Nursery Reveal

This is right as you walk in the door of the room.  In front of the diaper bag is her closet.  Mom and I put the decal on the wall.  It's a sticker that has about 100 pieces.

This lamp sits on her dresser.  It matches the wall decal. 

The two baskets are full of her headbands.  She'll have one (or two) to match every outfit.  

These little critters are under the window.

Corner bookshelf/toy box.

The pictures on the wall are actually material that we cut out and framed.  They match her quilt.

Quilt that Grandma made.

Crib - Not that she'll be sleeping in it for awhile.

Closet full of baby paraphernalia.

Harry and Lloyd  Ozzy and Vinnie helping take pictures.  Vinnie's looking around like, "All this stuff, for one baby sister?"

Button's little corner of our room.  I think her pink bassinet is my favorite thing of hers.  Its so cute and it makes womb sounds.  I have no idea if she will like that or if it will scare the bajeezus out of her.

Mr. Vinnie

Miss Princess hates having her picture taken.

Don't forget to check out my giveaway!

My sexy new stove

Awhile back we got a new refrigerator. We were going to get a stove to match at the same time but the fridge was more than we expected. I ordered the stove and hood Saturday and it came in yesterday.  You can also click here to see more "before" pictures of the kitchen.

It was raining cats and dogs when we got off work so we just said forget it and went home. I cleaned our old stove really good. Which by the way, sucked. I'm going to make sure the new one stays clean.

Then we decided to go get it because the sun was shining.

So we get it home, unload it, take the door off the hinges, and finally get it in the house. It was just the two of us so it was somewhat of a struggle.

We get it out of the box and there is no plug in. I thought for seven hundred and some odd dollars it would surely come with a cord. Nope. Matt had to unwire (apparently that's not a word) the old one and wire it up to the new stove.

Then he took the old hood down and wired up the new one. In the dark. Because according to him, it was probably best that he kill the power to the house. Notice his head light.  Bahaha.

Then tada, she was ready to roll.

I think I'm in love with the stainless steel appliances. Next up, stainless dishwasher. Maybe.

Happy Tax Refund!

This year we got a healthy tax return, mostly due to the fact that we both go to school and we pay for mine.

We have been planning on getting a new refrigerator for awhile. We went and picked one out about 2 weeks ago. And let me tell you, picking out a refrigerator is harder than it sounds. I wanted one with a bottom freezer drawer. Our old one has an ice and water dispenser so I really wanted to keep that option. Matt wanted stainless steel. Also, that spot where our refrigerator goes is only so big.

After about an hour of wandering around in the refrigerator section, I decided on one and then changed my mind halfway through ringing it up.

The one we ordered came in yesterday. My daddy help us get it all set up. Here she is: (pictures via my craptastic cell phone camera)

Isn't she pretty?

Inside

Freezer

I love, love, love it. It's so quite and I was pleasantly surprised with how much stuff fits in the freezer.

I sorta wanted to sleep next to it last night.

The old refrigerator when to Matt's home garage. Once the bathroom is done out there, all he'll need to do is take his clothes out there and he could just live in it.

Just a quick update

This weekend was a pretty descent one for me. Friday after work, I went and did a little retail therapy. Saturday morning I cleaned like a mad woman. Saturday evening I worked. Matt did NOT kill a deer this weekend.

Sunday evening, I called the cops on the little neighbor kid again. We bought our house last June. We didn't move in until August. Between June and August a BB hole had appear in front picture window. We finally got the window replaced on Veteran's Day. $800.

The neighbor kid across the street and the another kid that lives behind us and down the alley a little bit run around together. Both of their parents are losers and have been in trouble with Johnny Law before. Well Sunday they were out shooting their BB guns together, after dark, with no parental supervision. So, I called Johnny Law. By the time he showed up, the kids were gone.

But I explained to him what had happened. And that last time I called the law they were there for about 30 seconds and did nothing. This cop was pretty cool and said to call if I saw them out shooting again. I told him not to worry about that, I would. I've never been one for snitching but when our shit gets broke, it's a different story. Not to mention, if one of them shot one of my dogs, I'd come unglued.

Tonight, I'm getting my hair colored black in honor of my holiday spirit this year. Then I have to take a test online.

After tomorrow, I'm off work for 4 days. I'm pretty stoked about that. Although, I do have 6 chapters of Accounting to teach myself before the end of the semester. The teacher moves at a turtle's pace and I need to know the stuff we aren't covering for my next accounting class. Oh and the bookstore won't let me keep my book past the end of the semester.

Happy Tuesday!

My husband's new love

About six months before Matt finished his time doing Active Duty, we started house hunting. One of the things Matt wanted in a house was a big garage or room to build a big garage. We bought our house last June. It had a junk shed in back yard that I don't have a picture of. This past April we made out like bandits on our taxes since we are first time home owners buyers. So we decided to invest our money into building a garage. After a little debating, confusion, drama we decided to have the garage built for us.

This is a picture of where the junk shed was.

Matt dug up all the cinder block from around the concrete, loaded them up, and got rid of them. It was only like 110 out when he was doing that.

Here is a picture of when the concrete was poured.

Here is Matt splicing together the internet line he dug through. Notice the Aerosmith 1998-1999 t-shirt. Classic.

Here is the garage after everything is done. The siding and shingles match our house perfectly.

View from the deck.

My daddy and brother did all the electrical work. It has about 14 plug ins in it. Matt says that you never know what you'll need to plug in. It has plumbing ran for a small bathroom to be put in it. That will have to wait until next summer though along with the insulation. The only thing left to do this year is to expand our fenced in area of the yard. Dad and Matt are going to start that tonight and finish it on Saturday.

Matt's in love with the garage. I hardly ever see him on the weekend. But it is close enough to the house that I can stand on the deck and yell at him when it's time to come in.

And since no picture post from me would be complete without a few pictures of the dogs.....

Vinnie chilling on the deck

Princess doing a little chilling

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Kitchen Makeover

I told you all awhile back that I was working on redoing the kitchen in a red, white, and blue theme. Before the makeover, I had a bunch of lighthouse and beachy stuff in the kitchen. I've been collecting lighthouses for years and quite frankly, I'm sick of them. I only have two before pictures.

Our kitchen and dining room are one room basically and the dining room has french doors that open to our deck. (That I love.)

After pictures....

My mommy made these place mats.

I got this runner for $4 on clearance after the 4th of July.

I love this picture. It's not obnoxious red, white, and blue. I think it has just the right amount. And these sconces I painted silver. Did you know that on all of the internet, you can't buy silver sconces?

New globe lights my little brother put up.
The old ones were gold and ugly.
Not sure what I was watching on TV.

New hanging light my brother put up.
Again, the old one was gold, ugly, and not centered on the table.

Stove and stuff. We put new drawer pulls on the drawers to go with the new silver motif.

Found these on clearance.

Clearance

Notice the curtains match the placemats?

French doors to the deck

Clearance

We are getting a stainless steel or stainless steel look a like refrigerator in the spring.

Corner shelf deal

My favorite decoration on the corner shelf.

The boys helping me take pictures.

Also, awhile back I won a bracelet and key chain made from 550 cord from Reina at Semper Gumby... The Return of Sunshine. Matt used my set of keys shortly after and said, "Hey that's 550 cord! Where did you get that?" My response, "Don't worry about it." Thanks again Reina!

Busy, busy

It's been a couple days since I've wrote anything so I thought I'd give you all an update. I've been busy. Like real busy. Matt left Friday for his two week AT. So, instead of sitting around pissing and moaning about how much I miss him, I've been doing stuff.

The boys miss him like crazy. The first night, I don't think they slept at all. They were constantly barking and getting up and wondering around. Yeah, I miss him but I actually haven't had time to miss him that much. Besides, 13 days apart is nothing compared to 438.

Here's what I've got done since Friday after work:

Cleaned both ceiling fans
Dusted
Cleaned out my cedar chest - I threw a bunch of crap away, which always makes me feel good.
Cleaned the stove top really good
Scrubbed the shower at 2 in the morning
Changed the pool filter and added chlorine
Pulled weeds and watered bushes - and then it rained
Got my oil changed
Took cans in to be recycled
Bought and changed the handles on the laundry room cabinets
Cleaned the office and threw some stuff away
Straightened up the hall closet
Scrubbed the front door
Washed sheets and blankets
Cleaned window sills
Cleaned kitchen closet
Cleaned laundry hamper
Cleaned all mirrors
Cleaned kitchen chairs
Cleaned all TVs
A ton of homework - I want to be done with my online class before he gets back.
Washed Matt's nasty jeans that have been in the garage for months
I also worked two shifts at the bar over the weekend.

Here's whats still on my list to do:

Scrub the green shit off the patio furniture
Clean all baseboards
Clean all hardwood floors
Clean cabinets inside and out - I'm about half done with this.
Clean fridge inside and out
Get rings cleaned and inspected
Buy, paint, and hang sconces
Go shopping (hehe)
Vacuum
Clean both bathrooms
Wash bed skirt
Clean spare bedroom
Straighten up bathroom closet
Buy green pillows
Clean leather furniture
Patio doors
Clean off deck
Clean camper
Wash all rugs
Attempt to clean garage

Today Matt has been gone....4 days. I need to pace myself or I'm going to run out of stuff to do. ;) Last night I put the trash out. This morning it was still there. I put it out a day early. I guess that's better than a day late.

