new template? anyone? Bueller?

Alright ya'll (I'm practicing my southern speak for my trip to Raleigh next week).
I need a new blog template.
Mine is super boring.

So I do a little googleage and ya know what? There's a lot of stuff out there. Its just all too serene and peaceful or to vintage or too crafty. It's just too quiet for me.

Too Bob Ross. Ya know what I'm sayin?

I need help.
I need a layout that is a little more me.
A little talkative and colorful (sometimes too colorful)
And a lot scatterbrained.

And we know sometimes Bueller skipped class, but sometimes when I talk 'round here I feel like this

So if you're reading this don't forget to comment :-) 

Please and thank you.

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Cravings

Sometimes cravings just happen.
You dont want them to happen.
They don't have a reason to happen.
They just DO.

Well yesterday I was craving pizza. So I called in an order and went to pick it up. Can I just tell you that for the year and 10 months that we've been married (as of yesterday) I've never done that before. It was a first. Further more, I went to Pizza Hut. Ick. I am NOT a fan of their slimey pizza. I prefer pretty much ever other kind. But boy oh boy it hit the spot. Don't worry kids. I went for a run before I downed the pizza. It could have potentially been 7 or 8 miles, but it was likely more in the range of 1 to 2. Eh. Gets the job done.

While we're on the topic, have you ever heard of Map My Run? Sometimes when I know I went a ways I will map it. When its one of those quarter mile to half mile days, I don't. Cause thats how I roll folks :-)

Anywho, back to cravings

Generally my cravings are more like inkings. Strong ones.

"Hello. Now look I'm Lord Vader and just pay a-bloody-tention, all right. Luke, the force is strong with you." "Is it?" "Yeah." "Well who told you that?" "I dunno, some bloke! Yeah, he said the force is really rather strong with you." "Well how strong?" "Um... as strong as a small pony." "Well, that's quite strong that is!" - Eddie Izzard, Dressed to Kill. Hilarious. Not totally appropriate, but totally hilarious.

Okay I'm focused, I'm focused. Sorry! Sheesh... Well yesterday I wanted to bake a quiche. Do any of you out there have a good quiche reskapee? Cause ima lookin fur one.

And today I want to bake this:

I'm tryin ta link ya up to it, but it isn't working. I'll have to come back to that... But for now go to The Pioneer Woman and you'll find it there.

While we're talkin food, why don't you just leave me a link to your favorite food blog, food reskapee, or just type it in there. I'm faithful to Cooking Light, but I'm always looking for fresh ideas. I have to apologize though that I don't photograph my food adventures. I just don't have those kinds 'o skills. So until I learn, I will spare you.

TTFN!

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stubborn little dishwasher

Technology is really great when it works. And really terrible when it doesn't.

You don't know what you have until you don't have it anymore.

These thoughts come to mind when I think about this:

Ya know what that is? It's a stubborn dishwasher, thats what.

Ya know why? Cause that picture was taken after I ran the sucker. Twice.

The soap doesn't dispense. It just gets hard and ends up in one big clump.

Yeah. She's broken. Again. And I'm mad at her. Again.

My dear happy blonde friend doesn't have a dishwasher in her apartment.

Which might not be a big deal to a man that eats frozen dinners and ramen.

But this girl is a cook. And a baker. And an entertainer.

Yeah. She washes it all by hand in her minature kitchen.

And I admire her deeply.

Especially in moments like this.

I'm not even going to show you a picture of the pile of dishes in my kitchen.

I just can't bring myself to do it.

We're just not at that stage of our relationship yet, okay?

Possible solutions to my problem in order of preference:

1. Kick it til it gets its butt in gear.
2. Turn up our water heater. I'm not convinced the water is getting hot enough. Something is wrong with our hot water throughout the entire house though. I've been trying to ignore that fact for over a year now.
3. Go all Macgyver on the stinker and take the sucker apart to see what is blocking the water flow.
4. Call a pro. Thats a last resort. I've had to have those people out like 3 times already and they're expensive.

Wish me luck. I'm goin in...

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what I did and did not do

Things that I did and did not do this weekend:

I DID decide to tackle the garden. The daffodils didn't bloom this year and I read that its cause they get overcrowded and you have to dig them up to separate them every five years or so. So I did. I dug up 3 of my 5.

  

 

Look at all those bulbs from just one plant! They certainly were overcrowded.

I did NOT pay attention to the fact that they are supposed to be dormant (aka. all leaves are dead) before you dig 'em up. Ooops... Bye bye daffodils! 

