Sunday, March 30, 2008

Lemons and Lemonade

So life has handed me a few lemons. Those of you who know me well know that I've been making "lemonade" since I was a kid. Luckily I've been surrounded by women in my life who have good recipes for lemonade because they have made a few batches themselves. So I'm here to discuss my most recent and unusually sour lemon.

Who would've thought coming from a woman who had five children with no problems that I would have to deal with infertility. On my mom's side I have two tios and two tias. On my dad's side I have seven uncles and one aunt, and my only sister is pregnant with her fifth. Yes, her fifth.

When we were married only five months I got pregnant. We were shocked to say the least. I assumed that I was as fertile as can be, so we were very surprised when it took us a year and a half to get pregnant the second time. Realizing things were difficult the second time we were prepared for it to take awhile the third time around. Well we are three years into the third time around. Aric has endured "The Test" and I have gone through exams, blood tests, hormone tests and surgery. Just to be told that we have "unexplained infertility". I am a "mystery" as my doctor put it. So here we are.

Any of you who have experienced the pain and frustration of infertility know where I am coming from. I am a member of the "Infertile Mertyl Club". My Tia Ines (my mom's sister) was the first person I knew to ever experience infertility. I was a teenager and didn't have a clue as to what she was going through. For one I was totally self absorbed, as most teenagers are, and second I just didn't realize that there was such a thing as infertility. So to my Tia Ines...we finally have something in common. I'm so sorry you had to go through this and I realize what a gift Manuel is to our family considering what it took to bring him into this world. And to my Tio Marco and his wife Dani, you have handled your infertility with such faith, you have been a great example to me. I am so grateful for the other members of this club and wish I had more members around who I could talk to.

Having two children without any "help" truly was a gift. My heart goes out to those women who have had this trial/lemon and never got to experience carrying a child. I will always be grateful that I got to experience pregnancy and birth.
At the moment I have seven dear friends who are at various stages of their pregnancies (including my sister). I am so happy for them. My lemon in no way takes away my excitement or joy for them. I would be lying if I said it didn't sting a little bit to watch their bellies grow. But I realize that just as it is Heavenly Father's plan for each of them to have their babies right now, it is His plan that I am not supposed to have a baby right now. At least the "normal" way.

So this is for my dear, sweet pregnant ladies:

If I knew that Edee would have been my last pregancy,
I would have...

...Been just as excited the day the double line showed up on the stick.

...Not cursed my morning sickness. I would have embraced that first trimester, nausea and all.
...Not wished for the day I fit into my maternity clothes so everyone would know I was pregs and not just getting chubby.
...Been just as excited about the first time I felt the baby move.
...Paid more attention to everytime the baby moved and taken the time to really enjoy what it felt like.
...Appreciated my pregnant body, swollen ankles and all, recognizing the gift that it was just to be pregnant.
...Taken more pictures of my pregnancy instead of hiding behind the camera.
...Tried not to be so anxious for my pregnancy to end. I would have tried to enjoy it more.
...Been just as thrilled as I was when she came out.
...Cried just as hard.
...Held her and smelled her even longer.
...Still stayed up all night looking at her even though I was exhausted from the labor and delivery.
Now, this doesn't mean you can't complain about how uncomfortable you are. I remember just how awful it feels to carry an extra 40+ pounds and feel so tired all the time. I remember having heart burn and thinking my skin is going to pop, after all it can only stretch so much! I just hope that you will savor your pregnancies and maybe in the midst of the nausea and back pain, you will be able to find a happy place remembering the gift that is yours to be pregnant carrying your precious little one.

As for me and my lemon...it's time for me to make some lemonade! Aric and I have decided to adopt a baby through LDS social services. We are almost done with all of the RIDICULOUS paper work, we will be getting finger printed tomorrow and turning in the last of our paper work this week. The Lord has definitely been there for us and we have felt Him guide us to this decision. We appreciate the love and support from our family and friends. Many of you have been along for this painful ride and you have been a huge strength to us. We realize we still have a journey ahead of us and so far it has not been easy but we look forward to sharing our lemonade once this is all said and done.

Wednesday, March 26, 2008

A Bow-Bah Sighting!

So you must refer to What's A Bow-Bah post if you don't know what a bow-bah is. Anyhow...The other day I was looking for my $4.00 off Olive Garden coupon because I really want to go to Olive Garden but refuse to go without my coupon. I thought I put it by the fridge, so I decided to look under the fridge to see if it had fallen underneath it.

