resolutions.

Well its that time of year again. I typically don't make resolutions, because I'm just like the other 6 billion people out there that are all gung ho the first 2 days hours, and then settle back into my same old routine, because that's what's comfortable.

This year, I decided to actually try and stick to a resolution. At first I thought I'd go with the whole "lose weight" thing, but that's so over-done. I had to come up with something that was more unique. So here it is, my 2012 New Year's Resolution: eat healthier.

GASP!!!

I know...this mac and cheese, pizza, and brownie loving girl is going to make an attempt to eat healthier throughout this coming year. Now, not EVERYTHING I eat has to be healthy (I mean, let's not get carried away here!) but I can make an effort to make veggies with our dinners more often, or make chicken instead of pasta (my weakness.) We'll see how it goes. Ty's pretty pumped about it though, because he's always trying to get me to eat healthier.

And I'm sure you're wondering what my husband's 2012 resolution is. When I asked him, this was his exact response: "To shoot 2 trophy bucks." To which I sarcastically replied, "That's your resolution?" So then he said his "other" resolution would be to get everything done outside the house that needs done this year. Which means a shed, fence, stain deck, etc. But clearly, the first resolution was more "Ty." So we'll go with that one.

What's your 2012 resolution?

5 years ago today...

A 19 year-old girl waited tables, anxiously waiting for her shift to end. She was going on a first date with a really cute guy she met in her first college class, and had NO CLUE what she was going to wear. She wanted to look pretty, but not like she was trying to hard. She was so excited/nervous when he came to pick her up. Like a gentleman, he came to the door to meet her parents, then walked her to the car and opened her door for her. (Later the girl found out that the passenger door handle didn't work from the outside, so he'd had to prop that door open a smidge so he could open it for her.) They hadn't known each other very long at all, but there were no "awkward silences" that can tend to pop up during first dates. The car was filled with chatter as the two continued to get to know each other. And the girl liked what she was learning. They drove to the movies first, and saw "We Are Marshall." After the movie, the two went to grab a bite to eat at Outback Steakhouse. The girl thought this guy was incredibly sweet, funny, and (let's be honest, here) totally handsome. They talked about anything and everything, until it was time to go. The girl was sad to see the date end, but the guy had promised her parents she'd be home at a decent time. When they pulled in her driveway, he came around and opened her door again (with a little help from the girl on the inside,) and walked her to her front door. Again, ever the gentleman, he hugged her, but did not kiss her. The girl pretty much swooned when he told her what a great time he had and that he'd love to see her again sometime. The girl walked into her house, where her mother was on the computer. When her mother asked, "So, how'd it go?" The girl confidently replied, "I think I'm going to marry that guy."

Five years later, here we are. Happy 5 year Date-iversary Ty. I love you!

Dear Husband,

I love you more than you know, BUT...

you snored ALL night last night.

Now, I know you say I snore too. And I'm used to listening to you snoring for the first 15 minutes you fall asleep. But man oh man! This lasted forever! I laid in bed for what seemed like hours waiting for you to quiet down enough that I could finally fall asleep.

Ok Ok, I'll admit it: I contemplated suffocating you with my pillow. But I didn't. You're welcome.

Love, Lisa

11 favorite memories of 2011

Is it just me or did this year go by incredibly fast? As 2011 winds down to a close this week, I figured I'd reflect on the past year and make a list of some of my favorite memories.

11. Buying my very first Coach purse.
10. Watching Ty tediously put up his Christmas village for what seemed like hours. The joy on his face was almost childlike!
9. My entire summer vacation...when's the next one?
8. Eating dinner outside on the deck with Ty on those warm summer evenings.
7. Finding out my sister-in-law was having a baby.
6. Having a GREEN Christmas.
5. Decorating my very first classroom.
4. Reading "The Hunger Games" with Ty and comparing our nerdy happiness about it.
3. The week in which I felt like I might finally have the whole teaching kindergarten thing under control.
2. Taking Ty to Wrigley field for the first time to watch a Cubs game.
1.Celebrating my 1 year anniversary with my prince charming.

Thinking back on the year...I have to say it was a pretty darn good one. I can't wait to see what 2012 has in store for us. But if its half as good as this one was, we're in for some great memories that have yet to be made. And I can't wait!

i kinda threw a fit tonight...

Ok...maybe not QUITE as bad as her. But Ty would probably argue that it was close.

