i LOVE...

i LOVE the wall hanging and pillows so much in this image that i didn't even notice the dog laying on the couch. found via kika reichert. {i have no clue what she is saying but i love her blog}

new start

self portrait of the little nugget

welcome to my new blog!

bear with me as figure out how i want this blog to look/be.

i am...

now here. this blog will be available till friday.

still searching...

funny how things show up. this is exactly how i feel and was trying to explain on #3 from my previous post. still searching my "talent". found few minutes ago via ali edwards. {now she's someone who's using her talent!}

When I stand before God...

"When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, 'I used everything you gave me.'" { Erma Bombeck }

brain dumping the weekend monday

kaylee and i getting ready for our girls only party

1. finally broke down and bought these rollers to try. before even trying them, i get my hair cut short. they didn't do much but i think its because i didnt leave them in long enough. kaylee thought they were tons of fun!

2. great and crappy weekend all at the same time. friday night we had tons of fun with friends who came over last minute. made a gourmet meal of pizza pockets, apple pies and s'mores over the fire pit, drank beer {monster and vodka for me}, made future plans that will probably never be executed but was still fun to make.

3. saturday ran into a depression session. hate feeling like i'm wasting my life away by doing nothing. i feel my body and heart wanting to explode with passion but for what? i don't know.... where's my niche in life?

4. sunday had a great time at our play groups picnic hosted by megan. finally got the husbands to meet other husbands.

5. i told mike last night that i think i'm finally starting to look my age. he was kind enough to say that i don't.

6. the other night, after waking up for the umpteenth time to blow my nose, i heard kaylee laughing in her sleep. like a full minute of giggles. still makes me smile thinking about it.

7. my parents left for vegas yesterday and they will be staying for whole week. i want to go somewhere too!

8. check out a lego a day. he took pics of lego guy for 365 days doing super cool and super fun things!

9. being a parent to a teenager is super hard and ham's my easy kid. still waiting for that "how-to" manual.

10. last night i decided that while kaylee is in school, i was going to start walking/running. of course its suppose to rain all day but i'm still going to do it.

love this!

found this morning on tallu-lah's tale:

"Take a look at Hema's “product page”. You can't order anything and it's in Dutch….don't click on any of the items in the picture, just wait and see what happens.

This company has a unique sense of humor and a great computer programmer!"

etsy love

i hate leaving such a depressing post so i tried to find something purdy. i found this on yvette inufio etsy shop- its purdy + the truth! {thanks pam and jocelyn for your kind comments!}

brain dumping friday's depression

1. the more i see previews for this movie, the more i want to see it. {though not sure if i should take kaylee}

2. the husband got on my nerves yesterday. he woke me up twice as i'm trying to go back to sleep by turning on the tv and then he ate my left over pizza. he even took all the good stuff off!

3. went to my parents new pizza joint wednesday night. shame on me for not taking my camera! its in a new shopping development and the place is just cool. not a lot of seating but they plan on lots of carry out and delivery. next time-lots of pics!

4. ever been in one of those moods where you just want to go someplace else? go on an "adventure"? that was me yesterday. restless. needed new sights and smells instead got to stay home. boring! which made me crabby.

5. grey's anatomy was sad last night. at least they did a great ending for george's character. cant wait to see desperate housewives and brothers and sisters on sunday.

6. i wish i wasn't so selfish. you would think being twenty seventeen, i would be out of that stage by now.

7. while i have a weird way of showing it, i love my kids more than they know!

8. ham was talking to me about one of his classes and telling me how parents/adults say things to kids kaylee's age can break their spirit. i know exactly what he's talking about. i feel growing up, my parents + brothers broke my spirit. i am not the person i would like to be today.

9. my heart wants to make the changes but my mind wont let go the criticism or the negativity.

