"This is Gonna Be Epic"

That's what Andy said after talking to Reverend Don on the phone. And it is...going...to be...epic.

Most of the work is done, just working on minor details now...but we are counting the days to our wedding. 6 to be exact.

I will not be posting anything for a couple of weeks, the timing is just too tight and we have several to-do lists a mile long. I want to take a moment and revel in all we have accomplished:

Landscaping. Four months ago this place was barren. No greenery at all, and the rabbits were running rampant on the property eating everything that popped up out of the ground. The winter was cold, windy and rainy, but when the sun started to shine Mother Nature did her job and painted this place better than Picasso could have. We planted out rabbit resistant flowers and shrubs, plus a few fan palms (our new friend, Jenny the Hunter, is helping us keep the bunny population under control...good girl!) The kids and I also explored the property and found beautiful desert rock to place in the plant beds. The previous owners had left some loose brick on the side of the house, so I used that to line the beds as well. Although we planted clover seed around the house, I don't think any of it popped up, instead we got tons of wild flowers, aka "weeds", that have not only made everything green, but the landscape is peppered with tiny flowers, white, pink, purple and yellow. Who knew weeds could be so pretty! Where the dirt was to hard and dry for the flowers to grow, we placed stepping stones (most of them on clearance at Home Depot!) The fruit trees are blooming and the birds are chirping, its just like a Disney movie, and I am Snow White. ok middle-aged Snow White, but who cares.

Man-Cave. Although its not complete, the man-cave is clean and somewhat tidy. We have one side set up with couch, chairs and TV for the kids to play Wii.

Trampoline. This has been the biggest thorn in our side, other than the rabbits. Apparently it gets WINDY up here on the hill, and our precious christmas present took flight twice during the wind storms this winter. The first time it was completely demolished and we have to order spare parts to put it back together. The second time it flew a football field away, but was not in bad shape...so we put it back together and poured cement in the ground to strap it down. If it blows away again, forget it! Anyway, this will be another form of amusement for our children guests.

The House. The very first thing we did was paint the house and we just LOVE the colors. Once that was done, it laid the foundation for all the other projects.

Lighting. We lined the driveway with solar lights, and bought accent lighting (also solar) to shine on the house and boulders...it looks EXCELLENT! Our good friend, Tom, bought us light fixtures and a matching light post for the front yard. At night when we turn them all on at night, there is a starburst pattern splayed out across the property, it looks spectacular!

Wedding organization. We have our caterer lined up (Mexican fajitas grilled on site), we have tables and chairs and linens being delivered on Thursday, and I ordered 3 packages of flowers that I will be picking up on Wednesday to decorate with. Very exciting. Our friend, Reverend Don will be marrying us, Brenda Portillo of Be Still Images will be doing the photography, our friend Mark Preleberg will be video-taping, and superstar Dave Barrios "Johnny on the Spot" will be keeping everyone on the dance floor.

I have the boys suits, my wedding dress and accessories...Andy has his suit cleaned and pressed...so we are ready to rock and roll.

At first we envisioned perhaps 70 people...but the guest list multiplied and we are now expecting over 100...maybe even 120. Parking became an issue once we saw the RSVP's rolling in. SO we enlisted our friend Roger to figure it out, he's good at stuff like that. He came out yesterday with his little orange flags and mapped it all out...excellent!

OK, my fingers hurt and I have a ton of work to do. Wish us luck and when I get a chance I will post more to tell you ALL about it!

Loves to all!

Its Coming Along Quite Nicely!

I have not had time to post to the blog in the past few weeks. Even that last post, I forgot to publish it and did not have time to add any pictures to it. Today, I really don't have time either, but I am letting my fingers flew swiftly over the keyboard to leave you all a quick note of our progress.

I have nearly finished landscaping the border around the house, it looks excellent, and I decided to use many of the rocks and gnarled pieces of wood to decorate with, it looks excellent. I did go buy some greenery and lots of garlic...I also took some of my potted plants off the porch and added them to the mix as well. I just love it!

Andy has fixed the trampoline...again. It has seen better days, but it is still in one piece and it is now soundly anchored to the ground by cement posts. We also put a light on the side of the garage to shine on it at night if the boys want to jump on warm summer evenings. Totally cool!

Andy also put up a beautiful light post that our good friend Tom gave to us as a house warming gift. It is...STUNNING! He poured a cement foundation for it on the center island in our driveway. Its just...in a word...KILLER! Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of that yet, but I will get one! (This is a picture of my boys helping dig a trench to run conduit to the light post.)

I am still placing stepping stones around the house, that is time consuming, but once finished, its gonna look GREAT!

The wind has not been kind to our new palms trees, but once they start growing, we can trim them up and they will look good again. I just love the look we are coming up with, its a combination of tropial island oasis and southwest-ranch, really unique and fun!

Jenny is getting better and better at hunting rabbits. In fact, I think she has discovered several dens...she comes home covered in dirt and bringing us several "prizes" a week. It was never my intention to be a rabbit-hater, and I know they are God's little creatures, but I sure wish they would go somewhere else and thrive in one of the many open fields elsewhere in the valley. I still wake up to find that they have destroyed yet another plant or flower...even if they don't eat it, they just tear it apart and leave it on the ground. They have removed several stalks off of our birds of paradise, and there is virtually nothing left of my baby palms on the driveway.

Anyway, we are about 19 days away from the wedding. All of the big projects are done, so we are down to finishing touches and organization. I really should get back to work. More to come! Stay tuned!