Maybe I'll learn to slow down a little in the future

A couple of weeks ago I posted about my busy life and adding umpiring to the already busy schedule. Well I've done it again. We're not finished with our own kitchen remodel and last week we started remodeling my parents bathroom. Thankfully, I've had a lot of support from my siblings. That has made it easier. I really do have good siblings!!!! The willingness to help out has been phenomenal.

For some reason I didn't take before pictures. But the bathroom was very outdated. It was comfortable for my parents, so they felt no need to make a change. But right before they left on their mission, we found that there had been some leaking problems. They were going to have it remodeled at that point, but were so busy they couldn't add anything else to their plate. The problem has continually gotten worse and worse and needed to be fixed now.

Here's a picture of part way through the demo. Notice the harvest gold shower to the left and the patch of wallpaper that was behind the toilet and couldn't be painted. Like I said, outdated.

We have done the demo and reinstalled new subflooring. We've also installed the shower basin. We are waiting for the mud to dry on the basin before we start moving forward on everything else. I don't want to post too many pictures because I want the overall remodel to be a surprise to my parents. They know we are doing the remodel, but they do not know what the end result will be.

Here is a picture of where the shower used to be.


And here is my brother Brian putting in a line of studs to line up the walls where the shower used to be.



My parents' already know this, so it's okay to post. We are going to put in a heated floor so that the tile is nice and cozy when you go in without any shoes or socks. Won't that be nice . . . . . .

Happy Saint Patty's Day!!

After a long, nice nap (nice for mom and Mirian), Mirian was ready to celebrate Saint Patrick's Day, complete with a lovely green dinner and Shamrock Cookies!

Family Challenge, Last week

Well we are in the final week of the family challenge. To date during the challenge, I've lost 30 lbs. To hit my ideal weight, I still have another 15 to go, but it won't happen during this challenge.

The challenge has been a tough one. As I've mentioned before, it isn't just a diet (in fact I wouldn't call it a diet at all) it's a personal challenge to change your life for the better. Since starting the challenge, I've exercised ALMOST daily except for Sundays, I've read books (yes plural), I've updated the blog as part of my journaling, I've looked for opportunities to serve, I've lost a bunch of weight, and I have increased my energy level. I'm super-pleased with my efforts and the goals I've set. My goals were not simple, but I felt GREAT when I was able to accomplish them.

Thank you Mom and Dad Carter for inspiring me to be healthy and a better person!!!!

Tiling the Kitchen Floor

Well, when Em's parents came to visit over Christmas time we remodeled the kitchen. Uncle Walter also flew up to help. We are SOOOOOOO appreciative for their help and the help of other family and friends. One of the things we weren't able to do was to tile the floor. So that has taken me about 3 1/2 months thus far . . . . .

Well yesterday I was doing some tiling, and it turns out, I had a little helper. . . . . .


Here she is helping to lay some spacers


What a cute little helper!!!

She just loves to do what mommy and daddy do. Mirian loves to work along side us, she loves to clean the house along side us, and she even loves to do exercises right along with us. We always have a fun little chuckle when she stretches and does her exercises with us. It's just so cute!!!!!

We just love our little monkey!!!!

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

With a side of "Cheese!"

As if I didn't have enough going on in my life . . . .

I really do enjoy working with youth, it inspires me to be better. And that is probably the main reason why I will be adding "Certified SUA Umpire" to my repertoire. Our good friend Steve Lawson has umpired for YEARS!!!! He started officiating in high school and has even officiated college softball games. He is VERY GOOD at what he does.

Steve convinced me to become certified as an umpire in order to help out the community and help some youth. It does "pay" but not enough to be considered "an income". There is training that we undergo at least 2 times/week with no pay, so, yeah, you don't do this for the money.

Needless to say, I will probably get some of this

And yes, I'll admit, I might do a little of this

Nevertheless, I am excited for this opportunity. I don't plan on changing professions (even though MLB umpires make around $300,000/year), but this will be a good opportunity for me to learn (I have to read and understand the 50 page rule book. I even have to memorize about half of it and take tests for the certification) and grow and work with youth.

Wish me luck!!!!!