Well...I didn't find my coupon but I found a bow-bah! And I discovered lots of other unpleasant things. Eden took a picture of me digging under the fridge. I had to use a flashlight, a frosting spatula and a yard stick to get all the gunk out. Aric saw my pile of goodies and was pretty disgusted. He couldn't believe I would post a picture of it. He thought I should be emabarassed by my pile of shame. The thing is, I'm pretty sure I am not the only one that hasn't cleaned under their fridge in three years. Am I right? Unless you have moved recently and that doesn't count. So here are the goodies I found. Unfortunatey there was no Olive Garden coupon hiding in the dust bunnies, just a bow-bah and a few other treasures...

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Happy Easter!

Easter Weekend was quite exciting full of birthday partying, college basketball watching, shopping, cooking, Easter egg hunting, eating, and Prison break watching...but would you expect anything less from party-ers like us? So Friday started with a bang! A half day of school for Maya and an ear infection to go with it. Poor Maya she just can't catch a break! Aric and I went to a dinner at church and got home in time to watch disc 3 of Prison Break.

Saturday started with a morning run with Amy, we barely survived 2 1/2 miles in the windy frigid air. But I knew what lie ahead, all that yummy food was my motivation. My mom and step-dad, Joe, came up for the weekend. They dyed eggs with the girls and then we had an Easter egg hunt in my sister's gigantic backyard, the kind you don't find in our neighborhood.


We were also celebrating my niece, Mari's (aka THUNDER LIPS), sixth birthday so we had pizza and birthday brownies...good thing I ran!

Before the girls went to bed, we set out their Easter baskets and set out some carrots for the Easter Bunny.
Sunday morning the Easter Bunny did not disappoint. He filled their baskets with goodies, and for Maya sing star High School Musical, and Eden a Barbie Fairytopia movie. Which I was very surprised about. The girls and I e-mail Easter Bunny to tell him about Night at the Museum. One of his bunny helpers must of switched it up. About an hour later when Aric asked Maya to go get the newspaper she saw a package out in the middle of our yard. When she opened it, she was so thrilled to find Night at the Museum. That Easter Bunny came through after all.

The girls were so darling in their Easter dresses. I made them wear white sandals to show off their cute toes despite the cold rain. I just couldn't bring myself to put tights and black dress shoes on with their sweet springy Easter dresses. They are learning at a young age that sometimes you have to sacrifice comfort for fashion.

But don't they look ADORABLE, it was so worth it!

(If I look annoyed to you, it's because my mom took like fifteen pictures and this is the only one that turned out decent.)

After church we hosted Easter dinner. Aric made the ham...soooooo YUMMY!

We had my sister's family (the Stockman's), my parents, and the missionaries from our ward. Also on the menu was...funeral potatoes, green salad, garlic/parm. roasted asparagus and rolls. For dessert, banana cake. Again...so glad I went for that run!

Edee and Tessa and the little, little kid table. Eden wasn't too happy about this so we pushed the table as close to the big table as possible.


It was a nice Easter Sunday. Our church service was beautiful, the kids sang one of my favorite songs "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". Both of the girls knew all the words but Edee sang especially loud. Maya gave her first talk in Senior Primary (the 8-11 crowd). She wrote it mostly by herself and stood at the pulpit all by herself. Aric and I sat there bursting with pride as our sweet, shy little Maya so bravely stood there and bore her testimony on how "Jesus Christ is my Savior" This is her talk. And these are the pictures she chose to go with it. If you double click on the pictures you can read what she wrote.


Most days I feel like I am failing as a mother. I worry that I am not patient enough, or I expect too much. But most of the time I feel like I'm not doing enough. Then I have a moment like today, with Maya. It makes me realize that on many levels I will fail my kids everyday. But when I hear my shy 7 1/2 year old daughter with emotion and confidence, tell a room full of kids and adults that she knows who Jesus is, and that He is her Savior, it makes me feel like I must be doing something right. And if that is all I do right, that will be enough. I know it will be enough because I believe that Jesus is my Savior too, and He will make up for my shortcomings as a mother and as a person. As long as I do my very best and repent when I fall short, He will be there to teach me, to strengthen me, and to guide me. I am so grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ. I know that He suffered in Gethsemane and died on the cross for me, He suffered and died for us all. He gave us the gift of eternal life by rising from the tomb. His resurrection means everything. If we turn to Him, He will be there waiting to lead us back to Him and our Heavenly Father.

