I'm lazy,..

but at least I'm posting something! I think I deserve the 4-day weekend though, or at least that's what I tell myself! Thank you school.

We had parent teacher conferences Thursday after school. Those are always fun. Lemme tell you, some parents share WAY too much information. I don't need to know every detail of your personal life. It's uncomfortable. One situation that made me especially uncomfortable? The ex-wife of my spinning instructor (from the gym) came in and talked to me about her daughter who I have in Sports Literature. Their daughter's really smart, just a real good kid. Well, her Mom talked to me for at least 20 minutes and brought up how horrible the situation was with her "biological father" many times. It's just weird. I mean, I know him and he's a great guy, and he loves his kids, and they seem to have a great relationship. The worst part? She came in with one of their children and the kid had to listen to her Mom talk poorly about her Dad, which I'm sure happens often. It just sucks, for the kids, I mean...really.

In other more uplifting and fun news? A look at a couple projects we're doing? Of course!

This was dinner. How come my pictures of food never look as good as the professionals? Anyway, Bubble up pizza casserole. Easy and really yummy.

New shelves in the kitchen.

The shelves aren't done of course (well, the one with my cookbooks on it is, ain't it cute? E just built the shelf next to the dishwasher today while I was supervising the kiddos in Hermann, and although it's not painted and has no door (yet) I love it! And yes, yes, I know...we still haven't grouted the backsplash. Tomorrow?? We'll see. I love our kitchen.

Oh Diet Coke.

So I attended this health seminar at my gym the other night after my bootcamp class and learned a lot. A couple interesting tidbits?

1. Don't wait until you're hungry to eat. My bootcamp instructor is a big advocate of eating 5-6 small meals throughout the day. She says that if you wait until you're hungry to eat your metabolism has already gone into the "starvation mode," thinking it won't be getting food for awhile, so it takes longer to kick back into action.
2. Everyone should eat (minimum) 9-14 fruits and vegetables a day. Woah there. And it should be a 2-1 ratio, twice as many veggies as fruits.

She also talked about soda. Now, I'm a soda drinker. Big time. I did manage to give up soda for lent a couple years ago, but it was tough. I've been hearing everywhere lately that even diet soda (Which is all I will drink, regular soda? No thanks!) actually contributes to weight problems. Something about the fake sugars they use in diet sodas triggers the brain into thinking you're hungry. Check out this article if you're interested in learning more...my ability to summarize valid points is pretty lame. :)

So, my goal is to quit diet soda. Maybe allow myself one a week. I'd like to quit cold turkey though. My little bro did, and he doesn't miss it. My problem is that I rarely drink water. I know I need to just suck it up and do it, but if I make myself do things before I'm ready, I generally wimp out. Like with Weight Watchers, I gave myself a few months to get used to the idea, so when I committed, I knew what I was getting into and I was ready for it.

(By the way, as I write this, I have a can of diet coke open beside me. Darn you addictive soda!)

Currently Reading: The Red Necklace by Sally Gardner

Some finished projects.

Before...
After...
Things we did to the outside (front): painted the shutters, added flowerbeds (can you say NO landscaping?), took out the dying - and ugly - evergreen bush, got a new, prettier front door.

Before...
After...

What didn't we do in the bathroom? We: plumbed for a 2nd sink, added electrical for a second light above a second mirror that we installed. Replaced the subflooring and added the tile (ew, I'm not a big fan of laying tile, but it is pretty). Painted cabinets and added new cabinet hardware. Replaced the countertop with more tile. Painted the walls. Added pictures I took (and developed) at craft camp :). Um...that's all.

Before (a different view)...
After...
I can't wait until I can show pictures of the kitchen. You'll be floored by the change. Seriously. I am. When I look at old pictures I'm like "What?!"

Oh, and here's a closer look at the amazing flower bed E's mom planted for us. I'm not joking when I say I got home from work one day and she'd planted the whole day while I was gone. She also moved two railroad ties by herself. Two! By herself! Do you know how heavy those are? Amazing.

The flowerbed:
Currently Reading: Just finished Becoming Anna, what next?

No excuses

I could say it's been awhile, and that would be true. I could try and come up with excuses, but my only excuse is that instead of blogging, I've been doing one of the following: reading, playing with my puppies (yes, that's plural), working on our house, or watching recorded episodes of Everybody Loves Raymond like the amazingly awesome person that I am. I keep telling myself to update, and then I put it off. Maybe now that I've done it I won't put it off for so long anymore.

First news: New puppy.

Her name is Sadie, and she's adorable.

We got Sadie about a month ago and we've discovered the following little jewels of information. She licks. A lot. Zoe loves having a playmate. They're both adorable (that was an easy lesson). Taking two dogs for a walk is a bit more of a commitment, and therefore doesn't get done as much. We (well, at least I) love it!

