7 Quick Takes {16}

Linking up with Conversion Diary. 

1. I bought my first blogging ebook this week, How to Blog for Profit (Without selling your soul) by Ruth Soukup. (Ruth blogs over at Living Well Spending Less.) I've read a little over half of it and have highlighted a bunch of information I hope to go back and use on my blog sooner rather than later. Hopefully by next week I'll be making millions from this little blogging space. Kidding!

(Ruth, if you read this, know that I really am going to take some of your advice:)

2. Pretty sure I'm the only person who still hasn't downloaded the ios7 update. I've heard it's pretty nifty though so I should probably get on that asap. Any one want to share how they feel about it? Love it? Hate it?

3. The parentals house is getting super close to being finished! Thank goodness because I think they have both had enough of the whole building process. They finally got their cabinets in this week and now it's just the flooring, countertops and touch up painting type stuff. 

Hello house!

LOVE these bookcases that are built in to either side of the fireplace.

The kitchen is huge with tons of counter space.

This picture does zero justice to the fireplace. 

After watching them stress, Seth said we're never building a house because I'm too indecisive, and he's right, but I still really want to at some point. We'll see who wins that one. 

4. It's almost been a whole month that Seth and I have been living together and we don't hate each other. Yay, go us! I will say upgrading to a king size bed definitely wouldn't hurt the relationship though. Queen beds are kinda a joke. #iwantakingbed

5. I'm really in the mood to go Christmas shopping and get a few presents scratched off of my non-existent lists. I love love love shopping for other people but when I do it all in a one month time period it really kills the ole budget. Thinking I need to start my lists now so I can start shopping next month which is only a few days away. Do people do this? Does it help you stick to a budget or do you end up buying more because you shop now AND later? That's what I'm a little worried about. 

6. Day 5 of not drinking pop and I haven't died yet. I tried this a little while back and was doing okay until I went on vacation and fell off the wagon harder than an alcoholic at a beer convention. As of right now, so far so good. My goal is to drink only one a week and the rest of the time stick to water or tea (not sweet cause that's disgusting). If you want to encourage this good habit it will be greatly appreciated because sometimes I just want to throw a tantrum and have a Pepsi, ya know?! Plus I wouldn't mind dropping 10 15 pounds. Just saying.

7. Since it was Seth's birthday yesterday we had a little birthday dinner at home last night. Grilled BBQ chicken with over the top unhealthy twice baked poh-taw-tohs and fresh garden tow-mah-toes. Seth grilled the chicken while I sliced the toms and tried to kill us with fat in the potatoes. Maybe I should post the non-recipe here sometime....anybody feel like having a heart attack?

Act like you don't want to lick those potatoes right off your screen!

Gosh I just read this and it's a little d-d-dull. Do you wanna slap me for wasting your time? Maybe I'll ride a unicorn through a waterfall or something this weekend so I can bring you a little more excitement next week. 

Peace out girl scout. 

Insecurities making me CRAZY!

My parents divorced when I was six. Joe was four and Mike was only two. 

To make a long story short, my Dad went to his high school reunion while my Mom opted to stay with us three kids and my Grandparents. My Dad's parents. Apparently, my Dad decided that one of his former classmates was a better fit for him in his life. After talking on the phone and seeing each other without us knowing, he decided to leave my mom for this other woman and become my step-mom. Much like Cinderella's version of a step-mom to be exact. 

Twenty years later and I still can't wrap my head around it or figure out why he did the things he did. While my Dad and I have had our (more than) fair share of ups and downs, I think we are finally in a pretty good place. I don't know why this all happened and probably never will. I do know that I am very thankful that my Step-Dad was able to come into my life though. I definitely plan to write more about him later, but I want to get back to the main point of this post....

My insecurities. 

In less than two weeks my husband will be having his 10 year high school reunion. Besides the obvious feelings of "oh man we are getting old" I can't help but dread that weekend because of past experiences. It doesn't help when I know a lot of the women in his class and their behavior, one in particular. 

I definitely have my list of very legitimate reasons to not be very fond of this girl and it doesn't help that she is the spitting image of my step-mom and has the exact same personality. I know looking and acting like my step-mom doesn't mean I should automatically hate her but....When she asks her friends to tell my husband she is unhappy in her marriage and then have them ask if Seth is happy in his....EXCUSE ME???!!!! That's when my crazy comes out. 

Side note: Seth and I dated all through high-school so I have had a long track record with this girl. 

Under normal circumstances I'm not a crazy, possessive, don't trust my husband kind of wife. Actually, I trust my husband more than anyone in the world. I just can't help but feel insecure when going into this type of situation. Seth obviously knows of my discomfort when we are around this girl and continually reassures me that he loves me and that we will grow old and wrinkly together. And for that I love him even more. 

Since the reunion happens to coincide with my hometown's carnival and I refuse to miss it because of someone stupid, I will just have to take Erin from Two Thirds Hazel's advice and continue to "Hide the Crazy". Like she said, "GIRLS DON'T GO CRAZY FOR NO APPARENT REASON." There's usually someone on the other end making them go crazy and in my case it happens to be a wanna-be-husband stealing girl.  

I'll keep ya posted. 

