It was time.

We finally found the perfect dog.  It was a long time comin.  It is just a few days from the 2 year anniversary of Luther's untimely death and lately we have really been craving a dog.  A big dog.  A good dog for our location and for kids.  We've always kind of wanted a lab, so we've been keeping our eyes open but not finding much.  Mostly I check the Humane Society, and if they have labs at all, they are typically older or have a health condition.  So we had really started branching out and looking at other bigger dog breeds, but I think in our hearts, we knew we wanted a lab.  So, dearest friend Tosha tagged me in a Facebook post on the Lincoln Pet Exchange group and that's how we wound up with Chopper.  It hasn't been 24 hours yet, but it seems that we have made a good choice.  He is so sweet and well mannered and soft and charming and brown and has such big paws....and he already loves Willa.  I think they are going to be bestest friends.  Stickers is mad and jealous and hissy/growly, but he will get over it.  Bailey hasn't really come out of her hiding place to meet Chopper yet, but she will.  I did have to leave last night before bed time, so I'm not sure how he did, but I'm going to pretend that he was a perfect angel, and went willingly into his kennel and slept all night there without whining or peeing.  Yep, I'm sure that's how it went.  And, he is going to want to sleep all morning with me, too:)

See?  Only a best friend would share a space this small with you and still love you.  

42 inches of heaven (#80. For now)

I really didn't know, until very recently, that I cared about tvs.  At all.  The tv that Brad and I had in our living room, as our main tv (really our only tv, aside from the one in the basement that I use if I'm going to be on the treadmill for more than half an hour), was purchased at the Conestoga Mall, at Sears, back when I worked at Vanity.  We're talkin, 1999.  I got a mall Friends and Family discount.  I think it still cost like $800 or something crazy like that, but when you are selling $39 jeans at 2% commission, you are living large.  It was a beast of a tv and nearly threw out the backs of anyone who ever helped me move.  But it was something of a family member by the time it gave out on us a few months ago.  I was sad.  I also didn't think I cared enough about tv watching to spend much money to replace it.  So, we brought up the treadmill tv, which is the one you see pictured above. It might by 13 inches.  Maybe 18.  I'm not sure because I was too embarrassed to measure it. Watching it sucked and strained our eyes.  As the days wore on, we all became more and more eager to get something new.  So, we made a plan to purchase a new tv sometime during the week before Father's Day, hoping maybe there would be some good sales.  As soon as Sunday rolled around and the sale fliers were distributed, we found ourselves back at Sears.  The circle of life.  This probably won't be the very nicest tv we ever own, but OH MY GOD, we are enjoying it.  And, 42 inches doesn't seem all that big in the store, when it is displayed next to the 70 inchers, but in our living room it seems gigantor.   Love it.

There she is, in all her Bob's Burgers glory.

And here is a chair that I found at Cool and Collected this weekend, that I think I would enjoy watching the new tv from.  Someone buy it for me?!?

We gave away Willa's best friend

Isn't this little guy just the cutest?  He was hanging around our house a few weeks ago, when we got all the snow and really cold weather.  And he looked pretty unloved, dirty and matted fur.  He was obviously some sort of cruel dump job.  I really wanted to bring him in the house and take care of him until we could relocate him to a shelter or a new home, but the cat of the house, Stickers, was not a fan of that idea.  Anytime he could hear the kitten, or anytime we opened the back door to let Bailey out, Stickers would hiss and puff up all his fur and seem so angry!  So, we made the kitten a box with old towels, and gave him food and water.  He/she really seemed to like it!  It was so tempting to keep the baby, but we had to remain loyal to Stickers and also the little guy really needed some veterinary attention, at least to make sure he didn't have any funky bugs or anything, so Brad put an ad on Craigslist for a free kitten to a good home.  In a matter of minutes, he had several takers and that evening he delivered the kitten to a nice family with another cat, a small dog, and a few kids.  We had not even touched the kitten yet, as I was a little freaked out about the possibility of (eek!) worms or something, and certainly hadn't named the thing, but when Brad left with the wandering friend, Willa lost it.  She cried soooo hard and for so long and was so mad at us.  She just kept saying over and over "I want my best friend Puffball back."  Apparently, she had grown very fond of the cat living on the back steps, and had named it.  It just broke my heart.  Every few days or so, she still tells me that she wants Puffball back.  And that the family that we gave him/her to is so mean.  Please, oh please.  Don't let anymore stray animals into our yard.  The meltdown over Puffball has been traumatic.

