We started a business....Fix It Handyman, LLC

It has always been Matthew's dream to have his own business and we decided to take the plunge early. Matthew started a handyman business with his friend Ben before I met him but Matthew and I decided to give our marriage the real test and see if we could make it work together. We had to make some purchases before we could really get started. Starting with a new reliable laptop and cell phones. We retired my old college laptop, I took his old laptop, and the new laptop was dedicated to the company.

Then we decided to get rid of my sporty Pontiac G6 GTP that I have only owned for a year. But with the way gas has been, it is much more economical to keep Matthew's Toyota Corrolla. Now I am driving the Corolla and we bought Matthew a new truck!!!!

Well new for us.........................we bought a GMC Canyon 2006. It is big enough to haul Matthew's supplies and tools but not big enough that I have to jump to get into. It has been a great investment. Not only did we make money on the sale but the insurance is actually less than my Pontiac too and the gas mileage is about the same. All in all.................the trade has been good.

The business is in full swing now. Matthew is only doing it part time during weeknights and weekends. But he is staying busy with 2-3 jobs a week. Check out his blog and tell your friends. Fix It Handyman LLC

Festival of Colors

Festival of Colors has become a traditon for me since I moved to Utah county. It is a Indian festival that celebrates the beginning of spring. The festival was March 26th at the Spanish Fork Kristna Temple. For a small fee you purchase powdered paint and "decorate" friends and strangers. This was Matthew's first year to go and we invited our friends Heidi, Sean, Lisa, and Jon. We had a fun time in all the colorful chaos. 

This picture is before the festival.....although during the long walk from the car some people decided to shair their paint with Matthew.

New Found Hobby

At the beginning of the year, I was realizing I don't have a lot of holiday decorations. I purchased several of these block sets from Quilted Bear (another of my new favorite stores) for Valentine's Day and St Patrick's Day. But then decided it was ridiculous that I was spending money on these when I had extra time, a husband that could cut blocks for me, and some creative skills.

This set of blocks is versatile for Easter and Spring. A coworker's wife helped me with this set of blocks that she was already doing for herself. I loved her idea and appreciated her help.

This set of blocks I just wanted to do for all seasons and to give more color to our house. While doing them for myself, I decided to make a set for my sister and mom for their birthdays. They are cheap and I was able to personalize them for their house color schemes, which are actually very similar to mine. Smart minds think a like.

This was my most recent block set. I woke up one morning with the inspiration for them and started them over Conference weekend while home at my parent's and could utilize my brother, Mic's, art skills. This has been a fun craft that will possibly keep me busy this year but then I don't know what I will do next year!!!

What we like to do......home repairs!!!

Ever since getting married and even before when we were just dating, Matthew's handyman skills have rubbed off onto me. I have realized I really like to decorate and better our house. But I think it is mostly because Matthew is so great at it and I am taking advantage of it.

Matthew always tell me lighting makes a room and I am really starting to believe him. This was one of the first projects we did after getting married. He added the lights for under the cabinets which just makes the kitchen brighter and nicer. I am loving them!!!

We also installed a fan/light in our bedroom. I have been wanting one for a long time because the master bedroom doesn't have good circulation. We requested the fan from Matthew's parent's for our Christmas present. We got it up quick after getting back from our honeymoon. And it has been a lifesaver since then.

In the bathroom, we have also made some small modifications. With Matthew and my height difference, we had to install a double shower head for someone 6'6" and someone 5'1". And a curved shower curtain that has also made the shower roomier for Matthew.

Right before getting married, we realized a need for two nightstands for our bedroom. We found 2 matching wood nightstands from KSL for only $50. The obviously didn't match out other furniture so we painted them of course!!! We painted them cream to go against our deep brown wall and then learned how to glaze them. We have been happy with how they turned out but still have to paint our dresser to match it now.

Before

After

Finally since I have moved into my condo I have had a very bare wall that I have held off doing anything with until I could buy an entertainment center. Matthew and I finally found one we loved. We wanted one that had lots of room to deplay decorations and this one fit our needs just perfectly. And Matthew found a great way to add lights to all of our display shelves which spotlights our new decorations (which we had a lot of fun purchasing at our new favorite store Hobby Lobby). And of course with a new entertainment center we had to buy a BIGGER TV too. Matthew was able to buy this 50" tv from his old roommate with only a slight flaw. Now our home feels a little more complete and feels like home.