I am humbled by His love for me and I feel it everyday. I am so grateful for this Easter holiday that allows us to acknowledge Jesus Christ, and remember what He did for each and every one of us. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter!

Thursday, March 20, 2008

First Day of Spring...

This is what was happening when I went to bed last night.


Before Maya and Eden went to bed we had this conversation:

Maya "I'm so excited that tomorrow is the first day of spring!"

Eden "What does that mean?

Me "It means that winter is finally over. And the weather will start getting nicer everyday until it's warm and sunny." under my breath "I hope"

Eden "Oh I'm so excited!"

Then this morning they wake up to the white covered ground.

Maya "This is the worst day ever!"

Me "Why?"

Maya "Because it snowed and I have to wear my snow boats to school or else my feet will get all wet." Then she goes over to the door opens it yells/sings:

"SNOW SNOW GO AWAY DON'T COME BACK ANOTHER DAY!" she shuts the door and continues to unload the dishwasher.

Eden has to put in her two cents and runs over to the door opens it and yells:
"YEAH SNOW I DON'T LIKE YOU. ONLY AT CHRISTMAS TIME I LIKE YOU SO GO AWAY!"
She totally gets distracted and runs into the counter, hurting herself, leaving poor Maya solo to finish unloading the dishwasher.

Maya says "Now I have to unload the dishwasher all by myself, I told you this was the worst day ever."


This is a picture of Eden trying to catch a snowflake...Doesn't seem like spring to me!

Auntie Jo, quit sending the snow! (Aric's aunt lives in Debuque,Iowa and endures horid midwest winters that never, ever end...)

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

St. Patrick's Day

Our St. Patricks Day was pretty mellow. Maya has an ugly cough so she had to stay home from school. It's one of those things where she acts totally normal but when she coughs it sounds like she's been smoking her whole life. Maya and Eden were fighting and running around like animals most of the day. Just when I'd think I'd throw her in the car and take her to school she would cough and I'd remember why I kept her home. She was devastated to be missing the festivities at school. So we tried to make the most of it.

The girls dressed themselves, (I didn't get a picture of their outfits...danget!) Eden was green from head to toe and Maya was a little more conservative as usual, blue jeans with a green shirt and green socks. We had to go to the store because I was out of laundry detergent and I desperately needed to wash some clothes so I loaded up the girls went to Target. While we were there, Maya would check out everyone that walked by to see if they were wearing green. She whispered to me "Mom, I wish I could pinch the people that weren't wearing green." I told her to go for it. She just looked at me and giggled. I only said it because I knew she'd never do it. But Eden on the other hand would probably do it so I made sure she didn't hear me.

The girls helped me plan our dinner, which included...Sweet & Sour Meatballs with green rice, green applesauce, sauted green beans, and green milk. For dessert...Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. I know it's not a very Irish meal but the girls loved putting green food coloring in everything. When Eden thought of the green beans, she said "We don't even need to put food coloring on them! Isn't that cool!"

After the kids were in bed, we started Season 2 of Prison Break. Since we got the Sampson's addicted to it too, they came over to watch it with us. I love watching it on DVD. It is so much better than waiting to find out what happens week to week... like we have to with LOST. In eight days we watched a whole season! I'm not sure what that says about us. We always wait until the kids are in bed so we don't neglect them. We kind of did that when we watched the first four seasons of 24 on DVD. We decided to be more responsible this time. Having to watch it with the Sampson's helps us not get too crazy, because we have to work with their schedules too.

So that was it. Not the most exciting St. Patrick's Day but I thought I would still post it anyway...

Saturday, March 15, 2008

The Fiesta That Wasn't...

Last Sunday my friend Meghann stopped by and invited us to a "fiesta". She said she was craving some enchiladas and seven layer dip, so she wanted to have a fiesta. The Latina blood flowing through my veins is always up for a fiesta! Aric and I were assigned to bring drinks, we always bring drinks because everyone knows that we are connoisseurs of non-alcoholic drinks...So that was Sunday.

Friday comes around, we grab our box of Kempers, and dressed in our fiesta best head over to the Nebekers(Aric wore his very festive and colorful shirt to match his equally festive and colorful sombrero. I wore a dress my mom brought back from Honduras...for Maya, yeah Maya my seven year old. Luckily it has elastic and it is clearly a size or two too big for her.)


