Winds of change 2.0

I have been waiting to post this for quite some time. So here it is.

The big change announcements have been announced to those who need to be informed. Mainly my employers.

The three...ok, FOUR big things that have been causing me stress the past several weeks are as follows:

We are moving to the burbs in May. Not even a burb of Minneapolis. A burb of St. Paul. I am still struggling with this and am not ready to talk about it. But the lease has been signed so it's much pretty set in stone. Unless the townhouse we are renting burns down. Which would be sad. However, I am a believer of signs. And if that happened then surely it is a sign that we shouldn't move, no?

I am quitting my job in June (hopefully if they want to keep me until then--if not then you can find me pan handling on Penn and 394). This is probably the hardest thing for me because I truly have a passion for being a nanny for the two babes I currently care for. And I really love the family. But I also want my own children sometime soon-ish. While some nannies bring their children to work with them, I am not wanting to be with my future children 24/7. I am sure to some of you that makes me sound awful, but as with anything in life there needs to be balance. I refuse to raise children who only want to be around me because that's all they know, and that's likely what could happen if I continue in the career path I am in currently. I know it's odd talking about children that don't even exist yet. But we are in the planning stage of crapping out kids, and our current situation won't be conducive to that. That's another reason why we are moving to the burbies (better public schools and for our overall safety). And no, I am not pregnant. But everyone else around me seems to be, so you can bet I will be exposed to those baby rabies. And I will probably catch the fever. If I haven't already. Crap.

Definitely the scariest change of them all...I am going back to school. I am 28 years old and have not finished my undergraduate degree. This sometimes makes me feel "less than" you smarty pant college grads, but that's not entirely why I am going back. I am going back for me. To accomplish a goal. To provide the aforementioned yet-to-be hatched children the small luxuries of life. Ie: Jesse will want them to play hockey and I want them to go to theater arts camp (simultaneously of course, because surely the combination of those two enviornments will give us an Olympic figure skater, right?) and my current salary would not support that.

And there's one other small bump in the road I am facing. I hate being negative, but I am dealing with some health issues. Nothing super major, but still a bit scary. I have always been healthy, but recently have been experiencing large amount of exhaustion, and overall blah-ness. I sorta chalked it up to getting old (pushin' 30 here, ya know!). But I do not take the best care of my body. I don't eat the best and I rarely make it to the gym. Regardless though, I still decided to get some blood work done to see if I may have some things wrong with me. My mom has Lupus (google it) and it can be hereditary. She was diagnosed when she was my age. The test results didn't say that I for sure have Lupus, but they did come back abnormal, and I now need to have further tests done by a Rheumatologist (google it). I am anxious person by nature so I am definitely concerned with what this outcome could be. Aaaaand I have to wait until the end of next month to find out. Awesome, right? Nope. Not really. It sucks. I hate waiting.

So lots of crazy shiz going down in our crazy ever after. My husband has been handling it like a champ. Seriously. Nothing rattles this man. Calm as cucumber. Me? Not so much. I hate change. If I haven't mentioned this many times prior. So keep us in your prayers and send happy thoughts. For me that I don't go bat crap crazy. And for Jesse so he doesn't haul off and snap due to my bat crap craziness. Cuz that would suck.

Here's a picture of my cute dog. He hasn't been eating his poop lately and that makes his mommy much more receptive to his kisses.

◦

Winds of change 2.0

Febs.

A few things for this day, the second to the last day of Febs.

Word verification on Blogger is getting out of control. I leave a lot of comments from my phone and my poor eyesight and sausage link fingers are officially filing a complaint. No bueno. Total pain in the ace.

Leap year is tomorrow. Or is it leap day? Whichever. The once-every-four-year day always reminds me of a teacher I had as a kid. Well she wasn't ever my teacher, but my brother had her. Her birthday was February 29th so she told my brother she was technically the same age as him the year she taught him. This bewildered my 6 year old brain. I was all, "I don't get it. So she's my brother's teacher but she is the same age as him? Is that why she's so short? This just can't be so!" My 6 year old brain called BS on that real quick. And that's when my mom taught me what Leap Year was. I remember still being confused. Why do things have to be complicated? Leap Year is lame. I am voting for the presidential candidate who eliminates the silly year altogether. Because those are the REAL issues, folks. That's the kind of change we need to see in our nation, no? OK--here's where you tell me that a leap year is scientifically needed or something. Give it to me. I'm clearly uninformed. And waiting.

I got detention twice in middle school. The first time was for "cheating" on a spelling test. One of our words was February. Myself and another girl were finished with our test (note: BOTH of us had already FINISHED the test) when I quietly pointed out that the calendar had one of our words on it. February. Miss Lewis saw my gesture, flipped a her lid, and gave me detention on the spot. Um, excuse me? You are giving me detention for pointing out your stupid error of not removing the calendar. Ugh. Whatever, lady. It was a Friday, and I had to stay after school for an hour. I remember I was spending the night at Karla Babcock's house that night and she had to stay after with me. What a good friend (she still is too cuz she comments on this blog anonymously). I also remember what I was wearing. A black dress with little white daisies around the neckline (remember when daisies were all the rage in the 90s?), along with big, clunky, white bumper high tops. They were very Ginger Spice-esque. Hot sizzle.

