Which one?

So today, I was sitting at work sending an email to someone and started staring at my signature as it was being sent. While the email was whisked away to the recipient in email world, I realized that I really have no idea what my "new" signature is going to be like. I mean isn't this something that every girl compulsively doodles like 17,000 times while they are dating that person and then 25,000 times instantly after they get engaged? Obviously, I didn't do that (hmmm..I'm weird)....but since it's just popping in my head now as something I should probably think about since days keep passing until I'm going to have to have adopt the new last name of "Carter", I figured I'd give it a whirl. See above, for the 3 quick attempts on the scratch paper.

The one that says "current" is obviously my name as it is now: Brittany Bruns. But from the signature it clearly says "Brittany Br..........". Which is kind of how I like it. I don't really like attempting to spell my last name. Too time consuming--all 5 letters.

So attempt #1 at my new signature included a full out spelling of the new last name- except I made it too loopy and the "r" in Carter looks like an "n" which spells Canter- which is a weird name, and not correct. On to attempt #2- correctly spelled Carter in full. Too many full letters, so I was on to attempt #3. That is the one I liked- hence the smiley face. Just the "Ca....." which leaves you guessing, but takes exactly the same amount of time as Br..... did. So I'll take it. Guess it's ok to move on with the wedding now that I have decided on a signature! Sweet.

One year ago today....

Ok so 24 years ago today (around 11AM), I was born.....and here is my mom's comment on my facebook wall that cracks me up:










Barb Bruns


I remember driving pretty fast to get to TX Women's Hospital at 5am,secretly hoping you were a girl! (don't tell dad!). It sure was exciting! Happy Birthday! And many more! Love ya lots and excited about the next 24 years of your life!
about an hour ago · Comment · Like

Anyways, so it's my birthday. Why not use this day to reflect on how much my life has changed in only one year!! It's crazy and at the same time makes me so happy. So here it goes:

• One year ago today....I had not started work at Hallmark (today I went to KU to recruit people to work here!)
• One year ago today....Jimmy and I were just dating- now we're engaged with only 225 days to go until we tie the knot!
• One year ago today....I had only attended one friends wedding- this year the number is up to 5 friends married, with my best friend Vanessa left in 2009 and then next year on the calendar are 5 already (including ours!) So fun!!
• One year ago today....I celebrated my birthday with my friends at the Pat Green concert @ P&L. Fun stuff! Tonight = pitch tournament and party at our house
• One year ago today....Milly and Willy did not exist in my world!!! AH- to think that was even possible to live without them!!
• One year ago today...I lived downtown KC in a condo...we now own a home together with a huge backyard, in which my happiest time of the day is watching my dogs run around in it!
• One year ago today....we were leaving for a weekend in Oklahoma in the morning...tomorrow morning = tiling the bathroom shower (hmmm....thinking OK trip might have been more fun- right Lizard!!!??!)
• One year ago today....my sister was a sophomore in college- now she's growing up and is a junior with only months away until she's 21!! Wahoo!!!
• One year ago today...I had no idea what the next year of my life would bring as I was starting a new chapter. But I'm so happy that I made the switch to work at Hallmark and all the other things that changed and happened in my life throughout the course of the last year. I couldn't be more thankful for the wonderful friends, family, co-workers, animals, and people in my life because they are fantastic and make me so happy!!! My mom said it best in her facebook post....here's to 24 more wonderful years :)

Willy's hurt

So that means making an appointment at the vet is on the top of my list of to-dos today and I just called and they don't have anything until tomorrow afternoon at 3:45PM, so I'm dying!!! We think something is wrong with his left arm. It's just horrible and makes me feel so helpless when I hear him whince and whine. It's not continuous at all, it's just when you touch him in the right spot. It started last night and then this morning when the dogs were all eating breakfast I laid him down on his favorite rug in the kitchen and poked him all over to see when/where he was hurting. I couldn't find the spot, so I put him back in bed and when I left told Jimmy to try and find it. He sent me a text this morning saying that he thinks it's his left front arm that is sore- but only why you lift it up because he runs ok...he just doesn't want to go up the stairs or jump. Poor guy. Hopefully we can get it figured out and get him feeling better tomorrow afternoon. I want him to be the life of the party on Friday night!!! In the mean time, we'll have to be extra careful tonight and not let him run/jump/dance like he normally does.

