love, milla jane

.girls trip to hawaii.

2010-08-11T08:35:00.000-05:00

may was a busy month! i hopped on a plane, leaving my cowboy and two monkeys at home, and joined my friends to spend a week at the hilton resort in hawaii. the night before we left, lissa and i {my best friend since grade school, *the pretty girl on the far right of the above picture*}, got a pedi and a spray tan. when i was younger, i was such a tanner. now that i'm a mom, and old enough to know better, i stay out of the sun, and slather on the high spf sunscreen. the spray tan was a new experience for me. we had it done by the same spray tan artist that does the tans for the "real housewives of the o.c., and the laker girls, etc. at first, i looked SO dark, and the color was even and gorgeous. we were advised not to shower till the morning, so we didn't, but in the morning, my color was a bit splotchy. not bad, but not as pretty as it looked the night before. on the plus side, it lasted me a little over a week. enough time to get a good base tan {since i slathered spf 70 all over myself}. in the end, i would do the spray tan again for an event or something. anyway~ we spent the week exploring the island, and i FINALLY got to see the green sand beach! i've been the the big island twice already, and had yet to see it. sooo, i convinced the girls to take the hike to it with me. i'm pretty sure i'm the only one who thought it was gorgeous and well worth it, but it was amazing. not only that, but it's not everyday that those of us who are land-locked can go on a beautiful, ocean-view hike in hawaii. forget the "touristy" places, where you can buy t-shirts and key chains, give me a chance to get to know the "real" hawaii. and spending the better part of the day hiking along the coast, well, it was one of the highlights of my trip.
the next day, we spent at the resort. there was a coral reef there, home to the endangered green sea turtles. we spent the day swimming with them, and by swimming with them, i mean, they swam right up to us, letting us pet them all over. they were as curious about us, as we were about them. we had a group of about 30-40 of them, and spent a good chunk of the afternoon being entertained. the little guy below was so fun. we fed him peanuts right out of our hands, and he happily gobbled them up, and followed us to get more. i don't know if peanuts were good for him, but he seemed to like 'em.
we went to kona joes coffee. so cool. who wouldn't want to own a coffee plantation right on the coast of hawaii? if it were mine, i'd never leave. well, i'm sure i've gone on about it long enough for now. i'll post more tomorrow, since it's so long.

.my next MAJOR decor purchase.

2010-08-10T09:29:00.003-05:00

the minute i saw this {in an online "movie set" blog}, i knew i needed it. it's quite the chunk of change though, at nearly $3000.00. but it would look so good on this one wall in our new home. not sure if the company ever puts anything on sale, or if this would be one they would ever put in that category, but i want it. scratch that. i NEED it.

M.I.A. once again... but with good reason!

2010-08-07T17:51:00.004-05:00

I've neglected my little blog for so long. I'm so appreciative for those of you that have stuck with me! This year has been a whirlwind for our family. Six months ago, we started construction on our dream home! We are now getting ready to move in! I've started a blog of our home building process, {i know, i know, i started another blog, when i've been neglecting this one... it doesn't make any sense}... but, the craziness is just about over, and then i'll be back to blogging as usual. i'm thinking i'm going to keep both blogs, this one for my everyday finds and loves, photography and cuteness, and the other for all my home decor decisions, ideas, and inspirations. I love, love, love, decor, and both cowboy and i enjoy trying to live as green as possible, so i'll be discussing our green choices, both in building and decorating, as well. I'd love for you to follow both blogs, so if you would like, here's the link: casadebeam.blogspot.com

*sigh* a huge *THANKS* for sticking around! i love blogging, and i love the friends i've made here in blog land!

for those of you devestated when domino shut down...

2010-03-15T08:30:00.000-05:00

i was sooo upset when domino decided to close shop. i looked forward to the monthly inspiration for decorating my home.no other decor mag came even close to matching my style like domino did. then i found this little beaut. lonnymag.com

unfortunately, it's only online, i don't know if they plan on printing it in the future, but i hope so. even still, it's ideas, layout and inspiration are so similar to dominos, that i can't help but pour through it time and time again. take a looksee when you can! i promise you won't be disappointed!

lilly loves~

2010-03-11T08:21:00.000-06:00

does anything scream SUMMER more than lilly???

2010-03-09T12:09:00.002-06:00

YAY!!! milla jane snaps FINALLY has an official website!!! when you get the time, go take a looksee at millajane.com and check it out! it's not completely done yet, but at least it's up! i'm so excited by this, and so ready for it!

get ready~ liberty of london is coming to target!!!

2010-03-09T08:05:00.000-06:00

is anyone else excited about liberty of london coming to target??? there is a particular sundress i'm wanting to get for my trip to hawaii, and there are a LOT of things i'm wanting for our new house...i have a feeling my wallet is getting ready to go into shock...

my favorite things this winter~

2010-03-07T08:30:00.000-06:00

it's been sooo very cold here in missouri this winter. here's a few of the things that have kept me cozy, warm and happy!

the entire plush collection from restoration hardware, i have it in this color:

a replica of a vintage bed warmer from restoration hardware. it looks similar to this one & keeps my feet toasty!

bigelow pomegranate green tea. one word. delish.

my cashmere hot water bottle, also from restoration hardware. i have the brown one.

my owl journal. i got this as a birthday present from my friend buffy. i l.o.v.e. it!

my glittens. this pair came all the way from greece, handmade just for me. gotta love etsy!

this pair came all the way from jcrew. not handmade for me, but i love them just the same!

now, as much as i love these things, and i've enjoyed using them all winter long, i'm so very, very ready to pack them up and get on with spring and summer. like, today. :)

winter olympics!

2010-03-05T07:21:00.000-06:00

if you're like me, you've been watching the olympics non-stop. HERE is a really great site to go to for FaNtAsTiC images, like the ones below, of the last two weeks.

and, my favorite athlete of this olympics... lindsey vonn! gotta love her! :)

ipad...i want, i want, i need, i need!

2010-03-03T08:30:00.000-06:00

so i've decided that i NEED one of these before my trip to hawaii... i mean, it has ibooks... and internet...*sigh* i'm so in love. i can't wait to have one of these little beauties in my hands!!! they're supposed to be available sometime in march. i'm already on the list, and i'm counting down the days!

bobbi browns spring/summer cabana collection!

2010-03-01T08:30:00.002-06:00

out of all the cosmetics companies in all the world, bobbi brown is my absolute favorite. hands down. have a looksee at her new cabana collection... it's just gorgeous! you can see more of her pretties here.

a few etsy favorites~

2010-02-27T08:46:00.000-06:00

i've been collecting these for a year now. stepanka is an incredible artist, and her work is amazing.

porcelain pillows by stepanka

this is the look i'm going for... needless to say, i'm still adding to my collection...

here's a tiny woodland terrarium toadstool ring from woodlandbelle.

i am a bookworm print from vol25

you are my sunshine print from thewheatfield

come float in my pond necklace by blockpartypress

my block necklace, by blockpartypress

the blind side...DVD

2010-02-25T08:30:00.000-06:00

i can not WAIT for this to come out on dvd. cowboy took me to see it when it first came out, and spent the entire movie nudging me and making comments about how my personality is similar to leigh anne touhy... which i of course took as a compliment, thank you very much. :) {and i know that he likes me fiesty and wouldn't have it any other way...it's keeps him guessing and on his toes. god forbid we have a dull moment.} ;) so, on march 21st, i will be making a special trip to the store to get a copy of my very own. :)

summer dreamin'

2010-02-25T06:04:00.000-06:00

summer dreamin' by gigi24 featuring Marc by Marc Jacobs tops

Items in this set:
Floral Print Tube Dress - Women's Clothing and Apparel - Chic Dresses,..., $68
dELiAs > Nicolette Plaid Tube Dress > dresses > party, $45
Marc by Marc Jacobs Tracy Pointelle Sweater - Electirc magenta multi, $200
Lucky Brand Long Sleeve Beaded Cardigan - Natural, $120
Buy Missoni Mare Frill stripe knit bikini Online, 430 GBP

vintage hawaii

2010-02-23T08:38:00.001-06:00

i love hawaii. and when i say "love," i TRULY mean L.O.V.E., *LOVE*! and i'll be going back to this place in which my soul calls "home" in may, and i couldn't be more excited about it. this will be my third trip, and i doubt any of the "magic" of the island will disappoint. i'm going with 3 friends while cowboy holds down the fort {and the kids} at home... what a GrEaT, WoNdErFuL, guy i have!

take a looksee at these from kiel james patrick!!!

2010-02-22T07:21:00.003-06:00

take a look at these beauties! i stumbled across these lovelies, and had to go to the website. as i scoured the kiel james patrick site, drool was running off my chin... these bracelets are so unique, so ultimately preppy, and scream SUMMER! i have plans on getting a couple for myself, and wearing them with everything! oh be still my *preppy* heart...

you can find them here. go get one {or two, or three} of your own!

the monkeys 2010

2010-02-17T08:00:00.000-06:00

the weather has been so nasty here lately, but i had really wanted to take some new pictures of them. sooo, we braved the cold, kept the car running so they could hop in and warm up when it wasn't their turn. they were great sports about it, and we ended up having a great time, despite the bitter cold and bone chilling wind.

some girls collect shoes...

2010-02-16T13:14:00.002-06:00

i happen to have a lip gloss fetish. if i'm having a bad day, and just want a little "pick me up," there's nothing that will make me happier than a new little tube of this stuff. this is just *some* of my stash, the ones i thought i couldn't live without while living in the lake house. the rest is in storage. be still my heart. these girls are gorgeous, aren't they?

snow fun!

2010-02-04T08:36:00.004-06:00

so, this past weekend we got about 9 inches of snow... {and as i am typing now, it's snowing something fierce}. anyway, we had a good old fashioned snowball fight, complete with hot chocolate and hot tea {for cowboy and i} afterwards. being born and raised in california till i was 15, and not knowing really what seasons were, i'm so glad that my kids are growing up here, where we have all 4 seasons {even if i'm more than ready for the current one to be over}.

also~ as a side note, but a very exciting one, it looks as if i'm going to hawaii in a couple months!!! i'm so excited, especially as i look out at the "white" outside... more on that in a later post... ;)

~saturday with amber~

2010-02-03T07:09:00.002-06:00

this past saturday, i took my nieces senior pictures! it was a whirlwind of a weekend, starting off with a snow storm of sorts, a great birthday dinner, {i'm now 34, and LOVING it!}, my niece coming over saturday morning to have me give her a mini-makeover for her pictures, then her and i ventured out in the snow, all around town taking some really fun pics! i haven't gone through all of them yet {there's a LOT}, and i've had to split my time between her pictures and the wedding that i just shot on sunday. anyway, as i was shooting amber, i kept thinking how it was just yesterday that she was 6 years old and in my wedding... *sniff, sniff* unbelievable now, that she's graduating, has a boyfriend and is excited for college. we spent the entire day taking pictures, it was a blast! she is incredibly photogenic, and she's up for any of my hairbrained ideas... ;) we went out for a late lunch, where she was explaining her thoughts on what college she wants to go to and why {she's already been accepted into the major colleges here, but she's waiting on another} and i started seeing her as not a kid anymore. kinda sad, but~ she'll always be my amber bamber! ;) love you amber!

ten words you need to stop misspelling...

2010-01-06T21:49:00.003-06:00

i saw this on a friends fb, and just had to post it. one of my biggest pet peeves is when people purposely misspell words like "kuul", or "gurl", "sum" {for "some"} or "thang". since when is purposely misspelling a word "cool" or considered "intelligent"? anywhoo~ though this little ditty isn't on purposely misspelled words, it IS a great reminder of words commonly misspelled. what can i say? i'm a "sucker" for words... a "word nerd" if you will... :)

Holiday Musings...

2009-12-30T07:18:00.003-06:00

**if you think we look exhausted in this picture, well, you're right... read on...**

am i the only one that is happy the holidays are over? i don't want to sound grinch-like, but this year was crazy busy, and i'm glad to finally be done with it and move on. it wasn't that bad up until christmas eve.

i took the raven for our morning walk then headed inside to start preparations for that evening. it was a perfect morning, the cowboy was home making breakfast & brewing coffee, {i LOVE that man!}, chores were done, i was baking & the house was spotless. london, {my son, i've never told you my kids' names before... my daughter is lauryn & my son is london} anyway, he threw open the front door bawling and screamed that raven had just been hit by a truck. the next few hours are still a blur to me. i called the vet, helped load her in cowboys truck, prayed with the kids & waited for cowboy to call me with some news. a few hours later, we found out that she had severely broken her back left leg, in the worst possible way, and the vet said that we would just have to wait it out and see how it heals. there was nothing else they could do. he said that we could take her in for surgery, but it would be $2000.00 and a 50/50 chance that it would work. it didn't seem like the odds were in our favor on that, so we took the alternative route.

raven was brought into the house for the time being, {i think we'll have a problem keeping her out when she gets better} and kept on heavy pain meds. the vet says the one thing she has in her favor is that she's young, so he's hoping that her bones heal correctly and quickly. she might always have a limp, but at least she's still with us. we've both been up most of the night with her since then. we are exhausted. but, she's worth it!

after that, christmas was pretty much a second thought to all of us. the kids were devastated, and not really in the christmas spirit. we did manage to have a good christmas, the kids got most of what they wanted, the majority of lauryns gifts were american girl related & her very own digital camera. she's been bugging us for one all year! london made out with tons of new lego sets {that boy is a lego MANIAC}, g.i. joe & a huge magician set. they were super happy, and spent the day playing with their new toys right next to raven, so she wouldn't feel "left out".
we've also had a little addition to our house... say hello to little miss gracie! she's an 8 week old maltese, and she's super spunky and a whole lotta sweet! she was the "runt" of the litter, and was born without her two back legs, {but don't tell her that, she doesn't know!}. she gets around just fine, and is actually really, really fast! she's just the sweetest thing, and i absolutely love her! i just love that she's "special". the breeders wanted to place her with a family, because they couldn't sell her with her "condition," and i'm so glad! she has added a whole new level of fun to our home.

but, getting back to christmas;
cowboy got most everything on my list, starting with this:

the tiffany & co key and chain, i LOVE it!

and this: i've been wanting this since last spring...

and a pair of my favorite jeans:

a gift card to barnes & noble, {always a great gift idea for me}, and three of tarina tarantinos lucite carved rose bracelets in pink, turqouise & black!

okay, so i've shared my loot~ hope ya'll had a great holiday!

