Anchor

Come one Come all!
I'll see you there.

Alice Lane and delicious details.

My basement got a major face lift...and I mean major.
And I had nothing to do with it.
These girls did. Meet Jess and Suzanne.

(Suzanne and Jess)
The masterminds behind the beautiful Alice Lane
(only home deco store worth going to in Utah).
They had such small and awkward space to work with in my basement.
The ladies worked it beautifully.
And Jess and Suzanne were not all to thank for the masterpiece.
The beautiful cupboards were made by Maglebys.
A prime cabinetry's shop(and nationally ranked).
Along with the AV/electrical guy Jonathon, the movers,
and all the behind the scene's people helping out.
But, a big huge thank you to Suzanne's Mom (who I only know as Sister York)
for cleaning my house up (was it a little nostalgic for ya?)
And an ever BIGGER thank you to those of you who made sure Jimmy had water and food while you were working. It truly was kind of you (really REALLY kind of you)

My favorite are the details which make the room shine.

(The dazzling light fixture and knobs to boot)

(Cute Kristen at Alice Lane, a vintage painting in my basement)

(Mark Magleby after his hard work along with Jonathon and helper setting up the TV
FYI: that picture of Mark is my favorite)

Thank you- now seriously we are having a party.
Check out Alice Lane's site
or their beautiful blog here for more of my basement transformation.
Also, YES Alice Lane will pimp themselves out to other states (that's for you Sarah H.)




And P.S...I am totally going to this Mindy concert. I think you should too.
Mindy's new album is incredible. Your going to love it!
More information here.

And I think you should all know beforehand, that she will be performing my favorite song
"All about your heart"....or as I call it "Scars"
I also pretend Mindy wrote the song just for me and my life.
AND, it is the song that was featured in my "New Life Video"

Late July thunderstorms.

The clouds opened up today for about 10 minutes and rained.
I quickly egged the children on to run outside with umbrella's to enjoy it.
Then I ran inside to lay on my bed.
(there is nothing like laying in bed with a thunderstorm overhead.)
Then I got off my bed and opened every window in my room.
And then I jumped back in bed and listened.
Rain, wind, and children screaming in delight.
Then came the smell.
The smell of wet mountain grass and summer fading.
I was a very happy girl.
Until it ended.

Dirty Pirates

Today I got very determined and made my kids do all the jobs in the house.
(see above)
Just kidding.
But not really.
No, actually really, I was a very sweet mom and let my girls go swimming with cousins (even if they left the basement looking like a dressing room).
It was quite sneaky really, the boys were in the tub/shower (they do both...at the same time) and the girls slipped out bound for the pool.
When the boys finally emerged from their luxury bath experience, they didn't even ask where their sisters were. Whew.
But as most kids do (especially on hot summer days) they began to fight, so I took them with me in the car.
First it was just to the dry cleaners.
(fyi: Durfeys dry cleaners = free suckers)
Then I stretched it a bit and went and got gas for the car.
Then I found myself taking my 3 and 5 year old sons to Victoria's Secret for some bras.
(what was I thinking?)
****
We finally decided to stop for ice cream. (the least I could do).
But the boys forgot they wanted ice cream when they saw the gummi bears.
So I got an ice cream cone (cookies and cream thankyouverymuch) and the boys didn't get ice cream or gummi bears, but chocolate gold coins instead.
Just as we were leaving, I dropped my whole cone on the store ground.
I boobed for about 2 seconds then saw the boys sweaty faces, all my packages and Mr. Nielson's take out I had picked up for him.
And, being the perfect mother I am, I quickly pretended I was a poor pioneer wandering the plains. Most poor pioneers never had ice cream before, so I was a very lucky poor pioneer getting any kind of ice cream at all...right?
Whats a little dirt anyway (don't answer that).
Anyway, no one noticed except for my boys, but they do that type of thing with everything they eat everyday so they certainly didn't care.
****
On the way to the car, Ollie wanted pretend he was a pirate with all his fancy chocolate coins.
Then he asked me to pretend that he had an eye patch.
Then he asked me to pretend I had some sort of pirate paraphernalia going on.
I picked a peg leg.
And Nicholas settled for a hook and a parrot on his shoulder.
Then I pretended I was a pirate instead of a poor pioneer with my dirty ice cream cone.
Because we all know that pirates are dirty anyway.