See, recently I've become obsessed interested in nail polish and doing my nails constantly. Because of this new addiction hobby, I've recently acquired a lot of new polishes and supplies. Now, a girl needs somewhere to put all her polishes, right? I recently saw a blog post about a three-drawer shelf from Michael's that would be PERFECT for all my new supplies. I've been begging Ty to come with me to get it, and he finally told me that we'd meet after he got off work to go get it, and then grab some dinner.

Once we got home, I immediately started unpacking my new drawers. Now, clearly I knew that some assembly was required, but I soon realized that this was not a project I could handle alone. The directions seemed to be in latin, and there were about eleventy million screws and thingies. I immediately started yelling, "HELP! HELP! I can't do this, its too hard!" (Which Hubby told me later was NOT a polite way to ask for help.) As he handed me a screwdriver,Ty told me that he'd help me, but he wouldn't do it for me.

Well, that was when my stubborness kicked in. For some reason, I was incredibly offended that he wasn't going to build the whole dang thing for me, even though I never actually asked him, I'd merely demanded insisted whatever. I then refused ALL help he was willing to give, even after he saw I was struggling and offered several times. After about an hour of trying my darndest to put this thing together, I finally threw my fit (apparently spending all my time with kindergarteners is beginning to rub off on me.) I started yelling, and tossing my unfinished shelf pieces and screwdrivers all over the place in a fit of rage. Then, instead of asking for help, like a normal, adult person would do, I decided to UNSCREW my whole hour's worth of work and put it all back in the box, damaging my new drawers in the process. I was over it, and apparently thought I would teach these drawers a lesson my undoing all my hard work. Yeah...guess I told THEM!

I then proceeded to lay on the couch and pout until Ty came over and helped cheer me up. Although, I have no clue why. If I were him, I would've left me there all night...Miss Pouty Pouterson. In retrospect, I am incredibly embarrassed that I acted like a little girl. Especially over something as silly as a drawer to hold my nail polish. I mean, seriously.If I would have just swallowed my pride and asked for help, (or have just been polite enough to ask nicely to begin with,) I might have a fully functional drawer with polishes in it right now.

My 5 year-old students teach me a lot...but throwing tantrums is NOT a lesson I'd like to remember from them in the future. Sorry Ty.

husband muting the tv in the middle of a video game=never a good sign.

After all the Christmas festivities of the past several days, Ty and I curled up in our respective spots this evening (him in his chair, playing his new Xbox game, and me on the couch, stalking other people's blogs) to relax. I was lost in blog-land, totally oblivious to what was going on around me...until I noticed something strange. After HOURS of playing this new Xbox game, the television was suddenly muted. "Do you hear that?" he asked. I was about to mumble "no," and go back to reading, when I caught the tail end of our precious kitty hacking up some sort of nasty-ness downstairs. Not even joking...this was the sound it made: "SQUIRRRRRT!" Imagine that being heard along with some other juicy sound effects for good measure. Yum...makes you wanna go eat a nice, big dinner, huh?

While trying not to gag, I looked over at Ty, who had heard this nasto sound first, and oh-so-intelligently muted the tv so we could hear the finale in all its juicy goodness. "Aw man." he said. "I suppose that means I'm gonna have to clean it up, huh?"

To which I sweetly replied, "Well, you heard it first."

You know, kinda like, "Whoever smelt it, dealt it." HeHeHe.

Day at the Races.

Yesterday, my mom and dad took Ty and I to the Arlington Race Track in Illinois to watch some horse races!  I'd gone before a few years ago, but this was Ty's first time, and I think we awakened a monster! He got so into it! He loved analyzing the stats on the horses and picking the smartest choices to bet on. It seemed like he and my mom won something every single race, while my dad and I sat by wondering why the heck we had such bad luck. At the end of the day, Ty only lost about $3.00, and I finally won $64.00 in the last two races, so I made back some of the money I'd lost. I certainly didn't come out on the positive end, but it was fun to finally win something! Here are some of the highlights from our trip.

 Disgusting dead bug my dad found.

 Hubs seriously analyzing his choices.

See #8? Allllllllllllllll the way on the right side over there? Yeah, he won me a lot of money about 1 second after this picture was taken. Woo Hoo!

The scariest quote of the day? When Hubs said, "This is so fun! I wish it was closer to our house so we could go all the time!" I for one, am terribly grateful its so far away...it could get us in some serious trouble.

