What was Jason's surprise birthday present? Jason and I and Amy and Heath went to see the Washington Nationals lose to the Cincinnati Reds. :( The game was fun, even though the team we went to see lost. The best part was that Jason didn't really know where we were going. Well, OK, if you ask him he'll tell you he knew, but I like to tell myself he didn't have a clue. Makes it easier to try to plan next year's surprise that way. :) Anyway, we had a great time. Here are some pics of RFK stadium and us in our souvenir hats.

Maybe I should have complained about the weather a little sooner. Right after that last post, the rain stopped and the sun came out. We decided to put our mailbox planter together and I really like the way it turned out. I could have bought a few more plants to fill it in a little more, but I hope in a month or so, it will fill out nicely.

Enough with the rain already! It has rained all weekend. It started on Friday right after I got off of work and hasn't quit. Very frustrating, because on Friday, I bought a 1/2 whiskey barrel, some potting soil and some gorgeous plants from my new favorite nursery. I'm going to put them around my plain-Jane mailbox in an attempt to liven up the front yard a little. I hate that I can only do a little at a time, but such is life on a budget, I guess. I bought some dahlias and two kinds of sweet potato vine (one lime green and one deep purple). The plan is to cut a hole in the bottom of the barrel, put the mailbox pole in the center and fill in around it with plants. I may try to find a clematis or morning glory to add later so that it will climb up and around the mailbox, but I couldn't find one I liked. I also bought a pink peony (my FAVORITE!), some pink phlox, a strawberry plant in a hanging basket, and some lavender plants (I LOVE the smell of lavender!) And of course, the one time I do spend a small fortune on plants and am all hyped up to plant them...it rains the entire weekend! Oh well! Guess I'll have a project to work on this week, right?
Will post a picture when I finally get the planter done.

In other news, tomorrow is Jason's birthday! Can't tell you what exactly we'll be doing, in case he reads this blog, but I will post pictures and all the details after the big event. Happy Birthday, honey! :)

OK, so most of the time I try to respect my husband's wishes and not blog about things I know he wouldn't want me talking about. Oh no. Not this time. I am so blogging this!

I am so mad right now! And most of you would probably tell me I'm crazy to be mad about this. Why am I mad? Because my husband got on one of his cleaning kicks. Not just any cleaning spree, mind you. This was amazing. Stuff that had been sitting around in piles for a month (just papers waiting to be filed in the file cabinet, etc. nothing gross.) everything just miraculously disappeared. Unfortunately, so did the two very important things that were waiting for me to finish them. Where were these papers? RIGHT UNDER MY NOSE! Literally! Well, OK actually, they were under his wallet sitting right next to the keyboard on which I was busy typing at the time in question. But I was practically sitting on top of these papers.

Early in the evening, I mentioned to him that I had about 45 minutes to an hour worth of emails to write, papers to file, files to download, and general things to do. I even made a point of saying things like "I'm really having trouble concentrating with you hovering around me" and "honey, just a few more minutes and I'll be done and I can help you clean". Did this deter him in the least? No! The man continues to "clean" around me. And these papers he moved? One was a reply for a movie club saying if you don't reply we'll automatically send you a movie you're not really interested in. And the other paper? A piece of paper folded in fourths, secretly detailing where we are going on his suprise birthday adventure.

You see, every year, I try to suprise him. And every single year, he finds out. EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. Now let me tell you that things like this have happened before. He has lost, shredded, filed, or just moved some very important things. One time, he was cleaning and he actually "lost" a bowling ball. LOST! A bowling ball! (Don't ask. Said bowling ball has since been found and we have laughed a lot over the story. But tonight, that story is not so funny!)

Where did I end up finding these "important papers"? In a folder where he had "organized" the things on the desk. AAGGGGHH!!! So help me...if he found out what this present is, I swear there will never be another present of any kind! EVER! Suprise or no suprise. He totally enjoys trying to guess what I'm planning. Why can't some people just relax and enjoy the fact that someone wants to do something nice for them?!

Anyone have any similar stories? I'd love to hear them! Maybe when my blood pressure gets back to normal and I simmer down a little, I'll actually be able to concentrate long enough to finish my list of things to do. AARRRGGGHH!!

The before picture...


The after pictures...

