Kitchen Remodel

Tommy and I updated our kitchen recently and I can't stop staring at it!  We decided to re-face our kitchen cabinets.  It was a long and tedious project, but finally worth it in the end.  With the new look of the cabinets together with our floor we put in last year, the tile backsplash, and new light fixtures, it's like a whole new kitchen!
See the "before and afters."  For some reason, I couldn't get that second picture to rotate. :(

 

 

A Beautiful Proposal

For the 4th of July this year (which is my favorite holiday after Christmas), Tommy planned a trip to Lake Tahoe, just the two of us.  We spent 2 nights at a lakeside resort and spent a lot of time hiking, riding our bikes, and even did a little water-skiing.  The lake is packed with people this time of year, but I can see why as there is so much to do here and it is simply gorgeous!  The lake is massive and royal blue in color, but pretty cold I might add.

To get to the highlight of the trip, we took a little night hike up to Eagle's Rock to watch the fireworks on the night of the 4th.  We took along blankets and champagne and watched the full moon rise up above the Sierras as multiple fireworks displayed for us around the lake.  As the fireworks ended and the other spectators made their way down the trail, Tommy continued to hold me tight keeping me warm.  Just as we stood up to start packing up, I asked Tommy what was in is pocket.  He then opened up the box from his pocket displaying a beautiful diamond ring.  He got down on one knee and asked me "Will you marry me, Rebecca?" ...and I said YES!

Here's a few more pictures from our trip:

Redecorating

Okay, Mom. As promised, here are some pics of the house since we did the floors, got the new sectional, and rearranged furniture. I have to say, Tommy is pretty good at decorating! I used to fight him on things, but once I see his ideas, they end up looking better than anything I planned to do.

Family Room:

Dining Room:

Living Room:

Kitties =)

Mayven

I adopted a new kitty this weekend! She's 8 months old and her name was Raven. However, after some discussion with my co-workers today, I think I'm changing her name to Mayven. They thought I should change it and we thought it'd be cute to stick with the "M" names since I already have Marley. After throwing out a bunch of names, "Mayven" just kinda stuck with me, plus it still sounds like Raven.

I thought her and Marley could be playmates, however, right now they hate each other! You can't really tell it from this picture, but they're staring each other down and hissing at each other. I'm told it will take some time, though. She's also a little bit smaller than Marley even though they look the same here. I think she'll end up being bigger than Marley, though, since she's still a kitten right now.

Poor Marley. :( I think she's jealous.

They're doing a little better now. They get along when they keep a 6 foot separation. Any closer, and the hissing starts again.

I don't know why I insist of having black pets and white furniture, but they sure are cute, aren't they?

Here's a cute picture of Mayven.

Marley giving her death glare.

Camping at Mineral King

This weekend I was so graciously invited along for a camping/hiking trip at Mineral King in the Sequoia National Park with the Barragans. What an amazing trip it was! It was a long drive, but totally worth it! We hiked over 20 miles, climbed over 5,000 ft, and saw some spectacular views!

Saturday morning we woke up early to begin our first hike. It was a 6.6 mile hike up to Franklin Lake. We had to pace ourselves since we were not aclimated to the high altitude, not to mention climbing another 3,000 feet. But when we made it to the top, we got to eat our lunch at this serene lake that was crystal clear. It was a bit chilly, so we sheltered ourselves from the wind behind the damn that was built in 1902. Here are some pictures from day one:

On Sunday, we hiked again, but had to make this one a little shorter so I could drive home that afternoon. We still did 8.2 miles with an elevation gain of about 2,300 feet. This climb was a lot steeper, so we took our time. At the top of this hike was Chief's Canyon, which was another amazing landscape. Here is day two:

To see the rest of my pictures (I took over 100!), you can view them here: http://s644.photobucket.com/albums/uu164/beck_marshall/Mineral%20King

Marathon Pictures Are In