The second time I got The Big D was the same year. I acc-i-den-tal-ly bumped into my Science teacher, Mr. Elliot in the hallway. I apologized. He then called me careless for not watching where I was going, and promptly gave me detention after school. Totally unwarranted, right? (agree with me, it's good for your health). But I felt vindicated several years later when I got news that he was busted for doing some terribly disgusting and illegal things (I refuse to go into detail). Word to the wise: Give me detention and I will wreck you. And you may also go to jail, as in the case with Mr. Eliot.

Alright. I am done stealing your precious minutes. Thanks for reading.

It's snowing today!!! And it's kind of pretty. Don't believe me? Here's a glorious picture.

Want to read some funny detention slips? Sure ya do. Read these: http://m.funnyordie.com/slideshows/6f7b120123/the-funniest-detention-slips

Sorry for the long link (#phonebloggingproblems). And thanks to Belle for the link. :) ◦

Febs.

Where are my Minnesota (and surrounding area) bloggers at??

website

Fellow blogger, Krysten (from the lovely blog, Why Girls Are Weird) and I are hoping to get some fabulous Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Iowa (and anyone else who wants to make the trek to Minneapolis) bloggers together for the 2012 Minnesota AIDS Walk on Sunday, May 20, 2012. I just registered, and if you're interested we'd love for you to join our team. We'd also love to have your support even if you can't attend (that means donate some money, yo!). If enough people want to get together for this then I am also thinking of planning an additional activity on Saturday night for us. Maybe a blogger happy hour?

I really want this to be a good turn out. Lets make this year the most successful AIDS walk yet. All donations to the AIDS walk help the Minnesota AIDS Project prevent new HIV infections and keep people living with HIV healthy. The first person I think of when I think of HIV and AIDS is Magic Johnson. While he may be a good spokesperson for the disease, he is definitely not your average HIV/AIDS infected person. Not everyone with the disease has the luxury of special chefs to make them meals, or personal caretakers to keep them healthy. Some don't even have access to the right medication to control their disease. Let's all do what we can to bring awareness to this. Let's walk to fight this disease!!

Who is with us?

Check out our team and sign up HERE.

Leave me a comment below if you're interested in participating or email me at lojerle@gmail.com. ◦

Where are my Minnesota (and surrounding area) bloggers at??

Pyramid Monday

It's Monday. I have a cold. A viral bullet I have been dodging for the last several weeks. Everyone around me has been sick. They've all had my sympathies, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it got me. Ironically enough it got me a mere few hours after smugly declaring how I haven't been sick with a cold yet this winter. Kiss of death right there, folks. I knocked the crap out of every wood surface I could find after I uttered those words. But to no avail. My nose is now a faucet. But I still have dry crusty boogs lining the insides of my nostrils which strikes me as odd. My lips are chapped. My eyes are watering. My head is congested. It's just a gosh damn cold. But it still sucks the big one.

I also went off on my dear husband yesterday after he did the dishes wrong. Yes. You read correctly. It was pathetic of me to hound him for trying to clean up after my gourmet breakfast I prepared. And I apologized. Profusely. And cried. He then asked me, "Are you on your pyramid or something?" Yes. I was, and still am on my pyramid. Pyramid is Jesse's word for my "girlie time". It always cracks me up because every time he says it I imagine myself balancing on one foot atop a pyramid in Egypt. And to bring this visual one step further I am also wearing traditional Egyptian garb whilst in balancing mode. Tell me you're not laughing at that image.

So this is what is getting my sick, pyramided self through this Monday morning. Coffee. Copious amounts of it.

Oh and I guess winter is finally showing up in Minne this week. Snowstorm's a'coming our way tomorrow and Wednesday. Might finally get to use my all wheel drive. And I am excited about this.

What's getting you through your Monday?

◦

Pyramid Monday

My state is better than your state

Don't believe me?

Then read this article.

Allow me a moment to brag by highlighting a few of my favs, mmkay?

50. We invented Oregon Trail. The game. I didn't know this. But believe me when I say that I will be bragging about this at some point in the very near future. Semi-related story time: I had a few too many cocktails one night (if I had a dollar for every time I started a sentence off like that...) and started bragging up my dad who helped create the IBM computer that beat Ken Jennings on Jeopardy. That too happened in Minnesota. True story. Well not the game of Jeopardy itself, but rather the creation of the Ken crushing computer.

43. Zubaz. Need I say more?

via www.theunticket.com

42. I have mentioned this before, but we are indeed the home of Target. You're welcome. Yeah. It's pretty lame that I feel responsible for this. But my state is, so kinda maybe I am responsible by association? OK. Not at all.