Why? Why do I kill plants?

One of the mini-goals that I set for myself in 2013 was to keep a house plant alive.  Sort of as a pretest to myself for gardening this year.  If you will remember, I tried to garden last year and pretty much failed.  Brad keeps saying I can blame "The Drought" and blame him for not helping, but I really think I am cursed when it comes to growing plants.  And its such a shame, since they are my favorite things to eat.  I have read a few books all about families who grow their food for the year in their own yards and these people amaze me (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and The Quarter Acre Farm).  I could totally eat the food they eat and be perfectly happy, I just suck at growing stuff.  

So, it delighted me when all the fun design blogs and modern home furnishing stores were pushing succulents this year.  I mean, they are related to cactuses and cactuses have got to be hard to kill, right?  Plus, I just think they all have such a unique look to them.  I had a gift card to Campbell's from my loving brother and the adorable hanging pot from Valentine's Day, so I set out to meet my mini-goal.  Once at Campbells, it was very hard to choose a plant.  They were just adorable and tiny and they each seemed to have a personality.  Weird, I know.  So instead I picked 4.  I put one in the hanging planter and three in this cute little bowl.  And I was in love.  I have been giving them a little water every week or week and a half.  They seemed happy.  Then today, I noticed that the tiny guy in the front was looking all wilty and squishy and weird so I kind of played around with him and he just mushed right off of his roots. Casualty number one, and just a few weeks in.  I really don't want to lose the rest of my new friends so I have been doing a little research and the problem is either over-watering (I kinda doubt that one) or improper drainage.  So I think I will look for a new home for the remaining 2 friends and resume eating cereal out of this bowl.  Maybe put him in more direct sunlight as well.  Fingers crossed that I can salvage the other 2.  The one in the hanging pot in the bathroom seems to be ok so far, but I probably just jinxed him...

I can't quit Pinterest

Its been awhile since I've shared my most recent favorite pins...

Dude, this soup rocks

Fell in love with this bedding, still haven't committed though...

Made this advent calendar for Willa this year

A Necessity For Someone Who Likes Marshmallows As Much As Me

We decided that our "big" yard project this summer would be our fire pit.  (It really wasn't that big of a project.  But we are lazy and poor this summer:)  We had fire pit visions from the first time we looked at this house last year.  We put the metal ring in right away, and it was certainly usable in the sense of being a fire pit, but we had intended to make it a little prettier and more substantial all along.  I won't even show you the pictures of fire pits that I pinned, as ours look nothing like the gorgeous, modern works of art that I drooled over.  But I must say that I am proud of the nice little area that we created all by ourselves and pretty darn inexpensively.  Bringing the supplies home from Menards took several trips, as those pieces of concrete are REALLY heavy!  Like tons and tons and tons of heaviness!

While Brad and I worked, Willa discovered new yard friends like the super fuzzy caterpillar and the worm that she named Abbey (and made a bed for and fed grass to and then pulled into several pieces which she called his brothers and sisters).

 Doesn't it look like my dad is a great supervisor??

We had a bit of a time trying to figure out what to do with the edges of our pit.  The pavers we were using were designed to make a square or diamond shape but we really wanted it to turn out round.  So after we had created a somewhat roundish shape, Brad broke the extra pavers into chunks, then we used little rocks to fill in the spaces between the pavers and the edging.  It worked out perfectly!

Ta-da!  What a lovely place to make s'mores, to read a magazine and have a cup of coffee, or just to sit and look into the fire.  I can totally picture Willa having slumber parties some day and all the little chick-a-dee birds sitting around telling ghost stories. 

Nothing like a little landscaping to rid your front step of skinks.

