Thursday, May 31, 2012

Going Organic

Or-gan-ic adj
"Simple, healthful and close to nature"

We are going organic!  Not necessarily choosing to eat only organic foods (though organic bananas are a MUST at our house); but Jody and I are choosing to approach our business with a more organic approach.  "What does that mean?" you ask?  It means that we are not going to stress about making the ABC Show this year (it's impossible anyway), but we are going to let our business grow NATURALLY.  No more hurried "to do" lists.  No more unrealistic expectations.  No more "I'm so sorry that I didn't get a chance to...."  We have decided that we are going to roll with this ADVENTURE.  With our crazy lives, it surely will take us longer to reach some of our goals, but inevitably we will make it there.

The photos I'm posting today really don't have anything to do with our new business approach.  They just happen to be pics I've been able to take lately.....hey, they do go with our new approach......I'm just rolling with things.

It's taken us both several years to embrace this new approach.   Mainly because both of us typically really want for things to work in a certain way....quite possibly a "perfect" way?  We both like things "done right" and haven't wanted our biz or ideas to fail because of haste or carelessness on our parts.  We are also very aware that there is a time and place for everything and the market just happens to be ready for some of our "unique" ideas. 


Basically, we don't want to miss our boat.  It would be such a shame to watch another company launch one of our ideas before we had the chance to.  But, you know what we are realizing?  We have A LOT of irons in the fire.  And, adding a bunch of stressful deadlines to our plate basically drains our creative juices and makes us feel like not doing much of anything.  And, that is the last thing that we want.  We love the creative side of what we are doing!  That's really what is important to us.


So, you will see us at the ABC Show in 2013.  In many ways that's better for us anyway.  It will be in VEGAS!  And, we are already finding that relaxing a little bit has allowed our wheels to turn again.  I found someone that can sew bias on my prototypes.....my SISTER-IN-LAW.

We're rolling now!

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Back to the grind.....

Oh Beach...I miss you already!  


Poor Heather, while she has been up all night, planning parties, painting houses (two of them), finding sitters AND working, I was enjoying eight days of California bliss!  Well, I take that back, I wouldn't say all eight were entirely blissful :).  

This week I am going to help take blogging off of Heather's ginormous TO DO list and give a recap of our trip...one day at a time :).  If you have not craved the ocean yet this summer.....you will....just wait and see :)

DAY 1-Theme of the day RANDOM.

Driving, Driving and more driving.  I was REALLY missing my camera in the front seat.  I could have done an entire blog post on the random things you see in the middle of no where (this nowhere being the middle of the California desert).  I could have had some awesome pics.  Unfortunately my words will have to do.

We saw a deserted water park in the middle of the desert.  A water park in the desert is a great idea.....if anyone lived there. 

We saw the deserted houses that looked as if they were SHREDDED down to the frame.  I don't know what kind of termites live in the California desert....obviously some efficient ones :).

We saw a camper parked...no....lodged under a metal carport/awning with no top on it.  It was like a tangled ball of metal.  Hmmmmm....

We saw trailers parked underneath their own personal telephone poles??

We saw car seats....with no cars, many "compounds", a couple dome houses....
 
The random list goes on and on and on.

For lunch we stopped in Barstow, rumored to be the Meth capitol of the US (would not be surprised) and ate at a McDonald's that was made out of old train cars.  Sounds cool right?  Nope.  Probably one of the WORST McDonald's experiences I have had.  It was stuffy, hot, crowded and it ended with Indiana telling me a guy in a white shirt and blue pants took a picture of her through the window.  WHAT!!!  

We arrived in SOLVANG CA just in time to hit the market to pick up some dinner and a bottle of wine (a necessity in wine country).  

Unfortunately all the shops in town didn't wait for our arrival...oh well we would be there for two more days!


 Stay tuned for Day 2.....MANY more pictures I promise!

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Holy Smack!  Where has this month gone??