*oh~ i'll be doing a giveaway in the next week or so. i've been going through my handbags {it'll be designer}, so it should be a rather good one! make sure you check back!*

~10 Facts About Cowboy & Me~

2009-12-18T08:23:00.002-06:00

Since i've never really talked about our history together, i figured now was as good of time as any, so here's 10 facts you most likely didn't know about Cowboy & me:

1} we met & married in 3 MONTHS. {we got engaged after a month of dating, and married 2 months later}. people have often asked if i was completely stressed out planning a big wedding in 2 months, but as it so happened, i was a wedding coordinator at the time, and had a "in" with a lot of the major bridal/wedding companies around here, so it wasn't bad at all! that was 11+ years ago, and i love that man more and more every day!

2} Cowboy is a pilot. he took flying lessons a few years back, and loves it!

3} I'm giddy, excitable & always flittering to the next sparkling thing that floats by. Cowboy is solid. even-keeled and calm. he grounds me, keeps me in check. not by anything he says, but with his laid back personality. he's so good for me!

4} we tried for almost a year to get pregnant, with doctors telling us that they didn't know that we would ever get pregnant because of a mess of problems with my "parts" inside... but, we did! sis priss surprised us on april fools day of 2000, and the Boy double surprised us the following may!

5} Cowboy is a country boy from wisconsin, and i'm a city girl from california. we met in missouri, via a blind date set up by a builder of Cowboys. {Cowboy owns a company in construction}

6} we are total homebodies. we love to travel, but other than that, we love to stay home, cook meals together, and curl up with the monkeys to play games and watch movies. i'm happiest when my little family is all under one roof, safe and happy.

7} i'm a dreamer, Cowboy is a do-er. i dream things up, he makes them happen.

8} we have horses. oakley & harley. we are looking forward to adding a couple more to the family once the house is finished being built. Cowboy is really into the horses... i'm looking forward to getting a few longhorn cattle. they're so cool to have just outside your window!

9} i'm a year & 5 months older than Cowboy, but he has always been so much more mature than me. ;)

10} we are both on staff at our church. Cowboy is a trustee, on the board, and i'm the hospitality director. we love our church, and love serving the Lord!

well, there's so much more i could write, but i'll stop for now! have a great weekend!

5}

holiday eye candy!

2009-12-15T08:40:00.003-06:00

if you're anything like me, this time of year, you're going 100 miles an hour, and still not getting everything done that needs to be taken care of. i've been a bit neglectful of blogging lately, and i promise i'll be back to normal once the holidays are over. i just had to pop in today and show you a few of the things that have been the most inspiring to me this year! there are some serious *crafty cats* out there! enjoy!

like this? go here

or this? lookie here

seriously drooling over this. have a looksee here

and this new take on a wreath! love it here

oh! and these adorable trees! mozy on over here

a sweet little forest of trees! found here

oh, the colors make me so happy! here!

and here!

and the bokeh in this picture! it's total eye candy! see it here!

i am loving gnomes! found these here!

and this amazingly simple, gorgeous mantle! take a looksee here!

have a fabulously festive, wintery day! and bundle up! it's cold outside!

jeremy, kelly & monkeys!

2009-12-08T08:47:00.003-06:00

so, this past sunday, i got to take pictures of this family. a ridiculously cute family of five. jeremy and kelly are good friends of j and i, and their oldest daughter is my sis priss's best friend. it was sooooooo cold. well, cold isn't the right word. it was downright FREEZING, but they were troopers! our "shoot" was cut short because of the cold, but we still managed to get a lot of great shots! kinda helps when the entire family is gorgeous and photogenic... :)

C.A.S.A. gala tonight!

2009-12-04T09:22:00.002-06:00

i'll post more on this in my next post, but my mom and i are attending the C.A.S.A. gala tonight! i'm excited on so many levels about this:

1. because it's a FABULOUS organization that helps physically & sexually abused children while in foster care & in going through the court system.

2. because it's an organization that helps CHILDREN. don't get me wrong, i love saving the ta-ta's, and i'm all for finding a cure for cancer, but being a mummy to my two monkeys, i can't imagine the fear, pain & confusion these poor children are dealing with at such a young age. funny when you have kids of your own, all of a sudden your "mama bear" instincts come out whenever there's a child hurt or in need. maybe that's not the norm though. maybe it's just me. maybe it's because of the way i was raised, becuase of the way i was taught to think about children, which brings me to number 3 on my list:

3. because my MOM, along with the other original volunteers, is being honored tonight for helping C.A.S.A. come to this area. my mom was on the ground level of volunteers when C.A.S.A. opened here, and i'm so proud of her! i'm so thankful that she was incredibly pro-active, and set such a great example for me as a wife, mom & friend.

if you've never heard of C.A.S.A., or if you have and would like to volunteer or donate, stroll on over here: casaforchildren.org

life lessons

2009-12-03T11:33:00.003-06:00

so, i found this list on another blog, it's by regina brett, and it's called 45 life lessons and 5 to grow on. what a great list to help keep life in perspective! enjoy!

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.
2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.
3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.
4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.
5. Pay off your credit cards every month.
6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.
8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.
9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.
10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.
11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.
12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.
13. Don't compare your life to others'.

You have no idea what their journey is all about.
14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.
15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye.

But don't worry; God never blinks.
16. Life is too short for long pity parties.

Get busy living, or get busy dying.
17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.
18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.
19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood.

But the second one is up to you and no one else.
20. When it comes to going after what you love in life,

don't take no for an answer.
21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie.

Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.*
22. Overprepare, then go with the flow.
23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.
24. The most important sex organ is the brain.
25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.
26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words:

"In five years, will this matter?"
27. Always choose life.
28. Forgive everyone everything.
29. What other people think of you is none of your business.
30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.
31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.
32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick.

Your friends will. Stay in touch.
33. Believe in miracles.
34. God loves you because of who God is,

not because of anything you did or didn't do.
35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.
36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.
37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.
38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.
39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.
40. If we all threw our problems in a pile

and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.
41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.
42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.
43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.
44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.
45. The best is yet to come.
46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.
47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.
48. If you don't ask, you don't get.
49. Yield.
50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

.starbucks junkies.

2009-12-03T08:19:00.003-06:00

here they are in all their glory.

sis priss and my niece, gracie goose, sippin' on their starbucks while we were at the landing over thanksgiving. they are just the cutest things and share a love for ballet {both have been in it since they could walk} , american girl, clothes, taking pictures, makeup {read: bright blue eyeshadow smeared all over their lids}, shopping, and starbucks. they're in their own little world most of the time~ and i love being able to witness it.

hi! remember me???

2009-12-01T11:34:00.006-06:00

OMGOSH! what a whirlwind of a year! between home schooling the monkeys, having weekend visitors almost non-stop, taking care of everyday things, and things that are NOT so "everyday" like FIRES... i've been going a mile a minute! {yes, fires...we are so blessed that it didn't reach our home, but instead burnt our yard & field and everything in it's path. we are so fortunate to have had raven {the wonder dog~ see the right side panel}, if it weren't for her, it would have gotten the house, and it could have been much worse for the kids and i...j wasn't home at the time} but i won't bore you with the gory details of how, what & why, i'll finish by saying that it was one of the MOST TERRIFYING experiences of my life, and i NEVER want to go through anything like that again. oh. and the story involves a woman with no teeth and two drunk farmers. no joke.

anyway~ thanksgiving was great, spent with family who came down from s. dakota. my cousin, who is a budding photographer there took our family pictures while she was here. i love that her and i have that in common, and i think she's great at it!

these next pictures are of my little bride and groom who are getting married this coming summer. they were so much fun to shoot, up for anything and full of gumption!

and these are from a photoshoot i did with my best friend. i'm still amazed at how busy i've been with pictures. i've had to turn work down! it seems like every weekend i've got at least one shoot booked, sometimes even two or three. i have loved doing it, and have loved the experience it's given me. my main goal is to do fine art and families/children/seniors on the side, but i've been so busy with the "side" part, that the fine art half has been neglected. i'm not complaining though. i've been able to buy new lenses, equipment, etc., thanks to the families that have allowed me to have a "peek" into who they are. it's been so fun and rewarding to meet them, and see their family through the lens of my camera. it's been fun growing and seeing my progress as a photographer, and to see myself inching closer to becoming the "artist" that i want to be. i'm still not there yet. but i'm getting there, and i'm so excited!

this little family i shot is just adorable! they have little miss autumn, and she was my first REAL experience with shooting a baby. while i'm not into the whole "baby in a bucket or coccoon" thing {i really want to stay FAR away from that box}, i did enjoy the "on the job" training. i would've liked to get a bit more creative, but we were on location, and it was chilly. not a good mix for a 6 week old. :)

other than that, everything is good! i'm working on a few projects, including an embroidery pattern company... nothing big, but fun and another outlet for creativity. my blog will also be changing a bit. i've been weighing the options of having two blogs, or three, if i keep a personal blog. so until i decide, you'll see a few minor, but hopefully exciting {to you!} changes around here!

happy december 1st everyone!

busy, busy, busy... did i mention busy???

2009-09-29T14:57:00.002-05:00

wow! what a whirlwind of a summer! we've taken the kids to oklahoma, arkansas, illinois, wisconsin, iowa, minnesota and i *think* there's one other state i'm forgetting.

we got to visit with my cousin (who is more like my sister than a cousin) and her hubby while in iowa. we ate at this fab little restaurant called broccos that was right on the lake of this little resort town called okoboji.

we were able to visit with j's family and all the boys got together... (there's 5 boys, 2 girls)

such a rare occasion to have them all in one place! they span from wisconsin to missouri, to florida! the family is crazy loaded with boys. i can hardly wait till they all get married, and there's finally some girls around to talk with!

*photography*

we've also been in full swing with school and all that entails, and on top of that, my photography *hobby* has picked up considerably doing families and such, and i've just booked my 4th wedding. thanks to the busy-ness, i've been able to get more equipment for this obsession of mine (including a sweet little laptop i call *apple* wink, wink ;) * i've actually named it apricot, and if this seems weird to you, read my entry about my quirks... )

my bff is getting married in may, and as her matron of honor, i've been super busy ( and having TONS of fun) helping her plan her ultra gorgeous beach wedding! i'm so excited and humbled to be a part of her special day. she deserves to have found someone who makes her happy, because she is the sweetest, most giving person i know. it has been so fun helping her plan, and looking at everything available to brides these days. j and i just celebrated our 11th year of wedded bliss ( WOOHOO for US!) and not half of this stuff was around when we got married! i've been sending her stuff left and right, and i'm sure i've been completely overwhelming her with ideas, and pictures i've attached to emails. we've finally put deposits on all major things ( church, reception, photographer, videographer, makeup artsist, hair, flowers, etc) and in 8 short months, i'll be in socal with my bestie & my family for 3 weeks! yay!

as i mentioned above, j and i just had our 11 year wedding anniversary! i love that man so much more deeply today than i did 11 years ago. there are not words to describe how i feel about him, or about us. he is my better half. he is the one i want to hold hands with when i'm 90. i want to wake up with him next to me all the days of my life. he is incredible. he is the perfect one for me, and i could not possibly be any happier. okay, okay, i'll stop now, it's getting too gushy. but seriously. the guy is awesome! :)

we recently took the kids to the pbr bull rides! so fun! i'm a total city girl that lives in the sticks( and amazingly enough, loves it) because of my country boy, but when you mention bull rides, i'm SO THERE! :) we had a blast, and will definitely be going again next year!

i hate that i've been so neglectful on here, but between the wedding sites and flickr (my favorite website, ever) i haven't been perusing the internet like i normally do. facebook has lost it's "flavor" to me, i don't do the myspace thing, so it's mainly my blog and flickr... but something had to give way for "the knot" (dot) com... ;)

now that the main things are booked, a plan is in action, and it's the "sit and wait" time of planning, i'm back! :) alrighty. i'm done rattling on and on~

have a great day girls!

i desperately want...

2009-09-16T07:50:00.003-05:00

aren't these just gorgeous? you can find these and more here.

nick & sashas photoshoot

2009-09-16T07:38:00.005-05:00

last weekend i got to spend a few hours with this gorgeous family. if you'd like to see more pictures, go to my flickr! :)

~I BeLiEvE iN~

2009-08-27T06:32:00.002-05:00

i believe in:

** less is more

**listening to my intuition

**honesty is the best policy

**saying "please" and "thank you"

**God

**that it's okay to be shy

**being myself

**making the best of a bad situation

**bad things happen to good people

**it's okay to be a homebody

**learning from mistakes~ mine or someone elses

**life is full of surprises

**confidence is sexy

**expressing your feelings

**true love

**laughing everyday

**miracles

**being polite

**no one is perfect

**being polite

**being a good listener

**love is all we need

**family

**money isn't everything

**modest is hottest

**forgiveness

**manners can give anyone class

**beauty comes from within

**being humble

**you teach others how to treat you

**a smile can make anyone beautiful

**prayer

**relationships are hard work

**children learn by example

**that a new dress can make you feel like a new woman

**bigger & better isn't always BEST.

**trying my best

**CrEaTiViTy

**dreaming

**thinking before i speak

**being able to take a joke

**a sincere compliment can make anyones day

**loving life

**friendship

**everyone should have a hobby or a passion

**the "classic" style is timeless

**holding grudges makes you weak

more on sis priss~

2009-08-27T06:22:00.003-05:00

more of sis priss' pictures~ looking at these, it's hard to believe that we've had her 9 years already. she is such a joy, and just an all around great kid. i wish more people were like her in the world. :)

sis priss' 9 year pictures~

2009-08-25T10:16:00.003-05:00

here's sis priss' 9 year pictures... these are the only two i've had time to work on so far, and i'm practicing with my new actions, so they aren't exactly the way i'd like them...yet. :) i'll post more later!

i'm still trying to think of cute ideas for the boy and his 8 year pictures... i wanted to get a huge toad as a prop, but if i do that he'll want to keep it, and i've already dealt with having a toad once when we bought him warts ( he named him). warts was fine and all, but i couldn't stand feeding him. yick. one baby mouse every week. it was too sad to see the poor little thing become dinner...

more later! :) have a fab day girls!

him. me. roadtrip.

2009-08-21T12:04:00.003-05:00

i am so excited. in 2 weeks i will have that handsome man above in a car with me for a whole week! ha, ha! i will turn off his cell phone, turn down the radio and talk to him about anything that comes to mind. he will be trapped on the open road. he can't go piddle with anything, take a nap, or go to work. he will be MINE. all mine! (well, mine and the 2 monkeys that will be in the back seat).

we're going up to wisconsin to visit part of his family, then over to iowa for his grandfathers memorial, and THEN off to somewhere else to spend some quality time just the four of us. i'm beyond excited. i have visions of chicago museums and aquariums, walking around navy pier. or how about the mall of america? all those shops... the rainforest cafe, saks 5th ave, and tiffanys... i've got it all planned in my head... of course hubster bursts my la la land by phoning me and telling me HIS ideas of family time... 4 wheeling through the national parks and hiking... ummm, is it near saks???

moody wednesday is no longer...

