The Important Things (A Question)

I have a question Internets.

Hypothetically –

As a gift, you are presented with a $550 gift card to Zappos.com. Do you:

1. Find one amazing, ridiculously expensive item (saaay Couture shoes or a bag) to spend that credit on and get yourself something you'd NEVER buy yourself in real life but would LOVE to have if you were frivolous with money that way.
   

OR

1. Spread it out and get as many items as you possibly could

My next question:

What would you buy on Zappos.com?

Send links! I'm curious to see your favorites on that incredible site!

Also send help. (Hypothetically)

Even Bargain Shopping Can Get You Busted

So I played hookie half-day on Friday. I literally just walked out of my office at 12:30 and didn't go back.

I desperately needed an eyebrow wax. I was starting to look a bit like a wookie. See?

It's a bad picture taken on my cell phone but can you SEE those horrid extra hairs? I have made it a life goal not to touch my own eyebrows because whenever I do, the results are scary. Like a few weeks ago when I thought I'd "just trim the long hairs" and I took a chunk out of what is supposed to be the thick part of my eyebrow. Or a few years ago when I over plucked and took off the thin end of my eyebrow. Or the time I tried to wax myself and took a big chunk out of the MIDDLE of my eyebrow. I should not be allowed to own tweezers or wax of any kind. And there's a question about owning a razor, since I've also shaved the center section and had my esthetician yell at me for that.

Now, when I lived in Utah, I had Whitney, the goddess of eyebrows. I had an appointment with her every three weeks and loved her with all my heart. Then I moved to Arizona. I have been here for almost four years and haven't found anyone who comes close to Whitney - until Friday. I found a place that claims to specialize in eyebrows and I think I've found my eyebrow home.

Now, I may have forgotten to add some color to my super blonde brows this morning but can you SEE the improvement? It's like a whole new world!!! I was (and continue to be) SO happy!

After getting my eyebrows did, my day of hookie continued with SHOPPING!! I found sales galore and got some amazing stuff for like 80% off their original prices. Hazaa! I also got kitchen tools, which are never bad.

After shopping, I went to get my car washed because after picking it up from the shop it was nasty. This is where playing hookie goes downhill, because I discovered that the morons who "fixed" my car didn't finish the job and under all the dirt is a crappy job. Also, the people washing my car weren't so stellar either. I WAS PISSED. I called the shop, told them they sucked, got the manager of the carwash, told them they sucked and THEN I went to unwind with a pedicure. I was so excited until I discovered that the pedicure place had stopped using O.P.I products and I couldn't use my favorite color (I'm Not Really A Waitress, if you're curious) so I had to go with a lighter red, which isn't perfect but at least my toes no longer look as though I walk barefoot over hot coals for a living.

At about this point I started adding up the costs of my little hookie trip. I think I maybe should have stayed at work . . . and blown up the car repair shop.

Saturday, Matt and I went on a field trip down to the south-east part of the valley to go to our old stomping grounds and the mall there. I may or may not have done some more damage at the sales there. BUT, I got several pairs of TEN DOLLAR PANTS! They were originally $50! You so can't go wrong, right?! I also needed new perfume because I was out of my signature scent and that just WILL NOT DO. We had a jolly time and I was very happy with my purchases.

Until I got home and checked my bank account. Let's see . . . car payment plus insurance plus cell phone plus credit card payoff from last month plus car repairs . . . equals C.R.A.P. I have no more money.

There is a distinct* possibility that Matt and I may be eating ramen for the rest of the month. Whoops!

*Ok the possibility of that really happening is not distinct. It's not like we're broke and it's my fault. It's like we're back in college and making ten dollars last two weeks until payday**

**Ok that's not true either. I'm just being over-dramatic. Hi, I'm Kate. Have you met me?

TGIF. Seriously.

T.G.I.F has multiple meanings today. Thank Goodness it's Friday, of course, but also Thank Goodness it's February!!

First, the good news. My Mom is doing significantly better! There was a small scare yesterday afternoon when the doctors did a CT scan and found that whatever was blocking up her intestines hadn't moved despite significant efforts via medicine and tubes, etc. so they had an opening with a surgeon and whisked her in to find out what was up. I was halfway to the airport to be with her when I was told to hold off because my Mom's husband was on his way (only took him three days and a surgery. Sigh. Another story for another time.) so I went home and prayed. After about an hour and a half we were told that everything was fine. She had some scar tissue from a surgery two years ago and it had formed almost a string and wrapped itself around part of her intestines and was basically "kinking the hose." All this is a relief because there's nothing permanently wrong with her and now that the string thing has been removed all will be well in Mommy-land. Thanks so much for your kind thoughts and comments. You'll never know how much they mean. My Mom even says thank you in an especially funny "morphined" out voice. I wish I could record it and play for you. Nothing funnier than Moms on Drugs.

