one of those annoying “no specific topic” posts

The realization that we’re buying a freaking house has sunk in. It’s big. Huge. Ginormous. In fact, I think I’m hyperventilating a little bit. We now have just less than 2 weeks to pack up the crap we have here at my parents’ house to prepare for the move. Which isn’t actually a lot. Of crap, I mean. Because most of it is in storage. Actually, the only crap we have here are clothes, our bed and our couch, our computer and accompanying desk and a file cabinet.

I’m also feeling slightly overwhelmed at the thought of cleaning and painting the house. Several friends and family members have offered to help paint – for which I am eternally grateful. But, I’m a control freak, and trust very few of those people to actually do the job correctly. So it’s my own fault that I’m overwhelmed. Because I can’t just let go.

I am surprisingly not concerned about moving day. Because we don’t have much, and, as previously mentioned, most of it is in storage, so it should go smoothly.

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I bought this end table on Columbus Day from the Pottery Barn Outlet, but got it $70 cheaper. I’m sure that’s not such a great deal to you, but I was pleased. Because the table is just so darn beautiful. And also, we don’t have any end tables, so I would have probably paid twice that just because.

(We were using tv trays as end tables at our apartment. Barbaric, right? I just couldn’t bring myself to allow that in our home though.)

I also got three really cool wooden candle pillars for 99 cents each (!) but the Pottery Barn website doesn’t have them anymore.  You should know that getting them that cheap was an EXCELLENT deal, because they were originally $30 and $40. I almost had to fight a lady for them. Just kidding.

*******************************************************************

My sister, whose name is Andrea, (which is relevant to the story) works at a grocery store (also relevant) and told me this story the other day, and I nearly died laughing:

“I was standing at my register waiting for the next customer. A man came into my line, and while I was ringing his purchases up, he was staring at my name-tag. Finally, he asked me – “Do you pronounce your name Aun-dray-uh (Aundrea) or An-gel-uh (Angela)?” “Um, neither.” I said “My name is An-dree-uh (Andrea).” “Ohhhh! Aaaann-dree-uh. So it’s not Angela?” he asked “No.”

You’re welcome.

wearing it well – classic look

Here’s this week’s wearing it well look -

Hey, I never said I would capture it well. I’m working in limited space, people.

Anyway, I’m not so sure that there’s a piece more classic than the black turtleneck. I love that thing. With a passion. Obviously, it’s not my new(ish) item. I wore the heck out of that thing last fall/winter, because for one, it’s black, and apparently, my taste in clothing is the depressed, sort of poetry-reader look. Secondly, it came from the tall women’s section from Gap, and so, that means it’s long enough. For this, I am eternally grateful to those lovely folks. But y’all already know how I feel about that.

My new(ish) pieces are the boots and the skirt.

I’ll start with the boots.

Since I purchased them, (2 years ago? maybe?) I have probably worn them a grand total of 3 times. Pathetic, huh? They go with everything. I’m not sure what my problem is. Fear of being way taller than everyone else maybe? I dunno. Either way, I will be wearing them more often from here on out.

On to the skirt. I saved this for last because I’m ashamed of myself regarding this skirt. I’ve had this thing for well over 5 years, and I can count on just over one hand how many times I’ve worn it. I’ve never transitioned it into the fall, so this will be new for me.

All in all, I feel pretty confident that this outfit is a good one. It’s a nice mesh of classic and trendy, and I usually feel most comfortable hanging out in that particular department of the fashion world.

What do you think?

Do you want to participate in Wearing it Well? Dig out those items from the back of your closet, put together an outfit, and then post your picture! Be sure to let me know if you participate!

tired of the same old, same old

Imagine the scene…

You’re out shopping, you walk into a store, you buy a shirt/pair of pants/some shoes or boots/a purse/jewelry that you think just looks adorable. It’s trendy, but you think to yourself that you don’t have too many trendy items, and so you can add this one teeny tiny little thing to your wardrobe.

