Fun pictures!!

So we got our full set of engagement pictures via DVD in the mail yesterday :)  That meant last night I spent 1/2 of my evening staring at the computer of the different ones and picking out the few that I like of Jimmy and I....after much personal criticism.  BUT my favorite part were the pictures of the dogs they took.  We are using them for our save the dates (don't worry I'm not competely spoiling it)....but here are just some shots they got.  How freaking cute are our dogs?  I know everyone's biased about their own....so here's my post in which I will rant and rave at how cute they are. 

This one of Milly- I'm in love with.  Look at how small and cute she is!!!  And the one with Milly and Willy is adorable!

Toby's tounge cracks me up!  Willy is staring on from the distance thinking, "what is this crazy dog going to do next?" :)

Then here are a few more that weren't on the blog that we liked of us!  I just hope we are more photogenic on our wedding day :)  We look much better in pictures when acting natural.  Hence the one on the stairs in that we are cracking up at the fact that there is a homeless person sleeping underneath the stairs....but we are still taking pictures!!

Your answer was.......

We took a 150 question multiple choice test in May about getting married.  Last Thursday, we had our first meeting with the priest that is marrying us and we went over the questions.

Priest: Now, let's talk about this question.  You, Brittany, agreed to the following statement: My future spouse (Jimmy) thinks that I don't listen to him.  So you are aware that you don't listen to him?

Brittany: Yes, I am aware.  I do listen to him when we talk about important things.  But half the stuff that Jimmy says is pointless and he just says it to annoy me.

Priest now has a confused look

Brittany: Let me elaborate. Today, I was really swamped at work and wasn't responding very quickly to any of Jimmy's emails.  He sent me multiple emails with pictures of weiner dog puppies and wrote me over and over again how he wants to get a 4th dog.  We already have 3 dogs and we're not getting another one.  He knows that.  Therefore, it's pointless to do that unless he's just trying to annoy me.  Hence, I choose not to listen.

Jimmy (smiling): Yes, that's true.  Haha.

Priest (laughing at this point): But she listens to the important things you have to say and particpates in discussions that you all need to have?

Jimmy: Yes, of course. 

Brittany: But you can now understand why I don't listen to half the things he says.  And we are both aware of this arrangement and are ok with it.

Priest (smiling): Whatever works for you two best!


Cheers to a happy and communicative marriage :)  Like he said, whatever works for us!!  I can't wait for more of these meetings and classes.  They are fun!

You won't let me poop on the floor!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes, that may seem like an odd title to post, but then again you are reading a blog this is written by me, so not sure what you expect.  However, that title does have some meaning to it.  I don't even know if Jamie or Liz read my blog regularly--but if they do, I'm sure they will get a good laugh out of the title.  Just a side note to explain, then the real post.  Sophomore year, first semester living in Pi Phi, Jamie, Liz, and I were rommates.  For some reason, one night we thought it would be funny to start yelling and get in a fake fight to see if other people would hear us and start freaking out that we were yelling.  So we start yelling stupid stuff like-- "you never clean the room", "you use my computer" (I won't go into detail about that one Jamie- as she is still bitter!!), and for some odd reason I yell out "you won't let me poop in the room".  Now I have no idea sometimes what is going to come out of my mouth and why....that is a perfect example.  Liz was like "WTF mate?" and we all started laughing.  End of story.  Maybe it was one of those "you had to be there" stories?  Maybe not.

ANYWAYS, fast forward 4 years to the present time.  I had a stomach ache on Wednesday night from eating cookie dough (from the pumplin cookies) so I walk up the stairs to the to the medicine/random crap closet next to Lauren's bathroom to get some TUMS.  As I'm walking up the stairs, I start smelling poop.  I was like- man maybe Lauren just stunk up her bathroom?  Haha, sorry Lauren.  But I really did think that, then I was like no, I bet one of my dogs decided it was a good idea to poop upstairs instead of outside.  I dont' turn on the light in the hallway, but just in Lauren's bathroom so I can see inside the closet.  I get a few TUMS, start chewing and then head to the guest room on the hunt for the poop.

