progress

We have been home owners for 2 years. 2 years, and we still aren't done decorating, painting, and fixing. Maybe in another 2 years we'll be done?

But recent progress has been made.


When I was down in SC a week earlier than juC, he finally painted our stairwell. Which means we finally put these pictures up, instead of having them just rest atop the entertainment center in our living room. Now when you stroll upstairs, you can feast your eyes upon our family. Just know The Wall o' Eternal Love is still a work in progress.

I will also let you in on a little secret. Post cards. Vintage post cards. They are my FAVORITE thing to buy at antique stores. When we were down in SC I got these that now adorn my living room entertainment center. The dates stamped on the back from when the people sent them are 1910 and 1911! The one on the right is inviting the girl it is written to on a picnic July 20th.A while back, I found these in Virginia, but they are drawings of Charleston.They adorn my most beloved newest addition.My antique mantel. It is the most perfectest addition to our dining room. We bought it a few weeks ago, just finally mounted it Saturday, and I've rearranged the things on there about 5 million times. But I'll get it figured out eventually.

I'm definitely thinking no more than 2 years and we'll finally be done decorating, painting, and fixing our house.

And that's how it's done.

Up until recently, I always told juC that I am a woman that needs to be wooed. Even though we are married, I still want the wooing to continue. No matter how much I tried to explain how he could do it, I realized that I just needed to show him by example. So back in January when we decided to go down to S.C. in February, I put a plan in motion.

The plan: to have a romantic overnight date in Charleston with juC with out him having any idea.

For Valentine's Day I gave him a card saying that "due to circumstances beyond my control", he wouldn't be getting his present, but he'd get it at a later date. He assumed that the "circumstances beyond my control" was all the snow we'd gotten that made it very difficult for me to get to the store to buy something. He didn't know that the "circumstances beyond my control" was actually the fact that we weren't going to be in S.C. until later in the month.

I talked to my mom and sister, and they agreed to watch little JT. This would be the first time we'd be leaving him overnight.

My sister-in-law was kind enough to get us a room at the hotel she used to work at. I made reservations at a fancy restaurant in downtown Charleston. I plotted and planned. I wanted him to have no idea we were going overnight until we were already gone on our date. I packed a bag of clothes, toothbrushes, contact solution, and other things and managed to get it hidden in the car with out him having a clue.

So last Saturday we left for our "day date" to Charleston. For all juC knew, we'd be back at my parents house by 6. While we were eating lunch, I gave him a card informing him of my devious plan. I was going to wait until later in the date, but I was just too excited to keep it a secret any longer. He was most definitely surprised!

After lunch, we went shopping. (Every good, romantic date involves shopping.) Then we went to our hotel to get gussied up. We went to downtown Charleston and swung on the big swings at Waterfront Park.

Then we walked around downtown and checked out all of the old buildings and churches. (My favorite part of downtown Charleston)My feet were sufficiently hurting by this point, since I made the mistake of wearing high heeled boots, so it was a good thing it was time for dinner at this place.The food was AMAZING, and the massive creme brulee I got for dessert was even more AMAZING. And the fact that I ate it all by myself was even more AMAZING!

We definitely enjoyed the time to ourselves and getting a good nights sleep with out having to worry if we heard the baby crying. Little JT enjoyed his time with out us too, I think. I just wish that when juC and I got home the next day that little JT didn't run straight past me to his daddy. I guess we know who he loves more.

And now juC knows how wooing is done.

Woah!

The day of loooOOOOOoooove is almst upon us. Which means I still have a little time to share some of the things I love about juC.

juC isn't the best at planning romantic dates and such. It's ok. I just plan them and then give him a hard time for not planning them himself. But the thing that I love is that he's a good sport about the things I plan. I mean, he's surely not super excited about going on a house tour of an old mansion at night, but he does it happily anyways.

We've been able to go on a lot of dates lately. The house tour date was particularly romantic. It's like "Woah, this is romantic." Thus becoming "woahmantic". We went to the house tour, then went and ate at Red Hot and Blue, then did some Christmas shopping. See? Can't get more woahmantic than that.

So as this Valentines Day approaches, I encourage all of you to plan something woahmantic for your loved one. (juC)

I've also been thinking a lot about our love story, since my sister LoW posted hers.

So here is a condensed version of ours:

I first eyed juC in 2003, and I didn't know if he was just off a mission or pre-mission. He was driving a grandpa car that I was sure he must be borrowing from his dad to get around. And he looked young, so it was hard to know.

My assumptions were wrong. He'd just graduated college, and it was in fact, his car. I had my eye on him, but I was dating someone else.

Then I got engaged. Then that ended.

