Sunday, June 30, 2013

Dear Aniston... .Part 6

Dear Aniston,

There may be times when you think that I am perfect. When you think that your Mom knows everything and that she cannot possibly do anything wrong. Well, this is not the case. I am far from perfect. I will always have the best intentions for you and try to make sure that everything that I am doing for you is the best thing. Like when we went the the lake the other day and I continued to lather you in sunscreen every 20 minutes, I really did try to protect your delicate skin, but I forgot to put sun screen on your ears and even then I apparently didn't put on enough sun screen because you are now displaying your first set of tan sun burn lines. I feel absolutely terrible because I did try to protect you from the sun. But sometimes even when I give you all that I can, it isn't going to be enough. This will never stop me from trying to protect you and do the best that I can for you, but I just think you should know that I'm not perfect and that I do fail. And more importantly, I think that you should know that it's okay if you fail every now and then. It's those times that I fail that I think that I actually learn the most about myself and the person I want to be. It's okay to be less than perfect. It's okay to learn and to grow. In fact you should never stop learning. I'm still learning and I'm 27! You teach me something new almost every day, and I am so thankful for that. Please remember that you don't have to be perfect to be awesome! You were born with awesomeness in your blood! I LOVE YOU Ani Kate!

Love, Your Mom

Saturday, June 29, 2013

DAY 679... It's Always a Good Time

We enjoy getting out and doing as much as we can... Even when it 90+ degrees outside! We have spent many days at the splash park, carousel, going on walks, causing trouble, and Aniston just spent her first day at the lake!!!! I just LOVE summer and I love living right next to such a fun little park!!!! This is why we plan on moving to Arizona for Spencer's graduate school. We will get to spend so much time in the pool and outside! Also those people with kids who say they can't do anything because of their kids... Well I'm learning that that is a straight up lie!!! Anyone who uses that excuse is just straight up lazy! Personally I love taking Ani to new places and to do things that she probably could care less about. Plus it gives me an excuse to show her off.... Lets be honest, she's pretty darn cute!
Spencer sent me this video when I was at cheer practice the other day. The girls and I got a pretty good laugh at it... And so it begins!
Eating her Cheetos at the lake.
Trying to figure out sand for the first time. She actually spent quite a bit of time trying to eat the sand and rocks. But she absolutely loved the water! She would keep pointing at it until we would take her to it. Love that she has no fear of the water! Such a brave baby!
Popping a squat on the beach! Something else might also be happening at this point.... but that's okay.
Having a BLAST! I tell you what spending  97 cents on her bucket and shovel at Walmart was possibly one of the best things I have ever done.
Swimming with the cheerleaders. I just love getting compliments from strangers about how awesome my team is. On this day we got a compliment about how modest my girls were. The lady could not stop gushing over the fact that they were covered while many of the other teenage girls there were practically naked. Cute swimsuits! I just love them (the girls... and the swimsuits too I guess)! And I love how much they love Ani and treat her like she is their child. Such a great group of girls!
Enjoying free music at the park... This is Ani's fat girl face! Bring on the double chins!!! She is going through a phase were she likes to be obnoxious in pictures and not smile just have a blank look on her face. I think she has inherited this from her Uncle Chris... 
See the resemblance? Striking... They aren't even blood related! 
Shopping with Dad. This might be her favorite place to sit in the world!
I just need to learn to wear sunscreen sometimes.... You should see my back and legs! I am dying!!! It is all my fault though... At least eventually I will be tan!!!
Sleeping at the lake in her floaty to stay out of the sun.
Summer can be exhausting!
Every time we are at the park, Ani will see the carousel and say "weeeeeeeee". She loves it! She is always very concerned for the other kids on the horses, but I promise she does smile usually.
Ani also loves to pay for the ride. It makes her feel grown up... at least I like to think so.
Check out her curls! LOVE them! One reason I love to take her to the splash park... the curls come out!
Ani is such a good mommy to her baby! She always gets the biggest smile on her face when she gets her baby.
Stay cool with her squirt bottle.
Playing some horseshoes while enjoying the weather!

We have so many more plans for the summer! More trips to the lake, hiking, Ani's birthday (next week), a trip to Utah, a trip to Oregon, maybe some camping, more time at the park and splash park, the 4th of July, maybe a trip to Jackson Hole, and of course Spencer's birthday! This is shaping up to be one of the best summers ever!