Hope you are all having a great week!

Weekend = Busy + Hot

Friday it was ridiculously hot. After work I went grocery shopping and whatnot. Matt mowed the yard. There was a high school state finals rodeo across the street from our house at the fairgrounds. We planned on going to the rodeo all week, just because it's just across the street and it's something to do and Matt really wanted a corndog. It started at 7. We sat in the house for awhile and finally worked up the courage/stupidity to go.

So we went to the rodeo, and had to do nothing more than sit to work up a sweat. The rodeo sucked. It took place Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning, and Saturday evening. Each time they did EVERY event. We were there for two hours and saw more roping events than I care to mention, some steer wrestling, and some pole-bending. Each event had at least 20 people in it, so it took forever. We did see the rodeo clown have a bunch of kids take one shoe off, go to the other end of the arena, roll around in the dirt, and then go find their show. That was probably the best part. Oh and Matt got his corndog.

Which brings me to something I want your opinion on. I love animals. I'm not involved with an activist groups or anything like that, although I don't have a problem with anyone that is. I do eat meat. But, I just think it's cruel to rope baby calves, twist a steers neck until it falls over, and to throw a goat to the ground that is tied up and can't even run. What a shitty life it must be to be a goat that gets thrown around in rodeos every weekend. What do you think?

After, I was traumatized we left the rodeo, we had a few friends over to drink some beer in the yard. Then it started raining and we moved to the garage. It was a great time!

Saturday we took care of the pool. We got three tractor scoops of dirt and one of sand, leveled the ground out, and put the pool back up. We did all of this by 3. It was hot. Real hot. And it was muddy from the night before. Whatever, it's done now and it's level. Then Saturday evening, we went to mom and dad's for dinner for my birthday and Father's Day.

Yesterday, I worked at the VFW from noon to six. Matt and I went in early to clean the floors in the bar. I told the boss about two weeks ago we were going to do this. We got there at like 11. Matt left and took the mats behind the bar to the carwash. I was sweeping the floor when I heard someone yelling in the back room but I couldn't hear what they were saying. By the time I got there, I heard them yell, "Anyone here." I walked around the corner and it was the biggest cop I've seen in my life. He was all, "What are you doing here." And I was like, "Sweeping the floor." I told him that we opened in 15 minutes (at this point). He said, "Come outside with me." (all dickhead like). I went outside with him and across the parking lot was the manager. The cop asked her if she knew me and she said yes (thank god).

Apparently, someone idiot tried breaking in there last week. When she got there to count the money and whatnot, she noticed both doors were unlocked and she freaked out. She thought my car was just some drunk's car from the night before. Since I haven't worked there that long, she didn't know my car. She knows it now and she knows Matt's truck. So, hopefully I won't be getting the cops called on me there anymore.

Hope you all had a great weekend!

Neighborhood drama

Let me start out by saying, we love our house. We both worked very hard for the house, everything in it, and everything in the driveway. Our house is cute and it feels like home.

We live in a small town. A very small town. 2000 people small. Our neighbors next door are really sweet old people. She has brought us delicious pies and zucchini bread that we didn't really care for but that's besides the point. They wave at us and are generally good neighbors.

We don't really know too many of the other neighbors. The guy behind us mows his yard about every other day and waves at us. The guy to the east of us is young and single and is not home a lot but he waves when we see him.

The problem lies with the neighbors across the street. The word in town is that the dad got a DUI on his lawnmower or moped. I've heard both stories. I've also heard from several people that the guy has done time in jail for drugs. A little pot I believe. I know good people that smoke pot. I'm not one to judge about that sort of thing. The thing is they have people constantly coming and going from there house. The are constantly leaving there house. Still we don't really care what goes on there, as far as that goes. We just kind of joke about it. "There goes the neighbors again." "Got another customer."

The thing that is an issue is their kids. I think its a mine, yours, and ours kid deal. I know they have one together and there are others that are there sometimes too. All boys. The real problem is that they shoot at stuff with their beebee gun in the front yard, toward our house.

Now when we bought the house, Matt was still in the Army and at Ft. Lewis and I had to deal with the home inspection and all that good stuff. When I had the house inspected, one window was cracked. The homeowners fixed it as part of the deal. We closed on the house sometime in June and didn't move in until the beginning of August. By the time we moved in, there was a beebee hole in the front picture window. I meant to get it fixed but I never got around to it. Over the winter, the crack grew to half the size of the window. It has to be fixed now.

Last night, Matt's truck was parked out front. He normally parks in the back. When he got out of the truck he heard a bebe bounce off the tree. (How the heck you spell rickashay?) The kid shooting the gun is not the one that normally is. This one is older. The parents of course weren't home. Matt watches him shoot toward our house for about five minutes. The kids was like 13. I think if we would have talked to him rather than the parents, it would have only made matters worse. Matt called the cops. If it were up to me, I wouldn't have called them but he was mad and there was no reasoning at that point.

The cop shows up and is literally there 30 seconds. The kid walks up to the cop car with the gun. He must have told the kid to put the guy away. After that we did not see him.

I'm thinking the next time I see the parents, I'm going to have a talk with them. Tell them, "Hey we aren't stupid. We know what goes on over here and we don't care. But if we have any more broken windows our dings in our vehicles, we will have a problem." I also thought about sticking the bill for the new window in there mailbox.

You guys and gals are all smart, what do you think I should do?

Life is good!

Yesterday after Matt and I got off work we went to get our taxes done. We bought a home in 2009. (Fat Deduction) We paid for all my school cash. (Deduction) We are getting a hefty return this year. It has to be mailed off because of the house purchase so, we will get the money in about two months.

Here's what we are going to do with the money:

1. Build Matt a man garage. It's going to be a 24' x 24' garage with one over sized overhead garage door. Matt needs a place to go outside to play and keep his toys and his truck. Our house has a one car garage right now. And a pile of crap shed behind the house. The pile of crap is getting torn down, destroyed, burned, hauled off. I really don't care what happens to it but it is going. We are building the garage were the pile of crap is now. Matt believes that himself, some of his buddies, and some relatives can build the garage so, we should just have to have concrete poured.

Our house:




2. Going to buy a new refrigerator for the house and move the one from the house to the new man garage. We both want a stainless steel one. Does anyone have one with the freezer drawer at the bottom? What do you think about that? I was thinking I might like that. It's gotta have an ice and water dispenser. That's a must.

3. We are going to have to get some rocks to go from the road to the new man garage. We already got the city to put in a culvert this past fall. (We told them we needed it to move the piece of crap shed out and that we wanted to do that ASAP. But we really needed it so that my mom and dad could park their camper in the back yard during our house warming party weekend.)

4. I want some bushes for the landscaping.

5. We need to make the fenced in area of our yard bigger. Once the man garage is build, we can put the fence from the house to the man garage and then out and then back to the house or something. Right now Ozzy only has about a 10' x 20' area to do his business in. Poor little fella.

We aren't going to blow the money or be flat broke one everything is done. And plus we will be building some equity in our home. Also, I will have somewhere to send Matt if he is driving me nuts. It's a win-win situation.

Not complaining too much, just sharing

We usually keep it fairly cool in our house. The thermostat is usually set at around 63 while we are home and 60 while we are at work. I don't mind it. If I'm doing stuff I don't notice and if I'm at my base of operations (couch) I just use a cover.

Yesterday when we got home from work it was 57 degrees in our house. The thermostat was set on 62. Matt turned it to off and then back to heat. It kicked on for about 2 minutes but never blew hot air.

So I called my daddy. You see, my daddy can fix pretty much anything. (Except for furnaces) He's a jack of all trades. He came over and used his wire tester and drank a beer while he and my husband stared at the furnace scratching their butts. (I was at school but, I'm pretty sure that's how it went down.)

Needless to say, they didn't get it fixed. I don't mind the cold when I'm sleeping but, when I was getting ready this morning, it was 55 in our house. The toilet seat was rather chilly. I called someone to come and look at it this afternoon so hopefully it gets fixed today.

***

Last night while I was at school, I received an email that the order I had placed for my brother's present was canceled. No explanation. Just canceled. I found something similar to it and ordered that.

***

This morning I get to work and I received an email that another gift I ordered was canceled. Out of stock. I found a place that has the same thing and I called to make sure they definitely had it in stock. They did so I ordered it from them.

I placed these two orders over a week ago. Uggghhh Why are they just now deciding to tell me?

***

I can't spell definitely. Every time I type it I spell it like this - definately. I noticed this a couple weeks ago. Maybe I'll stop using that word and use absolutely, I can spell that right every time.

Christmas Decorating

We haven't done a lot this weekend but we did manage to decorate for Christmas. Here is the tree. I like blue lights.
Matt's favorite ornament.

My favorite ornament. My brother's girlfriend gave us this last Christmas.

I like this one too.

Ozzy's favorite.

Matt hung the lights outside Saturday. They look really nice. Not too much but just enough.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I am ready to go back to work.

Entertaining the in-laws right now. They invited themselves over. It's great.