Random thoughts: kid vs. adult and going "home"

I have been thinking about this post for a while now. And as the weeks get busier and things get stressful and just don't go how you want them too....it seems as if I long for these moments even more. Meaning - those moments at "home"...and not Jimmy and I's home. My parents house. Like, I kind of want to take a vacation and go to my parent's house - for a week or so...or maybe a month :) Why? Hmmm...how do I explain this?

Let's try starting here. It was funny because the other day at work I was telling my boss about how I can't wait for the first week in May for a break and vacation to Mexico for Courtney's wedding. We started talking about how many people were going down there (all the friends, etc) and he asked me...."well, how many adults are going?". I stopped and gave him a funny look and said, "what? what do you think I am? Do you not think I'm an adult?!" From there the conversation became hilarious as I watched him explain how while I'm not a kid, because I'm younger....yes, yes, I get it. Because I don't have kids, you don't consider me an adult. Because you think I have minimal responsibilities, right? So then I brought that discussion to the larger group of people I work with (like 5 people) to see what they thought. And somehow in someway (I'm going to say it's because no one wanted to stand up and differ from the "crowd's" opinion), everyone else agreed that, yep, I'm still a kid - well except for the girl I work with that is just a few years older than me and is kid-less also. (p.s. if this conversation sounds like it was hostile at all, it actually really wasn't and was incredibly hilarious listening to everyone rationalize why I wasn't a "real" adult...and I was pretty much rolling in laughter at the end. Because I know the truth - I live my life each day, and according to my definition...and my bank account/responsibilities...I consider myself an adult and that's all that matters)

So that got me thinking. Is that how society views me at the age of 25? Even though I have a job that I go to each and every day and strive to do my best and is actually a pretty big responsibility....even though I have a house that I pay the mortgage on every month...even though I'm married...and the list could go on and on. But apparently, I don't have a case because we haven't taken the road to being parents yet. Interesting thought. I will say I do not understand the massive amount of responsibility and emotional investment it takes to be a parent, I would like to think watching others make that transition that I have a sliver of an idea. I am sure that becoming a parent will make me an adult by putting some gray hairs on my head...but until then....

Anyway, to the point. If I am a "kid", I would like to go live at my parents house again. Not have to go to work everyday, not be stressed out about water heater's breaking, dog's getting sick, cooking dinner, going to the grocery store, landscaping and attempting to not kill plants, not do laundry, not to get woken up at 4:30AM every morning to a whining wiener dog....etc, etc, etc. I want to move into my parents house again, rent-free of course, not clean my room, mooch off of the dinner they are eating, lounge around and watch movies all day and go to their neighborhood pool. Oh, and no emptying the dishwasher either. As a "kid", I refuse to do things like that because I'm innocent and free...without a care in the world. I want to go to school and have the most stressful thing in my life be if I wore that same outfit last week and if a boy talks to me in class (well - I guess that boy would be Jimmy because if I did become a "kid" again, I would want to keep him around. The red hair and all). I want my mom's delicious home cooked meals to "appear" on the table every night and all my laundry to disappear and then show up again all folded up and clean. If I am a kid in the world's eyes - why do I have all these adult responsibilities? Let me go "home".

Mom - will you take me, my husband and my 3 dogs? We will be nice to you!? Just feed us! Haha.

I am kind of jealous of those people that don't live in the same city as their parents due to the fact that when they come back to visit their family for holidays, etc. they probably do just that. Go home. Get that extra special treatment because your parents are so excited to see you!!! You know, they buy and make the food that is your favorite. Take you shopping if you are lucky! Sit and talk to you about life. Not saying I don't get that on a weekly basis when we go to visit my parents or Jimmy's parents who live in town - because we do. We are spoiled and have the most wonderful families that are amazing. But I want to have a sleepover at my parents, like people do when they come back in town!! I should schedule one of those soon...and blog about it.

AH - well, there you have it. While I'm not moving home and I actually really love our house (Jimmy and I's), it would be nice to have a full time maid and personal chef....and maybe a dog nanny. I guess that's a whole other wish, right? ;)

Calling all K-State Fans!