The sparkly blue shower curtain has since been moved to the master bathroom. We replaced it with a new striped one that I like a lot. And a new red and "cream" theme that actually turned out a little more peach-y than I wanted. Oh well. It still looks good. Good enough to leave it for a while and not repaint, I'd say. :) And if you look closely, you can see the picture from Jenni and the pretty hatbox from Michelle. And Kristin, the tall leather picture frame you bought for me in Wagoner will be added just as soon as I decide which pictures to put in it. Thanks guys!

The cool candleholders I found at Target on clearance. $4.00 a piece! I'll take two, thanks! Gotta love Target. I find everything I need to decorate there and usually on clearance if I wait long enough. Now, if they'd only mark down those paintings I want for the bedroom, I'd be set!

The bedroom will have to wait to be painted though. This crafty little devil's had enough painting for the weekend! :)

We are painting this weekend. The front bathroom and possibly part of our bedroom. Royal Red and French Cream for the bathroom and Mudslide and French Cream for the bedroom. I'll post before and after pictures when we're done. Happy Easter!

As some of you may know, I am an avid Food Network fan. I LOVE watching that channel! I first got hooked on it while watching 30 Minute Meals with Rachael Ray and Giada De Laurentiis' Everyday Italian. (Gorgeous Giada De Laurentiis is just too beautiful to be believed. If I hadn't seen her in person with my own two eyes at last year's National Book Conference in DC, I'd have thought she was just a creation of the Food Network, only made for television. She is BEAUTIFUL! And so is her show. )

I just recently lucked into finding the first two 30 Minute Meal cookbooks in a set for just $12.00 so I jumped at a chance to try these out. It took me a while to actually try the cookbooks out, mostly because I was really skeptical that I could actually prepare those same yummy-looking meals in 30 minutes or less. Well guess what? I've tried 2 of the recipes from the 2nd cookbook and she's telling the truth! I made Philly (Cheese) Steak Sandwiches (that were SOOO good) and I actually set a timer. Sure enough! Just 30 minutes exactly! Jason even took one to work for lunch the next day and he said even the leftovers were great! And tonight, I made Spanikopita. (A VERY TASTY Greek-inspired spinach and cheese burrito-type thing.) As Rachael Ray would say..."YUM-O"!!!! Just thought I'd pass this info along to ya'll and hopefully you'll try these cookbooks and fall in love with them just like we did. Next in line is the recipe called "Cashew! God Bless You Chicken"...I'm not too much a fan of cutesy little recipe names, but this one sounds pretty funny, even to me. And I'm a huge fan of cashew chicken, so I thought we'd give it a try. Not tomorrow though...I have a Pampered Chef meeting. I'll be sure to post when/if we try that recipe.

Well, I gave up on trying to get blogger to post all my pictures amongst my text in that last long post, so I ended up posting them one by one. Sometimes I HATE blogger! I tried using Hello (thanks for the suggestion, Jenni!), which I used to use, but for some reason it wouldn't load...even after I tried uninstalling and re-installing it! AAARRRGGHH!!! I seriously need a new computer.

In other news, I went to physical therapy for my shoulder today and I LOVE my physical therapist! She's a tiny little ball of energy and she is the first person to actually listen to me and not prescribe any drugs for my neck/shoulder pain. She gave me some exercises to do that helped tremendously! Now I'm looking forward to putting those exercises to good use and hopefully I can avoid a massive tension headache (from my neck pain) when we drive to Panama City next month.

We're going on vacation! My sister-in-law is graduating from OSU (YAY, Leslie! We're so proud of you!) and we're going to meet them in FL to celebrate. We always have fun when we're with them, so we're really looking forward to it. :)

Jason, hard at work making my "clothesline idea" into a reality.

The finished product

A picture of the charm bracelet I have had for years and decided to update. I'm in search of an Eiffel Tower charm if anyone finds one. :)

A very bad picture of a very pretty purple necklace. (Gee, aren't I humble?) :)

Aqua colored earrings

Apple Blossom Bracelet and Earrings

Why, oh why, can I add a picture of my cat in the sink, but I cannot for the life of me get blogger to upload my pictures from my last post?! Maybe it doesn't like my taste in jewelry. Ha!ha! Will keep trying on the other pictures.

Well, if Blogger would ever let me upload my pictures, I would post some pictures for you. Will try again tomorrow and edit this post to include the pictures that go along with this entry.