We get there and Meghann realizes that she forgot to tell us that it was no longer a fiesta because they decided to change the menu to steak and potatoes. No one is dressed in their fiesta best because they were informed of the change. Jokes on the Albrecht's! But I say whatever! My Honduran background makes me the expert on "fiesta criteria" and as far as I know steak and potatoes are very much fiesta food so it's still a fiesta! We make everyone take a picture with the props we brought and it was all good.

The Nebeker's had some technical difficulties with the grill...Mike saved the day and brought over his propane. (I had to mention this because Mike likes to be mentioned in our blog) But during the wait we had some great conversation that included...pregnancy weight, the "fun days" before we got married back when we were wanted (courtesy of Meghann), blogging (because Jess brought her published blog book)...so awesome!, books we've recently read, movies we've recently watched (we all loved and recommended Rescue Dawn...except the Romney's who hadn't seen it yet), and the men (minus Ryan who got stuck sitting on the other side of the room and had to listen to the pregnancy weight talk) reviewed the latest on sports. The food was yummy and after dinner we watched "Dan in Real Life".

We had a good time and I'm looking forward to hosting a REAL fiesta on Cinco de Mayo.

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Build - A - What...?!

So I was introduced to Build A Bear last summer. My friend Dawn got suckered into buying them by her kids. They were getting ready to move and she couldn't say no. So like eighty ridiculous dollars later her kids went home with their Build a Bears. I thought she was nuts but gave her a break because if my kids were bummed out about moving I just might have a weak moment too.

That was eight months ago. We don't spend much time at the mall, but over Christmas we saw Santa at the mall and walked by Build A Bear. The girls were wide eyed and all excited at the sight of this store. I quickly shot down their Build A Bear dreams by telling them that we don't go to that store, we don't spend crazy amounts of money on stuffed animals...sorry. They never talked about it agian.

Well last month Maya was invited to a Build A Bear birthday party. I was very nervous. I even called my friend Ashley (who knows all things Build A Bear). I ask..."Do I have to send money with Maya? Who buys the animal?" She assured me that who ever the "parent of the year" was who allowed this party would be kind enough to buy one for each of the kids. I couldn't beieve it! I went to Build A Bear the next day to see for myself what this was all about. I saw the small $10 animals and thought okay, Maya will just get one of these. This store isn't so bad.

So I tell Maya before she goes to the party...Do not ask for a big animal and don't ask for any clothes for the animal.
She comes back with like the biggest animal they sell, it was a monkey, she named him Bananas. She also had sunglasses and a hat for it. I was mortified! "How much did that cost?!" I was thinking to myself. But before I could say anything, Maya assured me that all the kids picked out the same size and got to pick out two things for their animal. Lucky Maya. Crazy birthday parents who have made the rest of us feel like cheap loser parents...anyway.

Eden, the poor left out little sister, is handling this pretty well. But as the days go on we can see how badly she wants a Buld A Bear. Well I told her that if she saves her allowance she can go buy one. She had gotten some Valentine's money from her grandparents so she was already almost half way there. After about three weeks she had enough money. She was so excited to go and get her very own Build A Bear. Unfortunately I was sick and not really feeling up to a trip to the mall. A couple nights went by and Eden was trying to be patient, but then on Tuesday night she was hiding Bananas in her bed because she needed something to sleep with. (Because the 307 dolls/animals on her bed didn't count)So Aric and I decided we would go the next day. So here is Edee's Build A Bear experience...

She picks out a dog...yes, a dog. The kid who is deathly afraid of dogs picks one out. It was twelve dollars, one of the cheaper ones, so we're off to a good start. But then the girl that works there starts pushing the "add ons" asking Eden "Do you want your doggy to bark?" (extra $5) Uh NO WAY! That's just what we need, a barking dog to wake her up in the middle of the night! "Do you want it to have a heart beat?" Again NO THANKS! She already thinks it's alive, I don't need to spend 5 bucks to make it even more alive. Luckily Eden is very agreeable because she has anticipated this moment for so long. And it was finally here, the most important part of the Build A Bear process...making a wish (on the free, no noise making heart) and puts it inside of her dog.
Phew...we made it to the stuffing machine with out any "add ons". So far so good.

Eden helps stuff her dog and washes him off.

Then the fun begins...picking out an outfit that costs as much if not more than the outfits I buy for my own children that are actually alive and human. Aric and I told the girls that we would buy the outfits. But when we realized how much they cost, we said they could only pick out a top and a bottom. They don't need shoes...they don't walk...right? And they certainly don't need a pretend MP3 player.
I tried so hard to steer Eden to some of the cuter outfits but she insisted on this one. Rhinestones and all. Oh well, it is her animal. And we did make her save her tiny 4 yr old allowance for it. So I backed off.

