Not My Day

I knew it was going to be a bad day when I realized this morning that I had applied my deodorant stick to my toothbrush instead of toothpaste.

Not only have I been extremely forgetful and distracted all day, but also very clumsy. I dropped ALL of my grocery bags at the same time, shattering everything in glass containers and tearing open the cream carton. I also just dropped a brand new box of tampons, which was open, in the toilet. To make things worse, I tried fishing them out as quickly as I could only to empty them into the sink that was also filled with water. - They are now drying on my bathroom floor, and we are having guests for dinner in 1 hour, and I am scrambling to come up with substitutions for my spoiled groceries.

Maybe I'm dehydrated? Or sleep deprived? Maybe this disease is like the 24 hour flu and it will be gone by tomorrow! (I really hope so)

Orem Rec. Center Shooting Range

Well... we are deciding about guns in our family. The conclusion we came to: we want one. I think a few of my cousins have concealed weapons permits? Thoughts anyone? Concerned?, me too...

Mother, getting younger

I tryed to call my mother today to let her know that I love her for raising me well and caring so much, but I couldnt get her on the phone (shes gone to mexico) so I thought the next best thing would be to picture my Super multitalented mother starting a dance revolution... Happy birthday... We love you - Shane and Lauren

How very fortunate I am..

I asked Shane to teach the bulk of the lesson today to our sunbeams, because I wasn't feeling very patient. He agreed, and I sat back while Shane taught the kids, telling stories and explaining simple gospel principles. As I watched, I was very moved by the love he has for our little sunbeams and for our Heavenly Father. He reminded me of his Dad, and I felt so much gratitude for Shane, and for the examples he has had in his family. I am so happy to be able to have a wonderful and blessed life, with a kind and loving husband.

Progress...

The demolition team hard at work

Razorblades found in the wall behind the extracted mirror

Progress slow and steady.. stay tuned for restoration hardware's atomosphere blue walls .. and a pivot mirror in the gaping mirror hole. notice the bead board and the flipped over trim... I was super happy about redoing the trim it was like... getting kicked in the shin...or getting your eye poked just hard enough to make it ache for a good while. signed: -the building crew, and plumber

Jungle Safari

Last night we went to the Jazz vs. Kings game and then to the Anniversary Inn, courtesy of my engineering firm. Luckily I own a little leopard print number, left over from putting together Sheldon's special tool kit for honeymoon. I had everything under control.

Our waterfall, and you can see the bed up in the loft (top left)

The jetted tub was under the elepant and if you look under his neck you can see a shower head.




We spent the night climbing around the rocks.

Deep Thoughts by Shane Dyer..

Shane made the following statement last night to one of our friends in complete seriousness and with all sincerity.

"But Katie, crafting is happy time, not snappy time!"

I just thought I would share.

Tea & Cake

Oh how I miss London. My friend Jamie came over today for some Herbal Mint Tea and Lemon Pound Cake (which sadly collapsed and I'm not sure why), and it was so nice to catch up - London style. I think I'll make it a weekly event, but next time we'll do traditional High Tea with sandwiches and scones.

Classic with a splash of modern

This puppy ended up taking me the better part of a saturday to get in. I love our faucet, its a marrage between my desire for a modern look with laurens love of traditional east coast styling. Those folks at kolhler are brilliant. There is however one problem with this picture. someone put the molding on the top of the bead board up side down...

My question to the reader: must i flip it over? its such a pain.

Up and Coming

This painting now graces our living room. The paiting is from a fantastic artist who should soon contract with a gallery. You can also catch a glimpse of our new roman blinds. Thank goodness for ikea.

Mmmmmm

Thank you Carrie for our bag of delicious goodies (Apple Cake Muffins pictured here). I love baking! I love the smell, and the way my kitchen warms up, and the way it makes you feel good inside. I have loved making all of these yummy muffins, and it has inspired me to create my own recipes. (we have muffins almost every morning for breakfast) So, thank you for such a thoughtful gift that has brought so much happiness to my kitchen!

P.S. Shane would also like for me to mention that this is my first official post on this blog.

Thank You

The holidays are sadly over and life has returned to the Lauren and Shane Dyer normality (which is perhaps far from normal). In retrospect I don’t think that I have properly expressed gratitude for my in-laws. Christmas at the Barlows (Typical form pictured below) is so fun. It hard to express proper thanks for such a generous family, a sincere thank you seems lacking in this case. I need something a more like: a shot gun with thank you bullets, that would probably do it…however that seems dangerous. Lauren suggested a thank you fire work. Perhaps a thank you banner that made noise by itself… maybe too annoying. A thank you cake… too typical. A thank you hug?, Dinner?, Song?... I don’t know. What shows a person’s most sincere thanks? I’m just not sure.



( A man who is serious about thank you's)
Click on this picture

AMG? why have i not heard of these?

So I rode in a new 612 hp...(im not kidding, 612 horses) mercedes s65 AMG. I didnt actually think that they made street legal cars with that much horse power. The new Farrari has a small 540 hp, however the farrari is like 4.2 sec 0-60 and the amg is 4.4 sec 0-60... and there is a porsche 911 GT2 530 hp that does it in like 3.6 secs... anyway I guess its safe to say 612 hp is a rediculus amount of horsepower. My wife was the driver as we rode in the monster car.... yeah... I dont know how that worked out, sad sad...

Christmas with the Barlow's

This is Mary Foulger, my grandmother in law, we had a big Christmas Dinner up at her and her husbands house for Christmas. Its been a fantastic Christmas here in DC!

Merry Christmas

From my creepy right eye thats open just a little bit in this picture.

China Town in the Capitol

We went to Tony Chang's in China town for dinner on the 26th... after our trip to the interactive internation spy museum. we had to take roles and do a role play spy job...(shane = blue beatle). I followed people with moving cameras and audio equipment, diabled 4 cameras with the help of my team, (lup garu...french for werewolf... I dont know how to spell it) I haked a safe, used a polygraph... and consequently kept a nuclear bomb from a terrorist. I should have been a spy. Im thinking about taking it to the next level with "The Ultimate Spy Adventure" http://www.spymuseum.org/special/ultimate_adventure.php it only costs $10,000 for 4 poeple.

You bet he's a Cowboy!

Santa in the off season. Among my favorite Christmas decorations in the house.

Bathroom floor

This is our new bathroom floor, it has yet to be grouted. Its taken so long to get to this point in the remodel... There like little hexagons of light, shining from the end of the tunnel! however the tunnel is like 10 billion miles long, and we aren't even driving we are riding bikes, and there not road bikes, there huffys... which gives you an indication of this rides degree of difficulty.

New York

We went to New york this last week to visit Dan and Minna. These 3 photos where taken by Minna, you have to look at her blog: (http://miriamlovell.blogspot.com) she is an incredible photographer. She took this picture of Lauren and I aswell. I became better friends with Hannah and Jane (shown above) they are so fun, Hannah gets so excited, its so fun to watch her. It was a super trip. We went into Manhattan and spent a day wondering around the shops. I like really like SOHO. I had a great time examining all the old building and wood floors and paint work, it made me feel good about our house. We are doing a very profession job on the renovations. We also had lunch at Bobby Flay’s restaurant the mesa grill (http://www.mesagrill.com/) It was good to be with Dan and Minna. We need to figure out a way to be together more often.

Newest family member

We call her Wilma