surprise!!! chardie is 23!!!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.... The Chard had his 23rd birthday yesterday, so I decided to throw him a little surprise bash with some of our friends!!  He started to piece things together the morning of, but I still think we did a pretty good job of surprising him!!!  We had a bring your own meat BBQ, fruit and veggie platters, chips and dip, drinks, and a chocolate satin pie!! Yum yum!!

They birthday boy.  We got him right after he got back from a day at Raging Waters!

I decided about an hour before the party that I needed something festive to wear, so I made an "I heart Chardie" shirt!

Amanda and Laura.  We all grew up together in Pasadena-- Amanda happens to live about 3 minutes away from us in Bountiful, so we get together all the time!! (Mainly for our LOST parties!) After knowing each other for our entire lives, Laura looked through some of her genealogy a few years ago and discovered that she and Rich are distant cousins!!  She's in Logan now, and we are so happy she was able to come down to celebrate with us!!

Marc and Jamie work at LifeLine with Chardie.  I think they got a little confused when Rich said "cheese" and heard "sleep!" Or maybe they are doing their best Ray Charles impressions....? They're getting married in August, and we are so sad we will miss their wedding, but we'll be in HAWAII!!  

Dave works at LifeLine too!  He and Rich are super into anything Apple!!! I just met his wife Amy a few months ago at our first date with all the LifeLine married couples!  Dave and Chardie always tease us because we have recently decided that we are soul mates! (That's Aubree, their super cute one year old!)

We set up my SingStar game, and Kempton and Jenny were going to town!!!  It was hilarious! I think they were singing "Kiss from a Rose" by Seal. Haha! We met Kempton and Jenny our freshman year when they first started dating!! Now, 5 years later we all ended up married!! They drove up from Provo with their adorable 4 (almost 5) month old Caydon, but he was sleeping in a back bedroom when the camera was out... They're the ones we're going to Hawaii with!!

Here's a shot of some of the group in the living room.  We haven't put our couches back since we did the floor, so we just borrowed chairs from LifeLine!

Miss Aubree.  This girl cracks me up.  She came to the party wearing her black bracelets, and managed to get Amanda to loan her some pearls to complete the look!  She loved all the music, and had the cutest dance moves ever!!

The birthday pie.  Those must have been the fastest melting candles in the world, because once we lit them they started dripping like crazy!  We ended up scraping the top layer off the pie, but it still tasted good!  

Happy 23rd Birthday Chardie!!!!!!  

remodeling the living room floor

Ok, so I am FINALLY posting some more pictures of the condo!! We just finished putting in our living room floor, and we are totally LOVING it!!! We chose a laminate from Home Depot.  When we started this project, laminate was my very last flooring choice, but after we shopped around and talked to 2 flooring guys who said they prefer laminate to hard wood because of how hard it is, we decided that was the way to go!  (We have to keep reminding ourselves that this is not our "forever house," so we are choosing things that we like enough, but not necessarily what we'd pick for the dream place!) This stuff was $2.31/ square foot, and it had a lot of the features we liked, so it was a pretty easy decision to make!

Our A/C has been broken since the end of last summer (We didn't bother to fix it when it first broke because winter came, and the heat worked just fine... you know, out of sight, out of mind??) so this is the average temperature we have been remodeling at!!!  I am happy to report that it was finally fixed yesterday!!!

We usually give our cat Bob random items/garbage to play with (or he takes them on his own apparently) and they always manage to disappear!!  Chardie and I joke that when we move one day we will find Bob's stash.  Well when we moved our couch, this is what we found!!  Lots of twist ties, a toe separator, a couple of earplugs, rings from milk tops, etc... All of Bob's treasures.

This is the beginning of the project.  We ripped up the carpet that was originally in here, and there was this crumbly cement stuff that had lots of cracks in it!  Here I am vacuuming, thinking that we will just lay our floor right on top of this... Silly me.

Here is another shot with a view of the dining area!

Here is what we ended up doing. When Andelin men get started on a project, they can't just do what it easy.... they have to do what is right!  I know it's a good thing, but I ripped this floor up all by MYSELF!!

We bought cement board, and now we have a nice even canvas!  (I even got to use a power tool and put in the screws!)

