"ADVENTURE IS JUST BAD PLANNING"

This is what I came home to 11 pm on Valentine's Day. A deserted little table that looks like someone got stood up. In most cases this story would be sad, but with all the luck Chad has in trying to surprise me (this is the 3rd Valentine's mishap!) we thought it was pretty funny.

Neither of us talked about making any kind of Valentine's plans. We're going to some shows later this week and most of the time we want to do something special we just do it then. So babysitting for Valentine's Day isn't a big deal (and is paying for our concert tickets!) and I had a family ask about it weeks ago -- it's on the calendar and everything. Between the screwy schedule we have right now with Chad working so early and me not getting home until late I knew that I wouldn't see him until today (the day after VDay) when I got home from work. I even left him a little note by the door to find on his way to work to say "Happy Valentine's, blah blah, will miss you today, blah blah... see you tomorrow since you'll be asleep by the time I get home".

I did get to talk to him on the phone between work and babysitting, which was a good thing, because he was about to start cooking me a special little dinner for a surprise. Since we live in the tiny apartment he knew he couldn't hide everything he'd picked up to save for the next night without me catching on, he told me about forgetting I had plans and to not eat the chocolate covered strawberries in the fridge until he said so :)

So tonight was try number 2 and was not a surprise but every bit as wonderful. We ate at our card table turned bistro in the living room with music, flowers and candles, pasta and bread, wine, chocolate, strawberries and cool whip. I even put on a dress for our in home date!


Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day -- whenever/wherever/however you decided to celebrate it!

12 ON THE 12th: FEBRUARY

1 - This was a tough call today. Limeade from Sonic (which I really really wanted!) or McNuggets at McDonald's? Since it was lunch time McDonald's won and I got a milkshake instead. I might just find my way through the Sonic drive through tomorrow at "happy hour"...

2 - Lake Worth ... so fortunate that Texas has some water around!

3 - Monopoly with a 3 year old. We really just played with the money. I really wished I had that much.

4 - We got a GPS as a Christmas gift and it has been my lifesaver! I've started to get a good grasp on places I go a lot, but it's awesome for first time visits to places, especially in the dark.

5- Netflix = happy surprise in the mailbox

6 - Starting to reorganize all my sewing. During our downpour (it's starting to sound like exaggerated fishing, the magnitude of the water becomes larger each time I talk about it) everything got jumbled up and ended up in different places. I think I've found most of it, but every now and then a random piece of a project is found here or there.

7 - Picture taken by my new 3 year old friend.

8 - Wedding planning! I've got so much of the "big picture" planned and am excited to start working on all the little details. Mostly in list form since there's not a lot of space to store it all once I get working on them.

9 - The orange sunsets are gorgeous. Wish I had a better camera to capture them with.

10 - Dryer from the blanket to cozy up with on the couch.

11 - My Scentsy pot just adds to my cozy evening.

12 - And cozy evening would not be complete without something knit in progress. I really want to start another sweater but have so many other things I should work on first.

MY NEW TOY

I got this surprise in the mail yesterday! It belonged to my grandmother who doesn't use it too much so she sent it to me. It's not brand new, maybe 6-10 years? I'll have to take it in to see if it needs any repairs and track down the manual for it, but it will do a lot more than my little Singer does :)

The weather cleared up over the weekend, we got out and went to lunch at PF Changs. Both Monday and Tuesday we had school, but today is another snow day! We were supposed to have the last of the carpet repairs done today. I am so anxious to get our living and dining room set back up, right now it feels like a cave with how empty it is. Hopefully the snow doesn't delay anything and someone will be here soon to work on it.

LIVING ROOM CHALLENGE

(I've a lot of time on my hands today - still stuck at home)

How well do you know your favorite home stores? Can you tell where these living rooms came from? Can you rank them in their value?

Each has a sofa, chair, 2 pillows, bookcase/cabinet, side table, floor lamp, clock, vase, art, curtains and a rug. Good luck!


I will post the answers right here in a couple days ; )

Answers posted 2.9.11


Here is what I would put together between the four. Total $3631.85

What would you do?

IS THIS REAL LIFE?

