how to change your life in 5 days: part I

so you may have heard through the grapevine [or me. right now] that we are buying a new house. it may seem sudden but we've loosely talked about the possibility to upgrading for a year or so. justin is an avid MLS fanatic and will often spend his nights searching homes, researching prices, and planning our future. i spend my nights eating popcorn and perusing on pinterest.

anywho, our first home has been amazing and we feel so grateful we had this huge and amazing opportunity. we bought this house when we were dirt poor [dirt i tell you!], justin was still in school and in a part-time job, and we had a newborn! things just fell into place: the economy was in a terrible state and prices were rock bottom, we heard about a fantastic program that gives down payment assistance to dirt poor people [which we qualified for at the time- knowing we wouldn't always be that poor], and we had been lucky enough with school that we didn't have any debt and some meager savings. honestly, the lord was so prevalent during this time. it took us a year of house hunting to finally get into a home. it was the 7th offer we put in [having already put an offer in on this house the 5th time]. our budget was minuscule and we were competing with investors with deep pockets. it took several months but it finally happened and we got in a home- paying the same amount we did on rent. we were so blessed!

our house is tiny at 1300 sq feet [which really isn't that tiny when i talk to my friend who is living in a 700 sq ft trailer] and we have quickly outgrown our home with the coming of our 3rd kid. i have LOVED our home and i wish we could keep it forever- but i wouldn't want to rent it. renters do not appreciate the hard work and love you put into a home! plus we need the equity. honestly, i don't know how people save up 20% of a home's value other then the way we did. that's a lot of money! i feel like buying this home is the best thing for us - it's going to be our forever house. there's plenty of room to grow and most importantly, lots of projects for us. the house is a foreclosure and being sold to us at a great price [a great price but still a giant stretch for us- it'll be double what our mortgage is now] which i know we can increase by doing a whole lot of elbow grease. despite these feelings, it's terrifying buying a new home, a bigger home, and a bigger mortgage! and one that needs a whole lot of work! i really felt like getting this home was a huge long shot for us but it just seemed to work out. since then i've been having some anxiety but also started dreaming about the future. it's exciting and terrifying at the same time.

that being said, i wanted to look back on all the projects we did. and when i say we, i mean justin did and i watched the kids or helped pick out colors. without further ado, here's what we've got to show for 3 1/2 years of living.

-knocked down our side wall, put up a gate [that justin created with some craig's list cast off], and put down new lining and rocks.
-replaced all the hardware in the house [door knobs, door hinges and such].
-replaced all of the light fixtures [including switching the designated dining room spot into the back part of our house].
-new paint
-new baseboards
-new tile. i've had a few friends i haven't seen in a while come by and remark how much they love the tile. i always forget we had that nasty shag carpet everywhere!
-new blinds, curtains and custom curtain rods
-new bookshelf and kitchen table [of how i love my kitchen table!]
-new bathroom vanity in the spare bath [sink, medicine cabinet, mirror, wall units and two different toilets]
-new cabinets in the laundry closet
-new cabinets in the garage
-new tool bench, shelf, and hanging units in the garage
-new insulated garage door [which is a huge luxury in hot las vegas!]
-new toilet in the master bath
-custom closet - new rods and shoe racks
-new concrete patio and side patio near the gate [where our trash can, trampoline, and shed are]
-custom built shed
-rock gravel on the sides of the house
-beautiful grass and plants
-planter box on the wall
-painted the concrete walls in our backyard
-custom raised garden bed

i wish i had a better pic of the side yard - our garden is just crazy overgrown and it's all a mess.
especially the shed and side gate but oh well.

it's amazing what justin has done to beautify our home and make it unique. it's hard to imagine what it looked like when we moved it- the backyard alone was a horror [dangerous and uneven red wood patio, broken up and partially stained concrete, dangerous electric wiring on the wall, ugly empty pond shell, tree, and ill placed cactus. it was pretty rough]. i feel very blessed to be married to such a handy man who loves to fix up homes. that's why when we were looking for a new place, i knew we would get the best bang for our buck in the long run if we found a home that we could fix up over the years. i really wish we would have kept track of how much we put into the house money wise to see our net profit. [i have a guess - and we're pretty happy with it].