This is the only picture we have with flooring actually in place.  We managed to convince Chardie's brother Jeff to help us lay it in one night!  Thanks Jeff!!

I've been TAGGED! (Lindsay--this is for you!!!)

Lindsay, my loving sister has been waiting for this day to come for months.... a new post is here!!!! In her efforts to force me to blog, she tagged me with this survey. Here is goes:

3 joys
1) Sleeping in!!!! I know this is somewhat pathetic, but I work (and commute) a TON, so getting to sleep in is such a treat! I got to sleep in this morning, and i feel great!!!!
2) Redbox movies with the Chard. We frequent Redbox anytime we have a free minute. I usually fall asleep within the first hour or so, but cuddling up on our couch with our cats who think they are human is a treat.
3) SUMMER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! After working in Park City and experiencing a winter that I swear lasted for 8 months, I am overjoyed with the summer weather!!! I love the shorts. flip flops, swimming, and tanning possibilities!!!

3 fears
1) That my A/C will never be fixed!!!! It's been broken this entire summer, and I can't stand it any longer!!! The hottest I've seen it in my house is 89 degrees, and if it breaks 90, I just might end my life. P.S. Doing construction projects in the heat is AWFUL!!!
2) That I will buy nice new stuff (bedding, curtains, COUCHES) and my cats will claw them to death. I don't want to de-claw them because when we have an actual house I want them to go outside and not be defenseless, but nothing we have tried works in the not clawing our lives department!!! Any suggestions would be very appreciated... I really want new couches!!!
3)Dying painfully/knowing I am about to die. Anyone who has flown with me in the past year knows I have developed a recent fear of flying. It's so annoying, but as soon as we hit turbulence, I cry!!! I think it's because I watch LOST now.... A plane crash would freak me out.

3 goals
1)Finish all the remodeling projects on our condo by Aug 3rd. That's the date last year we moved in, and it would be awesome to say that we finished everything in a year! We are super close, but sometimes I feel like it will never end!!!
2)To start saving again!!! All our dang money has gone into the condo. I mean, it's nice when we have people come over and they "oooh" and "ahhhh," but it would be nice to have savings again!
3)To spend more time with my Chardie where we aren't working on our house! (It is sad that all three of my goals at this point have to do with my home, but it really is the center of my thoughts this week!) I love working on our place together... it is so fun to see all the individual things we pick come together, but I can't wait until we have an entire Saturday just to play!!!

3 current obsessions/collections
1)I absolutely LOVE making t-shirts/baby onesies!! It is my total passion!! I love when people have new babies, or birthdays, etc... and I get to come up with something cute for them!!
2)I have to agree with Lindsay on this one... I am super into reality TV!! AHH!! It's so shameful...but I love watching Living Lohan and Denise Richards...It's Complicated (hahaha...) Please don't judge me when you read this mom!!!
3)LOST. I Blame Adam. Chardie and I were very content with our lives before the plane crash of Oceanic flight 816. Now we are totally hooked. What's more, we've started to bring our friends down with us with weekly LOST parties.

3 random/surprising facts about me!
1) I worked a telemarketing job!!!!!!!! I know, I know.... I hate myself for it. It was close to where I lived, and it paid $10/hour. So I sold out!!! It was AWFUL! They had us doing phone surveys about radio stations that lasted up to 45mins long. I just stopped showing up.... oops (Chardie tells me I'm sure they get that a lot).
2) I really don't enjoy seeing movies in the theater. I have recently learned this about myself. Unless it is a movie that I am DYING to see (Harry Potter...) I'd rather by lying on my couch with a pillow. It's those seats. They are designed for people taller/heavier than myself. I can't ever get one to stay reclined unless I push my feet hard against the ground or seat in front of me.... FUN.
3) wow- I am out. I'm sure someone else could get on here and tell me something, but the mind is not working right now.... This will have to do. Lindsay I hope you are satisfied for the next few months until I post again.


Ok, I know I am supposed to TAG other people and have them do the survey, but since I NEVER post, most of my friends have probably given up on checking my page for updates... So if you happen to read this, consider yourself TAGGED!!! XOXO