Next up, the bad. The week just doesn't seem to be getting better!! I'm exhausted, not feeling exceptionally well and work has been IN.SANE. Not the usual insane that my office is. It feels like happy hour in the mental institution. No one can decide what's going on, who's in charge, what we're doing or what anyone's job really is. It's been this way for a while now but today it seemed to come to a head. There was yelling, stressing, almost quitting (not by me, never you fear), and almost firings today. INSANE I tell you. The silver lining is that I was told I am highly valued and my job is not in any way in question. I'm relieved to know that but feel the stress around me significantly. Me no likey stressful work environments.


I made Corn Chowder tonight and while it was good, I was disappointed in the recipe. It was soupy rather than . . . chowdery. I want CREAMY CHOWDER dangit! If any of you have recipes, please share!

Lastly, I've been without my wedding ring for over a month now. It is being re-engraved (it's got these cool engravings on the sides that are done by hand) and getting stones reset, etc. It was supposed to take three weeks and it's been five. I LOVE the jeweler who made it and is fixing it and I know it takes him a long time to work his magic, but I miss my ring! It was supposed to go out in the mail today, but he missed the FedEx pick-up and it won't go out until tomorrow. BLAST! There will be much rejoicing on Monday when my baby is back on my finger where she belongs.

Luckily a new month starts tomorrow AND it's Friday. Even if the week continues it's downward spiral and it's a bad day tomorrow, I have at least two days to recover from it. Knock on wood. Watch my car explode or something just to top 'er off. Ugh.

NOW, to end on a happy note! Groundhog Day is on Saturday! My best friend Brillig and I have a special bond with regards to Groundhog Day. It's a really hilarious story that I'll tell for Soap Opera Sunday one of these days, but I wanted to publicly wish Brillig and the rest of you a Happy Groundhog Day! Here's to hoping this blasted winter is over already!!

Dead.Frickin.Tired

So let's see . . . combine my stupid illness (anyone besides me noticing I'm getting sick a lot? What the crap is up with that?), being on my feet ALL. DAY. at this convention and the fact that I've been up for almost four hours and in my brain I'm still on Arizona time and sound asleep in my warm bed right now, I'm EXHAUSTED.

I arrived in Orlando on Monday, got to the hotel, got some food and went to bed for the night. At six o'clock. Orlando time. Read: four o'clock Arizona time. I didn't get OUT of bed until nine the next morning. Awesome. Overslept much?

I spent Tuesday running around like a chicken with it's (sick and congested) head cut off, got lost on the freaking toll turnpike THRICE (stupid GPS. It told me I was AT Lowe's when in reality? Lowe's was right off the turnpike. I could SEE it I just couldn't GET to it), set up a huge complicated booth, schmoozed potential clients at a cocktail party where they were drunk and I was not (however, I think we were on the same page because I was on like fifteen different kinds of medications), went to dinner at an Emeril concept restaurant and was NOT impressed, and fell into bed.

Wednesday I was up at 6 AM, Orlando time (my brain screaming in agony, being that it was 4 AM in there) and stood in the booth until about 5:00. I then took a nap (and by nap I mean watched old reruns of ANTM) and then headed down to another cocktail event. (Obviously these events I attend are not created for Mormons. Granted, not much is, so not like I'm surprised.) Then, finally, a highlight of the trip was going to Emeril's REAL restaurant at City Walk Universal Studios and having what may have been the best meal of my life. Rock Bass, Yukon mashed potatoes with a corn chowder sauce and some sort of fried crispy vegetable goodness. HOLY goodness it was amazing. So was the banana cream pie we had for desert. MMMMMM. I bow to Emeril's genius, despite the bad experience of the evening before. Back in my room, the internet was down (um, hotel people? You have a conference full of ONLINE RETAILERS. WE ONLY OPERATE ONLINE. WORKING INTERNET? AN ABSOLUTE NECESSITY!)(and hi, could I use more parenthesis in this post?)(No?) so I decided against working or blogging and called it a night.

