Weekend Project

Friday night Joe and I decided to stay in to tackle a project... painting the upstairs bathroom.  Yes, it was a Friday night and that's what we were doing.  We've officially turned into that "old" couple.  Haha.

Before:

After:

We're pretty happy with the end result.  It is a little darker than we anticipated but with the white accents it seems to lighten it up a bit.  Now I just need to touch up the ceiling from where I messed up one hundred too many times. (yes, that's right, I'm admitting a mistake or two.)

Appreciation

"Never let the things you want make you forget the things you have."

This quote pretty much sums up how I've lived my life.  We often take for granted the things we should appreciate most.  I have done this more times than I care to admit.  When life is good, you just assume it will stay that way or that it's just expected.  When things are going well, I assume they can be better and want more...always more.  This can range from a new cell phone, to the latest trend in jeans, or to more meaningful things such as relationships.  There is, however, one thing in my life that I have realized from day one not to take for granted and that is my relationship with Joe.  I think it's save to say that this is one more "life lesson" I have learned having met Joe. 

I wake up every morning and realize that I am quite the lucky girl.  I have the most amazing guy who reminds me daily how in love with me he is, he treats me better than any royal treatment the Queen of England receives, and has managed to keep a smile on my face for the last 8 months.  Even on days where I hate the world, one look at his contagious and perfect smile and my worries face away.  I'm not quite sure what I did to get so lucky...but I know I will never make the mistake of taking him for granted.  What more could I possibly want that I don't already have?!

Some days I make myself sick with how happily in love I am.

Legs

Mr. Gordie is 14 weeks old! 

It's hard to believe that we've had him for a month and a half now.  But what's even harder to believe is how quick he grows!  Right now he is pretty awkward looking and basically all legs.  Pretty much the cutest thing ever.  I have a feeling he's going to be a fairly tall GSP.   He's almost to the point where it's getting difficult for me to lift him up.  And... although he doesn't quite fit in our laps the greatest any more, he sure thinks he does.

He's learning basic commands and listens well, when he wants to.  More often than not he chooses not to listen though.  He's a handful but I wouldn't trade him for the world. 

Paint, Paint, And A Little More Paint

What started out as our living room art project ended up turning into a "where should this really go" type of project!  I'm a bit indecisive when it comes to decorating. 


Materials:

• Blank Canvas
• Wall Decals
• Spray Paint

Stage 1:

Stage 2:

Stage 3:

End Result:

Needless to say, it's not in the living room... it made its way down to the family room.

Moving weekend is COMPLETE!

The dreaded weekend is finally over!  I'm actually quite surprised with how quick the move went!  It took us only about two hours to get everything from one house to the next.  We were also able to get everything situated, set-up and put away.  SCORE!  I am quite relieved to have it all over with.  Waking up this morning it already felt a little more like home :)

The only projects left... a little fireplace mantel re-do and the upstairs bathroom will get a new paint job.  Pictures of the "new" house and projects coming soon!

The boys...

This weekend while going through and packing up my things at my house, I came across this...

It instantly brought tears to my eyes.  Next week will be two years since Timber and Scout were hit by a car.  Or in other words, two years since the loves of my life were taken away from me.  I will say that although I have a new puppy whom I love more than words, no dog could ever replace the special bond I had with Timber.  He was my once in a lifetime dog.  At least the little buddies are still together...

DIY Obsession

After completing our first Pinterest DIY artwork project, it's safe to say Joe and I may be obsessed. 

With the moving in process taking place, we've slowly decided to start doing some decorating around the house in rooms that it lacked.  Now that our bedroom is done...on to the lower level bathroom.  It was in need of some artwork so clearly we decided to give the tape/spray paint another try.

We didn't want them to look identical to the bedroom ones so we decided to do a variety of vertical stripes...and add in a third color.

Here is the finished product...

We have two more in the works.  Both very different from the first two and much more of a "process" to them.  Updates on those soon.

Moving... it's official.

Moving in with Joe has been made official.  I have put in my 60 day notice at my apartment and the moving of things from my house to his is in full effect.  Yesterday we made the big step of tackling my clothes.  Truthfully, that is always the most challenging part of any move I've had.  I'm happy to say it's OVER with.  I still need to organize it at the new house but... at least transporting it all is done with. 

Next up... packing things in boxes.  Ugh.  The good news is that I honestly don't have much to pack.  Thank god I'm not a hoarder.  I do need to go through everything and see what needs to be brought to Joe's and what needs to be sold, donated or tossed.  No sense in moving things I haven't touched for a year or so.  I will be happy once all the moving/packing is done! 