Then I suddenly realize that the smell is following me.  I flip on the hall light, look down, and see a huge thing of poop on the bottom of my slippers that I have now trailed onto the hallway carpet.

Well that's awesome.  Off my slipper goes, I start to scrape off the poop, pick up the remains to flush, spot shot the carpet stains, gag several times while on the phone with Jimmy to make sure he knows how sick this is and what he's missing, and then start scrubbing the carpet.  I realize at that moment how happy I am that we do not have carpet all over our house.  We at least have 1/2 a floor with hardwoods.  Our carpet is SO dirty now and needs to be cleaned, but as I was on my knees scrubbing it I realized I'm going to do everything in my power not to get new carpet.  Simply because it will just get really dirty again.  I was so angry.

Then, last night as I was on the phone with Emily and the dogs were outside....all of a sudden Toby pushes open the back door and streaks through the house because he heard Jimmy's car door slam and he's obsessed with Jimmy in a sick way.  I try to catch him to wipe his paws off before he hits the carpet, but it's too late.  Again, for the 2nd night in a row I find myself using the Spot Shot and scrubbing the carpet.  Really?  Is this what my nights are going to entail when we are married??  Needless to say, Jimmy's plea via email that took place yesterday for us to get another dog....did not even need to be addressed in person.  I think it's safe to say by the look on my face-he realized that will not be happening.  Then Toby woke me up at 3AM because he felt like going outside.  Not ok.  Kennel for him the rest of the night...then Jimmy caves, feels bad and goes to sleep in the guest room with him.  And you wonder who is going to be the disciplinarian with our children?  What a week.......but it does seem as though the Moore's might have had a similar issue with Franklin based on THIS post.  So I guess it's just kind of that....join the crowd in cleaning up your dog's poop?

Quote of the day

HR Director to me: "Brittany, do you want this last cookie?" (we had a treat party today and all the food resides in the cube next to me- great for my diet! haha)

Me: "No, I need a beer"

HR Director: "What?"

Me: "I said I need a beer"

HR Director: (Smiles while nodding his head, laughing at me) "That's what I thought you said...just don't drink one here"


Yes folks, it's been one of THOSE days. Thank goodness tomorrow is Friday.

Recessionista....I like it!

As the current economic state of our country has been on the downturn...it kind of has started to turn that way with my personal finances as well. With buying a new house, stashing away as much cash as I can (that doesn't go into home improvement) for a wedding in April, and all the other fun things life brings our way- like cars randomly breaking down...sounds like this is one that Adam and Emily can relate to :(-- this month I have been strapped for cash on spending money on those little extras. I only get paid once a month--and pay day is tomorrow, thank goodness!-- so this week I literally had pennies to spend.

Anyways, as I was constantly making sure my check register was up-to-date with my online banking this week, treat day was approaching. This took place at work today. I sent out the email that we were hosting one in celebration of my bosses birthday (Friday) and my friend in Loss Prevention (Sharon) her birthday on Saturday. I LOVE treat days. But now I needed a treat to bring, and going to the grocery store to swipe my debit card was not an option as I was literally at rock bottom.

So instead of quickly running to the grocery store, I did something extraordinary. Searched my pantry, freezers and fridges. The way I shop at CostCo...I figured, I have to have something to take. And I found it, some guacamole (the delicious kind) that I buy in three containers and freeze until I want to use it- otherwise it turns brown. Then I had some lime chips I bought at CostCo a while back that were only 1/4 eaten. Salty treat, done.

Frozen guacamole placed in freezer overnight = $0

3/4 full bag of lime chips = $0

Now that was out of the way, I also wanted to make something sweet and in the "season". Something Halloweeny? I got forwarded this awesome email that had all these ideas from Pilsbury, however that would require me to buy all new ingredient. Nope. My mind started going. What do I have in my pantry? I have lots of baking stuff, but not enough to make a full batch of cookies. I had it. Get a box of the funfetti cake mix, make cookies with them (Amy LaBounty style) and make my own powdered sugar frosting...then dye it orange and stick a little spot of green sprinkles on the top to look like a pumpkin. So I headed to Hy-Vee, ran in and grabbed just the cake mix. Even though there were several things on sale that I was like "ah, I should get that and save it in the freezer", I restrained myself. I was on a tight budget. Went to the cashier...I had been out of cash since Tuesday. So I paid with change :) It was only $1.37, but better with change then on my debit card.