33. The Minnesota State Fair is the largest 12 day event in North America. It was going on during our wedding last year. I ended up there two days before the I Dos. At a time when I was about to pull my hair out from complete and utter wedding induced insanity. So what did I do? Went on rides, drank several Summits, and shoved my face full of deep fried food. And it was awesome.

This would be my husband playing midway games at the state fair. Barefoot.

21. Prince and Bob Dylan are my homeboys. My cousin used to hang out with Prince actually. And so did everyone else's cousin. 

20. Mayo Clinic. World famous medical facility where I used to work. My mom currently works there. I grew up a few miles west of it, and was born in the hospital attached to it. 

16. Target Field is in my backyard. Well not literally. But we walked less than a mile last summer to see the Twins get beat by the Toronto Blue Jays (hi Emily). Hopefully the Twins can make it happen this year. And by it, I mean, win a few more gosh damn games.

Taken this last summer. My boy (who's head I circled), Cuddy is gone now. And
I don't want totalk about it, OK? I still follow him on Twiiter, though. 

This is Twins territory, baby.

2. We are The Land of 10,000 Lakes, but we actually have more than that. We have like 11,000. And more coastline than Florida, California, and Hawaii combined. So put that in yer pipe and smoke it, sunny states. 

Now go to the top, click the link, and read the rest of them. If you want. The City Pages is one of THE best Minneapolis publication out there. 

Oh and have you linked up with the My First Time...Blogging link up? No? Well ya should. If not for any other reason than because I said so. Gosh. I am so demanding today.

Oh yeah. And on Saturday I am going to be writing a little bit more about my Minne love on Krista's blog. Go check out some other great Midwesterners that she is featuring this week. And yes. That is the third time in this post that I have directed you to another blog or site. I know you're bored. Just trying to find things for you to do. ;)

◦

My state is better than your state

My first time...blogging!

I started this ol' blog in September of 2010. It began as a wedding blog. A place where Jesse and I could write about our upcoming nuptials. And that's what we did. Sorta. And then I got annoyed with wedding planning (like five minutes after we got engaged), and found myself blogging about a lot of other random things in addition to our wedding. But it wasn't until a year later, while in the throes of newlywed bliss, that I started to blog for serious. Or as serious as I can be (not very serious). I started following similar lifestyle blogs, and found myself becoming part of a fun, not-so-little network of awesome-sauce lady bloggers. Interestingly enough, that's when Jesse checked out. Of blogging. Not our marriage. Ha! And then I found myself saying certain things. What kind of things?? In accordance with all the other Sh!t ______ Say Youtube videos going around, I give you the print version sampling of Sh!t Bloggers Say. Or at least sh!t I have found myself saying more and more in the past couple months.

"I am hoping to grow my blog..."


"Having a linky party. You should totally link up!"  


"Wanna swap buttons?"  


"OMG! I just found your blog. Looooooove it! Love you. Love the dress. Love the bag. I totally need to go to Target and buy that exact same ensemble. Stat. Was it on sale? I think I have a coupon! Oh, and PS--I am totally your newest follower."* 

PS-that last part is code for, "I am following your blog. Now be a good blogger and follow mine back. Even if my writing style bores you and/or is similar to that of nails on a chalkboard--follow it anyway, yo! Because we all know that this blogging business is just one big popularity contest, and the one with the most GFC followers in the end wiiiiiiiiiiiins!"


*That comment isn't verbatim. I don't use coupons at Target. But I probably should.  

Be honest. You know you've said those things too. Or at least thought them.

So today's link up is for you to take a little walk down memory lane. To look back at who you were when you were a newbie baby blogger. Back when your mom was the only person who read it. Maybe it's a was just a couple weeks ago. Maybe several years. Either way, go read it, and then write a quick post about how you have evolved as a blogger. Or add a little blurb to a post you planned to write this week. If you want. Or if that's too much work then just go ahead and link up that first post you ever wrote. Give it a little press that it deserves.

Here's MY FIRST TIME!!!

And yes, the title totally is a play on Bravo's Bethenny Getting Married? Did anyone catch the premiere of season three on Tuesday?? I haven't yet, but Jesse assured me I'd have the opp to watch it at least twelve more times before the weekend is over.

Here is a crappy picture taken by our computer's web camera. My photog skills
have evolved a little, no? Maybe? OK. Probably not. But at least I have Instagram now.

Oh. And I think we found a place to live. And in keeping with the Bravo theme...the only thing I am truly 100% about is that our leasing agent looked like Andy Cohen's twin. And I think we're going to be besties. There was a definite connection. I felt it. I am hoping he felt it too.

Now. What are you waiting for?!? Link up your first time BLOGGING!!

<a border="0" href="http://www.jesseandlauren.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee502/DigDeepDesign/MFTB-Button.jpg"/></a>

◦

My first time...blogging!

Dining in

Jesse and I have jumped the Lent bandwagon. We have decided to give up dining out for the next two month. I am not entirely sure when Lent ends, but we decided to make this commitment for the next TWO months. That's EIGHT weeks. Or SIXTY-some days.

Yikes.

