A Few Essentials

Here in the Davies House, we have a few essentials:

FOOD

*Bagels

*Cream Cheese

*Bananas

*Petit Sweet White Corn

*Pop Tarts (chocolate fudge of course!)

*Crystal Light

*Brownie Mix

*Ch. Ch. Cookie Fixin's

OTHER

*pencils

*pens

*bobby pins

*sand paper

*paper towels

*baking soda

*bar soap

*music

*dryer sheets

*boxes

*tape

*black markers

*a few big trucks....duh!, CUZ,

WE're moving!!!!

I just realized that I've been a horrible blogger. WE GOT OUT OF OUR CONTRACT! Finally! We are so very happy about it! We got out of our contract AND we get out deposit back ***(WAHOOOOO!!!)*** AND we found a new place!

Now let me TELL you...

********front yard with a huge BEAUTIFUL tree covering most of the front of the house,

two parking spaces in the driveway, and one is covered,

a shed we share with the couple that lives in the basement (Isaac and Shaum. Isaac is Bryce's Aunt Mel's brother! So we're related! fun huh? They're super nice! They've been married 6 years and have the cutest little boy!),

a garden,

we also have an apple tree....and another tree but i can't remember what grows on it...,

a river in the BACKYARD,

and then INSIDE:

you walk in to a large living room that connects to the dining room (very open to each other wahoo!!!), 

then a HUGE KITCHEN, with a half sized dishwasher (anything's better than NO dishwasher! ... besides me :)

Two bedrooms, kinda small but we'll trade our HUGE bedrooms in a stinky basement for small bedrooms in a wonderful smelling UPSTAIRS any day!!!

One bathroom, LARGER than our tiny one now. :) 

A big laundry room with a FULL WALL OF STORAGE SHELVES!!! YEAH YEAH!! i can start my food storage!

So we SIGNED the papers on Tuesday. So we are in business!!! We MOVE IN on the fifth! That's ONLY 6 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! we are SO HAPPY!!!!

PLEASE VOTE FOR ME?!!! ( not in the election... ;)

See that? on the side? with MY drawing of the hands? 

----------------------------------- >>>>>>>>>>

I submitted it to an online art contest! Please go vote!!!!

(for me.... :)

I really want to move on to the second round (esp because i get MONEY if i do!)

vote a hundred times if you want! lol :)

Art....

Weeeeeeelllllllllll...I finished this adorable couple! :) I finished yesterday afternoon!

And then today, Sunday, Kimi came over to hang out and eat with us so after we ate she wanted to work on her painting some more and i can't start my next drawing Til the lady e-mails me back so i decided to do a painting too!

And I already finished. lol. Its on hardwood like the one i did that i gave to Annette and Cam. But its half the size. It's Two feet by two feet. 

New Drawing

So I've been ...kind of avoiding doing this drawing. My friend Alyce asked me to do it almost two months ago and gave me the pics:

She asked me to Put them together into one drawing. They knew eachother the in old folks home and were dating but he passed away three months ago and she didn't have any pics of them together. sad huh? So I'm drawing them together.

But, talk about difficult. So i've been avoiding it. I'm trying to make it look like his arm is around her. (those are just pics of the printed pics i have. They're much better quality than they look.)

I started when she first gave them to me and got his main features done and a bit of an outline of her but stopped and didn't keep going again til today. 

This is what i have so far. I'm planning on finishing this weekend. (i hope!)... i just have their hair and her ears, his left ear and her forehead to finish. .... and maybe do something in the background but .... we'll have to see about that...

Sunday

(Down...or up, in Logan Canyon a few weekends ago when bryce's fam came up to visit)

i don't like getting on and seeing those disgusting pics so ... even though i don't have a plan as to what to blog about...i'm doing it anyway.

Well today is sunday...for the past three hours bryce and i have been sleeping. lol i woke up but i can't get him to so i'm blogging. :) 

We went to church this morning. It was lovely. We really like our ward and are so happy to finally really have a ward! We ward hopped for a long time because the family ward would could also be in was ssssoo Looooud during sacrament meeting-you could barely hear the speakers. (not even exaggerating).  