You take it home, put it in your closet, and next thing you know, it’s 2 years later and you find it buried in the back with the tags still on it.

No? Just me?

I’ve got to tell you something, if ever there was concrete evidence for excess, I’m living in it.

In an effort to make our lives (and the lives of those helping us) easier when we move into the new house, I’m trying to take care of the tedious stuff up front. Pulling out fall/winter clothes, putting away spring/summer clothes. Packing up bags, purses, shoes that I don’t use frequently. And i’m telling you, that when I unloaded fall stuff, and packed away summer stuff, I was disgusted with myself.

In addition to 2 large trash bags of stuff I’ve given to Goodwill, I had another trash bag worth of stuff that I passed to my sister and mom. Add to that a full closet, and full dresser, and you’ve got mind-blowing excess. But that’s not even the most bothersome part -

Most of the junk I have, I either haven’t worn at all and it still has tags on it, or I’ve only worn it once or twice, certainly not enough to get my money’s worth out of it.

Well, I’ve had enough.

I have decided that from now on, I am going to try to wear at least 2 new(ish) items a week. It doesn’t have to be on the same day (although what a bonus that would be!) but I’m tired of the money that I waste on this stuff, money that, if I’m being honest with myself, really isn’t even mine. For crying out loud, I don’t think my husband was deployed for a year so that I could buy 3 (yes! three!) pairs of boots and only wear them each once. (yes! once!) I shudder to think of the extra money that we could have had in our savings account if I didn’t go through my “you’re gone, and I miss you, so I think I’ll spend un-nameable amount dollars on a bunch of stuff to fill the void” phase.

Why should you care?

Because from now on, there will be a weekly “Wearing it Well” post of my 2 new(ish) items of the week. Until I get through them all. Hopefully, you’ll get some fun outfit ideas from them, and you can copy them for yourself!

And if nothing else, at least it’ll stop me from constantly posting my house-woes. It’s really win-win.

every silver lining has a big fat rain cloud

I’m telling you, if I were to stop highlighting my hair, I’m sure I would find a head-full of grays popping through my scalp. And not the pretty silvery kind of gray. The ugly, wirey kind of gray.

This post about the house was supposed to be happy. It should have been something like:

Best! News! Ever! We got the house!

Or something equally as exciting.

And now it’s just:

Oh, the house? Well, maybe we’ll get it, but who really knows?

The good new first – we did get the house. Not the exact one that I told you about before, but the one across the street from it which is identical. The details behind that story are not very interesting, nor are they relevant anymore, so I won’t bore you with them.

But.

Everyone signed and initialed where they were supposed to, details were ironed out, and a copy of the contract was given to me so that I could turn it over to my lender.

And then.

I contacted my lender so that we could lock in our rate and cover any last-minute details for this whole we’re-lending-you-a-crap-load-of-money-so-I-need-to-know-every-detail-of-your-life process. She asked me when our closing date was set for.

“Saturday, October 24th.” I said. “I know it’s atypical to close on a Saturday, but my husband is in the Police Academy, and they won’t let him leave for something like this, and the title people are ok with it, so we have to do it on a Saturday. Plus, the couple from whom we are buying the house is divorcing, and the wife is leaving to go back to Poland that afternoon, so we can’t do it any later.”

Then she said.

“Well the earliest that we can do it is October 27th, but that’s ok, all of the paperwork can be signed on the 24th and then we’ll just wire them the money on the 27th.”

“Ok, do I need to take any action regarding that process?”

“No.”

“Ok.”

So, I called my realtor and tried, to the best of my ability, to relay the information that the lender gave me.

“This is a HUGE problem.” He said “It’s illegal in our state to do a settlement like that, (he called it a wet settlement, or a dry settlement, I can’t quite remember which) so they HAVE to get the money ready BEFORE settlement day. Or we could lose this thing because we’re contractually obligated to the 24th. And if we don’t stick to our end of the bargain, they could just walk away entirely. You call your lender right back and have them fix this, and if they have any problems, they can call me directly.”

