Living Room

Living Room - Before

Entrance/Stairs - Before

Living Room - Before

Living Room - After

Stairs/Entrance - After

Paint - General Paint, CL3235D Rock Bottom

Refinished Desk

AFTER

BEFORE

I purchased this Wood (pine) desk from Kijiji $15. What a find!

Step 1: Remove all hardware and knobs/handles. Sand/strip off all wood varnish/sealant. It is important to remove all varnish or the paint won't attach properly.

Step 2: I used a chalkboard spray paint on the top - just for doodles :) Using painters tape - I created a 2-3" boarder that will be painted later. Then sprayed the top with the chalkboard spray paint (Michaels).

Step 3: I applied 2 coats of the color paint (Behr 500D - Jamaica Bay, Matte) to the desk and drawers - I didn't bother with a primer.

Step 4: There are so many methods to distressing furniture. I googled all different kinds of ways and was a little nervous to do it. I just started sanding...A LOT of sanding. The edges are sanded the most with a few spots here and there. I actually ended up getting ahead of myself and sanding too much...so i went back and repainted a few spots.

Step 5: I wanted the distress marks to be dark but the wood underneath is a light color. I used a medium tone wood stain for pine to darken the exposed wood marks. I used a small paint brush and CAREFULLY applied only to the wood and then IMMEDIATELY wiped it off with a damp cloth. The stain didn't completely come off the paint so it gives it a "dirty" look. The darker you want the wood, the longer you leave the stain on. I had to revisit a couple areas where the stain didn't soak in enough.

Step 6: Find some cute knobs/handles (mine are from Anthropology, $8ea.)

Step 7: Line the drawers with cute fabric or scrapbook paper. I found this fabric in the clearance section at Fabricland :) I love deals!

AFTER

This is now my new make up table! It was a long process but so worth it in the end. Can't wait to start my next project!

Camping

This summer we went camping at Takkakaw Falls, just north of Banff. The campsite is next to one of the tallest waterfalls in Canada. It was huge!! You could hear the waterfall in the background at your campsite. We did A LOT of hiking around the area and saw more waterfalls. We visited Banff and Lake Louise. It was a lot of fun!

Honeymoon

We went to Sandals Whitehouse in Jamaica. It was such a beautiful resort and we were treated really well. We spent the most amazing week there. The food was DELICIOUS, we couldn't stop eating. We loved chillin' it on the beach and doing activities like kayaking, swimming, sailing and snorkeling. We ate a nice resturant every night and were full until the next morning. We went river tubing. The river was way higher and faster than usual, its supposed to take 1 hr but only took us like 25 min to get to the end. It was actually kinda scary because Chris's tube popped when we ran into some rocks and trees sticking out of the water. If I hadn't grabbed him right away he would of floated away. It was quite the adventure. It rained everyday we were there but we had beautiful weather in the morning til around 1. It was nice, it was almost unbearable to stay out in the heat for that long.

Our Wedding

We got married on May 31, 2008 in the Cardston Alberta Temple. It the most perfect day to get married on. Perfect picture weather and only a little wind. Lot of friends and family were there to celebrate with us on the special day. Our wedding party looked GREAT (thanks again everyone!). Chris had 4 groomsmen, Matt, Mason, Brandon, and Boyd. I (Kelli) had 4 bridesmaids, Angela, Dana, Breanne, and Jodi. We had a calling reception after the wedding and then Chris and I were off to Jamaica. We spent a week in Jamaica, it was gorgeous! Then it was back to reality, 2 wks after the wedding we held a reception in Vanderhoof. Thanks again to all you came and helped, we appreciate it SO MUCH!!

Our Story

We started dating January 2007, seems like yesterday but its been almost 2 years that we've been together. We became good friends shortly after we met at a U of A football game in late Octorber. After that initial meeting we seemed to find things to do together. We did so many activities like baking, ice skating, gingerbread house making, texting eachother, etc. We became inseparable. Christmas finally came where we spent hours on email and phone. When we returned from chrismas holidays we decided to give dating a try since we were spending so much time together.

Our first official date was to the Nutcracker ballet. It was so fun to get dressed up and go to a fancy ballet. And of course I (Kelli) was very impressed by the choice of date. A few months went by with lots of getting to know eachother more, seeing eachother almost everyday, and growing more and more fond of eachother. Then the I Love You's came around 3 months of dating.

Over our period of dating we took many, many road trips: Vanderhoof, Welling, Utah-Vegas-California. The California road trip was a blast, and long! We spent the night in Utah with Chris's friend, Darren Balderson. Darren gave us a nice tour of Utah. We found Chris's great great grandpa memorial, Jon Pack, who was one of the first scouters in utah valley, and the University of Utah was started in his basement. So it was cool to see some of history in the Pack family. After Utah we headed to Vegas where we stayed with a nice family that Kevin Bullock knew from his mission. We spent 3 days in Vegas, walked the strip, saw a FIBA basketball game (US vs Mexico), and did some shopping. After Vegas, we hit up Disneyland in California. After that we headed home on a 2 day drive home. It was a great trip and we saw lots, and had a BLAST together. That kinda sealed the deal there, if you can handle a road trip like that with a person, thats pretty good.

After that great road trip, the school year started. I (Kelli) was starting my first year in Interior Design Technology and Chris was in his 5th and final year of Chemical Engineering at U of A. At this point we have dating about 8months now, lots of people starting asking the question about marriage. We both new it was going to happen sometime in the future but we didn't want to rush things.



February 29, 2008 - We get engaged!!! It was a very happy night when Chris got down on one knee and proposed. He was lead me down a trail with trees all around, where candles were lit in the snow with rose pedals, and proposed. It was AMAZING! We planned the wedding for May 31, 2008, which allowed us to finish the school year and have some time before the wedding.



May 31-2008, our wedding, it was a beautiful day in Cardston, AB. Lots of family and friends attended which we are very grateful for. It was definately the happiest day of our lives!!



Fall 2008 - School has started again, I (Kelli) am in my second and final year of interior design and Chris has finished school and is now working for ARC (Alberta Research Council) for the next year so i can finish school. Next summer (2009) we could be anywhere, Chris has applied to numerous jobs and is waiting on replies.

This is our story so far, We are so happy together and love everyday that comes.