So something i was grateful for today was that i was having a rough morning.... again. (we're again considering the Nat Guard  and all that stuff I've already blogged about that i'm not going to start thinking about again). So i was having a hard morning and i get tired to whining to Bryce so i was keeping my mouth shut about it but i was practically crying during sacrament meeting so he just kept rubbing my back and giving me side hugs and whispering love you's during the meeting. I was also praying though the entire time wondering why i can't seem to be who i want to be and do all i want to do and feeling so hopeless and feeling so much despair that i felt like life would just consume me right there. But i was praying. So there must have been something inside me still fighting. which is always good because that means the Lord can intervene --- All the talks were about having hope and how when we're filled with despair, nothing good can come of it-we must have hope and look to the Lord and have faith that we will come out on top. The Lord is overseeing our lives and he will help us through. Charity was also mentioned. How we need to look outside ourselves and see what we can do for those around us. By turning our attention away from ourselves and focusing on others, we can begin to feel our load lightening. 

Then, one of the girls in my Relief Society Presidency, Sara, is the most wonderful girl ever. I love her!!! She's always so sweet to me. And today after sacrament meeting, i was still feeling a little down--much better than earlier though. But she stopped me and smiled and looked so happy to see me and told me how much she loved my hair and just looked so genuinely happy that it boosted my day ten fold. 

So as my day has progressed, ive felt better and better thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who knows I'm here and knows i'm struggling and has sent angel after wonderful angel to my aid.

Here's another angel Bryce and I love to death. She's adorable and makes us laugh all the time. This is Briley, Bryce's little sister. She'll be four in January.  Yesterday we woke up to snow. So we called her to tell her that it's snowing here "in the mountains" (as she would say). So when Bryce told her she decided she was going to come visit us and play in the snow with us. We got a call later that afternoon from Lori saying that she had been frustrated all day because Lori wouldn't let her "go play in the snow with Bryce in the mountains". 

A couple weeks ago, the week after this pic was taken, she was asking Lori if she could do something and Lori kept saying she couldn't so she said, "If you don't let me do...I'm not going to go visit Bryce and Cherise in the mountains anymore". lol  Bob and lori got a kick out of that. So did we.  Apparently she figured it would be a punishment for her parents because if she wouldn't go to Utah then they couldn't. She's awfully smart for a three year old. :)

(Kabria, Briley, and Bob in the creek in Logan Canyon)

(We went to a demolition derby while the fam was here too. It was actually really really fun! We all loved it. This is a pic of one of the truck rounds. It was hilarious. Bryce laughed harder than i have heard him laugh....probably ever. :)

peacocks and mold

These are the peacocks that hang around our back windows and tap on the glass and scare me to death. and then sometimes when i'm going to my car to leave i'll come out and four of them will be surrounding my car...

This is the SMALL hole they said they would cut....to find the leak in the pipes in the wall
and yes its all mold...
This however is not mold. It is all just insulation. They didn't find anything bad in our bathroom ceiling...

lovely huh? bet YOU want to get ready for the day in there huh? lol they cleaned up some but its still pretty gross in there today.

This is a little peek at what our widow sills look like

low

Well, that was certainly a different response than i thought i would get. ...

I just have to say, reading those comments made me bawl like a baby. (still am). 

Not only have i completely fudged my new leaf goal of not thinking neg. thoughts, but i wish i hadn't even said it in the first place because I've fudged it so bad. 

I don't really know where to start...

FIRST: My house:

we live in a basement apt of a house. We moved in loving it and thinking it was so great. and then i noticed the humidity level was...pretty much worse than MO in the summer but cold, not hot with it.  then we noticed the weird smells. and then the black and green mold growing in our window sills that was there before we moved in that we just hadn't noticed until we had already been here a month. And then come to find out this lovely mold has grown ALL over my boxes of new kitchen wedding gifts still in boxes under my kitchen sink....i pull them out and the boxes LITERALLY fall apart in my hands because they're so wet and MOLDy. I had to chuck all the boxes and haven't had the heart to throw them away so all those previously beautiful new appliances are now covered in more mold in my other kitchen cupboard that i hadn't opened until today. lovely right? right.   (PS, we've been trying to get our landlords over here for a MONTH and they say they'll come by tonight FINALLY so here's hoping)     Not to mention the constant mold that grows across our bathroom ceiling that i tried to clean once a week (WITH BLEACH) but came back every time no matter how much we try to keep it aired out. ...... and that is not mentioning the stink that follows me around everyday AFTER leaving the house---it has penetrated my clothing so thoroughly that after washing it, the smell is back within 10-15 mins of having it out of the dryer. 

