Wanna know Hoo I am?

I was reading a couple of my favorite blogs That's so City and Mama Bear when I came across this Link Party. I decided to join in on the fun as well. I loved reading other people's answer so maybe somebody will like to read mine?

1. What is the most physically painful thing that has ever happened to you?

I would have to say child birth. Although I feel like it was worse after the fact. Maybe a little strange? I had really easy labor with both girls.

2. What would you name your next child or if you don't have any your first child?

For a girl I love the name Kenleigh. For a boy, well, I can't think of boy names because I feel like I will never have one. haha.

3. If you could add one feature to your car, what would you choose?

Hmm...I would probably say a sun roof but I don't know if that is technically a feature. I really do want one though!

4. If you named your house (or car or computer) what would you name it?

O jeez, I have always wanted to name my belonging but NEVER can find a name that fits. Let me see what I can come up with.

Envoy(car)-Darla

House-Eloise

5. What is your dream occupation?
I would love to be a stay at home and bring in some income...possible? Probably not.

Too Early?...Maybe But I Don't Care!

So I have this new gig. I clean our church, which has gotten very big:) It takes me 10-15 hours to clean a week. I walk through the doors, put in my earbuds(for my ipod) and get moving. Although, I feel like I am listening to the SAME songs over and over and over. I even have it on shuffle.

Christmas time is coming, I know maybe a little soon, but for some reason I am really excited about it this year!! Plus, I was on the phone with the BFF today and she was listening to Christmas music so therefore I will not feel guilty anymore! Now, for why I am writing about this. I need a Christmas playlist!! It has to be long so give me your top 3-5 Christmas songs please and artist! Thanks

Here are my favorites:

-White Christmas

-Sleigh Ride

-Winter Wonderland

But, if you really want a great CD to listen to while getting in the Christmas mood. I have just the one for you!

Billy Gilman; A Classic Christmas

I have more but of course I can not think of there names, or even the words to Google it! Lemme know what you love to hear around Christmas time!

A Cute Lady Bug & An Adorable Poodle

Halloween was fun this year! We got to pass out candy at our new house in town. I have never had my own place to do that before, so it was a change for Jess and I.

We had a cute ladybug who loved passing out candy. I tried to take her trick-or-treating but she wasn't having it. She went to one house then wanted to go back home. Which I did not object!

Raelin was a adorable pink poodle. She was a trooper, was a great baby that night!

Now, I haven't really updated on the house lately. We had a couple of busy weekends that put things on hold for a bit. BUT...we(meaning mostly Jess and his Grandpa) are back at it! We almost have the whole main level dry-walled. I am extremely excited about this-yet that means I need to kick it into gear. I have all the paint purchased besides our bedroom. I just don't know where I want to go with it.

So hopefully soon once we get things cleaned up I can post some pictures. AND...I need to find my camera:(

The next big thing is picking out carpet. We looked the other day and I was somewhat overwhelmed. Don't really know what to do. Do we go with cheaper carpet because we know it is going to get dirty? Or do we spend the money on some decent carpet!? We know that we are going to get Nylon carpet-it is just choosing the right one. PLEASE weigh in your opinion! I need it!

Hope all is well with you:)

The dress

This past weekend was my uncle's wedding. Lots of fun was had for sure! Jess and I got to get away for the night. Also, I got to wear my new dress. It was so comfy and I LOVE IT! Endless possibilities with this little black dress.

REALLY bummed I forgot Jesse's tie. But he still looked good. He wasn't named "Best Looking Guy" of the Class of 2007 for nothing:)

If you have been wondering how my pop venture is going. I would have to say I am doing well. I drank 32 oz. last week. Although we leave for a trip to Canada tonight(which I should be getting ready for) I probably won't do so well then. I will be doing lots of hiking and such though. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I will post some pictures of our Canada trip when I get back!

