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Saturday, July 30, 2011

Random and More Random

First and foremost, let me just say thank you to all of you wonderful ladies that came to the Back to School Boutique.  It was fantastic and I had such a great time...I hope you all did too.  :)

Ike had another really great over night stay at the vet's office for boarding.  We like to call it the hotel.

When Quinn came home from school yesterday, we had this conversation...

Quinn:  Where Casey and Chandler, Mama?
Me:  They went to stay at Meme and Pop's house this weekend so that they could go back to school shopping and have a girly weekend.  They're going to do lots of girly things, and you don't want to do girly things, do you?
Quinn:  No, I can't do girly things.  I not a girl yet.

I just let that one go.

I cleaned the photos off my phone today.  Here are a few of my favorites....


I'm pretty sure the trainer doesn't want to see that picture.  Its so yummy though...and from several weeks ago - our anniversary weekend.  And its kind of painful for me to look at right now because I'm pretty sure that I could inhale the whole plate.  Its the veggie melt at the Grill in downtown Athens, with a side of fries and feta.  Its a super happy food place for me.


After dinner we went for a short walk on campus.  That white building with the columns?  That's the chapel that we got married in.  Beautiful.

And speaking of beautiful...


...my chickadees getting ready for church a couple of weekends ago.  Chandler is really not that much taller than Casey.  If you look closely you can see that she has on those blasted wedge sandals.  I bought her a new pair of flat sandals the other day and made her trade me the wedges for them.  Ugh.



Here's Bikey, home from the hotel today.  And he can't seem to keep his eyes open.  It has been nap time allllllll day long.

Friday, July 29, 2011

Chandler

This child is a gem.  Seriously.  She makes me laugh every.single.day of my life.  Without fail.

We have had about a billion conversations about bodies these days - developing and periods and sex and babies.  They have lots of questions.  And I am trying my best to answer them.

Last night, while on the way home from the 3 of us running errands, Casey made a comment about how it seems like all the men in our family get cancer, so she's glad to be a girl.  I had to break the news that there have been some women with cancer too.  Like my Grandma Fondriest, who had breast cancer.  

Chandler:  What?  Breast Cancer?  What is that?
Me:  Its cancer in your boob.
Chandler:  WHAT????  I thought that you mostly couldn't get cancer in your boob or your butt.

Oh, dear, sweet child.  I have a feeling the questions and crazy comments are just beginning.  I think it is going to be a wild ride.

IKE and CO. Back to School Boutique


I am busy.  Super, super busy.  Swamped, busy.  Busy getting ready for this little shin dig.  I am really excited about it.  I love having lots of ladies pop over to the house to look at my handmade pieces.  Usually I make things, list them, put them in bags and store them in a rubbermaid drawer.  So, I love having them out all over the place.  Although it is also kind of distracting.  And then I fall in love with things all over again and it is all that I can do to not keep them all for myself.  :)

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

I love Enrique. I also love fried green tomatoes.

I love Enrique with Subzero Air Conditioning.  Like, really love him.  Its ok, not only does Chris know, but Chris also loves him.  Because we came home today and our upstairs air was broken - it was 89 degrees up there.  And we called Rebecca and then her dear husband came out to our house, after making 3 other calls, at 9pm.  I love that man. 

I had a cheat day today.  Meaning, I didn't watch what I ate.  Mainly because my new boss took us out to lunch (at The Savannah Room) and there wasn't anything that I wanted to eat that was less than 2000 calories.  So, I ate what I wanted - a fried tomato BLT with vidalia onion spread on toasted sourdough bread with a side of fried green beans.  And then I had key lime pie for dessert.  There are 2 things that I am proud of in this situation...besides that I ate all the fried that I could get my hands on (I'm kind of an all the way kind of girl...like if I was gonna have a little bit of fried, I might as well have a lot)...
1.  I only ate half my sandwich and 1/4 of my green beans and then I was full (with leaving room for dessert) and I stopped.  Prior to the lifestyle change I would have noticed that I was full and then kept on eating.
2.  I still didn't order a diet coke.  This Saturday it will be three weeks since my DCD.  Diet Coke Divorce.  Instead, I've had 96oz of water today.  No joke.  I totally drink water now.  And I sweat too.  I just didn't sweat before and so actually the whole sweating thing is kind of disturbing...and gross. And I think I might be having hot flashes to go with it.  Not that you really needed to know that.