SECOND: (yes that's all just 1)

As i said the other day, bryce and i are now 90 % sure he'll be doing the HELI school here in Logan (yes, that will cost us $65,000). Which brought me to my decision (not a final one) to quit school and start working full time. That much money in debt scares the crapppppers out of me considering the state of the economy at the moment. It makes my $2000 of debt because of freakin mary kay look like childsplay. 

THIRD: connected to the second...

School. Yes that's what this was all about, yeah? I also blogged about this a bit ago...

I have five semesters left after this semester. and that's IF i play my cards right and take on quite a bit every semester. I may be almost done with generals but have a ton of upper division art credits to take. Which leads me to something several ppl have mentioned .... if i quit school now, what if bryce dies and i have to support myself? Well, even with a Bachelors of Fine Arts with an emphasis in Drawing and Painting, the only options i have are selling my art (already try that) and doing seminars at colleges, towns....etc. wherever i can get one and have like...mini classes and demonstrations.....not exactly what i want to do with my life. 

Every time i've considered quitting school, ppl have said well if you can't do anything with your major than switch. My answer: nope. This is what i'm doing if im going to stay in school. I don't want to do art education and honestly don't have any other interests that would cause me to want to stay in school another three years in order to switch.  

So that just leaves me wishing i hadn't turned over a new leaf because all i want to do is cry and think about how crappy i'm doing in school and how much i hate painting and think my work is crap-o-la.  or how at the moment i'm supposed to be cleaning my moldy house so that when the landlords come they dont' think its moldy because of us.  OR how according to some enlightening internet research Jen did for me, exposure to mold can cause headaches (bryce-everyday), constant sinus infections, cancer, neurological diseases, fatigue, muscle aches,  allergies, sensitivity to certain chemicals, ... oh and here...

allergies arthritic-like aches asthma bloody noses chronic headaches coughing "crawly" feeling skin depression dizziness or stuffiness epileptic-like seizures equilibrium or balance loss fatigue flu-like symptoms

irritation of the eyes, nose or throat loss of memory loss of hearing loss of eyesight nausea restlessness runny nose sinus congestion skin rashes sneezing trouble breathing unexplained irritability upper respiratory distress toxic headaches

To say the least, we've been looking for another place to live for almost two weeks. and this week we ARE GOING to FIND a place no matter what. i can't stay in here. the last two nights, the smell on our newly cleaned sheets was so bad i had to pull out a blanket thats been packed away and cocoon myself, including my head in it in order to sleep.

Like Jen said on the phone though, at least I'm married and i don't have to worry about that. 

Lol 

school? no...work

so cherise might be stopping school...sometime. maybe after this semester or after the next....so that i can work and make the mooolah so that bryce can go to Heli. school here in logan. so we need the big bucks to send him through so that means i need to work for real. instead of my silly drawing stuff that just doesn't make enough fast enough. 

SO....i have no ideas about where to work. The only thing i feel qualified to do is waitress and i know i can't handle the stress of that anymore, plus its too bad on my back. so here's asking all you wonderful ppl who know me----

WHERE SHOULD CHERISE APPLY FOR JOBS???

Please comment and give your ideas.  They will be much appreciated. 

;)

Finally

"I love your blog" award

WOOHOOO!! I have been awarded the "I Love Your Blog" award by Jana!! So I get to try to answer these questions in one word. It will be very tricky, but don't worry...we'll get through this together.