The Most Exciting Weekend EVER

It's Monday and my little brain is not in the mood to function today. It's cloudy and rainy outside and I really want to just crawl back in bed and nap all day. Maybe mix in a few more Downton Abbey episodes.

Instead, I'm stuck at work, patiently waiting for 5 o'clock.

Since I'm feeling such a lack of inspiration today I will bore EXCITE you with my weekend happenings.

Friday evening I watched a coach pitch baseball game of a little boy I used to babysit. He's 8 and adorable and turns out he's a pretty good little first baseman.

Went home to be my normal exciting self and make popcorn for dinner which I ate with my butt planted firmly in it's dented couch cushion position while watching approximately 3 episodes of Downton Abbey. Thrilling, I know.

Slept in on Saturday instead of spending money thrifting at garage sales. I'm sure my husband was proud.

Decided that Dad's are absolutely impossible to shop for because if they want it, or need it, they buy it. Since the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I baked pies. Apple pies actually. With homemade crust. I know what you're thinking...woah there Betty Crocker, don't hurt yourself. I promise you I didn't. Unless you count the fact that I didn't get to eat the pies. That hurt.

My lovely father wanted to go out to eat Saturday night for Father's Day so that's what we did. He got to choose the place so obviously he chose Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Who am I to argue with a greasy cheeseburger and brown paper bags filled with hot fries? If you have never eaten  at one of these fine establishments I encourage you to jump on it. Oh, and share the fries. I promise, you don't need two unless you want a career as a contestant on The Biggest Loser.

Big Bob loved his pie. Well, I think, he hadn't tasted it yet when we left.

All 6'7" of Big Bob and me.

My little brother Joe wanted in on the picture taking action.

As I previously mentioned, I live a life of excitement so I did the most exciting thing I could think of after dinner. Went home, put on pj's, and watched Downton Abbey.

Gunnar prefers licking my ankle to watching DA.
(I promise my ankles aren't as huge as they appear in this pic.)

Are you sensing a theme? If not, let me help you. I'm boring exciting and I watch a lot of tv, especially Downton Abbey.

Sunday morning I drug myself from bed to go to church where I set with my grandparents. I would like to point out here that I always set with my grandparents which I think makes me the favorite grandchild. Or at least one of two favorites. The other one is little and cute and the youngest of all 34 of us grandkids (yep, 34) so I feel like he has a little bit of an edge but he'll grow out of the little and cute stage so I'm not worried.

After church I delivered my second homemade-pie-crusted pie to my Stepdad, Dave. Him and my mom got married when I was 8 and I was more than lucky to have this guy in my life. He was busy doing some electrical work for a family friend so we didn't get to hang out much but we are going to go to dinner next weekend when Seth's in town so it's all good.

Hung out with one of my bff's/cousins, Jacqueline, and her family for awhile and perused the aisles of Target.

Made it home in time to lay on my back deck to soak up some sun, for about 3 minutes, before I was drenched in sweat. Thank you Kansas humidity. Decided, I'm going to be the weirdo that goes to the pool on my own so that's what I did. And it was lovely. Nice and hot but a little bit breezy and cool from the water. Took a mini nap and read some magazines. That, right there, is summer my friends.

Pure perfection.

At this point it's 7:00pm on Sunday and I have done absolutely zero productive things so I decided to go for a run. With my dog. While I can't say that Gunnar is an amazing running partner, he is way better to take when off a leash than when he is on a leash. Something to work on I suppose.

Wrapped up the weekend with a frozen, it's not delivery, it's Digiorno pizza, some Kardashians and Downton Abbey.

And there you have it folks. Too much excitement to handle. Maybe I should have warned you at the beginning.


Linking up with Sami's Weekend Shenanigans.

7 Quick Takes (1)

1. I got some super duper cute Easter decor that was marked 75% off. Oh, and it was from Dillons (Kroger). Only spent about $9 total for two boxes of eggs, a wreath and two platters that I'm seriously in love with. They look more spring than Easter-y so I'm not even packing them away with the other Easter stuff.

Love these platters!

2. I have several books on my "to read" list including several classics - A Tree Grows in Brooklyn and The Great Gatsby. I haven't read the former but I did read Gatsby in school. I'm wanting to re-read it before the movie comes out though. 

3. Random thought of the week - I wonder if someday my generations form of tobacco will be pop (soda for all you people that don't know what that is). You know what I mean? People smoked for years and people got addicted while no one really knew it was bad for you. Now, you have to be over 18 to buy tobacco products and they charge a fortune for them. Will that happen to pop in the future? We already know it's not good for us and that we probably shouldn't drink it but we still do. Is it crazy to think that pop can have such adverse effects on our health that someday it's behind the counter and you have to be 18 to purchase it? Would I still drink it? 

4. I'm really wanting to go see the movie "42" with my husband. It looks amazing plus we LOVE baseball.

5. I sent my husband the following last night..."I bought you two Reeses Eggs at the grocery store tonight. There's one left. I love you!!" My bad. 

6. Today makes 7 days in a row that we were able to put Gunnar in his dog pen without him running away from us. A small but great victory since he can't destroy the neighbors stuff while we are at work.  

7. My parents officially started digging the hole for their new house yesterday! Yay. Oh, and they aren't out there with shovels or anything, I meant the excavator people:) 

Linking up with Camp Patton