Sunday, August 30, 2009

Home Improvement

Growing up I was one of millions of children viewers that were led to believe that WWF Wrestling was in fact real wrestling! I was convinced that Hulk Holgan, aside from his platinum obviously fake blond hair, was really tough enough to withstand not only a forearm to the throat or a jump kick to the face but metal chairs being broken over his back. Like many of you it rocked my world to find out that the muscle monkeys not only used steroids and lots of self tanner but choreographed these wrestling matches prior to it taking place. The outcome of the match was truly determined by the producers and not by these would-be heroes. Well my friend prepare yourself because I am about to expose another fake show, my intent is not to rock any worlds with this post but I feel that the truth must be shared. For those of you familiar with the HGTV network and the shows it produces such as Divine Design, Color Splash and Rate My Space I tell you the shows are FAKE. They are produced in such a way that they seem almost inspirational and very basic and easy to do home improvements. Well we too were suckers and fell victim to the "easy to do projects" that they showcase. We had seen an episode where they decided to stripe the walls of a room to give it some pattern, so we thought they made it look easy and they were able to accomplish it relatively quickly so why not give it a shot. What the program failed to show is how hard it is to measure the same distance along the wall, draw all the lines and the tape the stripe following the lines not on them but right next to them. It was a blessing that my wife was given the gift of patience because I was ready to throw in the towel on numerous occasions. Needless to say the end result exceeded not only our expectations but also our initial thought of the time commitment involved in completing the project. All in all I decided that most of the projects they showcase cannot be completed in the 30 minutes they show on the program. Here are some project photos.


The Taping...

The clear coat over the tape...


Removing the tape... slowly...slowly...



The Big Reveal!

Another home improvement project we opted not to take on ourselves was re-doing our driveway. Our house was build in 1947 and I don't think the driveway has been touched since then and was in need of serious help! So we opted for help this time in widening the driveway and removing the "mow" strip in the middle of the driveway. We are thrilled with how it turned out and can't wait to actually be able to drive on it.


Before...

During...

After!
To round up our home improvement post I though it would be appropriate to show the accent wall we painted in our bedroom
and the shower curtain that Suzie and Lydia so kindly made for us.

Thanks again for your hard work on the shower curtain, if it were not for your exceptional sewing skills we would have some ugly flowery curtain in there...(I can't give up my manhood that easily!) So truly, from the bottom of my heart, Thank You!

We are finally starting to get settled and now that the major projects are done we can get ready for the Utah football season. Go Utes!

Friday, August 14, 2009

Gotta "Love" Sno Shack!!!

We took a break from organizing our office to patronize a local establishment simply a stones throw from our new residence!!



The Sno Shack at RiteAid is possibly, without question, our treat of choice this summer - rain or shine!!! In particular, the Molokai featuring mango, pineapple, coconut & cream, or the latest fun taste treat sensation easily made at home the Malibu Coke - simply Cola Flavoring and a glorious splash of pina colada!! Yum!! And let's not forget the Wai Nai Sneaky Sneaky (my personal fave), I don't even know what's in it but Jimmy thinks our new friend and owner of the fabulous establishment, Soulee, puts in a little somethin-somethin extra just for me!!!



For those in my family that love to make connections, Soulee just happens to be Soulee Stroud - older bro, Zeland Stroud, used to run around with Sam & little bro, Thomas Stroud- my age in school.

Needless to say...

This is a MUST-VISIT Hot Spot in the Elm Avenue vicinity and we will be taking you all there when you come to visit us!! Mmmm... Sneaky Sneaky!!


We also must put in a plug for the McDonalds with the RedBox in the parking lot. James and I stop by to return a DVD from last night and low and behold, a husky little Mickey D's worker comes up and gives us 5, yes 5 free RedBox movie rentals!! Whoo Whoo!!!