bookshelf

source found here

Its nice to know I'm not the only one with a magazine addiction. I'm working on organizing our bookshelf, hopefully to something like this, but with DVDs

Brad Paisley and The Zoo.

For TJ's birthday I thought it'd be nice to do something big since you know, he'd be in Afghanistan. I wanted Garth Brooks tickets since that's his favorite... but I didn't realize how quickly those sold out. So Brad Paisley is my favorite, and one of TJ's favorites, along with Darius Rucker so I felt like I struck gold when I got tickets to see both of them. And I splurged so we were only 8 rows back.

The concert was amazing, I can't think of much I like more than live music. And one of the best parts was being able to see in person just how talented they are. It says something about an artist when they sound just as good live as they do in the studio.

Darius Rucker played a few Hootie songs: Hold My Hand, Only Wanna be With You and Let her Cry. And he closed with Purple Rain, which I liked better than the Prince version... sorry Prince.

Brad Paisley.. are there even words? Simply Amazing. Sorry if you hate country music... that probably means your not reading... But I love me some Brad Paisley. He had about 6 or 7 different guitars and played a two hour set! with an encore of two songs, including Alcohol where everyone on the tour came out and drank with him on stage. And he still rocked with a beer in hand. And a huge thanks to my parents who watched Kemper for the night!!

My biggest complaint of the night would've been the girl and her family in front of us. They were just annoying in general, but she had a giant neon green poster board with her. And she had to wave it around when ever any of the performers came over to the right side of the stage, where we were. She finally gave up because no one could read the stupid sign, but if she hadn't there would've been words... or a torn sign. Probably both.

The next day since we were in Salt Lake City, Alexa (TJ's sister) wanted to take Kemper to the zoo, so we did. He liked seeing the animals, but will probably get more out of it when he's older. But being in Salt Lake he was definitely not the youngest kid there.

I think his favorite were the monkeys and giraffes. And he really liked the Kangaroos as well.

So I feel like I should blog but I'm not really sure what to write. So now you're going to get a bunch of rambling:

We're settling into "normal" life pretty well. I haven't decorated the house at all, which I hate that I haven't but I'm much better at helping other people than myself..

Because of where our house is we just now have the internet, and yes I missed it, but I didn't miss facebook at all. But I do want to see the new movie about facebook.

Kemper doesn't really nap anymore. He just won't fall asleep. I'm not really looking for advice, its just irritating. Also he grew 6 inches from 12 to 15 months but didn't gain any weight. And the kid never stops eating, he just runs it all off.

I've been doing yoga every morning, and I feel better that I'm doing something, but I don't feel any more flexible. However, my chi does feel more aligned...

And I'm painting again, pictures not walls. I've got one halfway done and about 5 in my head.

I would love to see Betty White on the cover of a magazine. I'm much more interested in her life than Lauren Conrads or Megan Fox.

And thats all I got for now. We have an awesome weekend planned, so I'll make sure I bring my camera.

we're alive

and well, just tired. And I don't have my camera cord at the moment so, another pictureless post.

We spent the last three weeks in Camp Lejenune North Carolina. If you've never been, you're not missing much. But we have great friends there and its close to the beach! And then we drove three days back to our mountain town.

So now, TJ is officially out of the Marines, he's no longer active duty. And has jumped head first into working for the family. We're also fixing up our new home so we can move in. It's in good shape and other than mice theres no real big problems. But we definitely have our work cut out for us, we'll have projects for a while.

Kemper did awesome traveling, and we have his 15 month old check up today even though he's only a couple weeks from being 16 months. I can't believe how much he's growing up.

And how could I forget, we adopted a puppy. Yep, because life just wasn't crazy enough. He's pretty darn cute though. His name is Bear, and he's 2 months old and is a shepherd /blue heeler mix, and probably has some other dogs goin on in there.

So thats life for now, I'll be back with pictures later.

sugar and spice and everything nice.

If you haven't already, click over on Full House. She has great taste, and I get a lot of my inspiration there. But her current post, is about her girls room that she did with $250. Yeah, and it looks great. Even if its not to your taste, you have to appreciate all the hand made and discount shopping that went into it.

You're the reason in my life, you're the inspiration

Yeah, I went there, cheesy lyrics I KNOW. But they're stuck in my head. And they're true.

So yesterday was our (husband and I) anniversary. Two year anniversary. And tomorrow is his birthday. So this is some sort of dedicatory post to us/him. Warning: I ramble, so this could get long.

When we met neither of us were looking to "meet" someone. I was pretty uninterested in dating due to my lack of good dates or boyfriends. And was more interested in hanging out with my friends and partying. TJ had a serious girlfriend. Serious enough that he had bought a ring for her, like a diamond ring.

But of course when we met there were sparks, can't deny it chemistry. I had met him once before but the time wasn't right at all. And a few weeks passed after that friendly dinner and TJ asked me to go out on a friend date. It wasn't really a date per say (remember, the girlfriend?) but we can't pretend that that wasn't when we knew we liked each other for sure.

TJ asked if I would accompany him to the cherry blossom festival, he had to write a story for DINFOS and didn't want to go alone. And I really didn't have anything going on during the day so I agreed.

And for the first time in probably years, I was actually nervous. I knew I liked him, but I wasn't going to pursue anything, also being the other woman isn't really my style. But apparently it was because I went anyway... So, moving on.

The date was great, I was nervous that we wouldn't have anything in common, since everyone told us we had nothing in common. And even though we have very different interests, there was enough that we have in common to get us thru the date with out it being awkward, except for a really awkward moment where I decided it was a good idea to play "Business Time"*. Yes... I did. But we connected and no wonder it was our last first date, because I thought it was basically perfect. Other than the girlfriend and the ring thing...

That night was the last time I decided to go out to a bar with friends, and that Sunday was the first time I went to church on my own for almost two years.

TJ and I had made plans to just hang out that day at my house, bake cookies watch a movie. I know, we're totally wholesome. Well that night I walked him out to his car, because I' a gentlelady, and we had our first kiss. Which was perfect... oh except he had a girlfriend.

Don't worry, I'm not a complete home wrecker, I felt guilty. So the next day we talked about it and I told him, that we could be friends, but I wouldn't date him unless I was the only one. And well... we all know who won that one. And a few weeks later he sold back the ring and got a Macbook which I am typing on right now... And yes, I'm laughing about it.

So, there's my story about being a home wrecker, and I probably enjoy calling myself that more than I should. But I'm so glad that I did, I've never regretted it. TJ is one of the best things to happen to me (the other being Kemper of course). I couldn't ask for a more loving, caring and supportive husband. And I can't wait to be with him again and finally never have to say goodbye. Which happens tomorrow. We'll be together tomorrow.

* by flight of the conchords. They're a new zealand comedy act, and while there are no bad words, it is a little suggestive, but I promise it's nothing bad, you just might not want kids repeating it.

wood paneling.

I wonder what the people in the future will hate as much as we hate wood paneling now?

Anyways, I've been researching, A LOT of ways to deal with wood panel without painting it. And I'm curious as to if anyone has suggestions? Please!

Well, heres two pictures I've found that I really like both from Apartment Therapy: