2.24.2012

Behind These Blue/Green Eyes


This is officially the last picture husband will ever take wearing glasses.  This morning, he had Epi-Lasik eye surgery.  


I was allowed to watch the whole procedure in a viewing room.  I was trying to be sneaky about my photography, but apparently they aren't the blind ones and totally saw me.  Normally I am very squeamish about these types of things, especially eyes, but this actually wasn't so bad to watch.  My favorite part was seeing him hold that cute little penguin.  


There was a nice big screen to watch his beautiful eyeballs.  I mainly just wanted to watch because it was comforting to know everything that was going.  The procedure was very quick and, according to him, didn't hurt at all.  Now for all you twisted people out there who thrive on this type of thing {Nicole}, I have included the video I snyped for your viewing pleasure.  


The first part is them drying the eye and scraping off the cells.  You can then see a flashing light, which is the laser doing work.  After that, they just apply some medication and put a healing contact lens over the eye and it is finished.  He was out of there in 15 minutes.

Unfortunately, we are also both sick and I'm starting to sound a lot like Marcel the Shell when I talk.  This means there will be a lot of laying around for the next couple of days {for me anyway, he gets bored easily}.

We are praying for a speedy recovery for not only Cody, but also for our two friends Moriah and Andrew.  Both were involved in separate freak accidents with some pretty serious breaks.  We are so thankful they are both still able to walk and pray for patience through the recovery process!  


2.20.2012

Oh Deer

Believe it or not, I am actually going to write a post about a house project on my house blog.  Due to school, the projects have been few and far between.  I cannot tell you how ready I am for a two week break in April.  In the midst of the craziness, however, I {with help from two lovely people} managed to complete one of my basement projects.  And the story goes like this...

There was once a husband who wanted a space all to himself.  His wife worked really really hard to give him that space, asking him all sorts of questions about his style and taste preferences.  As soon as the words "dorm room" came out, however, she decided to take matters into her own hands.  Well that she is me and I decided to decorate with a slightly outdoorsyish theme.  My first idea was to have a portrait of a deer hanging above our couch.  


First things first, you need a canvas.  I chose to go with plywood for this project.  I even chose the cheapest plywood available {stuff for underlayment} not because of the price, but because I liked how much grain was in the wood.  Next, the deer needed to be drawn.  There are several options for this step, but might I suggest making friends with an artist?  It will most definitely come in handy throughout your lifetime.  I did just that, and hired miss annabelle to work her magic.  


I watched in awe as she sketched this out in a couple minutes.  I seriously get jealous about stuff like that so I'm thinking next time I should just hang out in another room.  If you don't have a super talented artistic friend, a projector would also work wonders.  After the deer was traced and outlined with a black marker, it was time to stain.  I used Jacobean, which is a very dark, almost black color.


And then the masterpiece turned into a baby fox.  Thank goodness for paint.  But first, my baby fox needed to be cut into a more manageable size.  Husband cut it 32 inches high {I wanted 30 but the antlers just didn't want to fit} by 54 inches long.  He then cut it into three pieces, each measuring 18 inches.  I stretched that number a little due to the size of my couch, but I don't mind a little extra white space on such a dark wall.

The paint actually happens to be my favorite part of the project, even though it was a pain to put on.  I wanted an off white color and knew I wouldn't need much, so I chose to buy little Glidden samples from Home Depot in Elegant Lace.  When I went to the register to purchase the paint, the price would not show up.  The lady ended up giving them to me for 5 cents.  I only needed one, but I bought two just to be safe.  Now I wish I would have bought the whole stock.  After a lot of time and a steady hand, Roger was born.  


Rog happens to be just perfect for this space.  A perfect blend of masculine for the hubs and chic for me.  I'm sure it will be awhile until he gets hung since we have a few more projects going on for the basement and want to hang everything at one time.  In the meantime, I will probably play around with some different glazing and staining options.  One day {probably around the end of April} I will hopefully be able to show the basement in all its glory.  Until then, I have Roger.

2.18.2012

A Mattress and A Mess

Just in case you are curious how I am doing with my New Year's Resolutions...


To be fair, I think the giant mattress in the middle of the floor makes it look worse than it really is.  Unfortunately even that bed isn't getting made.  

Maybe we have slept in the living room every night since Valentine's Day.  Maybe we like having sleepovers.  Maybe we also like sleeping three to a bed but don't want the beast in our real bed.


Hope everyone else is doing better than I am!


2.15.2012

Valentine's Day

It was very evident that yesterday was Valentine's Day.  I was very surprised to see how many pictures of flowers and other gifts made their way onto Facebook within the 24 hours.  Kudos to all the wonderful guys who went above and beyond for their woman!

I decided this year that I really do love Valentine's day and embraced it fully.  When Cody and I were dating, Valentine's Day was also our anniversary.  It is kind of fun, now that we are married, to focus completely on this day.  Although I am sure I will always say "happy anniversary of being together", especially since yesterday marked five years.  

Cody woke me up in the morning with my presents. It was really fun to not have to wait the entire day for them :).  We made breakfast together before he had to leave for work.  I spent the day making cards and cookies and getting ready for date night. 


I was very thankful for my Silhouette as it cut out some pretty lovely shapes for me.  