2009-08-19T09:16:00.002-05:00

since wednesday is no longer dreaded for me, i've decided to stop moody wednesday and rename it "favorite things". just lists of useless information on what i'm interested in at the moment... so, her ya go, my first "favorite things" polyvore! and i know it won't take any pointing out that i'm a simple dresser... fru fru clothes and patterns, especially large ones, tend to swallow me up since i'm so petite (5'2 1/2", and yes, the 1/2 counts!). these are all things i'm looking forward to buying this season. and again, yes, i usually stick with the same colors... i love color, but i'd rather stay with muted and use color on my shoes, handbags and jewlery...

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring J Crew

my nephews and their "moves"!!!

2009-08-18T17:24:00.003-05:00

i had to put this up. my little nephews dancing to some song ( i don't know what or who it is, it's not exactly my kind of music), and they are just so adorable! blake is the older one, and keaton is the younger. both are 2 of the sweetest little boys, EVER! i'll be catching up on my blogging tomorrow, but until then, here ya go!

~moody wednesday~

2009-08-12T08:12:00.000-05:00

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring Vince

i'm in my comfort zone~

2009-08-05T08:36:00.001-05:00

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring Juicy Couture accessories

introducing...RAVEN!!!

2009-08-04T07:58:00.002-05:00

this little cutie patootie is the newest member of our household. she is the sweetest little thing, ever! she won't be for long though... she will soon be the sweetest BIG thing, ever, as she's a mastiff~

i wanted a dog that was big and scary sounding to strangers, but one that was really good with children and not hyper. mastiffs are known for being great protection dogs, and wonderful with kids ( just not infants, since if they accidentally sit on the child, it's bad news) they are docile dogs, wanting to be with you, but not into playing a whole lot.

raven loves to be with us, and she'll play a little while, then curl up next to you and lay beside you till you get up. then she'll just mozy on behind you. we look for her to get to be a little over 100 lbs. she's an outside dog, and will be free to roam our 22 acres, play with the horses and annoy shop cat. ( hubby found a cat at our company's warehouse, started feeding it, and "named" it shop cat, really creative, huh? ... he's since gotten attached to the stray persian kitty, so much so, that he's taking it with us when our house is finished). have a great day girls!

last day to enter!!!

2009-08-03T14:46:00.001-05:00

okay, so i'm sure you all probably read oofa luffa le's blog, and i'm sure you already know that she's having the snappyest little giveaway! heads up, it's the last day to enter, so you'd better skedaddle your little rump over there and follow the rules! good luck girls!

jodi & roberts' wedding!

2009-08-03T08:37:00.009-05:00

here's some of the pictures from jodi and roberts wedding . i'm not finished editing them, but i loved these too much to wait till they were all done. it was a beautiful wedding at a vineyard overlooking the river, and the ceremony was the sweetest. jodi and i go waaaay back, we were bff's in highschool, roommates in college, and close friends to this day. i'm so happy that she found robert, the man i truly believe will live out the rest of his days making her happy. it was a honor to photograph her wedding. love you jojo!

MIA

2009-07-30T08:21:00.003-05:00

wow. it's been a whirlwind the last 3 weeks. in a nutshell we've:

1. had j's little bro stay with us for 3 weeks

2. had family visit from wisconsin

3. went to texas/oklahoma for a concert (picture up top) ;)

4. went to northern missouri for a wedding

5. got the cutest little puppy we've named "raven"

6. had a great photoshoot with an adorable childrens clothing line

7. had one of our work trucks broke into

8. got some really upsetting news...i can't talk about it, but it's very serious and not good.

9. had friends come up for a few days to stay at the lake

10. shown the lake house to potential buyers

those are the main headlines of the past 3 weeks...i promise you i'll be back in full swing next week. i just need the rest of this week to breathe. i've missed you girls, i can't wait to get back into my blogging routine!

~moody wednesday~

2009-07-08T10:25:00.004-05:00

eclectic is a good word to describe me today. i'm off to do some shopping for the dwight yoakum concert friday night...not sure that i'll go "country" but i'm wanting to find something funky & cute. anyway, shopping today, editing tonight & painting tomorrow~ no wonder i'm in an eclectic state of mind...

happy wednesday girls!

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring Louis Vuitton bags

dear summer,

2009-07-01T09:57:00.004-05:00

dear summer,

just a little note to let you know how much i love you. everyday i wake up excited to start the day because i know your here! please feel free to stay as long as you want, for when you leave i feel so sad. there's so much i want to do while your here! so many get togethers, barbeques and swimming parties, all in your honor! and i know that one day all too soon, you'll have to go, but until then, lets spend it doing a lot of this:
and this:

i purchased it so we could play during your stay, and when you leave, i'll play it to remind me of how happy you make me, and look forward to your next visit!

love,
gigi

moody wednesday!

2009-07-01T09:37:00.001-05:00

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring Dior sunglasses

tickled pink~

2009-06-29T09:23:00.007-05:00

"tickled pink": to be delighted. this is one of my favorite phrases, along with "in the pink" which means "a state of well being and healthy"...what is it about pink that can brighten up my day in an instant? i have not a clue, but these pictures below sure do it for me! enjoy! happy monday girls!

love the hat and glasses!

i would totally wear this!

and this, well, this is just total eye candy!

and this is lovely.

i would totally be friends with her. ;)

LOVE.

DOUBLE LOVE.

this just makes me happy.

and this, well, i just love audrey hepburn. classic.

so cute.

i thought this was super cute. dr. suess-ish.

strawberry soup, a staple in our house during the hotness of summer~

2009-06-25T10:15:00.005-05:00

you'll have to forgive the tiny picture, i took this off another page of mine because it seems that i deleted the file that it was originally in, but~

if you've never tried strawberry soup, you've been missing out! it's a staple in our house pretty much year round, but we make it a whole lot more during the summer months.

alrighty, here's whatcha do:

in a blender:

1 pkg FROZEN strawberries

1C half & half

1C sour cream

1/2C sugar

puree, pour into bowls and enjoy with a dollop of cool whip on top, or store in fridge till your ready! FYI~ i usually double the recipe and it's gone in no time!

moody wednesday...and a few randoms...

2009-06-24T10:11:00.003-05:00

so today i'm a little on edge. the last week has been crazy busy, and it's looking like it's only going to get crazier.

i feel edgy by gigi24 featuring Prada sunglasses

now, for the randoms...

1. i had a fabulous time in ok city with ondi. the 3 days flew by, but they were filled with fond memories, belly laughs and fun new memories that we made. funny how there's only a few people in the whole wide world that you can see once every 13 years and it's like you've never been apart. ondrea is one of my *few*.

2. sis priss's ballet recital went well. although i'm thinking it'll be our last year with this particular company. we are planning on starting her at a different acadamy this fall.

3. dear old friend of mine had her bridal shower this past saturday. i'm so happy for her! she's finally found the *perfect* guy for her. truly. don't you love when you see your friends end up with someone you know is the *right one* for them???

the *rant*
4. so i was at walmart yesterday (i'm soooo not a big fan of walmart anyway, but i was in a hurry and it was the closest market) moving on...

when i worked in customer service, it was always taught that the customer is 1) always right 2) should leave happy. i have to say though in the past several years, i've seen customer service go down the tubes. in a serious way. like they could care less if you shopped there or not. the only places i've not seen a decrease in customer service (from here on out, customer service will be refered to as c.s.) is in your higher end stores. this bothers me. a lot.

so, i was at walmart, in the checkout line, and when it was my turn i wasn't even greeted. now, some might say that i'm being nit picky, ( but hubby and i own a company, and if any of our employees refused to greet a customer, or were rude to one, we wouldn't stand for it) and normally i would willingly dismiss this and say "hello" first if the following hadn't of gone on: 1* she moved as slow as mollassas, pausing frequently to let out huge *sighs* of despair. 2* she refused to load my cart.
**it seems that since walmart has gone to the turning bagging stations, that their cashiers have gotten lazy, and feel like it's the customers responsibility to load their own cart.**

(now mind you before you think i'm a snob, i don't mind helping in the least if the cashier is friendly, and starts loading my cart straightway. i really don't mind. i'm not lazy. but. i do have a problem with those that look at you like "get to work because the roundabout is filling up".) last time i checked, in my "job description" as a customer, it was not listed that i am to bag & load my own grocieries. in fact, i'm pretty darn sure that it's still written in the description of the cashier. have you ever been to a supermarket where you had to bag and load your own groceries? i haven't!

anyway~ she started piling my groceries on the floor. seriously! then, from her register, she lifted up my paper towels and toilet paper and threw them into my cart on the other side of the roundabout. she then told me the total, i handed her the money, and she looked at me challegingly (if that's not a word, i just made it one) and said, "thank you, have a nice day." no smile, but the challenge now of basically telling me to hurry up and load my own cart so that she could tend to the next in line. so, me, and my stubborn way, just smiled sweetly, and said "thank you so much, you have a good day as well" and stood there, feet firmly planted. i didn't move an inch. just kept looking at her smiling. if she really thought she was going to win this one, she was sorely mistaken. i'm one of the most stubborn people i know when it comes to certain things. and this royally ticked me off. (perhaps it's the pms, or the massive amount of stuff we have going on in our lives at the moment) she huffed, turned around and slammed my bags into my cart. not placed. slammed. she crushed all my bread, croissants, all my boxed lunch items for the kids. then. and this is the kicker. she threw my EGGS in the front of the cart on their side. i looked down, not believing what i just saw. { mind you, i had been extremely nice up until this point}

i looked up and said "those are my eggs" this time my tone matched hers. she looked at me with her eyebrows raised and without moving any facial feature she replied "i know their your eggs". and turned to get the last of my bags. i took the eggs out, which had to be replaced, grabbed the last bag from her, and demanded that she call her manager. NOW. she looked smugly at me, shrugged her shoulders and said "fine". the women in line behind me were in shock at what had just taken place. the cashier had just thrown an adult sized temper tantrum with my groceries. the manager came, and i led him off to the side. i unloaded my cart while telling him the story, and he was shocked and extremely apologetic. the ladies behind me backed me up. after all was said and done, all of my bread, croissants and eggs had to be replaced. while the manager was tending to that, the cashier walked off the job. yeah. so today, there is now a 55-ish year old lady looking for work in the branson area. just beware employers, she has a very bad temper...

now for the sad news...
5. we are headed up to iowa. (i don't know when exactly we will go, or if it'll just be *j*)
*j's* grandfather was given 1-5 days to live. that was yesterday. this man was one of the best men i've known. he cares for his family deeply, and has taken me in wholeheartedly as one of his own. as you can imagine, *j* is troubled by all of this. so please keep us in your prayers.

i'm baaack!

2009-06-18T11:01:00.003-05:00

funny how much you miss blogging when you're away...;) i had the most wonderful time with ondi, (shocker, i know) ;) we got back late last night and i have so, so, so much to do before sis priss's ballet recital tomorrow, so for now here's a glimpse of ondi and i doing what we do best...laughing at one another.

hope ya'll are well, i'm ready to get back into the "swing" of things!

i feel spunky with an extra side of sass.

2009-06-10T08:57:00.002-05:00

today i feel a bit spunky. well, a LOT spunky. i need to watch my attitude and make sure the filter between my brain and my mouth is ON and set on high alert because on days like this, i can blurt out some real doozies. we have so much to do today...i'm hoping to get it all done. next monday we leave to visit my bff who just moved from australia {and is in oklahoma city for a couple weeks} then is on her way to the american embassy in south africa where she and her husband will live for the next 4 years. i'm BEYOND excited to get to see her, since this is the FIRST time in 9 years that we've been able to meet up! {we were both pregnant with our first child when her hubby landed a fantastic job that took them away. anyway, i can't wait to see her face in person, and for our kids to {finally} get to play together!! happy wednesday girls!

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring Converse shoes

country bumpkin fun~

2009-06-08T11:56:00.006-05:00

so this past weekend was *j*'s 32nd birthday. we filled the weekend full of bbq's, fun and fishing. the kids had a blast, and caught quite a lot of sunfish and even a few small mouth bass. j and i went after walleye, and caught quite a few...although i'll go ahead and just make it known that i caught the biggest of the weekend. a beautiful (well, as "beautiful" as they get) walleye at 20 inches long. anyway, we had a great time and i *almost* worked up the nerve to actually TOUCH the fish. maybe next time. it's the whole slime factor. i just can't shut my brain off when it starts thinking about it. happy monday girls!

my lake bag. filled with everything i need for a *few* (like 4) hours on the water. plenty of mags (lucky, insyle, people style) a good book (right now it's jennifer weiner's new one) tinted lip balm from bath and body works (love that stuff), evian, sudoku (to keep my brain healthy) my art journal (it's hidden in there) snacks and sunscreen (also hidden).

people always make comments about how unrealistic gilligans island was...like why did they pack all that stuff for a three hour tour...well, i'm tellin' ya, it's not THAT unrealistic. i pack like that. always have. poor *j*. he groans anytime we need to pack to go anywhere, knowing he'll be hauling my overpacked suitcase...he doesn't even say anything about it anymore {well, except for the groans}. 11 years of dealing with it, he's finally settled into the fact that i'm not changing. i try to, really i do, i'd love to be like my bff lissa, and pack ultra chic and smart, but i'm more of a "mood dresser" and what if the "3 outfits that i can wear 5 different ways" don't match the mood i'm in on that particular morning? then what? it would throw off my entire day! (mind you, i'm so not a moody person, but i dress differently if i'm feeling spunky than i do when i'm feeling quiet) but if i feel like wearing black that day, and all i brought was browns...well, that would be a problem! is anyone else like that???

moody wednesday

2009-06-03T08:21:00.002-05:00

as a way to procrastinate leaving the house even more on dreaded wednesdays, i've decided to start "moody wednesday". colors and items will be based upon what kind of mood i wake up in. today i'm pretty calm which is a nice change of pace since this week started off so stinky thanks to *j* being involved in a really bad wreck...he's okay, but his truck isn't...seems as though loaded down dump trucks can do a lot of damage to even the biggest of dodge duallys...lol. have a great day all!

moody wednesday by gigi24 featuring Fendi sunglasses

a little bit about me...

