How to Seduce your Guy in 31 Days [Intro]

While you think today is September 28, I wanted to let you know that it is really August 29. Call me crazy. Tell me I can't read a calendar. All could probably be true. However, in this scenario, I am right. Not that you're wrong.

I have spent the last month or so gathering my notes, my ideas and my courage to share with you something near and dear to my heart. For the next 31 days, I am going to show you how to seduce your guy.

There you go calling me crazy again. I get that.

This is my first time participating in Nester's 31 Days challenge. Thankfully, no one will be graded (or shot) at the end of the challenge. It's more like a personal challenge. That's open to the world.

I had a hard time deciding on a topic. I had two ideas that I was (am!) passionate about. The first is what you see up there. The second? See below.

The more I thought about it, the more I understood that in order for me to be authentic, I had to go with my gut. I still plan on realizing my authentic self, and honestly, the blog posts in my drafts folder are piling up. But this isn't the time to share those.

The most important thing about this blog, my journal, is to remain authentic. To be myself. So, that's what I am going to give you. Shamefully, I feel like I've always held back a little. Perhaps I was (am!?) worried about losing the half-a-dozen faithfuls out there. After 4+ years of blogging, what do I really have to lose?!

Over the next 31 days, I will have normal blog posts up (Hello!?! It is October! Must. Share. Crafts). But I will also have a daily, pointed post that takes you on a very twisted roller coaster ride (twisted as in curvey, not as in Charles Manson!). At the end of this journey, hopefully I will have entertained more than just the ball to my chain.

Please consider following along - you can sign up to receive my posts directly in your inbox. Also, feel free to like my FB page! I may leverage that fancy tool to help get my words out.

If you are participating in Nester's challenge, please leave a comment with a link to your series. There will be a ton to pick and choose from, so I'd hate to miss out on yours.

We are Planning a Trip

Not having a proper wedding led to zero honeymoon. It happens that way, sometimes.

The husband and I were 18 when we got married and I believe only once in the almost 18 years we've been married did we go on a mini-vacay alone. And that was to Mexico. And we were alone because my mom didn't want anyone stealing her grand-babies. And that was back in 2000, I think.

We are due for a honeymoon. We are due some time off. And we are gonna take it.

We were originally going to wait until our anniversary in December, but all of the places we were throwing around would be quite cold come winter. I don't generally like the cold. Can you blame me? I live in Arizona.

Because I like to get a good deal (and I feel a tiny bit guilty that we aren't taking the kids), I didn't want to spend a ton of cash. Marcos and I decided to DRIVE to our honeymoon (lol, feels weird saying that) destination.

 
Each way is about 12 hours. And I am FINE with that. We will be spending FIVE days in San Fran and the surrounding areas. That means the husband has been doing all of the leg work from booking the hotel to finding things for us to do.

Based on our preliminary planning, here are a few ideas we have:

A trip to San Fran wouldn't be complete without visiting the famous Rock (one of my favorite movies, btw). I was bummed to find out that the night tours (hello, Ghost Hunters) sell out WAY in advance. Thankfully, the morning, day and afternoon tours were wide open, when we purchased our tickets. We ended up doing the City Pass and replacing the Bay cruise with the Alcatraz tour. Here is some information I found online at AlcatrazCruises.com.

Most people know that Alcatraz was once a world-famous federal penitentiary, but the island’s history before and after the penitentiary era is less well known. For example, few realize that it was also the site of the first American lighthouse on the West Coast and that the island served as a huge harbor defense fort during the Civil War. After the fort became obsolete, the U.S. Army turned the island into a grim military prison. Following the closing of the penitentiary, Alcatraz became the site of a American Indian protest movement that would change modern American history.

This is going to be a huge highlight of the trip... I cannot wait.

How can you venture out to the Bay area without stopping to see the orange wonder that is? I am very excited to check out the bridge and to learn more about it. I do know that the company I work for (BofA) actually help fund the bridge back in the day. I am also looking forward to the views; I've heard they are breathtaking.

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Jelly Belly's... Do I need to offer up more reasons? =) I will say that this one is on the husband's list. He's mentioned it every time we've thought about heading out west. (er. more west than we already are)

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This is probably the MAIN reason why I want to go to San Francisco. I am a HUGE fan of Ghost Hunters and all things "haunted." When I heard about the Winchester House in San Jose, I flipped out. I couldn't wait to add it to an itinerary. And now we have! This place is supposed to be haunted and kooky. The Winchester house was originally owned by the peeps that invented the gun with the same name. There are staircases that go nowhere and other curiosities. Super excited!!