Dear Husband,

Thank you for being so supportive with my new job. The fact that I got hired as a first-year teacher, feel like I have no clue what I'm doing, and got hired with only two weeks to get ready has kinda freaked me out. I've been so overwhelmed, but you've been so amazingly helpful and have calmed me down a lot. I feel a lot more confident about this new chapter in my life since our little chat the other night...(you know, the one where you chatted, and I pretty much just sat there and cried because I was scared...).

I also wanted to let you know that I thoroughly enjoyed our shopping trip last night for school supplies.

It was so cute how you were keeping track of the total amount we were spending on your phone, and would then say, "Eh, go ahead and get three more boxes of crayons!" I appreciate that you are letting me spend what seems like our entire life savings to get my classroom ready. Even though you had to tell me, "You know we don't have to actually BUY you a whole classroom, right?" :)

And I want you to know that when you get a teaching job, I will be there for you, and we will go shopping and I can give you advice and stuff. That's the fun thing about being married to another teacher. We understand what the other one is going through. So anyway, thanks so much, and I love you tons!

Love, Lisa

P.S. Don't forget to make my HUGE bookshelf though. Remember, you PROMISED it would be done by next Tuesday!

Last Weekend of Summer Getaway: Check.

Hubs wanted to go on a quick weekend trip before summer was over, so he planned one. All by himself. We spent the weekend in Ludington, MI enjoying the beaches, sunsets, hanging out in the pool, food, local shops, and lots of togetherness time. Although the trip didn't necessarily start off that smoothly (i.e. We had to turn around and go back to get my phone that I left on the couch, AND once we got to the Inn, I realized I left the camera card at home) it was a totally fun trip!

Here are some of the highlights (after we bought a new camera card at Rite-Aid):

 We visited an old village from the 1800's, and this was the one room school-house.

 Old fire engine.

 A memorial for a missionary.

 I was attacked by a bear while shopping at a local antique shop.

 Me and Ty both with "Maude" outside Maude's Garage.

 Hubs with his beer sampler at the local brewery.

 Hubs AFTER his beer sampler.

 My adorable husband posing for the public by some dune grass.

 

 Walking out to the lighthouse.

 Really cool clouds came in as a storm passed overhead. Check out the wavy-ness!

 This is the ferry that travels back and forth to Wisconsin.

Last day at the beach before heading back to reality.

Ty-thank you for planning such a fun trip for us to end the summer on. I had an amazing time with you. I love you!

Bath time at our house

We're going away for the weekend (woo hoo!) and baby Abby will be spending the weekend at my mom and dad's. My mom typically makes it clear that she doesn't want my adorable baby to come over (but we all know that she loves Abby more than she lets on.) Anyway, my mom always demands requests politely that I give Abby a bath before she comes over. So tonight was bath night. Bath time with baby Abby consists of me getting wet, me getting severe back cramps from leaning over the tub for so long, and Abby fighting tooth and nail to NOT GET HER HEAD WET. But I win that battle every time. But my all-time favorite part of bath time is when she gets out of the tub. 

 

She's so efficient that I don't even have to finish the whole job! And don't worry, I gave her the treat she deserved for being a good girl, an ice cube. Don't ask me why, but that's like her favorite thing in the world. (And zero calories, which is good because the vet informed me that she's 1 whopping pound overweight.) Now she's all clean and ready to spend the weekend with Grammy and Grampy!

Dear Husband,

(I think I might make "Dear Husband," a weekly thing. Apparently on Wednesdays, because that's when I'm doing it. It'll give me an excuse to talk about my hubby (good things and bad) and post pictures of him (cute and embarrassing.) So enjoy!)

Dear Husband,

A few nights ago I told you that I'd be going out with my girlfriends on Monday. I don't know if you're aware of this, but you made a slight sad face, and acted mopey for a few minutes. This made me feel special because I felt like you were sad that I was going to be away for a few hours.

When I came home from a fun night with my friends, I had an amazing surprise waiting for me. I knew you had been planning on doing some yard work to get ready for our new patio to be put in. But to be honest, I figured you'd rush through it and hook up with your Xbox for the rest of the night, to live your dream of being a hockey star vicariously through little cartoon men that don't really exist. Boy was I wrong. Not only did you clean out the patio spot, but you mowed the lawn as well.

But that wasn't all! You were so excited to show me that you had done work inside as well! All on your own, you decided to wash out our kitchen sink and clean the stove top (I promise to never let it get that gross again.) Then....YOU FINALLY PUT YOUR LAUNDRY AWAY!!!!! It was a joyous moment for me. The cutest part was how proud of yourself you were (and I hope I showed you how much I appreciated all of it by the millions of kisses I bestowed upon you.)

So I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you for all the chores you did without even being asked to. It was definitely sweet, and you earned Major Husband Bonus Points for it. I love you!

Love, Lisa

P.S. If I go out with my friends more often, will this become a regular occurrence?  :)

Seriously?

Wanna play a game? Take a guess what this used to be.

If you guessed that it was the 2nd cutting board to fall victim to the dangers of my dishwasher, (darn thing)

you'd be right.

Apparently, I fell asleep in Physics the day Newton's Law was taught that said, "What goes in the dishwasher as a nice, wooden cutting board, must come out as a mangled piece of crap."

The first wooden cutting board was slowly bent over time into what looked like a half-pipe at the skate park.

And we're not big on skateboarding around here, so we threw it out, and I purchased the cutting board seen above. (Except that it was whole then.)

I specifically went and got one that was a lot thicker than the first one, because I didn't want what happened last time to happen again. 

It even had a cool little "moat" around it where the meat juices could run.

I've literally had this thing like 2 weeks.

So today, I open the dishwasher to put the dishes away like a good little wife, and what do I find inside?

My nice new cutting board...in 4 pieces.

Seriously?

Am I the only one that had no clue that you can't put a wooden cutting board in the dishwasher?

Mom, why didn't you ever teach me this?

Apparently, I'm going to have to find a "Super Cutting Board" made out of granite, or quartz, or something equally as hearty.

One from somewhere like Crate and Barrel or somewhere expensive like that, and not from Walmart, which may or may not have been where I purchased mine.

Oh well.

On the bright side, I now have a puzzle that a 6 month old could complete in a matter of seconds.

RIP Cutting Board. The two times I used you were grand.

Snowstorms.

Today, Hubs planned on taking me to the beach to watch the sunset...which is my ALL-TIME favorite thing to do in the entire world. (He's a pretty sweet guy, even if he doesn't always put his laundry away in a timely fashion.) But when we walked outside after church today, we saw that this would obviously not be a possibility, since the sky was dark. Kinda hard to watch the sunset when its cloudy. I was pretty bummed. Hubs reassured me that he'd take me another night, but that he'd surprise me with something else today instead.

He ran to the store and came back later with supplies to make home-made M&M Blizzards...or as he dubbed the off-brand, "Snowstorms!" It was so sweet because this is my favorite summer snack (or anytime of the year snack, for that matter.)

He chopped up the M&Ms with a hammer, put them in the blender with the ice cream, chocolate sauce and a little bit of milk, and BAM! He made a delicious snack! (And a very happy wife.)

And now I can officially say that I've eaten ice cream out of a wine glass. How many of you can say that?

Sometimes he talks in his sleep.

The weirdest thing I've learned about Ty since we got married is that he talks in his sleep. (And snores too, but that's a different post for a different time.) Every night he mumbles in his sleep, but I'd say probably 4 or 5 nights a week, he speaks completely coherently. For instance, the other night, Hubs went to bed an hour before I did. When I got in bed, he rolled over and mumbled something. At first I thought he was awake, so I asked him to say it again. Again, he mumbled, and I started to realize he was asleep...eyes closed and all. One more time, I asked, "What?" And this time he replied totally clearly, "Mary said she saw one." I always think its incredibly funny when he talks in his sleep, so I started to laugh and asked, "Oh...Mary said she saw one?" "Yeah," he replied. And I said "Well, good!" And that was that.

I mentioned this whole thing the next day to him, and he has no clue what he was talking about and doesn't remember a thing. (Not to mention that he doesn't really know anyone named Mary.) This is definitely an endless source of entertainment for me, and its my goal to someday have an entire conversation with him in his sleep...and possibly record the whole thing.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice her in the top picture, here is my adorable doggy napping with her daddy :)

I Love Getting Mail! (Even if I ordered it and its not technically a surprise...)

Today I braved the 1000% humidity and walked out to the mailbox only to find the greatest mail EVER sitting inside. I present to you: Da Da Da Daaaaa! Bare Minerals.

After drooling over the infomercial for about the hundredth time, I finally gave in and ordered. I was amazed with all that came with my starter kit! I think I even did a little dance as I got each brush and pot out of powder out of the package. Of course, I had just done my makeup for the day, so I wasn't able to try it out right away. (I convinced myself that I would be pathetic if I ran to wash everything off just to apply my new Bare Minerals...even though I totally wanted to be pathetic.)