I'm writing this for all those K-State fans and in particular the large majority of K-State couples out there - because I cannot buy something like this due to a "house divided" (aka my husband loves KU). But I saw this and thought lots of people would like this - hoping they are not sold out!! Here is a picture of this awesome K-State wine rack, designed by an industrial engineering class:

From my sister's boyfriend (message via facebook): As an Industrial Engineering student we are required to take a class called Manufacturing Systems Design and Analysis. In this class we design, manufacture, market, and sell a product to consumers. This year in the class we have decided to produce a K-State wine rack. Our company name is Willie Works LLC.This is a limited time offer as we will only be producing a total of 100 wine racks. Once they are sold out you will no longer have a chance to get this unique product. The total cost for this wine rack is $89.50 without tax or shipping. If you live in Manhattan or close to Manhattan we can deliver the product to you which will save in shipping costs. Just make sure you choose the “Local Pickup” option after you enter your credit card information.If you are interested in ordering a wine rack or have more questions you can visit our web-site at http://www.willieworksllc.com/.

How cool is that?! Check it out and maybe you will have a great present to give your significant other, parent or a good friend!? Happy Wednesday - almost to the end of the week!

"Its our anniversary"

Have you ever heard that song? The artist is Tony! Toni! Tone! (??). But I heard it all day long Sunday, April 10. Because Jimmy was blasting it....as it was our anniversary!

One year down many to go. Just as an FYI, the structure of this blog post and commentary is stolen from one of my previous blog posts...which I wrote when we got engaged, exactly 2 years ago today (April 11, 2009)!! Anyway, let's get this going. I have other sentimental ones to come...but this is the good one :)

We know it's our anniversary when we see THIS in our backyard.

Lucky for Jimmy - these blooms on our tree = our anniversary! And I love them!

So back to the real story. April 11, 2009 - we got engaged. At the dog park in Lawrence and it was a beautiful day. Not a cloud in the sky. I had an inkling what was going on, but I wasn't positive. But it was wonderful. And one of the best days of my life.

Down on one knee - asking the question (see the 3 leashes...ah!!)

This might be my favorite picture of the day because I look like a crazy person. Slightly possessed or maybe just over taken with happiness and surprise. Either way, you decide!

And there you have it - we were engaged.

And then a year later on April 10, 2010 - we got married, tied the knot, got hitched, etc. And that day was even better than getting engaged. It was a wonderful ceremony with a perfect message on marriage and followed by a GREAT party that was so fun with lots of our closest friends and family!! What a day!!

Oh yeah, and we even brought out dogs to the reception - in their own formal attire :)

And then a year passes before you know it and it's April 10, 2011. Our one year anniversary - married a whole year. Made it through a year of having to live together, adjust our lives for each other, combining finances...and more importantly laundry, sharing a closet and bathroom (weird) and a bed each night. Even on those nights where you don't so much like the person. Still love them, but if you were a four year old you would probably punch them in the face because they get so deep under your skin you can't stand them. Yep, we experienced all those. But let's not focus on the bad - I want to mention how fun it has been being married to Jimmy for a year. I love having a permanent roommate that I can boss around too :) Haha, just kidding, but seriously. I love having his positive attitude around all the time, his smile, his warm body next to mine in the middle of the night and those big muscles there to protect me when I wake up and "hear someone in our house". Haha. I love cooking dinner for him and watching movies with him...and then fall asleep, but loving that routine that is just ours. I love building things with him and house projects that we complete to make our house our home and just the way we like it before we start a little family of our own. And thinking about him as a dad - whew, now that brings me to tears. Because I see his calm demeanour and loving spirit right now and can only imagine how he'll be around a little baby.

Oh boy, it has been quite a year. A wonderful year, full of wonderful things. Lots of smiles, tears, laughter, jokes, yelling, eye rolling and fun. So to celebrate, we had a wonderful weekend hanging out with each other at home and do exactly what we wanted to do...which was nothing really :) On Saturday night we headed out to dinner at Capital Grille (compliments of a very night gift card!!) and I of course made him take cheesy pictures.

Captial Grille was so nice and welcomed us with a big smile, wishing us a happy first anniversary. They had a rose and some confetti hearts on the table (I felt like we were on our honeymoon in Mexico!) and even gave us a free dessert. Sweet!

Cheesy rose picture. Overall dinner was delicious, the conversation was good - not so light hearted haha (only Jimmy will understand that), but it was a great night out with my husband, followed up by a trip to Barnes and Noble to pick up a book to attempt to figure out how to use the fancy camera that Jimmy bought me our anniversary!!