I dated around a little bit, until I finally got the opportunity to talk to juC, the guy I'd been eyeing for a while. I'd wanted to talk to him many times, but chickened out. So when I had the chance to do it online (in the year 2005, about 2 years after first eyeing him), I took the (lame) opportunity. Following the online introduction, I saw him at church and spoke to him. Then he finally responded to my online introduction.

We emailed back and forth for a couple weeks. Then we spent some time together at a Halloween dance, where we had our first dance together.

The next night we had our first date. We made cookies then went to a movie.

I invited him one time to go to a place called Great Falls Park, but he couldn't. Then the next week, he invited me to go. It really was woahmantic. We ended up spending the entire day together. First the park, then dinner, then going to a church activity, then watching a movie at his apartment. It was at that point that I knew he must like me. He even held my hand for about 5 mintues during the movie.

A month and a half later we had our first kiss. As little as it was I thought it was sweet that he was so nervous about it.

We broke up 4 months after our first date. And continued to break up and get back together for the next year. We were super mature.

Then in January of 2007 we decided to get married. He proposed in February, and we got married in May.

And now we are currently living happily ever after.

Thus concludes the super condensed woahmantic version of our love story.

heart

As this month of loooOOOOoove continues, I was reminded of how I truly feel about this "holiday" by Cindy.

I remember her exact reference in the comments of my last post. It was 9 years ago that I became very bitter about the day known as Valentines Day. I referred to it as Satan's Day. My opinion of that still hasn't really changed. Any day is set up to be celebrated only by couples has to be of the Devil. I mean, c'mon, there are lots of holidays that make single people sad that they don't have a special someone to share it with. Why did the greeting card people have to come up with a made up holiday to make it even worse?

So although I still think of it as Satan's Day, I can't help but be happy that I now have an eternal Valentine to share it with.

Now...for my craft idea. After I made the Valentine card I posted about last, I first thought "Oh, this would be cute framed!" But late at night, when all the world was sleeping and my head wouldn't stop working, I thought "OH, I should paint a canvas and do it on there!!"

And so I did...

twice.

Ok, maybe it wasn't all that creative, but I still think they're cute.

I love them. And I want to do more.

Now to continue on with the things I love about my eternal Valentine.

Home boy is more patient with me than I could have ever imagined anyone could be patient with someone. I love that he deals with me so kindly. I love that he accepts my craziness with an extreme amount of patience. I'm convinced he was the one and only guy in the world that had enough patience to survive being married to me.

So number 2, he's patient with me beyond what I deserve. For that I am grateful!

el oh vee ee

Today I am in charge of an activity at church with the 8 and 9 year old girls. I do this twice a month and have been doing it for about a year now. It's been a huge struggle for me, but I feel like maybe I'm finally getting into the grove.

While looking up ideas, I stumbled upon homemade Valentine's card. One of which looked something like this

I made this last night, and while I was laying in bed, unable to fall asleep, this idea inspired another idea of a Valentines decoration. Stay tuned to see if I do it, and if it is as cute as it is in my head.

Another idea I found that we'll making today at our activity is this.

It's a sugar scrub that I found here on this blog.

I made a trial one last night and gave it a try this morning. My hands are silky smooth.

And since it is February, the supposed month of loooOOOOooove, I thought I'd spend some time talking about my eternal Valentine. and the things I love about him.

For the past few months, I've loved his beard. I especially loved when we got our Wii and I got to create his Mii and the opportunity it gave me to give his Mii a beard.

A red beard! (Although in this picture part of the beard looks kind of blonde) The resemblance is amazing isn't it?!

The best part about his Mii is that when I'm at home and missing juC, all I have to do is turn on the Wii, and it's like he's right here at home with me, cheering me on when I bowl.

So number 1 on the list of things I love bout juC is his beard...and his Mii.

oy!

Our house is always just one big mess. Little JT tries to keep it cleaned, but I just follow behind him making a mess of what he cleans up.

I'll be honest, it stresses me out that people think I should have baby #2 on the way by now. I

feel like as great as it is to be a mom, I'm barely surviving with the one I've got. How will I ever handle 2? No really, how will I? (And since we are on the topic, who came up with the 18 months to 2 years age difference for kids?!)

Where ya been?

It's been a little while since I've blogged.

I went to get my eyebrows waxed and the lady asked "Just eyebrows or lip too?" It bugs me that this isn't the first time that question has been posed. But she made up for it by telling me I had "skin like a baby."

We got a Wii for New Years. When the craziness that is motherhood gets a little too much to handle, I just take a Wii break. I've found it to be very therapeutic. Doesn't my Wii Mii look like me??

The man of the house is still sporting a beard. It's been about 3 months now, which is a record. He also got a haircut a couple days ago and the barber when a little too short. While we were watching the Biggest Loser I realized who he looks like now.