Over the last couple days I feel like that kid in the youtube video on his way home from the dentist. I'm borrowing a few of his lines!

"Is this real life?"
Since Monday we have gone from getting super incredible news about Chad attending training (more on that later) to having my 4th day off I've had from work because of the snow in Texas to our apartment getting a little rainstorm. This is all crazy. I can't take it all in.

"I can't see anything"
Wednesday night at midnight the pipes in the building burst. The fire department came to turn off the water as well as the power to avoid any other craziness. From 12 - 3 we spent grabbing everything we could to avoid water damage and moving it to our room and having to clear everything else out later for the carpet repair guy to start sucking out all the water.

"AHHHHHHH"
I thought after 2 days of being stuck at home - even though I have the day off, the roads are covered in ice so going anywhere is not really an option - that I was doing okay, that surely things would get cleared up. With our big mess Wednesday night confining us to live out of the bedroom until it all gets cleaned up (or at least until all the fans are gone, they are so loud that I have to keep the door shut to hear myself think at all) I'm starting to lose my mind. I woke up this morning and couldn't even tell you it's Friday because it's all starting to blur together.

"I don't feel tired"
My sense of time is gone!

"I feel funny"
The only thing left to do is laugh at this all really. Laugh because we are happy with all the BNSF things working out. Laugh because we think it's silly that we can't remember having a snow day in either Montana or Alaska. Laugh because after everything was as cleaned up as could be in our apartment and finally getting to bed there is one last spot in our bedroom that decided to drip. We were watching the spot and placed a bowl to catch the water under it, but not until we closed our eyes that it started to "drip. .... drip. ..... drip.... drip..drip.. drip..drip.dripdripdripdrip". What else is there to do but laugh?

"Why is this happening to me??"
It's not anyone's fault (except for whoever decided it was a good idea to put up uninsulated pipes :S) that we've had this nightmare -- but still... why!?!?! It's one of those things that you don't ever imagine happening to you.

"Is this going to be forever?"
Our future hope is to someday be back up in Montana, or as close as we can get. We know that the start of Chad's career will be here, that our first home will be here and that our kids will probably be born here. And we're excited for it .. but I think we'll always be dreaming of when it is we'll get to head back north. I'm also ready to have the tiny apartment back. It will feel like we get to spread out, maybe I will appreciate it more ;) Plus, it will be super clean after repairs and reorganizing. I know that everything will be back to normal, but not Monday (so we've been told). But for right now it's only Friday morning and there's a couple more days of bedroom living. Hoping for the weather to warm up and the roads to clear so we're not stuck inside for it all.

"UGH!"
exactly ....

DO DA DIPPITY

This commercial makes me smile every time it comes on!

VALENTINE FUN

I found this fun idea on Lu Bird Baby and thought it was perfect for a little Valentine's Day gift for those kids in Montana that I miss so much! The little mailboxes are from Target's dollar section right (found them the beginning of January) and the rest is from Hobby Lobby - felt and velcro. I sewed little envelopes and put velcro for a closure. The envelope also has velcro on the front to change the stamp and "mailing label". There are letters to put in there, but it will be fun for the kids to write their own notes too!

WHO ARE THE SPICE GIRLS?

I've been doing some babysitting and it's always so funny to hear what kids have to say. Over the weekend I spent some time with a little girl in elementary school. We had an awesome time playing Just Dance on the Wii and took turns choosing the songs. Wanna Be by the Spice Girls was an option and I picked that one. Her response was "Who are the Spice Girls?" .... wow, I felt old. I remember listening to them in 6th grade on the bleachers by the school track at lunch time recess.

I also watched an almost 4 year old and during a cartoon she was watching a pajama jeans commercial came on. She asked what they were and I explained the best I could, they're pajama pants that look like jeans so you can be comfortable. She asked "but why do they call them pajama jeans?" and I asked her what she thought they should be called. She decided "just pajamas" and still seemed just as unsettled by what she saw as I was the first time I saw the commercial.

ONESIE MANIA

I've spent the last little while on the sewing machine working on onesies to have ready for either a bazaar or to set up my Etsy shop. There are about 40 done in sizes ranging from 3/6 months - 24 months with these designs. For close up pictures, visit SCD on Facebook.