So, stricken with panic, I called my lender. And they were closed.

Now I’ll have the entire evening and morning tomorrow before they open to think about how I could lose my house.

Don’t you wish you were me?

you are my sunshine

On December 25, 1995 my siblings and I sat around the Christmas tree with the anticipatory glow that all children have on Christmas morning.

Santa had come, and didn’t disappoint.

After the fanfare of the present-opening ceased, my dad had us all sit in a row and watch at the end of the hallway for my mom to come out with a special surprise.

It was a puppy.

Our first as a family, he was something special. He was tiny and fuzzy, and extremely nervous as a result of the 10 little hands all trying to grab at him at the same time.

We named him Blitzen, after the reindeer, in honor of his status as a Christmas present. We all loved him.

In the early years of his life, he was forced to tolerate some circumstances that are not ideal for any creature of his size. My youngest brother, Ben, who was 2 when we got Blitzen, somehow managed to convince himself that Blitzen was a horse, not a Miniature Schnauzer, and would try to ride him whenever the opportunity arose.

When he was about 1, we found out that Blitzen had parvovirus and that without treatment, his chances of survival weren’t good. This wasn’t good news to our family. My mother was a stay-at-homer and my dad a blue-collar worker. With five children to feed and bills to pay, spending lots of money on the dog was not a top priority, so they planned to put him down.

Fortunately, I overheard this conversation. And cried.

Anyone who tells you that tears don’t change minds is lying.

My parents shelled out the cash, and after an overnight stay at the vet, our Blitzen was back to normal.

When he came home, I sat out in the kitchen where he was, he crawled into my lap and I sang to him:

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are gray. You’ll never know, dear, how much I love you. So please don’t take my sunshine away.”

I loved this little companion, this friend, and I just couldn’t imagine our lives without him.

We didn’t have to worry about that really. Schnauzers are tiny dogs and tend to lead long and healthy lives. Blitzen has been around for birthdays, graduations, and was even here when I got married 3 years ago. He has been loyal and loving, a part of our every day. A fixture in our world.

Once he got into the double-digits in age, each passing birthday made us all more nervous that this might be “the year”. The one in which we would have to say goodbye to our friend who has a unique “relationship” with each person in our family.

Dad is his favorite. For years, as soon as my dad would make his way through the door, Blitzen would be right there to greet him. Dad would scratch his head, give him a treat, and then make his way into the living room. Blitzen always followed closely behind.

Mom is the caretaker. If ever there was anything that Blitzen needed, she took care of it. From shots, to pills, to switching his food when we found out that he had an allergy. He’s alive to this day because of her.

I’m like the fun big sister. We cuddled and played, and just enjoyed one another’s company. I was hardly the disciplinarian, and would surely let him get away with most anything.

Andrea is the no-nonsense one. If Blitzen needed to be combed out (which he hates) or given a bath (which he hates) Andrea was right there to do it for him. He’s pretty because of her.

The boys are his boys. They play and wrestle with him, and what fun-loving dog doesn’t enjoy that?

Today, at 3:30, we will take Blitzen to be put to sleep. This has not been an easy decision for anyone in our family. No one wants to see him go.

He would have turned fourteen at the end of October.

For almost fourteen years, we have learned patience and understanding; responsibility and compassion for something other than ourselves.

I have struggled over the last couple of days whether to post something about this dog. I know people who have lost children and spouses, grandparents and friends. How could I possibly compare my loss to theirs? I can’t.

But God saw fit, for whatever reason, to give us this wonderful creature for whom we would care, and I can’t just ignore it either.

So, here’s to you Blitzen, you’ve been wonderful, and none of us would be the same without you. You are our sunshine.

what i learned this week

I am getting older.

I know this is a post that should have occurred about 5 years ago, but I don’t like change, so I’ve been living in denial for about that long apparently.

There are 2 things that happened this week that have brought me to this conclusion.