I Love Pop

Weight loss...so not an easy task! I was doing really good about running or walking every day, but things have changed. I watch another little girl besides our 2 and I am canning like crazy! So to try to further my weight loss I am making a BIG step. May seem real easy to some but, this is a struggle for me. CONFESSION: I LOVE POP! I probably drink more pop in a month than anyone should in their life. I drink 224 oz. or more of pop a WEEK! That is ridiculous. So I am made a little challenge for myself. I am going to try to drink 32 oz. or less a week. Like I said before, it may seem too easy. But it is only Monday (started yesterday) and am craving a 32 oz fountain Dr. Pepper so bad.

Another thing I am adding to my challenge list is not eating after 8pm. This can be difficult when my hubby gets home from work late and we are constantly going trying to get our house done! But, I am going to do! I took my weight and on October 18th I am going to weigh in again and see what/if I lost!

Wish me luck!

Light at the End of the Tunnel?

The new homestead is coming together. My best friend came over on Thursday to help me prime the nursery. Funny thing is I think we talked to much. I got more done in 2 hours than we did in 3. But, it was so nice just to have some time with no little ones to catch up with my bestest.

Things Accomplished this week:

• Cabinets: FINISHED
• Cabinet Doors: 1 more coat of polyurethane.
• Drywall: ALL HUNG
• 2 bedrooms: PRIMED

I would say we had a pretty productive week!

This weeks' projects are going to consist of:

• Finishing Cabinet doors
• Painting Nursery
• Painting Girls' Rooms

For the nursery I am going with green walls, color of the ceiling is still up in the air. I was thinking maybe a lighter color of green.

The girls' room will be yellow walls, possibly an orange or pink ceiling. All of the colors not quite a pastel but nowhere near bright. PLEASE weigh in your opinions on my color selections.

Maybe there is a glimpse of light at the end of the tunnel.

Options, Options, and hopefully the pics work

I have been doing some online "browsing" this morning to find the perfect outfit for some upcoming occasions. We have 4 weddings to attend this fall. This means I need to find a couple new dresses for me. Andi is going to 3 and Raelin to 2. This is a lovely excuse to spend money on cute dresses/outfits for them. Added bonus, getting to get Jess some nicer dress clothes. I would like us all to coordinate but not specifically match. I am thinking these are great opportunities to get some much need pictures for our new house!

These are some options for the girls. All of them are found at babyGAP and are a little pricier. I love love love though that I can get them in both of their sizes. The first I am not sold on due to the fact it is now FALL! (craziness, where did summer go?) The last 2 are very cute:) Red and black seem to be the colors this fall at GAP. I find them more for Christmas, but they are still cute! The 1st one comes in black or red. Thinking that would be cute to do flip flopping the color of the cardigans. Corny? I could just get different colored cardigans or leggings...endless possibilities. If you have time go HERE and tell me if you like some of the other options better. Every time I look at the 2nd one I like it more. They would look so adorable in them! The last one I really like for the October weddings. The girls could wear some cute tights and come brown fashionable boots? It reminds me of Taylor Swift...weird, probably.

I feel like these are some good options for me. 2 of the weddings will be more casual and the other 2 would be fancier. I am really thinking about purchasing all 3. They are all each under $30!

I can't get my pictures of my dresses I want to come up. I think I am going to get all 3 though. I don't buy stuff for myself that much, so I keep telling myself DON'T feel guilty. Hopefully once I get them I will be able to post some pics of them!

Let me know what you think!!

Getting Ready to Get Busy

Priming is starting possibly tonight or tomorrow in the nursery and girls' room!I am so excited to get started and get some life into the house. Put our personal touch to it. I pretty much have the nursery all set.

Our nursery is going to be neutral,

we know

we are going to have at least one more. So we chose to do a bubbles theme. I am so excited to get this room going. The wall is probably my favorite things about this set. It is too cute! This is the lamp. Which is adorable. Not really girly, which is fine and I am sure Raelin won't mind. I will be using the green that is on the sea horse art work.