Cake Mix: $1.37

Then back at my house, whipped the cake mix into cookie dough, popped them in the oven, whipped up some powdered sugar frosting, let teh cookies cool, frosted them, sprinkled them and wa-lah! :) Pumpkin cookies for all, a mere $1.37.

Aren't they nice? They were SOOOOO yummy too. I have some left- if they make it to Friday I'll take it on the carpool on the way to Manhattan!

But overall, the point of this post was only half to show you just how creative I am in the kitchen (yeah right), but to get to the point that if I wouldn't have been ever so consciously watching my check book and counting every single penny, I can guarantee you when I ran into the grocery store I would have walked out with $50 of stuff that I could justify as "needing" for the treat day treats. Now how unnecessary is that and how wasteful when I had wonderful things sitting in my cabinets and freezer to take along that I bet I had purchased just for an event such as this. It made me realize- while I feel like I'm relatively good at watching what I spend and where it goes to, that every time I think I "need" something or make a Target run and come back with $50+ of "needs"....if I took 5 minutes before I set off on my shopping adventure, while making my list, to really think of these 2 things:

A) Do I really NEED these things on the list, as in need for survival? (great example of this would be coffee. Yes, I NEED coffee in the morning, 3.5 cups to survive. So when that's on my list, it's an automatic "YES")

B) Is there anything that I want to buy that I might have sitting at my house/in my cabinets/in my freezer, fridge?

Maybe I'll start making a code on my shopping lists. "W" for want, and"N" for need. That would be fast, simple and easy---and work well for a visual person like me. But the bottom line is, in this time of our lives, while spending is so fun and easy at times---where are places you can cut back and be saving for a rainy day (aka $400 car repair bills that are unexpected)?? Also, not to pull in my finance mindset in, but right now in our lives (24-26) is PRIME time to start putting as much as you can in a retirement fund, outside of your work 401K. Start a Roth IRA!! Do it, do it!! The more you get in now, the more years it has to build up, and the more $$ you have when you're ready to quit the working world.

Anyways, just my 2 cents, but also wanted to share the stark realization that taking a few minutes to determine what is a want vs. a need can end up saving you some serious dough in the long run. I think I'll start embracing this new word that has emerged into the English language: recessionista. Why not? Feel free to share any money saving tips you have also. It's always nice to hear how others are saving!!

Blog of a dog

I think I have found my next big project. A blog from our dog's, Willy, Milly, and Toby, perspective!! What do you think? Now as fun as that would be, that would be a little hypocritical of me seeing that my last post just went in depth on how I need to focus where I spend my time during the week and ensure that the time I spend reflects my priorities. However, my argument would be that I LOVE my dogs and am obsessed with them so writing a blog from their perspective would be kind of like spending/dedicating time to them and entertaining my friends/family. At this time though...I'm going to not add developing a dog blog for the Bruns/Carter dogs. Even though I really really want to.

In the mean time, you can read this blog: Hamburger's House, which is written from the perspective of a chihuahua named Burger. My favorite post so far is the bachelor post. Haha. I cannot wait to see all the dogs that are going to be competing for his heart. I'm SO bummed I didn't check this in time to get Milly entered. She would have blown the competition away. His parent's are the authors of my favorite DIY blog, Young House Love. Which I have been diligently reading and actually doing some of their cheap Halloween decorations to our house!! We now have bats on the inside of all our lamps. Sounds weird, but it looks "spooky" and Halloween-y and I love it!

Also, Milly and Willy are gearing up for next Saturday when they get to debut their costumes to the trick-or-treaters. In the meantime, you can find them chillin on the couch in the man cave in their Halloween t-shirts. These were courtesy of their Aunt Liz last year and they still LOVE them :) Get excited to see their Halloween costumes!!

When did it happen?

