Monday, June 19, 2017

5 Year House Anniversary and the BIG Reveal

Hi All,
If you have been following my posts this last year you know we have been working hard over the last year to get our house the way we wanted it. With the help from my amazing Friend Stacey here is the changes, enjoy:

The front of the house before:



The front of the house prior to moving in had a ton of snap dragons and overall clutter. Between Mothers day and summer gardening, I now am thrilled with what we have done. Most evenings we sit out here for a glass of wine after the kids go to bed.

THE AFTER:

Love this so much, although this is my 3rd red maple I have planted in the front. The blue pots were a house warming gift from my parents five years ago.

The Front Room Before:



The front room used to be so plain and we really didn't know what to do with it for most of the year. It always looks amazing at Christmas because we put our tree in there but it needed more for the rest of the year.
The AFTER:



We love what Stacey suggested for the front room with the round rug, two chairs and traveling wall photo collage. This hallway also got an updated light fixture from West Elm and also you can see in one of the photos we got a larger light fixture also from West Elm on our stair case against the red wall.

The TV room off of the kitchen before:


The AFTER:


This room felt so incredibly different when we were done. The build in bookshelves made the room and fireplace so much more cozier and less stark. Also a bigger rug has made a huge difference. I can't believe it took us so many years to fill in around the fireplace.
The Kitchen Before:





The Kitchen After:






I got bad lighting in one of my photos but the big change is new stainless steel appliances and getting the cabinets painted white. It makes our very tiny kitchen feel so much more open. We still are going to be getting granite and a new back splash probably this year too.



The Powder room on the main floor before:

The After:



Bren and I are particularly proud of this room because we did the tin ceiling our selves. I had always not liked the color of this room so we painted it almost a navy, changed the light fixture and felt like the room had the needed face lift.

The Laundry Room Before:

The laundry room After:
Not a whole lot done here but a coat of mint paint, some signage and chandelier lighting. We really also use this as a mud area as well winter gear in the ski season and towels and pool gear during the summer. Iron man (the red washer and dryer) continues to kick ass.

The Basement Before:


The Basement After:




The basement really needed more work on the guest room. We added a TV, dresses, bed frame, curtains, bedding and a lighter coat of paint to give the room an open feel. Even though our basement has a ton of toys, we like the feel of the high top table, some new art and more games.

The Office Before:

The Office After:


I decided since I work from home and have been for the last two years I really needed a lighter space. So we painted and added colorful artwork which is extra special because my God Mother Trudi painted it. We also have a navy, velvet futon in here in case we needed more beds.

Our Master Before:



Master After:



This was the room that really made a difference. After putting so much effort into both kids nurseries both Bren and I decided that our master really needed a facelift. Lots of paint, new furniture, bedding and artwork made a huge difference.

Slight view of the master bathroom before:


Master Bathroom After:


New lighting and eventually we will be doing a full remodel of this bathroom with hopefully a soaking tub and shower and new window. In the meantime I like what we did.

Upstairs Rooms Before:


Upstairs Room After:

This makes my heart happy because I had always hoped when we bought our house that this would be the house we started a family. Now that we have our family seeing these two nurseries makes me smile. 

The backyard Before:

The backyard after:


Same as the before picture, I love all the junk in the backyard. it says a happy family that likes to get outside and enjoy nature together. 

Life is good! Five years into our house and we love Utah. Next up, a cabin!


Love,
The Whites








Sunday, June 11, 2017

Pigs CAN Fly



My flying pig

Prior to writing this blog the only song I could think of almost every day was "it's the most wonderful time of the year".... yes the Christmas one. Now I am aware it is June but it is my busy season meaning dance recitals and convention. Here I am on Sunday evening and HALLELUJAH- I survived. Hooray for optimism and singing happy Christmas Carols when stressed!

Not only is the actual convention a HUGE event but then we had record numbers once again with some 450 people coming together for one event that me- (just me) is in charge of. I figured out a long time ago that if you do the prep work ahead of time life will be easier. For the last three weeks almost any night I could I would work anywhere from 8pm to midnight or to 3am doing prep. This is stuffing envelopes, printing signs, touching base with sponsors or speakers or just doing any of the other normal parts of my job that don't go away when annual congress comes around. Yes my title might seem fancy as an executive director but the reality is I am here to serve my association, optometry and my doctors and often that means being the janitor, mover or whatever needs to be accomplished.




Sometimes you do just need to work because all of the other anxiety, nerves will keep you up as well.
Did I cover everything, what did I forget (you always do) and what will go wrong (something always does)? I forgot AV for entire room this year and my printer broke. Luckily all were easy to solve but meant some early mornings to get caught up or come up with a plan B. During the convention I usually work 18-20 hour days and am lucky to get 5 hours of sleep. The conclusion is we had another wonderful, successful conference and I feel damn good. So good in fact that I had to stop at the grocery store on my way home to get dinner for everyone and I saw a little statue that had a flying pig and I bought it for myself because I thought "I could do that or make that happen". Maybe I do it the way my little 3 year old says, "look Mom it's a pig with a Butterfly on his back".

At one point during my conference my board surprised me with a bouquet of flowers and thanked me and said my passion and determination made them believe I could probably get the president there if I had wanted. (Anyone know any Trump impersonators for next year)? As I walked up there and was presented with some flowers I couldn't help but laugh and start doing my best beauty queen wave because the whole thing was so awesome and I thought damn it I'm going to be myself and I feel like Ms America right now. Lesson learned don't work a day in your life because YOU should be truly passionate about what you do and be yourself, Ms America, flying pigs and all!




Love
Alyssa

PS- you know why I love Utah my amazing, incredible single Dad husband brought babies up Saturday for the carnival and all my doctors were so wonderfully kind and hilarious to them running around the last hour of education. Utah loves families and I love Utah!

PPS- someone tell my board to get me a tiara next year!!!