This is just another lesson in my mind on what it is like to have kids. It literally breaks my heart every time I heard him whince last night and this morning. I just wish he could tell me what is wrong and we could go get it fixed right away. I cannot even imagine the way I'm going to feel when my child, when they are little and can't talk, gets sick or hurt. If the feeling of helplessness isn't enough- it's worse just thinking that this dog/kid that you love so much is in pain and you would do anything to take it away. I wouldn't peg myself as someone with "motherly instincts" like some people that I know who I feel like can pick up any baby and know exactly what to do to make them smile/stop crying/giggle, etc. But it's when I get these feelings like this for my dogs- I can't imagine what it's going to feel like with a child!!!

Hopefully the appointment goes well tomorrow- this will be the first time he visits the vet alone (without Milly- his trusty wife- by his side), so hopefully we'll get it fixed and he'll be back to new by the weekend! That would be the best birthday present ever!!! Here are some pictures of the cutest little chunky weiner dog ever :)

Willy and Milly basking in the sun in their grandparents backyard!

Jimmy and Willy working out.



Willy needs to stay warm AND be stylish in the winter too.

At aunt Susan's house, loving the Colorado weather!

**************************UPDATE ON WILLY****************

Got home from work yesterday afternoon. Willy was just fine. Sneaky little guy. Not sure if he was faking his pain the whole time to get some extra attention, but it turns out the little guy is no longer in pain- so I guess that's good. I also got to cancel the appt at the vet..so more $$ still in my pocket and some time to get ready for the bday bash tonight!!! So pretty much I just announced to the blog world that Willy can be a big fat liar!!!!

On this Wednesday

Here are some random things I thought you might want to know:

Jeans day at work! Wahoo!

My birthday is in 2 days!

The new dining room chandelier is installed....however, it doesn't turn on. Odd.

I ate a QT hot dog for dinner last night. Not sure why.

Found my Hallmark badge, after it was missing for a week. Where did I find it? In a muck of leaves in the small crevice behind the back step that sunk in the ground.

Hillary and I received our first official "Carter family" email. Didn't have to be forwarded to us by Bobby or Jimmy! This is a BIG STEP.

Willy told me last night he doesn't want to wear a neck tie at our wedding. WTF. Why not?

I yelled at Jimmy last night and accused him of being the reason I messed up the guest room door knob installation. SO not his fault. Oops.

We now have hostas on the east side of our house and Iris on the west side. Green thumb?? No, that would be the work of Jimmy's mom and grandma :)

I realized yesterday after 3 months of living in our house- I can only see the top 1/4 of myself in the bathroom mirror. Now that doesn't make sense.

Why don't any of the "extras" on my vacuums work? Is that supposed to be an indicator to me that the crevices in my house don't need to be cleaned?

I know the days are getting shorter and summer is coming to an end. In the morning on the way to work, my Garmin is in "night" color mode. Sad.

Shrimp + pasta + red sauce, does not take good in my opinion. I'm more of a shrimp + pasta + white sauce kind of girl.

Once a week I like to go back and re-read one old facebook message that Jimmy and I traded 4 years ago. Cracks me up every time. Love him, love us.

Lauren is a great roommate. She does nothing sometimes and I laugh.

Random reply-all emails any day of the week with friends make me REALLY happy.

Treat days at work, probably make my entire week. Best part....we have TWO this week. Can you say double happiness?

That's it. Happy Wednesday. Or happy hump day as some people say. But I don't really say that ever.

Power tool fun

I have quickly come to realize in all of our home projects how much fun using power tools really is. When Jimmy went out and bought a new cordless drill, I have to admit I gave him a lot of grief for it because he said it was a "need" while I classified it as a "guy want". However, this drill has become my new best friend :)

My newest small home project that Brittany can start and finish is replacing all the shiny gold door handles in our house. I hate gold. So, I found some brushed nickel handles that I like and figured this would be a great project that I can do! I started Sunday night in the hall linen closet and quickly figured out that this was not as easy as I thought- because (of course) when our door handles were installed, instead of drilling a big hole for the entire handle, the person just drilled three holes exactly where the doorknob they were installing can fit. Since those doorknobs are now like 50 years old, it makes sense that the newer sleeker doorknobs that I purchased from Home Depot (still my store of choice and I'm a daily visitor) don't fit those three holes. I was frustrated but after reviewing the pictures on the instructions one more time...I quickly realized that I was going to have to drill the large hole myself. And I was not quite sure how that was going to happen but I figured I would just go explore the tool aisle at Home Depot and hoped that I'd just magically figure it out.