10. sorry for the depressing post! just clearing my mind. hope everyone has a great weekend!!

brain dumping wednesday's edition

1. image by black eiffel. she makes indiana look cool. click here and here {i love our amish!}

2. the husband is currently on his way home from his 5 day vacation in miami. {great game monday night, miami was in the lead till about 2 mins. left in the game. then they cracked under pressure. and where's their defense at? come on miami!}

3. kaylee and i went to the "big" mall yesterday skipping out on play group again. they went to the apple orchard, the same one we were at friday.

4. felt great buying some much needed clothes. so SICK of wearing the same 3 pairs of shpants/shorts and the same t-shirts over and over. {shpants= short pants via the husband}

5. didn't buy a lot considering the husband visited the casino while on his mini vacation in miami. though i'm thinking of going back for a few more tops.

6. was informed that the husband went back to the casino with his dad and was able to walk away with a win. still doesn't make up for his loss.

7. good news for me- the husband said i definitely deserve a trip to ikea. maybe this week?!

8. felt like i've lost a few inches when trying on some clothes. bought a size 4 pants from express- yeah!

9. though not sure how. been addicted to chocolate with raisins + nuts. inhaled my second bar last night. i didn't think i would like raisins with my chocolate but it just makes it chewy not raisin tasting.

10. since i have no parties or get togethers planned at our house this weekend, my drive to organize and paint my craft room has died.

the toy room

this is kaylee's toy room. this is the damage done after our michigan vs notre dame party two weeks ago. this picture does not do it justice -the mess that was made in that short amount of time. play-doh was stuck everywhere and this is only half of the room.

another picture of kaylee's toy room before the paint job. its a nice color but there is no window and it made it look really dark in there.

and here is the after:

the two cabinets on the wall are from ikea. i only got one of them primed but i plan on doing all the doors with chalkboard paint.

the white color makes the room look bigger and i'm loving the contrasting green trim. i got everything painted and put back together by midnight.

here's the room looking in from mike's mantuary. now i just need to decorate it.

brain dumping frustrations on monday

apple orchard (preschool)

1. friday went on a field trip with kaylee's class to the apple orchard. her buddy, katie from play group, is in the same class. how sweet are they holding hands?

2. my girls night in was fun and very low key. its great getting to eat yummy food while chatting about kids, everyday life, husbands and placenta's.

3. hate it when my frustration or somber mood over takes the fun of my weekend.

4. found out the husband did a little visiting to the casino's while in florida so he is currently in a very small and cramped dog house. {the smaller the dog house, the bigger the trouble he is in}

5. and last night i was up till 1am talking to a supervisor who couldnt do anything about my interest rate that went up 50%. 50%!! even though i have been an excellent customer with an excellent payment history and credit score.

6. i can't even explain my frustration over all of this-if your a new customer you get better rates +deals, if you use your credit card you get a discount etc... WTF? while us good customers who pays their bills on time and have been with said company for years gets screwed a new butthole???? {sorry for my bad words but i'm a little more than angry at the moment}

7. desperately in need of a hair coloring and style. full makeover with a new wardrobe would be nice too. {a little botox and tummy tuck while i'm at it}

8. last night i was talking to a friend of mine. yes! i have one. about blogs and how we find them or who reads them. i have 1309 visitors so far and from 34 different countries which i think is just neat-o. and that's a lot of visitors for my little boring blog. please do share how you found me- me and my nosey friend would love to know!

9. i'm still thinking of changing blog to a different site but blogger is just so easy to get around even if they do suck a little.

10. after i take kaylee to school today, i think i'm going to treat myself to a nap.

blog+etsy love

today is going to be a "nap" day. i can tell. i only got 5 hours of sleep and now getting ready to catch up on my house cleaning + food preparing for my girls only night in.

before i go on my sleepy merry way i wanted to share my most recent find (about 5 minutes ago). from sweet designs by amy atlas, (my go to girl for very cool party ideas) cute little birthday toppers from lollipopworkshop!!! (my newly found birthday topper girl)

i love the pigtails on this little girl.

but of course would need the number 5 from this little one.

then i saw this one, i think it would be perfect so that we could use it year after year.

for the price, it would make for a great heirloom for kaylee to pass down to her little one in like 50 years from now.

you must check out bakerella's blog (my go to girl for some sweet baking) to see what lollipopworkshop sent her. its so stink'n cute its too die for.

i love...

kaylee and i. (not my favorite but its a pic)

1. when kaylee says she needs a "blesh-you" {tissue}

2. when kaylee wants to give me a massage (she pushes me forwards and backwards) or styles my hair. she's the stylist and i'm her customer.