I think next week I will be back to my WIWW posts.  Its been a LONG time since I've done one.  Mainly because I haven't been dressing.  I mean, I get dressed and all (because that kind of sounded like I was naked all day.  Not the case.  Definitely not the case.), but during the end of the summer if I knew that I was going to the gym I would just put on gym clothes to wear all day and that is hardly acceptable for a WIWW post.  Just sayin.

Monday, July 25, 2011

I'm done, may I please be excused?

Day 1:  New county, new school....everything was great!

But, oh, Good Lord, I am t.i.r.e.d.  In a big, big way.  But I didn't want that to be an excuse to not go to the gym because, well, let's face it, now that I am back to work, I am gonna be tired most nights.  So I went, and foolishly tried the elliptical machine.  Angie = fool.  Did you know that on the machine there is actually a warning that reads"If you feel pain, faint, dizzy or short of breath, discontinue use."?  Well, I feel those things most of the time at the gym.  I don't think I am going to be able to walk.  And won't that be awesome?  But seriously, I'm done.  Toast. 

ps.  If you would like to read about my original elliptical experience (you know, when I didn't even know what the name of it actually way)...you can find that HERE.

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Lifestyle.

My brain feels like it is allllllll over the place right now.  Does that happen to you?

1.  Chris and I are both starting new jobs...tomorrow!  Feeling both excited and terrified at the same time.  Feeling a little frustrated to be attending three days of new employee orientation after already having spent a morning at a human resource meeting and a morning at a technology meeting.  We think there should be a fast track for people who have already been in education for awhile.  :)  I am starting (gasp!) year 11.  I don't know where the time goes.  Really.  I don't.  I feel like we were just getting in the groove of summer and then its over.  There are times when I really wish we worked normal, year round jobs, so that our schedule would be somewhat more consistent.  The older I get the more I feel this way.  It messes with my brain...this need for a schedule that I have.

2.  I'm having an Ike & Co Back to School Boutique Friday night and Sat morning.  So, I feel kind of all over the place trying to get ready for that.  But am REALLY excited about having a house full of wonderful ladies.  Email me if you are local and want to stop by.  :)

3.    Chris and I have been really serious about this whole changing our lifestyle bit.  I've been hesitant to blog about it because...well...I don't really know why.  But, here's the situation (my parents went away on a weeks vacation, and they left the keys to the brand new porsche, would they mind?  Ummm, well, of course not.  I'm sorry.  Every time I say, "here's the situation" I feel the need to bust out with a little DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince.  Lame.  I know.  At least I didn't sing the entire song for you.  I could.  Its a secret talent of mine.  That and Ice Ice Baby, Baby Got Back and Its the End of the World.  I feel another post coming on about this. )  Whew!  Anyway, here's the situation...I am not exaggerating.  I gained 17lbs from January to June.  I went up 2 pant sizes and a bra size.  In 6 months. Some might say that I needed to gain weight, but this was the first time in my life that I have gained weight as an adult without being pregnant.  I even took a pregnancy test looking for a cause. 

In the five years that Chris and I have been married, he has gained just under 50lbs...25 of it in the past 12 months.  At the beginning of the summer when NONE of my shorts fit, we decided that perhaps we should quit the whining and do something about it.  Hence my random fits of running at the beginning of the summer.  But nothing was really sticking and we needed to do something.  Neither of us were feeling very good about ourselves or our lifestyle.  You know, the lifestyle were I have 3 helpings of country fried steak with white rice and gravy for dinner.  That lifestyle. 

So, for our anniversary we joined the gym again.  And we got trainers.  And we met with a nutritionist. 