Last Friday, I had the honor of being the chaperone of the Pi Beta Phi house, as it was initiation weekend and the house mom had to leave for the night. I got to stay in the guest room too- which was awesome because that was "forbidden" (well not really) when we were members. Anyways, it's funny because the more I spend time with these girls as an adult, the more I step back and realize how different "real life" is and it makes me miss college. Not necessarily the classes or tests, but the schedule and the abundant amount of time to spend with friends.

But when did life get in the way? When did all of a sudden work become the biggest priority and that instead of getting to hang out with friends all the time, we have to be adults and make money to pay our bills---otherwise we get in BIG trouble because our parents aren't there to bail us out? It's like the real world just slaps you in the face right after college is over. All those nights I can remember in college just thinking how awesome life would be when I had a job and made money and didn't have to worry about anything. HA. Funny how life works, right? You always want to get older, move on to the next big thing in life. Sometimes moving so fast, that you forget to stop and enjoy the present. I am completely at fault here.....Jimmy likes to remind me of that, which is why I keep him around- always reminding me to not stress out, why worry about something not in my control, and most of all- have a good time! And then you get to where you thought you always wanted to be and realize- wow, those times in the past, when I lived with my friends and they would drop everything when I walked in the door and had a bad day to talk about it and make sure I was ok. And they would scratch your back and play with your hair, and their shoulder to cry on or their excitement to gossip with you would always be just a room away. If the room next door was empty, there were 40 more filled with someone to chat.

I miss those days. Now I know getting older inevitably brings on more responsibility, more commitments, the need for better time management, but also it requires you to continually perform a self evaluation of where your priorities lie.....which is the equivalent to where you are spending your time. I can tell you right now, how the hours in my week rank. Being the numbers person I am, I'll break an average week out for you.

Total hours in a week: 168
(All are approximations)
Sleeping: 49
Working: 40
Working out: 7
Watching TV: 8 (in the fall of course)
Pi Phi stuff: 3
Eating: 14
Wedding stuff: 10
Cleaning/house stuff: 10
Church: 1
Talking to friends: 8
Talking to Jimmy: 8
Talking to my family: 8

So there you have it. I'm proclaiming my "priorities" to the blog world. How sad is that break out? Obviously, sleep and work are non-negotiables that have to remain as is (however, it would be nice to bump up the sleep #, bump down the work #). But if you really look at that list, it seems to me as church/God is the least important to me because I spend the least amount of time per week doing that. Then Pi Phi (no comment), working out, and talking to my friends, family, Jimmy, and watching TV rank next. Really Brittany? I think that watching TV is of equivalent importance as talking to my family and friends?? Even worse, that planning our wedding and cleaning/working on our house is more important than that. WHOA. That's where I start to realize that the line has been crossed and it's time to re prioritize. Maybe like a fall life cleaning? Similar to the actual spring cleaning I guess, just with my time.

With that said, what shall I do to proceed to do in attempt to get my time/life back on track? What will help me to realize that God, my family, and friends are ultimately the most important thing in the world? That they are NOT and shouldn't be equivalent of watching stupid TV shows or cleaning my house. Unfortunately, I don't have a magical answer (if I did, I would probably write a book, start a TV talk show, and be really rich)...but I have a way to start. That is spending a weekend in Manhattan with my very best friends, celebrating K-State homecoming...but ultimately spending time together like the good old days. Cramming into a hotel room, going out on the town, and gossiping like if we don't talk fast enough and say everything we need to tell them that the world might not go on :) Wait maybe the talking way too fast is just me, but you get the drift.

I have a feeling that's exactly what I need to give myself a life refresher. Realize it's time to bump up that time spent being with and talking to the people I care most about---not Blaire, Chuck, Serena, Silver, Annie, Naomi, Meredith, Alex, Izzy, and Christina (and McDreamy of course).

So what does your weekly time break out look like? Do the way you spend the hours in your day add up to what you see as priorities in our life, or do you need a fall life cleaning as well? If you do- I'm right there with you....so join in the fun :)

Here's to a weekend full of good friends, good times, and great memories!!

One step at a time...

Buying a house = lots of $$ and lots of work moving in
Buying a house = lots of time spent getting organized and settled

Buying a house = moving slowly through each room, adding details

Buying a house = testing of your patience to actually move slowly

Buying a house = seeing progress slowly, that makes it feel like a HOME

Living in a house that feels like a home = priceless!