Think we can do it?

I am having some serious doubts. So I need some blogcouragement. That's where you come in. And maybe you could point me in the direction of some easy peasy homemade meals for two. And if it's no trouble, perhaps you could also direct me to the nearest grocery store. Pretty sure I haven't entered one since 2011.

And if you weren't convinced of me being a mean mommy then let the following picture completely confirm it. My friend, Mike just opened a pet store and he is selling footwear for Fido. My dogs were unfortunately unwilling to give them a glowing endorsement.

Oh yeah. And don't forget about the link up tomorrow. It's all about your first time. And I can't wait for you to link up and tell us all about it. It being your first time blogging, of course. ;) 

<a border="0" href="http://www.jesseandlauren.com/" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1231.photobucket.com/albums/ee502/DigDeepDesign/MFTB-Button.jpg"/></a>

◦

Dining in

Boozeday Tuesday

I am not here with part two of the City vs Suburb saga. But I will tell you that my pursuit for an urban existence is not looking so promising for this girl. So in preparation for my looming move to the burbies I am drinking...

...my favorite Minneapolis beer. Yep. It's Tuesday night and I am on my third brewski. Awesome. #drunkblogging FTW.

Hey. We were fresh out of skim milk and I needed something to wash down that delicious Hamburger Helper I slaved over tonight.

In other news...

Are you going to link up on Thursday and tell us all about your first time...blogging?

I know I have been a craptastic blogger as of lates, but I still plan on hosting this link up with Digger on Thursday.

Be there.

Or don't be there.

But maybe you should, mmmkay?

Cheers! ◦

Boozeday Tuesday

Suburb vs. City

I've lived all over. I was born in a small town. Moved out to the country of that small town. Moved into (what at the time to me was) THE big city twenty miles east of Dodge Center. I then did a short spell in the south (maybe I will tell you about that sometime). From there I moved to a first tier suburb of Minneapolis (the year and some change that I ever lived all by myself--well with Apple too of course). Then I went straight into heart of Minneapolis. Then Jesse and I met, and moved to the suburbs for a year and a half. Aaaaand we have now been back in Minneapolis since this past May.

So basically I have gotten around. In a (mostly limited to Minnesota) geographic sorta way. Not in the philandering sorta way. I'm married. Jeesh.

As many of you may know Jesse and I are looking at getting out of Dodge. Some of you might be sayin', "But Lauren, you grew up in Dodge Center, Minnesota. Didn't you ditch Dodge years ago?" Yes. Yes, I did. The Dodge I speak of currently is a metaphorical one. In this case, Dodge = Minneapolis. I am not entirely sure, but I think the saying came from how people got out of Dodge City in the old west days. But don't hold me to that. I have been wrong once before (just once, though).

Newsflash! I am not ready to leave Minneapolis, though. Despite break ins thrice times, and a suspected drive by (oh yeah, I forgot to tell you about that happening, didn't I--totally happened RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR HOUSE, though), I still have a firm grip on my urban existence. Yes. I am probably certifiably stupid. I am convinced we're just in the wrong part of Minneapolis. And I am not ready to trade it for the suburbs quite yet.

 For every cookie cutter townhouse we looked at in the suburbs I made Jesse look at a cute place on the more southern (and safer) side of Minneapolis. It was a game of rental volleyball. And I have my fingers crossed that I will eventually be able spike that ball and do my Victor Cruz-esque touchdown dance with a Minneapolis win in the end.

Yeah. Don't ask me how I got from volleyball to football. I think it pivoted somewhere around the word, "spike". Not completely sure. But let's just go with it, OK?

So we saw a lot of places this weekend. An entire tank of gas has been used driving all over the metro in a rental scavenger hunt of sorts. Our heads are spinning from everything we saw.

No matter where we go, one or both of us will be making some sacrifices. I asked Jesse to make a pro and con list of the places we saw.

Here's what he gave me.

Minneapolis Pros

• Close to Laur Laur's work.
• Laur Laur closer to Bobos 
• Less expensive
• Minneapolis things for Laur Laur
• Close to Target Field (yay Twins!) and Target Center (yay T-Wolves)
• More space for Bobos
• Sven

Some clarifications for you. We pluralize Bobo and call our dogs Bobos. Don't ask. Jesse calls me Laur Laur. He also calls me Lauranus. Again, don't ask. And the last pro on the list was referring to the Sven Sungaard, who I just spotted today at our neighborhood coffee shop. He is a local celebrity/TV weather man that is quite easy on the eyes. He's also gay and super short. He walked past me while I was ordering my cup o' coffee at Cuppa Java today. I almost followed him, but realized he was going to the bathroom, and figured that might be bordering on creepy. 

Of course there were some cons on Jesse's list: Of course.