Monday after work I stopped by the Home Depot in my old stomping ground---31st and Linwood. Not the biggest fan of this store, but it's on the way home so as long as it's a quick stop then I'm ok with it. On the list: light fixtures, 2 doorknobs (one with a lock to try), and something to install them. I quickly pick up the first 2 things and then make my way over to the tool aisle.

*************
Sidenote: I have this theory of women and Home Depot/hardware stores. No matter who you are, these places are overwhelming unless you are a full time contractor. They are so big with so many things and SO many options. Every store usually has the same inventory but in some different floor plan, so if you don't frequent the same one regularly, that confidence you built about entering in the store and looking like you know what you want/where you are going is immediately lost upon entering a different location. Anyways....my theory is that you have to make every attempt to look like you know what you are doing. Even if you are a woman in dress clothes and heels :) So I try that. I literally take deep breaths upon entering and psych myself up. And it works- you should try it. Just research what you think you need, have some brands/special "key" words ready- and when the associate asks you if they can help you....spit those out and they will immediately look at you with a reassuring eye, like you semi-know what you are talking about and you are not here to get the most expensive thing just because they recommend it, because you did before hand research. I always do. Back to the real story now.
**************

As I approach the tool aisle, I have my words ready. "I am installing door knobs. I need a large drill bit to drill a large hole in all my doors." So as I am browsing the section, almost in shock there are this many options- who knew?- a man approaches to see if I need help. I sputter out the "words"...and add "for MY drill". He looks at me (he has on a Black and Decker shirt) and starts telling me about this great doorknob installation kit, which sounds like just the thing I need (made by Black and Decker of course). I am intrigued. When he shows it to me, my face lights up because it sounds like just the thing I need!! I quickly grab one, thank him, and walk away to pay.

On my drive home, I am just thinking in my head that I should have bought my doorknobs because I'm just going to blow through installing these with my new fun kit!! I could probably get all of them installed before I have to leave for bootcamp at 5:45. I have high ambitions always!

So when I get home, I quickly change and get to work. This is the part I wish I had on video. I mean the kit comes with instructions, a clamp, 2 wood saws that are round and big- one to drill for the knob and one to drill for the hole on the side, something to connect it to your drill (obviously) and then something else that I can't think of the name right now that your wedge in stuff. Simple right? The problem is...the instructions completely skip the part on how to attach the saw to the drill to make it work. WTF!! Like I know the basics of how it should attach drill bits, but this thing is huge and complicated. So I resort to the Internet to look for a video on how to do it. No success. Back to the hallway floor to play some more. After 5 more minutes, I finally figure out how to securely attach it and I'm on my way. I clamp the clamp on the door and start drilling. Hm- not as easy as it looks to drill a circle through a wood door. I quickly reevaluate and realize that is because the drill is going "backwards" instead of "forwards"--something Jimmy taught me how to switch back and forth last night....but after going out of the circle a few times forwards, I finally am on my way and before I know it I'm halfway through the door!! Wahoo!!! I was SO excited and I was even more stoked when the hole went all the way through! Check out the drill, powerful/huge circle wood saw, and if you look close you can even see the wood in it that I drilled out!



Ah- a sweet victory. Now I can just plow through the whole house!

Sweet bliss with my new toy :) And a great shot of the wood I destroyed with my brute strength!

I love power tools.

Willy + ceiling popcorn = bad things

Last night, I returned home from Jamie and Adam Smith's house for a little get together celebrating Jamie's birthday around 9PM. I pulled into the driveway just in time to admire a freshly mowed lawn and a complete brick walkway, courtesy of Jimmy and my dad. I walked in the house to find Ivan and friend almost finished popcorning the ceiling in the man cave and 2 new housewarming presents courtesy of my realtor, with my dad and Jimmy in the kitchen. I was in heaven. Projects were coming to an end (well the backyard hasn't started- but that's another story!), it was a beautiful night, and I was ready for bed!! Life was great- especially because I would wake up and it'd be Friday!

So after everyone who wasn't sleeping over left, Willy, Milly, and I hopped into bed early while Toby and Jimmy were on the computer. I fall asleep instantly, but wake up around 11 when Jimmy is opening the door to see that Willy is on the floor and has thrown up all his dinner on the carpet. It was really gross, but I just felt so bad for the poor guy because he was shaking and I think no matter what species you are- it sucks to throw up!! Don't worry I didn't take pictures of the throw up! So I get out of bed, console Willy, get some paper towels and Spot Shot- which we now go through about 2/week- and clean up the mess and throw Willy back in bed trying to make him stop shaking. So fifteen or twenty minutes later, Jimmy comes in the room and lifts up the covers on his side of the bed only to find that Willy has thrown up again- inside the sheets. As he goes to get paper towels and tosses Willy on my side of the bed, Willy then proceeds to throw up on top of the comforter. Now he has basically thrown up on every possible surface in our bedroom. As Jimmy is wiping it up and taking off the sheets- I think realize that I don't have an extra set of sheets. HM. That's smart. In my half-asleep state I go in the linen closet to look for something to lay on or cover up with, find my down comforter, grab it and throw it on the bed, and hop in- just on top of the mattress. It's pillow top, so not that bad, but still weird with no sheets.

At this point we are both laying in bed, with Milly in the bed and Willy on the floor- because we don't want him throw up on the mattress and figure we can clean the floor. Jimmy suggested putting him in his kennel- but if/when he decided to toss his cookies in the kennel, that would mean I would have to clean the kennel first thing tomorrow morning- which I wasn't looking forward to. The floor it was for Willy. But apparently he did not like that decision and needed someone right next to him to comfort him (poor guy) because he was just standing by the bed whining. That's when Jimmy decided that he was going to just sleep on the floor with Willy to make him feel better. What a nice guy and dedicated dog-dad!! I was so happy- but of course instantly went back to sleep (hoping this wasn't a small indicator of what having a baby is like). Jimmy pulled off the guest room comforter to lay on the floor, plopped his pillows down, and snuggled up with Chunko (aka Willy).

I didn't wake up again until 4:30- only 30 minutes before my alarm goes off (which when that happens I get so mad for some reason) and turned on the lamp and woke Jimmy up to see if Willy had puked anymore. Yes, he did 2 more times, but on the comforter. Oh well that's dandy. Lots of fun laundry for me! But he said he didn't think he had in the last 2 hours so I told him just to get back in bed with Willy because by now he should be ok and we (meaning me and all the dogs) are getting up soon anyways. So that takes place and 30 minutes later we are up and take the morning potty and have breakfast. I was pretty tired- but I wasn't sure about Willy still. But when he knocked Milly out of the way to eat some of her food- I figured it was just a bug and he'd live. But poor Jimmy. Then I go to work and live life.

I'm pretty sure that the ceiling popcorn was the culprit for Willy's stomach ache. Because it was everywhere- inside and out- last night and he probably ate it because he eats everything because he's chunky. It didn't occur to me that might have been the reason until I saw what the vacuum cleaner was filled with this morning. I'm thinking Willy ate popcorn thinking it was food/snack/something to make him un-starving, but it did not agree with his other food. What do you think?



Here is a picture of Jimmy on the floor. Poor guy. But what a nice dog-dad!!

Actually.....this is hilarious. I was talking to Jimmy about the whole night earlier and here is what he has to say (I know how much everyone liked the last g-chat I posted, get ready this is funny!) I bolded the best part of it:

Jimmy: my back is so sore!
and imsoooo tired

me: me too

Jimmy: Chunko kept me up all night

me: hahah i know

Jimmy: I kept waking up terrified thinking I was going to get puked on
like every time he moved I woke up in fear
then toby started punching me for invading his space on the floor
and then my ass would fall asleep and then Id get scared again about roling over into his puke pile he already made
It was like sleeping on a plank

me: oh :( well you are a good dog-dad!
he appreciates it! and will love you forever!

Jimmy: haha i know
I hope you and milly enjoyed the queen comfy bed!

me: we did :)

Jimmy: hahaha

I'm pretty sure that second to last comment of his was sarcastic- but Milly and I enjoyed our time together, so you know oh well!

Let me tell you, there is never a dull moment in this house thanks to these 3 crazy dogs. But they are just so cute you cannot help but love them.

Bathroom and Ceiling: update!

Here was what the guest bathroom looked like (yes the ONLY fully functioning full bath in our house currently) on Monday before I left to go work out. Apparently they figured out that the leak was coming from here that was trickling down to the ceiling, in which I had taped up the Glad container to catch it. When they were working on the master bath, they did stuff to the plumbing on this bath and had to take some tiles off and then put them back on. Well they didn't do an official re-tiling, but just put them back on an grouted....instead of mortar and grout (don't you love how my home improvement vocabulary just increases post by post!?). That lead to a small hole in which the water was leaking down to the man-cave ceiling. After this was determined on Monday night, Ivan suggested taking off the tile and fixing it. I was very hesitant because obviously Lauren and I need to shower somewhere!!!