See below for the newest detail addition to the house. My aunt, Susan, makes curtains as a side job just because she loves doing it in Colorado Springs. Her early wedding present to Jimmy and I are these FABULOUS curtains. She installed these in the living room yesterday when I was at work. Next is the dining room. When I walked in yesterday after work, I was blown away at how awesome they looked!! But even more blown away at home much they changed the look of the whole room and make it feel more homey :)

Thanks Susan for such a great addition!! The house continue to shape up to be a home!!

Engagement pics!

And our engagement session blog post is up!!

It's so weird to see pictures of Jimmy and I that are somewhat serious, but we had so much fun with the Henderson's 2 Saturday's ago in Lawrence taking our pictures!! They are such a great couple to work with and I love their creativity for the poses and shots and listening to their stories as newlyweds as well. Jimmy and I are both SO excited to have them be a part of our wedding day :)

Check is out here!

Also- they were patient enough to take 100 or so pictures of all 3 of our dogs in preparation for our save the dates. That alone probably wore them out because managing all the dogs on Mass Street in the middle of a Saturday turned into a very interesting 45 minutes! Enjoy!

Appropriate meter

What I am about to describe to you is the exact reason why I started a blog. Because this kind of stuff just always seems to happen to me.

Now to preface this, I want to state I have never been a mom. I have never had a baby, so I don't know what it's like to balance that and real life. Balance the late nights, a new person that depend entirely on you tending to it's every need, or breast feeding. So due to this lack of personal life experience thus far...I might have a skewed opinion. However, I did ask several people what their thoughts were on it that have had babies prior to writing this entry. They unanimously agreed with my opinion.

On to the event:
Sitting in a meeting on Saturday morning with a presentation/discussion in full swing.
I suddenly hear a strange noise coming from the table in front of me. Sounds like a machine.
I just forget it and figure I heard something odd.
Then it continues on. A constant sound that cannot be written into words- as those words tend to make me blush that I would use to describe them. One would be "suck".
So I peek at the woman in front of me. She has a piece of fabric draping over her front.
I realize that, from my experience in Jimmy's family (lots of babies so I see the basics there!)...she is wearing a nursing apron.
Wait, did you get that straight? Yes - a lady is sitting in a meeting with a breast pump running, that is of course attached to her breast.
Now obviously, like I mentioned, I have never done this before so the whole thing is very foreign to me. But I'm sure after you are a new mom for awhile it becomes second nature.
However, I can boldly state that if I so choose to breast feed as a new mom and use a breast pump, I probably will not choose to use it in the middle of a meeting with 30 other women WHILE still participating (talking, answering questions, giving opinions).
Let alone 4 times during the first day session and 2 times during the second day session.

Lyssa would be my one inside source to ask this honest question to. And I want to know what she has to say. But I'm guessing she's in the same "that's probably not the most appropriate thing...." boat as I am.

In terms of an appropriate meter- if you ask me this is off the charts as inappropriate. Go to the bathroom. Go to your hotel room. Heck, just go to the back of the meeting room. I don't care that you are doing it as I know it's absolutely natural and something you are doing for your baby, but it would be a lot less awkward for the entire group if you didn't do it in the middle of the room....while still participating. No matter how important you are, you can probably step out for 10 min or so and get your business done and come back just fine.

And that my friends- is all I have to say about that. I was absolutely stunned when I realized what I was witnessing. Not sure how you would feel, but I'd love to know :)

Honey-do weekend

I am off to Baltimore this weekend for a Pi Phi Financial Advisors conference. I know. You are oozing jealousy just reading about it :) A whole weekend full of learning all about a new online billing system and reviewing fraternity policies and procedures. Like I said...be jealous. On the upside, I'm hoping my roommate is another super cool Pi Phi that we will instantly bond over the arrow. Ha.

