An Ode to Todd: Happy Birthday, BFF

So Todd was born on August 1, 1974. I am so glad that he was! No, really... I am SO glad that he was born.



This is my favorite picture of Todd. This is the REAL Todd. If ever there was a picture that captured the purity of the soul, it's this one. And I find that appropriate because with Todd, what you see is what you get. He is one of the most genuine, unpretentious people I know.



Wait... oops, I said real, right? Well don't let this picture fool you...



...or this picture.

Todd DOES NOT like to dress up. He likes to be himself. If he is ever seen about town as Elvis or a pirate, it is usually because I have coerced him into it.

Todd does not like attention. Not even positive attention. He gets embarrassed. He doesn't mind recognition, but attention is totally different.



He likes to be recognized for being funny, but by that I mean that he likes you to laugh at his jokes, but if you were to tell him, "You're really funny," he might be embarrassed, because the latter is attention and the former is recognition.



Todd is a lot of fun to hang out with. I am glad that if I couldn't have kids I couldn't have kids with Todd. I never get sick of him. Every Monday, I miss him because I had to him to myself the whole weekend.



That being said, Todd is really good with kids. He would make the BEST dad. He is silly and he makes up really good songs.



Wait, he can be tender, too.





Awww... He loves his nieces and nephews. I have loads of photos of him with the chlins', but my computer illiteracy prevents me from posting them.

Which brings me to things that Todd is good at:



Computers

Problem solving and figuring things out

He's way handy (he can fix just about anything)

Singing (and making up songs)



Making people laugh



Cooking meat (BBQ)



Gardening



Making his wife happy (and making her laugh out loud on a daily, nay, hourly, basis)



Here are some things Todd likes:

Corn dogs



Coleslaw

Fishing



Camping and the Great Outdoors



The smell of warm pine needles and mountain air

Humoring his wife



Kissing (his wife)

I feel very proud of Todd. I will try to recognize him for the following and try to NOT embarrass him...



Todd has done some really hard things. He has started a company. He got his MBA. He has held scary callings at church. I am convinced that his capacity for growth is endless. There is nothing he can't take on and conquer. And that brings me to another really good quality: he is a superhero. He IS unbreakable.



I can trust Todd. I know he will always choose the right thing to do. I don't have to worry too much about what he does or who he hangs around with when he travels. Todd is the kind of person other people want to be good for.

I know, this is getting embarrassing.

But I love Todd for so many reasons! I have to share, to celebrate him! He is the BEST husband and the BEST partner. Did you know that he has NEVER, in 10 years of marriage, ever said anything on purpose to hurt my feelings? He refrains. That's important. I know that when I am being bratty or PMS-y he could verbally jab me, but he never has. He never uses a "tone" with me or hurts me to "put me in my place." Even if it is deserved. I can "confess" anything to Todd and be totally honest with him because I know he is on my team. (Like the time I accidentally spent $250 on some silk fabric... it truly was an accident.)



I really don't prescribe to the notion that there is one true match for any individual. Actually, maybe I do because I always say "there is a lid for every pot." But really I just mean that about weird people. But Todd is the only one for me. I knew it the very first time we kissed. I know... that's so romantic, and I am not generally a romantic, I am a pragmatist, but the actuality is that I knew I wanted Todd forever. Who wouldn't?

So that's why I am glad that he was born. There is no one on the face of the whole wide world that I would rather be with forever.

Happy birthday, Tood, Shmoopy, Buddy, Sugar Plum, Sweetheart, Friend.

I Guess It's Time...

So time is flying by at break-neck speed and I am not so good about blogging anymore or taking pictures of what I do. So here's a little recap.

We moved into our new home on March 1, 2010. We love it. I set to work right away getting some of the projects done that I didn't want to wait 7 years to do: like tiling the "chef's nook" and 1/2 bath, wallpapering a giant map, painting the master bedroom and dining room, etc. I will post more pictures later (especially of the stenciling projects I have been doing). But here is what we have so far.

Here is Todd welcoming you:


Here is the view from the front hallway into the family, kitchen, and dining rooms.

We had to consolidate all of our bookshelves and entertainments into the huge shelving unit. We also relegated our red sofa and chair to the basement and promoted the leather sectional up to the big leagues. Our sectional is wrong... it "L's" the wrong way, but it was not within the budget to buy another couch or rebuild the house, so... for now it is what it is.

Here is Todd doing some dishes...

We did quartz counter tops (Hanstone in "Tiffany Gray") and white cabinets, because I am still a white cabinet girl. Our floor is 12" x 24" gray porcelain tiles laid in a brick pattern. The tiles look like grass cloth and are Fiona proof.

Here is Todd looking into fridge to see if there is anything to eat... which there isn't.


Here is Todd sitting and laughing at something witty you just said.

The dining room wall is a stencil that I made from an Art Nouveau book. I will blog about that later. The stencil is not finished yet. It will have birds and flowers (you can see a small finished portion on the far left).

Here is Todd waking up in our lovely "winter" bedroom.

The trees are stencils from Urban Outfitters. The wall color is a wonderful slate gray from Restoration Hardware that I LOVE. I was worried that it would be too dark, but I really love the crisp white and gray with yellow and white bedding. There is a white wardrobe with a gray tree stenciled on it to the side. I also like our bedside lights that hang instead of sitting on the night table. I still need to hide the cords.

Here's Todd in his thinking place...

I am going to paint the bathroom a lighter gray and do something fabulous with tile. Someday...

Todd is still excited to go upstairs, even though the upstairs is decidedly not exciting.

I LOVE our carpet. It's a mix of low and looped pile and it has subtle stripes. It is wheat colored and has already weathered 5 ladies with the stomach flu and one dog who ate a 5 lb. bag of chocolate chips. It still looks great!