Ok, so if you made it this far, I promise this is what you have been waiting for. The "list" that goes along with the list I made in my engagement post 2 years ago. I have made modifications as follows....

Here are 10 reasons why I continue to love him: 10. He's really like v-neck t-shirts and tanktops that are so old they might disintegrate and he looks sexy in them

9. His hair is red (I still like this)

8. He loves his dog, Toby, almost as much as me (true story)

7. He loves my dogs, Milly and Willy, as much as he loves as Toby (don’t tell Toby)

6. He has a great family and friends- including WONDERFUL nieces and nephews with more to come! – this is still VERY true. Now up to 8 nieces and nephews!!!

5. He can always make me smile/laugh by saying something ridiculous - always

4. He tells me when I'm being ridiculous (quite often) – he never misses a beat on this one

3. He really likes singing country songs and pop songs (like Kei$ha) and listening to me sing them (yes- this is if I sound good or not)

2. He has the greatest hugs in the whole world that can make any problem go away – ah, this will never change.

1. He understands/puts up with me/loves me like no one else can or ever could :) – no need to reiterate this one. This is and always will be the #1 reason I love him!

Only 5 reasons I sometimes think about going to my parent’s house for the week:

5. His obsession with P90X – yep, this still exists…wait until you see his birthday present.

4. This stupid game he insists on playing everytime we are in the car where a song comes on and he says "who sings this?" to me and five milli-seconds later blurts out the answer without giving me time to think – nope, this hasn’t gone away…nor has my annoyance with it

3. He knows what I'm thinking or what I'm going to say so often that sometimes I think he is a warlock or vampire – still true, still annoying – especially when he reads my “evil” thoughts I’m thinking about him when he makes me mad

2. He's obsessed with the Royals, Chiefs, KU, and Nascar...to the point that I'm not sure he will even talk to me when we're married during the month of March and on Saturdays during the fall – pretty sure this will never ever change

1. The first thing he does every morning is wake up and immediately check Jayhawk Slant website and new posts on his Blackberry – still true, but now he has an iPad too. “but Brittany, I HAVE to know what is going on”….and share his log in ID with like 15 people…but we pay for it :) Love you babe.

Adult chore chart

Does anyone have one of these? Here's my issue. I like to keep my house clean. Er - really tidy more so, but also clean. But it's more the I-only-clean-when-I-notice-things-are-so-gross-I-cannot-handle-my-life or people-are-coming-over-I-don't-want-them-to-think-I-am-super-gross cleaning. But here's the deal and the reality of the situation. I am well aware that if I actually did "CLEAN" on a regular basis (CLEAN = pick up whatever cleaning product and the paper towel or brush or cloth and scrub until it's truly clean), it would make my life a lot easier. Just like your mom always taught you, right? Oh those moms- they are so smart. Why is that it takes me this long to actually realize any of those lessons she tried to teach me. Guess it's just a good thing I eventually "get it". Well mom, I get it now...so be proud.

Which is why I'm seriously contemplating making myself (and Jimmy - oh no, don't worry, I'm not leaving him out of this fun!) an adult chore chart...minus the gold stickers. Well, actually, I take that back. I kind of think I deserve stickers. But the colored variety pack - blue, gold, red and green...you know the ones. I feel like I see on facebook people doing their "regular cleaning" or "getting the house chores done" and I think...man, I should have a schedule like that. And I think we all know that I like a schedule. Really I just thrive off lists/tasks being written down and then get a thrill out of the SWOOSH. (the swoosh was supposed to give you an idea of the sound of a pen/marker/pencil swiftly moving of the paper and crossing one thing after another off the list) I love SWOOSHes.

My question is - how do I start? Like - vacuum Sunday, dust Monday, toilets Tuesday...and the list goes on - I mean I'm just not sure. So blogger friends, I need you. How do you clean your house and keep it up? I mean I have been to some of your houses and they are all clean (like the real clean). I need help! Scheduling lovers unite! Tell me your secrets, your strategies, your gameplan. I appreciate it in advance.

PS While I'm contemplating making a chore chart, probably not going to be something I hang up....however, it would be pretty funny :)

Party like a rock star

that was the theme of the weekend for me a few weekends ago to celebrate the soon-to-be-married Courtney and Brian - WAHOO! Less than a month until their wedding and the Mexican adventure we will go on with them. CANNOT WAIT.

Back to the point. There was shower on Friday that Jimmy and I attended - Jimmy against his will because KU was on. I told them they would have a TV. They did. He lived. End of story. Anyways, it was a Hawaiian theme and I got really into it using my fun stuff from the discount store at work. Most other people didn't. Hmm. :)

Anyways - there was yummy food, good drinks and great company...and a fun game where the couple was asked questions about who does what and they had to raise the shoe of the person they thought. Questions were like "Who is the messiest?"...and then some dirty ones that were funny. So cute! Loved it! And loved that the crowd/guests got to join in and ask them questions too!!

That next night - it was "dress up" again - this time 70s themed to the max. Oh so fun. With that theme in mind and hearing that lots of people were going all out with these costumes, I went to my mom's house to pick up her 70s dress that my grandma made her to wear to prom or sophomore formal? Either way - this is the second time I have worn this dress to a "theme" party and while it was a little snug than last time (I was a sophomore in high school then - give me a break!) it still worked like a charm and fit the theme great.

And check out the bride to be's dress- AMAZING!!

Courtney, me and Lauren - with little Baby S in her tummy :) So fun!

If you don't know, Courtney has a twin, Ashley who lives in LA and came in town for the weekend. Boy are we glad she did :) Haha! And she had a great outfit as well as loved that doll!

After a shower with probably the most amazing party food I have ever had in my life with lingerie and gifts, we headed off in the COOL bus to a bar downtown called Retro. We were the only people there and I literally thought we had rented it out. Until about 11PM. Then it was packed!

This doll got LOTS of love if you can't tell :)

Here he is with another drink! And check out LeighAnne's dress - SO awesome. She rocked those stripes all night long! I loved it in Shark Bar with the black lights because she looked like a piano keyboard all lit up!!

Well - my camera and pictures did skip the most interesting part of the evening, which was at P&L and when we decided to go to Shark Bar. Haha. Bad idea. Here is what happened here (quick summary):

- We all go in and pay $5 each

- Go on the dance floor and the blow up Brian get's popped

- People invite girls into their "VIP Section" to dance

- Everyone follows

- Next thing we know bouncers are yelling at us

- People yell back

- Shoving

- We are all kicked out of the bar

Enough said. I hated that place before and yep, still hate it :)

Anyway, next and final stop was at the Brooksider...where Courtney and Ashley found their calling in life. Dancers for a band. Haha. Ashley immediately jumped up on stage and danced the entire time we were there and made everyone else get up there too! It was soooo fun! The best was at the end when it was just those two dancing. Hilarious. I just love twins. And especially these twins :)

The bride - having a swell time!!

Ashley ending the epic night as the Zeros drummer. Haha. She was great!!

And that's it - peace out dudes!

Overall - if this has ANY indication of half of what Mexico will be like with all these crazy fun people - I can't wait!! Love you Court and thanks for letting me celebrate your wedding with you!!

Never a dull night

So if you follow this blog fairly regularly, you will recognize this as our wonderful comforter that we received as a present from my awesome bridesmaids at the shower they threw for me over a year ago. I have never in my life had an expensive comforter...until now. And I love it, so much!!

But here is what our bed has had "comforting" it for the last 2 nights. Err- let me correct that statement, last night and about the last quarter of the one before :) So not a full 2 nights!

Why is that so? Oh you know...Monday evening after getting home from a long night of class in which I had to present our debate...I try to get right to sleep. However, as I am jumping into bed, Jimmy mentions that Toby has explosive diarrhea (remember my mom's guest post about this problem Lani had? haha) probably from eating grass that has fertilizer in it that he just put down. Oh, well isn't that wonderful? So I think Jimmy took him out to do his thing right before bed and then about 1:30 or so?

Well, 2:30 rolls around and I wake up to a nasty smell filling my nostrils. I lay there and immediately know it's poop or throw up - I mean, duh, isn't that normal? :) I turn on my lamp and look to the end of the bed. Yep - one of the above occurred from Willy at the bottom of our bed, of course all over our wonderful, nice comforter. Which mind you, has already been to the dry cleaners once in the last almost year of use. Poor thing.

