matt, stacy, graham, mason, elsie, emmett, & molly
12.04.2009
Every time I hear the word, "hockey," I hear Sarah Palin's voice.
Over Thanksgiving, the Phoenix Coyotes were playing the Dallas Stars. The hockey stadium is a stone's throw from our house, so we had to go. My dad is a hockey fan, and it was fun going to the game with my family. Although Matt and I don't watch a whole lot of hockey at our house, or any hockey for that matter, we still had a blast. I've never seen people get so excited about a goal, and my favorite part of the whole thing was the incredibly loud siren they sounded after every Phoenix goal.
Unfortunately, Wayne Gretzky carried a hefty price tag. He used to be the coach of the Coyotes, but was invited to leave once the team filed for bankruptcy. Whatever they are looking at must have been interesting.
Unfortunately, Wayne Gretzky carried a hefty price tag. He used to be the coach of the Coyotes, but was invited to leave once the team filed for bankruptcy. Whatever they are looking at must have been interesting.
Hannah, my mom, and my dad. It was actually surprisingly cold in the stadium.
GOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!
To top things off, every person in our row won free car washes! Because my family doesn't live here, we ended up with 5 free car washes! Matt also caught a t-shirt!
Our neighbors are Ute fans.
All in good fun, our neighbor boys came and chalked a giant U on our driveway prior to the BYU vs. Utah game. They also wrote things like, "BOO BYU!" and "Go Utah!" Later that night, we found more Utah drawings on our driveway, and a sandwich bag with a piece of blue chalk on our front step. The boy's mom thought it would only be fair to let us draw on their driveway too. Well, off we went to express our hatred of the U on our neighbor's driveway. Here's Hannah and Matt drawing on the pavement.
The next day at church, our neighbor's littlest girl, Sariah, came to Nursery (Matt and I are Nursery leaders). That particular Sunday she was a little upset about coming to Nursery and was crying while her dad was trying to put her down. Matt, in trying to distract her, asked, "Sariah, did you draw on my driveway?" Through her tears and while closing her eyes tightly, she wails, "NOOO." Matt asks, "Who was it, then?" Sariah, again with eyes closed tightly says, "It was Byran!"
Hilarious.
12.03.2009
Fire!
We wanted to test out our new firepit, so we invited the Bushmans over to help us take it for a test run. We had fun roasting marshmallows and watching UP with them for FHE!
Phoenix Temple
I've never lived in an area where there was opposition to a temple being built. The temple in Idaho Falls was built in the early 1900's, and all the temples in Utah had been there a while, up until the last few were built. There is a temple being built in North Phoenix, not too far from Matt's school. We are excited to have the temple built so close to us, and look forward to the opportunity to go there. Here is a news story about the temple that was posted online. It's funny to me to see how people are opposed to such a wonderful building. Some of the things they have problems with is the traffic that the temple will bring and the lights on the temple. When I see or hear people on the news complaining about the lights on the temple, I can't help to wonder if the think the temple is going to look like a Las Vegas attraction with all the flashy lights. Have they not ever seen a temple?
City council OKs addition to Phoenix LDS temple
A Phoenix City Council zoning meeting has determined the fate of a controversial Valley Mormon Temple.
The Council voted unanimously Wednesday to allow the LDS church to add 10 feet of height to its proposed temple, to be built near 51st Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Rd, adjacent to the church's current building.
The building will stand 40 feet high, despite typical residential zoning laws preventing buildings from exceeding 30 feet in height.
"Being legally allowed to do something doesn't mean you're being respectful to the neighborhood," said Scott Anderson, who spoke on behalf of neighborhood protesters after the vote Wednesday night.
Anderson said a group of neighbors will not give up their fight to get the issue to voters.
According to city leaders, a group must gather 9,798 legitimate petition signatures from registered Phoenix voters within thirty days in order to push the issue towards the ballot.
Supporters, meanwhile, say they are anxious to move forward with their plans.
"We're going to make every effort to make peace with the neighbors," said Paul Gilbert, an attorney representing the temple supporters.
Gilbert said the temple supporters have already made several concessions regarding the proposed addition, including agreeing to turn the lights off at 10 p.m. and changing the color of the exterior paint they had intended.
Residents living nearby have expressed concerns about the proposed 126-foot high steeple which they say will obstruct their mountain views.
On Sunday, November 22, dozens of protesters picketed services at the north Phoenix LDS church.
Thirty people lined the north Phoenix intersection, letting passing drivers know of their opposition to the church building a temple.
"We respect their right to worship, this isn't about religion," said Anderson. "What it's about is a building that's incompatible with the neighborhood."
Neighbors like Don Egigian have also expressed frustrations with the proposal.
"Their impact as far as making our neighborhood better is zero," Egigian said.
Neighbors say, for one, the temple will bring in additional traffic which they claim the roads in the area can't handle.
"Anytime you put a high intensity, large project next to low intensity homes, it creates problems," Anderson said.
Most residents take issue with the temple's height; proposed plans have it at 40 feet with a 78 foot spire with a light on top.
"Lighting is a huge issue, it'll be lit until 11 o'clock at night," Egigian said.
Many neighbors say a building of that height doesn't belong in a residential community. There is also concern the light at the top of the steeple could be distracting.
City council OKs addition to Phoenix LDS temple
A Phoenix City Council zoning meeting has determined the fate of a controversial Valley Mormon Temple.
The Council voted unanimously Wednesday to allow the LDS church to add 10 feet of height to its proposed temple, to be built near 51st Avenue and Pinnacle Peak Rd, adjacent to the church's current building.
The building will stand 40 feet high, despite typical residential zoning laws preventing buildings from exceeding 30 feet in height.
"Being legally allowed to do something doesn't mean you're being respectful to the neighborhood," said Scott Anderson, who spoke on behalf of neighborhood protesters after the vote Wednesday night.
Anderson said a group of neighbors will not give up their fight to get the issue to voters.
According to city leaders, a group must gather 9,798 legitimate petition signatures from registered Phoenix voters within thirty days in order to push the issue towards the ballot.
Supporters, meanwhile, say they are anxious to move forward with their plans.
"We're going to make every effort to make peace with the neighbors," said Paul Gilbert, an attorney representing the temple supporters.
Gilbert said the temple supporters have already made several concessions regarding the proposed addition, including agreeing to turn the lights off at 10 p.m. and changing the color of the exterior paint they had intended.
Residents living nearby have expressed concerns about the proposed 126-foot high steeple which they say will obstruct their mountain views.
On Sunday, November 22, dozens of protesters picketed services at the north Phoenix LDS church.
Thirty people lined the north Phoenix intersection, letting passing drivers know of their opposition to the church building a temple.
"We respect their right to worship, this isn't about religion," said Anderson. "What it's about is a building that's incompatible with the neighborhood."
Neighbors like Don Egigian have also expressed frustrations with the proposal.
"Their impact as far as making our neighborhood better is zero," Egigian said.
Neighbors say, for one, the temple will bring in additional traffic which they claim the roads in the area can't handle.
"Anytime you put a high intensity, large project next to low intensity homes, it creates problems," Anderson said.
Most residents take issue with the temple's height; proposed plans have it at 40 feet with a 78 foot spire with a light on top.
"Lighting is a huge issue, it'll be lit until 11 o'clock at night," Egigian said.
Many neighbors say a building of that height doesn't belong in a residential community. There is also concern the light at the top of the steeple could be distracting.
11.22.2009
The Return of Matt
After going dark for about a month during finals, I have resurfaced with some new projects and I am here to update them on the blog. Finals were fine and as a reward I got 2 weeks off. The first week I was occupied with Grandpa and Grandma Serafine visiting from California. They stayed with us a few nights and ended up in a time share resort for a few more nights. We had a good time and enjoyed their company. I also have had a chance to start and finish a few different projects. One major one was the backyard. Those that have visited saw the unfinished and unkept backyard. So, I fixed all of the sprinkler heads, cut down the old summer grass, planted new winter grass, cleaned the planters, built a firepit, planted some plants/trees, and finished a back porch overhang. I also golfed in 75 degree weather last Thursday. All in all it has been a successful break.
It was good to get the sprinklers working.
It was good to get the sprinklers working.Stacy admiring her new garden plots
Dont mind the dirt yard, it hopefully will be green soon enough
11.08.2009
Craigslist Upgrade
When we moved into our house, the only thing I didn't clean was the range hood. It was gross, and wasn't worth cleaning. We have been searching for a microwave to replace it with, but didn't want to spend a lot of money. Craigslist delivered for us, and we now are the owners and installers of a new shiny microwave.
11.03.2009
DIY: Paint
Like many people nowadays, we purchased a home that was a foreclosure. Ours was in pretty good shape, but needed a lot of cosmetic work. Let's just say that as far as cosmetics go, our house was wearing blue eye shadow and hot pink lipstick. Anyway, one of the things in our house that needed a face lift was our cabinets. They are those really great ones that are part laminate and part wood, because they were too cheap to go all wood in the first place. The cabinets themselves were in decent shape, but the laminate was coming off in some places because when we pulled up the vinyl floor, the floor was glued to the cabinets.
Before I show you the actual cabinets, I'd like to introduce you to the Serafine featured product: Glidden's Gripper.
Before I show you the actual cabinets, I'd like to introduce you to the Serafine featured product: Glidden's Gripper.
When I painted my laminate bookshelf a while back, I had to sand the whole thing down. Although it wasn't a big bookshelf, it took forever to sand and paint. I didn't really feel sanding an entire kitchen full of cabinets, and lo and behold, Gripper. Gripper allows you to paint anything. Even plastic. My only warning: it's super sticky and doesn't wash off your skin very well. I accidentally stuck my foot in some of it, and I had primer on me for a few days.
Cabinets before: (this is before we moved in)
During:
After:
Coming soon: stainless steel microwave. We're picking it up on Saturday. Our microwave just wasn't something I could paint and cover with contact paper. : )
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