This morning I had the HARDEST time waking up, but I feel about 80% better and YAY! Internet! In the booth! And we have comfy chairs! And my boss doesn't care if I sit because I'm sick! So on with pointless blog posts! Woot! For the record, still very tired.

Tomorrow I have to wake up SUPER early to be at the airport to catch my flight to New Orleans but I am SO EXCITED and glad I'm feeling better so I don't just crash at Futti's house and be boring. Futti is my sister, for the record. She's very small (unlike me) very funny (maybe like me) and I lub her. I'm dreading flying with the tail end of a flu/head cold, but hopefully by tomorrow I'm 100% better and won't care anymore.

And with that, it's time to kiss some more retailer butt. Mwwwwah. (that was for you guys, not the retailers.)(Though it could also be for the retailers.)(Still too many parenthesis??)(Naaah)

Crispy

I think I've discussed my crispified eyeballs before, but the feeling is back and it's not a good one. Things have been IN.SANE. this week and though I've been sleeping, I'm still exhausted.

I haven't worked out once this week and I know that's part of the problem. I feel like a big fat giant couch slug, oozing onto the couch and screaming "FEED ME!" Soon I'm going to weigh as much as a whale and have arteries stuffed as full as sweet Italian sausage.

Ew.

I have been a horrible blog friend this week. I've read ALL of your posts from my reader but somehow my clicker finger can't find the will to actually travel to your blogs and make my adoration known. Please refer to the slug comment. It applies to my clicker finger as well. And all my typing fingers for that matter. In fact, typing this is immensely painful because my fingers are so swollen I can barely separate them.

Again, ew, and not actually a true statement.

I have found SO many new blogs to read thanks to my little tryst on Molly's blog. I am SO excited for the weekend so I can lounge on the couch and surf through archives. I also need to find something interesting to write so I don't scare any of my new lovers away. That's right, I said lovers. You're all my lovers. Don't tell Matt.

Anyway, not much else going on here. I leave for Orlando on Monday for work and then I get to spend the weekend in New Orleans visiting the Great Tofutti (also known as my little sister, Meagan) and I would be jumping for joy if I could find the energy and will to jump and express joy. Just know the voices in my head are doing the Macarena. Awesome.

Delurk Oh Though Lurkers

Ok so somehow I missed the boat and didn't hear that this was delurking week. I don't know where I've been, really. Mostly being lazy I suppose. Mmmm I like being lazy.

SO, all ye who read and don't comment (and ye who read and DO comment!) I want you to say hello and answer me this:

What is the one song that you will forever stop and listen to whenever you hear it? (If you have more than one, please share!) Mine are "Needs" by Collective Soul and "Only You" by Yaz. Oh and "Pump Up the Volume" which I believe but can't guarantee is by M/A/R/R/S and I may or may not be embarrassed by.

According to my analytics, I know there are lots of you who never say hi so please do today! I heart my readers and I'd love to get to know you!!!

Have a thuper duper weekend!

The Year of the Man

Well, it's happened. New Year's Day Matt finally decided to "take a stand" and has declared 2008 "The Year of the Man."

He has asked me to issue a warning of things to come, informing us all that January is "Prep Month" and he's been gracious enough to allow all of us women to get used to the idea before the change of power takes place on February 1st. He warns that it will be a year of sports, red meat, poorly acted (and written) action films and all foods deep fat fried.

Every time I try to suggest something he might not like he declares "Not during Man Year!"

Yeah right. We shall see, my man. We shall see.

I'm a Guest Blogger! (A Glogger?)

For those of you looking for Wordless Wednesday, it's the post just below.

This is just a little reminder that I'm guest blogging for Molly over at These Little Moments! Go check it out! Also, check Molly out, because she's pretty freaking cool!

Reparations

Most of you know that I am a child of a "broken" home. My parents separated when I was six (and my siblings were 4, 2, and 1 month old) and finalized the divorce about a year and a half later. As is the norm, neither the divorce or the circumstances surrounding it were pretty. Both of my parents were left horribly scarred and terribly hurt.

I love both my parents with all of my heart, let's be perfectly clear on that. They are both AMAZING people who have led amazing lives and made myself and my siblings the people we are today. But, my parents were (and are), imperfect, as we all are. They both made some mistakes with us kids as we were growing up. Some of those mistakes left invisible scars on the hearts and lives of all of the children in my family. Some of those mistakes have affected us beyond my words to describe.

