My $13.48 farts and craft project

Despite a disappointing (but not too surprising) Vikings loss this afternoon, our household still seems to be WINNING!! (insert lame Charlie Sheen joke here) It was an overcast, rainy day, so I found myself keeping busy with some indoor projects.

Farts and Crafts time!

I was given this cupboard three years ago. My intent at that time was to do something fun with it and transform it into something not so drab.

Here is what it looked like this morning, and the three years prior to that.

A poorly lit photo, but I think you get the idea. It's white and a bit all over blah. A trip to the Home Depot OOPS paint shelf, and this cupboard found a fun new color to sport. And for only fifty cents!

Fifty cents! How about that? Seriously, the OOPS shelf at Home Depot is an awesome place to stop off at. If you're not married to a certain color for your project OOPS paint might be just what you're looking for. Today's selection was pretty decent. I love a good deal so today's find was a match made in Home Depot heaven.

Sadly I cannot call this my fifty cent project because I didn't stop there. I am usually always the last to learn about a cool trend. I am not very hip with it, so forgive me when I admit that I just recently learned about chalkboard paint. I know, I know. It's been all over the blog scene for quite some time. Well la dee frickin' da. I have finally arrived! Enter chalkboard paint into my life. PS-I am quite smitten. For an additional $12.98 I was able to give my sad cupboard one more happy twist.

Rust-Oleum chalkboard paint definitely has a different texture than most paints, and at first I thought it wasn't working. Turns out I just needed a lot of coats. As in four coats. It also works best if it is rolled on with a sponge roller.

 I have to wait a couple days before I can chalk it up, but in the mean time here is the final product. I am pretty happy with it. Not too bad for only spending $13.48.



Check out this project and a crap ton of much better ones at:



DIY Showoff

Oh. And I linked up here too!

The Girl Creative

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My $13.48 farts and craft project

A Big Fat Blog Birthday

In celebration of our blog's first birthday I decided to clean house a bit around here. I especially wanted to create a fancy schmancy blog header, but quickly learned that I am 110% HTML illiterate. Not to mention the Google gods were not coming through for me either. I can usually find everything I need from Google. Pictures of The Situation, a recipe for the delicious Mexican lasagna I made tonight (it was the bomb.com)...but nope, not anything on making a blogger header. At least not anything I could follow. So instead I messed around with the templates that Blogger provides us novice bloggers with, and chose one that fit us. For now anyway.

I also removed the poll that we put on the blog a few days after we started writing. It was polling our readers asking them whether we we should include Apple and Bobo in the wedding ceremony. For the record the voters were on Team Dog (ie: on my side). Jesse and I went back and forth on this. OK. Jesse said no from the get go, but I continued to push the issue. What can I say? I am a pusher. I hear that will come in handy during childbirth. Wait. What? I knew, however, that when we chose to do a church ceremony that there was no logical way to include them in the ceremony. Visions of Apple and Bobo running around like the crazed mutts danced in my head. There was no doubt that they'd find a way to take a huge dump on our special moment. Literally. But we still wanted to make their presence known, so in the corner of each program we had a picture of them. Thank goodness for our crazysexycool Swedish house guest who snapped these pictures the week of our wedding.

 

Didn't she capture their cuteness quite nicely? She also took several other fabulous pictures during her stay here, and I am anxiously awaiting their arrival. I wish Swedish Sara could live with us forever. I am still looking into ways to adopt her, but for now I had to release her back to Europe so she could be reunited with her Hammer man, where they could then run off to Iceland to slaughter sheep together. Yeah. Not even kidding on that one. Check out her adventures and breathtaking photos on her website.

So Bobo and Apple had their role in the ceremony by way of a small image in the corner of our wedding programs. But it didn't end there. We also wanted to show our puppy love by donating some hard earned cash to a favorite animal rescue organization of ours. This was probably my favorite part of the wedding. I know I should probably say that the vows were my favorite part. They were amaze balls, but us bartending for dogs was pretty top notch as well. Yes. I said bartending. We opted out of the dollar dance (sorry, just not our scene), and doing wedding favors (so time consuming and expensive, and then who keeps them anyway?), and decided instead to sling drinks for a half hour. It gave us a great opportunity to mingle with our guests, and shamelessly plug Safe Hands Animal Rescue. Read more about this agency's awesomeness here. I can't even begin to tell you how over the top, insanely cool this organization is. 

We ended up bringing in nearly $250. How cool is that? I refuse to take any of the credit. It is all thanks to our wedding guests and their generosity. Thank you to everyone who gave their dollars, their five dollars, their ten dollars, and their twenty dollars. And to the anonymous hundo dollar bill donor: You were either really drunk, or you really like dogs. Or both. Also, can I get a loan from you? Wowza! Thank you to all from us. And thank you from Safe Hands Animal Rescue. 