2009-06-02T07:40:00.003-05:00

angela tagged me on her blog, and since i hadn't done one of these on here, i thought it would be fun to give you a glimpse of what makes me tick...here ya go! ;)

1. What is your current obsession?
GARDENING. THIS TIME EVERY YEAR, YOU'LL FIND ME POTTING SOMETHING, TENDING SOMETHING...BOTH IN MY GARDEN AND IN MY FLOWER BEDS.

2. What is your current favorite memory?
CURRENT FAV MEMORY...HMMM. SATURDAY MORNING WITH J. ;)

3. Starbucks or Peet's?
I'LL SAY STARBUCKS SINCE I'VE NEVER HEARD OF PEET'S...

4. What's for dinner?
J'S GRILLING STEAKS AND ASPARAGUS WITH POTATOES...YUM!

5. What would you eat for your last meal?
REFER TO #4 AND ADD LOBSTER, CRAB LEGS, CHEESECAKE, GHIRADELLI BROWNIES, PINEAPPLE, AVOCADO EGGROLLS, ETC...IF IT'S MY LAST MEAL, I'M NOT GONNA WORRY ABOUT EATING TOO MUCH! ;)

6. What's the last thing you bought?
CHOCOLATE MINT AND SAGE HERBS AND FRESH BLUEBERRIES AT STEINARTS NURSERY.

7. Ever dated anyone that turned out to be crazy?
I HAVEN'T BUT MY HUBBY HAS...OH, THE STORIES I COULD TELL...RIDICULOUS.

8. What is your favorite ice-cream flavour?
MINT CHOCOLATE CHIP, BEN AND JERRY'S CHERRY GARCIA & GODIVA CHOCOLATE HEARTS (ALTHOUGH I HAVEN'T BEEN ABLE TO FIND THAT ONE IN A LOOONG TIME)

9. What do you think of the person who tagged you?
ANGELA!!! SHE IS ADORABLE! LOVE HER SENSE OF SYLE!

10. What was your favorite toy growing up?
CABBAGE PATCH KIDS, STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE, CARE BEARS...TOTAL 80'S CHILD.

11. If you could go anywhere in the world for the next hour, where would you go?
WHEREVER J IS. ONE HOUR WITH HIM MAKES MY WHOLE DAY BRIGHTER! OF COURSE, IT WOULD BE NICE IF HE HAPPENED TO BE IN FIJI DURING THAT HOUR TOGETHER...;)

12. Which language do you want to learn?
UMMM...I KNOW A BIT OF FRENCH AND A BIT OF SPANISH (THANKS TO MY GRANDMA WHO TALKED TO US IN BOTH ENGLISH AND SPANISH) I KNOW A LITTLE SIGN LANGUAGE, BUT WOULD LOVE TO BE FLUENT IN IT.

13. What's your favorite quote (for now)?
I HAVE SOOO MANY FAVORITE QUOTES. I HAVE A LITTLE "QUOTE JOURNAL" I WRITE ALL MY FAVS IN...HERE'S ONE OF THEM: "DON'T LOOK DOWN ON SOMEONE UNLESS YOU'RE HELPING THEM UP."~ UNKNOWN

14. What is your favorite colour?
PINK. PINK. PINK. LOVE IT. SECOND FAVORITES ARE LEAF GREEN, TURQUOISE, CHARCOL GRAY, BLACK, TIFFANY BLUE, WHITE, RASPBERRY & TANGERINE.

15. What is your favorite piece of clothing in your own wardrobe?
MY LILLY PULITZER DRESSES. THEY JUST LOOK HAPPY!

16. What is your dream job?
I'M DOING IT! WIFE, MUMMY, PART-TIME PICTURE TAKER ;) & STARTING A FEW CRAFTY THINGS ON THE SIDE~

17. What is your worst habit?
WORRY. I WORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING. EVERYWHERE. AND...I HAVE A DIFFICULT TIME LETTING FRIENDSHIPS GO. I TEND TO HOLD ON TO THEM EVEN WHEN I KNOW WHAT THE OUTCOME WILL BE. I'M CAREFUL WHO I CALL FRIEND. BECAUSE ONCE I DO, IT'S FOR LIFE.

18. If you had £100 now, what would you spend it on?
WELL, RIGHT NOW I'M GETING READY TO BUY MY MAC LAPTOP, SO I'D PUT IT TOWARDS THAT!

19. Do you admire any one's style?
REESE WITHERSPOON. EVA LONGORIA PARKER. JESSICA SIMPSON.

20. Describe your personal style?
CLASSIC. THINK JCREW/BANANA REPUBLIC & GAP WITH A BIT OF LILLY THROWN IN.

21. What are you going to do after this?
WORKOUT. EVERYDAY. 5-6 TIMES A WEEK. LOVE IT!

22. What are your favourite movies?
YOU'VE GOT MAIL, SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE, THE HOLIDAY, PRIDE & PREJUDICE AND THE ENTIRE COLLECTION OF THE GILMORE GIRLS...

23. What is your favourite fruit?
I LOVE ALL FRUIT, BUT CHERRIES, BLUEBERRIES, RASPBERRIES & BLACKBERRIES, STRAWBERRIES & GRAPES ARE VERY POPULAR IN OUR HOUSE...FRESH DURING SUMMER, AND FROZEN DURING WINTER...

24. What inspires you?
PEOPLE WHO HAVE A STORY TO TELL. LOVE HEARING PEOPLES TESTIMONIES. COLOR INSPIRES ME. THE BEACH. NYC. INSPIRATION IS ALL AROUND, WHAT I FIND IS BASED ON WHAT MOOD IM IN.

25. Your favorite book?
BIBLE. JUST STARTED READING ME, MYSELF & LIES (VERY GOOD SO FAR!) AND LOVE & RESPECT (THE LOVE SHE MOST DESIRES & THE RESPECT HE DESPERATELY NEEDS) ALSO VERY GOOD!

26. Do you collect something?
PICTURES. LOL! POLISHED ROCKS...AND UNPOLISHED ROCKS. SEA GLASS. BOOKS. I'M NOT REALLY A COLLECTOR, SINCE I DON'T LIKE CLUTTER, BUT THESE THINGS I INCORPORATE INTO MY DECOR.

27. What is your favorite smell?
MY HUBBY. MY KIDS. LEMONS. PEONY. FRESH CUT GRASS. BEACH. RAIN. CLEAN LAUNDRY...

28. What are you most proud of?
MY MARRIAGE & MY KIDS!

29. What do you like most about yourself?
THAT I'M A LOYAL FRIEND. IF YOU'RE MY FRIEND, I'LL STAND BY YOU NO MATTER WHAT. MY ABILITY TO FORGIVE. I CAN'T HOLD A GRUDGE. IT'S NOT IN MY NATURE, AND IT'S SO NEGATIVE. I DON'T WANT NEGATIVITY SHADOWING WHO I AM. LIFE IS TOO SHORT. I'M ALL ABOUT SECOND CHANCES. JESUS FORGIVES, WHO AM I NOT TO??

30. What is your go-to nail polish color?
LINCOLN PARK AFTER DARK FROM OPI. IT'S A PURPLE-Y BLACK. ONLY ON MY TOES. FRENCH MANICURE FOR FINGERNAILS.

31. What do you fear most?
SNAKES. LITERALLY MAKE ME WIG OUT. CLOWNS, EWWW. BEING OUT OF CONTROL. I'M A TYPE-A CONTROL FREAK...

1) Respond and rework. Answer the questions on your blog. Replace one question that you dislike with a question of your invention and add one more question of your own.

if you've read this all the way through, and want to post it to your blog, then consider yourself tagged! just leave a comment on here, so i can read yours!!!

happy tuesday all!

i will never make it as a burglar...

2009-06-01T09:22:00.003-05:00

so friday night comes and the kids are off with grandma and papa for the weekend. hubby is working at the property, and plans to spend the night there, so that he can get an early start in the morning. i'm going out with the girls to celebrate a birthday...i {stupidly} decide to leave at 12:45am...that puts me getting home at 2:15am. after about 30 mins of driving, i decide to surprise *j* and sleep at the land with him {our 5th wheel is there, and is sooo much closer than the lake house}...he had asked me to earlier in the week when we were discussing weekend plans, but i had said no due to the lack of running water {our well isn't dug yet} and my complete disgust with "roughing it" when you really need to use the loo...

so, i try his cell. no answer. {figures. absolutely no reception out there.} i get out there, and turn in the drive. it hits me. it's almost 1:30am, and i don't have the electric gate opener. we have a keypad, but to my knowledge *j* hadn't programmed it yet. so i did what any girl in a babydoll dress, oversized purse and cowboy boots would do. i parked my car as close to the gate as i could. locked it and scaled the fence. yep. i was feeling so macgyver-ish, using my cell phone as a flashlight {it's pitch black out there}. just as i got to the 5th wheel, i hear *j*'s cell phone ring. he answers it. this is how it goes:

*j*: {sleepily} hello?
neighbor: hey, *j*, it's joe, i don't usually make a habit of calling people this late, we just got home from fishing and i saw a black infiniti SUV drive by and park in front of your gate, and it looks like they've climbed the fence. i wanted to let you know before i called the sherrif.
*j*: {now having seen me} i appreciate that, but that's my wife. she didn't have her gate opener with her.
neighbor: oh, okay, well, i just wanted to let you know. like i said i was going to call the sherrif, but i wanted to let you know.
*j*: really, i appreciate it.

they chat a bit and hang up, he has this bemused look on his face and a crooked grin. "whatcha do, climb the fence?"

"yep" i replied. {i was pretty proud of it}

"why didn't you just enter the code in the keypad?" he asks...

grrrr. he forgot to tell me that he set the stupid thing. he also said i should never try to be a burglar.

i agree. ;) bummer. i thought i was pretty sneaky.

i'm in the mood for...

2009-05-29T12:26:00.004-05:00

i would LOVE to have this in my backyard. not going to happen, but i would love it. total eye candy.

inspiration. i'm so in the mood for hanging out on the patio, swim parties & that good ol' worn out feeling from having too much fun.

seriously want to jump in. so in love with these pools. sleek. stylish. no fussy, fru fru fake boulders around the edges. just elegant, simple and so impressive. LOVE it! {home pics from decorpad}

melamine plates from crate & barrell. i'd put them on top of white chargers...how cute!

want these! from potterybarn. 3 of them. one for lemonade, one for pink lemonade & the other for cucumber water!

a definate at my house! these are solar from brookstone

and a couple of these. from west elm...i'm so getting these.

i love all the pink of this one!

and this...more pink! {pic from costal living}

and last but certainly not least. THIS. i'm gonna do this somewhere...i don't know where, and j will fReAk OuT, but how cute is that???

memorial day "fun"?

2009-05-29T07:37:00.005-05:00

i've hesitated putting this on the blog...just because i didn't know how i should spin it...this story can go two ways~ nice and clean cut, or the truth. i've decided to do BOTH. so, here we go, hold on to your seats, it's going to be a bumpy ride...

NICE & CLEAN CUT VERSION (not a lie, but not all the truth)

this last weekend j took both monkeys to go ride our horses oakley & harley (right now they are being boarded till the house is finished being built). i took that time alone to work out in my little garden, plant some flowers and piddle quietly around the house. he called a few hours later and said that there was a chuckwagon race/rodeo going on that night in arkansas, and asked if i wanted to go.

everytime i go to a rodeo, or something like it, i am so filled with pride of our country. it amazes me how attending a rodeo can bring tears to my eyes from being so prideful of our great country.

at the beginning, they go through the flag ceremony, mention the troops, pray, you know, all the stuff that makes an event an "all american" event. plus, there's something about rodeos that get you in that "down home country" mood. (smell of maneur & grilled burgers probably helps)

cowboy hats. nachos. cattle. spurs. cowboys. horses. chaps.

think "sweet home alabama" / "hope floats" kinda feeling.

although i'm not a real "country girl" (being born and raised in the "wilderness" of los angeles), i LOVE pretending to be "country".

i say *pretending*, because i love hunting, but if i see a snake or something equally *satanic*, i BOLT outta there and i won't be back to that part of the woods.

i love being outside, but will spasam at the first mosquito or bug bite, and seek safety indoors. (just ask my hubby, i'm a *blast* to go camping with, honest)!

i love our horses, but i'll admit i'm still intimidated by their power & size.

i love cowgirl boots, but think their cutest when worn with a girly babydoll dress.

so all that being said, rodeos make me feel like an organically grown country girl. hometown homecoming queen. boot scootin' boogie line dancing cowgirl (minus the western outfits)...

so. that was the clean cut version. it's not much, but it's all i've got.

now. THE TRUTH.

saturday morning, j takes the kids to the horses, i piddle in my garden, and am feeling quite content knowing that j and the kids will come home, we will lay the outdoor carpet in the screened in porch (which was the last thing needed in order to finish that project), bbq burgers on the egg (for those of you that don't know about the *big green egg*, it's a whole new level on grilling. go ahead, google it if your a die hard bbq'er. once you taste a steak or burger on the egg, you'll NEVER use a regular grill again. EVER. )...got a little side tracked, but seriously, check it out.

then, after grilling, we were going to take a leisurely boat ride and fish for a while. (love to fish. REFUSE to bait my own hook.)

so j phones, and tells me about this chuckwagon race/rodeo. i told him i didn't want to go, we had "plans" and i was quite happy staying home. he finally convinced me to go after promising that he'd come home and lay the carpet before we went. the kids went on with his stepmom and her husband, and he came home. we laid the carpet, put all the furniture back, i decorated it a bit, then we cleaned up and headed to the backwoods of arkansas. (mind you, i still wasn't too happy about going, but he assured me that there was going to be bull rides, so i was "okay" about heaving my plans to the trash bin)

anyway, the drive to get there should've sent red flags and warning signals to us. shoot. it should've sent clowns (which i hate) on stilts with HUGE signs saying "don't go!" and "you won't like it" or "it's going to feel like hell on earth!" but it didn't. well, it kinda did, but we shrugged it off. we get there, and find j's stepmom. we park the truck right up to the arena, and let the tailgate down.

first sign that 4 people (us & our two monkeys) don't belong at this event~

1. everyone is drunk. everyone. the entire collection of "rodeo" participants. the onlookers. everyone. i see kids ages 3-6 carrying and playing around with their parents beer and cigarettes. seriously. there's a huge group of 14-16 year old hammered a few tailgates down from us.

2. the "rodeo" is supposed to start at 6pm. it starts at 8. yeah. okay, i'm chronically late, it's an illness, but even i'm never 2 hours late, but whatever.

***side note: we had to be at both services at church the next morning because j convinced me that my two head ushers were going to be out of town. i had thought they weren't going to be out of town for another couple weeks, but he assured me i was wrong... meaning we have to leave our house at 7am to get to church on time...meaning we have to get up at 5:30-6am to get everyone ready by 7am...*** okay on with it.

