Fridays With Evan...And The Master Bedroom.

I think it's been a month since I've posted any pictures of Evan, which doesn't seem that long but if you're only 8.5 months old it's a little absurd. So I have included several pictures as well as two videos. Tomorrow I'll get to see the little guy IN person IN Florida. Can't beat that. I fly tonight and don't get back until next Saturday so I will be leaving blogland for awhile. I'm bringing my bff Mr. iPhone so I'll be able to keep up with all of your blogs, but the commenting will be even less than usual. My apologies.

Before I get to (disclaimer: my opinion) the cutest nephew in the world, I wanted to show some pictures of the new master bedroom. I've take 11 bajillion pictures and I'm not happy with any of them. The actual color vs. the color the camera portrays are very, very different. Imagine if you can a medium blue with green and grey undertones and you've got Benjamin Moore's Wedgewood Gray. However! These pictures make it appear blue with blue and blue undertones. Whatev. Our master bedroom is a total work in progress (Hey! That's the name of this blog!) and I hope to show you an updated picture in a year (or two. or five.) that includes a headboard, new side tables, and oh I don't know CURTAINS perhaps?

Until then, here is our master bedroom 2.0. Before picture:


And after!




By the way, 10' ceilings are great until you have to paint them. And then they become the bane of your existence.

And now I bring you the Evanator:









And two videos. The first one cracks me up (make sure your sound is on so you understand what's going on). I now have mixed feelings about Evan's teenage years...

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

And the little guy eating...with 8 teeth. 8 teeth!

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing

Benjamin Moore's Wedgew00d Gr@y

IF YOU'RE WANTING TO SEE PICTURES OF WEDGEWOOD GRAY, CLICK HERE!

Apologies in advance for a post that's going to be all over the place...

My parents visited this weekend and brought several of our houseplants and all of my winter clothes, none of which made the original move. In such a short time I completely forgot about my winter clothes and now must retract an earlier proclamation of "I was able to fit ALL of my clothes in our closet!" Looks like the extra bedroom's closet will be utilized after all. It was so great to see mom and pops and even greater that they were able to stay a few days! Living in Tulsa was both good and bad when it came to visits from my parents. Visits were somewhat often (good) but were always very short (bad) due to the short drive from Tulsa to Fort Smith. Now that it's a 4.5 hour drive and both are retired (wahoo!), they can come for a few days at a time. I love it! It would have been a sad goodbye but we knew we'd be seeing each other again in Florida for an entire week starting this Friday! I am so excited to be able to go back to Sanibel for our annual vacation. It's been several years and I'm ready to claim my pool chair, find some shells, and attempt (for the 456th time) to master the hammock. You say it's not hard? It is HARD.

In other news, I'm still funemployed (thank you, dad, for giving me a new term for my present status). Friday marked 3 weeks of being jobless and it's starting to get to me. Deep down I knew it would take awhile but there was definitely a small part of me that thought this would be easy. That part became even smaller when I met with one of Dallas' best recruiters and she told me to get a job at a furniture store and enjoy the discount. (Which makes no sense whatsoever--how can I enjoy the discount if my monthly salary will only pay for a picture frame or a candle? Hurumph.)

The first few weeks didn't bother me at all. To be honest, I loved them. I was able to empty all boxes, put everything in its proper spot, and hang all of our artwork (obviously Michael helped with each of these things). I registered my car and got a driver's license. I discovered many parts of Dallas that I'd never seen before (never heard of before). But now? Now I've done all of that and I'm still sitting here on a Monday morning feeling frustrated. I never thought I'd say this, but I really am one of those people that needs to do something. It's what makes me feel successful. It doesn't have to be brilliant, it doesn't have to be difficult, it just has to be something... something to make me feel human. Right now I feel pretty worthless, and that's a terrible feeling.

So what do I do? I decide to paint our master bedroom. Probably not one of my brighter ideas, but hear me out. I adored our last house. Every room, every nook, every part. Except for the master bedroom's paint color. It wasn't awful by any means, I just didn't care for it. For 18 months (would have been longer had we stayed), I dealt with the color because it was there and it worked. I've now run into the same problem with our current house--the master bedroom paint color doesn't bother me but it's the same color as every other room in the house. And this time? I refuse to settle. I think Michael knows this is just something I need to do for myself, to make me feel like I have a (temporary) purpose, so he gave me a hug yesterday and let me drive to Ace Hardware to pick up a color so I could paint our room something beautiful.