While I'm off gallivanting in Baltimore (from hotel room to conference room back to hotel room), Jimmy will be in Kansas City. Now last time I went out of town all weekend and Jimmy stayed home, my expectations of his weekend activities were a lot different than his. These differing expectations caused a small argument when I arrived home late Sunday evening. I was expecting the one urgent project, that was mudding, sanding and finishing off the hole that was in our sheetrock in the master bathroom still from the old medicine cabinet to be repaired. However, I came home to it only being 1/3 of the way completed because Jimmy said it takes 24 hours for the mudding stuff to set before he can sand. My answer: I was gone for 60 hours- that is 2.5 24 hour increments. I'm still confused why it's not all done. Yeah.....not going to go into details to the heated conversation that followed.

SO- this weekend, there are only a few things I have on my "honey-do" list. Instead of me going on my merry way assuming that Jimmy can read my mind (which he reminds me constantly that he can't) as to what my expectations are to come home to...before I left for work today, I left him a "honey-do weekend list" on the kitchen island. Now, these requests were quite simple and very manageable, allowing him for plenty of time to head back to his alma-mater to celebrate homecoming weekend there. They are: (1) Clean/clear out the garage so Lauren and I can park our cars there and (2) Take pictures of our old vanity and mirror that used to be in our master bath- remember the one that I liked, then found one that I loved, then bought it?- and put it on craigslist.

As I was running out the door this morning, he said he got the list and that he liked it and it will be done. With this rocking new way of communicating, my acknowledgement that he can't read my mind, and setting up expectations together- we'll be rocking and rolling by the time our wedding day comes around. Wait, is that too high of an expectation? ;)

Cheers to a wonderful (and not freezing hopefully) weekend for everyone!

That really came out of MY mouth.

Here is a simple list of things that in my pre-home ownership days I can honestly say I never thought I would hear myself say. A backwards countdown, to spice things up too :)

10. Is there anything in this room that feels "off" to you? (this was me, saying to Jimmy, regarding the millions of little dog paw prints of mud that were all over our kitchen floor for an entire weekend. I couldn't handle it---but didn't know if anyone else noticed. Right after this he got a rag and cleaned the floor)

9. I have to leave work early to get a new thermostat installed- I'm SO excited for a new thermostat.

8. Yeah of course Home Depot is on our registry list, we are registering for power tools.

7. Blue is a "cool" color and "cool" colors don't go with the "theme" of our house.

6. Sorry, I can't go out tonight - I have to clean the hardwood floors. (really?!)

5. I can't wait to mulch today. Landscaping is so fun.....(as I awake at 7:15AM on a Sunday morning after a pub crawl the night before- with a smile on my face)

4. Our tree is sick. Hurry call Ryan Lawn and Tree! (yes, it's true, trees get sick apparently)

3. So how much electricity do you think the fridge in the garage, the freezer in the basement, the mini-fridge in the man cave, and the regular fridge in the kitchen exert? Should I be concerned about a heightened electricity bill? Or that we have 4 devices in our 1 house to refrigerate things?

2. Please come over so I can show you my new washer and dryer......they are SO cool. (me to Emily, kind of like show and tell?)

1. Thank you Sunday Target ad for highlighting on the front page some beautiful fall sweaters that I would love to buy for a mere $15. However, I have to save that $15 per sweater and sacrifice any new fashion or style to slowly save for some new countertops (as I sadly toss the ad in the trash).

Ahh...the joys of growing up. Does it ever end??!

What about jeans?

Have to get this known to the world. Jimmy and I are almost exactly 6 months away from the big wedding day (as of Saturday), so I'm kind of freaking out and trying to get caught up with all the stuff that has been on our to-do list that I keep pushing off. One of them is getting a registry started...the first step is to decide where to register.

We start discussing. I have already started one at Crate and Barrel, nothing is in it, but it's started. And the other one we decided was Bed Bath and Beyond. We started talking about one more and I mentioned Dillards (Otto/Griffin- I know you registered there....thoughts?).

The conversation went like this:

Brittany- what about Dillards?
Jimmy- what about jeans?
Brittany- what about jeans?
Jimmy- Dillards is good so I can register for jeans.
Brittany- Um you can't register for jeans. That's not allowed.
Jimmy- who says? I need new ones.