Minneapolis Cons

• Safety
• Property security
• Bobos' safety
• Crappy streets
• Stop and go driving 
• Safety and security of visiting friends
• No workout area/pool/hot tub/sauna
• No Target or grocery close by

Anyone seeing a trend here? Yep. Safety. It's a big one for the man of our house. I don't blame him. I know he wants nothing more than to protect his little family from danger. What man wouldn't want that for those he loved? And it's true about the Targets. We seem to have Super Targets everywhere in the metro area, but none of them are a convenient distance from where we currently live. And the closest grocery store is a little corner market down the street that is owned by two brothers. We go there often. Almost daily. We've become quite fond of employees, and love supporting small businesses. But it's way overpriced for two people who should be on a tight budget.

What ever will we do?

I am not sure, but if we don't figure something out I am going to look like this in no time flat.

YIKES!

I will be back some other time with part two of this Suburb vs. City saga, where I will share with you Jesse's pros and cons of the suburbs. I have been pretty sporadic with my blogging as of lates. It would be pretty vain of me to think you're sitting around waiting, with baited breath, for my next blog post. But I still imagine that nonetheless. Hardy har har. Only kidding. I haven't been commenting on my favorite blogs lately either. Blogging can be a full time gig, and sometimes I just don't have it in me to keep up with it. Hoping that changes soon because I really do enjoy the community it provides me with. You all are awesome and I miss your blog faces.

◦

Suburb vs. City

(insert clever and witty title HERE)

Sometimes I fake make out with my dog.

And by fake make out I mean that I probably don't need to brush my teeth tonight. Since Bobo took care of all of my dental hygiene for the the evening. Good dog.

In other news:

We got together with the kickball crew tonight for happy hour. Fun was had. I drank Miller Lite and ate my chicken fingers with copious amounts of blue cheese dressing. I love that one of my kickmates knows me so well that he sent me this text today.

Tone Bone never did show up. Lame indeed.

When this group gets together we joke about poop. A lot. What do you expect from a team that goes by the name We Got The Runs. My kickball comrades makes fun of me because I get super nervous before each game, and that usually results in my having to make a stop at the bathroom before I start playing. We call it Lauren's bubble guts. Sorry. Too much information? But seriously. It's out of control. I have performance anxiety when I play kickball.

In more other news:

We have about five appointments to look at townhomes and apartments on Saturday. Cuz that sounds like an awesome way to spend my Saturday, right? I can't wait to go walk the hallways of apartment complexes that reek of last night's curry dinner. Nummy. OK. I am totally being a bad attitude Betty. I am sure we'll find something that we like. There is one place in particular that I am definitely digging, but it's technically three blocks into Minneapolis. Or three blocks out of the burbs. But it's almost suburban. Unfortunately Jesse is vehemently opposed to us living in Minneapolis again. But I am going to try my darndest to convince him that this should be our next dwelling place. Plus this particular place is bigger, and teeny bit cheaper. I will keep you posted.

And thank for the sweet comments on my previous post. In the end both Jesse and I realized that things that were stolen are just that. Things. Sure we feel violated. And I cried a lot after it happened. But we still gots each other. And our crazy muttly creatures.

All is good in the hood.

Hope you have a good weekend. I need to go to bed. There is a puppy girl that is staring at me, and her eyes are pleading, "Mom. Cuddle with me."

PS-our place is a dang pit. Guess that's another plus to moving. Purging and reorganizing. Who wants to help? ◦

(insert clever and witty title HERE)

The winds of change

I have been in a serious blogging rut this past week.

I don't do change well. And whether I like to admit it or not, a whole lot of change has taken place in my life this past year. And I think it's catching up with me or something. Jesse and I were domestic partners (ie: sin livers) prior to getting married so I really didn't think much would change after the I Do's. But I guess I am realizing that things have changed. Mostly all for the better. But there are a few other pesky happenings that are making this ol' lady face the music.

Our first dance as a married couple (and our only dance--yes, we only slow-boogied on the dance floor together once the night of our wedding) was Make You Feel My Love. It was recently made popular again by Adele, but was originally written by my Minnesota homeboy, Bob Dylan. And of course my lovahhhh, Billy Joel put his twist on it once as well. I love the Adele version better, though (Gasp! Don't tell Billy I told you that, mmkay?).

One of the lyrics in the song is, "The winds of change are blowin' wild and free. But you ain't seen nothin' like me yet." (or something like that)

I sent that to Jesse today in a text message.

Change makes us better. Change makes us stronger.

What a crock of crap.

I am a creature of habit that doesn't like to be outside my comfort zone. Change is a big, hard, constipated turd for this girl (that's pretty hard btw).

One bit of change that may be taking place is a move. I feel like we just moved. Wait. We did.