I haven't had a diet coke in 15 days.  I am not even kidding.  I don't think I've gone this long without one since I was maybe 16 years old.  We have been using the My Plate feature on the Livestrong website.  (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, you should look at it.  Super fun.)  I've been going to the gym 4 (if not 5) times a week - doing some trainer-y moves twice a week and then cardio the other times I go. 

Now don't get me wrong, I still feel ridiculous doing most of these things.  You know, especially when I realized I had started throwing punches as I was running.  Pretty ridiculous.  But I felt even more ridiculous when I could no longer fit into clothes that I bought in MARCH.  March, people.  And not last March...this March.  I felt ridiculous when it was taking me 20 minutes and trying on multiple outfits when getting dressed in the morning not because I couldn't decide on what to wear but to find something that fit to wear.  Huge difference.  I felt ridiculous when contemplating buying new work clothes (again!) and then praying that the weight gain would stop (not to worry, I had my thyroid checked...its in perfect working order), when I could spend the same (if not less) amount of money changing my lifestyle and being able to fit in my old clothes.  My "me" clothes.

My trainer?  I love her.  No really, I do.  Even though she makes me mad when she says things like, "And we're doing 2 more, cause you can."  Sometimes I really want to tell her what she can do with her two more.  It wouldn't be nice.  Chris says that you can hear the two of us laughing throughout the gym.  And so it is kinda fun to spend 30 minutes laughing while doing ridiculous things.  She is also another white girl who loves gangsta rap.  We're also planning a flash mob dance together.  Although I think that's supposed to be a secret.

And Chris and I are doing this together.  And we feel really good about it.  We also feel really good about the united front that we are presenting to the girls and the positive changes we have made for our family.

And now that that's all out in the open.  I think I'll blog a little more about it from time to time.  :)

4.  The other night we had chicken for dinner and Quinn and I were going back and forth talking about how we love the chickey, chickey, chickey and then I would bgok, bgok, bauk, bauk at him and he would do it back to me and we were all laughing and smiling and having a fabulous dinner together...until my kid said to me, "Bauk you!"  And then we stopped laughing and all just looked at each other.  And now its something that Chris and I mumble under our breath...bauk you.

Friday, July 22, 2011

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

So I (clearly) have no idea what I am doing with this thing other than I decided to start fooling around with it the weekend before I go back to work.

Smart, Angie.  Real smart.

So maybe you should fool around with it and then tell me what its all about.  Cliff notes style.

Do they even still make Cliff Notes?  Just wondering.

NEW!!! And I am soooooo excited!

So I spent months dreaming of this necklace.  Months.  Seriously.  And then I've spent the past month really figuring out how to make it a reality.  Then I spent oh so many night shopping and comparing and determining which supplies I really wanted to use.  Really.  You have no idea.  Just ask Chris.  I've pretty much included him in on every step of the way.  Never mind the fact that he had no idea what a briolette was.  (But he does now, buddy!)

So here it is.  A custom made birthstone necklace.  It is perfect for mothers, grandmothers, daughters, friends...  Don't tell the girls but I am making one for them with their birthstone as a 1st Day of School gift.  It would be amazing as a bridesmaid gift - matching the stone to the color of the wedding.

This is the "starter" necklace...



It comes with...
a sterling silver chain
sterling silver clasp and findings
one charm of your choice
one birthstone briolette of your choice

And speaking of choices, you have quite a few of them....





But now, what if you have more than one kid, grandchild, etc.????

Easy peasy!  Just order additional briolettes for your necklace!

Here's an example (this is my necklace, by the way)...


My starter necklace would include the chain, the heart charm, and one briolette.  Then I would order 2 more additional briolettes - for 3 as my total.

See, I wasn't kidding.  It really is easy peasy.  :)

In all seriousness, I really love this necklace.  It has become my go-to necklace.  And I hope that you love it and it becomes your go-to necklace too.  :)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Just Do It (a shoe show)


Yep.  Just Do It....in your sister's black glitter flats.
Go ahead, ask me if my kid has any underwear on.
Um, yeah, that would be a no.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Holy Sockamoly!