3. the first "event" was steer wrasling. (i'm spelling it the way they say it) not WRESTLING. WRASLING. i've seen this type of event before, one team ropes the steer, then the team ties up the back legs and one front leg and they're timed. okay. this was unlike ANYTHING i've ever seen. picture 4 drunker than drunk guys fighting and chasing a steer around a huge arena, not being able to rope the poor thing, and at one point FALLING OFF THIER HORSE. here's the clincher. THE HORSE WASN'T MOVING. IT WAS STANDING STILL. and they fell off. yeah. that's when i really thought i was in the twilight zone. an alternate universe. hell. these poor steers were pulled down by 3-4 men, held there with their tounges flailing around and them groaning while their legs were tied up. now, don't get me wrong, i love animals and i love rodeos. all the rodeos i've been to, i've NEVER felt like the animal was treated unfairly, or harmed in any way. but this. this was disturbing.

4. it went from bad to worse, each event worse than the one before. people got drunker. said people started invading my personal space. (can't handle that...don't they know about my invisible bubble?) at one point, i look over at our trucks tailgate (i was sitting on j's stepmoms) and a band of wild drunken teenagers ( and one ICE CREAM CONE EATING three year old) had pretty much taken over the bed of our truck. when i say taken over, i mean, their stash of alcohol, their plates of food, and their RUMPS were all over the tailgate of our truck. sitting there texting, kissing, laughing, yelling, drinking...this made me one unhappy camper. with each event i got more and more uncomfortable. and bored. and in desperate need of some normalacy. i cleaned out my purse. i did my nails. TWICE. i started texting friends with urgent SOS messages.

5. they announced at one point that evening that the next event was "wild cow milking".

i looked over at j, who looked as puzzled as i was, and glared at him. i blamed him.

i wanted to stay home (enter background calming music, birds chirping, scents of flowers and lemons filling the air), grill hamburgers (sounds of kids playing, crickets cricketing and picture perfect picnicking) and go on a nice, quiet boatride (picture sun setting in the background, wide open lake surrounded by gorgeous views, you see the boat and our silhouetted family of four peacefully boating away) that's what I wanted. HE instead, brought me HERE. to the backwoods-honkey-tonk-sorry-excuse-for-a-rodeo place.

the time came for the WILD COW MILKING. 4 guys, *ahem* 4 drunk guys, running after a poor momma cow trying to wrestle her and milk her enough to get a few drops into a little old bottle, then run to the middle of the arena to a judge that tips the bottle down to see if anything comes out of it. one team didn't get anything. fight breaks out. security steps in. they don't want to leave the arena. they're saying it's rigged. they've been jipped. they're pretty upset judging from the use of 4-letter words they were yelling...my kids don't know what to think. neither does the judge whose still being yelled at. they FINALLY leave the arena. things calm down. they finish up the wild cow milking. then they announce it. the main event. the thing "we've all been waiting for" (i hadn't been waiting for it, i was kinda hoping that was the end) the cherry on top of this huge rodeo sundae...THE PORTA POTTY PULL.

6. yep. the porta potty pull. 3 porta potties. 9 teams of 2. one person gets IN the porta potty. the other ropes it while on a horse. they pull the porta potty by horse across the arena (mind you only ONE of the porta potties didn't fall over and have brown "goo" spill out of it...i'm trying to be gentle with my descriptions) they did this 3 times, and then took the 3 that won and they {raced?} pulled against each other. it was disgusting. we didn't stay to find out who won. the winner would win the pot. $200. i'd GIVE $200 to NOT do that.

we got in the car after explaining to j's stepmom that we were going to "beat the crowd" and headed for home. it was 11:45. it was an hour and a half home. i told myself i wasnt' going to tear right into him...so i asked him what he thought of the "rodeo". he shook his head and started chuckling. his feelings matched mine, and i took that as an invitation to unleash my thoughts that had been building all night. needless to say, j knows better than to EVER go to one of these things again. (and just to let you know, we didn't want to look "rude" and leave even earlier...long, boring, detailed story)

we got home at 12:15am. the kids had to take showers because they were filthy (forgot to mention it rained while we were there, and they were so dirty) by the time we got to bed it was after 2am. we woke up at 6. on the road to church by 7. (it takes an hour and a half to get to church from the lake house). we pull up, j drops me off at the door. my main ushers (father and son that were supposed to be "out of town") are standing at the door greeting people. another glare is cast at j.

i knew i should've called my ushers and made sure that this was the weekend. i knew my gut was telling me different than what j said. as i had thought, it was another 2 weeks before they were leaving for texas.

we took a 4 hour nap that afternoon. i told j thats a clue that we can't handle late nights anymore. aging. pathetic little detail of life.

i was able to laugh at it after the nap. but i've told j (playfully, of course) that this will be held over his head for the rest of his life. he thinks the whole thing is hysterical. i'm starting to see the humor in it...kind of...

**BONUS** j's stepmom informed him when we got there that she was wrong about the bull rides. they weren't until the next day. all of that, and no bull rides. makes a girl wanna cry.

have a great weekend!

the "lovely blog" award...

2009-05-28T15:21:00.004-05:00

i'm so giddy that i've recieved this from lauren at the neaves nest! (she and her blog are a-dor-ab-le, you must go check it out)

it's my first blog award, and i'm excited to pass it off to 10 blogs i've recently discovered!

here's what you do: accept the award and post it on your blog along with the link to who gave the award to you.

then pick 10 newly discovered blogs and list them. contact them to let them know about the award.

i've chosen these lovely blogs:

brown eyed girl and her beau

drew and ashley

life @ the white house (she also recieved this, but i love her blog)

running in stilettos

paisley and pearls

iva messy

love and marriage

the lajeunesse family

20 times a lady

b is for brown

i love all the blogs i follow, but these are among the newest ones i've found. you need to check them out along with laurens. they're all fabulous! thank you lauren!

a bit of {randomness} to start the day...

2009-05-21T08:13:00.013-05:00

1. patti blagojevich is a celebrity??? since when??? and going to be on a reality show??? c'mon, seriously? most of the nation had never heard of her or her husband before the whole "selling the senate seat" thing. (which i don't have any opinion on because i don't know enough about it). her husband says she's "willing to go out in the jungle (to make money) for her kids"...she says they have to earn a living somehow...could they not do something low-key?

of course i had this same thought when they started treating kato kaelin a celebrity too. it seems as if all you need to do is get involved in a public scandal. instant celebrity! are people really that interested in the blagojevichs?

{and please understand, i'm not putting anyone down, i'm just so confused at how we've gone from calling someone like marilyn monroe, brad pitt & reese witherspoon celebrities to putting paris hilton, those kardashian girls & now the blagojevichs in the same category}. i mean absolutely no disrespect towards any of them, i just don't get it.

2. ingenius! so cute and fun. get 'em here.

3. a woman gives birth to twins that have different dads?! wow. i had NO IDEA that was even possible. i will say i have a LOT of respect for her fiance (father of one of the boys), he made it clear that he's "daddy" to both, and that's that. she's got a good guy. but seriously? did you know that could happen?

4. i really want these. plus one in black. you can find them here.

5. and i *LOVE* this shirt and belt from the spring collection of my friend jodi's clothing line sakrid.

have a *great* day!

excuse me while i wipe the drool off my chin

2009-05-20T12:11:00.005-05:00

okay, sooo, while perusing this website, i found these...first up is my vision for our new dressing room. only with dark cabinets. LOVE the chandelier! makes me want to play dress up.

and this. well this is nicky hiltons breakfast nook. i'm hoping for something like this in my craft room...love the wallpaper!

* the colors in this room make me happy.

you might recognize this from the movie "the holiday". i'm OBSESSED with this house. our home was designed with this house in mind. even the floors.

if i had to have an office it would look like this. notice the "tree" painted on the wall in a darker blue. i'm in love.

and again..."the holiday" house. the color scheme is what i'm doing throughout our home. so relaxing.

look at those lamps! i could so live here.

the touches of turqouise. love it. kinda feelin' that wallpaper too...

the pillows. i. need.

again, 'the holiday". the color scheme. love. only our bedding will be all white.

you didn't see this room in the movie, but this is also from "the holiday". i fell in love with the beamed ceilings.

and again. "the holiday" i can't help it. they had the BEST set designer EVER.

the back of the house. i just put this one up because i love the pool. more eye candy of a different kind later~ we're off to run errands! have you read the new jennifer weiner book? i can't hardly put it down!

my brain...you should try living with it...

2009-05-19T12:44:00.004-05:00

okay, so i'm sitting here, having PLENTY to do, but instead i'm off in a little bubble and the voices in my head are going crazy chattering about the most random things...these are SOME of the things going on in there, all at the same time:

1. i need to go excersize, but i'm hungry. i could just grab something to eat (really craving chocolate) while i jog...but does that defeat the whole purpose of jogging? would i be burning those calories, or all the ones before. duh. before. but i really want chocolate. put that on the grocery list. still wanna lose 5 lbs...geez.

2. laundry is totally piling up. i hate laundry. i don't know why they don't invent disposable clothes. but would i really want to go to the store every week and buy new ones? well, yeah! but then they wouldn't be as well made. that would be a bummer. but i guess it really wouldn't matter if i was just going to throw them away. but what if i REALLY liked something...could i just keep buying it, or would they eventually stop carrying it? that wouldn't help the landfill situation either. what a silly idea. i don't know why i have it every time i do laundry.

3. i need to go water my garden. we've gotten soooo much rain though. what am i going to do if i see a snake by it? i hate snakes. maybe lowes has something to keep snakes away. and ticks. yuck. hate ticks. still haven't gotten my tomato plants. need to get those tomorrow. scared nothings going to grow. i'm going to be so mad if it doesn't. i'll NEVER grow from seed again.

4. tomorrow. wednesday. church. don't think the kids should go to church because of their poison ivy. still need to go to the grocery store. and lowes. poison ivy. yuck. need to pick up more white paint for the screened in porch ceiling. can't believe the stupid thing is taking this much paint. my arms hurt. i hate painting over my head. i need to wash the car while i'm in town. dry cleaning! need to remember that too!

5. poison ivy. why is it poison? need to google poison ivy. see if there's something else i can do to speed up the process of it going away. kids still look like "chubby". "hi, i'm chubby, my mama's chubby, my daddy's chubby, even my dog is chubby. one day my momma said, chubby, can you smile? sure, ma, like this!" used to do that a lot as a kid. poor kids. i should take pictures of them for the blog. would it be mean to post them with their little faces all swollen on the blog? i don't know...

6. the paintings for angela still need to be done. i'm so behind on that. need to mail aprils cd's to her...need to call jodi and make sure she got her cd's. need to make reservation at bed & breakfast for jodi's wedding. j's birthday! gotta figure out something for that.

7. i'm clumsy today. i always get clumsy right before that time...i HATE "that time". i wish we were made with an on/off button. i would so have it on "off".

8. i want to go somewhere. figi. bora bora. j's set on not going anywhere exotic till the house is done. don't blame him, but i really want to go somewhere.

9. kids need to finish math. maybe we could do it outside. dinner. what are going to have for dinner. leftover smoked ham is good...don't feel like cooking. don't feel like doing much of anything.

10. facebook...keep it or get rid of it. it's starting to turn into a myspace kind of thing. i liked it better when not everyone was on it, and i wasn't getting invites from people i went to elementary school with and haven't talked to since. why don't people like that write a little note with their invite " hi, how are you, it's been so long! i've thought about you over the years, and wondered how you were. looking forward to catching up!"...something like that. sometimes i think they just want to be nosey and not put any effort into a real friendship. ugh. then you've got all the applications, all the requests. not a big deal, but do i really want all those people knowing all that about me. blogging's different. blogging is words from me. things i want people to know. but if i'm not on facebook for a few hours or longer, and someone puts something on my profile that i don't want known, i'm out of luck. does it really matter? it's just sometimes peoples sense of humor isn't funny. i hate when people "joke" by putting you down. i mean seriously? why? it just rubs me the wrong way. why put people down?

11. memorial day weekend. want to do nothing but hang out here. go on the boat. paint the adarondak chairs. and the wicker. one more coat for the wicker and it should be done. took enough paint. we need more mulch and rock. need my other hummingbird feeders put up. need to get rid of the squirrels...

12. what posesses two women to go into walmart and steal a 52" tele? one dressed as a walmart employee and one as a "customer"...purse snatcher on the loose in springfield. springfield. city where nothing ever happens, now has lots of stuff happening. i remember when we first moved here, the main story was on a heard of cattle that had gotten loose and wandered away. now it's non-stop crime.

13. still need to make the drapes for the lake shack dining room. so cute. wonder if they're too trendy. do i really want big pears framing my windows? do i really care? it's not like they're my forever drapes. they are really cute though. orla keely from target. gotta love her.

14. wonder if psycho stalker girl reads this blog. hmmm. i don't know. i'd love to get into her head. try to figure out the way she thinks. i'm pms-ing. i'm thinking mean thoughts. i don't mean to. they just "pop up" and there they are. self control. she will not get the better of me. a lotta nerve that girl has.

15. i need to make smoothies. strawberry raspberry peach. that sounds really good. i hate that i didn't bring my kitchen aid blender here. i'm stuck with our old one from when we were first married. double yuck. it's slow. i'll be so glad when the house is done.

16. i hear water running and the kids whispering...not good. they say their rinsing off their plates from lunch. i'm scared to see what i'll find when i go out there. need to make sweet tea. been out for 2 days. sipping on lemonade instead, cause i don't feel like making it. need to cut all the veggies up and put them on a platter for munching. should've done that yesterday. is it normal to talk to yourself? hmmm. i just don't know. need to experiment with the felted wool. need to go to hobby lobby. hate my "to-do" list right now. it's too overwhelming.

17. seriously have to love j for putting up with me. when we first got married, he would come home and i'd sit there and talk his ear off. he said he'd never met anyone that talked so much. then i saw on a morning news show that women have 25,000 words they have to use a day and men only have 15,000. i filled him in on that fact that night at dinner. from then on, whenever i would do my nightly chatting to him, he'd wait till he couldn't take it anymore, and would nicely ask if i was anywhere near my limit for the day so that he could get back to watching whatever it was that he wanted to watch. i've told him through the years that while it might be hard for him to have to listen to me rattle on and on about (very) important stuff, that he should try thinking about how i feel. these conversations and thoughts go on and on in my head all day without a break. ideas for decor, ideas for making something, stuff with the kids, stuff with the house, photography stuff, craft stuff, stuff with the lake house. the list goes on forever.

if you've made it this far, i'm impressed and you're probably exhausted. i've only met 2 people in my life that are like me in this way. there are so many times i have to make myself be quiet around friends because if i don't, i'll go on and on about ideas and such. it's draining. i can skip tracks and conversations with lightning speed. poor j has had to hold on tight to make sure he keeps up. unfortunately, it looks like lauryn has the same "illness". j and london are forced to listen to us as we go on and on explaining detail by detail about our day, our ideas, our thoughts and our opinions. i haven't really talked to anyone in the past 3 days except for j and the kids because i've lost my voice...this entry was good for me. i feel better. alrighty then. i'm gonna go. i have to get something done. i'm just not sure of where to start...

my skincare regimen...