Here's Todd in the guest room. He didn't want to leave.

I imagine that this room will be beachy and tranquil.

This is the daybed in my craft room. He didn't want to leave here either, in fact, he didn't. He's still there.

Fiona is keeping him company. She also took his shoes. The craft room is still not perfect. I have a lot of stuff to organize and get rid of. It is also Fiona's secret hide out. If I leave the door open, she brings her "treasures" up here. If I am missing something like slippers or a 5 lb bag of flour or chocolate chips, it will be in her hideout.

This is the map papered 1/2 bath that I love.

I tiled the walls 1/2 way up on two walls and then the map covers the rest. It was the first thing I did and I love it.

Here's some other stuff I did this summer:

We went to Florida to visit Tyler, Brittany, & Owen. It was heavenly. They live in such a beautiful place. We miss them SOOOOO much!


I went to Connecticut to visit Emily & the little ladies:

I walked on air!

I drove a submarine.


I saw the old sites and some great "old" friends.

We went to Sturbridge Village and did old fashioned-y things...



We made headbands galore...



I was purposely trying to make that look awkward.
Then Emily & the Little Ladies came to my house... and got sick.

It was the stomach flu which we all got, even some of the cousins. But I did not throw up. How, you ask, can you get the stomach flu and NOT throw up? Oh, you can... you CAN.
We visited the Bingham Copper mine. It's a mile deep.


And then I lost my our brand new camera and don't have documentation of Sarah's visit or of Spencer and Sho and the wedding we all attended. Or of Todd's mom and dad's visit or Darcy's visit or of Tyler and Brittany's visit. Or of Girl's Camp. It's been non-stop fun. Just the way summer should be.

Moving On: the Progress Report

So we are finishing a townhouse in Daybreak, which is in South Jordan, UT. Here's the outside again...



..turns out we will actually have a decent sized front yard and side yard which will definitely be fenced off. We want to have parties in this yard and allow Fiona some space to run around without biting people.

Here's the entry (Todd asked if he could be in the photos so I asked him to act out possible scenarios)...



Here is Todd standing on the far side of the family room by the future kitchen counter. He's welcoming you in...



Here is Todd doing some dishes...



Here is Todd looking into the fridge...



Here is Todd laughing at something funny you said over a delicious dinner in the dining room...(he's cutting his meat not riding a pony)...



Here is Todd waking up in the morning in our lovely main floor bedroom...



This is Todd in the shower, he really does this, he just stands there...



Todd is so excited to go upstairs...



He's standing in the corner of the loft, depressed already at all the bills he's going to pay from this spot in the house (the loft looks down onto the entry and also has a lot of nice windows, this is where I want to read books, and eat bon bons)...



Here Todd looks out the window in a contemplative mood. He's deciding whether or not to let you stay here in the guest room...



Here Todd is posing seductively in the "Carrie Office", he's practicing to seduce me away from my crafts for a moment... I think it's working ladies...



I can see the temple spire and Moroni from my "office" window...



And now for the exciting basement (that will stay unfinished for a while)... Todd said he was acting like Fiona, when she stares at you while half hidden by a corner... very creepy...



Here it is in all it's glory... at least it's a decent size...



If you're bad at my house, you will spend the night under the stairs...



I am very excited to see the progress as they actually begin working on our space. I hope it won't be boring to share the progress with you. It will be consuming my thoughts and will be the source of most of my anxiety for the next month or two... stay tuned.

Moving Day

So we've moved. We finally sold our home on 620 North in Provo and have moved further north. It was a really hard decision to make, but we definitely felt led to do so, and who are we to deny inspiration? We need all the help we can get!

We lived at 2668 West 620 North for almost 9 years, which is almost twice as long as I've lived anywhere! We love the neighborhood and the people and the ward there. Todd and I pulled away from the house in separate cars and after a few minutes called each other to exclaim, "Are you fighting tears, because I'm trying really not to cry my eyes out!"

We were fortunate enough to be able to meet the new occupants and to appreciate what nice people they are. As I was going through all sorts of information about the house, neighborhood, & ward with the wife when she asked me, "Are you excited to go your new place?" I think she felt like I was really reluctant, and I was!

We had a lot of help from wonderful people who made us feel loved. I can't think of anything worse than to help someone move. I guess it's not so bad when you're not moving yourself, but having people come in and see the mess and chaos... I was close to by breaking point. But thanks to some key players (you know who you are) things got done even when I was basically catatonic and unable to make any more decisions!

While this house has it's flaws, I have loved living in it, and I loved visiting each room for the last time to see it clean and ready for someone new.













We are living in a temporary town home until OUR town home is finished (we don't know when that will be, exactly, as of yet). Right now we are living in Tyler and Brittany's home. They VERY GENEROUSLY moved out of their place early (they are moving to Fort Lauderdale, FL in February) so we could have somewhere to live and be able to have Fiona with us.

We are looking forward to the adventure ahead of us. The unknown is scary, but we are welcoming this change whole heartedly. The is an auspicious year for the Rhodes: 10 years of marriage and a move. A baby would round things out completely (but that's one thing we don't have a lot of control of).

I hope it doesn't become tedious, but I am excited to post the progress on the new house (town home). Our new address is 4353 Degray Dr., South Jordan, UT, 84095 (our mail is going there already). It is fun to able to make choices in this house that I didn't get to make in the last one. This new house will be totally contemporary (my little designer dream come true... I hope).



(This is our new house! Just kidding, this is 3 town homes... our unit is the one on the far left.)



This is our unit, it is "L" shaped and lovely!

Please come and visit! We have room for you at the new party house!