Holy sockamoly!  This is my 800th post.  Can you believe that????  My whole childhood I dreamed of keeping a journal - you know, before going to bed every night I was going to write about my day and my dreams and all of the boys that I had mad crushes on...big sigh....I can't even begin to tell you how many journals I have bought - spent good money on - only to fail at becoming a journal writer.

A big, fat, epic fail.

But here I am, 800 posts in on this little blog of mine.

It is worthy of some sort of celebration.  I might just go hog wild and have a celebratory glass of wine tonight. 

But I'm not sure how that would be different from non celebratory nights.  Just sayin.

Anywho, the other part of this post is to let you know that, holy sockamoly, I have another giveaway going on....

This is my blog friend, Zdub (and her cute kids)

Do you know her?  If not, you should get to know her.  She writes this super hilarious - like, so funny I have to read posts out loud to Chris - blog, Raising Colorado...and she happens to like my shop (recognize those earrings??).  

So, I'm giving away a pair of earrings to one of her readers.  Go.  Read.  Enter.

Here.

Slightly Freaking Out. Just so you know.

Today is the day where I begin freaking out.

Just so you know.

It really started coming on yesterday and I tried to ignore it, but that clearly didn't work.

I also ate kashi yesterday morning for breakfast (a meal I typically choose to skip but the darn trainer makes me work harder when I skip a meal, so I was trying to be good and follow directions, so I ate the damn kashi) and then I spent the vast majority of the day in the bathroom.  TMI?  Probably.

So I had lots of time on my hands yesterday to worry.

I have to take the girls to register them for school today.  At their new school.  Which is also my new school.  And I am kind of freaking out about it.  Like screaming in my brain.  And that's never good.

I believe we all know that I do not handle change well.  And there are a lot of changes right now.

The times they are a-changin.

And I'm really, truly not sure how everything is going to work out this year.  And I kind of want to just cry today.  Which perhaps is just what I need to do.  Spend the day crying and then move on and get over it.

And part of me wants to deny that any of this is even happening.

But it is, and I have to deal with it.

That's so grown up of me, isn't it?  Ugh.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

New!


These will be up in the shop later today!  Woohoo!  More owl pieces will be arriving shortly...along with some other new pieces.  My plan is to go like gangbusters this week, because, it is my last true week of summer.  Big sigh.  And now perhaps we should have a moment of silence.  Such is life, right?  :)

New Entry Way and Artwork

We used to have a vintage telephone table in our entry way - made by my stepdad's dad (and its one of my most treasured things in my house), but we moved it into the living room to use with the new furniture in there....which then left a big hole in our entry way.  It was not good.  And I've been super torn about what to fill the space with.  Its an awkward area that opens into a regular size doorway into the kitchen.  So, I shopped my house....



...and moved my antique vanity (that belonged to my step aunt, that was passed down through her family) downstairs, covered it with a vintage linen tablecloth and then moved in some things from the front room - a stack of vintage books, a vintage kodak, vintage currier and ives print, some engagement pics (taken by Frankie...of course) and some fresh flowers.  It's not perfect, but it will certainly do.  :)

Last night the kids finally got to paint on the canvases that I bought a couple of weeks ago for our upstairs hallway art.  The girls decided to paint self portraits.  Quinn decided to...errr...ummm...have a really great time.  Although, you can make out some solid Q's in his paintings.  :)


Monday, July 18, 2011

Good Cheer Deal

Do you know about these Good Cheer Deals?

I've got one going on!

Here!

Love and Other Things

Jessica and her kids made it here last night just in time for dinner.  Which I totally should've taken pictures of.  Oh how I love Chris and his fantastic cooking/hosting skills.  Last night we had the tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella skewers, grilled pork tenderloin, grilled squash, zucchini and onions, and rosemary and garlic smashed red potatoes.  It may or may not have been on my new meal plan.  But whatever it was, it was delicious!

Our kids hit it off IMMEDIATELY!  Hooray!  And they all ran outside to play together, leaving Jess and I to eat a grown up dinner sans kids.  Delightful.  Really, I cannot say enough about how well they all played together.  And then it was bedtime and they.all.went.to.sleep.  Like Quinn didn't come downstairs once.  What is that all about????  Unheard of.  (Although he did manage to come into our room at some point in the night to sleep.)