I DID get really irritated with the ground cloth/ weed protecting plastic that was throughout and ripped it all out with vigor. 

I did NOT clean up the mess I made. And then it rained on my mess. Ooops. 

I DID have a productive weekend with the hubster backfilling the driveway. 57 bags of soil and four trips to Lowes. It looks great. There are no "I did not" statements with this one. We worked hard and we DID it.

I DID spend my Sunday afternoon baking these cute little Easter basket cupcakes- idea courtesy of Bakerella as well as some robin's egg cupcakes. Good times. I did NOT eat a single one until after dinner. Proud aren't you? Hooowever, I did NOT touch the laundry or sweep the floor. Not even once. Ooops.

I DID enjoy deeply the sermon from church and then had a great dinner with the fam. I did NOT regret a moment of that.

I DID go to the dentist today and when he asked me if I drank soda I said "...no?..." I did NOT tell him about my sweet tooth and bad baking habits. Ooops.

And last but not least, I DID come up with some kinda terrible itchy thing all over me somethin' terrible! I did NOT get rid of it. HELP!

YOUR TURN: name one thing that you DID do and one thing that you did NOT do this weekend.

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the sun stops shining

it's very fitting that the they are calling for rain for the next three days here. the sun will stop shining for a few days and will carry us through Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and into Easter.

Sometimes at night when my brain is lazy I like to pick up the Jesus Storybook Bible instead of my ESV version and just read the stories of Jesus as they are told to children. If you haven't heard of the Jesus Storybook Bible by Sally Lloyd-Jones, you should do yourself a favor and get a copy. Go to their website and download a few stories to read it on your own. Keep it on your own shelf, or give it to a child near you. Cause it is wonderful.

A few nights ago, Brett and I read "The Sun Stops Shining" and it was good for me to remember from a true, historical perpective, not just a theological one, what happened with Jesus on the cross. Amazing.

If you have the book walk away from the computer and go read this story. If you dont, take 5 minutes and watch this video that the company put out on their Facebook page.

Love you all.

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the short/long weekend

My weekend in a very big nutshell:

Friday- Clean clean clean clean clean.

Tell me, how do you clean? I mean, what is your process? You think you don't have one? Oh I bet you do!

Growing up when I was cleaning my room I always started by making the bed and then piled everything on the bed that needed to be put away. Anything that needed to go somewhere other than my room went in a separate pile.

Some people clean categorically. You know where you do all the laundry, then you put away all the clothes, then you dust everything, then you vaccum everything, etc.

Others clean geographically. You know where you clean the kitchen, then move to the living room, then to the bathroom, then to the bedroom. I could never do that.

I think I do it surfing-the-internet style. You know where you pick up a pair of glasses in the living room and take them to your glasses case in the bathroom where you find a dirty towel that needs to go to the laundry room where you find a load of laundry in the dryer you had forgotten about which you bring upstairs to your bedroom to fold and find your work clothes still lying on the bed which you go to put away and realize the iron is still sitting out in the office... and on and on. For hours. And then none of the rooms look any better because I've just moved things from one place to another :-) Thats my style.

Anyway, Friday during lunch I was a little internet-surfing-style-cleaning-tornado. I made some significant progress and then worked on it for another few hours after work before we went to dinner at Kona Grill. (Sidenote: If you haven't been there yet, you should go cause its tasty. It's even tastier when your sister is manager and takes $20 off the bill and buys you a dessert. Thanks dude. And if you're nervous about it, do a trial run and go for their lunch special cause its awesome.) Anyway, the house is clean now. Oh and how did we end our night? An 11:58pm Groupon purchase for a visit from professional house cleaners. *Cheesy grin*

Then Saturday was mostly uneventful except hanging out with family and friends and spending too much money. I hate the spending part. But I like the friends and family part.

Then Sunday was the race. The Trolley Run. Long story short- Mack did not do well with the crowds so while I was there to cheer on hubs, his brother, and his brothers wife, I didn't see them cross the finish line. nor did I see them after the race amid the thick crowd. We had to bail. As such, I have no photos for you all. Sorrrry. I'm still recovering from the guilt of it all... But they all finished in great time and I'm proud of all three!

I tried to make Barefoot Contessa's Chunky Banana Bran Muffins. I'll admit that muffins aren't my specialty, folks, but I'm not bad at them. These were not my fault. They were just inexplicably bad. Don't those look like just really bad chocolate cupcakes? Poor hubs keeps thinking thats what they are, taking one bite, and throwing them away.