We decided a few weeks ago that we're going to postpone the purchase of a home. It's just not a realistic for us at this point. Jesse is more sad about this than I am. I like where we live, and was happy to live in Minneapolis for one more year or so until I surrendered to Jesse, and allowed myself to be a submissive suburban housewife. I guess I should say that I LIKED where we live. Ya see, we got robbed on Sunday night. Complete suckage. Combine that with two car break ins (Jesse's and our friend's one night she spent the night here), and we're officially waving our white flag. You win, Minneapolis. We're ready to peace out. So we've begun the searching. And we're looking for a good deal in hopes that we can still save up some ching for a down payment on a home purchase sometime next year. Rental searches in the Twin Cities are super depressing. I don't want to go back to living in an apartment complex. That's not fair to our dogs (or me). I don't want to be almost 30 and bringing my laundry to the laundry mat. Huge ego bruise. Ugh. Countless times Jesse and I have said how badly we want our current duplex lifted up and placed in a safer neighborhood. I have granite counter tops here. Granite! In a rental! And new appliances. And skylights. And hardwood floors. And an extra bedroom (for the dogs). Ugh. So bummed to leave this place and our mostly all very awesome neighbors (not bummed to leave the break ins). So bummed to pack all of our crap. But I guess we have a few less boxes to pack. Hey. If that's not looking on the bright side then I don't know what is.

PS-I still don't know what all was stolen, but a good bit of our wedding gifts had been stored out in our garage (our place is small so we were storing them out in our garage until we got a bigger place to bring out all the new pretties) and they are sadly no longer with us.

Don't some people suck??

But hey! I am still hanging out and hammin' it up on Instagram. And I have been doing pretty well with my February Photo A Day challenge. I've done every day but one. I think I missed Valentines Day.

Here are a few of my favs.

A treasure hunting trip to Goodwill resulted in the above purchase. My favorite thrifted purchase to date. They are vintage dog booties held up with raindow suspenders.

Here they are in action. Seriously the best 20-some seconds of my life.

I cut my hair this past weekend. Again with that change business. I handled it pretty well. But only because my split ends were out of control. Here's a picture of my long, fried locks one last time. I straightened 'em out for one last night out on the town before the big cut and color Saturday morning.

Here's Jesse and I celebrating V-Day a few nights early. I am enjoying the new hairstyle, but I definitely think it makes me look older. Mature and distinguished? You be the judge. Go easy on me.

Jesse drew me a picture for V-Day. He really is an awesome artist. I love when we draws pictures for me. It's like we're in first grade and he gifts his doodles to me. But not really. Cuz we're old. And married.

And here is the blog debut of the infamous Muppet Face. I am sorry if you have nightmares. Jesse secretly loves it. Maybe.

Oh and remember that link up I mentioned about all of us writing about our first time...blogging? It's totally still happening. A week from tomorrow. January 23. I will have a list of fun questions for you to answer (if you want).

Here's the fancy button for it.

Happy thirsty Thursday! Yep. I am totally getting a drink tonight after work. 

◦

The winds of change

Happy Billy Joel Valentine's Day

I was given the above card this evening when I got home from work. Don't ask me what puppy years are. We have this weird way of interjecting the word "puppy" or "Bobo" into our conversations. It's a thing. Admittedly a very weird thing. Don't act like you and your significant other don't have equally weird things too. 

I know I've been relatively absent from the blog world the last few days. Mostly by choice. I am going through some not-so-blogworthy things (yes, Miss TMI here does know when to shut her trap and not blog all about it--shocking, I know), and I just haven't been much for blogging. But despite all of the crazy happenings I can't help but feel pretty darn blessed. 

When I opened my card from Jesse it played my very favorite Billy Joel song. I may or may not have started to cry.

My husband loves me. Just the way I am. It's a pretty cool feeling.

Even despite my spastic, emotional, CRAZY, Billy Joel obsessed tendencies, he still manages to love me nonetheless. I gave him a card with puppies on it, but I really should have given him a card that when he opened it played this Billy Joel cut: 

To paraphrase: You may be right, I may be crazy. But it just may be a lunatic you're looking for. 

I am my husband's lunatic. For better or for worse. 

My hope for you, my dear blog babes, is that you have someone. Anyone. Who loves you just the way you are. Even if you too are a lunatic. It doesn't have to be a lover. It can be your mother. Your best friend. Your sister, dad, or brother. I just hope there is someone who makes you feel loved and accepted. Today. And always.

Happy Valentine's Day from this crazy kook to youuuuuu! 

Read here what we did last year for Valentines Day. 

◦

Happy Billy Joel Valentine's Day

February week ONE photo challenge with whiskey.tango.foxtrot

I don't know how to make all my photos smooshed together in one image. I am not very savvy like that.

 But here are the photos I took the past seven days to link up with Kristen from Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. (PS-I still don't entirely know what that means but I think it's military related--explain your blog name to me,K)


Also. I kind of took these out of order. I am not a very good rule follower. I will try to do better next time.

Here's the list.

1. Self portrait

Crazy Eyes enjoying a glass of wine and not sharing with the Bobo Boy.

2. Something pink. And I completely failed at this one. Strike one. 

3. Something that made me laugh. 

This is what I woke up to one morning this past week. 

4. An inside joke.

I'd try to explain this but it's will never make sense. Leaving well enough alone.

5. Family. 

Aps is all, "Another picture? Really? Can't you see I am trying to cuddle here?"

6. Guilty pleasure. 

Beer, wine, and french onion dip on a Friday. Guilty pleasure. Yes, please.