i don't want to give too much away now and jinx myself so i'll talk about our new home in another post

.....to be continued...

home is

the bench was added later for older people to kiss
or what i like to call 'wrong'

i've been thinking about homes a lot. on parenthood, the parents are selling the home their children grew up with and the kids throw a stink about it. then i went visit teaching this past week and guess what house my new girl lives in? my old hs bf's house [holy memories]. and you know how much i love my own house? i do but goodness gracious i'm running out of room. well my parents are moving on out and along with them, my stuff is kicking the curb. that's right, my old pink prom dress needs a new home. so does poppy's gravestone. but sadly, my elder boyfriend mural is going to be wiped out soon. you know that miranda lambert song, 'the house that built me'? love it. 'i bet you didn't know, under that live oak, my favorite dog is buried in the yard'- resonates pretty loudly when we've got about a dozen dogs, chickens, geese, pigs, goats and even a horse on our property. i have so many great memories of my childhood home. while i was talking to the girl i visit taught about her house, it made me realize- i've only really lived in one house my whole life. we've lived there since my 6th birthday. all my memories are there. when i feel sad, i go there. when we celebrate, we go there. it's where my story starts and i always thought, where it would always be. my parents are under the delusional idea that they are getting their house prepared to sell. granted, it will take about 15 truck loads to utah, 5 ginormous trash trailers and a million ebay sells until the house is anywhere near ready but still. it's got me thinking.

with that being said, i wanted to show you some of my favorite things about my house. and i promise you, like all things zobrist, it will not be boring. but this being said, don't tell my dad i put pictures of his house up online. dude is all sorts of paranoid about big brother. and he should be- they're closing in on him.

my bathroom - currently in remodel mode
i am mourning the loss of my toilet

this is the kissing rock. not sure of it's back story but i remember my dad always saying he put it there so his girls had a place to make out with our boyfriends....... really. my dad is a weirdo. thankfully most of his girls never got that much game in hs. except for anna, she got lots of game. devin actually got the most game out of all of us but her peak period came after hs in the land of love called provo. but i made a point of taking justin there once we were in that place as a couple that i could admit my dad was that much of a freak.

here is shelby the turtle. it was fluffy's girlfriend. oh how i miss my fluffy. one of these days my kitty cat is just going to show up - probably on top of my neighbors roof. until there, i will make sure shelby stays faithful. because those penguins are shady.

my room. when we first moved in i had to share with my two sisters = the worst. one of the perks of being the youngest means that i slowly get to edge them out for our mother's affection until i'm the only one left aka the favorite. it was pink back in it's heyday and it will forever by my room. but let's be honest, my favorite part of my room is not really my room but it's attached- my bathtub, where i spent the majority of my teenage years. typically reading the newest harry potter.

-this spot- now imagine it about a billion years ago. there was a dark blue leather love seat and justin and i were canoodling. we were nearly together [about a month and a half] and he first told me he loved me. i remember it was a little bit before we all sat down with my family for my birthday dinner. in this room is where a whole lot of making out happened. it's also where he sat on the fireplace post-mission and talked to us with his funny accent and all i kept thinking was 'he just kissed me! he just kissed me!' because he had just planted one on me in the driveway, mere seconds after seeing me. really, just so many amazing justin memories here.

the chicken coop. i remember when my dad built it. i was probably around the age of 7/8 and my dad told us not to go in there or else we'd have to spend the night [because we couldn't step over a cinder block cemented into the ground]. so my sister and i slept in the chicken coop. gross right? i hate going in there now. i was once viciously attacked- actually it's happened several times- by chickens. i used to only go in there with a stick. one time i was almost knocked over while an aggressive dog fought his way into the coop while i was blocking the entrance with my body- all while i was holding my baby landon. it was the worst. he ended up killing the chicken. the second was when i was pregnant and i was trying to free a chicken caught in a net. the rooster started attacking me because he thought i was trying to hurt the chicken. landon was in the coop too so that was pretty horrible. i started screaming and crying uncontrollably while the rooster kept coming for me. thankfully landon wasn't near all of this. so that being said, i actually hate the chicken coop. but it is full of memories.

my mom's piano- great story. it's actually a custom fancy piano from new york. one time when my mom went to utah when we were little, she went piano shopping in a 'someday' kind of window shopping adventure. during the visit, the shop owner asked her what her ideal piano was and she described it [fancy color, yamaha, baby grand, whatevs]. well she left her number and forgot about him. until a month or two later he called and said some buyer in new york fell through with her dream piano. she bought it. over the phone. they delivered it- didn't even make her sign anything. about a month or so went by and my mom never got an invoice. being the good mormon lady she is, she called and made sure she got all set up. but really, she could have made off like a bandit. the story is even funnier bc my dad said she couldn't buy the piano- he was going to buy a boat and our family was going to make wonderful memories on that boat for years to come and a piano would get no use. years later- the boat has long been sold and all my mom's kids [but one, bc josh is a butt] enjoy and play the piano. i love playing for myself. i love to sit down at my mom's and belt out tunes as loud as i want and play around with the melody- usually singing. but if someone is home i do not play. it's my own secret garden.

in the end, a house is just bricks & morter [and a whole lot of dead animals- really folks, we have a WHOLE lot of dead animals there. i cannot stress this enough]. home is where your mom is. home is where my husband & kids are. home is where you feel safe and loved. and that's why my heart is a house.

'circle me and the needle moves gracefully back and forth. if my heart was a compass, you'd be north. risk it all cause i'll catch you if you fall. where ever you go, if my heart were a house you'd be home'
. 

my witching hour

i've been reading and looking into various methods of sleep training for porter and all of them agree that babies tend to get cranky in the afternoon, usually for some unknown reason. it's just their witching hour. i've discovered i have a witching hour as well.

my devil child being adorable

last week was a terrible no-good horrible day. in all reality, it wasn't too bad. i went grocery shopping with just ONE kid, my mom took landon for a few hours this morning- nothing too terrible. in fact, it was leading up to be a great afternoon. i got porter to sleep right as landon was going to bed- i was going to get to take a nap!  i am so ridiculously tired all the time and i never get to nap anymore. well landon didn't want to nap. and he fought me- for an hour and 45 minutes. he did everything- tore open boxes of clothes, ruined things. he also pooped in his diaper- and took it off. and touch it and got it everywhere. i did everything i could think of- singing, laying down with him, rubbing his back. it got to a point where i grabbed his face and i knew i could just lose it so i locked him in his room and laid down for 15 minutes, hearing him laughing and playing. all i could think of is 'that smug little bastard thinks he winning. i. don't. think. so' [yes i am an evil mom who calls her kids mean names in her head when i lose it]. i text justin and told him if he valued his children, he would come home. i laid back in bed and finally got landon to doze off-- only for porter to awake 5 minutes into landon's nap- which lasted a total of 30 minutes.

can you imagine how insane i was at this point? i binge ate all the chocolate in the house and the slurpee could not defrost fast enough. eventually my murderous side subsided, i got some of my anger out in exercise form and justin finally came home [although he was not much help at that point]. as i was walking around the neighborhood, i am murderous every day around nap time. really- i think every day i think 'this is the day that i finally get to nap' and nope, never do. the hard part is porter needs to eat so often and i can't really delegate that out. the thing is, once it hits 4pm i am back to being a patient kind mother but 1-4, i am the devil. seriously, how in the world do i get through my witching hour each day? i need some kind of release that doesn't involve chocolate or murdering my child. any suggestions would be appreciated to help keep my kids alive.

update: so i wrote this a week ago and i've really tried hard to change my attitude. i've realized that naptime for landon is no longer naptime for me but work out time. i've just realized and accepted i can no longer nap then. since i don't expect a nap, i am much happier and more calm when things don't go as i plan [ie- poop everywhere] plus i get my exercise on. it really has helped the past few days but holy goodness, i am still tired as can be. some days i would be willing to write someone a check for a million dollars to take my babies away for 4 hours. i am a much nicer mom when i've slept but i keep trying to remember that my babies will only need me for such a short time and i need to cherish these sleep deprived times.

