No Talk Thursday....

I am designating this Thursday as a "No Talk Thursday" because it's pictures of Andrew and his teammates at their "Senior Day" for baseball, and I don't know if I'm emotionally available to talk about the fact my baby brother graduates tomorrow! So without further ado:

You never know what you'll find....

My phone decided it no longer wanted to be a phone, but an inanimate object that would neither charge nor power up. When this occurs, one of two things can happen: 1) You fall in to a tail-spin of panic, depression and over-eating because you no longer have a phone and your communication to the outside world is shut off; or 2) your dad graciously lets you borrow his old phone until you get a new one. Fortunately, I fall into the 2 option. When you get your dad's old phone, you also get his contacts, alarms (6 am dad? NO!), and pictures.

I found some really great pictures; some I'd never even seen before, and they showcase my family's personality just beautifully. Oh my gosh, there was this one really crazy one that-- actually instead of telling you, let me show you:

You know it's going to be good when the first picture is of Andrew in a gorilla suit:

Just my dad....

 

......taking a picture with a statue of Mark Twain, like a boss.

This was in Colorado, last summer:

I wasn't there for this, but I think Andrew is yelling: "We're on top of a Mountain!!!!"

I found this very sweet photo of my parent's

Right next to a photo of this: 

The word 'poop' out of painter tape, compliments of Andrew. 

Speaking of Andrew, my little smooshy face,  I saw this: 

He is using the sign to let people know that apparently, the party is NOT at my parents house, 

but in his pants.

I think this picture represents every male who is forced, by his wife/girlfriend/mother/sister,  to go to IKEA:

IKEA should consider opening a bar at some point.

I found sweet pictures like this one of me and my brothers...

Obviously I didn't get the "wear a plaid, button up shirt" memo,

and mistakenly showed up to dinner in black.

Then I found pictures like this: 

My mom and her dog, Scout, each in their own Snuggie. 

I found a video of my dad dancing to his birthday song where my mom and I tried (and failed) to harmonize at the end:

Here's a picture of our friend, Carrie, at her 40th surprise birthday party...

My mom and I totally made that sweet sign.

I am trying to put a batman mask on Scout in this picture...

He's very photogenic. 

Speaking of my parent's animals; here is a picture of Penny, the gray cat, snuggling up to a taxidermied bobcat.....

Is that a bobcat snuggling with a gray cat? NOPE. Chuck Testa!

(If you have no idea who Chuck Testa is, you need to google him and watch his video right now)

And finally, I leave you with: 

An unexplainable picture of Christian and I wearing sombreros while I'm (what I can only assume) playing air guitar.

HAPPY MONDAY!

Decorating 101

In the fall of 2010 I felt inspired and created my very own "picture wall" in our living room. Here is a picture of the famous wall: 

 -sorry for the blurriness my skills are a bit lacking in the professional iphone photography department, but you get the idea.

I really LOVE decorating/re-decorating my house. It must be some kind of  'control issue' thing, because anytime I'm having a bad week or am sad, I come home and immediately start re-arranging.

-This trend started when I was in jr. high, my parents would try to come in my room only to find the door blocked by my half-moved bed and me trapped in the corner by my huge half-moved dresser saying: "I don't know how this happened!?"

I recently decided to our walls were tired of being "davenport brown", and they definitely wanted to be "atmospheric blue"-so I took all the pictures down, and painted the walls a beautiful shade of blue that made me sing.

And boy, let me tell ya, Chris just jumped at the chance to help me re-hang all the pictures:

Hey you! You're not sleeping! Can you please help me? Please? Please?*bats eyelashes*

There really isn't that many....honest! Why won't you help me!?

That is a lie by the way, these poor pictures were laying on the floor, moved to the table, moved to the counter, and moved back to the floor for MONTHS, waiting for me to put them in their proper place: gloriously displayed on the wall.

Chris, finally fed-up, said: "I'm sick of these pictures being everywhere, do you want me to help you hang them?" I could tell you that was my plan all along, but I don't want to lie to you twice in one post.

So Chris got to work hanging pictures, and I got to work telling him the exact location (longitude and latitude) of where they belong, he was a very good sport:

"You really think this needs to be moved up a centimeter more? OK crazy lady!"

After a few tears, one fight, many 'have you lost your mind?' looks, and hundreds of holes in the wall later, we finished.

Are you ready for the GRAND unveiling!? 

TA-DA!!

You know, now that I'm looking at this, I think the walls are telling me they really want to be "heather blonde"......

Way back when preview....

Ok I know I promised you a spectacular "Way Back When" surprise to help celebrate mine and Chris' anniversary tomorrow, and it's still happening; but since you have been good, and have had to fight Christmas crowds I'm giving you a little preview.

I had a definite vision of what I wanted during the planning phase. The hard part is translating that vision to an actual wedding. I knew I wanted romantic and dream-like. I drew a lot of inspiration from what I envisioned the parties in "The Great Gatsby" would be like - beautiful, imaginative, unexpected, unforgettable, vivacious and a rip-roaring good time.

Fortunately, I had my mom to help me figure all this out and she wisely insisted I narrow the vision down to beautiful, imaginative, and a rip-roaring good time. On top of working with artists to create amazing center pieces, a cool cake tables and chic lounge areas, we had the best food (pizza, wings, stuffed mushrooms, etc.) in town. If you were there, you know the awesomeness I'm talking about. If you weren't, here are some pictures.......

THE LOVE BIRDS

THE FAMILY AND FRIENDS IN OUR WEDDING.

THE FAVORITE PICTURE

THE MAN WAITING FOR ME.

THE MAN WHO WALKED ME DOWN THE AISLE, AND WHOSE HARD WORK MADE THIS DREAM WEDDING POSSIBLE....THANKS DAD!

THE "I DO" AND THE KISS

THE: WE DID IT! DANCE

THE COLORS.

THE SWEETS.

THE PARTY.

THE MOTHER-SON DANCING.

THE FRIENDS.

THE LOVE.

Be sure to stop by tomorrow on our anniversary so you can see something TOTALLY worth seeing!

SOMEBODY HELP ME!!

I have a problem. It's not a huge problem, but one that plagues me on a weekly (sometimes daily) basis. As you  may or may not know, I consider myself my family's historian since I am the ONLY one who ever remembers her camera or is willing to boss people into the picture: "NO! STAND THERE! Christian! Mom! STAND HERE! HOLD STILL.

Often, I do forget my camera but this is never a big deal because there is the wonderful iphone with it's wonderful camera to save the day. I have turned to my phone camera many times to capture many moments, big and small. Like these little babies:

   Layla REAAALLLLY didn't want me to turn Animal Planet

OR

The tale of this blue car and this particular afternoon is a whole different story requiring and deserving it's own blog.

AND

 

The awesomeness of this requires no explanation. 

My, not so big but annoying, problem is after corralling people into a photo for a quick snap shot with the iphone, I forget to change from "video'' to "camera." It really isn't that big of a deal, but it happens to me with an alarming frequency. I am putting these "bloopers" on my blog in hopes to embarrass myself enough to CHECK before trying to take a picture/video again. 

I'm entitling them the

"Aw shit or Aw hell or DAMNIT! collection..."

#1 Chris' birthday. Fortunately I realized he camera was on video rather quickly. 

#2 Betty. I don't discriminate who I choose to video for up to 5 seconds while they try to hold a pose.

#3 I was TRYING to get a picture of the Chiefs pillow I was peer-pressured into purchasing at Wal-Mart (even though I was alone). But like their season, and my camera skills, it's disappointing.

#4 Chris' first day of teaching.

#5 The cat

#6 Chris again. 

#7 My brother, Andrew who fashioned this outfit for himself out of pure boredom and love of his country. 

And finally:

#8 My dad and his new truck

There were actually many more videos like this and I started to delete them before I thought: "Hey! Wouldn't it be a  good idea to show these in the hopes you think before trying to take a picture?" 

Aw hell, who cares anyways?