As I described to a friend, they are the kind of muffins you might find in a elementary school cookbook- someone somewhere likes the choking overabundance of molasses, but generally speaking they are terrible. Maybe someday I'll get up the guts to try them again and substitute out some of the molasses. As you can see, the bowl is still full.

They will probably be in the big scary black bin come trash day. I hope they are shaking in their boots right now.

After the race and the bad muffins, we helped with the waddlers in the nursery at church. So fun. I love those kids a lot. Then my bestie went to the Royals game with some coworkers and I went to the nursery to buy flowers and then to my 4 year old cousin's birthday party. It was awesome! Then off to church again then back home to spend time with the women in our group. I love them all a lot. Then, I crashed.

The end. This was a long one. You're a trooper. 2 brownie points for sticking through it!

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casual emails

These are the kinds of emails we exchange during the day:

Me: I tilled the garden during lunch. I might have been gone for a little over an hour, but I got 'er done! I'll work on planting tonight after the happy hour. I'm excited.

Hubs: ME TOO. WORDS CANT DESCRIBE!!!! Okay I’m joking but glad you are able to enjoy. Btw, Harrison barnes is going back to UNC next year instead of entering the draft….so they are going to be super loaded and amazing next year. And will probably never lose a game.

Me: OH NO! I'M SO UPSET!!!

Hubs: You are too?!? Im glad I have someone to share my agony with.

*Insert smile because my bestie is fun*

More to come later on our weekend.

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20 minute shopping spree

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you all about my mini-shopping spree yesterday. I just stopped into the Loft yesterday and this skirt greeted me on the front table. And that was only the beginning! The rest is history.

They are having a sale for 40% off everything in the store. It might only be going on through tomorrow but it's online and in the store so do yourself a favor and stop in for some springy-summery-goodness.

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Exercise class of death

I used to really like to work out. Mostly because I have historically been decent at lifting weight. For those of us that don't have the lung capacity to run or the atheticism to play sports- You think I'm joking? Cause I'm not- we lift weights to make ourselves feel better about ourselves. Okay, I'll stop speaking for everyone else now. It's really just me. Anyway, this probably started in my cheerleading years when I was the strongest one on the squad so I was a base. Okay maybe it was that I was too.. ehem... tall, yes tall is the word, to be a flyer. Okay moving on...

The hubs and his brother and sister-in-law are running in the Trolley Run this weekend and since I haven't been running all winter I decided I didn't want to submit myself to the humiliation of finishing the 4 mile race in the 50 or so minutes that it would take me. So to boost my self esteem and to begin getting back in shape I went to this class called Body Pump at the gym. Long story short- oww.

They ran out of small weights so I was using what felt like 40, 50, maybe 60 pounds to do everything from squats to tricep presses. Yes. I used the same weight for every exercise. Thats how few weights there were left. And it was terrible.

Today is day 3 of the aftermath. And my the inside of my thighs hurt when I walk. Not like the rubbing together kind, but the I had no idea those muscles could hurt this bad kind. The kind where you have to put your hands on your chair arms and lower yourself down slowly. Yeah. I'm feelin it.

Which I guess is good since I won't be getting exercise working in the garden this weekend thanks to the rain. My flower planting will most likely have to wait. Womp womp.

It's a rainy day its a rainy day. It's raining outside and I can't go out to play. Why do we need the rain anyway?

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Work is called work

Last week was a rough week at work for me. And the week before that. And most likely the week before that but my memory doesn't go that far back. In my mind this is due to a number of things:

• People are mean
• I've had very little to do
• Uncomfortable situations- one after another.
• I've been sitting at my desk alllll dddaaaayyy looooong. And I'm NOT a desk person.
• Managers that stress me out.

Last Friday when they were doing the driveway I went home at lunch to check on the status of things (yes, that's the Project Manager in me coming out) and I was in a terrible mood so I changed out of my work clothes and started doing housework and yardwork determined that I will not go back to work! You can't make me! Well at about 1:45 the rebel in me wore off and I went back to work. Kicked my heels around for the afternoon. And left work at 4:45. Don't tell on me, please.

I was telling a co-worker friend of mine about this grouchyness and he said, "yeah, sometimes we forget that it's called work for a reason." Guh. Humility check.

Here I am, singing...
There's gotta be something better than this,
There's gotta be something better to do.
And when I find me something better to do,
I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna get out
I'm gonna get up, get out and do it!
There's gotta be some respectable trade,
There's gotta be something easy to learn.
And if I find me something I halfwit can learn,
I'm gonna get up, I'm gonna get out
I'm gonna get up, get out and learn it!...
(Sweet Charity. Never seen it. But love the music.)

complaining about grass being greener on the other side of the fence, so to speak. What is the other side? I have no idea. If you have a brilliant thought let me know. Aaaanyway... the picture for me is a little less dirt v. grass and a little more...