The girls' room, or Andi's for now, has got me stumped a little bit. We have a bed set and her bed has a cherry finish. I am thinking that I will paint her room yellow. Possibly one wall a different color. Andi also got a cool tree wall decal and canvas art that matches her bed set. I tried to post a pic but can't get them posted. But, it is very cute. Was thinking maybe putting these words on Andi's wall...what do you think?

More to come later. Getting started on it soon!!

Wednesday

It is Wednesday which means...

-We are have way through the week.

-"Hump" Day

-I get to see my big sister in 2 more days.

-Get to be at one of the most beautiful fresh water lakes ever with my 2 gorgeous daughters in 3 days!

-AND. . . pay day is tomorrow and friday! (can't beat that!!)

I am super excited to see my big sister! I can't wait to see what she thinks of her 2 nieces getting so big.

We have the first coat of actual paint on our cabinet doors and the cabinets themselves are pretty much done! I just have to apply some more stain on a couple and some polyurethane then we can call it good. I am going to put brushed nickel hardware on them.

Also, I am looking forward to priming the nursery and girls' room tonight.

I need opinions. I am trying to figure out what the best look for our bedroom would be. I posted wall paper options for our bedroom in an earlier post. I really like the avocado choice, but I am not totally sold on it yet. So any great wallpapers stores or websites that aren't that much. I am now also looking at doing a big bold print bed set instead of wallpaper. I just can't decide (Good thing I don't have to DO about that room right now!) I have some ideas in my head but have to talk to my designer sister about them to see what she can work up!

Life is Good, Life is Great

I have been just feeling so happy for everything I have lately. Getting back my positive outlook on life has been amazing. I used to always find the best in everything and after some family drama I took a downward fall of constantly thinking the worst. Just glad to be back in a positive mindset for sure!

Today was a great day. I got to spend the morning with my girlies and then the afternoon with just Andi Jo. Raelin went to Jesse's parents to have her naps. I had to get something done at the house and Andi is old enough to entertain herself while there or talk to me:) I have so much fun with that little girl. She cracks me up!

Andi, "MOM(gasps), me couldn't find you. Me look over dare and look over dare(pointing at each side of the house) and me couldn't find you."

Me, "Andi I never went outside honey I was in here."

It was hilarious to see her facial expressions. She is one animated girl that is for sure. I cannot wait to see what Raelin has in store for us! I am so curious lately to see how she will be when she is 2. I want Raelin to grow up and Andi to slow down! Too much to ask for?

So it was a great afternoon with Andi making a trip to Menards (with Andi telling me, "Mom, me likes this. MOM, me likes this."). And a quiet ride home because of her little cat nap. So tiring being a 2 year old. Unfortunately that is the only nap she got (15 minutes). Which I paid for tonight.

Just thought I would share how having these 2 little girls make me so happy each day! Even with a rough bed time I can sit back and think of all the little blessings God has given to me.

One more thing- Andi says," Mom, me likes motcycles, me likes them."

Me, "O no, you do? Do you want one when you're older?"

Andi, "Yah Mom me do want motocycle."

Me, "Andi, that would scare Mommy."

Andi, "Mommy you cry when scared. Me no want motocylce. Me no want you

cry Mommy."

Hope you see God's blessings in your life♥

**I try to quote Andi how she pronounces words, so bare with me.

Feeling "Stale"?

This weekend not a lot got done at the house to a fabulous trip to Chicago. Unfortunately, we had to leave the girls at home:( But, it was nice to go have some QT with Jess. Fitting in my Jesse time is one of the many things that is hard for me. I don't know if anyone else feels like this, I am sure they do though!

I find it hard to spread my time out. I tend to feel like lately that I don't give enough time to my husband. I realized that this weekend, we are only 21!! No way can we let things get "stale" already! It felt really good just to have some time with just Jess. It was like we found that spark that we lost after Raelin, our second daughter, was born. So to anyone that feels like their love life is becoming more a routine I suggest to take a weekend away to evaluate things and reconnect. It does the soul and your relationship good, for sure.

