adrienne...

does this hoodie make my ears look big?

2011-02-03T20:32:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas To All...

2010-12-24T17:12:00.001-06:00

And to all a good night!

happy birthday dear Henry...

2010-11-08T19:38:00.002-06:00

happy birthday to you!

and then there were two

2010-10-18T14:35:00.001-05:00

Teeth I mean...
And numbers 3 and 4 will be arriving shortly.

struggles of a 10 month old

2010-09-15T09:00:00.002-05:00

Hank has been sick and teething for the last week and a half. Fun combination. Progress has been made though. As you can see (maybe) in the photo below... That tiny little white spot in his mouth is a tooth! We were a little worried that he might not get teeth ever(?)... And I'd be pureeing foods for him the rest of his life. But here's the photographic evidence...

Mr. Independent

2010-09-04T20:37:00.001-05:00

Before...

After...

Sir is no longer happy being fed. Sir would prefer to feed himself, thank you very much!

my poor, neglected house

2010-08-03T14:08:00.003-05:00

This is what my living room window and ceiling fan used to look like.
Yes, a 90's white speckled (!) fan and dirty vertical blind.
They are no more!

New window treatments!

And a gorgeous new fan... With a light!

I need to thank my husband for breaking the old fan... Without him busting it, trying unsuccessfully to fix it, and then installing the new one we would still be stuck in the 90's.

The window treatments are my (early) birthday gift to myself. I'm turning 30 in a little more than a month, and I have the urge to have a more grown-up, finished looking home. I was also guided by this at Young House Love. Their whole house is very well done. My window was done with stuff from Target, rather than Ikea, but the blinds are from Wal-Mart as well.

Unfortunately I can't show a picture of the living room as a whole, because it looks like Fisher-Price threw up in here, but just imagine calm, tranquil, "adult." That's what I try to do as I trip over 9,000 colorful blocks and noise-making toys. Love ya Hank!

more shameless adorable baby promotion!

2010-08-01T10:02:00.000-05:00

beautiful day

2010-07-29T21:08:00.003-05:00

looking back

2010-07-19T21:06:00.000-05:00

kind of creepy, no?

8 months old

2010-07-13T13:06:00.001-05:00

Too tired for pictures :)

the evidence

2010-06-24T14:33:00.000-05:00

the one where I talk about hair

2010-06-23T20:43:00.003-05:00

I have never been one to care a whole lot about my hair. That's probably been pretty obvious to most people who know me. I have fine, thin-ish hair. It never does what I want it to do. So when I was pregnant it got a little thicker, and that seemed great. And then about 3 months after I had this adorable child it started to fall out. And I don't just mean shedding, it fell OUT. In clumps. And ropes, and piles, and plugged the drain. And then it stopped. But I was left with an Itty-Bitty pony-tail, and little baby hairs growing in all over the place. Great story, huh? You can see that here.
So the moral of this post is that now it is gone. I got it all evened up tonight. So my hair is CRAZY short. Shorter than I've ever had. I'm a little shell-shocked about it. I was going to try to post a picture, but I don't even think I can take one tonight... But I wanted to mention it, because some day I will look back on this and think boy, was I brave. And here's the evidence.
(I will put up a picture here at some point.)

good light

2010-06-18T22:12:00.003-05:00

In our hotel in Steven's Point. We're all here for Eric's sister's wedding.

7 months old

2010-06-11T19:59:00.002-05:00

I just have to point out here, that my son seems to have lost his wrists. If you've seen them, let us know. I think his forearms may have gobbled them up...

Doesn't really seem to mind though, does he?

we're in trouble

2010-06-04T15:34:00.003-05:00

This is The Little sitting up. He is also rolling to and fro across the floor, and roll/scooting back and forth to reach things. Cute? Yes. Frightening? Totally.

cooking for three

2010-06-03T09:53:00.003-05:00

I've been making a bunch of food for the little one lately. He's a pretty adventurous eater. The only thing he has flat-out refused so far is banana. I've made carrots, peas, green beans, acorn and butternut squash, sweet potatoes and pears. Hank has also had rice cereal, oatmeal, peaches, prunes and apples. And of course bananas! It's been pretty fun making things for him, but I've been neglecting the adults in the house. I realized last night when I was making dinner that the only vegetables I had in the house were pureed! Oh well, at least one of us is getting his veggies...

adventures in baby food

2010-05-12T19:57:00.002-05:00

Apples here. Obviously not a fan. Trying carrots tomorrow. Perhaps he'll be more of a veggie kind of guy...
I on the other hand made these today. Delish. I put in dried sour cherries, chocolate chips (!) and rice krispies. Not exactly the healthiest granola bar, but yum nonetheless.

happy half birthday dear Henry...

