Summer time = I don't blog. So this is long with lots of pictures.

So, to update on our life, I'll post some pictures, add some words, and call it good (:

First, here's what we looked like on the 4th of July; VERY PATRIOTIC!!

Yes, that's grass in Dexter's mouth haha

For everyone that knows me really well, you know that I used to HATE matching in any way possible. And for those of you that don't, quick story: When I was in 7th grade, I wanted these white and red skater shoes so bad, so I bought them as my "back-to-school-shoes" and the second day of school, another girl was wearing them, and I didn't wear them in public from that day forward. They became my lawn mowing shoes. End of story. And honestly, that happened with EVERYTHING! If I saw someone wearing the same thing as me, I'd go home and change... and if I couldn't, I was on the verge of tears.

Well, that time has come to an end. Cody and I match ALL THE TIME NOW! Sometimes on accident, and I don't even make him go change! I'm growing up, you guys!

Second noteworthy thing: I've stopped using shampoo and conditioner! (Ew, gross..) NOT! It's actually really awesome. I've been off shampoo and conditioner for a little over a month, and it's called "No-poo" haha, no joke. I use a mixture of baking soda and water on my roots and vinegar/water on my ends. I've been in the transition period this whole time, meaning my hair just looks like it's sopping wet all the time and super nasty (because the shampoo and conditioner have stripped my hair of all the natural oils, and it's taking a long time for my head to regulate the making of said oils) UNTIL THIS PICTURE DAY! I washed my hair, and VOILA! It was looking SO, SO much better. I did a happy dance, for sure. I've been having to wear my hair up and curly so it would look alright, and for once, it dried and looked good! Still not the best, but I'm getting there (: I was really excited to hear about this, because if you'll remember a long time ago, I posted about switching my face wash to Yes To products? Well, I was all for going with the product with less chemicals and trying to get more into the natural beauty products, so when I heard about "No-poo"ing, I was stoked! Also, my sister-in-law Jenae has a blog and she writes the most amazing posts that are so spiritual, enlightening, and awesome. She's an amazing person, who also makes her own cosmetics! So sometime in the near future, I'll be joining her and my other sisters-in-law and mother-in-law for a girls day where we'll be making all of that fun stuff with her! I'm so excited to continue this chemical free lifestyle!!

[More info on "No-poo" here]

Third thing, this actually happened back in May and I forgot to post anything about it. SORRY BRITTNEY! Brittney Escudero, my longest, best friend, moved to Utah! And I took her to Bridal Veil falls for her first time! We went in the middle of the day, and NO ONE was there! It was wonderful! Just her, me, and Dexter! Dex loved it because he got to be off his leash just running around in the water, chasing birds and looking at the fish.

I love his little wet chicken legs (:

I just love that girl (: So happy that she FINALLY moved to Utah!!

Fourth, Cody really truly loves me. Want proof?

He surprised me with an air conditioner for our bedroom!!! And if you've been in the United States in the month of June, you'll know about the crazy heat waves that everyone's been having. And in Utah, it's been in the 90s and 100s ALL THE TIME! And because we live in a house that's about 100 years old, it doesn't do so well in 100 degree weather. And I've been dying. Until this glorious machine made it's way into our house, and I now feel normal again!!

Fifth, if you've stalked our pictures and memorized our entire house, you'll realize that our bedroom wall in the photo above is now gray! And you'd be so right! And creepy! Well, here are the pictures to document the changes that our room has gone through (and it still has so much more that will happen to it.. I just need money first :)

Note the wallpaper. Also, those pictures on the right had just gotten moved.. I was trying to figure out how to hide the breaker box, but they were above my jewelry and then the other was above Cody's night stand.

This wall was the worst. There used to be an old heater? Chimney? Something.. and they just sheetrocked and sheet rock mudded over the wallpaper and left if like that. LOVELY! Same thing with the light switch.. it was up a lot higher, but they made a huge hole in the wall when they lowered it, and left it like that. When we first moved in, Cody's dad fixed that for us while we were on our honeymoon.

 So I took on the chore of taking off the wallpaper in our room. LOOOONG process, but with the help of my mother-in-law's steamer, the job was nice and easy!

 This picture below is to show how disgusting the wall paper was, and it was even more drastic in real life. See that top strip of wallpaper, and how we removed it from the wallpaper beneath it, only to reveal the nastiness? That's a line of dirt and grime that we've tried and tried to wash away. So yeah, the wallpaper had to go.

Started painting the far wall gray to see what it looked like, and the back wall was like a nasty yellow color. 

If you look closely, or maybe you don't have to, you'll see the difference it made to paint the back wall white! I hadn't yet gotten to the top, so you can see the yellow wall behind it, and our door is that same yellowy color! Don't worry, I painted that too!

This is the windowsill. Disgusting. Look at the picture with the air conditioner (way up there) and you might be able to see that it looks much better now!

While Cody was installing the air conditioner, Dex found a good spot right on the bottom shelf of my nightstand, and stayed there for half an hour! Such a silly puppy!

The lines between the gray wall and the white wall aren't perfect, but this is to show that the wall and door are now the same, bright white!

Then onto the next part of our painting the bedroom.. WRITING!

The pencil sketch of the word wall, copied from A Beautiful Mess

Do you see the typo there? Two lines above the orange line, "I love you more ever..." haha, whoops! It's now a new phrase for Cody and I (:

And colored outlet covers!

It's not perfect, and it didn't turn out how I had imagined it.. So it's still not my favorite thing, but it's good for now (: And it'll look much better when we finish decorating the rest of the room, I'm sure. It's fun, it's different, it's us!

Sixth, Cody and I have been learning this song:  

He's learning the guitar part, and I am learning the piano part! I love this song (:

Seventh, I made this Parmesan Chicken Bake for dinner last night, and HOLY YUM!! SO good and so easy to make!! And I only made like 3 dirty dishes from it! You definitely need to make it tonight!

Well, I'm off to go wash my hair (haha, I can be one of those girls that uses that as an excuse for not going somewhere, because not using shampoo/conditioner takes a lot longer)! Have a great Tuesday!