The best thing though is coming home and having them both be excited you are back. Even though Raelin is just about 3 months old, I could tell she was happy to be in mommy's arms again. Andi of course was too hyper for a nap and telling us all sorts of stories that went on while we were away. Being a mommy is the best thing that could have EVER happened to me, besides marrying Jess.

Life is a great thing, I have decided not to let things get me down anymore. I am way too blessed to be moping around "wishing" this or that. I am going to just take each day in stride and be thankful for the beautiful family God has let me help create and be a part of. I only hope to do him proud. Purchasing a house has potential to be very stressful and could cause tons of arguments/petty fights with the husband. I also feel this is another reason the last couple months have been "stale" for Jess and myself. I refuse to let this happen and we have agreed it is not necessary stress. For heavens sakes, we have 2 girls to deal with. No WAY do we need tension between us. Trying to raise 2 beautiful girls is a 2 person job, I give mad props to anyone who can do it by themselves. (This is a whole other topic!)

All in all, just wanted to share some things that have been on my heart. Hopefully you can relate to it in some way, or if you have some sort of idea what I am talking about this might help you feel like you are not the only one out there!

This post is all over the place I know. But, these are my thoughts and emotions on a day to day basis! Btw: I am all over the place in life, so it makes sense I would be on here.

Weekly Update

At the house this week much progress was made.

-2 coats of paint on cabinets. In which I am loving the color!

-Plumbing and Electrical all done on main floor. YAH!

-Drywall hung in Kitchen, Foyer, Nursery and Andi's Room.

-Started to take some Paint off of the trim in the kitchen. I have NO idea why they would want to paint it like they did!

We are very thankful this week for a big workday on Saturday with 8 men from our church. They got almost all the drywall hung that we needed! God is SO good!

A Mama of 2

So, I had my second child a little over 2 months ago. So, this means it is time to try to shed some of that weight off. I am not necessarily trying to reach a certain weight as I am trying to lose inches. I am not trying to get back into my high school wardrobe (which by the way is awful and I sold them all at a garage sale:)). Just get back to being comfortable with myself. Who knows maybe if I lose a few pounds my tatas might just shrink a little bit!! Oh, the joys of motherhood.

So in saying that, I am going to start doing some cardio 5x a week. It really is going to be hard for me but I gotta do it. I started about 5 days ago and have ran 1 mile 4 different days. I feel much better when I do this and it is already getting easier.

Tonight on my run I got chased by a yippee white dog (at least I ran faster). I have already shaved 2.5 minutes off my time! I am hoping to get some bike riding in as well. Then once we move into town possibly some rollerblading?

Hopefully blogging about it will make me feel accountable to someone? We will see.

Have a great night and a wonderful week.

Weekly Update

So, the renovations are coming along. To me it looks like nothing is accomplished but, some walls ripped out and some different wires. The husband has been hard at work along with his Grandpa and father. They have almost all new plumbing to my kitchen(downstairs) and full bath(upstairs)! I have been told by my husband that it has been a lot of work for everyone.

I have actually started my first project on the house though! I am very excited but a little nervous. I have all my cupboards cleaned and am in the process of sanding them. My mother in law was a huge help by sanding while I had to attend a family dual baby shower. At first I was upset that I was not going to be there, but then I seen her good intentions of trying to chip in on the house and I appreciate it more than she knows. I am pretty sure I have decided on a color though, it is called Rust Belt (a lot prettier than it sounds). It is nice to have so many people just stop in and see if they can help or ask! Which brings me to my next topic....

I was approached at church on Sunday by my dad to see if my husband would mind if a group of guys came over and helped on the house. I was immediately like oh my, of course! But...I had to talk to the hubby. He on the other hand has a harder time accepting help. He appreciates it but doesn't want to feel like it's "charity" work. So after thinking about it and having a very generous man approach him in person he willing said yes. Which means...next weeks update should be HUGE!! I hope anyway.