Green grass v. greener grass. Not as bad as my woeful songs and unending complaints let on.

On a different but related note: In my experience, privacy fences don't work well with dogs. They just go CRAZY because they can't see what's on the other side of the fence. My poor sweet pooch who is usually just a big sweet playful lug goes nuts-o on my inlaw's privacy fence. He chews on the wood and foams at the mouth. It's crazy and scary. So Mack-a-poo and I have a lesson to learn together: be content on our own side of the fence.

And work is called work for a reason.

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double-wide

Dear blog- I've missed you the last few days. It's been busy 'round here. Today I'll try to focus on just one thing to talk about...

Today I told a co-worker of mine that we got a double-wide this weekend.
His response: "a trailer?"
My response: a really dude? glare
Classic. But no. A driveway. And she's a beaut I tell ya.

Our old driveway was nothing to write home about. Not in complete shambles, but not large by any means. And we are- what some might call- people, people. It is rare that it's just the two of us home on any given night or weekend. And since you can't park on the street in front of our house, our dear guests have to park a block away. That's kind of an exaggeration, friends, how else would you describe it? Anyway. Even my roomie's dad at some point offered us money to get a second driveway just so he would know he'd have a place to park when they come in town. HA! This single drive thing has other implications as well such as the "I'm taking whichever car is in the back when I need to bolt out the door in the morning because I'm 57 minutes late" factor which often results in work papers, purses, etc. going to work with the wrong person.

Cut to the chase, Sam. Cut-to-the-chase!

Out with the old

And in with the new

She's perty, isn't she? Only 3 more days til we can park on her. And the daddy discount on the price took from excruciatingly painful to just really uncomfortable. Concrete is expensive.


My neighbor came outside to take pics of the boys and I helping my dad to pour (we weren't much help) but as soon as I get those pics I'll post them.
While we're on the topic, let's have a little lesson. This is called concrete. Not cement. Cement is the stuff that you add to rock to make concrete. These words are not interchangeable, contrary to popular belief. Look, you learned something today! *Cheesy grin*

Next weekend's project is dealing with the aftermath- the back-filling. And planting. Soooo excited for gardening. The problem with gardens is that they require patience. Except for the ones on KU's campus where they just plant things and then go through and dig them all up when they stop blooming three weeks later and plant something different instead. Those people... pshaw!


Tomorrow's post will be on grass. And fences. You catchin what I'm driftin?

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fetchel treat: Green Tea Chai Latte

One of our pastors has a 3 year old who, according to Kevin, is always asking for fetchel treats. This is his toddler-speak way of saying special.

On this rainy April morning I went for a jog (miracle) and on my way to work decided to treat myself to one of my favorite treats: a green tea chai latte only from LatteLand. My fantastic wedding florist Bridget Kelley of Ornamental Petal introduced me and I'm totally hooked (Bridget? Are you still out there? Your website is gone and I'm worried). And if you're thinking that Starbucks has the same thing, sadly, you're wrong. They have a green tea latte. Critical missing piece: CHAI! Starbucks' version tastes like grass IMHO. Don't tell them I said that though. I love the Bux, but not for this fetchel treat.

Anyway, warm, cozy cup in hand, I'm now going to focus for the rest of the day.

Now playing in my head: These are a few of my favorite things...

PS- On an unrelated note, if you read this will you please follow me so I can know who's out there? I'd like that bunches. Please and thank you.

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Strawberry Shortcake(s)

Cooking Light | Strawberry Shortcake

Why yes, I think I will make this very soon :-)

While we're gazing at Strawberry shortcakes...

She's cute, isn't she? :-)

*This came to my inbox from Cooking Light. I promise I didn't go looking for it. Please don't yell at me.

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focus. focus. focus.

Houston, we have a problem.

I can't focus at work today. Did you see right through that comment already? Okay fine. I haven't been able to focus at work for about four months now. It's not for lack of something to do this time though. It's just plain problem-child-ness. I even took the time to play with my the camera settings on my computer, find an "aqua setting", set the self-timer, and take a picture of me twiddling my thumbs.

It looks like the lights are off, but they aren't, thats just me being cool.

This week in Junior Achievement we talked about jobs and how they help us get the things we need and want more to come on that later but what I want now is to go play outside in the sunny-ness.