I AM A SOCIAL REALIST

Social Realists are popular persons full of energy. They are reliable, well organized and helpful. Traditional values are important to them. Founding a family also plays a central role in their life. Social Realists have a marked social streak. They are always ready to listen to the worries and problems of others and spare no effort when they are asked for help. With empathy and understanding, they can sense what other people need. Social Realists are always willing to highly regard the strong points of the other person and to excuse that person’s weaknesses. They are the most sociable of all personality types. Social contacts are very important to them.

Social Realists find it very difficult to cope with conflicts and criticism - harmony is their elixir of life. Acknowledgment and esteem are very important to this type. Differentiation on the other hand is not necessarily one of their strong points. At work and in partnerships, they are loyal, committed and always there when needed. They find it easy to make friends due to their open, warm manner and they have a large circle of friends. In love, they are faithful and attentive and care for their partners with a great deal of imagination and sensitivity. Social Realists show their feelings openly and honestly. Should a relationship break up, they tend to blame themselves. That is why they find it very difficult to end a partnership even if it has not fulfilled their requirements for some time.

Social Realists are more conservative types. They have a set system of values and rules which is orientated to the prevailing traditions. They prefer clear, structured surroundings and work processes; they find too much change and unrest unpleasant. Their strong points are carefulness and reliability and not so much flexibility and spontaneity. Social Realists are open-minded towards anything new only to a limited extent. But, should one be looking for someone to fulfill a task reliably and exactly, they are the right persons.

Adjectives which describe your type: extroverted, practical, sentimental, planning, emotional, temperamental, energetic, tradition-conscious, loyal, helpful, devoted, reliable, caring, objective, thorough, organised, warm-hearted, open, friendly, sociable, chummy, obliging, self-sacrificing, public-spirited, sensitive, kind, demanding

Who Are You?? Find out at iPersonic

**Thanks to Alicia for sharing her personality type and what test she used!

AN OLD PROJECT: PERLER BEAD EARRINGS

Remember those awesome little beads you used to make the best little fridge magnets ever?! Maybe you just threw them onto the peg boards and didn't care ... or you (like myself) were super meticulous about creating the perfect pattern. They're called Perler Beads, and they are still super awesome.

It was quite awhile ago that I saw this idea on another blog. I'd really like to give the credit, so if you've ever stumbled across it anywhere, please let me know. They used Perler Beads to make earrings. Take 1 jumbo container of beads, a couple peg boards and some earring hooks and tada - fun earrings!

I made these with my friend Angie on some crafty afternoon. Still very particular about keeping things in some kind of pattern : )

WEEKEND MOMENT 1.23.2011

Or weekend dreaming perhaps....

We went over to Keller today to use our TGI Friday's gift card that I got from MyPoints (which you should totally sign up for! so easy!). There is a ton of stuff over there I was so happy to find -- Michael's, World Market, Pier 1 -- that's a lot closer than the other few I've found.

On our way home we had some time and drove through a few subdivisions. I am in love with this house. This picture doesn't even do it justice, it's pretty much perfect. Someday something like this will be ours ...

HOW NOT TO PUT AWAY LAUNDRY

I washed and then had this laundry pile on the bed with intentions to put it all away. It didn't happen and they've been on the floor for the last week. Finally got the energy to tackle it and make some sense of the closet - much better! (Except now the hamper is full of dirty clothes again from past week)

WEDDING INSPIRATION: HAIR PIECES

A little Etsy inspiration for my wedding hair piece. I have started collecting little things (buttons, different clips, netting, etc) to start playing around with. Thinking about doing smaller ones for the wedding party, like the little purple and blue ones (but in yellow or a gray). We'll see how it all comes together!

SPLURGE: $10 JEANS

Went window shopping at the mall over the weekend to get out of the tiny apartment and the Charlotte Russe there was closing down. The whole store was EMPTY except that they had racks of jeans for $10!! So happy that I found my size in a style I liked and even in a short length : ) Debated buying a second pair, but hoping to hit our gym now that things have quieted down a little with my crazy work schedule and be needed a new size sooner than later.