Thing #1: I am not allowed to accompany my sister to her homecoming dance.

Please don’t stop reading. I really have to explain myself for this one. I am, in fact, aware that I am 24 years old. In theory, anyway.

I do know what my age is, don’t get me wrong. When someone asks how old I am, I answer “twenty-four” and I know that it is the right answer. However, it seems as though my brain has 2 different sides that aren’t communicating with one another. Here’s how I know:

I like my sister a lot. She’s one of my closest friends and I LOVE spending time with her. She’s a blast, and we’re definitely a hoot when we’re together. So, this week, she said something like “…well, I don’t have a date to homecoming, so I’m just going with Ashley, but it would be really fun if I could bring you…” “Why don’t you?!”  I asked. “I would totally go with you! How fun would that be?!” “Um, yeah, it would be a blast, but you can’t be any older than 20 or 21 to go to a high school dance with someone.” And I believe at that moment, my face said something like “Yeah, so?” As if I was actually young enough to go with my sister, because I can’t possibly be older than 20 or 21, right? And she was all “Fancythis, you’re twenty-four.” And I was shocked. Shocked because I am that far out of reach from the high school years that I wouldn’t be allowed to go to a high school dance unless I was there as a chaperone. One of those boring, old people who are there to make sure you don’t do something stupid.

(As an aside, you should understand this about me: since I’m a youth group leader at my church, I have spent the 7 years since I graduated high school with teenagers, and so I really don’t feel as if I’m that far removed from high school. Hence why, before I actually realized that I’m twenty-four, I totally thought it was appropriate for me to go to homecoming with my little sister. Also, she’s pretty mature for her age, so I sometimes forget how immature other high schoolers are. Until I’m around them for an extended period of time.)

Thing #2: I realized that midnight is very late, and one should be sleeping at such an hour.

My cousin Jamie (if you’re reading, hi!) is turning 21 on Sunday. So she’s having a little get-together for her birthday. Saturday night starting at midnight (which is technically Sunday, I know) is when the thing will start. And when my brother told me that I was all “Dude, that is so late! We have to get up early for church the next day, and anyway, I might fall asleep while we’re out or something, because at that time, I should have already been in bed for, like, 2 hours, or something.” And then he said “Geez, don’t be such and old fart!” And I realized that when I was in high school and into 21 and 22, midnight was exactly when all the fun was happening, and sleeping was just sort of an option, because who wants to miss all the fun by being boring and sleeping? And also? When you’re that age you are sort of blessed with extra adrenaline or something, and so 4 hours of sleep really is sufficient. And you can do that many nights in a row and never even realize that you’re tired.

So, all of the sudden, instead of being all caught up in who I’m hanging out with tonight or whether or not so-and-so likes my shoes/hair/clothes/face, I’m worrying about when I’ll find out if the offer we put on a house is approved, and organizing and maintaining a budget, and checking consumer reports for the best refrigerators and washer/dryer combos.

Who am I?!

Be sure to share what YOU learned this week – visit Musings of a Housewife for more details!

try this: vegetarian meals

I’m sort of surprised at myself for participating in this month’s try this: spice up your kitchen blog carnival. This month’s theme is vegetarian meals, and y’all, there is nothing more in this world that I enjoy eating than meat.

I do not discriminate either. Steak, pork chops, chicken breasts, turkey, fish, lamb. You name it, I’ll eat it. In fact, I’m just the type of person who would go so far as to say that if it doesn’t have meat in it, it can not be considered a meal.

But!

I’ve found a way around my own convictions.

I have a dip recipe to share with you, and friends, I know that dip is not a meal (which, sort of defeats the purpose of the whole vegetarian meal thing, but sometimes, you’ve gotta work with what you’ve got) but the recipe that I have is vegetarian, and so this will be my contribution to the blogosphere. Here we go.