And a big kudos to Joe who some how managed to get me to get rid of a good ten pairs of jeans.  I must really love the guy if I parted with jeans for him.  haha.

Pinterest

It's safe to say I have a slight addiction to Pinterest.  There are so many amazing ideas on there for everything from food to decorating the house.  This weekend Joe and I decided to give one of the DIY artwork ideas that I had 'pinned' a try.  I am possibly the least crafty person on this earth and thankfully with Joe's help, the pictures turned out great! 

We used blank canvases, painters tape and some spray paint.  Waaaalllaaaa!  Ladies and gentlemen, we have some nifty new wall art in the bedroom :) 

It was SO easy and quick that we decided to give it another try to put some up in my bathroom.  We also have a few other Pinterest projects up our sleeves.  More on those in the next few weeks!

Splish Splash

With it being so humid this weekend we set up Gordie's pool for him to cool off in.  He was a little hesitant about getting in it at first... but once his frisbee went in, game over.  He enjoyed splashing around and pawing at the water.  He wasn't exactly brave enough to get fully submerged though.  I am thinking that will just have to happen at his first lake experience over the 4th!

Domestication

Slowly but surely I am learning what this whole "domestication" term means.  Lately, I find myself wanting to do things around the house, attempting to cook actual meals, and preferring a night in over a wild and crazy night out.

This past Saturday Joe and I had his parents over to the house for dinner.  We decided to grill up some coconut chicken, Asian coleslaw and potatoes.  The coconut chicken is hands down my favorite food from the grill.  D-e-l-i-c-i-o-u-s!  And shockingly, one of the few things I can successfully cook without screwing it up.  I was actually fairly nervous though, as I was the one preparing the chicken and the Asian coleslaw.  What if I screwed up?!  We had no plan B for dinner.  Ha!  I made sure to warn Joe's parents prior to the food being cooked that I was definitely an amateur with cooking so they shouldn't expect anything great.

I, however, was pleasantly surprised.  Everything turned out great!  Joe and his parents all commented on how good everything was.  I am hoping they weren't just saying that to be nice :)  Maybe there is hope for me in the kitchen after all. 

Reason #112

Monday I had a stressful day at work.  It was one of those days where everything that could go wrong, did.  I am not the greatest at leaving my work at work...so I brought my stress home with me.  I got home, did the nightly routine with Gordie and while making dinner Joe came home with a big bouquet of sunflowers to cheer me up.  This is one of the many reasons why I love him.  He always knows exactly what I need to make me smile when having a bad day. 

What flower is more cheery than a sunflower?!   Needless to say, the flowers and his gorgeous smile made my bad day turn good.

A Birthday & BBQ's

A weekend full of BBQ's and a 30th birthday make for one tiring weekend.  I had the pleasure of meeting two of Joe's oldest and closest friends who were both in Minnetonka visiting from out of state.  I was pretty excited to meet these two guys and was pleasantly surprised.  They were as great as Joe told me they'd be.  After a late night out, I was definitely looking forward to relaxing on Sunday.  That, however, did not happen thanks to Gordie.  Ha!  This coming weekend my goal is to NOT make any plans.  I feel as though every weekend is go-go-go lately. 

There really isn't much to write on this topic but I'm trying to get in the habit of taking notes on things we do and places we go.  My friend Stacey recently celebrated her third wedding anniversary and her and her husband spent some time on that day looking back through their blog looking at all that's changed over those three years.  I thought that was a great idea and decided to try it out for myself as well :)

It's Been A Month

It's been one month since we picked up Gordie. 

The things I've learned in the last month...

1. How the heck do people have children?!?!  A puppy is exhausting and needy.  Granted, I wouldn't change having Gordie for the world but man... this girl needs some rest.  How do you moms do it?!  I have the luxury of putting Gordie in a crate if I need to shower... if I couldn't do that.  I probably would go weeks without a shower.  Sick.

2. Every bad day is made better by some snuggles from Gordie.  Who could resist his cuteness?!

3. With that said, I also have had a few 'bad days' that Gordie was the cause of.  Haha.  So although he makes some days better, he also sure knows how to get under my skin.  One look at his little face though and I forget why I was mad or what naughty thing he has done.



4.  I now know what it's like to be the 'mom' of the problem child in school.  Gordie's last training class he decided he was rather bored and would rather not pay any attention to us and just throw a few temper tantrums.  Lovely.

