FREE FREE FREE!!!

Yes, we have been working ourselves to the bone, slaving away on our home. That is the reason that I have not had the time to update the blog. The home is coming along, we have finished the 'gutting' process and we are now starting the rebuilding phase. The gutting process took longer than expected because we came across a few 'rotting' problems. Now that those have been taken care of, we can proceed! I am excited to see the house come together. Which brings me to the next point, you are probably wondering what the title of my blog is about. Well, if you are in the area and are interested in a FREE crash course in remodeling, stop by our humble abode! You will have the first hand opportunity to learn to: frame, drywall, mud, sand, run electrical, replace old light fixtures, tile kitchens and bathrooms, hang trim, hang crown moulding and paint like a pro.

You can learn all these valuable skills for a one time low price of: FREE!!!

If this offer sounds like a good fit for you, stop by our new home anytime, Monday thru Saturday, 8 am until midnight.

No reservations necessary.

Since we have been working really hard, it has been really nice to take a break. I was able to take off 2 nights this week to take pictures for a few friends of mine. Here are a few:

Day 2: The Summerill Slam

Here is the new view from the living room. You can see all the way through the dining room and kitchen. You can see the door to the side of the house. This way, the home will be more open and have better flow.
This picture is taken from the dining room. Where there used to be a wall seperating the dining room and the kitchen, there is now nothing. This is the wall that I was hacking on yesterday.
Here is a new view of the bathroom. Right now there is a big hole to the bedroom, but there will be a door between the bedroom and the bathroom and then there will also be a wall seperating a master bathroom from the 1/2 bathroom.
Here is Henry doing his best to help us clean up all the construction rubble. At one point, he hacked at a wall for 10 minutes to help us take down one of the old bathroom walls.

Here is a view from the master bedroom into the old bathroom. There will be a doorway into the bathroom from the master bedroom.

Day 1: Summerill Slam (our remodel)

Here is the first look at what we did yesterday. This is a view from the dining room. Where the small opening was, is now a large opening which makes the dining room flow to the entry and front living room. Where you see the door way, that will be Mark's home office since he works mostly from home.
This view is taken from the living room. I am standing in the living room looking back towards the entry and over to the now open dining room. We will be removing the rest of the studs that you see and making the opening wide!
While we were working on thehome, a bird flew in and rammed into the window 3 or 4 times. So Mark caught him and took him outside.
Here I am hacking away at the wall that is between the dining room and the kitchen. I am standing in the dining room and the kitchen is behind me. When I am finished, the wall will be gone and the kitchen and dining room will be one large room seperated by a peninsula bar with granite counter tops!
Here is another view from the living room. I am standing in the living room and lookin through to the dining room. The far doorway that you see will also be gone, exposing the kitchen!

Now back to work, we are going to burn the midnight oil to see if we can tear down the rest of the walls that we need to tear down tonight so we can start on the re-building!

Put Your Shoulder to the SledgeHammer!

This is the living room. WE were originally going to split this room into two rooms so there would be a front office. Because there is only that arched entry, we were going to make that the doorway to the office. The access to the rest of the room would have been through the wall where you see the built in cabinet. That wall was going to be knocked out and connected to the bedroom behind it. Then we would have had to knock out the wall to the bedroom. Since we started today, we decided that we would just leave the living room as it is and we would just open the entry way wider to add more flow to the floor plan. So in the first picture, the first 3-4 feet of the wall will be gone. We also pulled up the carpet and are looking into re-doing the wood floors. The floors are in pretty bad shape, so if we cant salvage them, we will put wood flooring in the entry, dining, hall and office and the living room will be carpeted.

Here is a view of the kitchen. We are putting all new cabinets and countertops. We are knocking out the wall behind the oven, extending the cabinets into the large dining and adding a peninsula. The fridge will move down closer towards the peninsula and the wall to the right will be knocked out and replaced with a wooden railing that will expose more light to the stairs.
here is another view of the kitchen. The cabinet to the close end of the picture is the one that will be knocked out and a railing put up instead of the wall that is there. Because of the extra kitchen space, an island will be placed in the kitchen.
Here is a view of the bathroom. The bathroom will have an entry from the side which will open to the master. The entry that you see will be an entry for a half bath. We will put up a wall to devide the two bathrooms and knock out the wall to the left to make room for the half bath.
Here is a view of the bathroom. The entry to the master bedroom will be where the towel rack is. Then next to the towl rack, we will knock out a part of the old master bedroom closet to make room for the new 1/2 bath.