I know I sound like a broken record; but, man, things are CRAZY around here!  More than our usual crazy.  They are REALLY crazy.  I'm still adjusting to being the mom of a newborn and a toddler.  I'm so very tired.  And, as with all things, life continues to march forward.

The little big man's due date just happened to fall on M's birthday.  So, before he was born, we decided that it would be best to celebrate her 4th birthday in June.  We figured that would give us time to acclimate after having the little guy and we would be able to throw a proper party for her.  I really didn't see any problems arising from this plan, because M doesn't know the calendar yet.  What we didn't anticipate were the questions that would come up when her friends started having birthdays at school and she kept insisting to everyone that she was still 3 (after her real birthday).

So, we decided to tell her it was her birthday a couple of weeks ago and have a "Family Party" at home with the promise of a "Big Friend Party" in a few weeks.  What this really means is that her brothers were coming over, so we seized the opportunity to buy a cake, give her a few of her presents and officially tell her that she is 4.

She was so excited.  She went back and forth between waiting on the doorstep for her brothers to arrive and poking at (and licking) her cake.




It's a little difficult to see in this picture, but if you look closely you can see that the corner has been eaten by a little girl that loves frosting.  You might also be able to tell that the Cinderella figurines have been shoved down into the cake.  This happened after being taken off to play with. 


M had a good time and was happy to be 4, especially since people kept asking her if she was.  Now, she's excited to be planning the real party.  It's going to be a FANCY NANCY party!  So far she has decided on this cake:

And, this invitation:





We found some super cute accessories for the girls to dress up in and some great ribbon for decorating.  Now, I need to figure out how to incorporate 4 year old boys into a Fancy Nancy Party.  Any ideas?

Speaking of craziness, we're off to the new house to continue the demo work and try to get the yard to a respectable level.  Wish me luck!  Did I mention that I'm tired?  :)

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Missing You




Dear Pillow,

I miss you.....
I long for you.....
I miss the soft slumber you make possible.....
I miss the comfort you provide as I dream.....
I miss knowing that I will fall into a deep sleep with you by my side.....
I miss your smell, your crisp case, your down feathers.....
Are you missing me, too? 
Do not worry.  I will be back. 
Hopefully, soon!

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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Just Roll with it......


What a week it has been!  First I must apologize....it was ME who fell off the blogging map.  Sometimes I just get blogging block.  It is the craziest thing!  I ALWAYS have something to say (Heather can vouch for this) but there are times where I can not think of a single thing to blog about.

Heather told me today "You worry too much, just blog about what you have been doing".  Well that is simple enough because I have been doing plenty!

Since we are heading to Disneyland I have been preparing in true princess style.  Princess Cinderella style that is :). 

Cinderella-Do the dishes, scrub the floors, take out the trash, clean the clothes, make the beds......the list goes on and on and on.  

We have been so busy getting everything ready for our trip, that we haven't had time to plan it!  We are leaving tomorrow and have still not sat down and laid out a budget, went over a map together or even began to THINK of an itinerary.  

That is when I truly wonder how I am a product of my parents.....my parents that have their bags packed, their itinerary planned and their car cleaned out two weeks before they leave!  

I remember our trip to Hawaii back when I was five.  My mom had all of our suitcases packed and sitting in our rooms at least a week before our trip.  I even threatened to run away one day figuring it would be perfect because I already had a suitcase packed and ready to go (I was a little dramatic at times :). 

Oh well....I am sure that gene is in there somewhere, I just have yet to find it.  For now I am just going to roll with it and continue to remind myself that in two days I will be sitting on the beach!  

While I spent my week feeling like Cinderella (pre-Princess) I get to start my morning off with a pedicure and a facial....now that is proper princess vacation preparation! 

What are your weekend plans?  

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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

New House Update

We are basically insane!  Yep, I said it.  I know you were thinking it, and I'll confirm.  It's how we roll around here.