I wish this story could continue it's climactic journey, but unfortunately this was my first time to step inside an Ace Hardware with a list in hand. I saw the paint colors and flocked to the rainbow. Found the two I'd been contemplating and was immediately greeted by an employee. I politely pointed to the "Samples for $6" sign and asked for a sample of each. He told me he'd never done sample sizes before and I just kept staring at him. I would not look away. After a ridiculously long pause he said, "Welllll, I guess you want me to go ahead and try?" I smiled and said, "Yes, I'd like that very much." He walked away and I scanned the rest of the store looking for items I would need to paint. I ended up texting Kaitlin and requested a full line-up of materials, so my empowerment movement took a temporary backseat while I scanned each aisle with my iPhone in hand, directing me where to go. Hey, I said I wanted to be successful, I didn't say I had to do it alone.

Employee finished mixing the paint ("It was so easy!") and I held back from telling him that anyone who knew simple fractions could do it. (That just gave me an idea... maybe I could work at Ace Hardware and mix paint samples for people?) I drove home and got to work. And by work I mean I painted two little squares on our wall so we could decide which color we preferred. I didn't realize how nervous the entire process made me. First painting our walls, then deciding which one we liked. I spent the rest of the evening using the famous blue tape and got as far as I could without a ladder (our ceilings are all 10' and I left my go-go gadget arms in Oklahoma).

So I'll keep you posted on our little journey. I'm pleased with it so far and this is a nice little lesson for me. Just because something is done doesn't mean it can't be improved. And don't settle for something because it works, make it something you love. So that's what I'm doing. Paintbrush in one hand, instruction manual/iPhone in the other. Step by step, until it is perfect.

Or until someone hires me.

Something Truly Amazing for my 200th post

This was my side item at dinner on Friday. My = singular. No sharing.



God bless Texas.

Viva Las Madness

This past weekend I flew to Las Vegas for a good friend's bachelorette party. I have attended several bachelorette parties but this was my first in Sin City. A few highlights of our trip:

1. Upon arrival, Kaitlin and I noticed our hotel was filled with a rather... rough crowd. We both shrugged and decided this was Vegas life, and Vegas life brought all kinds of life. Then we saw signs for UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), which took place at our hotel. Oh... so perhaps THAT was why there were so many angry tattoos to match angry faces. Geesh! Kait and I were not well-versed in this area and we both decided UFC stood for "United Fighting Club." What we found so strange was how many people asked the two of us if we were there for the fight. I looked down at our tattoo-less skin, bleached blonde hair, Banana Republic outfits and accessories, and quizzically shook my head. Not so much.

2. THEHotel (where we stayed) and Mandalay Bay are known for their giant pools and our group enjoyed them both Friday and Saturday. Several of us were married but we quickly noticed that did not stop interested dudes. (Especially the ones who can't quite put their arms down by their sides because they are "so strong." You look stupid, just put your arms down.) All of us were wearing our wedding rings so I was baffled each time we were approached. We were always polite but mentioned within the first 2 sentences that we were married and then waited for the silent countdown. In 5...4...3... aaand he's out. We were actually quite relieved that no one even tried to continue the conversation.

3. If you've been over to our house you've seen the bamboo photo that hangs above our fireplace (souvenir from our honeymoon in Hawaii). It was photographed by Peter Lik and we are both huge fans. We visited his gallery in La Jolla last summer and I knew he had three galleries in Vegas. Being the Peter Lik groupie that I am, I was somehow able to limit myself to just one gallery but was so glad I visited.

4. Michael Irvin was on our plane ride home! Here's the deal, I was so proud of myself because I actually knew who Michael Irvin was, although I didn't recognize him (make sense?). The guy next to us said, "I think that's Michael Irvin!" and I immediately looked up. There is no way I would have recognized him by myself but it was quite obvious this guy was not your average Joe. (How many middle-aged men do you know who wear a white t-shirt and casual shorts but carry around a Louis Vuitton satchel?) We boarded the plane and I couldn't resist so I smiled politely and said hello. He smiled and said, "Hey, how's it going?" I started to blurt out, "My husband's a huge fan!" but thought that might sound a little pathetic.

5. And of course the best for last. Saturday night we had dinner at Tao and then made our way to their club. It was several levels and we began the evening on the roof. There were tons of tables but we quickly learned they were for bottle service customers only. At first I thought, "Hey, I like alcohol, let's order a bottle of the good stuff!" Then I looked at the menu and saw a bottle of Grey Goose was $675. A bottle that costs $40 at the liquor store was just a wee bit pricier at the club. And so I passed. A few members of our group went downstairs due to the heat and met a few guys who invited the entire group to join them at their VIP table. We were tired of standing so the idea sounded fantastic. We sat down and noticed two magnum bottles of Grey Goose. Of course I started calculating in my head what that would cost (had to guess since these were larger than the $675 bottle on the menu). I was shocked. What do these guys DO? And would they be interested in hiring a 27-year-old female who lived in Dallas to do the same? We had a great time and as the night wore on and inhibitions lessened, we found out exactly what they did. Or in this case, it only mattered what the 6'9" quiet guy in the corner with the 1-foot mohawk did. His name was Chris. But his acting name was Mr. Chris. Don't know who I'm referring to? That's good, because he's not just any actor, he is (or was) a pretty famous porn star.

....

I couldn't stop laughing. It was so... so Vegas. Kait and I left around 2a and headed back to the hotel but the rest of the group stayed for another bottle (another bottle)!! As we walked out of the club we saw all sorts of crazy things and I told Kait I felt like we should go to church. Kait simply replied, "They don't call it Sin City for nothing!"

Amen, sister.

So I Keep Waiting (Waiting), Waiting For The Day To Change

Have you ever had one of those days where you want to punch a wall, kick a shin, and/or possibly throw a very heavy object at an innocent bystander?

No? Just me?

Today (and part of yesterday) has been a bit rough. I guess that's to be expected after my last post of unicorns and rainbows (sorry about that--I reread it and even I rolled my eyes).

Let's get into it, shall we? We signed up with Verizon for our television and internet service. They came out last week and installed a bunch of junk (that's as technical as I get) and then came back later to set it all up inside. That was when they told us our television wasn't "compatible" with their system (I'm sorry, I didn't realize Verizon offered a matchmaking service). Then! Last night we were testing our sprinkler system and noticed Verizon cut through our water line whilst installing the bunch of junk.

Grrr.

I called them this morning and was told their computers were freezing up and they were dropping calls like crazy. An internet/phone provider with frozen computers and dropped calls--how ironic. The customer service rep promised she was always on top of things and this was not her fault. After her 4th explanation of how great she was and how, "My computer should show a tiny arrow and instead it's an hour glass. WHY IS IT AN HOUR GLASS?!! This is NOT my fault, I am VERY efficient!" I stopped talking. Ma'am, I don't care if you won Verizon Employee of the Decade, I just want my sprinkler to work. Funny enough, the call was dropped.

"Can you hear me now?" Um... no.

THEN! I drove back to the tax office to get my new driver's license and license plate. I was turned away yesterday for not having enough info for the plate so I came back fully prepared. She processed everything and then handed me the most ridiculous license plate I've ever seen.

Background info: I love simple, clean license plates.

Michael and I recently discussed how Texas had turned its back on classy license plates and was now a wee bit tacky. They now have a brand new plate that is absurd. Think Lisa Frank and her trapper keepers--this thing is bright and OBNOXIOUS. And lucky me, I received two.

Hid the plates in my purse and walked next door to the DMV, only to discover I did not have enough information to get a license.

(This is when I decided I wanted to throw a heavy object at an innocent bystander.)

Not only do you need your current driver's license, insurance, and social security card, you also need a passport or birth certificate. I pulled out my shiny marriage license and even that was not enough. And to make matters worse, I'm almost positive the lady had a smirk on her face as she turned me away.

I left the DMV feeling betrayed by my new state. Little does it know, I will be back with my birth certificate and my passport and I'm thinking of bringing my 2nd grade report card just in case. (And I will say every other word with massive amounts of emphasis so they know I mean business.)

The only thing that could make the day salvageable was a taco from Jack In The Box. So I did what had to be done. And ordered four.

And that is what we call taking one (er... four) for the team.

Things I love: God, Michael, Family, Friends, & Internet

And I'm back! Did you miss me? Be honest... did you even know I was gone?

I can now admit I am 145% addicted to blogging. I've been without Internet for the last 9 days (9 DAYS)! That's a lie, I've had my iPhone but I refuse to blog using a miniature keyboard. It's more than a little annoying and my fingers start to cramp after 5 sentences. There have been many occasions where I've thought, "Oh I'll have to blog about this!" or "Wouldn't a funny blog title be...." The list goes on. And on. And on... (...)

I have written many, MANY blog posts in my head over the last week and now that I finally have the opportunity to share, I'm staring at this huge white space and my thoughts are a bit barren. Hmmm.

Alright, I know something I would love to talk about: our new home! Remember a few weeks ago when I mentioned there were things going on that I didn't care to discuss at the moment? This was one of them. We made an offer on a home the second week in May but there were several things that had to go our way for it to all work out. I've become extremely protective of our decisions and feelings so I've turned into quite the hermit as far as discussing big issues. We had a horrible time closing on our first home and I was afraid it might happen again. That being said, we only told a few people, showed pictures to even fewer, and patiently waited until the keys were in our hands before we allowed ourselves to get excited. Now that it is ours and is no longer a secret, I can tell you that we are THRILLED. It is similar to our home in Jenks, but a bit bigger and is two stories instead of one. 2/3's of our family LOVES the stairs. Believe it or not, the fat feline is part of the 2/3s. She adores them--who knew?! Perhaps that burgeoning belly will be a thing of the past one day. (I'm not holding my breath.) I, on the other hand, am having to get used to them.

Want to know something else I love about our new home (and all of the homes in the neighborhood)? The garages/driveways are in the back! My BIGGEST pet-peeve with our old neighborhood is no longer an issue: no more gigantor trashcans in the front!! GLORY!

Alright, so below are a few pictures taken the day we made the offer. We have actually unpacked all boxes and put everything in its place but nothing has been hung on the walls and I don't really want to show updated pictures until the house is complete. So you'll have to settle for a few pictures of an empty house for now.

Home Sweet Home:

Our street:

Across the street:

Living room:

Dining room/living room/etc:

Kitchen:

Upstairs:


I really thought I'd be bored but so far I have had plenty to do every single day. I have made 460 trips to Target, BB&B, and Lowe's. I think they know me by name (or at least as "the girl who always looks a little disheveled and hey, does she know her roots are like 4 inches long?") and I have mastered the layouts of each store. I'm also getting more and more comfortable with the area. I am so happy here. There is so much to do, so much to see, and fortunately, so much time to see it. With everything that has happened the last few weeks, I haven't had much time to search for jobs but now that we have Internet again I will pick it up. Sidenote, I am as protective over the job search as I am over house offers. I'm not sure when I grew this turtle-like shell, but I kind of enjoy it and it's a nice protector. Don't be surprised if one day I'm all, "Hey everyone--I have a JOB!" I am by no means judging those who put it all out there, that's just not me. Or at least, not the new me with this bad-ass shell. Turtle power.

Ok, I need to wrap this one up. I never had a chance to write a good post about this huge transition in our lives. I hope to write one soon but we'll see. If it's not written in the moment, it's usually gone (or is just plain terrible, as you've witnessed in this monstrosity of a post--thanks for sticking with me).

One last thing. MJ. I know by this time you all are SO past that, but remember I'm the girl who has been disconnected for a while (9 days people. 9 DAYS!) and I've always been a slow griever. I know the man had his flaws. I know he did bad things. Still, I can't help but adore him. He was obviously very broken but his music... Oh his MUSIC. I have never heard a song of his that didn't make me smile. And you better believe every time Billie Jean is played, I will be the first (and perhaps the only one) on the dance floor. I dated a guy in high school whose family was all Michael Jackson fans and I remember him questioning my authenticity one day. I gave him a look and busted out the entire rap to "Jam," which Justin and I memorized when I was 10. He questioned no further. (I might have given a repeat performance to his dad. Can't remember.)

Anyway, RIP MJ. I know one day there will be one or two little kiddos who will listen to one of your songs over and over (and over) again until they've memorized every single word.

And their mom will be so proud. (She might just sing along.) :)

It won't let me embed the video but CLICK HERE.
If you can't bare listening to the whole thing (you're ridiculous), go to 3:29 for the signature rap and blast from the past Kris Kross (hey-ohhh)!
ps. I still have the entire thing memorized and would be happy to perform for you--just ask. Justin, a rap-off perhaps??