The last 21 years haven't been easy. We've been luckier than some children of divorce, in that we know and speak to our Father and that at least our parents were able to be in the same room without killing each other. They were even able to be cordial, but everyone who knew them realized that it was quite forced. It was very, very clear that they did NOT like each other. The graduations, weddings and other occasions requiring their presence in the same state always caused sever stress among my siblings and myself. There was always that worry that all the bottled up anger and rage were going to suddenly emerge, that the weapons would be drawn and a battle of epic proportions would ensue.

I know many of you know the fear and pain of having two parents, whom you love, hate each other. It's hard to describe the feelings to those who haven't experienced it. You feel like a rubber band being pulled apart. Like you have to choose sides, or have to pick a favorite and stick with that parent in the looming struggles for power. It's easy to only hear and believe one side of the story, especially when one parent has custody and the other is living far away (in our case, all the way across the world.). It's easy to begin to resent the more absent parent, and in turn, feel as though they have begun to resent you. It's just never . . . comfortable.

I am the oldest and therefore have more memories of my parents life together than the rest of my siblings, and I can only remember one or possibly two times when they were married and getting along. Most of my memories involving my parents together involve brief encounters in passing, forced kindness at joyous occasions, arguing, or being told stories of how one parent hurt the other. They tried to keep us from it, but I think their mutual disdain took over. It engulfed their lives and eventually all of ours.

This last weekend was another joyous occasion. My brother Sean, who is 25, was graduating from college and my other brother Patrick turned 21. The celebrations were taking place at my Father's home in Pennsylvania, where both boys currently live. My Mom, of course, flew back east for the celebrations. This was a first for us . . . the first time my Mom was on Dad's turf. Most of the other affairs over the years took place in Utah where we were raised, therefore Dad was always on Mom's turf. All four of us kids prepared for the worst. I was the only one not attending, due to work conflicts, so three out of four were in preparations to keep the parental units as separated as possible to prevent any bloodshed.

There was no bloodshed. This weekend the prayers of four hurt, scared kids were answered after 21 years and our family was granted a miracle. That is the only way to describe it. Something changed in both of my parents and this weekend, for the first time in 21 years, they truly got along.

I wasn't there to witness any of it, but I've heard numerous accounts of our family miracle. My Father invited my Mother to his home for dinner. They sat in the same room and reminisced about when they were married. They laughed, they poked fun at each other. They acted like they liked each other. My Mother offered gifts, chatted easily with my Step-Mother and seemed to have a truly wonderful time. This happened three days in a row. Dad invited Mom to go to the shooting range with him. THEY WERE IN THE SAME PLACE WITH LOADED WEAPONS, people. My Dad taught my Mom how to shoot a gun. Holy crap.

Then, on the last night my Mom was in town, Dad apparently volunteered to drive her to the place where she was staying. They got out of the car and then they embraced. With tears streaming down her face, Mom apologized for any wrongs she had committed against Dad over the years, and my Dad smiled and told her to be happy in her life.

They finally . . . just . . . let . . . go.

I cannot express to you how heavy a weight has been lifted from the shoulders of myself and my siblings. I cannot express the joy in my heart. I don't think I knew how heavily all of this had weighed on us until it was finally over. No more awkward get togethers, no more talks of protecting one parent from another, no more begging them to just drop it and get over it already. It's truly over, and we can finally breathe.

I beg those of you who are divorced and have children to try to get along with the Ex. I know how hard it must be, but I cannot express to you what a difference it would have made in the lives of my family members if my parents had attempted this reconciliation years ago. I beg those of you with families still intact to hold on for dear life and be grateful for your families. Never, ever take advantage of the gift you have been given.

I know that the Lord has had a hand in all of this. I know He has been watching over my family and slowly healing my parents hearts so that this could happen. I am forever grateful. I have never in my life felt such love for both of my parents as I do today. I have never heard my siblings voices filled with so much wonder and so much joy. I will go to sleep tonight with a smile on my face and a prayer of thanks in my heart. I have been praying for more Christmas Spirit and it has been granted ten fold. This might just be the best December ever.

Verbal Vomit v1

*Begin verbal vomit transmission*

What day is it? Tuesday? It's already the 11th of December?

HOLY CRAPOLY WHERE DOES THE TIME GO?

