Farewell pumpkins

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

As the day draws to a close I am thinking about tomorrow when I will start decking the halls! I probably shouldn't admit this but since I've already told Josh and he laughed hysterically at me and told me I was out of my mind I've already suffered the worst: 6 months ago I started a list of what decorations I wanted to put where in the house and I would review it on a monthly basis and update it with any changes. Actually now that I'm typing this it does sound a little bizarre. I think I just couldn't take the summer heat so I started daydreaming about winter which lead to day dreaming about Christmas decorating. Although I guess I didn't need to go so far as to start a list ... perhaps Josh has a point.

Since all the pumpkins will be leaving the house tomorrow I thought I'd share some pics of our dining table. We've had the mercury glass candle holders on our table since early October but this morning I gathered all the pumpkins from around the house and dumped them all on the table. Too bad I didn't do this sooner - I love how it looks!





The green striped pumpkin is my favorite.



Just as we were about to eat we looked over and saw this gross scene ...



Not what I wanted on the table right before dinner!


Welllll I think I will go and review my list one last time before tomorrow :-)

Puppy love

Bored + camera = dogs forced to take awkward pictures!

Don't they look like they cant wait for it to be over?

Hello 2010

I'm a little late on the new year post but as they say, better late than never :-)

Its hard to believe its the end of yet another decade, and what a decade it was!

This past decade I:

- Graduated college
- Had my heart broken so badly I thought it would never heal (it did)
- Had my last boyfriend (now my husband)
- Was boring and kept my hair long the entire time
- Got engaged, then got married
- Bought my (our) first home
- Gained a lot of weight on prednisone (and didnt lose any of it)
- Got my first pets: 2 cats and a dog (I'm not counting the ones I had when I lived with my parents because I wasn't totally responsible for them)
- Had 3 post college jobs and so far haven't loved any of them
- Bought too many black shirts
- Wore too much black
- Got into and then out of credit card debt

I learned a lot about myself and grew a lot.

I have given up on new year's resolutions because they never seem to last but I do have a few goals this year: I want to simplify my life, and use my time more productively.

Here's to a wonderful 2010!

Football fun

Josh loves all sports but in particular is a football fanatic. I am not. At all.
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In an effort to make football a little more fun for me we made up a game last year and we are playing it again this year. Each week we try to predict who will win each game. We make our picks based on our own special rating systems and then track who has the best record for the whole season. Josh's rating system utilizes his expansive knowledge of players and team performance and since I have none of that I pick teams based on their uniform color scheme and their logo.

You're probably thinking my rating system is ridiculous and sometimes it is – for example I love the New Orleans Saints logo because it features a fleur-de-lis so I almost always pick them, no matter who they are playing.

So far there’s only been one week of picks and Josh and I tied in picking the winning teams. I hope my ‘special’ rating system continues to do well for me!

(Josh just read this as I was writing and said “your special rating system sucks” – now I REALLY want to beat him!)

Stunner shades

We had our eyes dilated at our annual eye exam today. Of course we forgot to bring sunglasses so we had to wear the stylish wrap-arounds. I've worn them on their own before but wearing them with glasses takes them to a whole new level.

Awesome.

Cadbury Love

I have a mild major addiction to Cadbury Mini Eggs. From the crisp sugar shell to the smooth milk chocolate in the middle, I adore them. I could seriously eat a whole bag in one day. Well I found something amazing at Target the other night ... a hollow egg made out of Cadbury milk chocolate (which, by the way, I am also addicted to - as I told Josh "its not just chocolate, its a way of life") filled with Mini Eggs. Its literally my dream candy! They only had 2 and I bought them both - its probably a good thing they didn't have more because I cant guarantee I wouldn't have bought them all ... you know, to enjoy for the rest of the year ;-)

YUM!

Happy Easter everyone!

To-do List Mania

I am someone who likes lists (actually loves lists) so naturally I have to-do lists in my head and on various pieces of paper of projects I want to do in the house. Well its getting hard to keep track of all these lists and since I posted my April house goals the other day I thought I'd better get organized. In an attempt to simplify things I decided to give each room its own to-do list.

Sounds like a good idea right?

Well I tend to be a little too detail-oriented so somehow this:

* Finish guest room

Became this:

* Finish guest room
- Install crown molding
- Paint inside of closet
- Find removed closet doors and reinstall
- Paint door and trim
- Replace door knob
- Hang curtains
- Sand and re-stain bed a darker color
- Stain bedside tables to match
- Move furniture in and decorate

(I wont bore you to tears by posting the other rooms’ lists.)

It’s nice to have it all down on paper to refer to but now it looks like a lot more work … maybe the original disorganized list wasn’t so bad after all! :-)

April Goals

I am a fan of lists. I enjoy checking things off but I am also guilty of just making a new list and rolling things over if I miss my deadline (this happens a lot!). I usually keep my lists to myself but I'm going to try posting it to see if it helps keep me on track.

These are my home-related goals for April:

1. Work on the guest room - so far we've painted, and put in a new ceiling fan and blinds. Now it needs all the details.

2. Paint the living room - totally dreading this because of the high ceilings. I'll post some 'before' shots soon.

3. Make some freezer meals - I love to cook but I work 10 hour days Monday to Thursday so I get home late and usually don't feel like cooking. I would happily eat cereal for dinner on those nights but my dear husband looks at me in disgust every time I suggest this.
(Anyone have any suggestions? I don't have much experience with freezing cooked food.)

That's it. I know it looks like a short list but believe me the painting alone is going to take forever. I'll report back at the end of the month with my progress.


And because no blog entry is complete without a picture, here's a cute shot of Zeke (who's 5 months old today) and Josh.