So my sweet Eden (who channels Cindy Lauper when she gets dressed) was the happiest kid on the planet. Maya (who got a "modest" swimming suit for Bananas) was a good sport and was really excited for her sister.

And there you have it. I have been converted to Build-A-Bear...because:

(A) My kids actually care about doing their jobs (so they can earn more money)
(B) They don't have as many fits (because if they do they lose their money)
(C) Stuffed animals are way better than Barbies...WAY better.
(D) My girls love playing together with their animals.

Having said that you will still never see me hosting a birthday party there...I like my mediocre parent status and I'm too cheap.

Monday, March 10, 2008

What A Week!

It started with me being sick...but I already blogged about that. By Tuesday I was feeling like I needed to get out of the house so I went to my pilates class, I took it easy and modified almost all the moves while I talked to Jessica and Kerry. That night Aric and I had Youth Night with the kids at church. The Young Women had New Beginnings (a yummy dinner, and a skit were involved. If the girls hadn't been working on it for months, I would have skipped it) and the Young Men had pizza and played games...that's what they pretty much do every week right?...

On Wednesday I willed myself well enough to go to my salsa class...again I modified and slowed it down. That afternoon we went to the mall so Eden could get her much anticipated first Build a Bear.(I'll be posting that little adventure later)

By evening I was ready for a relaxing girly movie with some friends. We watched "Becoming Jane". It was so nice to watch it in the company of persons who would actually enjoy it and not ruin it for me by adding unnecessary commentary like...hmm....I don't know...MY HUSBAND!
He just can't help himself. The 18th century English accents, would stir up some comment like "What are they saying? Is that really English?" "Who really talks like that" The period clothes worn by the actors, men in particular would probably get a comment like "Do you really think that women found the men's fashion that attractive?" "Why did men dress so femine anyway...tights, ruffles, capri's, and what's up with the lady hair on all the men?" I'm sure there would have been a "Hubba, bubba" here and a "What the?" there. So needless to say, I love watching girly movies with my girly friends.

Thursday I was definitely on the mend. I got Eden registered for Kindergarten. For those of you who don't live around here, this is a BIG deal. You'd think I was registering her at a private school where celebrities send their kids. I'm not kidding you it's crazy. The year I registered Maya for Kindergarten I got to the school about 45 minutes before the office even opened and I was the 48th person in line! You have to have an original birth certificate with the raised seal, you have to have this months utility bill, you have to have thier immunization records and like 5 pages of paperwork filled out. All this for a public school! Honestly it's insane. But I did it. That evening I had my ballet class, which I could actually participate in without modifying, and that night Aric and I enjoyed our scheduled TV time...Survivor and Lost. Any of you getting as worked up about Lost as we are? For every answer they give you, you get like 10 more questions AHHHHHH! But what can I say...we are hooked!

Friday morning I took Eden to story time at the library. They were learning about monkeys so Eden was very excited to go. We even got there early so she could get a seat right up close next to the librarian. After the story time we scoured the children's library for a book on weather since that is what they are learning about in pre-school next week. We found the ONLY weather book they had.
It was no easy task let me tell ya.

Now let me brag about my kid for a moment...we took Eden's buddy Jack with us to the library and his mom wanted us to drop him off at McDonald's afterward. Every Friday about 10 of my closest friends and their kids go to Micky D's for lunch. And me being the self proclaimed "germ-a-phob" that I am, never, ever go. (I don't judge you, so you don't judge me!) Anyways so I prepped Eden and told her that we were just dropping Jack off and that she could just stay in the car while I handed him off to his mom. Eden said "But I want to go and say hi to Meghann(Jack's mom)and mom, don't worry, I won't touch anything and I'll be really, really fast. So we ran in, dropped off Jack and ran out without touching anything...we were really, really fast! Man I love that kid!

After school Eden and Maya had a play date with their buddies Elsa and Kate. Then we went to a baptism that evening. After the kids were in bed Aric and I got ourselves wrapped up in another obsession... "Prison Break". When we were in California, the Fry's got us all excited about it so we rented the pilot season and started watching it. We got the Sampsons hooked too. We finished the first four episodes at 12:05am, if Blockbuster had been open we would have gotten the next disc. Instead we watched music infomercials for an hour, you know those ones that have like "the best rock ballads of all time...all 128 of them" it was good times.