Along with having a baby and preparing our house to put on the market, we are tackling the FULL renovation of our new house at the same time.  Again, let me say "THANK GOODNESS FOR MY PARENTS!!"  My mom is a Godsend.  Period.  My Stepdad helped to get things ready at our "old" house and my dad has been working on our new house.  Poor guy is working muscles he hasn't used in decades....doing demolition for us.

Do you remember me telling you that our new house was not only in need of a serious makeover, but that it was dirty, too?  I took some pictures to show you how I am using my elbow grease.  Below are some shutters in the downstairs kitchen.  I don't think they have been cleaned since they were installed.  I don't think any of the shutters have been cleaned since they were installed (say 15 years ago?).  Look at the difference between the two.  I cleaned the one on the left.  Next to it, the one on the right looks grey!  There must have been 20 layers of dust and grime built up on them.  Eeeeew.


Left side cleaned.  Right side is crying, "Please, oh please don't forget about me!"


I've also taken some photos to show you how things are looking mid-demo. 
Here's the upstairs kitchen before:

And, this is what it looks like today:


BEFORE:

More BEFORE


TODAY:


My dad took out all of the kitchen by himself.  We now only have to take out the plaster and flooring and we can start moving plumbing and electrical.  Hubby's favorite....riiiight.  He hates plumbing.

Here's one of the bathrooms BEFORE:



And, TODAY:


Second bathroom BEFORE:



TODAY:

M's Bedroom BEFORE:


TODAY:


Downstairs Family Room BEFORE:


TODAY:

My dad has done all of the demo that you see.  We still have quite a ways to go, but I'm feeling so happy with how much he has done! 

We put our old house on the market this Friday.  So, hopefully, we can start devoting MUCH more time at the new house starting this weekend!  Hubby keeps telling me that he just knows that our house is going to sell really quick and we'll have to move over to the construction site.  I'd actually be okay with that myself.  I know, I say that now, right?  We DO have a functioning kitchen in the basement and it would mean that our old house sold.  For me, that would be a relief!  We shall see....

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Monday, May 14, 2012

What a week!!

Love this picture!
Where to start?  Not sure :).  It has been a HELL of a week!  After this week I realized a few things: 

1. I am not built for manual labor
2. I will never take on the trade of Roofer
3. I am SO glad a tree hit MY roof
4. Family+hard work+A LOT of kids+Heat are NOT a good combination
5. You can not rely on the "roofing" diet to prep you for a vacation!

Friday and Saturday operation re-roof begun!  We had everyone I mean EVERYONE in the family over for two solid days straight.  That means 9 adults, 3 tweens, 2 kids, 1 preschooler and 2 toddlers all at one house aka construction zone with a few hours off to sleep.  It was a NIGHTMARE!  

The tweens were texting EACH OTHER and complaining about helping.

The toddlers were running around a yard with rusty nails and ripped up shingles EVERYWHERE!

The ragged women were chasing the toddlers around the yard trying to keep them from STEPPING on the rusty nails and EATING the torn up shingles.

The men were on the roof from sun up to sun down leaving them with sore EVERYTHING, blisters, cuts, bruises, one stepped on rusty nail and opinions of who ended up doing most the work :).  

The middle kids....well they had the "three's a crowd" factor going on.  My little Indiana usually being the crowd.  So there was a lot of crying, whining and scowling going on in that group.

What a weekend right?  

I did manage to get some fun pictures of the adventure.  

 Tea party time
 Actually a GOOD moment with the three girls!
 My Brother in the Attic :)
"B's" in the tire swing.

In the end we survived.  No children were injured, unfortunately the adults were not spared but we got the roof done!  It was nothing short of miraculous.

Unfortunately the sheer exhaustion set in yesterday for the hubby so Mothers Day was a little anticlimactic but it was still a good one.  

How was your weekend?  I hope all you mothers out there got spoiled! 


Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Running in circles?

Oh Heather, he is so adorable and I swear twice the size as when I last saw him!  They grow SO fast!  You will look back and laugh at all of this....one day :).  

