We updated our blog!

So after four months, we decided it was time to update our blog. Want to know what we did this summer? Here's a quick recap:

1. Hiked Mount Olympus


2. Grew a zucchini baby



3. Went to Sweden, Denmark and Norway. Amazing! Check out this link: http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700255823,00.html



4. Finally finished remodeling our master bathroom after a five month break.



5. Traveled to Arches, Jackson Hole and we're planning a trip to both Vegas and San Francisco this month.



6. Endured through Troy's Photo Quest of 2008. He made us get up at 5:30 a.m. to catch the sunrise for a work photo contest.

7. Grew a flower garden then watched it die after we returned home from Scandinavia because our sprinkler system blew a fuse.


8. Enjoyed our second summer of marriage


9. Niki began riding TRAX and met a guy who said he was an alien. Also, she talked with a guy who told her about his shingles. Ick.


10. Took lots of wedding pictures. Too many for Troy's taste.


That's all for now. We'll add more photos later. It took too long to upload them and we got tired.

-- Niki & Troy

Remodeling Can Be Fun

Truth can sometimes be stranger than fiction. And so it is with remodeling. Truth is remodeling can be really, really fun. Well, as long as you do it with a NIKI! Remodeling with my wife has turned back breaking work into something seemingly satisfying.

Let me walk you through some of the feats that we've accomplished in the last year.

Feat #1: Installed recessed lighting (actually it was an excuse to wire a surround sytem)


Feat #2: Paint the entire house. I think that includes 7 different paints plus the primer base.

Feat #3: Remove the old flooring in the kitchen and have tile installed.

Feat #4: Remove the dry rot and black mold that had grown in the hall bathroom. Later new tile, vanity and wainscotting was added.

Here is the finished product:

Feat #5: Tile the master bathroom.

Feat #6: Get the city to take away this pile of trash and leave me behind.

Feat #7: Get the floor ready for carpet

Feat #8: Enjoy the new carpet. This really isn't a feat, but it sure is nice to have new carpet.

A look at our remodeled kitchen and family room:

For me remodeling was fun, but it was simply because I had a fun partner to work with.

Tuesday is a special day

Yes. You heard right. Tuesday is unlike the other 6 days of the week. Why you ask? Simple.

1) It isn't Monday, the beginning of the week. By Tuesday you're well into maximum productivity. Things are rolling, ticking, and moving - all cylinders are "go". Productivity is accentuated by peek rest and minimal stress that occurs precisely on Tuesday.

2) That evening is scouting or YW, both very enriching events which develop the soul. Whose soul? The leaders and the children of course, but I'm more concerned about the children. I do it for the children.

3) It is typically the day my wife makes me oatmeal. Unbeknownst to me, outmeal can be very delectable, especially when crafted with love and sprinkled with crazenberries, brown sugar and on special Tuesdays I get strawberries.

4) In the Eastern Orthodox Church Tuesdays are dedicated to Saint John the Baptist. The Octoechos contains hymns on this theme, arranged in an eight-week cycle, that are chanted on Tuesdays throughout the year. I haven't found a Octoechos that is to my liking, but when I do I to will chant.

5) In the Greek world, Tuesday is considered an unlucky day because it was the day of the week of the Fall of Constantinople. The same is true in the Spanish-speaking world. There is the proverb: "En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques", which is to say, "On Tuesday, neither get married nor begin a journey." Since I'm not Greek or of Spanish decent things are looking pretty good for me. Additionally, I was married on a day other than Tuesday.

6) Most home video and audio releases for purchase or for rental occur on Tuesdays. It just might be a Redbox night.