Update Time!!

Wow, it's been WAY too long since I posted last. I really am no good at this whole blogging thing. Alot has happened in the last 7 months (since I last wrote anything - correction, blogged anything). Chad and I bought a house in Chino, Chad ran a terribly rigorous marathon in the mountains, we bought Chad a new truck, and we've started a big renovation project on our home! It's been some exciting stuff. First off - the house. After looking for about 9 months, we finally found house/area that we loved. We put an offer on the home, and we were outbid - what's new? The hard part was, Chad and I both felt so good about the house, the location, everything, so to hear that we didn't get the house was difficult for the both of us. About 2 weeks later, our realtor/family friend called us and said, "you must be paying your tithing, because you got the house afterall!" We were so incredibly excited. Escrow was so smooth (especially compared the our previous escrow that fell through on the day of closing), and we were moved into our house in less than 30 days! We instantly started remodeling the kitchen. Brand new custom cabinets and counter tops were done within the first week, and slowly everything else has come along. Our final touches will be done in the next 2 weeks when my dad comes up to put in our tumbled marble backsplash!!

Chad's grandpa, Darryl, gave us the BEST hose-warming gift ever - a complete overhaul of our yard! Our front/back yard were FILLED with unkempt trees that hadn't been maintained well over the years, deer figurines that were cemented with steel rods into random parts of our crab-tree grass, and terrible cactus planters. Darryl and his workers have helped us to remove tons of unwanted trees, properly prune our amazing fruit trees in the back, and built planters to start planting flowers/my garden! YAY! It looks so much better. We can't wait to finish installing a sprinkler system, and then install our sod - then it will look even more beautiful! My dad's house-warming gift was equally as amazing - he has come up several times to do work on our house. He installed all new custom baseboards and door/window casings and they look amazing! Slowly this house is really coming along!

Since we sold our second car before moving home from Hawaii, Chad and I have shared a car because we work less than .5 mile from each other, and it has just worked. But he has wanted a truck, so we've been looking and looking. We had some prerequisistes - it was in our budget (which was a huge part of the searching process since we had just purchased a home and did a major remodel that equaled big bucks), a four door (to be able to put a baby in the back for when we eventually start our family), and that it was relatively good with gas mileage. After seriously looking for about 1 month, we found an amazing deal on this Chevy Colorado that Chad LOVES!

 

Chad also decided to run a full marathon!! I was actually the one who wanted to train for a marathon. We started by running our first half marathon in Fontana. It was a great race, and we finished in our goal time. We continued running/training, hoping to run a full marathon in November. Long story short, Chad and 3 of his co-workers decided to run a mountain/trail marathon for the first run - one that I opted out of because it was through grueling terrain, and thought it would be nicer to my body if I chose a standard road marathon. I was so proud when Chad finished 7th overall, and beat the prior year's record!!

 

Then of course, my brother, Chase, came home from his 2 year mission to Guatemala for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He served a faithful, successful mission and we could not be more proud. Listening to his mission experiences always made me reflect back to my time as a full-time missionary for our church to Japan - we could bond over the struggles and joy that came from that special time in our lives. All in all, Chad and I feel truly blessed for all that the Lord has given to us. We will be celebrating our 2 year anniversary in December, and look forward to many more wonderful years together!

 

And