Reading. Wow. I've read so many books over the past few months. Just a few: North and South, Love and War, Heaven and Hell, Beastly, The Chocolate War, The Earth Children series (again!), Olive Kitteridge, Thin Wood Walls, Home of the Braves, Last Shot: A Final Four Mystery, Peak, The Appeal, Luna, Someone Named Eva, The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, whatever the name of the book I'm reading right now, and at least 10-15 others which I've forgotten the names of at the moment, so look forward to just a couple reviews comin up. :)

Work on the house. Our bathroom is officially complete. Yay! We now have a dishwasher (which we got for free) installed in our kitchen which has new countertops and backsplash. We should be done painting the kitchen and putting the grout on the backsplash by next weekend, so I'll add some pictures then. We've also got a new flowerbed (pretty!) which E's mom planted for us, and it's awesome. Some advice? Take free plants from people. At least if you're not a greenthumb like me. It's awesome, and if they like it? More power to 'em!

E, Dad, and I competed in the Sedalia Fall duathlon this morning. It was pretty good. Besides the fact that I sucked it up on the bike portion (no surprise since I haven't been biking...at all...). It was pretty cool. Second in my age group, out of what...maybe two?

I wanted another puppy, but instead I decided to blog.

Why Summer's Great!

• I don't have to go to work. Seriously, who doesn't love that?
• The weather is generally awesome. Okay, I admit, last week when the heat index was 109 and you stuck to every surface as soon as you exited an air conditioned building wasn't that great, but come on! This week is pure Heaven. Simple as that.
• I have to ability to get SOOOO much done. Now, actually doing it is another story. :)
• Reading. All the time. Just finished the Harry Potter series for probably the third time. Yay for the movie comin out in a couple weeks!
• Trips. So far this summer I've only gone to Minneapolis, but there are plans in the works for Minnesota again and a trip to Kentucky for E and I :)
• Holidays. The fourth is one of my favorites because most of the family's in town and I always love that. :) Hello sand volleyball tournament!
  

Well, our bathroom is almost done. Don't hold your breath for pictures, cause we won't get the baseboards until this weekend, but I'll DEFINITELY post pictures as soon as it's done. I'm so freakin excited!

I also bought a paint sprayer for repainting the kitchen cabinets. I am NOT going to do them all by hand like I did the bathroom cabinets. Can you say brush strokes? Ugh. Paint and I aren't too friendly these days. I've painted the following in the past month: front door (three times, mind you), trim, bathroom cabinets, bathroom walls, bedroom, living room, hallway, and shutters. And, I still have the kitchen and the two bedrooms to go. I love paint, it changes a room immediately, but it does get a little old after awhile.

Today I finished our first flowerbed. The front of our house previously had no landscaping whatsoever. E and I built a flowerbed underneath the picture window yesterday, and I spent a couple hours (Ouch!) leveling out the soil, which was somewhat clay-ey (I know, not a word) and impossible, but I did get it done. I have a feeling my back won't like me tomorrow, but it looks SO much better out there. Once we actually have flowers growing maybe I'll post a picture of that, too.

The picture for today? Our adorable puppy and my pretty kitty getting better acquainted.

Okay, so Simon's still adjusting. But Zoe loves playing!

Hello my friend.

Yes, I missed the internet. I welcome you back my wonderful friend.

A short update in pictures follows.

E and our new puppy, Zoe. Such cuties.

Our bathroom before.

Our bathroom now...well, a couple hours ago. Now it's grouted, too!

Oh, and we discovered a hole in the floor under the particleboard. Yay. Go figure.

So, so far we've done the following:

• Installed a doggy door, yessss!
• Put a ceiling fan in our bedroom, oh yeah. I am in love with ceiling fans.
• Put a new light fixture in one of the guest bedrooms.
• Cleaned the yard. That was some work.
• Tiled/Grouted the bathroom counter.
• Added another sink in previously mentioned bathroom.
• Fixed light fixture so we can have a vanity light over each sink in said bathroom.
• Half painted the bathroom (had to wait to fix the wall above the vanity to paint the rest)
• Ripped up the really moldy particle board by the shower (and found the hole in the floor)
• Umm...picked out paint colors for the kitchen, which I'm not gonna start working on until the bathroom's done.
• Oh, and painted the previously ugly bathroom cabinets and put on new hardware.

Yay to fixing a house. I'm hoping we're done with our bathroom renovation by the 20th...can we make it? Seein that we'll be in Minneapolis all weekend, I'm wondering. But I'm hopeful!

Oh, and what am I reading lately? Nothing. ::Tear::

Holy Busy Schedule

So I've been bad. At blogging I mean. It's been really crazy busy lately, but only in a good way.

E and I are now homeowners. We are also proud dog owners (her name's Zoe and she's adorable!). I'm also a new(er) car owner. Um...and we've been moving. And if this counts, half my mouth is now numb from my dentist's appointment.

So, needless to say, I haven't had much time to update. That and the fact that we have no internet at our new house. Next Tuesday - one week from today - we'll be online. I have to travel about 30 minutes to use the internet now, but I'm okay with it, cause we have a house!

I'll be posting pictures soon. Of the dog, the house, and hey...maybe the car.

In the meantime I've read a couple great books: Hunger Games by Susanne Collins (I think) was A-mazing! Then I read The Diamond of Darkhold by Jeanne Duprau (the fourth book in the City of Ember series). It was good as well, but not as great as Hunger Games. Both books are for young adults, but I think almost anyone would like to read Collin's book. It's great. Besides that I've been reading Harry Potter books again. I don't think I'll ever get tired of them.

Well, I've gotta go register my car, paint some cabinets and the bathroom, and mow the lawn. I'll be better...I swear, once I have the internet.