Master Bathroom

Back in July 2011 Eric and I's bathroom looked like this...Please excuse the messiness of the photo below..

Photo taken pre-wedding in 2011

Very dark brown walls that made the bathroom seem small and dark. After moving in with Eric I couldn't take the dark space anymore! So Eric agreed we could make the bathroom a weekend paint project. After several trips to home depot and several days of painting its now has a calming light blue color below..!

The paint project finished around November and since then I have been adding things here and there. In the photo above you can see 3 large clear jars on the counter-top, vintage blue towel holder, and two white laundry baskets under the counter. We removed the towel racks when we painted and I haven't put them back up yet because I am still deciding what I want to do. I have a few ideas on shelves or other accessory towel racks that fit in with our whole master bedroom beach scene.
We also added a medicine cabinet which is wonderful! It keeps all the scattered bottles and toothpaste off the counter space. Now the bathroom counter-top isn't always clean, I must admit that right now hahaha. But we do our best to maintain it during the week and it keeps me sane. Here is some more recent bathroom pics below..

Its a process but its getting there. The ceiling needs some TLC too. The previous owner/painter got the dark paint on the ceiling.

So needless to say it looks blah. We haven't quite decided if we will paint it ourselves or hire someone to do it for us. We discovered painting is one of our least favorite things to do hahaha. Now that we have had some time pass since we have painted it we might be up for the challenge again! We will see. My priority with the bathroom right now is aimed more towards decorative and storage. 

Here is some inspiration pics I am working from below to give you an idea..

Forever Project... Master bedroom and bath

A little before Eric and I got married I started spinning up ideas on how to put together the master bedroom and bath to make it our own stylish, and most of all, comfortable space to escape to. As all of you know Eric and I are forever beach bums. We love the ocean and the warm weather so I thought it fitting to stream that feel into our home. Now don't get me wrong I am still a Utah mountain girl as well but there is something about a light and airy beachy feel of the home that screams comfort and peace to me. So I began looking for ideas for the master bedroom and heres what I have been working from to give you all a picture..
The Master Bedroom....

The color scheme is a light blue, tan, white...and maybe a touch of red. I would like to use a lot of woods with a rustic antique white finish. I have some beautiful barn wood frames I will be using like the ones pictured above, very beach rustic :). 

Its hard to tell right now but there has been significant changes in the bedroom decor already. For starters Eric and I moved around a few things including the bed. The bed now sits between two smaller windows. I painted two nightstands a few months ago in black to put on either side. I am going to end up putting the black end tables in the upstairs bedroom when I buy some new ones. I also temporarily have a tall black armoire for extra clothing storage. I feel like I have no clothes yet our closet and drawers are packed to the max! I have a small light blue painted dresser near the foot of the bed that Eric is using for his clothing.

Here is some before and present photos for you to get a picture. The before isnt the actually beginning before, this is after we moved the original bed in between the windows. I couldn't find one where the bed used to be in front of the large window.

Before

Before

Present 

Present

Present

Present

Present

Last week Eric with the help of my dad put up the iron curtain rods. I have also bought curtains but my Mom is helping me attach blackout curtain material to all of them. Two panels of the curtains have been finished and are hanging in the present photo. Of course you can notice the big new bed in the present photo. Eric and I were soo excited when we bought this. Super comfortable and relaxing. The bed is actually on stilts because of my silliness in letting Duke sleep under the bed. Its his favorite little spot, I know I am ridiculous. I bought a new comforter and bed skirt but am still working on pillows and sheets. We also got a new tv after Christmas. I loooove it. Nothing better after a long day then getting cozy in your bed and relaxing to the tube. The tv is a smart tv so were able to stream Netflix and watch movies and shows in our room. Love it!

So as you can see its a constant process but I love planning and working on the little details. And I am grateful for Eric and his patience for all my little "projects" he gets subjected to hahaha 

We have done some work on the bathroom so I will be sure to post that next since my blog posts tend to get lengthy lol so more to come!

A little preview...here is the next item I am having added to our bedroom...cant wait!

Antique white wooden shelf to go over bed

It Feels Like Yesterday..

Wow I cant believe it has already been a little over 6 months since Eric and I were wed. It feels like only yesterday! How time flys :)
The past few months since my last post have been very exciting and eventful. Not to mention three holidays have come and gone. With the ending of a whole year and beginning of a new I realize I have much to be grateful for. Eric and I have discussed how we truly feel blessed to have found each other. And also lucky in combining some of the coolest two families ever!