*Shaking head, squinting eyes, trying to focus*

Yeah I have no idea what's going on with the time. I have NOTHING done for Christmas, no presents - not even a tree! Every time we plan time to go get one, it freaking rains on us. We live in Arizona, it's not SUPPOSED to rain. Sunshine all the time, especially in the winter, isn't that what the people who LURVE Arizona tout?(does that sentence even make sense???) Just FYI, those that tout beautiful, sunny winters appear to be liars. Because it's rained the majority of the last two weeks and I have an impromptu river and a three inch depression in my front yard to prove it. Oh, and my car has been dirted. Stupid rain.

Matt and I still haven't taken holiday photos and I'm waiting for the cards I ordered (WON! Yay!) to arrive, so, don't be mad if you get a holiday card from the Murphy's in June. That's how I seem to roll lately, assuming that's about the time I'll get my Christmas tree too. It will be Christmas in June, super-hot-120-degree style. Sweet.

Life continues to give me swats on the butt to keep me lively. I can't talk to much about details, but things at work are kind of crazy and up in the air. It's all pretty good stuff, just sort of unnerving and against my "change is bad" mentality.

Also, EVERYONE I KNOW is either pregnant or just had/is currently right at this moment having a baby. (OK that might be a bit of an over-exaggeration, but hi, my name is Kate. I over-exaggerate. Shoot me.)(Also, it's sad that exaggerate and Kate rhyme. Sad but typical.) Despite the peer pressure, and my co-worker Pete's insistence that I won't be allowed in the "Ha ha we have a baby and you don't" clique, I'm not having a baby because I just had a new car.

**Sidenote: HOW MUCH WOULD IT HURT TO BIRTH A NEW CAR?!?!?! End Sidenote**

Operation "Skinny Kate" has taken a hit this week, due to sugar cookies from WalMart. Yes, you heard me, I went to WalMart. Mostly because Matt needed stamps, but I found the cookie and rejoiced greatly. They are those super soft ones with the thick frosting -- do you know what I'm talking about? Ahghghghghg they are so tasty. However, the hit to my thighs is being handled because I'm still running and biking every other day, despite loud protestations from my butt bones and my hip. I biked ten miles on Saturday. It SUCKED and I sweat a lot (have I mentioned I hate sweating? Well, I do.) but I must admit it felt great to waddle off the bike and announce to Matt "HA! Ten miles conquered! *pause to hold on to his shoulder before gravity overtook my shaky body* Carry me to the car?"

*Apologize sincerely to readers. Verbal vomit ended*

Introducing . . .

MY NEW TOY!!





Beautiful new car, meet the Internets. Internets, meet my beautiful, yet to be named (oh my gosh I got a SMOKIN' deal) car. Any suggestions on what to name her?

Update to my Awesome Weekend: OH-IO!

My baby brother's comment in my last post kindly (?) reminded me that I forgot to mention the second best part of the weekend.

Ohio State got into the National Championship game! Granted, it was at the cost of a lot of other great teams losing (thank you LSU, Missouri, West Virginia and pretty much any other team that was ranked #1 or #2 after Ohio State's embarrassing loss a few weeks ago) but we're #1 and we'll take it!

Even MORE fun is that we're playing LSU and I don't know if I've mentioned it, but my sister just moved to New Orleans and her husband is not only FROM there, but also attends LSU.

This is gonna be great!

Weekend Update: The Kate Edition

We had an awesome weekend, and it seems that's it's been a long time since I felt like I could say that - which is a little sad, actually!


Friday night we had a date night and went to see Beowulf in 3-D. It was so funny sitting in the theatre in our big old glasses. The movie was better than I expected, considering I was bored out of my mind when I tried to read Beowulf in college. The 3-D part was pretty freaking sweet too. And hell-oooo Beowuolf.


We had a rare weather weekend in Phoenix . . . it POURED rain for two days straight. I honestly can't remember the last time it rained that hard for that long. I'm used to the monsoons that come and go in like fifteen minutes. This was like a two day downpour. It was great, but cold. Since it was raining and we couldn't get a Christmas tree or put up lights, we decided to spend the day test driving BMWs, for fun of course. We had a blast making fun of the sales people, sneaking around lots trying to avoid the stalkers, driving the AMAZING machines that are BMWs.