7. Something you look forward to.

Leftover cold burger from Burger Jones. Gosh darn good. 

◦

February week ONE photo challenge with whiskey.tango.foxtrot

My first time

Get your head out of the gutter.

It's not like that.

I wanted to hear about everyone's first time BLOGGING!

Would you link up if I hosted a link up part-ay for our first time...blogging? I think it would be fun to write a new post and then include a link to that very first blog post that began it all. And then maybe talk about how you have evolved as a blogger, and human in general since you started. It doesn't matter if you started blogging yesterday, a couple months ago, or forever ago. I am sure some amount of change has happened, right?

I am going to come up with some fun questions that you can answer in your link up post (if you want). And I will launch the link up in the next week or two.

Sound good? Who wants to play along? Oh. And if this has been done before then please forgive me. It's hard to remain original in this ol' blog universe. I never know for sure if I am coming up with something original or if its been done before. Oh well.

Who wants to make a button for this link up? I am so dense when it comes to that stuff. I'd be much obliged.

Oh and here's a picture of my children with our (very) limited V-Day decor. I just love them.

◦

My first time

Bloggers Worst Dressed

Of course we've all seen our fair share of those What I Wore Wednesday blog posts. Heck, even I attempted one once (sorta). Read all about my To Belt Or Not To Belt dilemma I had this past fall before attending a wedding. I am seriously not good at them. At all. Absolutely zero judgement for the people who take pictures of their posed outfits. In fact if you are someone that does them then rest assured that I am probably jealous of your ability to run your hand through your hair, look down, and to the side simultaneously, all while making it look completely hot and effortless. When I attempt that I look awkwardly constipated. It's no bueno, you guys.

So I've decided to accept who I am. A woman with a terrible sense of fashion. Combine that with the heaping helping of I-really-don't-give-a-crap, and I think I could easily be a contender for the Bloggers Worst Dressed link up over at It's Blogworthy. This was an unknown blog to me prior to tonight. Thanks for the heads up, Duck. You rock. And so does this awesome-sauce link up. Seriously. This idea is pure genius.


Now. About our sweet digs:

Jesse and I spent a fair bit of our time down at my parent's farm this past summer. It was all in preparation for that big fat farm wedding of ours. At the beginning of spring the barn and the surrounding grounds were in no shape to host 350 of our friends and family. We got down and dirty. A lot. We scraped all sorts of poop and debris off the barn floor. We Jesse and my dad even spent an entire sweltering hot summer afternoon digging trenches so that the bar could have electricity. It was hard work. But it was worth it once August 27, 2011 came around. Mostly. I think I said the word elope like 854 times last summer.

This was our attire throughout most of the revamping of the barn. And to be completely honest, most of the time our wardrobe consists of this stuff. In fact I did laundry the other day and the sweatshirt/sweatpant/yoga pants (just to clarify-they're my yoga pants, not Jesse's) pile took up two giant loads alone. What can I say? We love our lounge wear.

And just to prove that I do wear this stuff like this alltheflippin'time I present you with this picture of me tonight. Same sweatshirt that I wore in one of the pictures above. 

Wedding ABCs will be back next week. Hopefully. ◦

Bloggers Worst Dressed

That story about my bra

I don't want to come off like this total control freak wife (but I sorta am).

I have my way of doing things. And I prefer that they be done as such.

My bras for instance.

I currently only own one underwire bra. (read fun fact #5 of this post to find out what mysteriously happened to the other one). 

Is it weird that I only have....errr, had two big girl bras? It probably is. The rest of my bras are the equivalent to training bras. Or sports bras. And I love them. I much prefer them to the constrictive underwire-y ones, and it's those that I wear most days. And if I can be completely honest (can I be honest here?), I'd rather just have my puppies off the leash most of the time. I guess it's another one of my things. One of my many weird, quirky things. It's even crazier considering I am a former Victoria Secret model employee and used to have all sorts of boobage support devices (but I was late bloomer and the girls outgrew them).

Me and my old VS co-angels. 

So I only have the one, single, lonely bra. It's a Body by Victoria racer back I think? Really not sure. So when I wash my precious one bra I want it to laundered and cared for delicately.

Tonight I asked Jesse to go throw the clothes from the washer into the dryer, completely forgetting my brassiere was in there.

But Jesse remembered. A little over two years of living together and I have finally (insert Hallelujah Chorus here) taught the man how to properly care for my undergarments. And now my hooter holder is air drying on the laundry cupboard handle. He didn't throw it in the dryer. And he even "popped the cups", which is my term for remembering to re-form the bra to it's original shape so it doesn't dry in a wonky way.

Me: Did you pop my cups, babe?
J: Yeah. I popped your cups. 

(that sounds so dirty but I promise it's not)

So what's this all to mean? Well. My husband? He is completely trainable. And he's definitely a keeper.

And I should probably go bra shopping.