Holidays have been great this year with the Lopez/ Stewart families. In the month of October Halloween was celebrated with watching UFC of course..haha. Eric and I got together with family and friends at our home and ...unfortunately.. there was no dressing up..maybe next year!
November was a great month. We began getting hit with the cold weather which wasn't too fun but we were able to escape later in the month to Corpus Christi TX to join the Lopez/ Speight family in celebrating Thanksgiving! We had a blast! Eric and I flew out November 19th and stayed till the 26th. Eric's flight was more uncomfortable on the way down than most you could say. He decided not to eat or drink anything that whole day! I felt bad when I was munching on flight cookies and peanuts lol Eric was in a intense competition with his brother Jeremy Lopez. They went on a two week challenge to see who could lose the most weight before Thanksgiving. Pure craziness! Eric stuck to a strict diet with very light foods such as salads and lean meats. He really impressed me with his ability to resist temptation. He went the last few days snacking on carrots and celery and having salads with no dressing! I did my best during the two week period of his diet to cook meals that were low calorie. We came across some healthy recipes that were quite tasty. In the end Eric ending up losing 21lbs! Can you believe that? I hate him lol jk
But back to Thanksgiving in Texas. We had so much fun taking trips to the beach and discovering all the sea life TX has to offer. We visited the aquarium and did lots of beach shop shopping. Thanksgiving day was very relaxing and filling haha. Jeremy delighted us with a Turducken. It is a turkey, chicken, and duck entree. Then we had several other yummy sides to compliment our stomachs. It was a great time with Eric's grandparents, sister Katie and husband Kenny, and Margie and Jeremy. Oh and cant forget to mention Squint and Buster. Those two will forever remain enemies I think haha.
Texas Pics below..

Eric and Jeremy after a beach run

Me working in the kitchen

Other noteworthy things that happened in November. Eric and I were called to work in the American Fork, Utah Temple and began our first shift November 3rd. We will be serving in the temple for 6 months every Thursday. We feel super excited and blessed!
And I'm sure Eric would like me to mention. We watched the infamous Pacquiao fight Marquez November 12th. It was a nail biting event but Pacquiao came out on top of course! We actually watched both Boxing and UFC fights that night with family and friends it was a lot of fun.

December...one of my most favorite months of the year. I know call me crazy but I love the shopping and decorating, cooking, Christmas music and of course family time. Its actually pretty funny the amount of people who begin to become very scrooge like during the Christmas season. I'm sure I make their lives much worse with my constant humming of Christmas music and talk of presents. I just cant help it I love the time of year! The sad thing this year though was that we didn't get any snow! Maybe next year...
One of the most exciting things in 2011 was Eric performing his Guitar Solo performance at his work Christmas party. He was AMAZING! Eric ended up tying with several other co-workers in winning best performance! I am soo proud of him.
I made many treats and tried different recipes during the holiday season especially Christmas time. I probably gained a few pounds but I like to tell people I was hibernating and it will come off soon enough haha. One recipe that my Mother couldn't stop talking about was overnight blueberry french toast yummmm. We ate it on Christmas day with other scrumptious foods.

Blueberry French Toast

Eric's birthday was on December 10th and we threw a party at our home and watched UFC fights. I made a hug banner that consisted of two blown up pictures of Eric. My favorite being his Halloween costume last year of dressed like a Cholo...hahaha!

Early in the Christmas month Eric and I went and got a live tree. Eric wasnt too delighted but very supportive in the process. Here is some pics of us getting the tree and putting it up and then the final decorated version.

You cant tell but Eric is making a scrooge face in this one haha

Getting the tree set up at home

Before

After

Christmas eve and day were a lot of fun. We spent it at the Stewart residence this year. Like I said earlier there was a lot of cooking and eating. Christmas Eve we ate a sit down dinner and watched Our Idiot Brother(a movie lol). Christmas morning we attended my parents Church then came home and ate then opened presents. Later that evening Eric and I returned home and opened each others. Eric spoiled me to say the least. I hope to make it up to him with many back massages and watching episodes of Swamp People LOL (not my favorite show)
All in all I feel that 2011 was a fantastic year. I feel so blessed to be surrounded by people I love and lucky to meet the man of my dreams! 2012 will be even better...

Stay tuned for home improvement posts :))....

September

Hey all! I love how I can title post's as months since it takes me a month to write the next! haha I will try to be better at that. September was a good month. On the 20th Eric and I met our 1 year mark! Hard to believe that we met so long ago. Time has flown by! It has really been a blast to now be married and living together. We're going on about 2 1/2 months.
September was a bit of a stressful month for me. I had to renew my grant that I have at work(VAWA). It is a very tedious and long process. It was my 2nd time around and I feel like I learned a little bit more about the process and feel a little more confident in the year ahead. All being said though, it kicked my butt! Luckily I have Eric to help me. He keeps me sane :)
Since I was a bit overwhelmed at work weekends usually consisted of catching up on sleep and relaxation. Eric had also been extremely busy finishing out his quarter at work.

Thinking back on the month there was a lot of exciting things we were able to do. At the first of the month Eric and I decided to take a 2nd honeymoon since our last was a little short. We stayed at the Park City Hotel. I looove this place, so beautiful. The hotel is tucked away in the mountains of Park City near the ski resort.

Our room

 The front view of hotel

Its a perfect vacation for the warm months when the atmosphere is so green. We indulged in lots of food and laying around. My favorite part would definitely be when we stopped by the Sheep Dog Festival.

For those of you who aren't aware the sheep dog festival runs every labor day weekend during Swiss days in Heber. Border collies come from all over the world to compete in a sheepdog competition that consists of the dog and owner working together to heard sheep, its very fascinating. I took Eric for his first time and he seemed to enjoy it. They also have other events going on such as dog shows, shopping, and splash dogs (Eric's favorite). Splash dogs is a lot of fun to watch. Different breeds compete in jumping the farthest in a above ground pool. The owner will guide their dog up on a dock and throw a toy into the pool in order to get their dog to leap in after it. The farthest we saw that day was 26ft!

Later during the September month I got my social security changed to Lopez. Pretty exciting! Well maybe not to most but to me it is! And I am glad to say the haunting stories of waiting at the social security office for hours did not happen to me thankfully.

On one of my Friday's off during the month my Mom, Duke and I adventured up the Timpanogos trail. We attempted to hike to the top being it has been a goal of ours for long but we didn't quite make it. embarrassed to say I was the one not feeling quite up to it. I wasn't feeling that great. But we still made it farther than I have ever been. And I know Duke at least appreciated being in his element. I feel bad because lately I haven't been able to take him on his usual hikes and runs. Too busy!

Many other fun things happened throughout the rest of the month. Eric and I watched the Evans vs Jones fight, of course! Which included lots of wings and Wingnutz Sports Bar. My little brother Brett and a couple friends accompanied us which was fun.

Triple Berry Cobbler

I made several desserts over the course of the month. I have been sort of on a cooking spree lately, I blame Pinterest!

And of course we worked on a few projects. My favorite being our bathroom. It was a dark charcoal brown before and we painted it a light blue. It ended up being a few day project but well worth it. I dont have pics uploaded now but I will try to get up the before and after soon.

Anyway thats the latest for the Lopez family. Hope to catch up with the the first week of October soon! 

August

August has just FLOWN by! Such an eventful and fun month, soo much to catch up on.
Starting with Eric and I going to the 311 & Sublime Concert!

We decided at that concert that we are getting old...haha. Although there was a mix of young and old at the concert it was completely packed and crazy. So we were relieved when we were able to kick back in our seats away from the open lawn area and far from the mosh pit. We cant stand being soo crowded haha So we relaxed and kicked back and enjoyed the view from a far.
August was full of small home improvements and projects. One of my favorite thus far was cleaning the carpets! The carpet needed a good thorough cleaning..
As you can see Eric is much enjoying it! Love him

It may have been last month, I cant remember..But a very exciting moment for us recently was when we we were at Home Depot one of the workers educated us on how we could remove hard water stains from our glasses. Some of you have seen the horrible, corroded stains we get on our dishes but for those who havent prepared to be shocked by the picture below...

As you can see there are 3 glasses. The two on the left appear to be frosted glasses...no,no...haha that is hard water! The Home Depot worker referred us to this product called Lemishine. You first pour it into your dishwasher and run it empty then the next add Lemishine and regular detergent and your left with...the amazing difference on the right! We were soo shocked! So needless to say washing dishes has been a treat for the time being :)

Other things that happened over the month of August...
A trip to the lake up American Fork Canyon with my parents, Kate, Joe, Brett, Duke, Belle and Mylo.

Doesn't Eric look happy in that last one?! haha