Saturday night was the best part of the whole weekend. Because we live in such a big movie market, many of the theaters in town were showing a sneak preview of The Golden Compass, a movie I've been looking forward to seeing for a very, very long time. I was SO excited to get to see it before it was"officially" released. It met and probably exceeded my expectations. It was gorgeously done, well written and well acted. I really enjoyed it and I think it's going to be a big hit this season. I can't wait for the sequels!

The movie is based on a trilogy of books called "His Dark Materials" by Phillip Pullman. There's been quite a bit of controversy surrounding the book and the films, specifically among the religious communities. Apparently the author came out and said that he does not believe in God and that he wrote the books based on that belief. My girlfriends and I have had a few discussions about this, because a few of us had read the books before we heard this and didn't see that at all. I felt the books were about free agency, a teaching central to my religious beliefs, and also about finding the truth within yourself. I'd be interested in hearing from any of you who see the movie or have read the books to see what you think. I came away from the books with renewed faith, not questioning it, but I'd love to know what other people think.

Today was a great, relaxing Sunday and for the first time in a long time I'm feeling refreshed and renewed and ready for my busy week. Of course that may change first thing in the morning when I have to actually wake up and face my week!

I hope you all had wonderful weekends! I can't wait to read about them!!

Today's Thankfuls

1. Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup (recipe courtesy of my Grandma Shirley). My husband is sick and in my opinion, that stuff can cure anything! Plus, it's fun to make and my house smells delicious!

2. Long pants. I mean the ones that are long enough that they look perfect with high heels. There's nothing like that awkward "my pants are too short feeling" and vice versa. I love long pants!

3. My sister, the great Tofutti. We talk about four times a week and she is amazing and funny and witty and I miss her and love her.

4. Bottled water. Arizona tap water is gross and I love that I can just grab a bottle of cold, tasty water and go!

5. Costco. That place and it's giant amounts of giantness rules. 'Nuff said.

Thankfuls

So my best friend Jewels and her sister Andrea are both posting five things they are grateful for every day in November and it got me thinking. See, I am a HUGE fan of Christmas. I have been obsessed every since I was little. My birthday is near Christmas as well, so December is sort of the focus of my year and I sort of skip the month of thankfulness.

I realize that part of Christmas is being grateful and helping others, but, as Julia and Andrea pointed out, November and it's focus on being Thankful is often overlooked due to the overload of Christmas that starts the second Halloween is over. So, I'm jumping on their bandwagon and I'm going to post five things I'm grateful for every day for the rest of the month. (Or at least try to. We all know how life happens, right?)

So today, I give you my first five Thankfuls:

1. I'm thankful for sunshine. Sitting in a cubicle without a window nearby sometimes causes me to forget the amazing mood power of the sun. I walked to lunch today and it felt so good to be warm and covered in light.

2. I'm thankful for Diet Coke. I'm on a serious diet right now, and Diet Coke is the only sort of sugary tasting think I'm allowing myself, and oh my gosh does it taste good and even better, no calories! (Those of you who know bad things about soda, shhhhh not listening.)

3. I'm thankful for high thread count sateen sheets. There is nothing like crawling into bed and being enveloped by that cool, softy, slightly silky feeling. Ahhh bliss.

4. Apples. Yes, I'm thankful for apples today. I'm eating a lot of them lately and I love that crunchy, crisp yet juicy first bite. Seriously, it's no wonder Eve caved! Hahah. (dreading lightening bolt from Heaven about now . . . )

5. I'm thankful for the internet. I got an email from an old friend today and it made me realize how lucky we are to have instant communication. PLUS, I wouldn't know most of you, my favorite internet people if we didn't have it!

So there you go. My five Thankfuls.

What are you thankful for?

The one with all the pictures

Brace yourselves . . . they're coming. I'll try to go easy on you and not overload your brains with TOO many pictures. It might hurt. Most likely it will hurt me and not you guys. But it might hurt both of us, so I'll be careful.

First, I give you the final pictures of our first home. I have to say that it's SO WEIRD to think of someone else living there now. We closed on Friday and it's done, done, done. It was stressful and stupid and irritating but it's done and now we can move on, but a part of me is sad to end that amazing chapter of my life with my husband. So here you go:

The way I took this picture is very odd and . . . optical illusion-like.
Ha. Oh well! Goodbye beautiful floors and lovely red paint!

The final picture of the outside. Sorry it's at night. We'll sure miss that mature palm tree! We should have taken it with us!

The final picture of us in front of our house, even though all you can see is the garage light. Haha. Oops! Also, memo to us: pictures we try to take of ourselves are usually very unflattering.