DAY 679... DIY Projects

The instant we knew we were moving and that we would have an additional 500 square feet, our DI search began. We would have loved to buy furniture brand new but let's face it, we are both in school, with a baby, and it would just be a ridiculous thing to do. So we decided it was in our best interest to refinish old furniture. Shopping at thrift stores can be a tricky. The trick is going everyday, if not twice a day. You need to know when the most donations come in, like garage sale season or at the end of the semester when students are moving. It can be super discouraging, but eventually it does pay off. Well it did for us anyway. We refinished a rocking horse, got 2 lamps, one we refinished to match the other, a credenza, a bookcase and several small decorative items. Spencer definitely did a majority of the work and he did good! We bought him a sander to make the job a little easier, which it did, and after a little sanding a lot of spray paint and plenty of newspaper and painters tape, we ended up with some awesome furniture.

One of the best things about thrift store shopping for furniture, a lot of the furniture is super sturdy and looks great with a fresh coat of paint. We paid $8 for this bookcase. So stinking solid and works great for my craft supplies. When I say sturdy I mean sturdy... I even stood on it for a while! That's quality furniture.


Ani LOVES her rocking horse. She calls it her "Weeeeee". We wanted the classic white look, since her room is mostly black, red and white, and let me tell you what.... This baby took a ton of sanding to get it there! We paid $5 for the horse. We especially like it because Spencer and I can fit on it too!!!

There are no lights in our living room, but if you plug lamps into the bottom outlet you can control them by a light switch. We saw these two lamps at DI. One was black and the other was blue. But they matched, so we paid $15 total for them both and painted the blue one black. Super easy! Also... Why are lamps, new lamps, so expensive? Geez!


We needed to store our DVD collection... about 600 DVD's, somewhere so we built these boxes and covered them with fabric and they look awesome! It was tricky because the boxes needed to be able to fit in a certain space and so we had to completely take apart the boxes we bought and measure them all and put them together all over again. You would never know that they are filled with movies! I LOVE my glue gun!!!! I carefully glued the fabric to the boxes so that when we are done with them I can reuse the fabric!

This is probably my favorite piece we redid. It was super ugly before... don't you love the fake wood look? But after we removed some of the shelving... When I say we, really I mean Spencer, and took off all the rubber pieces and painted it an almond color, which kind of blends in with the wall, but oh well, I think it turned out quite nicely for some refinishing virgins. Best part... It only cost us $35!!! I love the extra storage and I LOVE the look of it in our home! Ani loves opening and closing the little drawers. Not quite sure what to put in there yet.... Also I LOVE having a place for our mail in that basket! No more mail on the counter or on the dining room table.
We needed some new decor for our mantel over our fireplace so I had some extra yarn, bought these glass vases for $3 and hot glued these suckers. Super simple and cheap and looks cute! Thank you Pinterest!
Hard to see I know but I made the valance over the window, with the same fabric I used on the movie boxes, with cardboard. So it cost me a whole $3 basically. It looks cute and gives the room a little more character. It is nice because it still allows for the natural light to come in.

Spencer also did a lot more work. He hung a tong of shelves, my favorite, in the office area and in the bathroom as well as hanging so many curtain rods. He put in a new shower head and basically worked his cute butt off to make this house our home! I'm so lucky to have married such a hardworking and crafty man!!!!!



Monday, June 24, 2013

TV Review... The Office

***SPOILER ALERT***

I remember exactly where I was, who I was with, and how I felt watching the premier of The Office. It was my freshman year of college, 2004 to be exact (oh I am old) I was over at my boyfriends apartment with a couple of his roommates, eating some Little Caesar's, the takeout of college students. I remember laughing hysterically when Jim put Dwight's stapler in jello. I remember laughing at Michael Scott and his business practices. I remeber when "that's what she said" was th coolest thing ever. I remember the very beginning of that crush on Mr. Jim Halpert. I thought The Office was great. It wasn't long before Jim and Pam replaced Cory and Topanga as the world's most fabulous couple in my mind. I remember yelling at the TV begging Pam to realize what an amazing person Jim was. I remember at the end of season 2 dying, knowing that I would have to wait until the beginning of the next season to find out what happened with that kiss between Jim and Pam at Poker night. I remember Jim proposing, the wedding (cried for hours), the birth of their children. I remember using clips from the show in multiple college presentations. I remember dying laughing at the countless pranks Jim would play on Dwight. MEGA DESK!!!! I remember feeling so awkward when Michael promised all the poor kids that he would send them and pay for them to go to college if they graduated from high school, only to back out at the last moment and give them all laptop batteries instead. I remember feeling heartbreak for Michael when his relationships continued to crumble, but being so happy and crying (of course) when he proposed to Holly and she said yes. I remember changing my ringtone to match Andy's ringtone in the episode where Jim threw his phone into the ceiling. I remember hating Karen, for dating Jim and Jan for putting Michael into Bankruptcy. I remember getting on to NBC.com to read Creed Thoughts. There is so much about this show that I just love. I admit that I stopped watching once Michael left, but even though the next couple of seasons were super rough, the last season really redeemed the show for me. Watching the episodes leading up to the finale were rough. At one point I was sobbing so hard that all Spencer could do was laugh. The finale was hard to watch. I loved it and I feel as though they ended The Office perfectly. The crying began when Michael returned. His time in the finale was short, but it was perfect! I am not a fan of shows like this ending, but this one ended perfectly. I feel a little empty. Kind of like when I read the last book in the Harry Potter series. What's next? I grew up with Jim and Pam and their relationship. Where I was when The Office started, compared to where I am now, is so different. I, like Pam says in the last episode, think back at myself and I just want to yell at young me and keep myself from making stupid mistakes. But, now it's over. The Office is over. But Michael Scott will live on.... I quote him daily!

Sunday, June 23, 2013

DAY 673... Our New Home

We are finally moved in! Let's be honest... moving is soooooooooooo much easier when you are 6 months pregnant and not allowed to do anything. But we are LOVING our new place! When you go from 750 square feet to almost 1200 square feet, it is nothing short of amazing! Aniston is walking everywhere because  there is so much room to walk! It's definitely older than our old place, but the character is awesome and the Landlord seems to encourage updating. Challenge accepted! So the only way to show you our new place is through lots and lots of pictures!!! I could do a video, but I kind of can't stand my own voice... so pictures it is! We still need curtains or something in the dining room and in our bedroom, but other than that we were able to redo a bunch of DI furniture and it came out great! I took a ton of before and after pictures so I will do an entire blog on all that crafty fun!
 Our picture wall in our living room! I love and always have loved pictures!!! Kind of obsessed with this wall.
 Our kitchen... Finally not a galley kitchen. Don't be jealous that we have carpet in the kitchen! Haha! It's actually very comfy to cook in there barefoot.

 Dining room... See that awkward shelf? Not quite sure what to do with it. Any suggestions?
 The office area.
 Access to the back porch! Love the fan!
 Looking from the office to the living room. So much stinking space! I made that valance above the window from cardboard, fabric, and hot glue! Thank you Pinterest!
 Our fireplace! I cannot wait until Christmas!!! Decorating is going to be awesome!
 View from our front door!
 Another view from the front door. Love me a good deep coat closet!
 Looking down the hall. The black curtains at the far end of the hall is our laundry PS.
 Ani's room. Keeping with the red, black, and white theme.
 Already had to put her crib on the very lowest setting! She is growing too fast!
 Ani's closet and her rocking horse (that Spencer refinished). Ani calls her horse her "weeeeeee"
 Play area in Ani's room. This girl can definitely make a mess let me tell you what.
 Our room. See what I mean about the curtains?
 View to the bathroom and closets.
 His and Hers closets and the bathroom door.

 Our tiny bathroom.
 Another view from the dining room to the kitchen.
 Our back porch.
 I love that there are stairs to the grass!
 View from our front door.
 Lots of space...
Oh yeah... did I mention we have our own garage with a storage unit in the back? Sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

We are loving it here. Ani's favorite park is 1/2 block away and campus is super close. The best part is that we no longer have to fight the pedestrians from the college who don't know how to use crosswalks to get anywhere! So happy! Did I mention that this place is $40 cheaper than our last place? Even better!