 4th of July and participate in his blessing.

It was a blast to be home. We packed every second of the day with friends and family! We went through NV on our way over and stopped in Medford. We played in the pool with Aimee Ben Luke and Makenna and had a blast jumping off the "rock" and relaxing in the hot tub. We came into Eugene on Friday and spent the afternoon with Sean and Amanda. We went to Lone Pine Farms and had some Umpqua Ice Cream. YUM!

That night we had an AMAZING amateur fireworks show at Dave and Jen's. They had mortars and with the other 3 cul de sacs shooting of large ones it was very exciting.

Saturday was friends, food and shopping! Thank you Jessica Durfee and Stephanie Nack for fitting me into your schedules! I loved seeing you and catching up.

Thanks to my loving family, I am now addicted to the TJ Max Home Store. I think they just brought me there as part of their plan to make me move back.

While I was off playing with friends and shopping, Jason, Ben and Luke went to the Olympic trials at Hayward Field. He said it would have been a fun thing to do as a date night but that it wasn't quite suited for Luke (3 yrs).



Sunday Jared Whitmer was blessed and we had a family lunch in the park. It was soo good to visit with everyone and see their growing kids! We had dinner at Sean and Amanda's and had a blast with Brockton and Kelsie! That little girl is almost walking!

I don't know if there is someone in Mom's area that hates Utahans but our car was vandalized for the second time while home. When we went to Alaska Summer of 2005 someone egged our car. This time we woke up to find some inexperienced thief had tried to siphon our gas! But just ours, not the 3 other cars parked outside Mom's house. They didn't get much, if anything, but they left the cap off and the tank door open to prove they'd been there. Luckily no harm done!

Our fast and furious trip ended yesterday where we somehow turned our 12-13 hour drive home into 15 hours. We rolled in at midnight on an empty tank. I was glad to know that we can make it from Costco in Boise to our front door on 1 tank! We found the cheapest gas along our way in Boise at $4.04/gallon. The most expensive gas belonged to Elko NV, where we paid over $5.00/gallon. Everywhere else is between $4.00 and $4.40 except here where we are still under $4.00 at $3.99. Hope your gas prices are "low"!

Ottoman?

So with my next check I'm thinking about buying an ottoman! I've fallen in love with the idea of a round ottoman. Not just because, right now, my style is so traditional, but also because our front room is full of linear objects. I think the round would be unexpected and that makes me excited. So here's what I'm thinking. Keep in mind these are my favorites of only of the ones that would fit in my room. There are plenty that I would have chosen if they weren’t so darn BIG!

I love this one because I've been so careful to keep my furniture neutral to be able to accessorize in color. This ottoman is neutral but has a print. I just think it's adorable. My colors are so specific there are many things that I've thought would be perfect but they blew up in my face. =(

I like this one because you can see through it and the wood work might be a nice catalyst between our dark furniture and our lighter stuff. It is white though, and I don't want to have parents freaking out when their kids are over. (I don't want to have to freak out when I have kids of my own...)