Now, I give you pictures of the new house! I am going to go chronologically, from dirt to final product. Sidenote: I have yet to take pictures of the slightly unpacked, slightly better looking version of the house, so just remember that I took these THE DAY AFTER we moved in. No judging.

Our bit of earth

Later, after they dug a bunch of stuff up. Veeeery exciting.

Pre-plumbing and the frame for the foundation

Walls!! Sort of . . .

Almost there . . .

Almost there . . .

Ta-Daa! Complete with empty lot next door that will cause many headaches when someone finally buys it and they begin building on it. Seriously, EVERY OTHER LOT IS SOLD. Just my luck that the ONLY unsold lot is next to our bedroom windows. Seriously.

Le front door

The view from the entryway

Formal Living/Dining/Entry/Great Room/HOLY AWESOME NATURAL LIGHT!

Great Room from upstairs, where there is a small loft, three bedrooms and a bathroom.

Most of you have seen this already but this is the kitchen (unfortunately pre-paint. I gotta get one with the new paint. I promise I'll do it. It's light brown, if that helps!)

Family Room/Master Bedroom for the first week

Master Bedroom sans bedroom stuff

Master Bathroom (two sinks AND a separate tub/shower? I've died and gone to heaven)

Closet. Sigh of joy.

Our first meal in our new house. Traditional Move-in Pizza Hut. Mmmm.

I LOVE our new house. I'm having trouble decorating, but that doesn't take away from my absolute joy every time I drive around the corner and see it standing there. I seriously can't believe it's ours. I keep having to pinch myself. Especially when I see the view from our front porch. I gotta give it to Arizona, it has the most incredible sunsets. And now I have an unobstructed view of them every day. I'm in heaven and so, so grateful.

Well, I have lots of pictures of our trip to the dunes, but I think those will have to wait for another day because I'm about pictured out. Just to give you a teaser though, I proudly present me, kicking my husband's butt on top of a huge sand hill.

We got very, very sandy.

Stay tuned Sunday for my newest installment of Soap Opera Sunday . . . the one in which I completely embarrass myself. Again.

The Year I Sucked at Halloween

Ahhh Halloween. It's one of my favorite holidays, yet this year I have failed it miserably. I don't really have a costume (seriously, my fleece viking hat paired with a cute outfit SO does not count) and we aren't doing anything tonight. I DO have candy for the one or two kids who live in our new neighborhood but that's about as Halloween as we get this year. I'm ashamed.

To make it up to myself and you guys, I'm posting a picture from when Matt and I were dating. We flew to Utah for the Jolley Annual Halloween Party and Matt was SUCH a good sport about his bear costume. He looked awesome. And I? Well I was Goldilocks in a short skirt and to be honest, I was a wee bit uncomfortable. But we looked good, no? Grrrr.


Hope everyone has a great Halloween and I'll post lots more pictures in the coming days! I have so much to catch up on . . . you have no idea.

Dune Buddies

So we're off to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes with Matt's family and our quads. I bought new pink and black gear for the occasion which might spark the question "Kate, why on earth did you buy matching ATV gear to go out with your family?"

Well, that is another discussion for another time, but basically . . . IT'S PINK AND BLACK!!!

We won't be back until late Monday night, so I'm sorry I won't be participating in Soap Opera Sunday yet AGAIN. I suck. But trust me, I'm the worse off. I'm gonna have sand in places you didn't know sand could GET by the time we finish up four days at the dunes.

I leave you all with the knowledge that when I get back, it will be a week full of pictures because WE FOUND THE CAMERA CORD! So you'll be able to see me in the Shark Tank at Mandalay Bay, the new house, final pictures of the old house and me, covered in sand, but stylishly. I might dub it Ocular October or something stupid like that because you might just get pictures!

I apologize. Ocular October is a lame, stupid name.

OK we're off on our elebenteen hour drive. Have a great weekend!

Jump for Jollies

So, I have this friend, right? And she's like . . . amazing, right? In like, every way possible see, but today, she crossed the amazing line. As just a little background, Julia (or Jewels as we lovingly call her) has a two year old boy, just gave birth to another darling boy and has a Fire Chief husband who pretty much works around the clock and she still manages to look like a million bucks, throw amazing parties and is a creative genius like none I've seen.