So what do you think of our remodel. We started today and have ripped out the old flooring and the entry way closet to make more room into the living room. I will post pictures along the way so you can see our progress!

News!!!

Exciting things are happen for the Summerill family. Take a look.

Kristine and Andrew

Almost every shot I took of this couple turned out perfect! They were so easy to work with and absolutely adorable. I love the rich hues in the red bridge pictures. Thanks Kristine!!!

Ormonds!

Here are three of my favorite from this shoot!

Ivie Family Photos

Here is a handful of pictures from a shoot I did yesterday. I love the fall colors!

One Year Ago Today

One year ago today,
I woke with an ache in my back
Swollen hands, legs and feet,
My body suffered an alien attack.

5 pairs of pants, and 3 stretched shirts,
lay on the bedroom floor,
as I desperately searched the closet
tossing out more and more.

Around ten I dialed the doc,
"I cant take it anymore."
"Are you feeling regular pains?"
she asked as I headed out the door.

Regular Pains? Gimme a break,
Just one look and you'll see-
achey, swollen, tired and bloated,
Today I'm having this baby.

"You don't want to have him too early,
he'll come when the time's right."
"No offense doc, but I know,
This kids coming TONIGHT!"



One year ago today, My sweet little Theodore was born! It has been quite the eventful year, having moved from Hawaii to Utah. In the first year of his life, Theodore has been to Oahu, Kauai, The Big Island and Utah. He has been held by his Great grandma Florence (TUTU--Hawaiian grandmother) and carted around by his two rascal brothers. We feel so blessed to have him as a member of our family. He is so tender and sweet! Happy One Year Old!

Fall Foilage Photo Shoot

Here is a group of pictures from my shoot today up the canyon. I love the fall leaves and the changing colors. Thanks to my new reflecter and lens filter, these shots turned out awesome on an overcast door. The Hale family were the perfect photo subjects. If you would like to experience the same photo extravaganza the Hale family took, please call me at (hahahaha...seriously, do you really think I would put my personal number on the web?)...If you are interested, I would love to be your photographer!

Pumpkins!!!

Over the last few years, I sacrificed my love of pumpkins for my need to purchase groceries. Just as the cost of living in Hawaii is outrageous, so are seasonal items like watermelon in the summer and pumpkins in the fall. Each fall I hung my head low and avoided the glare of the sumptuous pumpkin that desired I take him home, carve a deliciously scary face on him and then roast his insides with a light dash of seasoned salt. My boys were denied falls famous pasttime because of the outrageous price per pumpkin. So, to my excitement, I jumped for joy when I saw the price for pumpkins was 19 cents per pound at the local grocery store! I gleefully filled my basket with 8 pumpkins: two for each year that I was unable to buy one and then four more just for a good time! So now that I have all my large lucious pumpkins, here is what I will do:

1. Carve scary faces into a few pumpkins.

2. Pull out the seeds, wash them with a lightly salted water solution, spread them on an oil sprayed pan and then roast them at 375 for 15-20 minutes, turing them every 5 minutes. Then after removing them from the oven, lightly sprinkle them with seasoned salt or table salt.

3. Paint scary phrases on three pumpkins: B O O (in black curvy letters)

4. Dig only the stem out of 2 pumpkins, a space that is suitable for a small votive candle, perferrably pumpkin spice sented. Then place the candle in the pumpkin and light it for warm seasonal lighting.

5. Place all the pumpkins on the steps leading up to yoru home and have your adorable children, dressed in fall hues, sit strategically among the pumpkins as to create the perfect fall ambiance...then snap shots like you are a pro photographer!

Fall is in the Air...I have been out shooting away.

Fall is in the air, and I have been out taking photos of friends and family that live in the Utah area. A good friend of mine from high school had me take her family fall photos for the year and here are a few of the great shots. If you feel like this is a good fit for you, please call me at (ha like I would really post my phone number on the net) well call me if you would like family photos right now because I am offering a great deal!!! For the low cost of ABSOLUTELY FREAKING FREE I will take over 100 photos of your family and give you a cd copy. This offer only lasts through November and then I am going to have to charge you an arm and a leg...hahaha just kidding...well not really...hahaha