All jokes aside, I couldn't be happier with the little guy.  He has picked up some quirky traits and it is so much fun to see his personality come out as he gets bigger.  Plus, he is slowly but surely helping me learn something from him as well... patience. 

Weekend Recap

Over the weekend Joe, Gordie and I went over to Kristen and Todd's on Saturday for a BBQ and some yard games.  I was excited about this for two reasons.  The first being the fact that I had not hung out with Kristen in a good two months due to both our schedules.  The second being that Gordie would get to play with other dogs, see new people and be around little kids.  And... a bonus reason, Joe and I would have one TIRED dog.

Everyone at Kristen and Todd's loved Gordie.  And surprisingly, he was very well behaved!  He loved playing with the kids which made me a little more at ease.  I want him to be good around children so it's nice when he gets the opportunity to be around them.  He was pretty fascinated by the little hula hoops the kids were playing with.  I guess he wanted a turn too...

Sunday was Gordie's first training class.  He did pretty good!  At one point he fell asleep on my lap and started snoring... lets just say for a little dog he's a LOUD sleeper.  The whole class turned around to look at the little snorer on my lap.  Oh well, at least it was the snoring that drew attention and not him doing something naughty to embarrass us.  Haha.  Within an hour of the class, our fella successfully learned how to sit!  I like to think he's our own little Albert Einstein.  Haha.  We've been so focused on just making sure he's potty trained that we hadn't even really tried teaching him anything else yet.  Guess he showed us he's more multi-talented than we thought! 

With Saturdays fun and his puppy class Sunday afternoon, we definitely had one tired puppy on Sunday.  This worked out perfectly because Joe and I decided it was time to clean and organize his house.  We have started the "moving in" process.  With my lease being up soon, we've decided to take the next step.  Since Gordie's came into our lives I haven't been at home other than to grab new clothes and check my mail.  I will say that I like this new change.  I'm not one for change and will normally kick my legs all through any change ever made but this one... it definitely feels right.  It's almost effortless.  I'm honestly quite impressed with Joe as he went through his whole house clearing things out and re-organizing things in ways that he thought would work for me as well as the both of us.  Very considerate of him and it made me appreciate just how thoughtful he really is.   He really seems to be trying to make his home 'our' home :)  More on that topic as it happens over the next few months and things start to move from my house to 'our' house.

Communication

Communication... for being such a simple word it sure can have a complex meaning.

For as long as I can remember my Mom has always said the key to a successful relationship is communication.  Although I've never disagreed with her I also never really paid much attention to just how true that statement was.  I am realizing more and more every day how important that life lesson actually is.

I'm noticing just how important communication is in every aspect of my life these days.
Work... without the proper communication my work world would be in shambles.  Every last detail is needed for me to perform my job successfully.  I am thankful I have the job that I do because I believe it's actually helped my listening skills.  They've never been 'horrible' but I do know I have a tendency to have selective hearing.

The biggest impact communication has is on more personal relationships with family, friends and Joe.  People are often amazed at how close I am with my parents.  I talk to them once if not two or three times a day.  I can't even remember the last time I went a whole day without speaking to them.  Maybe it's out of the ordinary but I wouldn't have it any other way.  Who would I call for advice or for when I'm wandering aimlessly through the grocery store looking for ingredients?! :) 

Friendships... as mentioned in a previous blog, these seem to be changing by the day.  Those "great" friends are the ones to where communication has been an important factor in maintaining the friendship through all the crazy changes life throws at us.  There are some friends that I may talk to a few times a month and others a few times a day.  Busy lives happen and some times it makes it hard to talk as often as you may like.  I am lucky enough to say that communication generally hasn't been an issue in any friendships.  Those friends that I may only talk to here or there are also the same ones to where when we do talk or see each other it's as if only a day has passed.

Joe... I think he may be the most important piece of this communication puzzle.  As most of you know, I'm stubborn and like things my way, always.  I don't generally see two sides, only mine, which I always presume to be the 'right' way.  Well, this guy has gave me a bit of a reality check and made me realize that isn't really the case :)  I enjoy hearing his side of things and the viewpoints he sees.  Some of which I have even learned to adapt to over my own ways.  Shocking, I know.  The thing I love best about my relationship with him... our communication skills together.  I'm quite amazed at how well we work together on things.  If there is anything that has the potential to create a disagreement or possible blow up, we talk it out and share both our views... some how we always manage to talk our way through things without one of us ending up angry.  8 months together and maybe one disagreement that could have been an argument.  Not too shabby!  I like to think it's because of our communication skills together ;)

The point of this blog... maybe mothers do know best.