easter: flashback to college

so much sexiness in one kitchen

i had some low expectations for easter this year. when i bought my ticket home i thought i was hitting easter. nope, i guess jesus' birthday is not always easter. easter in march? what is this world coming to? so since we were going to be by our lonesome we invited the missionaries over. well with the wonderful news about missionaries given last october, the missionaries in the reno nv mission have increased from about 100 to 250. our ward now has four sister missionaries and two spanish speaking missionaries that come to our ward. we were lucky enough to have the four missionaries come over for dinner, along with one of justin's work friends. before that we were lucky enough to have a young gentleman investigating the church come over for a discussion. before that we went to church. such a great day.

saturday before easter we went to the hs for an easter egg hunt. now, you all know i had a jaded childhood right? my mom would rather buy us a big bag of candy then take us trick or treating. easter was much in the same, except we would have a big easter egg hunt at our grandpa z's where he hid money in the eggs and my grandma would make jello eggs. last year landon was lameo and just sat there. this year he can move and hunt so i had some high hopes. there were several egg hunts in carson but this one had a specific toddler zone so i thought that was best. once there i saw they had other specific section for age groups and special needs. they started each section off one at a time, starting with the special needs. well the fantastic parents in the toddler zone thought they were above the rules and started running in before it was our turn. seriously, made me so pissed. it's for BABIES. and the candy was mints and jolly ranches, so not really the cream of the candy crop. i was soooo mad that people can get so grubby. i huddled a few eggs on the ground so landon could at least pick something up but it was mostly a fail. we tried in the big kid field but that was just as pointless. so we headed to the kid's museum and let him play there. he loved that much more - primarily because there were toys, less people, and empty eggs you traded for nila wafer cookies at the end. after his nap we had planned on visiting tahoe but the weather was not going to let that happen so we enjoyed a nice scenic walk on a trail full of dogs [i sadly forgot my camera. it was really picturesque. landon in his hiking backpack playing with justin's hair, having a gay ol' time]. that night we tried a nice local resturant in town justin's boss told him about. i normally love hole in the wall family places but it was nast. but the night ended with a slurpee so not too horrible.

sunday we woke up and enjoyed bacon & pancakes. church was fantastic and landon surprisingly behaved until the last few minutes of sacrament. after church i started cooking - and man did i cook. and clean. and cook some more. at 2pm we were able to have an investigator over which is always an amazing experience, especially for an easter sunday. the poor sisters tried tracting after that meeting but it was fruitless so they hung with me in the kitchen while i cooked a delicious meal of pot roast, mashed potatoes, broccoli, brussel sprouts, carrots, rolls, coca cola cake [oooohhh so wonderful. didn't taste like coke at all but very moist and delicious. justin hates cake and still liked it] and chocolate covered strawberries. it was so funny. i kept having flashbacks of my college days when we were all pitch in and make a large sunday breakfast. i would supervise [aka input my two thoughts in where it wasn't wanted] then clean [i'm looking at your stonifer]. it was so much fun. after dinner we sat around playing  catch phrase and laughing. they even told me i was like the cool moms they would hang out with back at home [granted, one of them is a tad older then me] and told me to facebook stalk them [which you know i did]. such a great night. such an enormous load of dishes.

and landon enjoyed lots of goodies & toys. lucky little boy. lucky us.

happy mel week

happy mel week!

tis the season to honor all things melissa and bask in my awesomeness. so go ahead people, wear those yoga pants and sports bra. eat yourself some canes and drink your coke slurpee. and lets remember how great i really am.

because i am.

so at the start of melissa week, let's talk about my birth. as the 6th child, the 4th girl- i kinda just slid down the water slide that was my mom's vag. i asked what she remembers from my birth and she didn't say much. but i was adorable. and well loved. she said she remembered that i was never put down or left alone because all my brothers and sisters constantly wanted to touch/hold me. so much so, she even had to sit on the ground with me and swatch the other kids off with a broom. i was conceived in the great city of beaver [gag] with my older sister in the room [explains so much about devin] and my mom cried when she found out she was pregnant [because of my older sister- she was a sickly gal and had had 2 kids previous only 18 months apart- meaning she got pregnant when they were 9 months old!!].

don't remember this birthday but apparently i was 7 and was a rabbit

some of my best birthday memories include getting this awesome cassette from my dad, getting a pink barbie corvette from my grandma, moving into our house near my birthday, and going to see harry potter #1 on my birthday, to name a few.

in honor of my birthday, i'm going to give you some reasons why i'm awesome and you should be glad i was born [isn't this super conceited? i say nay. it's good to have a healthy appreciation for yourself.]