Jess and I talked for hours.  And I think we could have easily talked for days on end.

It was perfect.  I love this girl and her kids.


{Lydia, Casey, Miles, Quinn, Chandler}



We were even wearing the same color polish on our toes.  No, seriously.  Without planning.



How crazy is that?  Electric blue toe nails???

And I made a pair of these silver earrings and sent them to Jess a couple of months ago and she loves them.  They are her go-to earrings and she told me that I had to put them in the shop.  So, I made a few pairs for you and they'll be in the shop later today.  :)

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Just a List.

  • I am super excited about today.  My dear friend, Jessica, is coming to spend the night with her two kids on their way from NC to FL.  SUPER EXCITED!  I haven't seen Jessica since I was 9 years old.  Seriously.  We've been in touch again for the past 7ish years, but this will be our first visit since we were kids.  She was the first friend that I made when we moved to Georgia.
  • Yesterday I took Ike to be boarded for the weekend.  The vet assured me that he would be fine and Chris keeps reminding me that either he is fine or she has given him some drugs and is fine that way. 
  • I have a list a mile long to get accomplished this week.  Things that HAVE to be done because we are heading back to work next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.  No, seriously.  I have 3 days of work next week.
  • Chris is also heading back to work next week because if you haven't already heard, last week he was also offered a job - as a k-12 Gifted Specialist - (working out of Central Office) - in Clarke Co, so our summer is coming to a screeching halt.  This is what was causing the lack of sleep last week.  Its a lot to wrap our brains around...both of us having commutes, but not being able to carpool because of the different hours we work, deciding to move the girls to my new school, Q being the only one left in Jackson Co now, resigning ourselves to this being a really hard, difficult year, but that next year will be better.  Big sigh.  Changes.  Lots and lots of changes.

Friday, July 15, 2011

I tossed and turned last night.

Oh, friends.  We have so much happening in our family right now.  So many changes on the horizon and so much that I am just not quite ready yet to share.  But soon.  And no I am not pregnant.  Just to put that out there.  :)

I did go this week for a whole lot of paper work in my new school system.  My stomach was one gigantic knot the whole night before and basically the whole time I was there.

I am convinced that big life changes get harder the older you get.

That's how it feels to me anyway.

We're also 99% sure that the girls will be going to school with me next year.  And it is a lot to wrap my brain around that.

Ike had his yearly vet visit yesterday.  He was awesome.  It is amazing to me how well he tolerates strangers poking a thermometer up his hiney, but wants to rip someone's face off if they enter our house.  The vet suggested a behaviorist at the UGA vet school.  So, I guess we're going to save our pennies for something like that.

Just a lot on my mind lately and I can't get it to all quiet down so that I can sleep.  And so I tossed and turned last night.  And if you know anything about me, you should know how very unusual that is.  I am usually asleep before my head hits the pillow.  Its one of my Fondriest family talents....I can fall asleep anywhere with anything going on around me, within minutes.

Last night?  Not so much.  Ugh.

So, stay tuned for more news in the coming weeks.


ps - Just when I am chin deep in worry, Chandler turned it all around for me...
She got up from breakfast to go the bathroom.  (She does this during every meal.)  She closed the door behind her.  And then I heard her say, "Bombs away!"  That kid cracks me up.

Owls.

I wish owls brought our mail everyday.  How fun would that be?  And this is not to say that I don't like our mail lady...believe me, I do.  But I also dig the owls.  Just sayin.

These owls are now in the shop!


Thursday, July 14, 2011

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Poop Patrol

Ike continues to poop in the house.  Its his 2nd flaw.  First being that he is not a people person.  Second is that he poops in the house.  Everyday. 

We finally have him not peeing in the house, but the poop is another story.  Big sigh.

Every time Ike poops, Quinn announces it.

"Bikey pooped!  Bike poop!  In da corner dere Bike poop!  One!  Two! Three bikey poops!"