Its a proven fact that I am horrible at blogging about our house projects, as I nearly always forget to take a before picture.  So let me paint you a word picture of what this area in the front of our basement window looked like, for those of you who haven't been over for cookies yet.  It was a giant rock garden.  Oh, so many rocks.  Some that were quite large and heavy, all the way down to gajillions of little pebbles filling in all the little spaces.  So, so many rocks.  And then there were some really nice, old wagon wheels.  And then this metal silhouette thingy of maybe a cowboy and a horse?  I can't even remember.  We threw it away really quickly.

So over the last couple of weeks, Brad, Willa, Mom and I removed alllllll the rocks.  And pulled all the grass that was growing in the rocks.  And then dug up the weird brick border thing that was buried halfway underground.  Then we put down some of that black fabricy stuff to hopefully prevent the grass from growing again and planted 2 very pretty azalea bushes, threw on about  7 bags of wood chips, and made a nice border out of some edging stones.  It looks so much better now and as an added bonus - the weird family of legged snake creatures has moved out of the area now that there aren't all those rocky crevices to hide in!  Granted, we weren't aware of the creatures until we started the project and disturbed them.  But its nice to know that they are gone:)  During the project, Willa also discovered a love for worms.

She wants to be all big

The time has come.  Willa has requested a big girl bed.  Pardon me while I go find a box of tissues.  Okay, all better.  I will distract myself from the sadness by...shopping for a big girl bed!  I refuse to put her in one before her 3rd birthday.  Mostly because I want her to stay little, but I suppose the reasons could be somewhat financial.  I am quickly realizing that my taste in big girl beds is more caviar and champagne than pringles and coors light:)

Here are 3 catagories that I am pondering.  The first, a daybed from West Elm, might be my favorite.  Its compact enough to fit nicely in her room, while still allowing lots of room for toys.  Even though it is small, it doesn't really scream "young" to me, so it would transition well to a more mature bedroom.  Maybe a bed she could get use out of for years.
The second bed is fun.  Kind of trendy.  Its a platform from CB2.  I can see it with some really fun bedding, maybe paint the walls back to white and get some awesome prints on the wall.  The smallest size it is available in is a queen though, and I would worry that a few years down the road it may not seem as "in" as it does now.
The third bed is a toddler bed from Ikea.  Surprise!  The only one in the current budget.  I think it is adorable and Willa would love it, but don't you think I'd just be buying yet another bed in just a year or two??  That doesn't seem very smart, even if it is less than $100.  It also doesn't seem like it would be quite as cozy as the first two.  I guess that all depends on our mattress selection.

And bedding?!?  So fun!  Keeping in mind that these are just a few that I took from the 3 or 4 websites that I am looking at right now, during my preliminary shopping stages.  I think the top two sheet sets are my favorite, paired with a solid colored quilt or duvet cover.  On a white bed.  Awwww.  I think if I was letting Willa pick, she'd go for the fox comforter.  I'd be ok with that.  It will be interesting to see where we end up!

Garden inspiration (via what else? Pinterest.)

Isn't that just a perfect garden?  This is how I would like for my garden to look...eventually.  Maybe when I am a little bit better at gardening.  Like, when stuff actually grows and I don't kill it.  I planted things about a month ago.  Maybe a little less.  Things like tomatoes, jalapenos, Brussels sprouts, rainbow chard, zucchini, carrots, lettuce, spinach, kale, peas, sweet peppers, basil and cilantro.  Some of the things that I planted as plants are looking ok, but the things I tried to start from seed are disappointing me.  I have friends who are already eating salads from their gardens, and they didn't plant much earlier than I did.  Its the curse of my black thumb.  But I won't give up.  I will plant another garden this week if I have to.  On a happier, plant-related note, my mom and I spent some time with the strawberry patch today and it is doing very well.  Lots and lots of little green strawberries that will be ready to pick in the next few days or so.

Picture and recipe here

And also related to food, Willa and I made these muffins the other day.  She is a big fan of cracking the eggs when we bake together.  The muffins were very tasty and incredibly easy, with common ingredients that you probably already have in the pantry.  They don't require you to grow anything from a seed...Can you tell that I am a little frustrated with my own lack of gardening abilities?!?

Growing things again

Willa and I started off the planting this spring!  I am so horribly bad at growing things, for a number of reasons.  Mostly, I forget to water them.  And sometimes its not so much forgetting, as just being kind of lazy.  My hopes for our new home, and all its space to grow things, is that I will improve each year.  Last year's garden was small, and not everything worked out, but it was an ok start.  We had lots of basil and lettuce and squash.  I thought maybe this year we would plant more garden space, but when I got really honest with myself, I realized that I better take another stab at my little garden.  So after today, my little plot of garden soil is planted.  Tomatoes, basil, Brussels sprouts, bell peppers, spinach, lettuce, carrots, kale and peas.  We'll see how it goes.  I'd like to do a few more tomato plants and some cucumbers, maybe a few more types of herbs but first I want to make sure that what I planted today lives.  No sense in killing even more veggies.  Willa picked out the pretty pink flowers that we potted.  She is quite good with plants.  Maybe my plant-killing-genes skipped a generation...

In unrelated news, today was Easter (pictures to follow).  The church service at Southpointe Christian was beautiful.  Powerful sermon, great music.  If you don't know, Brad plays drums with the music team at our church.  Willa was very well behaved, which hasn't happened since she was a tiny infant who couldn't walk or talk.  Maybe I have unrealistic expectations for her, but I don't take her to the nursery, nor do I bring along all kinds of toys and distractions.  I expect that she should be able to sit, fairly quietly and draw or look at a book, or maybe even listen.  I'll give her credit for trying, but some weeks she is just a bit more challenging in church than I would like.  Last week was one of those weeks.  Right after the first round of songs (when it was quiet) she asked me loudly if I needed to go to the bathroom.  Kind of embarrassing.  Then, as the communion tray was being passed (also a relatively quiet time) she asked me if the communion wine was "the kind of beer that daddy likes?"  Hmmm.  Thanks Willa.  And that is why we generally sit in the very back row.

Cakaroon??

It has already been so fun to watch what is blooming at our home this spring.  This EARLY spring!  What is with this beautiful weather?  Am I the only one who is afraid that we are going to get a nightmare of a blizzard in like, late April as punishment for this awesomeness?  Since we moved into our home the first of June, we kind of missed out on all the spring newness and blossoms.  Willa discovered this magnolia tree for me the other day.  We were working in one of the front flower beds and she took my hand and told me she was going to show me some other purple flowers.  Then she led me to this tree and it was so pretty I almost cried.  Wait, that may not have been the beauty of the tree but actually the horrible new birth control pill I am on.  But that's a whole different story all together.

Anywho...I don't know how many times I already mentioned this, but for the Lenten season, I gave up desserts and candy.  I'd say I gave up sugar, but that's a little too strict.  There were times that I had a muffin for breakfast, or put chocolate chips and syrup on the pancakes, or jelly on my almond butter and jelly sandwiches.  So no, I didn't give up sugar.  I hate to jump the gun too much here but I think I did pretty well!   I didn't have a single piece of Easter candy, I have had no cookies, donuts, cakes, pies, coconut M and M's...NOTHING of the sort.  The final test will be putting Willa's Easter basket together next weekend and taking her to the big Easter egg hunt on Saturday.  There is a bag of Just Red Starburst Jelly Beans in my closet that whisper sweet nothings to me every night but they are still unopened.  I actually kind of had fun challenging myself to avoid things that I normally love but that I know are slightly toxic to me, so I decided that I'm going to try to give something up every month this year.  I have a rough plan of what each month will be, but it might change so I won't set the full schedule down here.  I have decided that starting April 1 (in addition to one more week of no desserts) I will go a month without saying negative things about others, and without in general being a whiny person.  I sometimes get a little bit too much pleasure out of gossip, discussing things that may or may not be true.  And I also whine and complain too much.  So, none of that in April!!  I think the key here is to make sure that I am surrounded by positive people, maybe involve myself in a few new projects (gardening, biking, and running top this list), and get more sleep, to avoid being so grumpy.  So if you have the pleasure of seeing me this month and you hear me being a Betty Badmouther or a Negative Nelly, first of all slap me for using phrases like that and then kindly call me on my bad behavior.