But this was finally what the finished product looked like after they: tore all the tile around the faucet, cut out the rotting sheetrock, put in brand new greenboard sheetrock (mold resistant), slapped some mortar on, cut some tiles (obviously some of the blue tiles were in pretty bad shape---therefore we had to resort to the leftover white tiles the previous owner left, for now), set the tiles, put in some grout, and let it dry!! We did have to go about 3 days with a trashbag duct taped on top of the faucet so the mortar/grout could dry- but we lived. And now hopefully we will be leak free with non-rotting sheetrock behind the tile!! Wahoo!!

Next onto, the ceiling...remember this hole?? When Jimmy fell through the ceiling?? Well.....after days of waiting (and the workers finally magically reappeared after an unexplained three day absence)....

Ta-da!! It's fixed. So that makes me very happy!! New popcorn and all (which made a huge mess, but oh well!)

However....the joy of the ceiling being fixed with popcorn couldn't last too long right? :) A post to come about our late night events. So fun!!

New name transition: Step 1

From my friends that recently got married, I have heard the nightmares of changing your last name and all the steps you have to go through and what a pain in the butt it is. Haha....one of my friends, Mrs Emily Griffin even got a credit card in the mail with her new name spelled "Grissis" (check out her hilarious blog!). So it seems to be something that I am dreading!

Anyways, this is what I got as an early birthday present from Jimmy. Apparently Milly and Willy are now well on their way to changing their last names....they don't even think they have to wait until April :) But how nice do their new names sound? (Not that they will notice because I call them 75,000 different names anyways. Ask Lauren- she will confirm their daily confusion). But it seems as though we are on the right step to becoming Carters!

Cutie pies

Sometimes you just need a picture post. So here you go...

All of the dogs aka kids. Behaving themselves (for now)

Hi Milly! I love when her ears are perked!

Willy has been working on his abs....

Toby in his favorite spot...waiting for Jimmy to come home!

Headed to wedding #5 of the year. One more to go- Vanessa & Chris!!

(Photo courtesy of: Danny Kanatzar)

Something positive!!

Enough of all that BLAH and negative posts right? No explanation needed for these before and afters :)

Front of house: May 22, 2009

Front of house: August 17, 2009




Walkway: May 22, 2009

Front of Walkway: May 22, 2009

Front of walkway: August 17, 2009

New flower beds, retaining wall, and brick walkway- no bushes!!

Side of Walkway: August 17, 2009

And there you have it! In 3 months, the front of the house is almost complete!! Including a new spiffy garage door too! I have to say- pictures like these make me smile and forget about the bathroom drama- almost...

How many times....

...do you really think in one weekend (yes, just one) do you think that a DIY-ing couple can think that their bathroom remodel projects is ALMOST completed- but just to be slapped in the face with something else that goes terribly wrong?

If you guess 3....ding ding...you win. Needless to say, this weekend was a big discouraging on the bathroom front. A quick summary:

Friday night:

• Jimmy finds these amazing 2 guys to finish mudding our sheet rock in the bathroom and replace the ceiling in the mancave that he fell through (don't remember that? Check here: http://justanotherdayinparadise1.blogspot.com/2009/07/and-we-have-hole.html) for only $300....1/2 the price of the other 3 estimates or so.
• We are SO excited. They will be @ our house at 7AM sharp

INSTANCE ONE: Jimmy and I are so excited at how much progress the weekend will bring!

(then we go to his cousin's wedding reception...and Hillary, there will be a post for you on that!)

Saturday:

• 7AM comes and goes- we are starting to question if this is really going to happen
• 8:30AM they arrive and I am forced out of bed
• They do an awesome job and work really fast on the bathroom--everyone is impressed
• In the meantime, Roger is working on the brick walkway, I am helping out (well I am the project manager and brick carrier), Jimmy goes to rent the original stump cutter---and gets ALL 11 stumps out. WOW that's my muscle man -haha
• They take an hour and a half lunch---but the bathroom is done, just needs to dry before sanding and they have cut out the entire area of the ceiling to replace

INSTANCE TWO: Jimmy and I are so excited. Could it be true? Our bathroom is read to paint, the ceiling is up, and the next thing left is to install the vanity and toilet!!? Wahoo!

• The workers come back, while Jimmy and I are returning the original stump machine to Home Depot
• My dad calls to tell us the bad news: they found a leak in some plumbing and they don't want to finish the sheet rock because it will be ruined because it'll get wet. I am speechless. Jimmy punches the car (and his pinkie knuckle now broken/injured---don't think I didn't notice you icing it last night Jimmy--I'm not oblivious)
• We call Evan immediately to see if he can come over to fix the plumbing...because the guys charge by day, so if they have to come back it will be more $$
• He can't come--but luckily he can on Sunday!
• They sand the bathroom and leave
• The walkway is almost done- just the final section left
• Jimmy and I get ready and go to Molly and Taylor's engagement party (of course with another trip to Home Depot squeezed in)

Sunday:

• Ivan and his buddy come over at 8AM to sand the bathroom again, but the mudding stuff isn't dry enough
• Evan comes over mid-after, looks at the leak, fixes it like the rock-star plumber he is, and we test the shower! Yeah! It doesn't leak :)

INSTANCE 3: We are SO happy! The workers will be back tomorrow after work and now that the leak is fixed, they can finish the ceiling too! We are that much closer to a finished bathroom remodel

• Lauren, Jimmy, and I sit down for our Sunday night movie (now becoming a ritual): BTK. It was weird and scary. Then Jimmy goes upstairs to take a shower...
• I walk downstairs to marvel at the non-leaking pipes. To my absolute dismay....yes you guessed it....there was a leak. But coming from a new spot this time. Are you kidding me? I almost break down in tears- but at this point, I realized I was actually expecting it. Is that a bad attitude?
• Jimmy comes downstairs and says he can't believe it and that he "hates this house". He then storms upstairs and goes to bed. Let me remind you folks, Jimmy RARELY loses his temper or gets that upset
• I get a Glad container and duct tape and make a makeshift bucket to catch the drippage. I'm so creative.
  

So there you have it. Our roller coaster weekend. While I am writing this at 5:30 PM - the workers are in the next room finishing sanding and vacuuming (they are excellent @ cleaning up the messes!) and Evan is on his way. From listening to their discussions- I think they found the problem. When my dad, Jimmy, and Evan repaired the valves in Lauren's shower--they didn't secure the tile on, so it's leaking through that. I think they are planning to take it off and re-tile? Who knows! Our house seems to be like a revolving door of handymen. Will it ever end??

The master bathroom is in it's final stages...but I am thinking it would be the best birthday present ever to have the ceiling done by my birthday and the vanity and toilet installed in the master bath. Ambitious goal? Maybe....but after what we have dealt with the last 3 months of owning and DIY-ing the renovations....anything is possible!!

If these walls could talk...

No, this isn't a "let's reminisce about good old times @ 1819 Todd" Pi Phi post. However, I might need one of those soon. This is talking about what happened in my own house yesterday afternoon. I can only imagine this is what the walls would say if they could talk:

*****************************************
"Brittany arrived home from work yesterday a little later than usual, but the all the dogs- Toby, Milly, and Willy- had been out of their kennel all day because Brittany's dad was working on the brick pathway so he was letting them in and out every once and awhile. When she came inside, she started her usual routine: walk in the door, love/hug/kiss the dogs, let them outside, feed them, get a snack while they are eating. The snack she chose yesterday was 1/2 a blueberry bagel and some honey almond cream cheese- left over from the Sunday morning bagel box she picked up for everyone at Einstein Brothers. She only took half (probably bc she was getting ready to go to bootcamp). She toasted it, shmeared it, and ate it. Then decided that she wasn't full and needed those extra carbs to get her through bootcamp, so took the other 1/2 out, popped it in the toaster and ran upstairs to change and go to the bathroom since all the dogs were through eating.

Little did she know she was going to walk up the stairs and find mud all over the carpet in the hallway and in the guest room and on the guest room bedding. I knew right away she would be pissed...but I saw Toby's dirty feet stomp all over it earlier today and there was no stopping him. And yep, I guess right...she was pissed. So of course she yelled at Toby while continuing to walk to her room. She changed quick and it seemed like she really had to go to the bathroom because she hurried in and closed the door to relieve herself.