He shouts this while laying on his belly with his face approx. 3 inches from the poop.

"Dat a bad dog.  Eeeewwwww!  I not like Bikey poops."

Really?  Could've fooled me.  Because I would think, based on your reaction, that Bike poops are one of the highlights of your day.

This morning, Quinn then went on to talk about how he was going to kick us in our nose next time Bike pooped.  Um, what?????

Then, as he was getting hugs and kisses from Chan he said, "Now dat's what I'm talkin bout."

Monday, July 11, 2011

What? The weekend is over? Over, you say?

I just don't really even know what happened to this weekend.

I mean, I do, its just that it went by way, way, way too fast.

Friday was our anniversary.  My mom (and stepdad) took the kids for the weekend.  But by the time we got home from driving them out to her and then driving back home we were tired.  And we live about 30 minutes away from anywhere to do anything/see anything/etc.  And we couldn't imagine another hour in the car. 

So, we laid around, reading, in our very, very quiet house.  I'm a little behind the times, but I was in the middle of The Hunger Games series.  (I am now very attached to Katniss and Peeta....I finished both book 2 and 3 this weekend.)  We decided to eat hibachi for dinner (oh how I love hibachi) and then we went to the grocery store together.

I know.  Really romantic way to spend your anniversary, right?

But, in all honesty, I can't remember when the last time was that we went to the grocery store.  People were kind of shocked to us - together...with no children.

On Saturday we went to the gym together.  I had to not look at him because otherwise I would start laughing.  So instead I looked at this other guy who, no lie, was using the pulley weight thing and hitting himself in the sides of his head with the handles.  Over and over and over.  It was pretty ridiculous.  (If you do this move, I am certainly not trying to offend you, and I think you should know that other people at the gym are laughing at you.)

Then we did more reading.  Then we ran some errands in Athens and had a slight change in plans at the last minute, so we ate dinner at the Grill.  While I am trying to eat a little better, there is just no way to turn down an order of fries and feta.  Just sayin.  Then we did a lot of downtown walking - like 6 blocks or so - in order to justify stopping at Ben & Jerry's for ice cream.

We drove out to mom's to get the kids yesterday.  Spent some time poolside with my fish for children.  Really.  All three of them are amazing in the water.  My brother, Randall, was there to toss some kids around in the pool and they were all begging for more.  I think Q thinks that Randall is the greatest person on the planet.

And then this morning no one wanted to get up.

But we had to.  Q went to school.  Chris and I had signed up to work at Our Daily Bread (the soup kitchen) in Athens.  The girls went with us and were extremely good and patient and well behaved.

I think that pretty much covers it.

Tomorrow we'll return to normal.

Maybe.

ps - I'm meeting with the trainer tomorrow and I have to show her my food log.  I'm a little nervous about it.  She might make me drop and do 20 for every piece of bread that I ate.  :)

Saturday, July 9, 2011

giveaway.

i am typing with one hand this morning because my other hand is holding an ice pack on my foot on the billion ant bites i have from when i stepped in an ant hill yesterday morning.  apparently, i itched they alllllll night long and now they are a throbbing mess.  ugh.  so no capital letters in this post since that takes two hands.

have you entered my giveaway on gussy?

you should.

i think it would be fun.

so, run, don't walk...over here!

Friday, July 8, 2011

The Wood/Silverware Anniversary.

Today is our 5 year anniversary.  Which is kind of strange.  Like, "huh, where did those five years go?" Although some days, its more like, "Five years?  That's it???  Are you kidding me???"  Those are the days when we haven't had a lot of sleep.  Like most days.

I'm making this a picture heavy post because I like my wedding pictures.  A lot.  And I also like looking at other people's wedding pictures.  So I think that some of you might like looking at my super fantastic wedding pictures too.