Bob! If he got tattoos like Bob, they'd be identical twins.

buuuurrrrrr

Should i feel guilty that I'm inside, warm and cozy, blogging, while juC is outside in the freezing cold digging our cars out?

my husband thinks i'm stupid

He's good lookin' ain't he? But with those good looks i'm not sure why he married stupid ol' me.

Yesterday I had an activity at church. I had a little Christmas party for the 8 and 9 year old girls and their mothers. I decided I needed to have some Christmas music for the Christmas party.

I grabbed the portable CD player that juC brought into our marriage and tried a CD and it didn't work. I then grabbed the CD player that I brought into the marriage. Didn't work. Luckily I was able to borrow one from a neighbor.

Since juC's CD player didn't work, it made a perfect toy for little JT. Last night, after juC got home and saw that JT was using the CD player as a toy he asked if it was ok for him to be playing with it. I informed my dear sweet husband that the CD player didn't work anymore. Do you know what he said??

"Did you plug it in?"

we like to dance in our family

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

tis the season to be jolly!

the Christmas season has arrived, and i couldn't be more excited. last saturday juC and i put up the decorations. one of my most favorite things to do is go shopping for Christmas decorations after Christmas when they are super cheap. then i get so excited for the next year when I get to use them.

a few things that i was really excited to put up this year that i got after Christmas last year.....

this dr. suess-ish tree.

this santa belt ornament.and this, possibly my favorite. santa and his clothes hanging out to dry.we also went to some thrift stores last weekend, which is the best place ever to get Christmas decorations. i fell in love with this, for only 50 cents.and i fell in love with these, for only 50 cents per plate.have i mentioned how much i love Chirstmas decorations??

falling down

i don't wanna rake. not because i'm lazy (that's only a small portion of the reason) but because i think our yard is far prettier with all those leaves.

it would probably be best to let juC do it, since i'm too emotionally attached to those leaves.

and the winner is....

LoW!! who should feel lucky that i didn't rig this, since you expressed your disdain in being "told what to do" even though it's MY blog, and it's my right to tell people what to do if they want to win something i make. and if i want you to tell me i'm great, or to list things you are grateful for, well by golly, you should do it with all jolly heart!! it is the thanksgiving season after all!!

maybe my next thanks giving giveaway will be a new attitude. and hopefully jud will enter that one.

thanks giving winner, AND.....

first of all, i would like to thank all of you for looking deep within your hearts and finding the good in me. i know it must have been hard for some of you, i know that some of you had to make things up, and i know there are some people out there who didn't even enter because they just couldn't think of anything.

second, although i appreciate that some people thought of more than 5 things that are great about me (darla), you were still only supposed to enter up to 5 times. and some of you (mom) felt the need to post a comment about your chances decreasing, which was also a no-no. so after creating a very complex spreadsheet and ridding it of the illegal comments, i used random.org to pick a random number.

and wouldn't you know, number 17 is the one and only kathy! who wrote a very nice poem, but only made one comment instead of 5. her chances were slim but she succeded.

kathy, you can expect your scarf within the next 5-10 years. email me what color/s you'd like and the address you will be at in 5 years.

and i have to admit, of all people to win, she was one of the ones i was scared of winning because she'll know it's not right.

NOW...to all of you none winners (and winners). worry not. i'm still showing thanks by doing another giveaway.

this week, you will have a chance to win some aniC original magnets. everyones dream.

to enter:

once again every can enter up to 5 times. 5 IS THE MAX. leave 5 seperate comments telling me the things you are thankful for.

a winner will be picked....sometime next week. good luck!

thanks giving

it's november. which means that thanksgiving is coming up. i like to call thanksgiving the forgotten holiday. halloween ends, and people automatically jump to Christmas. not that Christmas is a bad thing, but thanksgiving is pretty dang important too!

in honor of this month of thanksgiving, i'm going to have a giveaway. i give thanks to my friend megan for teaching me how to crochet, so i'm giving away a crochet masterpiece (and all of the imperfections that come with it).

it's easy(ish) to enter.

here's how:

leave 5 seperate comments. (everyone can enter 5 times, and you can figure out your strategy. bunch 5 together, or space them out)

here's the catch:

in every comment you leave, you have to say something that's great about me.

hey...just because i'm thankful and giving doesn't mean i can't be selfish and make you work for it a little bit.

also, make sure that in the first comment you leave, you also tell me what you'd like me to make. baby blanket, throw, scarf, pot holder, etc.(keep in mind my skills are simple)

examples of all 3 things i've ever made.

my throw that i'm still working on:

baby blankets:

a winner will be chosen using random.org next friday.

good luck.