- i have excellent taste in music, superb actually. and i have great singing voice, but no one is ever allowed to hear it. except for my mother and only at christmas.
- i'm a great dancer in my kitchen. landon thinks i'm the absolute best.
- i can literally put my foot in my mouth. so a bendy bobcat pretzel thing sort of happening here.
- i have a superb 7-11-dar and can detect one within a few miles. it's uncanny.
- i know about almost every tv show and movie out there, thanks to my free subscription of entertainment weekly, my hulu and netflix subsciption and my absolute lack of hobbies.
- i can wipe a poopy diaper with one wipe. one.
- i'm a great bargain shopper of all things clearance and discount but spend $2.50 on coke infused with air once a week. so really not that bright.
- i'm super smart- for reals. i even got a medal once that said so. and a plaque.
- for being all that smart, i have a terrible, terrible memory. which may sound like a bad thing but it's really not, because then i don't stay mad at you long because i can't remember why i was mad at the first place.
- and last but not least, i'm humble and oh so modest. except when it comes to how great i am. bc then i just toot that horn.

broken phone = awesome lost pictures

you know when you find some half-wrapped/lint covered chocolate bar under your bed and it feels like you've won the lottery? that's how i feel - because luckily meghan broke my pinkberry so i've inherited justin's blackberry. and dude never deletes any of his pictures. never. i've seen deleted tons [much to his dismay] but some were some genuine nuggets that i needed to preserve. and share on my blog for all to mock.
guess where these tidbits come from:

meghan doing the ring test on my pre-landon belly [can't remember what it said] - a super classy gift from gpa

a perfect gift from my bff8 - chocolate covered bacon justin HAD to try in san diego 

some urinal pad...don't ask me - creepy tunnel from justin's hoover dam tour for school

my car's magical number - some unc game where everyone stormed the court

that last one was my favorite. justin & lynsey playing my 'just dance' game on wii. check out justin's sweet, sweet moves. that's why i fell in love with that saucy guy.

memory lane: baby & posh

i had just gotten my barbie
polaroid so we took several
"artistic" photos - note
my harry potter shirt

i'm really at a loss for my next blog post so i played some iphoto roulette and came up with a pic of my oldest & best friend kayla. we've basically been friends since dirt was invented - or at least grass. we met when i was trumping on scully's sqeeler's [pink pig theme] soccer club- i was 5. she was on the other team and we just hung out talking while we played each other. a year or so after that i joined her team, the right stuff. we didn't go to the same school but were pals still the same. in 4th grade she moved to my side of the town - ever since we've been inserable. except for our many, many, many fights. don't get me wrong, i love her but we were so hot and cold during our growing years you'd think we were kardashians. we went through different friends, different cliques [remember your bball crew and my ska friends?] and many different boys [her - not me] but we've always been there for each other.

it's funny, kayla and me. we've always been close but there are so many times when we'd fight and hate each other, only to make up a few days later. we couldn't stand one another but couldn't bare to be apart - talk about hot & cold katy.

now kayla is a fancy lady living in so. cal and rockin her dream job [for now]. she is the most caring, selfless, and christian person i know. so welcome friends down our drama road.

@ byu's lacrosse camp - one of the best summer's ever

after some lax tourney - see how happy kayla was

i think this is after our first year of college- a girls night with our man fluffy

@ disneyland 8th grade - she was SO pissed at lauren and me for always making silly faces in pics

slumber party in hs - isn't she gorgeous?

choir trip to SLC 10th grade

homecoming 11th grade

middle school @ a church function

getting ready for said homecoming 11th grade

lax party @ blair's house

8th grade choir competition - aka the night of my "beatle's medley" solo aka the first time i wore a thong aka the night  i broke the thong (it had elastic sides!) aka the night i first went commando

somehow, this is the most important pic of the batch. taken in 8th grade by accident but oh, my fav pic of her.