We've moved!

Well, Tuesday October 21st was officially our last night in our old house. With the house completely empty except for Hazel's pack 'n' play, some clothes and leftover Chinese, we slept on our neighbor's mattress pad on the living room floor. It reminded me of how we entered that house, sleeping on the living room floor while we renovated the bedrooms. I'm so glad we're moving on!! Yeah!

We're currently staying at David's parents house in Ogden valley while we do some work on our new home. We learned our lesson about the headaches involved with "live-in" renovations, especially while I'm pregnant...not our thing. While there's plenty of things to do on this house to make it "ours," my favorite thing is that the plumbing, electrical, heating and air and anything else major is already in good shape and doesn't need any immediate attention. What a blessing that is to me!!

What we are doing before we move in is changing the hot pink and black tile in the bathroom (yuck!) There are five houses on our row that are all very similar and were built around the same time (40's). We just found out that each home had a unique color in the main bathroom upstairs--orange, pink (ours), green...all of which are pretty loud and obnoxious. So we're renovating the main bathroom as well as the master bedroom which had some wall paper we didn't love. The other two bedrooms are in good shape but just need new paint on the walls, so we're doing that part ourselves in the evenings. Hopefully in about two weeks, we'll move in!

I will send out pictures soon, I promise! We already miss our friends out in Sugar House so much; I'm sure we'll convince everyone to move out here to Ogden eventually.

love,
The Phipps

A little more about....me

My dear friend Jackie from Antioch "tagged" me to do one of these silly little interviews that I've always refused to do and for some reason I gave in and tried it. So you totally have my permission to skip this post and not read it because I'm not all that interesting!! Here it is:

I am: a wannabe writer. My day will come.

I have: many many things on my life’s To Do list.

I had no idea: that being married could be so stinkin’ amazing.

I Am: always hungry.

I Think: that California is the most beautiful state in our country. Sorry Utah, I do love you, but I left my heart in Livermore.

I Know: life is beautiful.

I Want: a Big Chill retro refrigerator, baby blue.

I Have: a Frigidaire

I Dislike: people that chew loudly. Especially cereal, yuck!

I Miss: the farm in Eugene, going to dances, my cat Tigger, my first kiss with David, the Larson’s and the Garrison’s (yeah November!), and my waist.

I Fear: Porta-potties and skin diseases. Freaks me out.

I Feel: excited to move into our new house, anxious for the holidays, grateful for our amazing friends, and full from enchiladas, corn on the cob, salad, and two chocolate chip cookies. Yummy.

I Smell: the leftover enchiladas still sitting on our table.

I Crave: the feeling of a soft and sweet newborn baby on my chest.

I Cry: when I’m frustrated.

I Usually: leave the last bite of my sandwich untouched.

I Search: home renovation ideas and clothes for Hazel at Old Navy.

I Wonder: what it feels like to love your kitchen. One day.

I Regret: not sticking with dance and piano lessons.

I Love: when Hazel cuddles, feeling my baby kick, mornings, donuts, surprises, interior decorating, a well-written story, and birthdays.

I Care: about pleasing people I care about.

I Always: stay up late.

I Worry: that I will never be published.

I Am Not: always the first to see the positive side of things…but I am really trying to be better. I am.

I Remember: very long numbers easily. Like my library card number.

I Believe: that I live a very charmed life.

I Dance: to children’s songs in my living room with my one year old (my how things do change)

I Sing: only at appropriate times—formal settings, when invited, etc. I’ve never been one to sing out loud all the time in front of other people. That kinda bothers me.

I Don't Always: drink enough water (I’m right there with you Jackie).

I Argue: especially when I know David’s right. I’m stubborn, he’s opinionated. And ornery.

I Write: everything and anything that comes to my mind and then try to twist and shape it into a story that moves me. I've also written in a journal since I was eight.

I Win: Boggle. Every time. And Gin Rummy, most of the time.

I Lose: bets. No matter what it is.

I Wish: I was a better seamstress.

I Listen: to everything. I’m a “people listener.” I love catching the little things that most people miss. Except when it comes to movies; then I never hear anything.

I Don't Understand: how people can choose vanilla over chocolate. Or eat whipped cream on their icecream. Blah.

I Can Usually Be Found: at home reading a book, playing with Hazel, working on a project, or staring in disgust at my dishes.

I Am Scared: of regrets.

I Need: my husband to come home when he says he will. Or else I freak out.

I Forget: people’s birthdays. Sorry.