Jewels has always had a knack for making the best ANYTHING from scratch. Apple pie, Halloween costumes . . . you name it, she's good at it. SO, she had a friend who had a baby shower back around the time she herself was about ready to have her second baby and she got a wild hair that she would custom design and sew onsies and burp cloths. And oh my gosh, she did an amazing job. So I asked her to make some similar things for a couple of baby showers I'm attending this week.

People, do you have any idea how cute the stuff she made for me is? ANY IDEA? Probably not off the top of your heads so I will show you just how cute this stuff is.

Exhibit A:

Vaa Vaa Vroom!

Exhibit B,C,D and E: OK, I'm talking hand sewn sequins, custom designed trees AND monograms? Goodness! And check out the butts of the butterfly and zebra ones!!!

I.COULD.JUST.DIE.

Shake your bon bon!

And last but certainly not least . . . the burp cloths. They are seriously too cute to let anyone spit up on!!

Pink damask with pom pom lining!? Ruffles!? Flowers and paisley patterns? Be still my quivering uterus.

Seriously, have you ever seen anything cuter? And she did this all with a two year old and a newborn on her watch. She is so amazing.

So, darlings, if you or anyone you know is in need of something like this, I have a feeling Jewels might be willing to help you out in that department! Just hop on over to her blog and see what she can do! I think she's decided to call her line "Jollies." So dang cute. I bow down to her amazingness.

Blah de Blah de Blah

First off, let me start my blog post the way I normally do . . . with an apology. Haha.

I apologize that I don't have pictures for this post. In fact the post is almost pointless without pictures, but I had to post about it before I ran out of time. So . . . yeah.

So, this week we started moving stuff in to the new house. Correction: We started moving stuff into the garage and kitchen and that's all. We have been taking over a trailer and two car loads of stuff every day and the third car bay of the garage is practically full of boxes. However, we have not moved over ANY furniture. So, recap. I have an empty house and a full garage. Per-fect.

Ooh ooh ooh but I DID (with the help of my amazing friend Rhonda) organize the entire kitchen. I am delighted to announce that I have WAY too many cabinets and drawers. I am a person of MANY, MANY kitchen things. The kitchen at the old house was bursting at the seams with stuff. I had about eight cupboards and four drawers. I now have four drawers and six cupboards on my ISLAND ALONE. I am full of bliss and excitement at the thought of a shopping trip to Williams Sonoma (someday when we have money again) to fill the cupboards with fun kitchen gadgets, serving platters and the like. Excellent.

We were also able to finally pick paint colors, thanks to a model decorated with exactly our color of carpet, tile, cabinets and counter tops, and as of Saturday afternoon, the living/dining room, nook, main hallway and kitchen are now painted. They messed up and put the wrong color on one wall in the kitchen, so I'll be working on fixing that this week, but it's not a huge deal. The house looks AMAZING. The colors are perfect. Now I just have to save up some more money to have the rest of the house painted. See, now I never want to paint again. I let the painters in at 7 AM and arrived at 2 PM to a finished product. Could it get ANY better?

The house selling negotiations are . . . well, going. This market sucks. S-U-C-K-S. I truly feel lucky to sell our house in this city. I went garage sale hopping on Saturday morning and I swear every other house on every street was for sale. There aren't a lot of people selling their houses and we've been able to sell ours. But I won't lie, we've been HATING it. We have been asked to do some repairs to the house that just seem utterly ridiculous, but in this market, we can't fight too much about it. We just have to suck up and do it. Luckily, our Realtor has really come through for us and he's handling all the repairs so I'm going to get a lollipop and stand by watching him spend our money. Who needs money right? I'll just work Matt a little harder. Hehee.

Speaking of Matt, have I mentioned that I have the most amazing husband? The man works all day, then comes home and works some more and he still manages to pack, organize and move a load a day and help calm my craziness to boot. We're both under a lot of pressure and it's obvious who deals with it better. (Hint: it's not me.)

And while I'm talking about amazing people, my crazy Mom ran ANOTHER marathon this weekend. Naturally, I can't get her to call me and tell me how she did, but I'm sure she did great. I think this is like the sixth marathon this year? I told you. CRAZY. Love her but she's CRAZY. And skinny. Damn I wish I was that skinny. Without having to run a marathon . . . or six.

OK, thus ends the craziness of this random, stupid post. I promise pictures of the new house soon and keep you updated on moving progress.

Merry kisses to all and to all a goodnight.