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There are two reasons why I am looking forward to this pit stop. One, as a kid, my mom lived on Lombard Street. Albeit, in Illinois. But still, I like the linkage. Two, when I lived in Germany, I remember reading about Lombard Street in one of my history books... it was so American to me. It's been on my list of places to visit for as long as I can remember.

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There you have it. A few of the places we will be visiting during our upcoming trip! I can't wait to get my camera out and document, document, document.

Have you ever been to San Fran? Are there any other places you recommend we stop at? 

He Completes Us

If you've been here before, you know that my third child is a masterpiece. That does not mean the older two are less special, they are just as perfect, but Nic is different. I think we've all helped shaped him, but God seriously had the most impact. Silly God and his crazy sense of humor.

Nic has a memory like no other. I pray for his future wife and kids. lol... Seriously, he can remember things that happened nearly three years ago, when he was three, that hold no real significance to the rest of us. They must have hit a chord with him.

For example. Well over three years ago, I was driving with the kids in our van and there was a huge piece of metal on the road. The car in front of us hit it and it flew under our van as we drove on the freeway. It made a huge BUMP and ultimately, we had to get the undercarriage examined and fixed. Nic STILL talks about the bump in the road. He reminds me to drive carefully on freeways. The dude is FIVE. That was three years ago!

That's not all. He says he remembers being a baby, in jail. Obviously, I am not that gangsta of a momma. He wasn't born in a jail cell while I was awaiting trial due to my mad graffiti skills. However, he was born 3 full months premature and did spend several weeks in an incubator and then a crib with bars(ish). Things that make you go hmmmmm.

There is more stuff where that came from, but that's for a different time.  The reason I mention his memory is because we were on the way to dinner on Friday night, just Marcos, Nic and me, and he was talking about things he remembered. As always, I complimented him on remembering all that stuff. To which he replied, "You know how I do it, mom? I have memory ships in my heart."

Memory ships. In his heart.
Of course he means 'chips.'

He once told me that he sees his memories as pictures in his head. And that the pictures have a white boarder around them.  Oh, to be a blood vessel in his brain....

Besides he love for remembering things and coming up with the cutest sayings, Nic loves to collect things.

He found these rocks at the park. Evidently, we were all out of Ziploc bags, so he used the next best thing. Tin foil. You know... so they stay fresh.

Nic LOVES to put on a costume.

And he loves Legos, small toys... and taking pictures of everything.

This kid cracks us all up. He's the perfect third (and last) child. He completes us.
No really. He does. As in, I see minor surgery in my very near future. As in... no more kiddos for us!

See, literally, he does complete us.

350 < 8 [Installing new floors in the Formals]

Yesterday was CRAZY with a capital CRA.
Seriously.

Want to start at the beginning? Click here.

We did a lot of the prep work for the floors on Thursday and Friday nights. We had to be ready for Saturday morning. And we did it!

After our home builder came in and fixed the imperfections in our concrete floors, Marcos and I got to work and filled the nail holes (from the carpet tacks), and filled in the long, but superficial surface crack.  The very nice subcontractors left us some of their magic stuff. [One less expense. Yay!]

 

After we got all of the cracks and holes filled, I mopped the floor with vinegar. Just a quick mop. We had already swept and vacuumed and swept a gazillion times (concrete and drywall dust are no fun). After that it was time for Kilz primer. THAT STUFF IS STRONG. I think we were high most of the night (even with the windows open and fans going). But we needed to ensure we sealed the concrete and get rid of any odor from Olive (the perpetual pee-er).

That took us up until Friday night. My parents came over with their flooring tools and saw on Saturday morning before 9. I made breakfast (French toast and bacon) and then at about 11am we got started.

Our floors had been in the house for over a week, so we knew they had acclimated. We read the instructions to ensure we weren't missing anything - and then we pretty much got started.

We rolled out the 2-in1 underlayment plus padding. It was $34 a roll for 100 SQFT, we bought four. We could have gone with a more expense product, but this appeared to be exactly what we needed.

Once that was done and while Marcos and Alex ran to Home Depot for a few last minute things, my parents and I did a dry run to see how we were going to stagger the planks. I love how WIDE they are!! Almost 10".

The seams from left to right hardly show, so we didn't have to be exact in our measurements of stagger (at the end of each side of the room).

Here's my dad laying out the first plank... schooling us on how to lay floors.

This was truly a family affair. Here is Nic trying to get his knee pads on.