 I made a love banner that I decided to also make into the hubby's card.  I usually write a book anyway, so it was nice to have four cards to write on instead of just one.



A special thank you goes out to my mother, who never fails to spread love on Valentine's Day and managed to find the ONLY Valentine's card made for a son-in-law.


After dinner, we set up the living room for a slumber party which we haven't been able to do since our apartment days.  I was really hoping to share this moment with both of my boys, but the fury one would not go to sleep and ended up having to go back into the entry.


Maybe we will try again tonight...


2.10.2012

Makeover

I have decided to give my blog a new look.  I plan on playing around with the design for awhile until I find something I love, so do not be surprised if it is changing a lot.  Or if it looks a little wonky for awhile.  Also, feel free to leave feedback if you love/hate something.  It is always nice to get a second opinion!

On another note, I thought I would give some quick info about how to follow along with my blog for those of you who are unfamiliar.  On the right hand side of my blog you will see little pictures of people who are already following.  If you would like to join them, you can click the "Join this Site" button that is located right above the pictures.  In order to do this, you must have a Google account and be signed in.  Once you are following, you will be able to see my updates on the Google Dashboard, which can be found at www.blogger.com.

If you do not have an account or would also like to receive updates through email, there is also an option for that at the bottom of the website.  If you scroll all the way down, you will see an box that says "follow by email".  You can enter your email of choice in the box and click submit in order to get email updates.  

Finally, there is also the option of leaving comments.  At the end of each post, there is a link that says "# comments".  If you click on this, it will take you to the comments that have been made on the post and allow you to leave your own {I love feedback!}.  I also added a "like" button, so feel free to like away if you have nothing to say!

Well, I hope that helps some of you that may have questions.  If there is anything else you would like to know, go ahead and ask away.

2.07.2012

Another Post About My Dog

Admittedly, I may be slightly obsessed with my dog.  Just you people wait until I have kids.  I'm sure my blog readership will drop significantly because no one wants to read a crazy person rant and rave about their babies.    I'll try to contain myself...after today.

So Boston started this really bad habit as of late where he chases Cody's pickup all the way down the driveway and down the road.  I'm sure he would chase him all the way to work if Cody didn't stop, back up, and bring him back home.  Unfortunately, me bringing him in the house does not show him that this behavior is unacceptable, so we had to try something different.


This just breaks my heart.  As soon as Cody gets in his pickup, I call Boston over to his leash.  He pretty much crawls over to me because he is so depressed and lays down on the cement before I even hook the leash up.  He then pouts in that position, without moving, until I come back.  The second I remove his leash, he is a new dog, running around like crazy and so incredibly happy.  I hope he learns to stop chasing Cody soon, because my heart can't take this anymore.

After releasing him from his prison, he was happily running around the yard so I went back into the house.  I opened the door up since it was so warm.  A couple minutes later, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye.


This door is awkwardly placed about 3 feet off the ground.  He is standing on his back legs, peeking in the house at me.  It made me chuckle.  Man I love my dog.

Stay tuned for Wednesday Letters tomorrow.  I can assure you, it will NOT be about my dog :).


2.06.2012

Calendar, A Little Late

I am happy to report that my last post did not jinx the weather.  It is absolutely beautiful out once again today.  Unfortunately it doesn't really matter to me because I am stuck inside learning about all the muscles, nerves, and arteries in my hand.  

This weekend I was forced to finish up a lot of homework, so I had little time for any projects.  I did manage to finish one:  A calendar.  Yes, I am aware that we are already a week into February, but I have been busy alright?  

We do not have any calendars in our home, which isn't really a big deal but feels just plain wrong.  I wanted something simple to hang in the kitchen, and really liked the simplicity of the design over at Young House Love.  Unfortunately I could not download their free template since I do not have Photoshop and was forced to start from scratch.  I downloaded the font from Type Depot and used the calendar template that is already in installed in Microsoft Word.  

Microsoft Word was angry at me for not capitalizing the months

I also chose to use my favorite verses {only the short ones of course} as the graphics for my calendar.  After all the months were created, I printed it off on a thicker cardstock paper and trimmed up the sides.  The calendar is very subtle against our white cabinets and I love it.  


Oh, and if you are wondering, I still made one for January.  There is just something wrong about making an 11 month calendar.  If you are just dying to have one of your very own {I'm hoping someone is since it took so long to make}, please send me an email and I will send it your way!

Happy 2012!


2.02.2012

A Beautiful Day

I have been trying so hard not to get excited about the weather.  I have not complained about a lack of snow {except for a short period right before Christmas}, but I also have not expressed how delighted I am that it is so warm out.  I am afraid to say anything, because this is Minnesota after all.  I just know as soon as this post goes up the temperature is going to drop 60 degrees and the snow is going to start flying.  But I just can't help it because after the 50 degree day we had yesterday, spring fever is hitting me hard!


Yesterday was definitely the perfect day for Bos to make a new friend {or boyfriend if you saw what he was doing}.  His name is Norman.  He is one of the cutest dogs I have ever seen.  He does not like to be humped.  So while I go off and ponder about whether or not to emasculate my dog, you can go listen to another thing that makes me happy.


Prepare yoselves for a great movie...and please read the books if you haven't.  Well time for me {and you} to go enjoy this beautiful weather that will disappearing soon thanks to me.