This week has been NUTS!!  Maybe not as nuts as Heather's, I do have to give her that ;).

This is what I have been doing all week: 
 Pulling Shingles.....
 And More Shingles.....
 They're everywhere! 

The big re-roof project will complete on Saturday in a full out family fest.  Good times!

Oh, did I mention that I think that I left my brain up there?  Each day I go up I swear a little more falls out :) (Hence the title).

Yesterday I decided amidst the chaos to head down to Provo to get a copy of my birth certificate and a new Social Security card....(both lost) so I can get my drivers license renewed.

I have been carrying around a temporary for going on five months now (Did I mention they only will give me six months to get it renewed?  :)  Yes this IS how I roll.

Before my big trip to Cali I have been trying to tackle my "Don't Want to do List" and these docs were on it. 

While at the Health Department I thought I might as well get ALL my kids birth certificates.  Again, YES this is how I roll :).  Eighty dollars later I have one of my "Not Want's To's" crossed off!-CHECK

Off to the Social Security office......which is closed :(.

I am getting a little stressed about getting my card back BEFORE my temporary expires so I went back again today....so happy to have one more thing crossed off the dang list-CHECK....and forgot my brand new birth certificate :(-UNCHECK

Round and round we go!

 Roofing, Roofing, Not want to do list, birth certificates
  Roofing, Roofing, Not want to do list, birth certificates
  Roofing, Roofing, Not want to do list, birth certificates
 Roofing, Roofing, Not want to do list, birth certificates

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Little Big Guy

If there was any worry left about my little guy gaining weight, it has certainly passed now.  On Friday we took him to be weighed again, and he gained 2 1/2 pounds in just 2 weeks!  He's up to 11.7 pounds.  At 6 weeks old, that's a pretty big guy.  85th percentile, actually.




When I wake up each morning, I swear it seems like he has grown so much, he looks like a different baby.  I am so grateful that he is gaining weight and growing so well!  Those very early days of worrying are so difficult.

This weight gain also means that my little big guy spends the majority of his days and nights on feeding frenzies.  Not the typical every-3-hour-newborn-eating schedule.  No, he's on an every hour to 2 hour feeding schedule.  It's rough.

I can't believe that it has been 6 weeks since my little guy was born!  While I was still pregnant with him I thought back to my maternity leave with M.  I remember really stressing over her health, weight gain, finding a babysitter, going back to work, and so many other things.  I told myself that this time would be different...I would make a conscious effort not to stress like I did last time.   All in all, I would say that I have been much better.  BUT, the worry over weight gain is now being transferred to finding a sitter.  UUUUUUUGH! 

Finding a sitter/nanny/caregiver for a newborn is NOT fun.  There's the worry over finding just the right person (someone caring, loving, responsible - someone I can TRUST with my little love).  Worry over the expense, and the worry that I will actually make it to work on time - eek!  Oh, how I long to be the resident of a European country where maternity leave is more than 12 weeks (unpaid to boot).  Why do we Americans have to push everything to such limits??  It can't possibly be worth it.

Speaking of pushing things to the limit/overdoing everything; we are waist deep in projects here.  The new house is just about completely "demo'd" (demolition complete - I'll post on that next) and we are using serious elbow grease to get our old house ready to put up for sale next Monday.  Here's what I'm working on today:



Making our front porch pretty.  I picked up these lovely flowers last night (always one of my favorite things to do - it reminds me that summer is nearly here!).  I'll be planting the pots today.



I'll be weeding this flower bed and planting these bright yellow flowers.  M picked them out for me.  I love that!


We (mainly my mom) will also finish staining our storage shed.  Have I told you lately what  life-saver my mom is?!  I can not imagine what this time in our lives would be like without her.  She is truly the best.

So, speaking of stressing over going back to work, no lie, I just got a call from one of my coworkers asking for help with a project.  Going back is just around the corner.  Siiiiiiiiigh. 

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