Demolition

DEMOLITION

New House "Before"

 Front door

 Hall to bedrooms and bathroom with linen closet

 Bedroom #1

 Bedroom #2

 Kitchen

 Back door in the "nook"

 From "nook" towards living room

 Backyard

 Back of house

 Awkward space in the kitchen

 Back Patio

  Hardwood Floors!                                               

"Nook"

Homeowners

We got a house!
A charming 1952 blank canvas waiting to be turned into a masterpiece! Or at least into something we can call home. To us the home is filled with character and potential. The neighborhood is less than stellar, something we expected. Aurora has a reputation. Not sure yet if thats good or bad, for now it only has a reputation. Full of culture and various ethnic groups we are plunging headlong into a lifestyle foreign to me, city life. Even if it isn't my cup of tea, we are hoping to make this house into an oasis.

 When it comes to creativity, I lack the genes of my families previous generations but that is Daniel's strong suit. He must have gotten something from his grandmother Luci Mae. Between the two of us and countless home improvement websites, I'm hoping we can make this home into something really special. Nothing is more disappointing than failing to reach your expectations. Yesterday was spent on the phone calling roofers, HVAC, Utility companies, and getting quotes here and there. We are only scratching the surface and we still are not sure what exactly it is we have gotten ourselves into. This is a great surface to be scratching though. The house needs a good amount of work. This could be translated into potential. We have a fairly blank slate with some wonderful goodies.
First of all, HARDWOOD FLOORS! WOOHOO!
Second of all, WOOD BURNING FIREPLACE! (this is not the norm for Aurora, or anything in our budget)
Third of all, Awesome cabinets!
Fourth of all, Covered front and back patios!
and finally, Attached Garage!
These were big time bonuses we weren't expecting.

Some potential setbacks though.. The roof and furnace may need replacing and there is no AC. We will see though.

No pictures yet. When we went to see it, the previous owner was still trying to move out and I didn't want to be rude. Hoping today to get some pictures. Anyways, Here is to the Brewer's next major milestone! We are HOMEOWNERS!

I am truly a blogging failure. Call it a lack of motivation or an adjustment period maybe. It's been awhile to say the least. So many things have changed. Last June we packed up a Uhaul (something I've never done for myself) and headed east, bound for Colorado. Currently we are living in Castle Rock while we anxiously wait on a house. Dan is working for his step father who works in real estate, more specifically he flips houses. It's like living HGTV, pretty awesome! We are excited for our chance to find a dilapidated house and bring it back to life. I'm so excited to share a blog about that portion of the process, this part is less exciting and far more frustrating. It takes a long time to find the right deal, that is for sure! The market is changing, more investors are trying to get into foreclosed homes making the prices rise. A year ago, we would have been able to find an amazing home much more quickly. I don't believe in blind chance however, there is a sense of divine providence and I know God has his eyes on us, we are willingly being molded and our new home will be exactly what we need. We just have to be patient. Easier said than done! This transition has been difficult. Saying goodbye to my family, friends, and job that I love, was the hardest thing I think I've ever done. It's still hard. Distance changes relationships drastically. It's still hard for me to come to terms with the fact that we aren't going back and this isn't just an extended vacation. I can't believe it's been 6 months already! Change really throws me for a loop. I enjoy the security of steady routine so big changes tend to be problematic for me. Change is a good thing, I know, I can sense my own growth. I am still grieving for Saint George, It was such a a huge and life changing point in my life. We had so much joy there. But joy is not found in a place. It is found in relationships and we are making new and beautiful relationships here. Our church is amazing. These are such motivated and spiritual people. They let God do such amazing things through them. I feel so grateful to be part of such an active church. A few weeks ago I was privileged to get to deliver gifts for families on behalf of an incarcerated parent. The challenges these families face are daunting. It was so amazing to be part of a solution to some of their problems. In the process of helping with the Angel Tree Ministry I was introduced to Restoration Outreach Programs of Denver. Wow. What an awesome organization! The best part is, I had just finished reading "When Helping Hurts". This organization is modeled by principles outlined in that book. By the way, it's a great book and I encourage anyone with a heart to serve the poor to read it. I hope to become more involved with ROP once we move closer to them. Currently I am serving as a nanny for a cute little family in Denver. It's a great job. I get to bring Oliver and play with him as well as sweet baby girl named Chloe. I love it!  
We have been greatly blessed and I look forward to sharing our home buying/fix up soon. Until then, Merry Christmas!