 There you have it. A whole year has passed by. The wedding planning is over. And life continues to continue. Looking forward to many more fun adventures in the future. Would you care to join us? 

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A Big Fat Blog Birthday

A Bobo Update (and why you should ALWAYS research your dog's breed)

The dog blog continues.

So I am officially THAT pet owner. My nervous Nellie-ness took over, and I ended up bringing Bobo into the vet today. We had a ruff night. Get it? RUFF? Sorry. Had to. Neither Jesse or I slept for more than three hours total because Bobo kept getting up, pacing, whining, and being a big ol' hot mess of a puppy. It seriously was the saddest thing ever. He has the occasional accident at night if we don't limit his water intake after 7pm but I guess we spoiled him too much with treats and water before bed last night because he had several (as in five!) accidents in our bedroom between the hours of midnight and 5:30am. Since he doesn't have a middle finger I am thinking this was his way of saying a big ol' BLEEP YOU to us. While a lab or some other larger breed may be able to cope with something as minor as a dew claw snag, an Italian Greyhound responds much differently (ie: quite dramatically) to pain of any kind. They are very sensitive. Read about their breed here. They are definitely NOT your run of the mill dog.

The resemblance is uncanny.

Bobo (full name is David Bowie after his one blue eye/one brown eye resemblance to the quirky rocker) was an impulse purchase. I strongly recommend everyone read up on the breed their interested in buying before they take the puppy plunge. Pets of any kind are a huge commitment. Bobo and Apple are no exception. Our dogs are itty bitty, but they still require a lot of attention from us. Thankfully they thrive mostly from lots of love and cuddles, something they get plenty of. Word of wisdom to someone looking to buy a pet: Research, research, RESEARCH!! When we adopted Bobo they told us he was a Chihuahua/Terrier mix much like his sister. I actually found Bobo by searching that mix of breeds on petfinder.com. It wasn't until we got him home that we realized that he may have had some Terrier and Chihuahua traits, but he was definitely a whole lot of Iggy, a breed the rescue organization never mentioned when we got him.

 I cried a lot in the initial days of getting him. I felt like I made a terribly rash decision in purchasing him, and that we weren't the right family for him. That's super hard when you fall in love with an animal approximately .4 seconds after you lay eyes on him. Buying him was so impulsive, and I was riddled with anxiety and insecurity...and a little bit of buyer's remorse (Sorry Bobo!). It's almost been two years and thankfully I now know that Bobo is the right fit for us, but he definitely makes things a bit tricky. He isn't so great with children, and is very much a one owner dog. Ironically he is all about Jesse. Ironic because Jesse informed me he'd leave me if I stepped foot in the door with a second dog. Go figure, right? Needless to say that Jesse is all about Bobo too. When I am not at home I get Bobo picture updates via text messages. Yeah. Our obsession with him borders on unhealthy. We're OK with this. Bobo loves his mom and dad, and his sister, but isn't too keen on other people coming into his territory. We're working on this with him, and he is getting a bit better, but he is definitely our challenging pup of the two. Apple was never like this. She went to work with me almost from day one (one of the many perks of being a nanny--providing the kids you nanny for with a part time pet). I like to think Aps has been a relatively good influence on her brother, and keeps him in line. Much like Jesse with me. Yes, I am the Bobo in our relationship. Thankfully I don't nip when I am nervous. At least not too often anyway.

It takes a lot for me to call in to work, but I knew I made the right decision today. The vet ended up removing his dew claw. I guess it was just hanging there so it wasn't too difficult of a task. I wasn't in there (they may or may not have asked me to leave the room) but I heard it involved the assistance from a few vet techs. Bobo is probably now on their blacklist. Oops? The dew claw is not completely removed, and should grow back. Removing it completely would require a laser surgery. Not something we're open to right now. Lesson learned on our part: Keep Bobo's nails trimmed. This all could have been avoided had we been more diligent in his nail care. We definitely deserve a giant kick in the buttski for not doing that. I am not even going to blame it on our busy lives, or his hatred for getting his nails clipped. There is no excuse for us neglecting him. We simply COULD have done it. We just chose not to. Period. Definitely a huge lesson learned. So on top of my guilt for calling into work, I have a load of guilt for not taking better care of our Bobo. Thankfully he has forgiven us, but only after he took a few dumps on our bedroom floor. We definitely deserved every poopy surprise he left us. 

So there you have it. I have spent the day at home, being a puppy mommy to Bobo. I missed a day of work, and a day of pay, plus incurred the expense of bringing him into the vet, but this is where I was needed, and I have no regrets. I am thankful for employers who are understanding, and while it was an inconvenience to them, they made it work, and respected my need to be with my "kids" today. I know they are just dogs, but they still have needs much like humans do.

Bobo has been doing a lot of this today. Usually he sits on us whenever possible, but I think he is still nursing his wound, and is afraid we might hut him. He has been curled into a ball in his new chair for several hours now. Thankfully the accidents have subsided.

But occasionally I can get him to poke his head up. A sign that I know he is feeling a bit better.

Thanks to everyone who commented on our last blog about pet insurance. We're definitely going to be investing in it. The dew claw visit was more emotionally exhausting than it was expensive, but the thought of something else happening to Bobo or Apple, and us not being able to afford their care is just too much for me to fathom. The insurance is just that. It's one more thing we need to budget for, but it will insure that our dog's will be taken care of. And you just can't put a price tag on that kind of peace of mind. I think only a true dog lover can understand this.

And now I leave you with some words of wisdom. I am not much of a quote girl, but I read this today and found it to be really helpful to my life's situation. I have never officially met this woman, but have followed her journey since last fall when we corresponded about the possibility of me being a nanny for her daughter. It never panned out, but I know you meet everyone for a reason, and I think her role has been to enlighten me with words of wisdom via her Facebook page. Check out her story here. And buy her book here. She is seriously amazing, and someone I very much admire, even though I have never met her.

"When you have too much to do and not enough time to do it, sit back, take some breaths and prioritize. Which things on your list will help the most people for the greatest good? Do those things first."

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A Bobo Update (and why you should ALWAYS research your dog's breed)

We seem to be having a situation

No. Not that kind of situation, silly.

It's a puppy situation.

I was having a conversation with a few puppy loving friends ours. We all have fur babies, and most of us have multiple. One's good. Two's better. Right? Most of the time. We got to chatting about how expensive those buggers can be. It was then that I took a moment to brag. We have been very fortunate, and have had very minimal expenses with our naughties. (I dare you to click on that link. Actually click on this link. I dare you! I double DOG dare you!) Other than some minor diet changes, Apple and Bobo have been pretty easy peasy pups. Shame on me for being a braggart, because I crap you not, the minute I walked into the house this evening I encountered a whimpering Bobo boy. I immediately noticed he was limping. But then he'd start running. Limp. Run. Limp. Yeah. Couldn't figure out what his deal was. I searched all over his awkward, long legged body and discovered what was ailing him. His dew claw was hanging off the side of his paw. It must have gotten caught on something today. Such a sad boy. It's not bleeding, although it appears as if it is detached a fair bit.

Apparently this blog can't seem to find it's place in the blog world. We started this thing almost a year ago (more on that in a little bit. Keep reading!) to chronicle our wedding planning. Well that's over. But the chronicling is not (again, more on that later!). But tonight this online journal has transformed into a bonafide dog blog. We'd love to hear from anyone who has had a similar dew claw issue with their pet. Or knows someone (that knows someone) that has had a similar dew claw issue with their pet. The good old interwebs say that we can put some Neosporin on it, wrap it, and it will grow back together on it's own. I am nervous about that. Plus he won't even let us touch his paw. Other sites recommend surgery to remove the dew claw completely, but that would require our baby boy to be put under. That too makes me nervous. So I am a nervous Nellie. Thankfully Bobo doesn't seem to terribly bothered by it. The limping has subsided (me thinks someone was being a drama queen), but I still think we'll be bring him in tomorrow. Should we or should we not? Am I being paranoid?

We're also considering pet insurance. When the dogs found out I scored some sweet ace health insurance after I married Jesse, they insisted that we price out a policy for them as well. As we've always been, we're very equal opportunity in the Jerle household. We're shopping around for some good rates, and hoping to insure these hounds before their care sends us straight to the dog house poor house. No joke! So the second question would be: Does anyone have any advice about pet insurance? Bobo is all ears. Literally.

So there you have it. That's our little situation.

Ugh. But NOT that situation.

Seriously, does he show up everytime I say situation?

Gross. I guess so.

Now. Enough of that nonsensical business. Let's talk about the future of our blog. As long as I promise to never post another Jersey Shore picture? Ok. You got it, dude.

Sorry. I couldn't help it. I had to bring some wholesome sanity back to this blog post. And you can't go wrong with the youngest Tanner.

In two days our blog will be turning a whoppin' one year old. My, oh my how the time does fly. And since they don't pay me to blog (yet!), and YouTube charges by the second...