2009-05-18T12:28:00.004-05:00

okay...it seems as though us girls are always asking one another what we use to make us "pretty", be it make up or our cleansing routines. i thought i'd post mine in hopes that you would think about posting yours too. first and foremost is my moisture cream. i've been using la mer for years now. i LOVE this stuff. i would BATHE in this stuff if i could. my skin is oily with a dry surface...thanks to a recent change in hormones...it has also turned extrememly tempermental, so i really have to watch what i put on it. this is the only thing that truly hydrates my skin and leaves it looking "dewy" and supple. i swear by this stuff. in fact, i have tiny panic attacks when i get half way though it and haven't reordered it yet! la mer took my skin from dull and dry to "glowing". seriously. it's a miracle product.

next item in my regimen is my eye cream. i had been using kinerase, but i ran out and didn't have time to go to sephora to get some...i made a quick trip to walmart and found this. oil of olay pro line. i thought the price was a *bit* steep for an olay product, but i was pleasantly surprised at what it did for under my eyes! i'm now completely sold on this product and plan on buying it again and again!

next~ my most favorite scrub. ever. exfolikate! by kate somerville. she's known for giving her clients that "dewy" "glowing" look and this is her scrub. it's amazing. i don't really care for the packaging, since once you use it and it gets about 1/4 of the way down the pump stops working...but you just unscrew the top and dig your fingers right in. no biggie, it's just the push top pump was so handy...still definately worth it because of the results!

my toner. from mario badescu. this toner works really well at eliminating blackheads and getting rid of excess dirt, but it's still plenty gentle for my sensitive skin. the thing i love most about it is that it doesn't leave my face feeling dry and gross.

i don't get a lot of pimples, but once a month ;) something always trys to "pop up" and this takes care of it almost immediately! i put it on at night, and it's gone in the morning. i swear by this stuff. i've used it for several years, and always have it on hand. LOVE it!

i loved this product so much, i posted about it when i first started my blog. this is incredible stuff. it's by sara happ, who couldn't ever find a good lip scrub. sooo, she started experimenting with ingredients in her kitchen. this is what she came up with, and what has made her i'm sure, quite a lot of money. it's so good, smells good, tastes good...and it leaves your lips soft and smooth. i'm starting to think i sound like a commercial, but seriously, i searched for years for just the right products for me, (and spent a LOT of $$$), so if i can help someone that's looking for products like this that work, i'd like to help. plus, now this might not matter to a lot of people, but it does to me (because i'm a total details person) the packaging is adorable. it comes like how you see here, complete with the little bow. so sweet, and so much like a little gift to yourself.

at night, after i get into bed, i use this. it's la mer's lip balm. i only use it at night because 1. it's incredibly good and the next morning my lips feel silky. and 2. because during the day i wear lip gloss and i'm eating, running around and so on, so i don't want to waste it.

and last, made by sara happ (maker of the lip scrub) is the lip slip. i use this during the day. it's good for under lip gloss, or with just a lip liner (my fav way to wear it). line your lips, fill them in a bit for a touch of color, then put this on. it has a very faint pink tint to it, but it's made to look like you've just licked your lips. not too shiny, and definately not goopy and heavy. and it lasts a looong time.

okay, that's my skincare regimen...what's yours???

my 489,679th mistake as a mummy...

2009-05-15T11:59:00.007-05:00

i have made *plenty* of mistakes as a mum. i'm saying, my fair share, and then some. but this past weekend i made a doozy of a mistake. we were at *the land* (you can read about the land in older posts), and we had been out in the woods turkey hunting. (yes, i like to turkey hunt. wearing my pink suede, fur trimmed boots no less. seriously.) anyway, j and i had told the kids to play up by the shop and we were going to go down the hill to look at a few things. (j had made london a 4 wheeler track, and he has started on the walking trails).

anyway, i spotted this little turtle. i thought it was so cute, so i picked it up, knowing that the kids would love to see it, and brought it back with us on the 4 wheeler. of course, sis priss got all excited (she loves to "mother" anything that will let her, or that is too small to not allow her to) and the boy thought it was pretty cool, and went on popping wheelies with his 4 wheeler (typical). sooo, the first thing out of sis priss's mouth was "can we keep it?? P-L-E-A-S-E??? and in a moment of pure insanity, and a very GINOURMOUS brainfart, i said yes. i'm usually soooo good about saying "no" and how "they are much better in the wild where they belong..."etc... apparently my filtering system between my brain and my mouth was turned off, and before i knew it, or could even think about it, we had a pet. a pet named "sally".

"sally" was put into a hermit crab cage and given food (grass & leaves) and water. sis priss refused to let her down to walk, afraid that she might get hurt (even though she was born and lived in the woods and had made it so far...) and when she was put down to walk, it wasn't but a few seconds before she was swept back up and given a little scolding for either going the direction she was going, or going underneath the boat or truck or whatever happened to be there. sis priss thought it best to carry her around everywhere because she would be safer. i'll admit, i was feeling pretty good, thinking that a mum of the year award was pretty much a given.

moving on...we get home, sis priss still won't put the poor thing down, and when she does, "sally" makes a BOLT for the opposite direction. i mean turtles are slow movers. this one was fast. she wanted out of there, away from sis priss and her mothering. the next morning we found sis priss mothering her new pet (instead of getting ready for church). i knew we'd be gone quite a while, so i cut up an apple and some lettuce and put it in the cage for her to eat, and sis priss gave her fresh water. fast forward to the afternoon (mothers day, mind you) and we realized that "sally" hadn't eaten any of her food. i got on the computer 1. to find out what kind of turtle "sally" was and 2. to see what they ate. i found out that she was a box turtle (i had thought she was), and that they ate crickets and bugs, etc...in this article from the missouri conservation dept, it also said that almost always when kept in captivity, they die.

huge lump in throat.

it gave the reasons, and with each one i felt even more sick. i called j in and showed him the article, and he asked sis to come inside. we told her what we had read, and let her make the decision of what she wanted to do (knowing full well she would make the right decision. if it would've been the boy, we wouldn't have given him the option, knowing there was a good chance he would opt for the wrong decision,lol) and she started crying. hard. not because she was mad or angry, but because she loved this turtle sooo much.

she told us that it was a "special turtle" and she didn't want to let it go. well, apparently this was too much for j, because out of NOWHERE he blurts out, "don't worry, we'll get you a turtle this week at the pet store, one that can live with us!" SERIOUSLY??? i turned to him and shot him a look that said "you just did the same mistake i did all over again!!"

sis wanted pictures of her and "sally" before we let her go, so that she could look back and always remember her...( i didn't remind her that she only had the thing for 24 hours). so we all gathered together at the fence that separates our land from the field, and put "sally" down. j talked about "sally" and what a good turtle she was and what a good pet she was as sis priss hugged me, her head buried in my stomach, and her shoulders heaving. it was the kind of cry that is deep. it was a hard cry. not a tantrum, but one when you're losing something or someone. it was a loss cry. i bawled because it hurt me to see her hurting like that. she cried silently for the longest time. the only sound you heard was the long drawn in breath in between sobs. she asked if she could go in her room for a while to think about things. while she was gone, i emptied and put away the cage and talked with j. sis priss has sooo much love for animals. she seriously should be a vet when she grows up. it just broke my heart to see her like that. she came out after a while and was fine, quiet, but fine. and every so often, you would see her eyes well up with tears. she would just hug us.

that brings me to "turtle shopping". i thought it would be an easy thing. pet shop. check. turtle. check. pay for such turtle. check. one happy sis priss. check.

yeah. not at all. we went to every pet store in town.

they don't sell turtles. excuse me? seriously? they all told me one thing. "you'll have to buy it online."

since when did we enter the age of BUYING our PETS online??? our new TURTLE is being SHIPPED to us via UPS???? yeah. seriously. this is going to end up costing us so much more than we thought. and all because of me and my un-filtered big mouth.

here's sis priss below, notice the puffy red eyes and flushed cheeks...with "sally" right before her release. she didn't want to cry for the picture...she was such a trooper.

then a picture of "sally" leaving us. there is no doubt that any of us will ever forget "sally" and the lesson she taught us. ALL of us. especially about making sure our "filters" are always turned ON. ALWAYS...

crushing on lilly...

2009-05-04T11:40:00.003-05:00

my crushes from lilly pulitzer this season....so gorgeous! go ahead and find your own crush here.

how cute is this?! it'll make me so happy in the morning...who am i kidding? i'll be using it all day! it's too cute!

and look at this journal! i've always wanted a pink elephant. ;) and a little lock and key. brings me back to my jr. high days. love it!

all in a sunday.

2009-05-04T09:39:00.005-05:00

we had such a great weekend. london turned 8 on saturday, which is so hard for me to believe. especially since he's my baby, and there's no chance of us having anymore. bummer. anyway, yesterday morning started off wet and rainy. all of the rain for the past week has made the lake rise and flood our roads to where they're impassable, so we've had to take the long way to town. (how silly i feel now thinking that an hour and a half to church was "long")...after church we grabbed a quick bite to eat, and headed out towards mansfield, we took a detour in seymour to visit some amish friends. they are so cool.

we met while they were building our barn, and they've been so open and friendly towards us that it's turned into a nice relationship. it's weird to think about how different we are. we pulled up in their driveway just as they were getting back from sunday meeting, they were both surprised and happy to see us.

the boys were getting themselves and the buggy ready to go to the "singing" that night. we chatted a bit about the heirloom seed company, which was where we were headed, then said goodbye so we could all get out of the rain. their lifestyle is so interesting to me. they have 3 boys, all adopted out of the english world. the boys are in their teens now, and are good kids. they've given us a lot of insight to the amish world. i respect them and how they choose to live. as we were leaving they waved goodbye and i thought about how funny it was that two totally different families could find a common ground. as we were saying goodbye, i noticed her black shawl swinging below her wrists, her other hand clutching it to her chest, and when i waved back, my "return to tiffanys" bracelet jingled and gleamed. it was a funny contrast of worlds.

and, of course, in staying true to who i am, i then preceeded to tell j for the next 30 or so minutes how we needed to score ourselves an invitation to a singing or to meeting. i told him i could totally be amish for a week. and i would learn all sorts of farm stuff and canning stuff. i pictured myself in a little black dress with an indigo blue shirt saying "dah" and "danki" i could TOTALLY do it. (i would have to sneak a tube of co bigelow tinted lip moisturizer with me, but i don't think that would be a big deal).

j laughed and asked what i would do when i had to use the restroom. grrr. see. in my mind i could totally be amish for a week until i remember the whole thing about them using an outhouse. that whole no indoor plumbing /shower thing bursts my bubble every time. she is a better woman than me. hands down.

we then made it to baker creek heirloom seeds. as a semi-experienced gardner, i was so excited to go! it was pouring down rain, and basically parking was in a huge mud hole. j and the kids were pretty skeptical about getting out and walking around, but we had driven all that way, and i was determined to see it...so we braved it...mind you i was wearing my super cute black leather 4 inch peep toe heels...( i got a lot of attention, looks and questions from people about wearing them) but it was so worth it. bakers creek is set up like an old pioneer village. it has a restaurant, mercantile, apothecary, jail, etc...they have festivals and are very much willing to answer any questions you have. it has seeds from vegtables, fruits and flowers that were introduced as far back as the 1800's. (i picked up a variety of string bean seeds from 1892) if you have a garden, you need to see this place. it's nationally known for having the biggest collection of heirloom seeds. so if you're into organic gardening, you need to check this place out. if you don't live in missouri, you can request a catalog, or shop online here
i scored some red bell peppers, snow peas, celery, different herbs, radishes, turnips, green beans & cucumbers. oh! and marigolds. i can't wait to go back.

life at the lake shack

2009-05-01T10:17:00.007-05:00

this is our lake. it's a beautiful lake. it's nasty brown in the picture because this was taken in the middle of winter, but you should see it now! it's back in all it's glory! see that shore over there? well, that's arkansas. yep. we're that close to being called "arkansasians" now. for those of you not familiar with our house history, here's the readers digest version. we bought 22 acres of land, our dream land just outside of a town near springfield, mo. we set out to build our dream home (look at post below)on it, and had a *brilliant* idea to put our house on the market immediately, because the market was so bad. that way it would give us plenty of time to build and finish our new home, while still being able to live in our current one. we were hoping that by the time we were finished building, that the house would sell. it didn't quite work out that way.

the house sold after 2 days on the market. the new buyers wanted us out in 9 days. they wanted to be able to get settled before thanksgiving. hmpf. all of a sudden, we were homeless. our house wasn't even started! the architect was still drawing up the plans! so, with 9 days to move, we decided to do something a little drastic.

neither one of us are big on renting. not that there's anything wrong with it, obviously, but i don't like paying for someone elses mortgage. so we moved our little family to our lake house an hour away from the rest of our life. we had just finsihed building the lake house this past summer, and really hadn't spent much time at it. let me start out by saying it's MUCH smaller than our old house. the lake house is 1300 sq. feet. 1300. seriously?! we have a LOT of stuff. a LOT of furniture. a LOT of everything. and before you form an opinion of me, i'm soooo not a pack rat. any one of my friends can assure you of that. but we had a bigger house, with more rooms, and i love to decorate.

anyway, we put the majority of our stuff in storage, untill our barn/shop could be built on the new land, and took over to the lake house what we needed. we took all our livingroom furniture, our bedroom set and stuff that we had planned on taking there after the new house was built, because it's going to stay at the lake, (all new furniture, for an all new house!) and we settled in. we only planned on staying at the lake shack 3 months TOPS.

here we are, 6 months later, and it looks as if we won't be going anywhere for a while. winter was hard on us this year, so it wasn't easy finding good weather to build the barn/shop. our plan is to build the barn, then start the house...we are just now in the finishing stages of the barn, and with the economy being what it is, and having it be as completely unstable as it is, we are waiting a few more months to start building our home. soooo, it looks like we'll be here for almost another year.

