That'd Be Awesome

Cullen says, "Mom, pigs poop out bacon and sausage!"

The Things: New House Edition

As promised last week, here's the first of many, many, many posts about our new house and all of the crap wonderful things that we are going to jam within it's freshly painted walls.  Pretty sure that anyone would be, but I'm seriously stoked for all of the purchasing and picking out and deciding about things like should we paint the appliances that came with the house or not (I think we've decided not to) that come with a new house.  Here's just a few of the seriously awesome things that I've come across in my home furnishing quest:

Temporary.  Wallpaper.  Shut up, right?  No seriously, this exists.
$84.99

via: Amazon

Cardboard Animal Heads.  Who doesn't love an awesome animal head that doesn't involve hurting animals. I do, that's who.

$30-$61

via: uncommongoods

These salt and pepper shakers are adorable.  Literally.

$13.99

via: ModCloth

Amazing curtains are a must.

$24.99-$29.99/panel

via: Target

I definitely will need to be conscious of storage, this will help with that and it looks nice too.

$350

via: ikea

An odd, yet practical choice.  I'm kinda loving this area rug.

$69.99

via: ikea

Mirrors have all of the sudden become my jam.  I love this mirror.
$204.99

via: overstock.com

Uhm, this chair speaks to me.  It's like 60's meets one of my favorite neutrals... I'm totally buying this thing and calling it a space chair.

$279.00

via: Ikea

And if the cardboard isn't enough, who doesn't love a resin deer head?  A very uncool, unhip person, that's who.

$49.95

via: ZGALLERIE

Loving this simple, yet chic pillow.  Although, I would seriously love the Jonathan Adler Woven Letter Pillow more, I could never justify spending that much.

via: Overstock.com

This chair is all sorts of amazing and I'd like to have one.
$349.95

via: Pier 1 imports

The look for less:

An amazing mirror, just what every house needs.

$249

via: Pottery Barn

But, perhaps you could have a very nice mirror for much less that's still kind of amazing.

$69.99

via: Target

The M's

Me, Megan and my Mommy all took some selfies the other day; and just so you know, Mom, selfies are cell phone self portraits.  As Megan always does, she totally tried to steal the spotlight and get in on the selfies when it wasn't her turn... I guess what they say about younger sisters' is really true: they never change.

Please pardon this interruption of cute, gratuitous pictures of myself and my girls.

Two of the Best

I feel like a heel, like a total schmuck.  This past weekend, I neglected to give my husband, and partner in crime a shout out for Father's Day.  Let me tell y'all, if anyone deserves it, this man does.  He is involved, he's loving, he's stable and most importantly, he is a good role model.  No doubt, we are raising two of the best future fathers around due mostly to his influence and through his actions.

When I was growing up, my Dad and I had a great relationship and I'm damn sure that they're going to have just as special a relationship as I had.  It's pretty clear that Cullen is a "little Jim," but as you can see below, Arden is right there with Big Jim and Little Jim.

Cheers to all of the Fathers, but particularly this guy and my Dad, you're two of the best around.

Droppin' Some Things

I've been feeling like I've been dropping things lately.  My work life has strong-armed my home life and I've missed out on a lot (for example: updating this blog).  So I'm trying to get my life back into a better balance.  As a working mother, the "balance" will never be fair- I will forever be missing out on things, but it's something that I've been able to accept a little bit more recently.

Along with droppin' life things, I'm about to drop some news up on this blog... we're moving!  Like, legit packing up our house, getting a van, driving down the road  and moving into a glorious new house.  One of the recent decisions that Jim and I have arrived at is that we cannot handle the size of our house; while it's beautiful, it's overwhelming when you're working 60 hours a week and it takes too much of my precious time to keep it clean.  As of writing this, we've got 39 days and 8 hours until we take custody of our house.

Buying this house has meant the world to me.  This is the house that I want to watch my kids to call their house.  I want to watch them play in the front yard while sipping diet lemonade on the front porch.  I want to have them bound down the stairs on Christmas morning and enjoy opening their gifts next to a roaring fire.  I want this house to be anything and everything... now, is that asking too much?

I'm so looking forward to moving in.  We're going to be doing some of the projects ourselves... which, of course, will be documented here.  I've gotten a lot of inspiration recently from a little habit called: scrolling Apartment Therapy for hours on end and getting inspired because of it.  We've raided our Goodwill's for some bargain finds (hello $10 coffee table) and the previous owners have done an almost impossible job of keeping the house in pristine condition.

I'm so excited for this next step for my family and I, it's going to be fun.  Check out some of our amazing finds:

A Happy Little Vacation

So, many, many moons ago, our family went on vacation.  It was all sortsa good- like lounging in the sun while the kids snoozed in their strollers good.  It's always nice that as a family who spends a lot of time together daily, that we also get recharged together.

Here are some long overdue moments from vacation that were just way too good to pass up sharing.

I Love My Kid

I literally laughed out loud when I read Cullen's note home yesterday from the teacher.  I thought it was so hilarious that I sent off messages to quite a few of my friends and family.  Here's the scoop- I was the queen of cheating at games; all games.  I probably inherited this from my Grandmother and name-sake; she was an expert at the art of cheating, mostly at card games though.  So, it came as no surprise when we got this note home.

I emailed my friend Bryan to share the news that this genetic trait has been passed on and his response was classic:

Me- Cullen's note from his teacher today says, "we worked on not cheating while playing memory."

I love my kid.

Bryan- Hahahahaha.  "We."  Takes a cheater to know a cheater, teacher...