2012 so far!

So I haven't had much to share with the blogging world lately, sorry about that! I just don't feel like anything going on is post-worthy :) Not that this is...its more of a rambling post!

Eric & my dad just went skiing in Breckenridge with a group of my dad's friends from church. They had a great time!

We had a lovely Valentine's Day this week! I woke up to Disney Princess valentines all over the house that Eric had written one thing he loved about me on each of them. And then roses for each Valentine's we've been married (4). He got me Lady & the Tramp, which we watched that night...so good! And a new watch to workout with that counts calories, etc! We ate dinner at The Chalkboard in the Ambassador Hotel downtown. Super yummy! And I got flowers from my dad which I always love.
We just celebrated by baby sister's 31st birthday tonight. She is younger but still taller than me, and she is always so glowy & fabulous!


Two people told me this past week they thought I was 28, and I will definitely take that! :) Hence the 2 new skin creams I just bought hoping to keep it that way! One is a "BB" cream, or Beauty Balm. These are supposedly all the rage this year. We'll see! Its an Asian cream, but now American companies are coming out with their own. Here is some info if you're curious. I happened to see one for sale at Walgreens by Garnier Fructis, the first cheaper brand I've seen that has one, so I'm going to try it. It was $12 and I will be starting it asap. Reviews to come! If I don't like it, I will be trying the Clinique one next.

So other than skincare, Eric is in two classes this semester & very busy with those. Work travel has slowed down until May, so its been really nice having him home for this long! Work itself is going well for us both.

We are working on a couple of house projects, and recently got a new pantry put in, which has been great! We've had such a mild winter that my daffodils are blooming now and the tulips are coming up! I will be so sad when they are bloomed out before spring. Oh well, they are lovely too look at regardless.

Many of you know about our struggle to add to our little family. We have hit the 2 year mark and still no answers, we are still unexplained. We will be having our 5th IUI done in a couple weeks. This will be with a different Dr. than in the past and on different meds (injectables). Its also post-laparascopy, so I wanted to try it one more time. Even though the lap was clear, but I still have hope! We are doing everything we know to do, including praying our hearts out for this to happen without IVF. But if the road leads to that & we are at peace about it, we will do it. A new little life would make it worth it for sure. We just never expected this would be so hard! But, God has a plan and we are trusting it! We have so much to be grateful for right now anyway & God has blessed us SO much, I really can't complain :) And we have a really good feeling this will be our year!

Anyway, that is the latest in a nutshell---just plugging along & enjoying the ride!

Life in Instagram

Here is an update on our life via Instagram of the past few months :) We have both turned another year older, been to Silver Dollar City to see the lights, experienced an amazing OSU football season, were Clark Kent & Lois Lane for a night, celebrated Thanksgiving & my Nanny turning 92, loving decorating for Christmas, enjoying our sweet Capone, and many other memorable things. Will try to update again before 4 months goes by :)

Summer lovin'

Why I Love Summer :)

(Even when there's a major heat wave)

staying up late
up early on the weekend
movie nights
sno cones
pretty sunsets
sundresses
Porter peaches
flip flops with every outfit
farmers markets
extra long daylight
treats from Braum’s
4th of July
iced coffee
cookouts
slushes and popsicles
bbq
fresh watermelon

sunglasses for head bands

patio dining
iced tea(with lemon, please)
catching fireflies

Smiles

In case you need a smile :) Pretty cute!

Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived

I'm officially obsessed. About 10 years late, I know.

I haven't read the books.

I hadn't seen any of the movies until approximately 2006, when Eric suggested we watch them all that were out at the time.

I didn't have anything against them, just didn't think they were my cup of tea. HA. I'm an idiot.

So we watched them and continued to go see them in the theater. I wasn't any more excited to see them than any other movie that came out.

Then a couple months ago the final movie was really being hyped & it was in the media more, etc. Eric suggested we watch them all in our media room & do sort of a marathon over a couple of weeks. I thought it would be fun so I ordered them off Amazon and away we went to Hogwarts.

I'm not sure if it was watching them all so close together, the atmosphere in our media room, or both, but I became totally engrossed with Harry, Ron & Hermione. I think its because they literally grew up before my eyes on the screen.

Harry started off so timid and cute. Ron was awkward and cute in a funny sort of way. Hermione was tough skinned but a big softie on the inside and a very pretty little girl at that, who just got prettier. (And has nice skin, according to Ron :) )



I loved the fantasy, creativity, magic, the spells, and watching crushes develop between the characters. Watching them made me feel 13 all over again, which was somewhat torturous, but nice at the same time :)

We just saw the final movie tonight, 3D IMAX, yes! We arrived an hour & a half early, to a line that had already formed. Luckily we weren't too far back. As we were waiting for the movie to start, you could feel the excitement in the theater. I haven't had that feeling in a movie ever I don't think! Eric then commented, as I was thinking it, that he felt like he was waiting for a big ride to start at a theme park. You're excited, but you don't quite know what is in store.

So it started and the whole theater was silent & eyes glued the ENTIRE movie. Not a peep, word sneeze...nothing...even from any kids, during the entire show. Amazing.

Let me just say it was the most suspenseful, full of twists, highs & lows, than any of the rest. I loved it.

And I kind of have a celebrity crush on Harry/Daniel. Just a smidge :) He's all grown up!




And I would just like to give Ron/Rupert a hug.

And a photo with all 3 of them would be lovely.

So now I am totally bummed there will be no more movies. I ordered the books last week and they came Friday. I am halfway through the first one, so I fully intend to proceed through them quickly! Kind of sucks since I know the story, but I'm excited anyway.

At least there is the theme park for Eric & I to go enjoy the imaginary world of Hogwarts & Diagon Alley :)

To J.K. Rowling & Harry Potter, thanks for helping me remember to use my imagination, to see what true friends do for each other, to always do the right thing even if you break a rule, and for making me regress and feel like a 13 yr old going through these stories. It is a good age to remember :)

Alive

Yes I am still maintaining this blog :) I have been awful about updating though! Sorry :(

We have been busy enjoying summer, working on projects around the house, activities at church, and my Junior League obligations. Once I do get free, I have to admit, another website has been taking up lots of my time!

Pinterest.

"Pinterest is a Virtual Pinboard.

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes.

Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests. To get started, request an invite."

Genious.

I'm embarrassed how much I am on this site. Its highly addicting!

So other than that, here is the latest completed project at our house:

Before:



After:

Our (mainly Eric's :) ) movie/media room is complete! Its a pretty fun room :) He has been working on it since January, it was quite a job.

-Removed popcorn ceiling, sanded, & painted it
-Added recessed lighting
-Cut, stained & installed crown molding
-Textured one wall to match the other 3
-Painted the room
-Gutted the closet (small project later that will have a counter, storage, microwave & fridge). It holds the A/V rack.
-Cut, stained & installed wainscoting & trim
-Made speaker mounts
-Stripped window & door trims and restained
-Stained & installed new door to room
-Connected surround sound & wiring in the attic
-Mounted projector
-Mounted screen

We had a few people over last weekend to watch True Grit, it was great! Its so nice watching a movie in there as opposed to just on the tv. Such a difference! The receiver he got also connects the xbox & wii, and to our patio speakers outside. We can control all the music, etc from our iPhone's as well which is pretty cool!

So we are pretty excited about it, its a really fun space :)

Random...

So I've had a little gap in posting. Every time I sat down to do it I just blanked out on what to post about. So this will probably consist of random babble that will make the reader stop reading... about now.

I do want to promote a couple of Pioneer Woman's recipes that we had this month & really liked! The cookies especially! :)

Malted Milk Chocolate Chip Cookies
Pasta ai Quattro Formaggi

Also, I recently purchased this beauty: I literally sat down & actually read a lot of it. The dessert section is AMAZING. Almost an inch of pages for just cakes!

Some of the recipes are very old, and the author gives the background on a lot of them which I enjoyed. I'm planning to make the Lemon Meringue Pie for Easter, so we'll see if I can pull it off.

Eric has been traveling, and what does that mean? We have a tornado warning in Tulsa last week. The severe weather hits when he is gone about 85% of the time. Fun for me & Capone :) We almost got in the closet under the stairs, but like a good Oklahoman I just went outside and looked up and around and decided we were in the clear. And we just got a good rain, so I continued on with making dinner :)

We have spent the last 3 weekends almost working in our yard. Trying to get the grass in shape (which by the way I mowed the lawn for the first time EVER on Sunday, it wasn't so bad!) and working on the mucho flowerbeds we have.

We aren't quite done so I will post pics when they are finished. Our backyard is almost all shade (some sun here & there), and luckily the past owners had landscaped most of it with pretty expensive stuff. But its ALL green. Lovely enough, but sorry I need some flowers and color! So off we went to Southwood Nursery to get some flowering, mostly shade loving perennials (they will come back every year). I also got Impatiens to scatter throughout the beds.

I got these perennials (pictures courtesy of Internet, not our yard):

Bleeding HeartColumbines (I got purple, fuschia, and yellow)
Clematis (Purple & we have 2 blooms already!)Hydrangea (LOVE these, I so hope it will do well)

We have a bed on the front of the house that wraps around the corner of the house and it was pretty lame to say the least. It also gets full sun. We built the bed up about 3 inches and added a consistant brick edged border onto it. The side part consisted of nasty Nandina bushes, can't stand these things! So we replaced them with pink & yellow Knockout Roses. The front part was basically empty except for mulch, so a blank slate=no weed pulling. We put boxwoods there and I will add begonias & periwinkles this weekend.

Anyway, landscape pics to come and here are a couple of fun pictures of Capone