So I take Willy outside, Jimmy starts cleaning up the mess and doing his usual fake gagging/puke signs and I sit there saying "You think this is bad, wait until our future kids have a blow out..." (I'm such a nice and positive person, don't you think!?). So we take the comforter off, toss in a big trash bag and put it in the garage with the plan to take it back to the dry cleaners the next day. In the mean time - guest room comforter and towels (just in case anyone threw up/pooped again we would be covered) would have to do.

Conclusion of the night? No sleep for either of us. I stayed up with the lamp on rubbing Willy's belly and taking him out a few more times to try to get him to "get it all out"..mainly because I felt so bad for the poor guy - I mean come on, we all know what it's like to have an upset stomach and off of fertilizer - not so good.

Result the next day? Tired.tired.tired. Always fun, right?!

Tuesday evening I had a meeting and got home around 8PM thinking - I'm going right to bed and going to get a great night's sleep. Ah - one can only hope, right? Well, Jimmy didn't join me for an early bed time because he found a cool new iPad app that lets him keep score of the Royal's game on. (don't ask...I know what you are thinking...why? Doesn't the score get posted on the screen? Yes, yes it does. But he likes to document the plays, hits, errors, etc....) So he comes to bed later around 11 or 11:30. Now the usual routine for the last person who goes to bed is lock the door in the garage to the house - and obviously make sure all the other doors are locked to the outside- set the alarm, and come upstairs. Well apparently it was A) too late at night for Jimmy to remember or B) he just forgot...to do all those things!

So at 2AM, when our bedroom door all of a sudden slams closed...I cannot seem to shake it off that it was just the wind from an open window in our room. I wake up Jimmy and say "Someone is in our house!", which obviously freaks him out...and it freaks me out more because when I ask him if he set the alarm he says "Um, I don't remember...". Great. Fantastic. So I lay there a few minutes longer "hearing" noises that I'm convinced are robbers just walking around our house casually taking everything. Including our computer. With all our pictures. AH! I wake Jimmy up again and tell him to get the bat and go see. No, his arguement doesn't work. We're married. He's the guy. While sometimes we tend to have flipped roles than what is "traditional"...not in these cases where it's necessary to gocheckthehouseandbeatuprobbersifyouseethem cases.

He gets up, bat in hand, flips on the lights and sees nothing. He does confirm that the alarm wasn't set. I am quietly following him, whipping around randomly to see if maybe the robber is smart and is behind us. Who knows - I have heard that robbers are smarter these days. To my surprise, no robbers. So we let the wiener dogs outside and Jimmy takes Toby out on his leash...in the dark. Are you kidding? Turn on the light dude - we were just hunting for robbers in our house!! I turn on the light and then he freaks out saying "Brittany, I'm in my underwear! Turn the light off". Really Jimmy, what neighbor do you think is up at 2AM and a better question - checking out what is going on in our backyard. Plus, he wasn't naked...underwear = same as swim suit = who cares.

After he comes inside, I am waiting for the wiener dogs to make it back to the door and he starts to go upstairs! WHAT? He is leaving me downstairs in a house that could have a robber in it...only days before our anniversary?! How rude!?

When I finally get back in bed - alarm is set, doors are locked - I lay there just waiting for a robber to come in and take two shots and bye bye we go. Then I start thinking about how we are the perfect targets for a murder mystery...young couple in love, newlyweds about to hit their first anniversary, loving life, etc. AH. Obviously my mind was more alert than my body last night!

Anyways, the good news is, there were no robbers and everyone in our house is fine. Jimmy is still mad at me for making him "use" the bat, but he'll live.

Moral of the story - never a dull night at the Carter house. Today I'm all prayers for an uneventful night and that 2AM passes and I don't wake up!!

I'm alive---promise!

Hi, my name is Brittany. I am the one that writes this blog. Oh, you thought I disappeared? Left on vacation? Forgot about you? Nope- I haven't. However, this thing called grad school that has projects and group meetings and presentations...that are due tonight at 7PM. Well, that has kind of cramped my blogging/life/husband time/friend time/me time/TV time/Pi Phi time/staring at my dogs time all around.

But guess what? Tonight at 10PM - it will be over! With work, work trips, meeting over the weekend for pi phi...and school....I'm spent. However, I will be up and running again tomorrow. Fun things happening at the Carter household...including a big anniversary just around the corner :)