What did we do this weekend? Friday, I made some jewelry. I made a pink, white, and green bracelet and earrings for Apple Blossom. Most of you that read this won't know what Apple Blossom is, but I'll try to explain. It's a celebration of spring and the apple blossoms that the Shenandoah Valley is famous for. The official colors for Apple Blossom or "The Bloom" as it is sometimes called, are pink, white and green. They have many parades, concerts and activities during this time and basically the entire town shuts down for this thing. It is CRAZY! But it is very fun. And since my favorite colors are pink and green, I decided to get a little festive and make some jewelry to wear. In addition to the pink and green stuff, I also made some aqua colored earrings, and a purple necklace (which the picture does NOT do justice at all) and I also added a new charm to my charm bracelet. (Jenny, that pic is especially for you. The new charm says "Shopping Queen".)

Saturday, we spent the ENTIRE DAY working on getting our tax stuff ready. Then we relaxed by sitting on our front porch in lawn chairs and watching a thunderstorm roll in. Made us nostalgic for Oklahoma, that's for sure! People here really freak out when it storms and especially when we are under a rare tornado warning. I just laugh and say that I figure I must have spent about 75% of my life in Oklahoma in a tornado warning and thankfully, never saw a tornado, so it really doesn't faze me much.

Today, we got up and went to H & R Block to get our taxes done. We ended up owing, but not too terribly much, so I guess it's not as bad as it could have been. Our tax preparer today was really nice and helped us find a few more deductions that we hadn't thought of. She said we were very organized and much more prepared than most people she's worked with, so we were pretty happy. And not only does she work for H & R Block doing taxes, she's also a Pampered Chef consultant! How cool! We talked a lot about PC and she said I gave her some ideas for getting her business stuff organized and some deductions she can take for herself next year. How about that?! She invited me to her cluster meeting (for consultants) and I think if I can, I'll go. It sounded like a good opportunity and a lot of fun. Maybe the ladies there will have some ideas on how I can get some more shows!

And last but not least, reason #494,587,439,849 why I love my husband...look what he helped me do tonight! I've been wanting to hang up some aprons in my kitchen to make use of my wall space and show off my apron collection. I thought it would be cute to make it look like they were hanging on a clothesline. Not only did he help me, he thought of an even better way to do it and I LOVE the way it looks! What do you think? Ladies, you should all be so lucky to have a husband like mine! :)

As for this week, nothing too exciting going on except an appointment with a physical therapist tomorrow to see if they can help with my shoulder. It is still hurting since I injured it at work back in October. Hopefully, she can give me some exercises to do to strengthen my shoulder, and keep me from hurting.

Anyway, that's about all with us. Hopefully, by the time you read this, there will be pictures along with the text. Can't quite figure out the problem with blogger tonight, but it sure is annoying! Have a great week!

Shopping Extravaganza

My poor husband has had to endure many, many weekends full of shopping. He's pretty good-natured about it when I'm shopping for stuff for the house. And here lately it seems like I'm ALWAYS shopping for stuff for the house! We've lived here for almost a year and it still seems like there is a never-ending list of things we "need" for the house.

Lately, we've been concentrating on decorating our bedroom. I LOVE the way it is turning out! I am in love with the aqua/dark brown color scheme we've picked and so far everything we've bought has been perfect for the room and perfectly cheap. We started with a gorgeous chocolate brown quilt for the bed which we lucked out and found at TJ Maxx for only $50! (For a king-sized quilt! WOW!)We also bought some aqua colored sheets from Walmart for $45 and 2 brown and blue throw pillows for $37.00. Then, we went to Big Lots and found 4 really cute votive holders for 99 cents a piece. Those look so cute on our bedside tables.

This weekend, we went to Gabriel Brothers (kinda like Ross or TJ Maxx) and I found a aqua colored throw for $7.99 for the foot of the bed. Perfect to keep some of the cat hair off our pretty brown quilt. (Who knew our cats shed so much?! Lint-rolling our new quilt is an almost daily chore for us now, but it is SO worth it!) We also found 2 velvety brown pillows for $4.99 at Big Lots. (I LOVE that place!)

Now all we need to do in the bedroom is get the brown curtains I found (Walmart $32.00), paint and concentrate on furniture. I think we will make a headboard for our bed. I found a picture of a headboard that I LOVE and it would be SO easy to copy.

Here's a picture of the headboard I'd like to make:


Jason bought a new circular saw, some sawhorses, and some other misc. tools to start working on building us some furniture. He made some pieces in high school that are really pretty and solid so I can't wait for him to get busy on our bedroom furniture!

I'll take a picture sometime once we're finished with the room. It's going to look so pretty!

After the bedroom makeover it's time to work on some flowerbeds and plant some trees outside. Talk about expensive! But it will be so worth it when we're finished. :)