Final posting for 2014!

Mike and I enjoyed a dinner for two at Red Lobster, thanks to Dan and Tam Hobbs AND Cathy and Howard Lemmon! They gave us gift cards for Christmas. We enjoyed green salads, coconut shrimp, fish, baked spuds, and their famous cheddar herb biscuits.

There's my hunka hunka burnin' love!

Soon after Christmas, Mike and I decided to repaint all of the adobe bricks on the lower half of our home. It's a project I've been thinking about for years. Little did we realize what a huge undertaking it would be, but we're glad we did it. Most of the bricks hadn't been cleaned or touched up in 35 years!

Is that a large mouse I see trapped behind the wall?
Mike was such a great sport with this project!

The painting took us two full days and a night to complete
Sorry about your hair, Mike!

The new color on our adobe bricks are lighter and more natural looking now

This part was fun to do!

We love the fresh, new look from all our work!

My GRATITUDE list for 2014 is quite long, so I'll mention just a few that I'm most grateful for:

1. My wonderful husband
2. My wonderful children and their wonderful spouses
3. My 7 (and one due this summer) beautiful, sweet grandchildren
4. My parents, my siblings, and all of our extended family
5. Good, friendly neighbors
5. The warm, radiant sun that heats and brightens the whole world
6. Trees, flowers, and birds
7. The bright light of the moon and twinkling stars in the night sky
8. Running water and hot water 
9. A washer, a dryer, and clean laundry
10. Indoor toilets
11. Enjoyable music that elevates my soul
12. Delicious food
13. A physical body (as broken down as it may be) to enjoy touching, seeing, hearing, tasting, and feeling all the awesomeness in this world
14. And last but not least--my loving Heavenly Father who has blessed my life with all of the above and then some. I am so grateful that I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and for the opportunity I have to learn and to grow in the Gospel throughout my life

My favorite saying from Proverbs

January 1st-5th, 2015: After completing the painting project, we needed to repair the corner niche near our fireplace. The foundation was previously made by stacking adobe bricks inside molded sheet metal that enclosed the niche--it was an amateur job at best and not very stable. A large, customized slat of lumber was placed on top of the bricks that served as the floor of the niche, and the floor was covered in large pieces of cedar bark. 

Mike removed all the bark and cleaned out the metal casing (he layered the bark in our front yard landscaping, so nothing was wasted). He carried out a half dozen heavy wheelbarrows full of old adobe bricks and placed them in our garden area. Next, he cut four square holes in the bottom of the metal; below the metal floor was nothing but dirt. Mike got a bucket of sand and used it to even out the dirt in each hole. 

He put a concrete foundation block in each of the holes, then nailed a series of 4x4 posts, 2x8 beams, and 2x6 joists to form the foundation. The next step was to create a better-fitting plywood deck to fit on top of the foundation. Then he placed a cement backer board on top of the plywood and filled the side gaps with foam. On the final day, he laid and cut sheets of 1"x1" natural stone tiles on top with masting and later grouted the tile and the sides. I finished off the project by repainting the affected area and then decorating the niche like before. What a great accomplishment to finish soon after the new year!

Cement foundation stones and wood posts set into metal sheeting floor atop dirt and sand 

Building up the foundation with lumber

Hard worker hubby takes a minute to think things through

Finished with the foundational structure

Sizing up the top or "deck" of the niche

The edges and gaps were sealed with foam overnight

The thin cement backer board placed on top of the plywood

Using his new tile snippers to cut and trim the sheets of tile

This sure looks different than before!

Here's the tile after its been grouted and left overnight to dry

 After the outlying grout was painted and the bricks touched up,
our niche was good as new and prettier too!

The finished project completed--yay!

Highlights for 2014 included: 

1. Summer: Got a new boss at Seminary (my fourth in 14 years)--Alec Smith, our new Principal and CES Coordinator, and getting more hours at work!

2. July 13th-20th: Trip to San Francisco, CA with Mike and my mom!

3. November 1st-17th: Trip to Japan with Mike and Jacob!

4. November 25th-29th: Thanksgiving in Idaho with Joy Hobbs; Jessica and her family, and Sam and his family!

5. December 2nd, 3rd, and 10th: Training Seminary teachers in Los Lunas, Espanola, and Albuquerque in administrative duties--I loved meeting the teachers!

6. December 13th: Family Christmas Dinner and Party!

7. December 17th: Dinner at Dion's with my brother, Richard Pitcher and his family (visiting from Oklahoma); my sister, Jacqueline Babbitt; and my mom!

8. December 19th-20th: Pretend Christmas eve and Christmas with Jessica's family in their home!

9. December 22nd: Christmas dinner (katsudon) with Jacob's family!

10. December 23rd: Christmas dinner (sukiyaki) with Sam's family!

11. December 25th: Christmas at home with my best friend and hubby! Okay, so I LOVE Christmas!!

12. December 27th-29th: Painted the adobe brick on the lower walls a lighter color!

13. January 1st-5th (yes, I'm counting this as part of 2014): Getting the corner niche in our living room completely redone from the foundation to the tiled deck!