Happy almost birthday, Our Big Fat Farm Wedding!!!

Seriously, why couldn't someone love me this much to send me something that awesome? They even got Grandma in there. And you know they had to do it inside the house because cousin Dirk's monitoring bracelet would go off if they tried it outside.

In case you didn't get the memo we're hoping to keep the blog stayin' alive (stayin' alive, stayin' alive) even though our big fat farm wedding has commenced. We've even decided to continue with the same name. What the? Why? Well it's a variation of it. You'll have to wait and see. I guess you could say I got bit by the writing bug. And it feels gooood. So good that I enrolled in a writing course this fall. Hey, I gotta do something now that all this crazy wedding planning is over. I have always had a pipe dream of writing for a living. Just call me Carrie Bradshaw (minus SATC2--baaad idea!). I am doubtful that will ever be a reality, but I am thankful for what blogging has provided me with, and even more thankful for the positive feedback we have received since starting this big fat blog. And for your reading pleasure, Jesse will continue to humor you every now and then too (when he isn't curled up in the fetal position crying like a baby because his wife is beating him in their football pick 'em league) Also, we really like when you leave comments. OK. Jesse could care less. But it strokes this writer's ego. Even if it's to say you think we're huge dorks. We know this. But a reminder is always encouraged, not to mention greatly appreciated.

Check back in the next couple days as we will be making some fun changes around these here parts. I also just got word from our fan-tabulous wedding photographer, and she is planning to post a blog post with a few of our wedding photos by the end of the week. So. Dang. Excited. I haven't seen any of them yet so this will be the first time I see them too! Can't wait to share them with you all!!

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We seem to be having a situation

Mr. Jerle speaks...

It ain't over til it's over. And well, it's over.

Finally.

The wedding that is.

It really was one hell of a party, but boy am I relieved it's all over!

Also, thanks to everybody that showed up. It seemed like most people had a blast and that's the goal we were trying to reach.

I now have entered my second week as a husband. After a few days away in the northern Minnesota community of Duluth with my bride, followed by an extended holiday weekend; today felt like my first official real day back to reality as a married man. I woke up and coffee was waiting for me. My wife said it well when she described the delay brew button on Mr. Coffee as "life altering". Truly it was. You mean it's made and waiting for us before we get up? I guess I do believe in miracles after all. I then went to work (update: I have a new, waaaay cooler gig than my prior job--perhaps I will share more on that later if you're lucky), came home, and had dinner waiting for me. All courtesy of my lovely wife. Well it wasn't fully prepared and waiting for me. But I did walk into the house to her in the kitchen. And she was wearing an apron. She said she'll share the recipe later. But believe me when I say it was good. Good as in I went back for thirds good. That's good.

Other than the whole marriage thing, not a whole lot else has changed. Our dogs are still crazy. The Twins are still sub par. And yeah, life has gone on. Lauren and I have lived together now for nearly two years, and pretty much know what makes each other tick. The only difference is now I wear a ring on my finger. Which, by the way, takes a little while to get used to.

We made one of our first husband and wife decisions. Lauren agreed to letting me purchase a Play Station 3 as long as I relinquished my rights to the Target cards that were so kindly gifted to us on our wedding day. This was after she vetoed my decision to use the gift cards to buy groceries over the next few months. Logical, no? I guess not because she keeps bringing home more trinkets and things for me to assemble. But I got my PS3. And yes, I do realize I'm 30 and not 22, however a PS3 seemed like it was called for at the time. I also bought me some Madden 2012, but sadly have only been able to play it once in the first 5 days of ownership (Note from the wife: He fails to mention that he stayed up until 3 in the gosh darn morning the night he bought it playing game after game...after game...after game with his boy, Jungle). There is one minor downside of buying the PlayStation 3. I let Lauren know that we now have "The Netflix". Yes. She calls it THE Netflix. Unfortunately for me she's gotten more use out of my new toy by watching HBO and Showtime series' from the mid-2000's. All is well that ends well I guess. On a related note: Weeds isn't such a bad show. We're both a bit hooked. Plus it keeps Lauren from flipping to Bravo. How can I complain about that?

And so life goes on. Without any more wedding planning! As much as we loved every minute of our wedding day, and the fact that we are now Mr. and Mrs., we are both so happy with how chill our lives have become in the days that have followed out big fat farm wedding.

And now for some obligatory honeymoon pics. Duluth was just what we needed after the big shindig. We'd like to get away again this winter for a second (warmer) honeymoon, but that has yet to be determined. However, if a tropical destination is not in our near future, we still feel so lucky to have gotten away just for the few days we did up north.

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Mr. Jerle speaks...