Luckily though, I needed a little touch up later in the day, since I had been working around the house and sweated most of my other makeup off. So I got to try out my amazing new cosmetics...(sad that I get so excited about this, huh?)

 I was pretty much done here, but took pictures to "reenact" the process.

Now, I may not look any different to you, but Hubs kept telling me how pretty he thought I looked in my new makeup. It really did a pretty good job of covering everything up, and 9 hours and a workout later, its still on and looks pretty good. (Pretty sure I should get some free product for this advertising I'm giving them.) So anyway, it was much more than I would normally spend on makeup, but a tiny bit really goes a long way, like on the infomercials, and it really does look good.

And the best part? In two months, I'll get a another little package in the mail with replacements! Woo Hoo!  (Yeah yeah, I know I have to pay for it, but whatever...its worth it! And quite a bit cheaper, since I won't need all the brushes and stuff.)

Getting mail is super fun!

Boredom

I'm sitting in my office/craft room right now bored out of my mind, while Hubs does who knows what.
I call it my office/craft room, but really its just the room where my desk is, and where junk seems to pile up. But I dream of it being an office/craft room someday, so that's what I call it.

P.S. (I do nothing officey and I do nothing crafty...see crocheting post.)

But its fun to think about, so while I'm sitting here insanely bored, I'm dreaming that one day, my office/craft room will look like one of these:

Thank you, Pottery Barn, for once again making me feel inadequate, and like I'll never quite live up to your awesomeness.

Dear Husband,

Dear Husband,

Three days ago, you brought your laundry basket upstairs. It had been downstairs stuffed to the brim (and there were several other LARGE piles of clothes that wouldn't even fit in the basket) for about 2 weeks. Upon setting your laundry basket in the kitchen, of all places, I politely (kind of) said that you better not leave it there until the next day. To which you sweetly replied, "Well to be honest, it'll probably be there until I get home from work tomorrow." Meaning yesterday.

I took these pictures as blackmail after you came home from work yesterday.
Exhibit A: Laundry basket STILL on the kitchen floor.
Exhibit B: You chilling in your chair (with the gosh darn cutest doggy ever!) while the laundry sat there.

Upon threatening that I would post these pictures on my blog, you told me that I better not, and that you'd take care of it later. So I didn't rush to post the pictures. Then this morning, when I woke up after you'd left for work, I was greeted with this:

ALERT! ALERT! Piling clothes on the bed and the floor by your closet DOES NOT COUNT as "taking care of it." So, as promised, I have now posted the blackmail pictures! (I am doing an evil laugh as we speak!) I love you to absolute pieces, and you know that. But your clothes are currently becoming wrinkled, and I will just have to iron or wash them again if they stay like this. Please put them away.

Love, Lisa

PS. Please don't divorce me because of this post. I only have a few followers anyway, so its not like a ton of people know about your laundry-putting-away disability. :)

The New Hobby.

I've gotten very obsessed with reading blogs lately.

(But since I still have 3 weeks of summer vacation left, its ok.)

I like to read a lot of the fashion blogs, and have seen a lot of really cute stuff lately...

especially crocheted stuff.

I love all the headbands, wristlets, and other cute crocheted things that you can buy from these blogs.

I was looking around yesterday, and found a few things I wanted to buy, when I thought to myself, "I could totally make that myself...and not have to pay shipping."

I figured I needed a new hobby anyway, so last night, I went to Hobby Lobby (cue hallelujah music) with Hubs in tow, to get supplies for my new hobby.

When we got home, I got to work.

I had my I Taught Myself to Crochet book, my laptop with youtube videos, and I was all set.

Except...it wasn't so easy. 

After an hour of grunting, rewinding videos, and the occasional swear word, I proudly displayed my first row.

Then I had to add a second row...ugh.

Now, that was tough. Then a third row, which was tougher.

Hubs told me I looked cute...concentrating and all that. Whatever.

When I was finished (3 hours later), this was what I came up with:

Notice its a triangle, and not a square?

Yeah, I don't know what happened.

But I will continue to persevere and perfect my new hobby.

Soon, everyone in my family will have a wonky, crocheted triangle!

But on the plus side, look at my cute supplies basket!

Now that my stuff looks professional, I have a professional aura around me, and I think my next few attempts at my new hobby will be much more successful. Maybe I'll be able to make a square today...or tomorrow.

Or someday.