God is great and amazing in the way things fall into place so nicely.

I will keep updating weekly so stay tuned!

Cabinets

I am going to be painting cabinets and have no idea what color I want. I was not anticipating this so I have not been looking at colors. This is a BIG deal! I can't have something I am going to get sick of. Any Ideas? The countertops are like a light maple color.

HELP!!

Might as Well do it Now

So an update on our house. We closed on our house and have began the "updating" process. Although is has recently turned into a total remodel. Which will be great once it is done, but, will be a very long process. We don't want to go broke doing this, so we are just doing what we can each week so we don't spend to much money. Having a budget will be a necessity.

I am going to start doing weekly updates. So here is the most recent changes.

• We have started to skim coat the master bedroom. (the walls are all uneven due to a bad plaster job) We have a couple more coats to do with that and we will be done with that room.
• Purchased some new drywall for the kids' ceilings in their rooms. The ceilings are falling down and the last thing I need is one of the girls crying in the middle of the night from being hit by a piece of plaster!
• Also we have purchased drywall for the kitchen.
• Since tearing out the plaster and cabinetry in the kitchen we have found we need some electrical and plumbing updates. (Luckily my hubby is an electrician and grandpa knows plumbing!)
• We have tore up a lot of vinyl flooring only to find BEAUTIFUL wood floors. So I called around to get a few estimates on refinishing the floors. We are very excited about this! We will have nice hardwood flooring in every room except the bathrooms.

So there is an update of the last couple weeks. My hubby has been working like a dog, 10 hour days at work then 4 hours of driving each day then an hour or two at the house. He is crazy, but I love him for it. It is so hard because we are just ready to get into a bigger place. But, it definitely be worth the wait!

It seems like the phrase is, "Well, might as well do it now!"

Ideas...

I am going from room to room, but it's hard to focus on just one room. An idea I had for our bedroom was to do one wall in wallpaper. Here on some wallpaper choices I have been thinking about. Let me know what you think!

<--the color

is

Avocado

Metallic Silver and White-->

<--black & silver

We have currently put our dining room on hold for now. We are going to end up doing some remodeling in there. We have pretty much decided on a Sofa now so I am working on finding things to go along with it. So if you see anything that works with it let me know. Jess went into an antique place and claims there are some really cool coffee tables. So, I will go some time and take a look. I just want it to get to "old" feeling. I want to feel comfortable in it!

Here is that Sofa we have decided on as of now. It is actually a Sofa Sleeper and will be great to provide our guests with a place to sleep. Being that it is a sleeper it is $697 when just the Sofa is $497. I found this on www.furniturerow.com as well

Fit For a Family

First on the list of decorating is the dining room. It needs to be a family dining room that is going to be used a lot. So a kid friendly table is a must.

So we have been looking at dining room tables a lot lately. The one I have recently found I really like and so far is my top runner. It is from furniturerow.com and I have found there things are a tad bit cheaper. I am wondering though if I would feel that it is not great quality.

I find this table nice because you can actually fit up to 8 people at it. Which we plan on having more kids in the future, so extra seating is a necessity. A questionable thing is the height, it is actually like counter height. It is a concern only because we do have little ones. But, I am leaning more towards counter height for any table. What do you think?

I am open to any suggestions, so send some my way.

All Grown Up

Jess and I are in the process of buying house. I am very excited, but it is a HUGE deal! I have been up to my head in different idea books and magazines. I want to make sure every aspect of the house is thought out. I feel like my style has changed since decorating our recent home (for the better)!

So, I am looking for some input on furniture, colors, and design things. I am trying to make it more "grown up" but child proof at the same time. So I will be posting pictures of different things for different rooms. Hoping to start the dining room first then work into the living room. But who knows if I can keep my mind on just one room.

But with all of this on my plate I am still a mom of 2 beautiful girls. When growing up I never would have thought I would be a mom of 2, a wife and a home owner! It is a crazy life I am living but I love every minute.