3. when kaylee's flat out honest. she said something along the lines that dinner was much better wednesday night than tuesday night. and she was right.

4. when ham lets out a little burp after drinking his milk in the morning. it makes me giggle for some reason.

5. that my husband has been doing the dishes for the past 3 days. i know he's just sucking up because he leaves for miami and i'm going to let him suck up.

6. when i can find an outfit + it fits- in my very minimal closet.

7. a fresh coat of paint.

8. when i get motivated and make better use of my time. this week its been painting. kitchen, front entry + hallway to kids bedrooms are done. this morning, i got kaylee's toy room primed.

9. plopping down on my own bed. its my favorite time of day.

10. when a crazy idea in my head works out in real life.

magic in a gallon of paint

thought i would share my newly painted kitchen. it looks so much better than before.

we were house hunting when these were taken.

that's why its empty.

here i am taping everything. i seriously do no like the cabinet color, counter top or floor but the space is wonderful!

and here's the after:

it makes the kitchen and hallway so much brighter. i also think it balances the colors in the dining room and family room much better. and i'm able to tolerate the cabinet color a little more.

but not the floor or window treatment. that bookshelf by the fridge will be replaced just not sure with what yet. and yes i have mis-colored appliances. the fridge was a wedding gift from my parents. i hope to have them all the same one day. (most likely stainless for resale purposes)

this is the corner that the other tea towel will go. i got a frame for my current tea towel but its such an odd shape that it doesn't fit lengthwise. and while there's plenty of space for a small table and a few chairs, we' re leaving it empty till i can find that perfect something something for it. (my potted plants were influenced by christine's space though my doesn't look nearly as grand as hers)

quotes

i can't remember where i found this quote- think its a good one.

shopping + some etsy love

short story- boden gave me a $20 gift certificate for filling out a short survey for them. they are offering free shipping too at the moment so i went and shopped their sales. i ended up paying a little extra but i absolutely love this outfit. i wanted the belt too but no such luck.

and i love everything from larimeloom's etsy shop. if only i didn't have my dunlop tire around my mid section. (just saw that someone bought the top from in the first pic. i am sad.)

since repainting my kitchen, i want to decorate it differently getting some art work up instead of what i had before. my wonderful friend christine brought me back a scottish tea towel that i still need to find a frame for. i thought one of these tea towels from keep calm gallery would look awesome on the other wall beside it.

debating on which one to get.

brain dumping tuesday's edition

me, painting the last areas in the kitchen. i'm on top of the fridge

1. i dont like my new kitchen color. i LOVE it!

2. the entryway and hallway to the kids bedrooms is already in the works. its already a whitish color but in dyer need of a fresh coat. using the same color as the kitchen which is the same color used on the kitchen cabinets at our old house. raw linen by laura ashley.

3. while mike might be really lacking in the romance department, he did get the house cleaned up on sunday by 12:30. ( he had ulterior motive- miami was playing at 1pm and he needed a driver though he wont admit it.)

4. having a girl is so way different than having a boy. already at 4.5 years of age, kaylee has said a few times she doesn't like her voice. that she wishes she sounded like someone else. *sigh* what is it with us females that we can not be happy with the way we are? i am guilty of this but i'm not 4.5 years old either.

5. saturday brent and his little girl came over early. i heard kaylee tell neve "you're not the boss of me. this is my house so you're not the boss." neve is 3 and half.

6. sometimes i feel like joan cusack from runaway bride when she says she's weird and sometimes i feel like squid ward from spongebob and they yell at him "no talent! no talent!".

7. definitely feeling a need to go overseas. with all these blogs showing cute dainty lil shops and the food. oh my- the food!!

8. my allergic rhinitis seems to be even worse this year. besides the normal stuffy yet drippy nose, sneezing, continuous headaches.. this year my eyes have been itching, red and puffy and my face is itchy too. UGGG!!!!

9. need to start planning my girls only night. i'm still thinking i should of made it into a ikea road trip instead.

10. cable guy is coming today. since they're suckering us by having someone come out to "activate" our hd ready cable box- which we already have, i'm going to use him to hook up all the tv connections and wireless for my imac. so boo yah rip off cable company!

annual michigan vs notre dame party

saturday ended up being an awesome day for our annual (first at our new house) michigan vs notre dame party. this year the odds were against us not only for our team to win but also mike and i were the only two michigan fans. i claimed christine and tad since i was host and they don't really care much about (american) football or maybe any football.

kaylee and friends enjoying their picnic dinner. (just to be clear, kaylee is not picking her nose in the second pic). two hot mama's keeping an eye on all the kids with beer in hand except for the one holding her kid- she inhaled hers. (just kidding!)

all the true football geeks were in "the big house" (that's what they call michigan stadium) watching the actual game. and mike being loud. chris thinking he's super funny by wearing that appalachian t-shirt. mike knew right away what it meant. me, not until about midnight did i remember that game. and holly holding my tiny beverage while i take pics.

one of my buddies, a future quarterback, giving me a fist and a look that says " i dare you to take these away from me!" my other buddy- ben, enjoying some goldfish crackers till he sees his mom coming. he then starts to inhale them by the handful(s) because he knows she's going to take away the goods. i should of told him to grab 'em and run!

during the breaks everyone would come outside for some fresh air and to play catch. i know mike's thinking he's dan marino whenever he threw the ball. ham and friends getting their grub on.

at the beginning of the game, mike's buddy brent made a bet that the loser had to get a tattoo on their butt of the winning teams logo. with a few minutes left in the game, michigan had the ball and they tried for a touchdown only to fail. i was thinking mike's first tattoo was going to be something irish. with seconds remaining-michigan went for it again doing the same play only this time- TOUCHDOWN!!! mike and i did the belly bump and got all obnoxious and loud- what a great ending to a great game!!!! score ended up being 38-31. and this ended up on brent's butt. we had him put the year on it too. now people have said they can't believe mike made him go through with it but if they knew brent, they would know that he is a man/boy who keeps his promises.

THE END!

(blurred for your own eye protection)

* i ended up making: jalapeno stuffed peppers, hot pizza dip with toasted bagel bites, savory sandwiches w/veggies on the side, cookies, dirt pudding, homemade zucchini bread and mini muffins with homemade cream cheese frosting. i like to post for future reference.

brain dumping my lack of sleep brain friday

merry go round; shipshewana; a few weeks ago

1. for the past few nights i've been hitting the sack around midnight. after a busy day yesterday with errand running, babysitting, a forgotten meeting for ham for his first run in with the law, i didn't get started painting till 9:30pm.

2. almost done. 2 spots behind the extra tall cabinets. will have to stand on that step that says not to stand on it while mike holds the ladder still.

3. seeing the ugly blinds off the patio windows really makes a huge difference. with the valance on it, it looks super bulky. convinced mike to go with curtains. will have to have matching ones for the family room since they are side by side.

4. lots to do today: cleaning the house, grocery shopping, take kaylee to school+ pick her up, got a craft project to do, baking and some cooking. doesn't sound like a lot but its all time consuming.

5. hope the wolverines KILL notre dame like they did 2 years ago. {score was 38-0}

6. knew it was picture day yesterday for ham but forget to send in the money and request form. this is the 2nd year of no school pics of ham. last year, we returned them because the photographer told him to tilt to the side. he looked like he was constipated. {i was suppose to take the pic but never got to it}

7. going to make a smoothie. missed out yesterday and was craving for one at midnight.

8. sent an apology letter to that person whose feelings i hurt. now she's making it into a bigger deal than need be. i was gracious enough to reply back and that's all she's getting from me. i admitted for being immature so its either you forgive me or you don't.

9. i would love to see inside suann's [simplesong] house. bet its amazing! she has just the most impeccable taste.

10. i admit ham gets his indecisiveness from me. as of last night he wanted an older bmw. this morning it got changed to an old honda prelude. last week it was something else, last month it was a different car, last year it was a different version of one of the cars he had picked from this morning, last week, month, year. see how this is going??

i want!

the last time mike went on a vacation without me, i got a cat. he leaves in 2 weeks for the weekend for miami with his dad. i want this dog. this was taken by sharon montrose. she's an awesome photographer and she has a cool etsy shop. i want the bunnies, prairie dogs, the porcupine and the basset hound. her husband just opened chalkchalk on etsy too. love the penny farthing print.

brain dumping stinky wednesday

1. stupid blogger. wont let me upload any pics.

2. for a delicious smoothie recipe go to my other blog bites.

3. yesterday kaylee and i skipped play group. i have so much to get done before our football party on saturday and i was on a roll till about noon. had to take a nap and later watched oprah.

4. besides cleaning, decorating and cooking for saturday, i decided i wanted the kitchen and hallway painted. got the tape and some areas primed last night. why? why do i do this to myself???

5. primer and paint not so good for allergies.

6. parents private pizza party got canceled for tonight. something about inspections, permits and water are all delaying the grand opening.

7. i want some cake. chocolate cake or a texas sheet cake from a certain bakery. the certain bakery that i avoid so i don't eat texas sheet cake.

8. i missed design star on sunday. went to the website and saw that lonni got kicked off which i think was a huge mistake. what were the judges thinking? her room was SO much better than antonio's (he's cocky) so now its between him and cutie pie dan.

9. kaylee's excited for school today. they had canceled classes last friday due to a funeral and they didnt want all those strangers around the kids.

10. kaylee just sat on my lap, gave me a hug, and i love you. then said she farted. for someone being so little her farts sure do STINK!

brain dumping my lack of parenting skills tuesday

i want this cute little bag! via the small object { they also have very cute but very expensive wedding toppers}

1. i'm eating a veggie pizza at the moment for breakfast. not just any pizza but pizza from my parents pizza shop. {this is what we had for dinner last night} and for my first try of hot box pizza, its mighty tasty.

2. they will be having a private party wednesday and hopefully will be officially opened on thursday.

3. i was informed by my mother last night that i need to either read her parenting books or i need parenting books to read. this came about because she doesn't agree with us in selling the caddy. i think what we do for our kids is our own business. she's raised hers and i didn't agree with the way she did so i'm going a different route which is what i wanted to say....

4. i did manage to get out alive after cleaning kaylee's toy room. wish i had a before picture.

5. next will be my crafting room. heaven help me again!

6. i finally watched mama mia. it brought back all the reasons why i love ABBA! {when i worked at sam's club eons ago, one of the managers sang dancing queen for me while we were closing up shop}

7. while i don't mind suggestions, i really don't like people telling me how i should be using my camera especially if they haven't seen any of my images. my settings work for me and i'm still learning. i never claimed to be a professional just a professional wanna be. there's a difference.

8. not sure as to what the menu will be for our michigan (yeah!) vs notre dame (boo!) party on saturday. i have something planned but they're new recipes so i'm debating on taking the risk.

9. i had mike read justin(shitmydadsays)on twitter yesterday. he had tears in his eyes because he was laughing so hard.

10. kaylee's new saying- that somethings killing her, like a tag on her shirt or a bug bite on her ankle. its so cute!