2010-05-08T14:52:00.001-05:00

happy half birthday to you!

green grass, bare feet

2010-05-02T19:35:00.000-05:00

napping and a to-do list

2010-04-20T20:32:00.003-05:00

They're even cuter when they are sleeping. And quiet. Yes, both of them :)

So what's to-do?

Going garage sale-ing (sp?) tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow. Crazy people in this town start their sales on Wednesday. Crazy.
Debating whether to put new carpet in our living room. The stuff we have is pretty nasty. Stained and not super soft. Would be nice to have new stuff for H to crawl on.
Dreaming about organization. I cleaned out my closet this past weekend and took 3 gigundo garbage bags of clothes to goodwill today. Yikes. I need to go through the rest of the house and do some more de-cluttering. Little fingers will soon be grabbing everything. And putting said things in mouth.
Figuring out how to/where to put baby gates in our crazy little tri-level. Not easy. Or cheap.
Trying to talk my husband into painting our common areas this color. And having him do the painting. Ha! I'll keep working on that one...

flashes of a child

2010-04-16T23:04:00.004-05:00

I think I can sometimes see what this baby is going to look like as he grows... So serious, a little more adult here. Nose is a little less baby-like. Gah. Crazy to think that soon he will eat. And move. And walk. And run. And talk.
A little man. My little man.

Plan To Eat

2010-04-02T11:17:00.004-05:00

I enjoy cooking. Don't get me wrong. But I so easily get stuck in a rut, cooking the same 4 or 5 things over and over. And yet I read food blogs, and watch tons of cooking shows, and own many cookbooks, and get cooking magazines (you get the picture)... And I still cook the same 4 or 5 things. The shame!

So I went looking for a tool to help me break out of the rut. And found Plan To Eat. It's a cool service that lets you upload or import recipes from your computer or straight from many websites. So now, instead of cluttering up my bookmarks with a zillion recipes that I never get around to trying I can put them all in one spot. And then plan a menu for a week, or month, or however long I want, complete with an ingredient/grocery list! Fantastic. It's really a pretty cool service, and the online support is really good too. Love when I find something that makes life a little easier!

chai concentrate

2010-03-28T10:46:00.000-05:00

Yum.

via angry chicken

what we've been up to

2010-03-26T19:39:00.004-05:00

Eric

All motorcycles. All the time...

Hank

Rolling over, finding his feet, tons of drool...

Me

Taking the pictures...

and loving my boys ♥

2010-03-10T13:52:00.001-06:00

I just can't get over these blue eyes!

4 months old

2010-03-08T18:54:00.000-06:00

Jesus Christ.
At least it's not 4 years, I guess.

not low fat.

2010-02-28T19:49:00.002-06:00

Meatloaf wrapped in bacon. From the kitchn. Delicious.

I've been trying to make dinner more often. Now I just need to make some healthier ones. I've done a bunch of recipes from The Pioneer Woman lately... And they are terribly bad for you. But terribly delicious. Terrible conundrum!

new wheels/is it spring yet??

2010-02-17T14:11:00.001-06:00

Debating whether to bundle up this boy and try out the new wheels. It's a Chicco Liteway stroller, and it's going to live in my trunk when the weather improves. We're dreaming about outings to oh, anywhere!

for valentine's day!

2010-02-14T15:57:00.000-06:00

my loves...

the nursery

2010-02-12T14:27:00.001-06:00

I finally took a few pictures. You can find them here.

3 months old

2010-02-08T13:33:00.000-06:00

ever get the feeling there's someone looking over your shoulder?

finalist!

2010-01-31T17:49:00.001-06:00

check this out...
Recognize anyone?

I fully expect to get the least amount of votes, but *wink* I'm just happy to be nominated!

just saying hi

2010-01-26T14:32:00.001-06:00

There's a contest going on over here, so I decided to try to snap a couple shots of the two of us. This is actually kind of a big deal for me...