if you figure we start at the middle or end of summer, it will take 6-7 months for the house to be built, and that's if the weather cooperates.

when we first moved in, i didn't bother really decorating or organizing, because we were only going to be living here for a couple months, but now that it's going to be longer, i have been in a decorating frenzy. finding creative ways of organizing in such a little space. i've had so much fun living here, and have even gone as far as to tell hubby that i wouldn't mind living here permanently. (to which he rolled his eyes, and said something to the effect of "riiiiight")...he knows me *too* well. i do love the thought of living here, but i'm too much in love with our new house, ( and the thought of decorating it) to actually be content living here forever. but i have loved living here, and i will continue to enjoy being here for the rest of the time we are. i've done more creatively since we've been here, and i'm a little scared that when we move back, i'll go back to my old ways and lose that. i'm going to try so hard not to. but it's so easy living in the city (well, we don't live "in" the city, but close by) to run and go and go and go.

but here, you don't go anywhere. the nearest grocery store is 30 minutes from me. here, the kids and i take daily walks along the lake shore, we find beach glass, and shells. and in the words of anne shirley, "there's so much scope for the imagination"~ everywhere you look around here is gorgeous. i have views that are to die for, and i'm having fun.

the shack takes me an hour and a half to deep clean, that's baseboards and windows too! we don't get very good television reception (which doesn't really bother us since we aren't big on t.v. anyway), and our cell phone reception stinks. that right there has freed up a lot of time for me. back at our old house, the phone was constantly ringing, and i was constantly on it. now i'm hardly ever on it, because you pretty much have to lean forward, cock your head to the left side, hold out one leg and put your right arm to the sky in order to get a signal. and don't you dare move a muscle, or your going to drop that call.

i wanted to be able to show you our little lake shack i've come to love so much. excuse these pictures, as they were taken before i made the house all pretty. it's still a work in progress, and i'm lovin' it!

our bedroom. i normally don't keep that many books on my nightstand, but our book cases are in storage, and there's nowhere else for them to go...

pierre. my pig. i love him. i couldn't bear the thought of him in storage.

the bar.

lucy! my pet. lucy has been with me for over 9 years. i love her. she's the gorgeous one on your left...;) my aprons on the wall of the kitchen, the pink one is mine (love pink), and the yellow one was my great grandmas.

the master bath. a pedestal sink for the hubby and me. grrr. i miss having my own sink.

the living area. that's all for now. i'll post more soon!

whats in a name?

2009-04-29T12:41:00.002-05:00

EVERYTHING!!! i love words. i love names. so when it comes to naming something (or someone) i'm an absolute freak about it. poor lauryn was brenna, selena, lauryn, gabriella, brenna, selena, brenna before i finally settled on lauryn. i know that isn't too different from most people, but i take it a bit further. i name things i love. like my car. my camera. my wedding ring. my kitchenaid mixer...no kidding...read a few posts down...anyway...

j and i have been trying to think of a name for our land. something to put on the gate when you drive up. he's come up with some real doozies, and i've suggested "casapinka" ( you know like casablanka??? how cute is that???!!!) which he completely shot down. i thought it was cute. he said he's not going to live in a place named "pink house". hmpfh. i told him that it would be "house of pink" he informed me he didn't care if it was "pink house" or "house of pink", he wasn't living in it. sooo...i'm looking to you for help. serious help. i want something zippy. and to give you a bit more info to help you, we have horses and once we move we will have a few longhorns as well. both horses and longhorns will be visible from the front gate...

also, i'm trying to think of a fun name for my little craft studio...i like posey or posie (right now i'm leaning towards the spelling "ie") but i'm up for any suggestions. bring 'em on!

.our house plans.

2009-04-29T08:12:00.004-05:00

darci dear!!!!

well, here it is! our dream home~ a few things: the garage is at a 45 degree angle, even though it's not shown on the plans...the color scheme is a putty gray, darker gray, white trim and blue accents. we're using vertical siding, rock, shakes & stucco. the front will have a circle drive and underneath the walkway, is going to be a koi pond. (i'm really excited about that!!!)

this is the back of the house, the pool & pool house are being tied in with the patio.

the main level...a few of my favorite things; 1. my kitchen (LOVE IT!) 2. my pantry & my entertaining pantry! 3. the laundry room is right off the master dressing room, with a pocket door joining the two, and it has a lazy butler (mini elevator) that goes down to the kids bathroom, so they don't have to carry their dirty clothes upstairs, and clean clothes downstairs!! 4. the master dressing room! i'm way excited about this, and plan on making it very 50's glamour,it will have a dressing table and 3 paneled mirror as well as an island. i can't WAIT for that!!! we are putting a mother-in-law quarters in above the garage, so that's what the staircase in the garage is for...

the basement has the excersize room, the kids' rooms & bath, the classroom (i homeschool), the game room and another kitchen, plus my favorite...my craft room. i'm in the process of choosing a name for this, so suggestions are welcomed!!! i like the name posey or posie (pronounced the same, but spelled differently...i'm a freak about how words are spelled, it can make or break it for me) i'm so excited to get this built and move in! :) i'd love any ideas you have for me!!!

me? quirky? never...

2009-04-28T08:36:00.004-05:00

i'm in the mood for list making, and while i should be doing other things that are far more productive, this sounds funner. so...here's a short list of the "quirks" that make me, me...

1. i despise clowns and porcelian dolls. they freak me out. especially when they have the eyes that "follow" you around. yuck. yuck. and double yuck.

2. i hate making left hand turns. i don't know why. it just feels weird.

3. i don't like odd numbers. i tried to convince the doctor not to perform a c-section on me till the next morning so that my daughters birthday wouldn't be on april 1st, but on april 2. i lost that battle. the only exception to this rule is the number 5. it's the coolest odd number there is. so cool, i tend to think it's really an even. :)

4. i love reading the thesaurus. and the dictionary.

5. i name things i love. ex: my car~lola, my kitchenaid~lucy, my journal~lulu, my camera~bindi, my drawing journal~sophie, my sewing machine~bianca

6. i don't care for ivy or ferns...anything that's vine-y and allowed to grow all over the place, like up the walls and such. it freaks me out. i don't mind them as much if they are kept SHORT. like way short. but long...well, it just gives me the heebie jeebies. my mum says i watched too many horror movies as a child...

i'll be adding more as i have time...have a great day!

oh the places you'll go!

2009-04-27T15:30:00.004-05:00

my mum designed and made this cake for a baby shower this past weekend. i loved it so much, i just had to put it on here. anywhere you look, it has something going on. she based it off of dr. suess's "oh the places you'll go" book. from all i've heard, it was a HUGE hit at the shower! way to go mum! :)

young love...

2009-04-27T08:43:00.012-05:00

back when i was a make up artist (in another life), and did a LOT of bridal make up, i always took a picture of me and my bride. this wedding however, i was the photographer. it's my first *real* wedding shoot, and while i did the bridal make up for it as well, i didn't have time (or even think about) to snap a picture of miss april and myself. luckily my handy dandy bff who came to act as my assistant for the day, snapped this without me knowing while i was putting the finishing touches of gloss on my bride...

this wedding was so fun. i've been to PLENTY of formal weddings in ballrooms, over looking the ocean, in super huge 5 star hotels (my own wedding included), but this one beat them all. it was in a little relatively unknown town, and the ceremony was held in a 110 year old church. the reception was at a little lake in the country, under a pavilion. but i'm going to to tell you what made it so incredible. not only could you FEEL and SEE that this couple was so totally gaga over one another, but you felt like you had stepped into a scene from "sweet home alabama". everyone was laughing, smiling, dancing. i was an outsider, having never met any of them, including the bride and groom until that day, and they took me in and treated me like family. they were so friendly, and both sides of the families were talking and dancing with each other. i've never seen anything like it. and throughout the day, you saw just how much everyone there (and there was a LOT of people) truly loved and were happy for shane & april. it was so touching. for me, seeing things through the lens provides so much more clarity for me. it puts situations in a *box*, if you will, and lets you see "stories" that you might miss if you were just standing there looking at the bigger picture. i saw husbands and wives looking at each other adoringly. i saw the mother of the groom looking so proudly at her son. i saw the way shane & april looked at each other when they thought that noone else was looking. shane, april & the entire wedding party were a blast to work with, as they were up to doing anything i suggested. i had so much fun with them, and i loved being able to glance into this couples life, and see the closeness they had with each other, and with their friends and family. here are just a few of my favorites from that day, if you'd like to see more, go to my flickr http://flickr.com/photos/millajane i'm not putting all of them up, but my most favs will be appearing on flickr.

her wedding shoes. i loved them! so cute!

she is by far the sweetest thing i've met in a long while. it's easy to see why she has so many people around her that love her. if you meet april, you adore her. it's that simple. she's a doll.

april & shane fit well together. she's the bubbly, energy packed, endless chatterbug ( which is probably why we got on so well ;) ), and he's the quiet "guys guy", who listens to her, looks at her adoringly and shakes his head smiling and laughing at her. it's easy to see he's totally in love with her, and her with him. his relationship with his brother and his friends impressed me. they are so close. you can tell that those bunch of guys would do anything for one another. it's so rare to see that these days. the entire wedding was refreshing. and all the jitters i had about photographing this wedding vanished after a couple minutes of meeting these two. it was a great experience, and i'd do a thousand weddings if i knew that they would be like shane & aprils.

this was the first one i edited, and it is still my most favorite.

as if the post below wasn't sweet enough, here's some eye candy...

2009-04-08T13:48:00.006-05:00

i've got all my supplies to start felt projects, and these little guys inspire and frighten me to go ahead and start practicing with it! aren't they pure sweetness? click here for the mouse laying under the mushroom home...http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5139903

then theres this little chick a dee...you can find her here...http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5840544

you can find these little guys and many other cuties here...http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6761959

me and my guy...

2009-04-06T12:26:00.002-05:00

my heart is just overflowing for this man. i don't know how i lucked out and married the most wonderful, perfectly matched person for me, but i did. he is everything i ever wanted, everything i never knew i wanted and more than i could've ever dreamed of. he is my world. in so many ways we are total opposites, but in so many ways we're exactly alike. where i am weak, he's strong and vice versa. it amazes me how God puts two people together that he knows are perfect for one another, both in the present and in the far future. when i think of *j* i smile. i blush and believe it or not, i still get butterflies. even after nearly 11 years of marriage. it just keeps getting better and better. and knowing that he is one who will witness my life with such intimacy, well it humbles me that this great man chose to spend the rest of his days loving me. is he "perfect", no, who is? BUT, he's perfect for ME. absolutely. love. it's so lovely. have a great lovely thought filled day!!!

2009-04-02T00:07:00.001-05:00

missouri is finally starting to wake up and become lovely again. the birds are chirping, the trees are budding, and i'm having a doozy of a time with my allergies. i love spring!

the photography logo!

2009-03-30T11:47:00.002-05:00

i absolutely LOVE it!!!! i can't wait to put it on everything!!!

my craving at the moment.

2009-03-28T15:28:00.002-05:00

i miss this city. so much. i can't wait to take lauryn there over the christmas season. i know she'll love it just as much as i do.

spring loves at anthropologie

2009-03-28T12:34:00.003-05:00

i fell in love with these fun things at anthropolgie. and the bedding, well it just might find it's way into lauryns room. i love spring. i love anthropologie. :)

hootie!

2009-03-25T12:52:00.004-05:00

as you know, my love affair with owls has turned into an obsession. i found these cute little guys on etsy. they were a bronze color, but i felt they were too cute to not be painted a happier color...so, here they are in their fancy new hues. just as cute as can be!

our visit to the truman library

2009-03-25T10:54:00.003-05:00

my friend kelly and i took the kids to the truman presidential library yesterday near kansas city, missouri. we weren't able to get very many pictures inside the library, because no flash photography is allowed, and the museum is soooo dark. but, we had a great time. the kids didn't learn as much as i had hoped, due to the fact that this library wasn't as "child-friendly" as some of the others, but the kids still had a good time, and i was able to find a book for kids on truman that was filled with facts, so at least they'll learn more about him at home, and will be able to relate better him, than if they hadn't been to the library and seen pictures, belongings and such. the kids didn't mind the non-kid-friendly atmosphere much though. they were so happy to be together and play around. all in all, it was a fun, semi-educational day (although kelly and i learned alot). ;)
kelly and me

me & my two monkeys

haylee & lauryn

our brew...

one of my favorite quotes from the library

the view from where i live...

2009-03-23T15:22:00.002-05:00

for those of you who know just how far we're living outside of town, and feel so sorry for us that we have to make the long drive in, i thought i'd show you what we get to see every night and every morning...it should help you see that living in nowhereville isn't as bad as it seems. this is our lake. i love it here.

okay, so i'm salivating over this...

2009-03-23T15:16:00.002-05:00

see the pink poufs??? yeah, i'm gonna have to get me one of 'em. they're so pretty. and...pink. my husband will no doubt look at it, stare, if you will, get a questionable look on his face and ask "what is that, and why do we need it?" but i already have an answer. "it's a pink pouf (i really like saying that), and every girl *needs* a pink pouf in her craft room." to which he'll roll his eyes, shake his head and say "alright, whatever. girls are weird." ha! he knows to pick his battles. ;) but it IS super cute, isn't it?!

lovely pictures on a dreary day...

2009-03-21T13:19:00.002-05:00

ohmygosh. i so want these. i would wear them all the time.

her pictures just make me happy.

and this, well, this is my newest endeavor...i can't wait!

my list of to-do's for today!

2009-03-21T09:37:00.006-05:00

*order myself one of the above...it'll make my coffee even sweeter!http://polkadotrobot.com/

*shoot some of my favorite things...with my camera of course!

*finish the first painting of my "posh jet setter" series

*finish my embroidery project

*watch all of season 3 of the gilmore girls

*help lauryn use her sewing machine to make her hankie...

*bake brownies

*drink some pomegranite sweet tea

*play around on listography.com...just got my book and i'm super excited!

*start my home color inspiration book

i think that's enough to keep me busy...have a super sweet saturday!

eye candy.

2009-03-19T10:00:00.001-05:00

i have nothing to say on this post. only that i love this picture, and i wanted to share. total eye candy. love it. toodles!

dirty clothes never looked so sweet!

2009-03-19T09:53:00.003-05:00

these made me want to go to the laundromat. i love these cute little hamper bags, so much so, that i'm getting one for lauryns room, so her dirty laundry can sit out and look super cute! love these!!! oh, and if you want one for yourself, go here: indiarose.com

double take...