I Am turning 26 this Friday! Yipee!

Here's to everyone with a birthday in October

Isn't October just the best month to be born in? I love everything about this month: the cool fall breeze, orange and yellow leaves falling through the sky like confetti, the thrill of Halloween with carved pumpkins and lots of treats, and getting to pull out your favorite sweaters in preparation for cooler weather. And on top of all of that, David and I get to celebrate our birthdays just nine days apart, the 8th and the 17th. It doesn't get any better!

So this past Wednesday was David's 25th birthday which means that he can now officially rent a car. About a year ago we took a trip out to California and although we were married, about to have a baby, and we owned a house, neither one of us was old enough to rent a car! So this Thanksgiving we're flying out to California again and now that we have officially arrived at a responsible age, we will be renting a car. How exciting.

So Happy Birthday to my sweet husband David. We celebrated at Chili's with some of our friends (thanks to all who came!) and had some desserts at our house afterwards. I have a picture in my camera but it is temporarily misplaced, so I'll have to post it later. We had a great time thanks to good friends and good food.

When are we moving?? Well, we still don't know. Our buyer is having a difficult time with his bank which is to be expected in times like these. He's just been approved by the underwriter, which is great, but now the bank wants to go back and review everything one more time. They have five days to give us a final answer and once we get the go ahead, we can close within one day. SO all of my family is coming next weekend for my birthday and we might recruit them to help us move as well! If not this weekend, then the next. We'll keep you posted.

We're so lucky to have such great friends! We will miss our closest friends here in Sugar House. I know it will be hard transitioning into a new neighborhood and a new ward, but I feel like we're moving to the right place. It will be a fun adventure.

Love you all!

Updates on the little one

This was last month when I first popped out.

And this is 5 1/2 months (taken just a minute ago--right after dinner mind you) Sometimes I feel huge and then I remember that I still have 3 1/2 months to go!!

So this little girl that we still have not named is becoming more and more active in my belly! I love feeling her kick around and she's big enough now that you can see her moving and David can finally feel her. I feel fantastic so far--what a blessing. We've been talking a lot about names, but we have way too many options that we love. Narrowing it down to one will be difficult.

Love you all and enjoy conference weekend!

Lagoon

So I'm catching up on some family events that I haven't posted about yet...But first thing's first: we have sold our house and we're hopefully deciding on where to live in Ogden this weekend!

We had a tough time making this decision of whether to sell for less than we'd like since the market is down or wait until next spring, but now we feel really good about our decision. The couple that bought our home are great, same age as us, and I think the girl is just as naive as I was when it comes to the reality of living in a fixer-upper. But you kind of have to be when you undertake such a big project; keeps you sane. At least it's in a LOT better shape than it was when we bought it AND she's not five months pregnant, so that's good. I'm sure they will make some great improvements. I'm excited to visit in a year or so and see what they've done with the place.

I'm SO grateful to be moving NOW since I still feel pretty good with my pregnancy. Things are working out well for us; now we just need to find a place to live! We'll keep you posted.

SO, this post is about our little trip to Lagoon back at the end of August. Every year, David's company (NAI Utah) hosts a free day at Lagoon for its employees. Last year Hazel was way too small to enjoy this experience, but this year, holy cow we had a great time. She was so brave. There was one little roller coaster in particular that she kept pointing at but we weren't sure she could handle it. So we decided to go for it and put her courage to the test. She sat with her dad and I sat right in front of them. Once we took off and hit the first dip, she clung to David with wide eyes, but we're proud to say that our little girl did not even fuss. What a champ.

Hazel's first time on a Merry-Go-Round

We took this little "Skybucket" (really can't remember if that's what it's called) which Hazel enjoyed. For some reason these things make me nervous. But I do love this picture.

I posted this earlier...the kissing scene. This took place on the little train that takes you around to see all of the animals. I guess those animals just weren't interesting enough.

We were a little nervous about this ride because we weren't sure if Hazel would try to climb out of the boat during the ride. But we decided to trust our little nephew James who promised he'd watch over her and she did just fine.


So much fun. Love you all.

So, we have some good news.

We sold our home!

Dress Up

You're never too young to start dressing up.

Hazel has taken possession of this purse of mine and walks around with it on her shoulder. I'll find it filled with toys, tooth brushes, and Capri Suns--you know, the essentials.

If I don't get my laundry folded right away, Hazel creates outfits of her own. This was my jean jumper she put around her neck. One day it was her Dad's underwear...