These are the first pictures of me with the baby. I guess I've been feeling pretty blah about everything (myself included). Kind of post-partumish I imagine. But that is not an excuse to hide away in the background... I am soon going to be forced out of this little bubble I've put myself in. Going back to work on Friday. But I think it will be OK. I need to get out and breathe some fresh air. And I imagine Hank does too.

Just wish it didn't have to break my heart in the process...

enamored

2010-01-23T19:11:00.001-06:00

more blue eyes

2010-01-22T12:30:00.003-06:00

with dad

2010-01-20T13:54:00.001-06:00

new camera

2010-01-18T19:02:00.003-06:00

Inspired by all those taking excellent pictures on the interweb (including my sister-in-law), I finally got a "real" camera. It's used, from Craigslist, but it's new to me! Now I just need to figure out how to take some of those excellent pictures myself...

(and I should try to remember to wipe the milk off his face before I take well-focused pictures!)

rough week

2010-01-15T11:53:00.004-06:00

Sheesh.
First day of daycare. Check.
First shots. Check.
And one baby that Will. Not. Stop. Crying. Check!

Can I get a break, please?

another one bites the dust...

2010-01-08T17:11:00.003-06:00

Month 2 has come and gone. Sigh.
I don't know whether to be relieved or sad.
Maybe that's parenthood in a nutshell?

2010-01-04T15:31:00.001-06:00

Seems like all I ever do is post pictures of a certain baby...

Sorry, I just can't resist!

evolution of a smile

2009-12-23T16:36:00.008-06:00

one month old!

2009-12-08T11:29:00.002-06:00

I'm going to take a monthly picture with the Ugly Doll for scale. I can't believe we've survived a whole month...

crabby much?

2009-12-01T14:55:00.003-06:00

We are trying to settle into some sort of routine around here, but it's a lot of work being a baby...

look what we made...

2009-11-12T16:58:00.003-06:00

A little peanut.

With big feet :)

November 8, 2009
8lbs. 3oz.
21 inches long

nesting?

2009-11-03T14:14:00.002-06:00

Maybe I'm just hopeful that I am, but I definitely made these bars today, went grocery shopping, scoured out my kitchen sink, and am contemplating making curtains for the baby's room. Hmmm...

Well, either way we should be meeting the little one sometime this weekend. If I don't go into labor on my own this week I'm going to be induced Friday, or whenever they have time at the hospital. So cross your fingers that there aren't a bunch of ladies trying to have babies Thursday night, cuz I want in Friday morning! Not as much fun to know the baby's b-day in advance, but comforting to know it's getting evicted before it hits 10 lbs. SO wish me luck, and the next pictures you see should be of this face, but with a real camera!

the hugest baby on the block

2009-10-01T17:57:00.003-05:00

Estimated weight: 5lbs, 8ozs. 7 weeks and 2 days to go...

I'm so screwed!

a sneak peek

2009-09-15T13:29:00.002-05:00

There is progress being made in the nursery!

boppy-ish

2009-09-04T12:46:00.004-05:00

Sewed a cover for a cheap-o pillow from Jo-Ann's. Crafty, ain't I??

my husband's nose

2009-09-03T11:52:00.003-05:00

Now, I understand that ultrasound pictures can be pretty blobby looking to people when it's not their baby they are looking at... But I truly think that the profile in the first of these pictures looks an awful lot like Eric. You can't see the baby's mouth because it is holding it's arm up, but that forehead and nose... Yikes!
And the second is a yawn. Must be pretty boring in there... The tech caught 2 yawns in a couple of minutes. Crazy to think about what the baby is up to. Blinking, yawning, turning into my husband...

will the baby have enough blankets??

2009-09-02T15:15:00.002-05:00

The answer is yes.

appliance whore

2009-08-21T17:19:00.001-05:00

Yes. There. I said it.