IQS

It has been a very long time since I have updated my blog. To be honest I haven't had any desire to get on here. I've been tired and stressed and feeling very, for lack of a better word, trapped. Let me sum up for you all the last few months. Dan and I are ready for a better life, more specifically, Dan hates his job and he makes very little money doing it. We keep our heads above water and have enough money to put some away every month but neither of us feel like we are doing with our lives all that we have the potential of doing. Trying to figure out what our potential is has been very stressful and to be frank, we don't see eye to eye on this issue. We are working on it though. To make matters worse, I feel exhausted, and because of my pelvis I have been unable to work out for a majority of the last 6 months. I could go for walks, and I did, but that really hasn't done much for me. All of this created a perfect storm and I have been turning to what I always turn to for comfort, Food; Sugary, Caffeine loaded, delicious food. Anything that tasted good enough that it could distract me from all of the unpleasant feelings swirling about inside of me. So much food that even while breast feeding full time and walking for an hour everyday I was able to gain 20lbs in a matter of months. I don't want to dwell to much on weight or on how my clothes fit because my vanity has very little to do with my feelings of worth. Of course I would love for my clothes to fit better and turning a few heads every now and then might feel good but that's not whats important. The part of all this that has me feeling the most motivated to change is simply that I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. I have NO energy, NO motivation, and my thoughts don't ever seem clear. My house is a mess, my son isn't getting my full attention, and my husband has been almost completely neglected. I wake up at 4:30am, shower, go to work, crack open a soda to give me some oomph. A few hours later, I eat a doughnut or two for a little more oomph. A few hours pass by and again I need another oomph because the earlier two oomph's have left me feeling worse than before I even started oomph-ing!  By the time I get home from work I am completely exhausted and I feel like I'm starving even though I have already consumed all the calories I would need for 2 days. Is this not completely insane?? I know the sodas don't work, the doughnuts don't work, the bowls of sugary cereal and ice cream don't work but still I keep turning to them. It's like a battered women returning to her abusive spouse over and over again, and just like a battered women, This behavior is going to kill me if I don't stop! So I started to do some research and after reading a post on facebook from Sarah Wilson's blog I became convinced. I am a sugar addict. Sugar is toxic, addictive, and it has complete control over me. I refuse to continue on this way so I have committed to 8 weeks without sugar. I bought the "I Quit Sugar" Ebook and I am ready to make this happen.
My family deserves a better wife and mother, and I deserve a better me. I am so ready to feel better! I plan to post on here at least once a week for the full 8 weeks and update you all on my progress and let you know how I am feeling. I will also try and post links about sugar and it's negative effects on our bodies. Like I said earlier, weight is not the main issue here so I plan to focus on feeling better. Wish me luck, say some prayers, and if you feel up to it, join me!

Here are some links to the articles that were my catalyst:
http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2012/02/sugar-as-toxic-as-booze-and-fags-my-thoughts/
 and
http://www.sarahwilson.com.au/2011/11/we-quit-sugar-and-this-is-what-has-happened/

Cabin Fever

Summer is the month for staying indoors here in Saint George. With 105+ degree temps outside and relatively high humidity, I am so happy we have air conditioning! What a life saver.. I am so thankful I work indoors too, I feel bad for anyone stuck outside. It just feels so strange to go from a place where you look forward to summer to where you dread it! All this heat has me feeling a lil bit of cabin fever! Oliver is a blast and I'm having fun rolling around the carpet with him, reading him stories, and feeding him solids! But the indoors is beginning to make me feel like I'm in a prison. We have been trying to get out of the house and go swimming, Oliver is finally starting to like the pool. But its hard to feel motivated to haul all the baby stuff to the pool, esp by myself. I am just anxiously waiting for fall to get here so we can go for long walks and play at the park. One positive, I'm getting to read more. I just ordered a bunch of books off amazon too. I'm currently reading "I don't have enough faith to be an atheist" by Norman Giesler and Frank Turek. I am really enjoying it. I bought a few more books from Norman Giesler and am waiting to get more money so I can get some of Revi Zacharias works as well as more C.S. Lewis and Michele Behe. I have been in a theology, philosophy, and apologetic mood lately. It has me feeling incredibly motivated. This would be a good thing if I didn't feel so stuck. Stuck indoors, stuck in my job, stuck in Saint George, stuck in life. I doesn't help that working out isn't an option because of my pelvis, but I also haven't been able to go to physical therapy. I just havent had a baby sitter and when Dan is home to watch Oli there aren't any appointments available. I am trying to stay active by taking the stairs at work, but I haven't been able to really get my heart pumping in awhile. I think that's adding to the trapped feeling. At least last weekend we got a mini vaca. Dan and I went to SLC for my sister in laws wedding. We had a blast! Better weather, more green, and big beautiful city made for good medicine. My sister in law, Jamie and her new husband Lance looked so happy! They make a great couple and I'm so happy for them. The reception was held in a family friend's backyard nestled at the base of the mountains, giving us a spectacular backdrop. The theme was a country picnic with root beer, wildflowers, and soup, salads, and sandwiches catered by Zoopas. Dan's cousin and one of the groom's friends sang and played live music. That night we stayed at a gorgeous 5 star hotel in down town salt lake called the Grand America. We weren't even allowed to carry our own bags in, a bellman had to, that's how fancy it was. Here are some pictures of the view from our 19th floor room! As well as Oli's first solids. I didnt get any pictures if the wedding because I was video recording. I'll post the video later.

I should have posted this a while ago!

Here are some pictures from our first camping trip as a family! We went to Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming, and we stayed at Jenny Lake. We also made a quick day trip to Yellowstone. Pretty fun stuff, I can't wait to get out camping again!