Family life.

(happy homecoming to dad...in bed)

Mr. Nielson and I drove in late Sunday night. Actually it was Monday by then.
I couldn't sleep. I was so giddy at the thought of picking up my children.
I hadn't expected only a 3 day trip to make me miss them so.
I woke up at 7:30 determined to get the kids, but I figured they would all be sleeping still.
So, around 9:00 I decided it was a good time to pick up my babies.
They had all sorts of things to {Y}tell me.
What they did, ate, played, and that Chickie was the best at doing hair.
But my favorite part was when they got home and ran for my bedroom
where Mr. Nielson was sleeping soundly.
They invaded his slumber and talked all at the same time about 4 totally different conversations.
That's when I left them alone so I could begin breakfast.

Nicholas was surprisingly quiet all day.
All he wanted to do was ride on the motorcycle with his father.
Since the motorcycle was unavailable at the moment,
we pulled out the A2B and Mr. Nielson; one after another drove the children around
picking wild plums and apricots on Old Willow Lane- out of sight.

(speaking of picking, nic's brown eyes are to die for)

I can feel autumn creeping in.
The apricot trees are full with ripe fruit, the gutter is full of water and gushing down the lane and the mountain grass is getting longer and more yellow.
Not to mention the grapes beginning to show on the fence vines.
And, I heard the BYU marching band today.
They are practicing for football season.
Does that make you happy or what?

(mr. nielson and nic)

This is what family is all about.

Sailing on Mission Bay; Marcus and Ashley get married.

(Marcus and Ashley at their wedding dinner)

Marcus Nielson married Ashley Bagley in San Diego.
Marcus looks at Ashley with such intense heart-exploding love.
I think it is a Nielson thing because all the Nielson boys have it.
(Yes, even you Boss Nielson)
My charming Mr. Nielson shows his IHEL (shall we call it that?), to me quite often-
Except when I get on his nerves.
Like the time when he got pulled over on the way down.
I tell him to be polite and listen to the cop all the
while my jaw is tight and talk with my teeth shut.
(like the way my Mom used to talk to me when I was noisy in church)
And he hates that.
After the cop left us with a big fat ticket, I picked up my new book
(which I love, thanks Aunt Lisa) and pretended that nothing had happened.
Then he asked me why I wasn't on his team.
Apparently it was Cop's team vs Mr. Nielson team. And then I asked him a number of questions/scenarios when it is OK to not be on his team. For example:
What if Mr. Nielson wanted me to do drugs with him. Would I choose Mr. Nielson's team or Nancy Reagen's (Say No to Drug campaign) team.
I would chose Nancy.
THEN, maybe that IHEL is not quite as prominent.

(Me reading with Christian's ticket as a bookmark)

(Me in the slip heading off to breakfast. It smells like really stinky dead fish, Andrew Beesley takes a ride)

(Lucy is sick and pregnant, but is such a good sport)

Lucy and Andrew came down for a wedding on the same day-same place.
Very coincidental and very perfect.

(Checking my e-mail. Mr. Nielson takes a picture looking down into the cozy bunk).

(Mr. Nielson loves flags, sailing, and the ocean breeze)

(Captain Mr. Nielson, and First mate, Nie. Except all I do is lay down)

(looking out on Mission Bay)

(Ashley changed into her hippie dress after the ceremony.
Marcus looked dapper in a orange bow tie).

(Oh hum, just a bunch of dolphins swimming next to our boat (yawn) what's new?)

(The beautiful sunset at dusk.)

(Scenes of the wild wild west on our drive home.)

Home again home again Jiggity jig!
I missed:
Claire
Jane
Oliver
Nicholas and Betsy.

Alice Lane: Transformation of my basement.

Magleby's men building the beautiful custom shelves

Getting Closer
Looking amazing

Beautiful!!! Look at the darling red knobs.

More downstairs
Look how cheerful the books look colorfully stacked up
on the new beautiful cupboards.

Mr. Nielson and I are away in San Diego.
And, Alice Lane is at our Briar Avenue home In Utah.
The goal: transformation of our basement.
With fabulous cabinetry work by Magleby's (who are prized all over the country)
and Suzanne and Jess decorating every nook and cranny of my basement.
From the fabric swatches to the wallpaper, to picking out knobs for the cupboards,
they've helped me and inspired me throughout the delightful transformation.
I am really excited.
Really excited.