on being 26 weeks pregnant

2009-08-14T13:34:00.005-05:00

I rarely talk about anything remotely personal on this blog. (I mean true personal feelings, not life events.) But today I am feeling compelled to say something about being pregnant. Must be the hormones.
Eric is obsessed with Adam Carolla. Obsessed. And Adam Carolla had a morning show with a woman named Teresa Strasser. So naturally, Eric points me in her direction because she is pregnant as well. So I spent a bit of time today looking at her blog. And came away feeling extremely smug about my pregnancy. Is that wrong? Maybe.
But it's not just her. It's all the pregnancy garbage I feel compelled to read/look at/sift through. And the feeling of how it is all designed to make us feel guilty about the choices we make. Like picking a car seat has to be an epic battle of emotion and stress. Ridiculous. Not Teresa. She herself is no more ridiculous than anyone else, and honestly probably less so because she has the guts to admit how she feels. But ridiculous that pregnancy and birth has to be so judged, picked at, generally uncomfortable. Because honestly. Does it really matter if I have a cup of coffee? Or buy the carseat that's on sale? Or get an epidural? No. Not to anyone else but me.
So, back to feeling smug. Maybe that's the wrong word. It's probably the wrong tone at least. I think what I am feeling smug (lucky?) about is that generally I am at peace with this whole process. And I'm not apologizing to anyone about that. Sorry. You can't make me feel bad about feeling happy with my decisions and my path. And if I am drinking a caffeinated soda during my 12(!) hour night shift your disapproving look rolls right off. And you can't make me do anything I don't want to do. Especially if I'm putting my feet up.

Edited to add:
There's a great conversation going on in the comments section of this post on Dooce today. I absolutely especially love #59.

doin' some stuff...

2009-08-11T15:08:00.004-05:00

I don't think it's nesting... Not yet, but I have been surprisingly motivated lately. I am all of the sudden feeling the need to organize and finish painting this house! When we moved in we (I) painted the master bedroom, office (baby's room), one bathroom, kitchen and downstairs rec. (Eric's) room. But there is still another bathroom, bedroom and the main hallways left to do. So this week I am finally picking paint for the bedroom and halls, and finishing a few paint things in the kitchen. Not to mention working on various baby projects and getting on my husband's case about organizing!
And have I mentioned Bucky? He lives downstairs in the spare bedroom... and he's finally going away!! I'm not sure how many coats of primer it will take (I'm up to 4 so far), but he's on his way out! I promise to put something cool up in his place, but patience please, patience.Ooooh... And I picked up some chalkboard paint at Home Depot too. Fun stuff in store!

up-close and personal

2009-07-18T19:52:00.005-05:00

Hello again, little one. Still has hands in front of face all the time... I think we may have a thumb/finger sucker?? We'll have to see I guess...
Eric thinks it's a boy, just from looking at the face and because the baby is moving all the time. He doesn't think a girl could have that much energy. I can certainly tell him this girl doesn't have that kind of energy, but I think we can all appreciate where all my energy has been going lately! Takes a lot out of a person to grow another person!

Ultrasound!

2009-07-06T16:01:00.004-05:00

Look! It's a baby in there!

That's just a couple of pics, I have more here... The little stinker had his/her hands in front of his/her face the entire ultrasound. Cute, but frustrating to the poor tech. She kept wiggling the probe to make him/her move, but no luck. Everything looks good though, and I volunteered to go back in a couple weeks to be a victim for a fetal heart ultrasound training. And they promised more 4D pictures so that's cool. I don't think it will get old looking at that cute face, no matter how grainy/goofy it looks!

baby blanket again

2009-07-01T19:03:00.004-05:00

Just another little crocheted blanket. This one is literally little though. It will probably work for a
carseat blanket, but not much else! Cute though...

baby blanket

2009-06-20T19:39:00.004-05:00

I finally finished the first project I've been working on for the little one. And it's my first "big" crocheted project too! I think it turned out pretty well. At least that's one checked off the list...

I can still see you!

2009-06-11T15:51:00.003-05:00

But probably not for long...

This week I have really started to feel pregnant. There has been an invasion in my belly. I went to the midwife Monday and asked her to show me where my uterus was. And it was just below my belly-button. Crazy. This whole time I was in denial thinking there was nothing much going on in there. And apparently there most certainly is. I got to hear the heartbeat again too. Such a nice reassuring sound. We also get to schedule the ultrasound for a couple of weeks from now. Maybe not quite as exciting for everyone else- we're not finding out the sex... But fun for us to see the little peanut.
I have been busy procrastinating on wedding Thank-You's, crocheting a baby blanket, putting my feet up, and spending lots of time on the interweb looking at baby stuff. LOTS of time. But at least that involves putting my feet up! More on baby blankets and such soon...

wed.