It took us a good hour or so to get the first couple of planks put down. We had to ensure we had spacers against the wall; the wall to the left isn't perfect. Despite all of the that, we were in good spirits. And we just kept on working, working, working. After awhile, we had dad man the saw while Marcos, Alex and I installed the floors.

I guess while I was working, Nic decided to go around the house and take pictures. I've told you before how much I LOVE finding his pictures on my camera. Look at this one, it's straight out of the camera.

After a quick pizza break at 5, we got to work finishing up the last few rows. I took a ton of pictures last night, but the colors were off, because my camera hates the dark. So here is a picture from this morning.

And here is a reminder of what my formals looked like a few months ago:

Not bad, but not exactly what I want.

Today, I am headed to Home Depot to buy new baseboards, and then I have a new mirror from Hobby Lobby to hang up... and then new drapes from IKEA. I am hoping I can start building my Billy built-ins this week and then loading everything back in (and out of my hallway and office).

I am so sore and tired today - but it feels good to have accomplished something that big. A HUGE shout-out to my parents for being the best. Really. THE BEST.

As a side note, be sure to check out Eighteen25 later on today, where I have some NEW Halloween Printables to show off!!

Finally Focused on the Formals

I may be MIA for the next few days. We've been working hard to get our formals ready for wood floors!! The husband and I are working on scraping the carpet glue off of the concrete and removing base boards.

The entire rest of the house has taken a major beating while this work has been in progress. Which explains the first picture, right? I am so ready to be done! ;)

We have a TON of Dr. Pepper on hand and we are working it!!
Updates soon (I hope!)

Momma's Kitchen Makeover

This post has been a long time coming, but I finally got the pictures I needed to make it worthwhile.

In January 2011, my parents had a small kitchen fire that caused major damage to their entire house. Between the smoke and the actual fire damage, their kitchen had to be gutted and recreated from scratch. My parents lived in an extended stay hotel for nearly a year, while they were waiting to move back into their house. The drywall, A/C units... everything had to be replaced. They lost some items to the smoke damage, but nothing of major importance (like my baby pictures). Well, they did lose their large flatscreen. That had to hurt.

Here are the kitchen pictures I took that day, back in January.

Before the kitchen was a small, early 90s affair. You can see where the wall was (where the fridge was in the middle picture) that divided the kitchen from the study/guest bedroom. During the renovation, that wall was knocked out and that entire space became the kitchen (with an eat-in area). They also added a HUGE peninsula which gives the grand-kids space to hangout.

Here is the kitchen today (okay, yesterday):

 

The garage door was moved to the left, making room for more cabinets. This picture right here is the same vantage point as the first fire picture above. Huge difference, huh?

While the fire was bad and my parents having been misplaced for month after month was horrible, the outcome couldn't be sweeter. Everyone is okay, the house is standing, and the kitchen has been updated and has added value to the house.

My momma is a FANTASTIC cooker, so it's even more fun to see her moving around in that kitchen making delish dishes for us.

I am not sure if my pictures did the kitchen justice, but trust me when I say, it's fab!

You Twisted my Arm {More Halloween Printables]

I have another Halloween printable to add to the collection. This one is a favorite of mine. I love the poem! It really takes me back to all of the great Halloween books I read as a kid.

Little lesser-known fact, my husband('s family) does not celebrate Holidays. Whereas, my family does. I've always loved Halloween, but put it on the back-burner so not as to cause issues (big girl under-roos, compromise, whatever you want to call it).

Alex understood the rule. We celebrated Christmas, his birthday and 4th of July. He was a Halloween baby, but he knew we didn't really dress-up or go Trick or Treating.

Isabel semi-understood it, but she still wanted to dress-up in costumes (usually a princess and once Madonna). She pushed the limits a little.

Nic? Forgettaboutit. His FAVORITE store is the Spirit store. He doesn't understand that it's only in existence for 2 months out of each year. I am not even remotely stretching the truth when I say that we have to go look at the store, anytime we are in the area, EVEN WHILE IT'S AN EMPTY SHELL from December - August. Nic even made me take this pic to show his dad as if when we told him, he wouldn't believe us:

So, now with Nic totally into all things Grim Reaper, I am having a blast putting Halloween into our family routines and memories. We all know that my hot boyfriend has a hard time saying "no" to his third child. Que sera, sera. It also helps that we are now homeowners, it's FUN to decorate your own home. Here is my Halloween post from 2010 and from 2011.

But back to the free print...[the fun stuff!]

You can download a 5x7 below: