Dear Blog,

I've been neglecting you. And it's kinda been on purpose. I now have a two year old who is uber-demanding. And I now keep track of everyone's blogs using Google Reader instead of my blog sidebar so out of sight, out of mind, right?

And I'm addicted to Pinterest. (Follow me!)

I could post some false promises about how I plan to blog more now and set some unrealistic goal like once a week. But that would be fruitless.

So I will just show your some pictures of the awesomeness that is Ryan. Because that is all my fellow blog readers really care about, right?!

Pride

This is who I got to see last weekend:

I am proud of all of my family, but right now I am especially proud of this one. Every time I really think about what he signed up for and what he has and will endure to protect our country I tear up. He's a good guy (and his wife is pretty incredible for supporting him through it all).

And for good measure, look at my crazy kid's hair at SeaWorld!

The Boy Sent Me Flowers

And he wouldn't stick around for a decent photo.



I guess this is pretty typical of life with an active toddler though. . . so at least he is true to form.

Happy Mother's Day!

Ta da!

Progress

I almost named this post "Carousel of Progress" because that is what came to my mind when I thought "Progress." You know, the Disney "ride" in Tomorrowland that no one ever goes on. Come to think of it, in all of my many many times at Disney I still have no idea what that ride is even about. Anyone know?

Ok, back to this post.

I thought I'd update you on my home projects. . . first, here is our lovely kitchen table, painted red. I LOVE it. Bright red table and chairs, teal & white seat cushions (covers made by my beautiful SIL Amanda.) And a big shout out to my sis Allison for getting me started in the table painting process. TIP: buying a $30 sander is well worth it.



Here is the headboard I made. This picture doesn't do it much justice. It's a patterned jacquard-like fabric. All black but not solid. Does that even make sense? Once we get nightstands the bare legs will be covered up. Some pretty pillows, curtains (I'm thinking a fabric like this), and a little high-gloss black paint on our current Ikea dresser with new crystal-lookin' knobs, we'll be in business. And I LOVE my rug.


Technically no DIY projects in our family room. . . . yet. Oh, except my faux-sheepskin throw on our ottoman. That was a fun cheapo project. My plan is to make curtains. . . and seeing as I don't own a sewing machine (maybe for my bday. . . ) and have never sewed anything with a machine, it will be a great project. . . Ignore our circa 2001 tv in the corner that is still hanging on. Someday it will be replaced, but we just have much better things to do with our moolah. I love our white Ikea sofa that so far has avoided any big spills. And if it does get dirty, it was relatively cheap compared to it's PB equivelent and it has removable slipcovers so it won't be too tragic.




And for the grand finale. . . my painted rug for my kitchen. I've been toying with the idea of painting a rug for a while now and I just needed Kristan to come in town to motivate me to do it. Projects are much more fun when someone else is in it with you. So we went to Ikea, bought a cheap $30 white cotton rug and then to Home Depot for a $10 quart of teal paint (interior flat). After printing up 7 or so copies of a stencil found online, we decided to pencil the pattern on and then paint in the lines.



And then she left town and left me to finish it. . . thanks a lot!

Forgive the phone pictures. So picture it all beautifully painted, with a red border and then sprayed with a polyacrylic spray to protect it a little. I'm about halfway done at this point. . .




So I'm making progress on our house. Slowly but surely!

The $250 Challenge

In an effort to save $$ for house stuff, a new car and other big expenses, I put myself on a budget. In the 7+ years of marriage Jon and I have never really had to budget even though we carefully track all of our expenses in Quicken. But now with the down payment gone, a kid and one less income we are starting to the feel the need to tighten the purse strings a smidge. So late one night we discussed a little experiment. Could I limit my weekly spending to $250? Once upon a time $25o seemed like a ton of money. Not so much now when gas is hovering around $3.50 a gallon and other expenses always seem to pop up. This $250 does not cover utilities, mortgage, or other prescheduled expenses like our lawn care and gym membership. But it does cover gas, food and other random things I buy during any given week.

So, week 1 I went $100 over. In my defense, my lovely friend Kristan was in town and we did fun stuff with her and ate good food. The money spent was well worth it. But I was super strict with myself and cut my budget to $150 for Week 2, which was this week. And after filling up the tank of gas on Monday, I was down to about $100. Now it's Friday night and we have $5 left for tomorrow. We have a Groupon for a free large Dominos pizza so we will use that tomorrow. And our pantry is definitely stocked so we will not go hungry. But it has been interesting in how much I question what we really need.

Plus, I really needed those $50 shoes (in porcini). . . they were worth it.

How do you budget?



(No, we did not buy goats as a way to save $$. This is at a petting zoo.)

Sometimes

Sometimes I wonder what I do all day. Oh ya, hang out with this little guy. My life is the best.

P.S. Remind me that I said that when he decides to be an absolute terror. . . which undoubtedly will be tomorrow.