2009-05-11T17:26:00.003-05:00

I couldn't be happier. I'm now married to my best friend, am part of the best extended family, and am going to be a mother to that man's baby... Could NOT be happier.

nice.

2009-04-28T16:17:00.000-05:00

gee, it's been awhile

2009-04-13T21:02:00.002-05:00

But I have a good excuse...

Actually a great excuse! Yes, I'm preggo. Due November 21st...

We thought we would start trying, thinking it would take a few months, maybe happen around the wedding. Or immediately! Apparently we are majorly fertile! But we're very excited. And nauseous (well, just me). So look forward to nothing but baby/kiddo posts for the next, oh I don't know- 18 years or so...

making the rest of the house look bad

2009-02-18T08:34:00.003-06:00

Huge, huh? Looks freakin' awesome though. I can't wait for the stove. Now I just have to move all the food from the old fridge into the "preservation specialist." Ha!

lurking in the garage

2009-02-05T15:53:00.003-06:00

is a monster.

An absolute monster of a refrigerator...
And soon it will live in my kitchen, along with its friend, the big bad wolf!

sunny day...

2009-01-31T16:27:00.004-06:00

a winter distraction...

2009-01-13T20:24:00.006-06:00

That could keep you warm! My first try at crocheting something. Didn't turn out too bad. The back is kind of bunchy, but I'm blaming that on the pattern- or maybe my head :)

Pattern is from here.

(and do you like the coordinating wall color! You'd think I did it on purpose...)

well, I would blog more...

2008-12-24T10:22:00.003-06:00

except I'm currently buried in a couple feet of snow! It is getting a little ridiculous here in Wisconsin. We have run out of room to pile it... My back is broken from all the shoveling... And I have got a mean case of cabin fever... But enough complaining! I have been busily making lots of cookies. My favorite molasses cookie recipe, lime meltaways, peanut butter cookies, and Angelettis.
I also made buckeye bars last week for Eric's family's Christmas. And it's funny. Because my favorite is still the molasses. You cannot beat that recipe. Thank you Martha. Although I do have to say I did not like the Angeletti cookie from her website very much... So she's not right all the time!

So tonight we're having Christmas eve here with Eric's immediate family. Although it might just be a few of us, because (of course) it's snowing again. I think I may go out and take a picture of our mailbox (it's buried in a 5 foot pile) before the freezing rain that's coming this weekend washes it away. It truly is a sight to see!

it's all christmas-y up in here

2008-12-03T12:15:00.004-06:00

Yay for first real tree! And pretty outside lights!
Almost feels like I'm a real adult?? Scary...

Wedding updates...
I almost feel like I need to do a checklist on the blog or something. Because I have gotten a ton of stuff done... but nothing that I can really take pictures of. Hmmmm...

Well, I can say that I have reserved the reception hall, reserved a block of rooms at the site, ordered invitations, ordered most of the stuff for decorations and favors, picked out a dress (maybe), finished the wedding website, and narrowed down the cake decision... So that's a start, right?? I also delegated flowers to my mother (thanks mom!) and the DJ choosing to Eric (he needs to feel helpful, right?). So I have a small sense of accomplishment. For now!

So what's left? I need to find a guestbook, finalize photographer stuff, figure out ceremony stuff, find somebody to marry us(!), order rings, find something for Eric to wear, think about hair and make-up, and talk to somebody about what I'm forgetting!! Not to mention addressing all of those lovely invitations that are on their way. Yikes!

something in the air...

2008-11-13T13:06:00.002-06:00

I haven't talked much about wedding plans... But the time is drawing near! We finally set a date. May 9, 2009. So that gives me less than 6 months! So as I go along here with my planning, I will try to post some of the fun stuff. First off are my first attempts at Martha Stewart pom-poms. I'm planning on making a bunch of them to hang all over at the reception. Should be pretty!

2008-11-05T09:57:00.005-06:00

I stole this quote from Obama's website. Because I feel like it epitomizes why I care so much about our new president. Now I may end up being way off base, but I truly feel that this man has the integrity to do what IS RIGHT FOR THIS COUNTRY. What is good for all the people that live here. What is right for this planet. Not just what lines his pocketbooks, or helps special interests. What truly is right and just.

I told Eric last night (between tears) that I finally feel like it would be OK if we had kids now. That they could at least grow up in a country where someone is trying to do the right thing for them. And thinks of their future. I cannot say how excited I am to see the direction this country will move in now.

Yes we did!

pyrex and all-wheel drive

2008-10-23T16:25:00.005-05:00

These are the latest and greatest... I especially love the snowflake dish. And speaking of snowflakes...Now that I traded in my car for something with all-wheel drive... I'm sure we won't get any for a long time! No, seriously according to all the best sources (The Farmers Almanac), we're supposed to get more snow this year than last. And since I got stuck in my own driveway several times last year... I decided it was time to suck it up and buy a grown-up car. Although I guess you can't really call it a "car" per-say. It's an '08 Nissan Rogue. Used though. And with my trade-in and everything, between the payment and insurance we'll save almost $200/month. And hopefully stay out of the ditch! I was SO sad today to leave my car behind though. I really loved it :(

Ah well... The sacrifices we make to live in the suburbs!!

curtains

2008-10-08T16:34:00.004-05:00

More from the Ikea trip. I love this fabric because it lets a nice amount of light through. Almost like a printed shear. Kind of busy next to the Amy Butler fabric covered lamp shade. That might be my next project...

a new project

2008-10-08T13:25:00.011-05:00

Eric's mom moved a couple of weeks ago, and we inherited some stuff. One of the things was this dresser. As you can see by the first picture, I couldn't leave well enough alone. I sanded and painted it, and changed out the knobs. I like how it came out, although it's not what I originally intended. I had painted the dresser part a green color a couple of shades brighter... And it turned out horribly. I still think I may paint the dresser part a different color eventually. I do like the color of the drawers though. I was thinking maybe navy for the other color? I would like to eventually tie it in with the color of the little bedroom, and put it in there. Maybe with fabric like this? It's from Amy Butler. Hmmm...

there's a cake in there

2008-09-30T15:05:00.008-05:00

And it has 7 minute frosting on it... yum!

Do you know what I'm celebrating?? Brewers made the playoffs of course! Go crew! A delicious cake on a brewers blue plate should help them make the world series, right? Right.
Now if you don't hear from me for a few days, It may be because I'm sleeping off my sugar coma...

pyrex update

2008-09-22T18:52:00.003-05:00

Eric picked this one up tonight... What a sweetie!

This one was thrifted last weekend, I feel the need to make bread...

And these lovelies were a serious splurge. For my birthday, I'll tell myself!

ikea-ized

2008-09-22T17:36:00.013-05:00

Success.

I am wondering however, if the stripes are too much with the floor... But the chair, oh, the chair is perfect. And it's actually comfortable! I need to sew a cover for that cushion quickly though... That white is mighty boring. I got a few more trinkets too.

And this isn't even all of it :)

happy birthday to me!

2008-09-16T10:11:00.002-05:00

Wanna see what I got??

An iPod touch! Fantastic! It's a really cool little toy... I just need a wireless router now to see what it can really do. Pretty bad-ass though, huh??

newest obsession

2008-09-12T13:20:00.005-05:00

You may be asking yourself... Is she overly concerned with hydration? Perhaps, perhaps not.
But either way, they sure are pretty, no?

I want a whole flock...

2008-09-11T19:42:00.004-05:00

LOVE this pattern.

Tucking this away in the back of my brain for someday... Sigh.
For now I can live with just this one!

(and maybe some of these, and these too!)

cough, cough, cough, sneeze, sneeze, sneeze

2008-09-06T08:05:00.003-05:00

I have no idea what my problem is lately. I don't get sick for literally years, and now I have some kind of crazy cold/cough/sinus horrible thing. And I just had strep-freakin' throat in June. So I apologize for a post that looks about how I feel. Crappy. I had intentions of posting pictures of the rib-smoking that went on here last weekend, but I'm just too lazy to go find my camera. In the meantime... Send wishes of vitamin C and sweet nyquil dreams...

wanting...

2008-08-26T12:46:00.009-05:00

To go to Ikea!

Desk chair (cushion is begging for some fun fabric)

Matches my kitchen table and chairs

Love the black and white one ($12.99!)

Fabric for curtains??

Looks like a trip down I-90 may be in my future...

Carsten Charles

2008-08-08T13:03:00.005-05:00

Strangest thing. I was listening to AM 1310 on my way home from work the other night (weird, right?). And I won Brewers tickets. It was trivia, even! I guess now I'm an "official" fan? So anyways, we're going to another game tonight. Hopefully it will turn out better than the last game we went to...