Shall we have a party?

Check out here for more about my beautiful journey.

Driving with the moon.

The moon out the car window

Hi guys! I am on the road with Mr.Nielson.
We are driving our way to San Diego.
Marcus (mr. nielsons youngest brother) will marry Ashley and we get to see it happen.
As for now, we are pulling an all-niter to get there.
I am in the backseat trying to sleep. Mr. Nielson has satellite
radio on listening to Muse and Neon Trees (go Provo boys).
Anyway, the car really stinks like flarties. But really they are strawberries-
We smelled a skunk a little while ago, but I like it. I know, weird.

I just texted Mr. Nielson from the backseat and now we can't stop.
I ask him if he is driving ok and alert.
Then he says yes.
Then I tell him I love him.
Then he says the wind is 12mph and we will stop in Beaver, UT for gas.
Then I say ok and he says he loves me back.
Can't wait to see the beach.

-Nie

4 reasons why I hate fire, among other stuff

(Fires on my Y mountain)

{I first would like to take this time and apologize for my sweeeet post yesterday. I took my insomnia pill and then began witting. Not such a hot idea. (fyi).
Last month when I was in the hospital, and on bed-rest there is not too much going on.
(other than watch the only 2 channels on the TV?)
So what did I do?
I shopped online.
I'm pretty sure I ordered enough clothes to fit all the kids at Wasatch elementary.
I bought close to 4-5 things exactly the same for Claire and Jane.
But, I am happy to report that I have since sent them all back with no harm done.
Except now, when Mr. Nielson says for me to put the computer down, because I am slightly "tipsy" I need to listen to him.
(just like I failed to do in the hospital and, last time when I didn't listen, not only did I buy 4-5 boxes of clothes with the same things inside, I sent very strange and creepy pictures of my body, texts and pictures to my Mother and sisters. Oh don't get me started...
I'll just say this: I was very loopy, and my family knew that.
In fact they were heard saying:
"if Stephanie is loopy she it means she is happy and comfortable".}
****

Now, on to the day.
The special day where I didn't shower or change.
I did brush my teeth though.
(But not until 10:30 at night better late than never...right?).
Something has died in my kitchen. We think it is a mouse.
It smells terrible, awful and putrid.
I can't handle stinky houses and Mr. Nielson can't stand me smelling and sniffing and complaining about the stinky houses...since he can't smell it..

****
A fire had broke out on the hills behind my house.
I don't like fires for a few reasons:

1. I was burned 83% of my body in a horrific plane crash so naturally,
fire just plain scares me.

2. Fire means smoke, and smoke is what invaded my lungs.
So the smell really terrifies me. It usually means something is not right.

3. I don't like the alarms and sirens.
They remind me of laying on the side of the road waiting
for help after the plane crashed. All I could think and feel were pain and thirst.
In fact, I was in desperate pain and all I wanted was a drink of water
and for someone to take my pants off since my jeans were burning into my legs.

4. The wildfire toasted some lush green trees and golden shrubs.
Makes' me so sad and protective to think about.

****
We pretty much just ate pretzels and nutella for breakfast and lunch.
I am in a collecting mood. I am now collecting paint by numbers kits or already painted masterpieces. I love the bright vintage colors and look. Would go perfect in a cabin in the 60's.
I fancy mostly horses and dogs.
I always pick them up whenever I see them at yard sales.
I started my own picture today. It did turn out a masterpiece if I may say so myself...
oh and Claire's friend KK said I should be famous.
Ahhh, if only.


Claire and Jane said they were hungry and hadn't had anything to eat almost all day.
Just then, I began thinking about what sort of Mother tells her children to fend for themselves,
and eat pretzels and nutella all day. I thought that, that mother should be thrown into jail.
But then Jane said to me:
"I didn't eat anything at all, but I'm alright, its weird"
Then I said a kinda-thanks to Jane and felt not quite so guilty.
But then she said she wished her Mother was Aunt Lizzie who cooks really
yummy food all the time.
Then I felt really sad and called it night.

(Jane on the 4th of July)