The Best Spinach Artichoke Dip You’ve Ever Had (I promise)

• 1 box frozen chopped spinach, thawed
• 1 cup light sour cream
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella
• 8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese, softened
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, plus more as needed
• 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, plus more as needed
• 1 (14-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
• Carrot sticks, celery sticks or baked tortilla strips, for serving

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Squeeze all excess liquid from spinach, place in a food processor with sour cream, Parmesan, 1/2 cup of the mozzarella, the cream cheese, garlic, pepper and hot sauce.

Process until just blended but still slightly lumpy. Add artichokes and pulse to form a chunky mixture. Place in a 1-quart baking dish. Top with remaining mozzarella. Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serve with carrot sticks, celery sticks or baked tortilla strips.

(If you like a chunkier version like me, just chop up the spinach and artichokes, mince the garlic and mix with the other ingredients instead of putting it in the food processor)

Share your favorite vegetarian dish(es) with us! Visit Girlymama for more details.

it’s been awhile

A – Age: 24 – won’t be too much longer before I’m a 1/4 century old!

B – Bed size: king, and I still don’t think that’s big enough. I want the bed that the king sleeps on in Disney’s Cinderella…that was like a king times 3 or something.

C – Chore you hate: CLEANING THE BATHROOM (especially when there are 4 boys sharing one)

D – Pet’s name: technically, they’re my parents’ dogs, but Blitzen is our Schnauzer, and Deacon is our Doberman.

E – Essential start your day item: hmmm, a shower.

F – Favorite color: pink

G – Gold or Silver: gold, but I like it to be white. I wish platinum was an option….

H – Height: 5′10″ I’m basically an Amazon woman

I – Instruments you play(ed): the flute for 4 years. My high school didn’t have a band….I know, right?

J – Job title: Administrative Assistant

K – Kid(s): I would like a bunch, I have zero because I don’t have anywhere to put them.

L – Living arrangements: a bedroom. In my parents house. Think you’re having a bad day? try mine.

M – Mom’s name: Teresa

N – Nicknames: LaLa, Sissy(as in sister, NOT as in wuss), Lollypop, Lolly

O – Overnight hospital stay other than birth: never have

P – Pet Peeve: Nancy Pelosi. Ok, ok….forks scraping on dinner plates. (But they’re practically the same)

Q – Quote from a movie:“…and all my friends would tell me stories about how things might work out with these dips***s because they knew someone who knew someone who dated a dips**t just like mine, and that girl ended up getting married and living happily ever after. But that’s the exception. And we’re not the exception – we’re the rule.”

Gigi, played by Ginnifer Goodwin in the movie He’s Just NOT That Into You.

R – Right or left handed: righty.

S – Siblings: Zachary, Andrea, Jacob, and Benjamin

T – Time you wake up: 7:15 – 7:30 on weekdays, around 9 on weekends

U- Underwear: are you asking if I wear them? or what kind I wear?

V – Vegetable you dislike: Green Beans…yuck

W – Ways you run late: the blogosphere

X – X-rays you’ve had: i couldn’t begin to tell you

Y – Yummy food you make: chicken and broccoli pasta alfredo, spinach and artichoke dip

Z – Zone: eastern

Tag 5 people: How about 1? Lemons….

shredding

Ok y’all.

I’ve read about it on several blogs, I’ve heard about it from several people, and so I thought I’d try it for myself.

What am I talking about?

The Shred.

I was really anxious to give this workout a try. I was getting tired of the same ol’ same ol’ gym routine:

Bike, lift weights, take some classes. Blah, blah, blah.

So when I heard people say things like, “I couldn’t even get out of bed the next day!” or “This will be the hardest workout you’ve ever done!” I knew this was the workout for me.

And then….eh.

I’ll tell you the good stuff first.

My muscles were sore for the next 2 days after my very first shred workout. I AM seeing results in muscle tone, and weight loss. It’s a great over-all, total-body workout.

But I had zero trouble hopping out of bed the next day, and it most certainly was NOT the hardest workout I’ve ever done.

