House Hunters

Ever watch House Hunters on HGTV? Well, Ben and Jenn decided to buy a home so we'll play a short version of House Hunters so you can try to figure out which house they chose. Ready?

The first house they looked at was a very large home near the top of their budget.

This house has a converted garage to make room for a basement-level family room as well as 5 bedrooms.
This ginormous house has 3 bathrooms: one in the master bedroom...
One bathroom on the main floor...
And another bathroom in the basement.
One of the best features of this house is the amazing front room window and old-school fire place.
Obviously the kitchen (as well as the rest of the house) needs a lot of work.

The second house they looked at is just around the corner from the first, but as a short sale, it is significantly cheaper.

This house sports a split front entry with awesome blue carpet.
Wood paneling covers the walls in the living room, family room, and 2 of the 4 bedrooms.
This kitchen needs some work and a new refrigerator.

This house has 2 bathrooms: a very sad bathroom upstairs...

And a rather nice bathroom downstairs.

The third house they looked at is a little closer to their ideal neighborhood and priced in the middle of the other two houses. However, it is much smaller.

This house has only 1 bathroom and it is in sad shape.

It has 2 front rooms and 3 tiny bedrooms.

This kitchen is also in need of remodeling.

Finally, this house also has a fire place in the first of the two front rooms.

So, now that you have seen the three homes and their details, which house do you think Ben and Jenn picked?

• The huge, 5-bedroom home at the top of their price range?

• The modest, split-entry home at the bottom of their price range?

• Or, the small house with two front rooms in the middle of their price range?

And the house they chose...

There was only one smart choice for them... They picked the smallest of the three houses on a private lane in an awesome neighborhood.

They got the house for a little less than the asking price and plan to use the money for updating and fixing-up the house. Ben and Jenn have a lot of plans for projects on the house and are very excited to have such a huge yard. They are looking forward to planting their very own garden.

Ben and Jenn got hitched!!!

Ben and Jenn were married and sealed for time and all eternity at the Bountiful LDS temple on Saturday, November 28th, 2009 at 10:30am.

ASL ROCKS!!

So, apparently ASL rocks. I love teaching ASL at Cyprus High, and obviously my students love learning it. They found my car in the parking lot and wrote on my window. This kind of vandalism I don't mind so much.

Happy Halloween!!!

Yay, I love Halloween!!! Every year "the girls" get together for the Witchie Show (Witches Night Out @ Gardner Village). It is so much fun: food, dancing, and WITCHIES!!! Tons of ladies, and a couple of strange dudes, dress up in some pretty elaborate witchie suits and come out to play.

Here we are: mom, sister Kim, me, friend Laura, newest sister Stephany.

Me, Laura, and Stephany- my brother Kevin's wife.
My momma made her own dress and Steph and Kim's dresses. Isn't she awesome? Oh, man, the dress I made is looking pretty frumpy. Maybe I should have my mom make me one, too.

The sisters: Steph, Kim and Jenn

Of course it isn't Halloween without a pumpkin. Ben and I carved a sort-of winking Jack Skellington pumpkin.

Isn't Jack Skellington cute?

New babies at the zoo

I'm sure you all know by now how much Ben and Jenn love going to the zoo. They go nearly every week. Well, there are some new additions to the Hogle Zoo. Below is a picture of one of the 3 baby tiger cubs born recently.

And here is the adorable baby elephant born last month. Her name is Zuri, but Ben and Jenn call her half-a-lump. Isn't she cute?

Jenn went to the temple

It's been a long time coming, but it has finally happened. Jenn went to the temple!

I want to thank my awesome sister for making the trip down from Evanston to escort me through my first time. (My sister is standing on my right)
I also want to thank my amazing friends for coming to support me. Thank you Heather, Amber, Lisa, and Micah. I couldn't have done it without you :)

My new hair do

So, remember when I asked for advice regarding my hair? Well, I've been letting it grow this summer because I didn't know what I wanted to do with it. It had been 10 weeks since my last visit to the amazing Daysha (compared to my 4-week standing appointment). I lost the blond and added some red but it is still short. It didn't grow much in 10 weeks, did it? Not quite sure I want to really grow it out. Sometimes I just don't know what to do with my hair, but I am lucky because, as a chic, it will always grow back :)

So, what do you think?

Check out this candle!

While I was in Kanosh over the 24th weekend, my auntie Norm introduced me to WoodWick Candles. Instead of a traditional wick they insert a piece of cedar so that when it burns it sounds like a wood-burning fire. It is so fun. Turn up your sound and listen to this candle.

24th of July with Jenn's family

I (uh, this is Jenn talking) drove down to Kanosh to visit my family for the 24th of July. There was a huge parade that morning. Wait, did I say huge? I meant so small that the entire parade had to double back on the parade route to make it worth our time. Kanosh is a teeny town. It was fun though. Most of the 'floats' (if you can call them that) were just trucks pulling undecorated flatbed trailers. EVERYone was throwing candy. My niece and nephew weren't fast enough, apparently, because my dad and uncle joined in the fun of collecting candy off of the ground.
The last to pass on the parade route were the town fire engines. On their final pass, they turn on the water spout and shoot a 50 foot stream of water into the air. Then, all the kids... well, and me, of course, run into the water and get soaked. I didn't want my camera to get wet (duh) so I didn't take any pics, but my sister did. I will post them as soon as I get them.

Here is my Pappy, nephew Devan, and niece Kami. Waiting for the parade to start.

Aunt Norma (I call her Norm because I'm lazy) and Uncle Terry. Oops, Norm, your eyes are closed and Terry is talking. Let's try it again.
I guess that's better, but now neither of you are smiling.

Meet Dathel Whitaker of Kanosh, Utah.

Can you believe she has great, great, grandkids. 270 people all from this tiny old woman. Wow.

Norm was jealous of the only people in Kanosh with a second story view of the parade. Then she felt bad for them because that great view meant they couldn't reach the candy. So, she decided to throw them some. So funny. Love you, Norm.

There's grandpa on the veterans' "float". Grandpa is the one sitting behind the driver. He threw candy right at my face while I was taking his picture. Rude.

One of the "floats" consisted of a swimming pool on a trailer with boys tossing water at the spectators. It was overcast and not too hot that day. The water wasn't very appreciated.

Mexican cowboy with a lasso, lariat... I don't know what the dumb thing is called. It's a rope and he was swinging it around. There.

Best part of the parade. Seriously, that pile was really stinky so we were very grateful for the 'pooper scoopers'.

More pics to come... maybe :)

Zoo Baby!

Nug, the snow leopard at the zoo finally had her baby. This cute little boy has not yet been named by the zoo keepers, or by Ben and Jenn. By the way, Nug is the name Ben and Jenn gave her. They have no idea what her real name is, and they don't care.