Meanwhile, downstairs in the kitchen....Toby had saw right away that Brittany left the 3/4 full honey almond container of cream cheese close to the edge of the kitchen counter. So Toby being Toby just hopped up there and knocked it off the counter and started eating it. Willy ran in the kitchen immediately because he heard Toby eating something and had to check it out- he obviously wanted a piece of the action. Well, as you well know when there is 1 thing that 2 dogs want- it's never pretty. Some growling started, biting, snarling, movement of the cream cheese container from the kitchen floor to the dining room floor (I seemed to have missed how that happened), cream cheese on noses, fur, teeth, necks, etc. It was pretty loud! Next thing I know....Brittany is running down the stairs in her underwear (haha- obviously she stopped mid going to the bathroom due to the snarling) screaming and flailing her arms, yelling @ both Willy and Toby. When she gets to the dining room- the cream cheese is all gone from the container, it's all over both their snouts and necks. She is NOT happy. They both get spanked and told "NO"---even though it was really her fault for leaving it out in the first place, but people always blame this stuff on dogs. She is really mad, throws the second 1/2 of the bagel she was planning on eating in the trash and goes back upstairs.

Toby stares at Willy, then Willy stares back. No winner was determined but at least they both got some cream cheese.

Brittany then starts using Spot Shot to clean all the mud spots on the carpet. Then she calls Jimmy (her poor fiance) to yell @ him to blame him for leaving the dogs out during the day- even though it really wasn't his fault- and tell him how angry she is and how annoying and bad the dogs were. She has it on speaker (while she's scrubbing) and Jimmy says that he will clean it up and just leave it. But she says "NO" and hangs up. Five minutes later he comes in the door to find Brittany scrubbing the carpet still. He just looks at her and starts laughing and she does too, because I'm pretty sure she realizes how ridiculous she was being. Thank goodness he's marrying her- she needs someone that can put up with that stuff she pulls every so often.

Willy and Toby are still walking around the dining room/kitchen, sulking because they were in trouble. But when Jimmy walks in, Toby forgets instantly about the incident. Willy still feels bad and is thinking of a way to make it up to Brittany--however, he figures that he will have to get a bath tonight so he doesn't feel that bad. Milly is hiding in the man cave...scared and wanting to remove herself from the situation. This family is crazy!!!"
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What an afternoon, overall : glad Jimmy is marrying me even though I throw ridiculous fits, glad we have a carpet shampooer handy, sad that the honey almond cream cheese is no longer in the fridge, but glad I can sit back and laugh and realize how hysterical the whole situation was. I can't even imagine life with 3 kids!!

Squirrels, crazy squirrels

Sunday afternoon, Jimmy and I were sitting outside in the front pretty much watching my dad piece together the brick steps for the walkway in the front (I'll put up pics of that in it's completed state- it's AWESOME-- in the next few days. Roger's personal deadline to complete is this afternoon, but I'm thinking the rain might have put a damper (literally-haha) on that plan)....and all of a sudden Jimmy yells "HEY- what the heck is going on? Someone is throwing sticks at me from the tree". I laugh, of course, thinking he's crazy but it's pretty funny that stuff keeps falling on him. He, of course, thinks that I am throwing stuff at him---but I am quick to remind him that my arms aren't 12 ft long and there is no way I could throw something that far at him to land at that angle---you know, what you learned in high school geometry or physics!!


So we sit there a while longer (still watching my dad. Don't think we are lazy- I promise he's just like SUPER particular on having everything PERFECT. So pretty much if we tried to help him lay the bricks- anything besides hand them to him (which I did!), he would just re-do it. So let him be, right?), and now acorns start to fall and hit him....pretty amusing. Then one hits me (not so funny)...and when I pick it up the acorn is hollowed out. We figure out that there is a squirrel sitting up in the tree eating out the middle of the acorns and throwing them at us. Freaking hilarious. Next we just sit there peering and squinting up into the huge tree to try to see him, because that would be awesome---but of course we don't. The acorns continue to fall and then Lauren comes out to see. I'm not sure if it really was that funny/amusing or we were all just tired and worn out from the weekend. But all I could imagine in my head was some "evil" squirrel just sitting up in the tree, noshing on acorns and laughing as he tossed them down to hit us. I can only hope that is what goes on in my trees!!

Do you know how to work a grill?

One of the things that Jimmy was most excited about when moving into our house was getting a grill and having the option to grill everything whenever he wanted to (now he's onto wanting a smoker, which I am ok with as long as he makes yummy meat for me!). So now that we have a gas grill and it's pretty easy to use, I wanted to learn. This Saturday I took a shot at grilling for my first time- something easy...hot dogs!! I grabbed some at the store to make for lunch on Saturday for my dad and Jimmy during our break from working on the house. I don't think I need to explain how that experiment turned out.....


I just walked away from the grill for like 5 minutes or so!!! I went to sweep the front porch. WTF- who knew hot dogs didn't take that long to cook?

So I tried again- and they turned out a little undercooked. What the heck is wrong with me? And I did find out that no matter how bad of food that I make (burn, undercook, etc.) Jimmy will always say he likes it. Haha he and my dad both were like- oh yeah, we like really done hot dogs---trying to make me feel better. They are so nice :) Even though I know they are lying because these were literally burnt to a crisp..don't think hot dogs should look like that!

Here's a shot of both the hot dog disasters....and one of my little hot dogs herself (Miss Milly Mae) decided to jump in the shot too!! She's so cute.

Anyways- I need some grilling lessons ASAP.

Testing of patience

So here's the typical story that I thought everyone lived who buys a house:
1- Buy the house and get so excited when you move in!
2- Do some simple cosmetic work (i.e. painting, rearranging furniture, adding some blinds/curtains)
3- BOOM...your house is now "your home"


WELL...I think Jimmy and I figured that our story would vary a little bit from the above simplistic version because when we bought our house we definitely had some big projects in mind. However, every day (now 75 days after we officially became homeowners together) is a small test of my patience. Now if you know me well, you know that patience is not something that i tend to have an abundance of. But I'm working on it.....ahem...trying to work on it :)
For my own sanity, I am first going to start a list of the things/project we have COMPLETED in our house in the first 75 days (more as a reassurance that something has been completed):

1- Painted 6 rooms- LR, FR, DR, Kitchen, Guest bath, 1/2 bath, Guest room, Lauren's room, and master bedroom
2- Ripped down wall paper in the kitchen, guest bath, and 1/2 bath
3- All furniture in and arranged to my liking (and Jimmy's of course!)
4- New snazzy front porch addition!
5- All railroad ties anywhere on our property---trashed (front and back!)
6- Retaining wall completed in the front
7- Bushes in the front and side of the house that looked horrible were all removed
8- New garage door!
9- New hardware on the kitchen cabinets, built ins in the LR, and Guest bath
10- New 6ft fence on the east side of the house that looks awesome!


Ok so here's why my blood pressure might start to go up- the list of IN PROGRESS. Luckily I am sitting alone right now and not near you! Just kidding...but really Jimmy can attest to my craziness @ times.
1- Back yard mud- everywhere there used to be railroad ties is still mud, including the steps and right in front of the door---i.e. every time the dogs go outside they get muddy
2- Front walkway. With railroad ties and broken concrete previously occupying the walkway from the driveway to the front door, there is still nothing there.
3- *Da da duh* (that was supposed to be like a trumpet sound when a prince is announced)---THE MASTER BATHROOM. This "little" project has turned out to be a rather large, long one. Couldn't have guessed that right? :) But it's coming along quite well, even with my impatience. Evan has been a ton of help as our designated plumber and Jimmy has had his fair share of replacing insulation---enough that I'm positive he will not volunteer for anything like this again. Everything major in starting to come together- bought a vanity that we like and made the final decision on the tile last night. I have been bad at making decisions on the fixtures and tile in there!! Not sure what my problem is, but I'm kind of thankful for the extra time it has taken because I needed the extra time to shop and design :)


Here are some future projects to come as well (depending on what is left of our stimulus money and where we go on our honeymoon):
1- new granite countertops and sink in the kitchen!
2- new kitchen wood floors!
3- new plush, comfy carpet in the man-cave (we need to figure out how to not get so much MUD in there from outside!)
4- re-paint the patio furniture we inherited
5- In the WAAAAAAAYYYY future (like maybe next summer or longer- haha)- redo the guest bathroom


I think that's it. I have barely mumbled the last one to Jimmy and I thought he was going to kill me with his stare, hence the multiple A's in the "WAY" above.
OK- so yeah. Yeah for owning a home. Yeah for being impatient. Yeah for spending all our money on this!!! But most of all, yeah for finding a house to make our home, just the way we like it for the upcoming newest Carter family :) (It is fun and really exciting- if you take out all the yucky stuff).