In fact, because of all the hype I heard, I was raving about it (before actually trying it) to my mom and sister, and even they were dissapointed.

It’s not like we don’t feel good when we’re done, quite the contrary. But y’all in the blogging world especially have made this workout seem like the second coming. I mean, I can’t tell you how many blogs I read that started off with – “I thought I was fit…” or “I work out all the time…” or just “I’m already thin, and was looking for a boost….” and they always ended with “but then I tried The Shred and realized what a REAL workout is like!”

Not to be rude….but were you guys just lying to make yourselves feel better? Maybe you should add some weight training into your “regular” workout routine, because all that yoga/pilates nonsense (or sitting on the couch watching the tube) apparently isn’t doing much for you in the way of strength training. (most of the blogs i’ve read of women who did/are doing The Shred were doing either yoga or pilates prior to their life-changing experience with The Shred)

Will I keep on doing it? Absolutely!

Like I said, it’s a great workout, but I really don’t get all the hype. To me, it’s the same as any other workout system you can find on dvd. Kathy Smith makes some great ones, as does The Firm.

In conclusion: Life changing it is not, but it is a great workout, and as with every other workout/eat healthy program out there, if you stick with it, you will see results.

180 degrees

I’m still amazed every now and then by how quickly things can change on a dime.

How, one teeny tiny little detail can make all the difference in the world. How life is just surprising. Really, how God surprises me.

I’ll admit, I was all “whoa is me” in this post.

But I think that if y’all were living in my shoes, you just might understand. I mean, let’s look at the facts:

-My husband and I got married in September of 2006.
-In February of 2007, we found out that he was going to be sent on a year-long deployment sometime at the end of that year.
-In October of 2007, we moved in with my parents because I didn’t want to live alone during Luke’s deployment.
-In November of 2007, he was deployed.
-In November of 2008, he came home.
-In May of 2009 he was finally hired by a State Police Agency (of course, not in the state in which we currently reside) and so began the Great Home Search of 2009.

But all of this time, from October 2007 which was a month before he deployed, to the present day, we’ve been living with my parents.

We packed up our lives, put it in storage, and it’s been so long, that it seems like that life before the deployment is just a dream.

We love my family dearly, but we’re tired of having no closet space, no room to walk, very little privacy, and no place that’s just ours.

(I’m not so far removed from the “whoa is me” post yet, am I?)

You can imagine then, that when we started the Great Home Search of 2009, we felt that we deserved to be cut a little slack. Look for our dream home, find it, and buy it, and all within a month or two.

Heh.

Things were looking down. We weren’t finding anything. In typical “us” fashion, my husband and I had different “unacceptables” on our lists and so that narrowed the search field greatly for us. I was losing hope, and feeling depressed.

And then, the day after I went all “whoa is me” on you, my lovely readers, my husband and I were chatting on the phone, when he asked me, “Have you looked in Area X?”

“No.” I said “Isn’t that a little further south than we wanted to be?”

“Eh, just give it a shot, I’m sure we can work something out.”

So I looked in Area X, and I found it.

I immediately sent the house to my realtor, and we scheduled a showing for the next day.

Upon walking in the door for the first time, I literally said: “Ok, so what’s the catch?” I was convinced that there had to be something wrong. Poor construction, termite damage, water problems. You name it, I thought of it. And then my realtor said: “Nothing”

Internets, I can’t possibly explain to you the utter excitement I felt at that very moment. The only thing from my “wish list” that is missing in this house is a fire place. And I didn’t even realize that until the second walk-through, because I was just so pleased with everything else that I saw.

In true ‘everything is just falling into place’ fashion, my husband also loved it, and we put an offer on it the same day that he saw it.

We don’t know yet whether we’re going to get this house or not. It’s a short-sale, and so, that drags the process out a little bit.

Regardless of the outcome, this one positive experience has given me a refreshed perspective. I have hope that there is something out there for us that we’ll love, and whenever it’s supposed to work out, it will.

(but I really do hope that this is it!)