I NEED photoshop.

2008-08-03T16:37:00.005-05:00

Seriously need it.

You can see that I was trying to blur the address on this really cool stamp I ordered to celebrate homeownership. Which is a huge pain in the ass to do with any of the editing stuff I have. I'm not even sure why I care, because I'm pretty sure about 2 people read this blog, but you just never know what kind of internet werdos are peeking at it. Anyways, I digress. I NEED photoshop. And a DSLR camera. Seriously.

What really got me thinking about photoshop was thinking about the wedding (pictures). Right. Did I mention I'm engaged? I think I did once back in March, but then moving, new job, home-buying, etc. kind of kept me busy. So now is the time to start planning and such. We're going to look at a place tomorrow to maybe have the reception. It's a different kind of place. A barn of all things. It seems like it might meet our needs though. More updates soon.

2008-07-30T18:35:00.003-05:00

Stauffachers :)

"C" is for...

2008-07-30T14:53:00.004-05:00

I guess "kitty" doesn't really start with a C.

Been a busy week so far... Summer has a way of doing that, doesn't it? Sunday we went to a going-away party for Eric's sister Jenni. She's moving to Texas! Brave girl. I couldn't move out of state... Had a hard enough time with Milwaukee, obviously! We got to spend time with the whole Stauffacher family, and that's where we got to see the cutie above. Yesterday we drove to Milwaukee after work to catch the Brewers get beat by the Cubs. Nice. It was embarrassing. Then we got to finish cleaning our apartment there. Last time we ever have to worry about a security deposit! Yay! And tonight we're going to see the newest Stauffacher... He was born Monday, so he's still a brand new little one. Hopefully I'll have some pics later. He's a cutie from what I've seen so far.

And it's only Wednesday! This week seems like it's 2 weeks long!

sheets are here!

2008-07-19T16:04:00.012-05:00

They rock! Now I just have to figure out what to sew with them...

I was thinking maybe an apron, maybe the edging on a valance, maybe a wristlet... Many possibilities. Elizabeth is posting new projects on her blog too, so I may have to try some of those! Even the card she tucked in the package was cute!

The little wire it's hanging on is something I finally got Eric to help me put up. It's from Ikea. Supposed to be for hanging curtains, but works beautifully for pictures and such. Thanks, Amber for the idea... Now I just need to work on making my craft room look as good as hers!

this corner makes me happy!

2008-07-13T14:41:00.002-05:00

I can finally put out my treasures! I LOVE how everything is turning out in the kitchen...

sewing corner

2008-07-09T10:53:00.004-05:00

Ahhhh...

Finally, a little space just for my sewing stuff. It doesn't have to share with anything else! I can't wait to do some projects. This room is just begging for curtains, but I think I'm going to wait and get some of Heather Bailey's new fabric when it comes out later this month. I also need a little valance or something for the kitchen. I'm going to wait on that until I paint in there though. I'm worried it might end up looking really dark in the kitchen with the new paint color, so I might need a lighter window treatment. We'll see. I haven't quite worked up the nerve to start painting the kitchen yet. There's SO much trimming and edging to do in there. Cabinets, countertops, weird wall angles, etc. Should be loads of fun!

2 down, 4 to go

2008-07-08T08:49:00.003-05:00

I'm so proud of myself! Yesterday I got a bug up my ass and painted the entire spare bedroom upstairs myself. It's the room for my sewing machine and our computer right now. I picked another Martha Stewart color and the match is pretty good. It is a little overwhelming right now, just a lot of green with nothing to break it up, but I'll hang some stuff up and add some curtains eventually.

I am LOVING a couple of new fabric collections right now (for curtains). Heather Bailey has a new collection, and Anna Maria Horner has a new one as well. Check out the link for Heather Bailey's... I love the music that goes with her slideshow! Now I just have to figure out which fabric stores in Madison will carry these beauties, maybe I can save myself the shipping costs.

I was noticing how it looks kind of goofy just having a picture of the paint color with nothing else in the picture the last two posts, but you'll have to bear with me. The rooms are still a MESS... Once I have this place put together a little more I'll put up a bunch of "after" pics.

Progress.