Ok. Back to work now. Nose to the grindstone! Thank you, Pandora for keeping me company yet again :-)

Speaking of Pandora,  in Junior Achievement the other day a little girl started singing out loud. I told her she should try singing in her head. "I do it allll daaay long!" I told her.
Currently playing in my head: "So this is love... hm..hm..hm..hm... so this is loooove"

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drooooolinngg

I'm busy today at work I promise but I just saw this and nearly lost it.
oooohh cake how I love you.

The Pioneer Woman | Beautiful Cakes

Please. Go. Browse. And then come back and tell me which one I have to attempt.

In the mean time I'll try to get my heart to start beating again. If I'm not back within a day or two come looking for me.

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elephants and grapes

Have you ever heard the term "apples to apples"?

I think I've heard it approximately a quatrillion times in the last month in regards to the benchmarking study we're currently doing.

I'll leave you with this joke that sums it up pretty well:

What's the same about an elephant and a grape?

They're both purple except for the elephant.

And thats how I feel about that.



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the PERFECT pillow

So much to write about from this weekend, but since I'm at work and being irresponsible, I'll keep it short for now.
On Saturday I was at my dear friend Julie's house and she had this picture laying out:

When I first saw this in the Pottery Barn mag, I drooled a little. Doesn't this just look so happy and fresh? Then when I saw it on her coffee table, I laughed because we are way too alike for our own good.

Well I went home that day to tell hubster about it and as I was flipping through the mag I saw this picture, my heart skipped a beat. Do you see what I see? The PERFECT pillow!

 I contemplated for a moment if buying a pillow would be too copy-cat-ish since I thought she might be getting the duvet, decided that it wasn't, and hopped on the hub to order immediately. Look what I found:

"No Longer Available." Womp womp. Yet another reason why I just need to stop.

On the positive side, yesterday in another huge lightbulb moment I realized how to remove the wine rack from my kitchen so as to make it a display nook. She's a beaut, Clark. Name that movie! I'll show it to you all once I get something exciting in my nook. Like my tulips since they're about to burst forth :-)

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I need to stop now

Tonight the roomie is at a happy hour and I'm just fiddle-fartin-around (I got that phrase from my manager and now I use it a lot) so I went to Lowes even though I prefer Home Depot and got some paint chips because lately I've been inspired to repaint our kitchen and our bathroom. Some things you should know about me, our house, and paint:

• I want to paint everything yellow. Everything.
• Our entire house is beige- blah- with two exceptions:
• A guest room that went from beige to a light yellow and took four coats. Four. Four! Yes, I'm still recovering.
• An office that I painted this terrible dinner mint green, regretted immediately, told myself I'd live with it for a while which I did for about six months before I had to fix it. I went and got a safe cream color and guess what? It matches our trim exactly. I left it and gave up. 
• I'm terrible at painting so my hubby wants to hire out every job. I even spray painted our storm door and there are paint marks on the middle of the glass. How do you do that? I'm terrible. That's how.

Back to the paint chips. I put them up on the wall in the kitchen...

Maybe, just maybe, I should lay off the whole pretending to be decorative until after spring. What do you think? I'm pretty sure I have every possible shade of pastel on this wall. *Sigh*

I just need to stop now. 

Contentment is good.

"Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content." 

1 Timothy 6:6-8

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I'm a slacker.

Yesterday I didn't have much to do at work so I left a little early and headed to the nail salon to get a pedicure with my sister.

You should feel really honored right now that I'm showing you a picture of my feet. I hate my feet.

Well, thats not entirely true.

I'm grateful for them and the function they serve,

but if I had a choice I'd trade them in for a more reliable option.

Kinda like my car.

Sincerely,

Your Ungrateful owner.

Anyway, I got a pedicure in preparation for a warm and sunny weekend.

We have a date night planned tonight (dinner and a movie- classic.) 

Tomorrow we're going to the market with friends where we'll get some fresh veggies and one or two or three armfuls of fresh cut flowers, and then we're going to transplant a tree donated by our neighbors.

Sunday we're going to StaTaFest* then to church and to my parents to celebrate the hub's bday.

Cheers to a good weekend and pink toenails!

PS- Even though I'm a slacker for leaving work early yesterday, you're a slacker too for not providing wisdom on my life-altering decision of how to de-align my six flower pictures. Sheesh... :-)

*Wanna hear a funny stats joke? I know you do. Did you know Santa once took a statistics class? He had trouble remembering which hypothesis should have the equal sign so he would keep repeating: the null hypothesis, the null hypothesis, the null hypothesis. In fact to this day you can hear him say" "Ho, Ho, Ho!" BAHAHA!

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