And on a lighter note, Willa calls raccoons "cakaroons".  I think this is the cutest thing ever.  So try to encourage it.  Engage her in a conversation about cakaroons as often as possible.  I want her to go her whole young life calling them that.

I am so in love with that yellow "V"

I feel like it has been ages since we have done anything fun in the house.  I guess I don't consider the new well pump as fun.  I certainly don't consider the cost of it fun.  Replacing our used washing machine with another used washing machine wasn't a party, although I do really enjoy being able to wash a load of laundry that consists of more than 5 t-shirts without there being a tiny flood in the laundry room.  A million thanks to Bev and Leo Benes for the great deal on the washing machine:)
So, after spending a few hours outside today enjoying the amazing February weather, we finally were able to hang our new kitchen shelving!  These shelves were uber-difficult to obtain.  At Christmas time, Brad tried his darndest to order them for me as a Christmas gift.  If you have ever tried to order something from Ikea, you know that its complicated and expensive.  As it turns out, the matter that complicated the ordering of the shelves was a change in Ikea's suppliers.  We found this out from our new favorite friends at Omaha Modern, who were finally able to bring us our shelves a few weeks ago.  Do check out their website, they have a really good business going.  They travel to Minneapolis every few weeks or so and bring back Ikea goods to those of us here in Nebraska who are deprived.  I think they charge about 1/3 of the cost of the item as their service fee, but sometimes that is just so worth it.
Finally, they are up and I think they are really pretty!  I'm sure I will tinker with their layout a few times.  I think I need a really cool clock to sit up there somewhere.  Now I also have to consider the aesthetic of all the alcohol bottles that I buy.  Only 3 of the current bottles were pretty enough for the shelves today.  Guess I better empty out the rest of the ugly bottles this week and restock.  Anyone want to come over and drink alcohol from ugly bottles with me??  Its an open invitation.

Pinterest didn't disappear from the www yet.

Here are a few more of my favorites from the depths of my Pinterest files.  This first picture was one of my very first pins.  Cupboards don't get any better than that.  You could never, ever, ever wake up in the morning, walk into your kitchen, and maintain any sort of grouchiness after you looked at your cupboards.  Fact.  And you wouldn't have even touched on your pretty wood floors, mismatched white chairs, and sexy white pendant lighting.

I'm not sure where I first saw this chair, I'm gonna guess Design Sponge awhile back.  It really puts me in the reupholstering mood.  I don't think my new/old chair would wear the heart pattern well, but this chair certainly does.  And it reminds me lots of the Alexander Girard print that I have always wanted.  Carry on with your pinning, peeps!

Its like crack

Gosh, I enjoy my time perusing Pinterest.  So much so, that I think I might share a weekly favorite.  Until I get bored with doing something weekly which will probably happen in about 2 weeks.  This weeks favorite is this room.  And its dog.  I would name him Peter Nickels Eater if he were mine.  The dog, not the room.  I would name the room Sexy Thang.

And because I got such positive feedback about my first Pinterest Picture Share, I chose another one.  I have been crazy, madly, deeply involved with quinoa the past few weeks.  And avocados and cilantro and little tiny tomatoes.  You might be wondering how I got all the positive feedback, since the first picture is just right above this one.  Yes, sometimes I have delusions wherein people say amazing things about me when really I am all by myself at work.  I don't medicate this issue, as it keeps my self esteem really high.

Recommended Shopping

Don't these puppies look good with a few of my other Christmas decorations??

I was finally able to shop a bit with my mom a few days back and we went to a store that she has been telling me about for a few weeks.  Its called Cool and Collected and it is located near 13th and Hwy 2.  If you have any interest in anything vintage, antique, retro, used, just plain awesome...you should really check it out.  I only took pictures of a few of the things that I loved.  I took the ornaments home with me, as well as the letter V.  Its not very often that a lady can find a bright yellow letter V!  I was really thinking that the yellow dresser would look absolutely perfect in a nursery, maybe painted a different color, its kind of a rough shade of yellow for such a big piece of furniture.  Painting/refinishing furniture makes me nervous as heck but its something I'd like to master someday.  And those chairs???  Recovered?  Ugh.  I think the owner of this store is gonna have to get used to my face.  Poor guy.