2008-07-05T13:46:00.004-05:00

For the first time either of us have ever painted, I think we did pretty darn good. We decided to do our master bedroom first. Here's the color. It looked green as it was drying, but it turned out pretty darn close to the chip. I'll post some more pictures once we put the room back together.

In other house related news, Eric mowed the lawn for the first time today. I love the smell of fresh cut grass, and even more when I know I don't have to cut it!

Happy Birthday dear Eric,

2008-07-03T16:40:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday to you!

what a week...

2008-07-03T16:30:00.002-05:00

Well, we closed on our house Wednesday and moved Saturday. I finished working in Milwaukee yesterday. Yikes. I feel like I haven't sat down in a week! Our house is a disaster, boxes everywhere. I'm going to try to make a dent in them this weekend. Have to start painting too!

I think the thing that I have learned so far about owning a home is that the work will never stop. There's a yard to mow, weeds to pull, things to fix, walls to paint, etc, etc, for 30 years! But at least it's ours, right?

I think I have a problem...

2008-06-23T19:18:00.002-05:00

more pyrex of course

2008-06-22T16:27:00.003-05:00

Just a pretty dish I picked up this weekend. I have guilt though, cuz it's just one more thing to pack!

We went to Ikea today to pick up a kitchen table and chairs. We ended up getting a different one than I had planned, but it's bigger and even has a leaf! We were laughing on the way home because I said that having a table with a leaf made me feel more adult than being engaged or buying a house...

vintage fabric swap

2008-06-19T13:43:00.005-05:00

As I've been hunting for pyrex lately at various thrift stores, I've also been looking for fabric for a swap over at Oh Fransson. I finally found a piece of vintage fabric (it's not a sheet), but I love it and I'm mailing it out tomorrow! I only had enough for 8 fat quarters, but I figure 8 in return will be plenty. I have enough fabric as it is! I'm hoping to get some really great stuff in return though. There are some really cool ones in her Flickr pool. I love this one the most, but there are a lot of really cool fabrics. She also promised some projects on her site, so I'm looking forward to that as well.

I'm also looking forward to being able to sew something again! I can not wait to move and have my life (and house!) put together again. We close Wednesday. I can't believe it's less than a week now. Yikes!

pyrex and such

2008-06-07T16:40:00.005-05:00

More Goodwill finds.

Can you see how dark it is behind these pictures? I took them at about 3pm today. There are hella thunderstorms and tornadoes here today. Fantastic! Hopefully we won't get blown away :)

*edited to add...
Well, we ended up spending about 45 minutes down in our underground parking area. I HATE tornadoes! Thank god Eric was with me :)

I covet these.

2008-06-04T17:41:00.003-05:00

Seriously.

Via Apartment Therapy ohdeedoh.

this is how much I love him...

2008-05-24T23:07:00.003-05:00

And all his many hats...

I'm missing you, honey.

technology...

2008-05-24T13:31:00.002-05:00

So my computer crashed the biggest crash possible last Sunday. Had to go to Best Buy and get special discs ordered and get COMPLETELY wiped off. Yuck. Teaches me for not backing up my stuff, huh? Ah well, what are you going to do? But anyways, it's back now, not too much harm done. I think most of the pictures I love the most are salvageable from one web place or another (thank god for Flickr and Picasa). I'm still in the process of putting all the settings back to where I want them. But other than that... Not too much is new.

I did manage to read two books from the library this week between working 14 hours of overtime. Amazing what you can done when you're not sitting in front of your computer, huh? I also managed to find out that one of my co-workers' brother is a manager at Sherwin Williams, so we're getting a great deal on paint. And I'm having them color-match my colors from the Martha Stewart line at Lowe's (which are soooo gorgeous). So that's a nice piece of news. Now I just have to figure out how to paint! It can't be that hard, can it? Always looks easy on those HGTV shows, right? Hmmm...

wanna see it?

2008-05-10T16:49:00.004-05:00

It's lovely.

It doesn't seem real yet, we don't close until July 3rd. I just hope everything is OK with the inspection and final financing. So nerve-wracking, you know? The yard looks much better now than in this picture. The grass is greener and the trees are budding. I'll take more pics (I stole this one from the MLS listing) when we go for the inspection this week. We went to Home Depot yesterday just to walk around and price stuff, and all I could think was that it was finally appropriate for me to be in that store... Being a "homeowner" and all :)

We'll see how happy I am in a couple of months after painting the thing and paying a mortgage payment!