No joke, I think I started calling people at 7am the morning of the wedding.  Just to let them know that I was getting married.  Like my mom didn't already know that it was wedding day.  I was just THAT excited.  And the girls that I spent the morning with?  They were THAT excited right along with me.  (Including Frankie the photographer, who I can't imagine having anyone but her there for all that stuff.  :))
 The girls cracked me up.  Seriously.  They had poses for every picture.  They really thought that it was their wedding.  Which it was, of course.  :)  Look closely in the picture of them with Molly in the upper right hand corner...they were actually directing people down the aisle.  In case we missed our cue.


We had our reception at the Georgia Museum of Art on South Campus at UGA.  It was perfect.  Absolutely everything that I wanted in a reception.  No fuss, no muss...just us and our family and friends having a great evening together...on the dance floor...


No really, there was a tremendous amount of dancing.  I told people that if they wanted to speak to me at the reception they could join me out on the floor.  See that lady dressed in black that I'm dancing with?  Yep, that's Michelle.  The wedding planner.  She had some questions that needed to be answered.  I answered them.  On the dance floor.


In all seriousness, it was such a perfect day - from all my family being in town, to the weather (a mere 85...unheard of in July in Georgia), to the locations, and food, and music...and such a perfect start to our life together.

{Interesting tidbits...in case you're interested...}
1.  Our first dance was to Frank Sinatra
2.  Our wedding party dance was to Jackson 5
3.  We had all Beatles music played at our ceremony.  I walked down the aisle to Good Day, Sunshine.
4.  We had goldfish in bowls as centerpieces at the reception.  There were two in each bowl and they were all named...Romeo and Juliet, John and Yoko, Courtney and Kurt, etc.  People took them home at the end of the reception.
5.  When Chris and I arrived at the reception, we came in through a back entrance and went to our own little room where I was covered with a huge sheet (to prevent dropping anything on my dress) so that we could eat.  We had a full meal before being announced to the party.  I highly recommend this.  Wonderful.  We actually had time to talk to each other about the day, and to EAT!
6.  We gave out CDs as favors.  The first song on it was Hot for Teacher by Van Halen.



Thursday, July 7, 2011

I am a glutton.

In case you couldn't have figured this one out on your own, apparently, I am a glutton.

A glutton for punishment.

We have decided that there needs to be massive amounts of training happening in our house - the dog, our bodies, how to eat nutritiously, my husband...

Just kidding.  My husband most certainly does not need to be trained.  If anything, I'm the one in the relationship that needs training.

So, we've started the training with us - what we're doing with our bodies (way to much time on the couch) and with what we're putting in our bodies (um, yeah, I'm going to put down the bag of chips).  We only have (gasp!) a few weeks left of summer and we need to start making some positive changes.

Have you heard me say this before?  Yes.  Yes, I believe you have.

I am repeating myself mainly because I wasn't really serious then.  I have made up my mind and am serious about it now though.

I informed the rest of body my yesterday when I went for my first session with the trainer.

And today, my body told me where I could go.  And what I could do when I got there.  And it wasn't a very nice thing to say.

So I took it back up to the gym for some cardio.  My heart thanked me.  My legs, um, well, not so much.  They tried to make me fall down the stairs as a thankyouverymuch on the way out of the gym.

I may have to take the elevator tomorrow, but I will be going back.

Did you hear that, body? 

I.AM.GOING.BACK.TOMORROW.  {Please?  And thank you.}

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

What I Wore Wednesday, Week 16

Yep, linking up with Lindsey again!

on the left:
printed top - banana republic outlet
jeans - banana republic outlet
black roman sandals - rack room shoes

on the right:
plum shirt - gap outlet (new!)
gray shorts - loft outlet
black flip flops - gap outlet (new!) (and I love them.)


I am a big fan of earrings.  Most days I go without a necklace, but take time in matching my earrings with my outfit...even if I'm only running up to the post office or grocery store.  Both of these came from my shop!

amazonite bubble earrings...
bouquet earrings (out of this exact plum color, but plenty others to choose from)

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Tuesday.

First, let me just day that yesterday was a great day!  We had such a wonderful time with Emily, Josh and KB.  Annnnnnddddd...the food was outstanding.  And the beverages.  ;)  The kids were perfect - they all played together so well and Quinn just ran about in between the kids and adults and on his own.  A great afternoon.