1. Where is your cell phone? kitchen
2. Where is your significant other? carls
3. Your hair color? fake
4. Your mother? coming
5. Your father? driving
6. Your favorite thing? B-Dizzle
7. Your dream last night? puzzled
8. Your dream/goal? bachelors
9. The room you're in? cute
10. Your hobby? copying
11. Your fear? wrong
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? flying
13. Where were you last night? painting
14. What you're not? negative
15. One of your wish-list items? non-stinkyness
16. Where you grew up? flllllagstaffff
17. The last thing you ate? BK
18. What are you wearing? favorite
19. Your TV? DI
20. Your pet? pet?
21. Your computer? bryce'sSweet
22. Your mood? whatever
23. Missing someone? hubby
24. Your car? clean
25. Something you're not wearing? shoes
26. Favorite store? hmmm
27. Your summer? marriage
28. Love someone? obviously 
29. Your favorite color? salmon
30. When is the last time you laughed? lunch
31. Last time you cried? sunday

I award the following people with the "I love your blog award" and in so doing tag them to complete the above questions.

Bethi 

Krista 

Kristi

Chrystal

marylynn

mom

No worries. it's REALLY all about ME

It's amazing to me-reading about and talking to other women and hearing about the negative things everyone has to say about Themselves! ( men too...but i just usually talk to other women... :)

I'm tired of hearing these AMAZING women think of themselves as untalented, boring, not pretty, or not organized. I know I feel and say those things all the time. But no more. I'm turning over a new leaf and would love it if anyone would like to join me.  (my other new leaf is that I'm not going to say the S*** word ANYMORE!!! bet you didn't know i say that!....except for my poor husband who is trying so hard to help me stop...)  

I've come to realize in the last couple of weeks-from meeting a bunch of new people, particularly women, at school and church etc. - that when we feel embarrassed about something, we say, maybe to the person next to us, that we aren't good at whatever we're doing so that we can relieve the awkwardness we feel THINKING that the other person THINKS what we're doing is bad or not right or that they could do better.      Really, I think this is another reason women say neg things about themselves--because they imagine the person next to them Thinking those things.  ----For EXAMPLE: how right now i want to Apologize for my complicated wording

....Heck! it's my dang blog... i shouldn't feel the need to apologize to anyone for that. That's silly!

NOW, we could say, well what's wrong with that? what's so wrong for saying i'm bad at something when i really am??? WELL, let me tell you!!! You know how they say that our thoughts determine our words and our words determine our actions? Well that's what we're doing. We're reinforcing the idea that we ARE BAD AT something. How ridiculous is THAT?? 

 

It reminds me of when i started to draw. I know now that when i started, and showed dad that first self portrait i did from the bathroom mirror, it wasn't too great but i didn't know that. Dad suggested a few things that might help me to improve but he said i was doing GOOD. So i kept going. i kept working at it. and let me tell you, Now looking back?? .....since i just turned over this new leaf i'm Not going to continue that sentence but

 let me just say that:

ITS a good thing i thought i was good at drawing and that Dad said i was good. I WOULDN"T have continued to try otherwise. Now, I can sell a drawing for over $200 if I want and I have my own website www.artlarue.com and business cards and I'm planning on getting my BFA (Bachelors of Fine Arts) in drawing and Painting. Who knew, you know? 

ANYWAY, my point after my long ..thing, is that if i had been saying bad things or thinking bad things about my art i WOULD NOT have gotten to where i am now. 

WHich is why i have to start being POSITIVE during my painting class instead of ..you know, not being.... lol. good one Reese.... (see i really should be saying we and all us women and whatever because really i'm just talking about myself....)

MY DANG BLOG....!!!

ok, anyway, I just want to be a more positive thinker. THE POWER OF THOUGHT. That's what we're going for....

Our ABC's

I would like to remind YOU ALL that my birthday is coming up so you can all sing me praises on my annual day of birth.

On which day you can also go tell my MOTHER how wonderful she is for bringing me into this WORLD. :) www.thegrandrowls.blogspot.com

So this day is OCTOBER 8th! Next week, on WEDNESDAY. 

My other reason for doing this is that I AM HORRIBLE with people's birthdays and remembering them SO my plan is to help y'all remember so you don't feel BAD. ;) I'm so nice, i know. 

Besides that...well I'm excited for conference coming up...and i get to see some fam which is way fun! (on My side as well as Bryce's side.)

Also this weekend, in between conf sessions, Bryce and I are scheduled to meet with the main guy that oversees all the Heli. Pilots at the Nat. Guard unit in West Jordan. So we'll be able to FINALLY ask all our questions and so we can see if it's even something we want to keep considering.  WOOOHOOOO!!!