◦

That story about my bra

About Digger (and our day yesterday)

Maybe some of you have noticed that I got a new spiffier look here on the blog recently. I take zero credit for it's clean and professional look. All credit goes to my girl, Digger.

She gave me a new layout, including social media tabs, three different sizes of blog buttons, along with a fabulous new header. To say I was blown away by her generosity would be an understatement. She even installed it herself after I gave her permission to log in to my Blogger account. That alone was great because I have a heck of a time with those HTML codes.

If you have a moment please go over and visit Miss Digs herself. She writes a great blog. She also helps me run The Blog Tap, a small blogging initiative that we're working on getting off the ground. And recently she even lent an ear to me as I told her about an embarrassing moment that has happened to me. She is definitely not just a blog friend, but a true, as-close-to-in-real-life-friend as they get. And I am thankful for her.

Check out her shop and how she does her design business. Seriously. The woman is a gem to work with.

And while you're linking around be sure to check out some new things we've done with The Blog Tap. Map on Tap is finally up. Be sure to add you and your blog so you can meet local bloggers. Maybe you can even start your own blogger meet up. Of course we'd love to hear about it if you do.

In other unrelated new: I head back to work in an hour. I had the last three days off (plus Tuesdays I don't start until noon) and it has been pure bliss. Jesse and I had the day off together and it was so much fun hanging out with him. I hope I never get sick of that guy. He seriously makes me laugh. All. The. Time. Does anyone else feel like Ferris Bueller when you take a Monday off? I don't feel that way on any other day weekday off. But there is something about Mondays that make me want to steal my Cameron's dad's car and drive to Chicago with him and Sloane.

Here's a little peak into our day yesterday:

I had to get my brows and lip waxed yesterday (yes my sweet, little early twenty-something readers, hair may miraculously start growing on your lip whether you like it or not, and if you're like me you'll be wasting no time in waxing that shiz). So Jesse patiently waits like a good husband should while I get my woman troubles taken care of. For about four minutes. And then he got roped into taking a food survey from a survey group at the mall. This is where I found him after I had the all the errant hairs ripped from my face.

He made seven bucks. And you would have thought the guy won the gosh damn lottery. That smile makes me smile.

Oh and here's what I looked like shortly after my facial waxing.

And no. I won't make that picture any larger. It's for your own good. Seriously though, I am pretty sure you could drive a freight train through those nostrils. I tell Jesse I will go to great lengths to assure our children do not get my nose or nostrils. I tease him about his tiny nasal passages (what? you don't joke about things like that?) when I really have total nose envy.

Hope you're all enjoying this fabulous Tuesday. And I also sincerely hope that after reading this you're thankful for your hairless faces and tiny nose passages. That's what I am here for. ◦

About Digger (and our day yesterday)

A Tale Of Two Two-Tier End Tables

Remember this teaser pic from earlier this weekend??

It's only like the third time I have posted it on the blog (and also the third day in a row, but who's counting?) so if you haven't seen it then you're definitely no longer in the running for greatest Crazy Ever After blog reader EVER. Boom. Roasted.

Nobutseriously. I did a little blogger crafting day with my girl, Carla.

Remember the Goodwill goody I picked up and mentioned in this post. Carla had a similar one, and she suggested we work on them together. And then blog-all-about-it.

We got down to business at her place. And for being February in Minnesota the weather was quite cooperative for our project. We were even able to sand our tables out on the deck without several layers of clothing on. In fact I didn't even wear a jacket which is nothing short of a miracle for our weather. I did, however, wear sweatpants with elastic around the ankles (thank you, Carla for not posting any pictures of me lookin' all cray).

The paint I chose was a Martha Stewart's Terra Cotta specialty paint. The only way I can describe it is as liquid sandpaper. Relatively easy to work with, but I'd be lying if I said I was happy with my end results. My little escapade of painting on the wild side might have backfired on me. But again, I still have another coat to go. So time shall tell.

Carla chose a bit of a simpler look for her vintage table. And I completely love it. I might steal it when she's not looking. I haven't really thought that through entirely. But I will make that table mine. One way. Or another. Read her take on our adventures here.

And here's how mine looks. So far. I am not nearly as awesome as Carla, thus I totally had to stage this picture by having Jesse hold a tablecloth behind. Completely hokey looking but I couldn't get Mr. Muscles to hold up the table cloth (also scored at Goodwill several years ago btw) any longer so this is all I got. Just pretend it looks awesome, OK?

Pay no attention to the (blurred) man behind curtain. And his little dog too. (Name the movie those quotes came from and I will mail you a shiny nickel. Maybe.)


Oh yeah. We did jack crap for the Super Bowl this year. But this is what we did last year. It's written by Jesse and it cracks me up every time I read it. PS-we hate the Packers.

Here is Bobo bonding with the new Bud mascot, WeGo. It was his favorite commercial cuz they had the rescue connection. Jesse and I made bets on how many times Bobo would get off the couch and bark at the Super Bowl commercials. We lost count after seven. And that was all before half time. Crazy puppy. ◦

A Tale Of Two Two-Tier End Tables