Ok that is enough sharing. While I do know that Chris Calcara snuck a few snuggies onto their Target registry that Vanessa did not keep on there, I can say that I could use a new pair of jeans, those will not be showing up on our wedding gift registry at all. Haha, I still can't believe Jimmy thought that was ok. I'm still laughing........this my friends, is why he's a keeper :)

Roommate birthday celebration!!!

Yesterday, October 1 was Lauren's birthday. The big 2-5!!! She was kindly greeted with streamers (which scared the crap out of her apparently!) hanging from her bedroom door and a sign welcoming her into the wonderful day on which she was brought into this world by her awesome mom!! I love living with Lauren. Honestly, world's best roommate :) I'm going to be sad to see Jimmy take her place in a few months....but I guess it has to happen. I mean she could stay ;)

Here is a picture of Lauren, Katie, and I- Chicago trip 2008! Best friends since elementary school!

Some of the SMNW gang at Jen's housewarming party!!

And finally, Lauren and her man David! This was on their Chicago trip (according to facebook!)

While Lauren got to celebrate the evening of her actual birthday playing some sand volleyball, tonight we'll be heading to David's new apartment downtown to celebrate and go to First Fridays! I'm really excited to see his place, experience first fridays for the first time (apparently this is what it looks like in the picture below!), eat some cake, and celebrate with Lauren!!! Wahoo!!

On a side note, Milly has a HUGE crush on David. Every time he comes over she wants him to hold her and she always follows him around and sits on his lap. When he's in Lauren's room with the door closed she actually paws at the door for him. Watch out Lauren - Milly might be stealing your man :)

Here's to a great weekend everyone!!

PS Ashley Kelly- if you read this- so jealous of your tweet about your Saturday date with the beach and your book. Kansas is moving into fall and tonight is jacket weather :(

When do you break down and buy a new one?

Two of the things that Jimmy and I were in need of when we bought our house were a washer and dryer. Luckily, we got a free washer from Carly, who had got if from Mike and Lindsay Carter, who had got it from the Gower's (for those of you that are thoroughly confused now...Lindsay Carter used to be Lindsay Gower, who yes, is Vanessa's older sister that is married to Jimmy's older brother. If you are thinking fast you will realize, yes- Vanessa's sister and I will be sister-in-laws. Still with me?) when they bought new ones. We got a dryer for $75 on Craigslist and called it a day. After having Evan install some new plumbing and hook up new Hot/Cold water pipes - we were in business and the residents of 5209 W 79th were able to do laundry.

Within the first week, water leaked all over the basement from the washer. We figured out it was from a hose that wasn't tightly fastened. Roger to the rescue (after Jimmy and Brittany attempted- now if you saw that you would really laugh) and problem solved. Next the knob on the washer falls off, but we can work with that and do.

Then comes the dryer issues. The latch thing that locks when you close the dryer door, well at some point that got messed up so the door doesn't latch. If the door isn't closed, the dryer obviously doesn't work. Then comes the cardboard that we shove in there to lock it in. That worked for a while. But at the beginning of the week I was doing my laundry and 60 minutes after I started the dryer and walked back downstairs, to my surprise I found an open dryer door and wet clothes. I figured it was a fluke and tried again. An hour or two later, back to finish up laundry. Still not dry, door popped open. This is obnoxious!! So I ask Jimmy to see if he can fix it. He walks back upstairs and informs me he fixed it. When I walk back down stairs, this is what I see:

Yeah...that whole duct tape thing is just not going to cut it for me. With that going on, I just figure it's a sign we need to buy a new one. Conveniently enough, I just finished paying my TV off that I bought from Best Buy when I moved into my condo with 18 months no interest. Is this the universe's sick way of letting me know that the expenses are never going to stop and that $100/month or so I was paying cannot be stashed into savings but needs to go to a new, energy efficient, front loading washer and dryer? I think so. But really, look how beautiful they are. If I decide to snatch some up this weekend, I just MIGHT start enjoying laundry. Probably not, but you never know!