2009-03-19T09:43:00.003-05:00

while perusing around one of my favorite blogs, i came across this picture. now, i have no idea who this is, or where the picture was taken, but what i found so fascinating about it was it is an almost spitting image of one of my closest and dearest friends, buffy. even the *feel* of the picture is so her. she's one of those people, flowy, effortless, warm, with a *hint* of grassy girl to her. the outfit is one i would expect to see her in, and the shop is one you would find her shopping in...now, maybe it's the liberal dose of nyquil that i took last night, but i think i'm pretty much dead on with this one. either way, this is how i see buffy.

cold hands no more!

2009-03-17T13:12:00.004-05:00

i've always dealt with my freezing hands. but this year, it's really been getting to me. they are always cold, even when the house is a cozy 70 degrees. i'll put gloves on, but then have to stop whatever craft i'm doing at the time. i've been looking for fingerless gloves all autumn/winter season without any luck. the closest i came to finding a pair was at the gap. they were bright orange, (but at that point they could have been a terribly nasty colored puce and i would've bought them) but the store clerk and i could only find one half of the pair...and so my search continued.

well, today, i found them!!! i love them!!! i BOUGHT them!!! and they're going to be mine... all mine! my hands are sooo excited at the thought that they can be warm AND creatively productive at the same time!

my most recent purchase for the new house!

2009-03-12T11:49:00.003-05:00

i've finally started buying some of the most gorgeous artwork! i've had my eyes on these for a couple years now, but never bought any because our new house wasn't built. now that the house is in the near future, i decided to go ahead and buy a few at a time, so that when we move in, i'll have a start to my collection. my plan is to do a wall collage of these porcelelian pillows. they are just amazing and make for a very dramatic wall. the colors are calming, but a group of them is amazing!

the past few days...

2009-03-10T10:37:00.004-05:00

so the past few days have been crazy busy, but super duper fun! here's some pictures of the two shoots i've done the past few days. robert and jodi's engagement session went really well. they are so funny and comfortable in front of the camera, which made it quite easy to get a ginormous amount of great pictures! josiah is the cutie patootie 10 month old below. he's a HAM~ i love his expressions.
this weekend i'm traveling an hour or so for another engagement shoot. this time with shane and april, an adorably fun couple. i'm excited to see what we come up with!
toodles!
p.s. don't mind the temporary header...it's under construction...:)

flat charlie & flat sally

2009-03-05T03:09:00.003-06:00

another one of our school projects is something called "flat charlie" and "flat sally". it's based of the book "flat stanley" and it's about a boy who is flattened while he sleeps, and because he's no wider than a piece of paper, his parents slip him in an envelope and send him out to california to visit. he's also able to catch an art thief by hanging like a picture in a museum.

sooo, the kids made their own versions of "flat stanley" and they are being shipped off as i type to california to visit our family there. once they get there, they will have their pictures taken with various members of our family at different locations in so. cal. (the beach, disneyland, etc). after they get back from the trip to cali, they'll be on their way to n. carolina to visit my brother and his family. once again, pictures will be taken, and they will be sent back to us, so that we can log on the map where all they've been, put pictures in the albums we've made for them, and send them off to south dakota. from there it's new york, oregon, washington, australlia, etc. everywhere we have friends and family, they will be sent, and we'll chart their travels on the map and chronicle the trips with the pictures taken. the kids are so excited, and it's a great geography lesson in the process. above are some pics of the "flats" before their first trip...

warm fuzzy fortunes...

2009-03-05T02:32:00.003-06:00

okay, so one of our school projects was to make warm fuzzy fortunes and randomly hide them around town for strangers to find. the "fortunes" were simple. the kids colored pictures on one side, then wrote little messages on the inside like "you are beautiful" or "God loves you" or "you are lovely" we hid them at shopping centers and stores around town. so fun, and the kids had a blast! as we were leaving one of the shopping centers, lauryn spotted a woman who had found one of her fortunes. the girl was very pregnant, and we were close enough to see that she had picked up one that said "you are prettier than a rainbow". the smile that spread across the girls face was priceless. she gave it to her co-worker, who read it and then passed it around the salon where they worked. we got to see their faces as they read it, and then gave it back to the girl that found it. she took it and left in her car. seeing the smile on her face, and hearing her tell her coworkers how it made her day to find the fortune, made lauryns day.

the kids got so into it, and wanted to make it an everyday thing. i hated to squash that idea, but we agreed that every few months or so, we'd distribute them. he's some pics from that day...

i've missed you.

2009-03-05T01:51:00.002-06:00

wow. seems like an eternity since i've done this. living without internet has been one of the hardest things i've ever had to do. and just in case your blissfully unaware as to whats been going on with us, i'll give you the readers digest version of the past 4 months. j and i decide to put the house on the market, thinking that it won't sell for quite a while, and that we'll be almost done building the house before we meet the new owners. well, two days after we listed it, it was under contract. and we had to be out...in less than two weeks.

needless to say, the new house wasn't near finished...or started. we didn't want to rent a house and waste money, so we decided to move down to the lake house until the shop/barn was completed on the land. then we would move into that while we built the actual house. our plan had us at the lake house (which mind you is a hour away from town and an hour and a half away from church) for no more than 2 1/2 months. we are now into our 4th month, and look to be here another 2 months or so. between the weather, scheduling troubles and such, it's taken longer than expected. at first i thought i would just deal with the fact that we didn't have internet, and i was sure that i would find somewhere close to here that had a wi-fi i could use. i was wrong. so after a month of sitting in a parking lot at the local motel, i started calling different internet companies, none of which were capable of getting us internet access in the middle of nowhere. so, back to the hotel i went.

FINALLY. we found a company that could do it, and not charge us an arm and a leg. to make a long story even longer, i am now online and AT HOME!!!! what a concept! now that i'm home, and online, life at the lake isn't as bad as it was in the beginning.

sooo, here we go~ catching up on all that i've missed out blogging on these past few months.

lauryns new painting

2008-12-30T15:35:00.006-06:00

i just finished lauryns painting for her new room, and i'm crazy about it! it didn't photograph as well as i would've liked, so the colors aren't true, but regardless, the painting in person is exactly what i was wanting. raspberry, pumpkin, lime, turqoise, aqua, lemon, all muted. i just love the way it turned out. reminds me of a dream when your in between light and deep sleep, when nothing makes sense, yet it all makes sense. happy. comforting, colorful and mismatched. i love that she can pick out a part or section that is her favorite, where your eye natually draws to. around the sides are the lyrics to "somewhere over the rainbow". i just love it.

oh christmas tree...

2008-12-30T14:57:00.005-06:00

as most of you know, we celebrated this christmas at the lake house. i'll admit i was pretty excited about this, even though i knew there would be no room for a tree...especially our tree which is ginormous in height and width...so i improvised and made my own "modern" version of a "christmas tree"...then i hunted around at various antique shops collecting "shiny brite" ornaments. i just love 'em, they have so much more character than new store bought ones, i think. anyway, our "tree" sat on our dining room table, and i'm hating the thought of taking it down. ( usually all things "christmas-sy" are OUT the day after christmas) but i just don't want to take this down. not yet. i had gotten the idea a few years ago from a picture i saw online, and knew one day i'd make one similar for myself. i took a silver water pitcher and spray painted it milky white ( j about died when he found out it was one of the silver pitchers, but i told him it was the one i hated) ;) and then i took polished rocks ( hobby lobby) and sprayed them silver, lastly, had the kids round up a bunch of fallen branches around the lake and sprayed them turqouis. tied white ribbon to each of the vintage ornaments and a bit of tulle here and there, and called it good. it's fun to think of the families that used these ornaments in past christmas's and know that somewhere, someone probably has really fond childhood memories of some of them. anyway, hope your christmas was shiny and bright!

my babies aren't babies anymore...

2008-12-10T19:07:00.005-06:00

baloo~ i'm thinking reference to jungle book? who knows where he (london) comes up with stuff...

this is gracie. lauryn had a difficult time naming this one. she couldn't make up her mind.

i just love my kids stuffed animals. they are getting seriously close to the not wanting them in their rooms or on their beds, since they seem to think that they are older than they are, but i can't make myself put them away. i figured taking some pictures of them will help in remembering just how precious this time in my life is with my two little monkeys. it's amazing how badly you want to hang on to each year of your babies lives. how part of you is so ready for them to get older and more "responsible" and the other half fights allowing them to grow up. it's a constant struggle of emotions. as heartbreaking as it is, i wouldn't have it any other way.
this is george. as in "curious george"...;)

this is jane. i made this for lauryn several years ago, and she has been well loved ever since. she's starting to look a *bit* ragged, but lauryn won't let me do anything to her. she'd hate for me to say it, but lauryn rarely goes anywhere overnight without her.

this is slurp. the other side is sip. london is *king* of names. we once had a toad that lived in our flower beds, he'd come out at night, let us pet him and watch him up close, london named him warts. we had him about 3 years till he had an unfortunate accident with the front tire of j's truck...then we had wally ( also named by london) he was the groundhog that lived at the corner of our subdivision. london loves naming things. i love that kid.

lauryn named this one bellini. i have no idea why, but it's cute.

a saturday all to myself!

2008-12-10T18:55:00.004-06:00

since living at the lake, i've had so much more time to indulge in some of my favorite hobbies...my drawing journal being one. rarely do i leave home without it, for i find myself finding inspiration for a painting, or some sort of craft while driving...whether it be something off a logo, or whatnot. anyway, these little pieces of "art" are so fun to look through and draw inspiration from. the milla jane stuff shown is for a project i'm working on. anyway, i had a saturday all to myself, with j at the property working on the shop, and the kids at grandma and papa's, i played with my camera, painted, drew, embroidered and watched some good ol' girly movies. what a great saturday.

hello winter!

2008-11-18T16:14:00.003-06:00

here's some pics i took the other day of the kids. we were bored one day, and it was pretty, so i decided to go "explore" our new area...we found this adorable old general store, and the color was such a gorgeous green. these are probably some of my fav pics now. i'm only posting 6 because it takes too long to upload them now...thanks to us not having internet at the moment and having to go elsewhere to get online...it's getting a *bit* old...

anyway, we're doing well, getting semi-settled...as settled as you can get when you know your moving again in 3 months, and j and i are loving starting the process of building our home! the kids are doing well, they think we're on permanent vacation and wonder why we have to do school when were at the lakehouse?! ;) take care. i'll try to post more soon.

chad, alicia, and the lovely miss lilly!

2008-11-08T19:18:00.006-06:00

i know it's been a long time coming on these, but with moving, losing power cords in the millions of boxes that we've aquired, and having to find crazy places ( like a little mom and pop motel parking lot in forsyth, which i'm parked in at the moment) to find wi-fi until we can get internet at the house, they are finally up! i have many more to edit, but here are some of my favs so far! i've come to the conclusion that you can't take a bad picture of miss lilly. she's just too cute, and quite the entertainer! i enjoyed every moment of it. :) hope you enjoy!

family pictures with deanna sammons!

2008-10-22T12:40:00.007-05:00

okay, so it's that time of year again. i LOVE this time of year because...it's time for family pictures!!! j has hated hearing those words come out of my mouth every year for the last umpteenth years...but. this time was different...let me back up... so i found deanna sammons earlier this year, and fell in love with her work. i knew i wanted her to do our portraits this year, but with the house selling, and business booming, and us being crazy busy with life in general, i didn't know just how to approach j with it, and make it sound fun, relaxing and worthwhile. it took a *bit* of sweet talk, a WHOLE lotta begging, and a *dash* of guilt trip ( a girls gotta prove her point on the importance of family pictures, and how we will enjoy them years from now ), but he finally relented after he figured out that in the mess of all the chaos going on in our lives right now, i was NOT backing down on this. that whole "pick your battles" thing came into play. it was one i was determined to win, and he's one lucky fella that he realized it sooner rather than later. ;)

anyway, to j's surprise, we had a FABULOUS time! ( the kids and i always have fun with it, j tends to tense up...he's still after all these years of having a camera stuck in his face, not used to it ), but it WAS relaxed, fun, and EASY! we had lots of laughs, snuck in a few *kisses* and really enjoyed being out in a beautiful location, *together*. the kids warmed right up to deanna, who was GrEaT with them, and i ended up getting some of the most incredibly beautiful shots of our family. she was awesome, and i feel really captured who we are, and our family. these pictures i feel show the real us. how we live, and the closeness we share. she somehow has an insight into our family, and the pictures prove that. so, here are some of them...enjoy! i'll put more up later!

love, milla jane

.girls trip to hawaii.

.my next MAJOR decor purchase.

M.I.A. once again... but with good reason!

for those of you devestated when domino shut down...

lilly loves~

get ready~ liberty of london is coming to target!!!

my favorite things this winter~

winter olympics!

ipad...i want, i want, i need, i need!

bobbi browns spring/summer cabana collection!

a few etsy favorites~

the blind side...DVD

summer dreamin'

vintage hawaii

take a looksee at these from kiel james patrick!!!

the monkeys 2010

some girls collect shoes...

snow fun!

~saturday with amber~

ten words you need to stop misspelling...

Holiday Musings...

~10 Facts About Cowboy & Me~

holiday eye candy!

jeremy, kelly & monkeys!

C.A.S.A. gala tonight!

life lessons

.starbucks junkies.

hi! remember me???

busy, busy, busy... did i mention busy???

i desperately want...

nick & sashas photoshoot

~*I BeLiEvE iN*~

more on sis priss~

sis priss' 9 year pictures~

him. me. roadtrip.

moody wednesday is no longer...

my nephews and their "moves"!!!

~moody wednesday~

i'm in my comfort zone~

introducing...RAVEN!!!

last day to enter!!!

jodi & roberts' wedding!

MIA

~moody wednesday~

dear summer,

moody wednesday!

tickled pink~

strawberry soup, a staple in our house during the hotness of summer~

moody wednesday...and a few randoms...

i'm baaack!

i feel spunky with an extra side of sass.

country bumpkin fun~

moody wednesday

a little bit about me...

i will never make it as a burglar...

i'm in the mood for...

memorial day "fun"?

the "lovely blog" award...

a bit of {randomness} to start the day...

*excuse me while i wipe the drool off my chin*

my brain...you should try living with it...

my skincare regimen...

my 489,679th mistake as a mummy...

crushing on lilly...

all in a sunday.

life at the lake shack

whats in a name?

.our house plans.

me? quirky? never...

oh the places you'll go!

young love...

as if the post below wasn't sweet enough, here's some eye candy...

me and my guy...

the photography logo!

my craving at the moment.

spring loves at anthropologie

hootie!

our visit to the truman library

the view from where i live...

~I BeLiEvE iN~

excuse me while i wipe the drool off my chin