And today was equally as wonderful.  We spent the afternoon with Dr. Ayers - playing skip bo, eating a fruity dessert and telling stories.  Excellent.

I also posted a couple new things in the shop today....

{aquaterra jasper necklace, peach and avocado quartz necklace}


And there there's this...

No lie, I have been dreaming about these pieces for months.  I bought these African Opals several months ago and having been saving them...looking forward to using them...planning and replanning and replanning in my head what they would be used for.  The necklace is long - almost 26 inches - and each individual bead is hand wire wrapped.  Can I just say...it.took.for.ever. ???  But, in the end, it was well worth it.  I LOVE these pieces!

Monday, July 4, 2011

Happy 4th of July!

Happy 4th of July!  We are heading over to a friend's house for an afternoon cook out (yay!  someone else's house...which means Ike won't be going nuts!) today.

All three kids slept together (yay!  no Quinn in our bed!) and all three kids woke up together and the girls fed Q without getting either of us up.  It was lovely.

But then I realized that it was almost 9am.  I'm behind the 8 ball.  And then I had to walk over the threshold with the chewed up carpeting.  That kind of ticked me off.

But I am going to....take a deep breath....and let.it.go.

There isn't anything that I can do about it at this point.

But before I let it go, let me just say this...it makes me sad because we (ok, mainly Chris) work so hard to have a nice home and it seems to me like the kids and the dog are just out to ruin all of our hard work.  If you ask Chris, I am sure he would lump me in with the children and the dog considering that I leave a pile of shoes downstairs everyday, messing up his clean kitchen floor.

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Last week the kids received a box of goodies from Grandpa and Gram.  The screaming and squealing.  I think the whole neighborhood may have heard them.  In addition to Q's birthday presents and gifts from their trip to Italy, my stepmom also has a tendency to buy out the candy aisle at Sam's.  This time was no exception, and Quinn's favorite thing in the box was a box of rice krispy treats.  He held it high in the air and danced around with it, screaming, "We have more cereal!  We have more cereal!"  He is a strange child.  No doubt about it.

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I've posted some new fun things in the shop this weekend!  And there will be more to come throughout the week!

Yay!

Sunday, July 3, 2011

Life With Ike...Not So Great.

Life with Ike these days?  Yeah, um, not so great. 

I mean, God bless him.  He is basically a good dog.  When its just us in the house.  And no one is running outside.  Or the people across the street aren't working in their yard.  Or when the mailman has already passed our house.

We have accepted that he just isn't a people person. 

People have dogs all the time that are flawed in some way....my aunt and uncle had a dog for years and years that hid under their bed and barked ferociously when people came over.  My grandparents had dogs that fought all the time with each other.

So we know that Ike needs to be crated/put in our room when people come over.

Keep in mind that we're home bodies with young children and we don't have people come over very often.

He has destroyed his crate.  Only when we crate him when there are people over.  He loves to be crated when we leave during the day.  To see his crate, one would think that it belonged to a pit bull...not a pug mix.  He howls and has scratched out the underside of our bedroom door.

So, at the beginning of the summer, I asked the vet for a sedative for the few occasions when we would be having a cook out.  It is clearly a source of great stress and anxiety for him and I know that I need to do something more about it.  While this is not a terrific solution, or a long term solution, it is kind of like a band-aid.  My vet didn't want to do something so strong, but rather prescribed something that would "take the edge off" - sort of like a cocktail.

We have used it several times this summer and have noticed no change in his behavior.

This is what he did tonight when Molly came over for dinner...


Yep, that's the carpet under our bedroom door.  We could hear him shredding it.  He also made sure to dig up the padding down to the flooring.  Awesome.
This is his crate.  He's been working on this baby for awhile.


Well.  So, there we have it.  FANfreakinTastic.

He was harnessed and leashed and we tried to bring him downstairs and he was really just scary.  Like he might attack Molly's face.  And that's never a good thing.

Sheesh.  Life with Ike?  Not so great.


{I turned the comments off for this one.  Just sharing tonight.  :)}