On Saturday we were busy with basketball games. Aric and Mike Sampson are the coaches of our wards Young Men's basketball team. They were in the semi-finals on Saturday. Amy and I took the kids to support the team, they won the first game but lost the second. Since it is a double elimination they still have one more game to play next weekend. So we will keep you posted on that.

The Players


The Coaches...............................look out that one is crazy!


The Cheerleaders

That evening Aric grilled some yummy pork chops, yup, I said grilled...it was nice enough outside to grill!!!! Then after the kids were in bed it was disc #2 of Prison Break. This time we finished up at a decent time so we could get some decent sleep.

Sunday we had church, Aric and I both had to teach. We had the missionaries over for dinner and then we went to a fireside. There was a guy in our ward who went on his mission to Slovakia and was asked to go back after he had been home for a couple of years. He left his wife and their new baby for 6 weeks to gather 20,000 signatures so that the LDS church could be registered officially in that country, he along with 40 other missionaries gathered them in 4 days! There were many miracles that happened along the way...anyways it was a really neat presentation, I'm so glad we went. And there you have it, that was our week. Somebody call the fun police! I think we are breakin some laws!

Friday, March 7, 2008

Ky...I know you are out there!


Okay this is for my friend Kylene (no middle name) Waite a.k.a Kylene Thurston (married name) I met Ky when I was in seventh grade and she was one of my best friends growing up. Back then I would wish that I had her hair, her cute body type, her clothes, her talents... (Don't worry I've been to therapy and have worked through lots of my insecurities and many other issues) It's not as creepy as it sounds, she was my best friend and I admired her.



We cheered together, we snuck out together, we went to dances together, I had my first kiss with my first boyfriend at her house, we skipped classes together, we loved each other, we hated each other, I wore her clothes all the time because she had way better clothes than me, she set me up on my first date(that didn't turn out so well),we had boyfriend drama, we shared secrets and the list goes on...I loved her and I still love her dearly.



Well unfortunately life happens and we have lost touch over the years. And then, just like that, I check my blog comments from "Sunshine is Delicious" and what do I see? A comment from Ky! The only problem is that it doesn't link me to her blog.

So I am putting this out for Ky, I know you are out there so...E-MAIL ME!!!(aricta@webband.com) And if I don't hear from you soon, I will continue to post embarassing pictures, I have a ton of them, so don't test me on this...
I can't wait to hear from you!!!!

Wednesday, March 5, 2008

A Girl and her Tools

So, I've been slow to blog because I've been sick, oh and my camera batteries were dead. On Monday I was pretty much in bed most of the day. I had the worst head cold I think I've ever had. It was rough, Aric came to the rescue and kept the family running as best he could while I was fighting my way back to health. Thankfully the day of rest helped me soooo much. Even though I'm still not 100%, it feels so good to actually be able to do normal things. My voice sounds like a man but at least I can breathe and I'm not walking around with toilet paper stuck up my sleeves like an old lady...

Anyways, I decided to tackle some projects that I have been procrastinating. It doesn't help that Aric isn't fond of projects so he doesn't really motivate me. So since I am feeling better I devoted today to getting things hung up. Here I am with my tools...

These hooks fell down at least a year ago. Not kidding...a year ago. I didn't use the little plug things that you should use when your aren't drilling into a stud. Well learned my lesson...

I got these plates for my friend Daralee's kitchen...about a year ago. But then she decided not to paint so they didn't really look so good. I lost the reciept and they've been sitting on the counter in my laundry room. Well not anymore...I found them a home in my bedroom. Notice the empty shadow box, yeah, we'll work on that next year.

I got this organizer like three months ago, so I could get my office more organized of course...Well today it finally went up. (and yes...with the plug things)

A couple of months ago we got new bedroom furniture and moved the guest room to the basement.(my sewing room is now upstairs) I was so excited to decorate the guest room properly now that it had nice furniture. So I went out and got some nice stuff that just ended up on the floor. Today they are up and lookin' good.

You may think to yourself, "Why on earth did that take all day!" Well let me tell ya, it's not easy to hang stuff, heavy stuff that is, and have it be straight when you are doing it all by yourself. My perfectionism shows its ugly head when I do stuff like this. But I feel like I actually acomplished something today and now Aric has plenty of time to focus on the garage since he doesn't have to help me with the inside stuff anymore. It's always about Aric, I did this for him :)