Indecisiveness: My Forte

Throughout Jimmy and my journey as DIY-ing our first house, I think we can both firmly agree on one thing: I'm pretty indecisive when it comes to making home decisions. I don't have a problem making them, I just second guess myself---even after they are installed :)

Which seems to be our newest problem. I was at Costco over lunch on Tuesday picking up some pictures and ordering a delicious birthday cake for my roommate (her birthday is today but celebrating Friday!). Sidenote: If you have ever not been to Costco over lunch, you should go. It's a lunch in itself. I just wandered around and ate all the delicious samples and by the time I started walking out I was full! It was awesome. Anyways, so after I ordered the cake and stuffed my face......I was walking out when something caught my eye. THE vanity that I had been searching for to put in our bathroom. You have no idea. I had specific things that I wanted so bad (dark wood, colored granite, undermounted sink, looks expensive- but isn't), but I couldn't find anything that fit all those qualifications. The last qualifier- the expensive part- seemed to be the biggest thing that stopped me in my initial search.

The initial search started about 2 1/2 months ago (right around the same time that the demo was going on). I was somehow optimistic that our bathroom would be done in 4 days. HM. I must have been on something to think that, or a just super inexperienced DIY-er. I'm going with the latter. With high expectations and thinking I had a short timeline, we went to Home Depot and used our gift cards to purchase our first vanity. Which was a honey-type colored wood (so not dark) with a white sink top. It was fine, nothing special. My dad took it out of the box and it sat in our guest room ready to be installed (in like 2 months). However, as we started picking out more items for the remodel, I started to realize how much I hated that vanity and that it didn't go with my overall color scheme vision. So back it went to the store, without a box, and then we saw it a week later in the vanity aisle, still with no box. After we took that back, we bought 9 boxes of 13X13 tiles that I thought I liked. Yeah. All of that came home, was unloaded, then about 5 days later I decided I hated that too. So that went back to Home Depot. At this point, I thought Jimmy was going to lose his cool. But apparently he finds it amusing- but strongly advised me to not do that again and really think and buy samples before making a decision. Done. Advice well received.

After a really long search and going slightly over the price range per tile I initially wanted to spend, we found the tile. It was perfect. Not too expensive, but didn't look "cheap" and it had nice trim that I loved. Done. We bought all that. So now we still needed a vanity. I searched EVERYWHERE. Home Depot, Lowes, home repair places, craigslist, etc. Nothing struck my fancy or was good enough for the new tile. So then I found one vanity at Home Depot that I was "ok" with. I liked it, we needed to get it installed, it was a decent price....done. Pretty sure that was the one that Jimmy insisted on carrying on his back from the back of the store to the front. He claimed he didn't want to wait for me to get a cart. Or he wanted to prove to me how strong he was. Either one- I thought it was a stupid enough move to remember it months later. We bring it home, install it, and that's what I'm using today. However, it has 3 drawers..which I thought I liked, but they are so incredibly small nothing can fit in them. The sink is white. I put on make up every morning that includes a huge brush and bronzer- I can't stand seeing it all over the white sink. It's a square sink so looks cool, but I have to use a straightener and curling iron to tame my mangily mop every morning- and because of the lack of counterspace surrounding the sink they always fall off onto our beautiful tile.

There you have it. My reasons for my vanity frustration. So what does that mean? After much convincing as to why buying ANOTHER vanity and installing it is worth it to Jimmy, we will be hitting up Costco tonight to pick it up and take it home. It's sick because I'm like giddy I'm so excited about it. Evan has claimed it's an easy switch out. I hope so. So if you are looking for a really nice looking vanity and that seems to fit your tastes, be looking for our craigslist post. All I can say is, it's perfect, I love it, I found my vanity soulmate.

All I had to say to Jimmy is that he should be well aware that I'm like this. I can't make a decision and be happy with it unless I'm absolutely 100% certain. Just like our relationship (at one point), see Jimmy's blog for an explanation if you are confused at this (3rd paragraph), I seem to second guess myself. But when I know, I know. And there is no stopping me. Here's to much more indecisiveness along the way that leads to complete happiness :) Check out the picture I snapped @ CostCo during my first sighting. Simple, elegant, perfection. Haha. I'm weird. Oh and it has a sweet matching medicine cabinet which is exactly what we need. We are meant to be.