Faucet Fun

My husband and father had a fun time changing out our master bathroom faucets tonight. It was desperately needed as our old faucets (probably originals) were starting to look really crummy and gross.

Despite my arguments though, Derek wanted to do this project "himself" (obviously with my dads supervision). I secretly smiled to myself after realizing that this "2 hour project" was probably going to end up taking 4 or more. I secretly smiled even larger when I heard water spraying everywhere and I was being screamed at to get as many towels as I could.... FAST!

And no, there's no conclusion to this post because they are still in there slaving away. Hopefully within the next couple of hours (or at least under 8) we'll have 2 new bright and shiny faucets!

For now, I'll leave you with a glimpse of the "Faucet Fun"!

Wills Completed

Remember Terri Schiavo? That won't be me! Derek finalized our will and living will documents and we had them officially signed and notarized on Friday!

It was somewhat depressing, yes, but at the same time was a relief to know that our assets as are fully covered and our future children will be all set should anything happen to us!

The only thing left to figure out.... who gets our 4-legged children! :)

Disabled List

It happens about once a year. I refer to it as the "Annual Skin Removal Process" and it works best when running outside on hard, scratchy surfaces. i wish it was a facial procedure that would make me look 20 again, but it's actually a removal of knee skin that occurs when one does not pick up their feet completely when jogging. This bit of fun revealed it's ugly face again on my morning run today and below is what my once "good knee" now looks like.
I wish it ended there, but somehow I managed to hurt my ankle, shoulder, hands and elbow also. I'd give the performance about a 9.5 and so would the school kids waiting for their bus who witnessed the entire debacle.
It's pretty much a surface injury as I don't feel like I pulled anything or messed up any joints. This means my long run tomorrow, however, is postponed one day in order to let this baby heal a bit.
For now, neosporin, Tylenol and bandaids will do the trick....along with maybe a bit of Sangria and a sympathy back rub by my wonderful husband.

100th Post

I can't believe I only started this journey less than a year ago and have posted 100 times! I also can't believe we were in Europe 11 months ago as it seems like we JUST were standing under the Eiffel Tower enjoying a romantic smooch.

I hope this blog gives my friends and family and entertaining read and is a way to keep everyone updated on what Derek and I are up to. Besides that, it's so much fun to see who ends up here across the world! Currently, the UK and Canada are not too far behind the US in blog views, but I've reached much farther! Check out the map of all the areas shaded in green where people have clicked on a link.


Most surprising countries who've been on my blog: Greece, Peru, Suriname.... and where the heck is Malta?!

Book Review - The Art of Racing In The Rain

For anyone who loved reading Marley and Me, this will be your next favorite READ! This book, written by Garth Stein, tell the story of companionship during the best of times and the worst of times told through the voice of Enzo, a golden retriever. If you've ever thought that your dogs know what you're saying to them, or are trying to talk back to you through their eyes, then this book is for you!

This heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, is a well-crafted and amazingly captivating look at the wonders of human life. You will laugh and cry through this unforgettable journey.... and what's even better is that it's written by Enzo himself!

Definitely an A+ in my book (pun intended).

Party Like It's 1999!

Such a great song and we only did about 74 dances to that song my senior year of being on the Pacesetters Dance Team!

It's been a decade since that senior year at Shawnee Mission South and this past weekend we celebrated this event at our 10-year reunion. About 100 or so of my classmates attended the festivities held at he Berg Event Space Saturday night.

To start the night off, I hosted a small "pre-party" at my house with four of my high school dance team friends. We indulged on some finger foods, drank some sangria and reminisced about those fun years. There was, of course, a yearbook appearance as well along with some Raider colored green and gold napkins and plates.


It was such a fun time and so nice to catch up with a couple of the girls whom it's been forever since I've seen last. Little Madeline even joined us and Bailey loved getting her all excited and playing with her (right)!

And just like at Derek's reunion, it wasn't long before the "who got really fat" and "who got boob jobs" conversations started to swirl!
Overall, it was a really fun night and was so great to catch up with so many old friends.


"There's nothing greater than a Raider" GO SOUTH! :)

Happy Birthday Bailey!

My little angelic bear turned 2 years old Sunday! I can't believe she's already 14 years old in human years! She has matured so much and has turned into a wonderful dog for us. We are so blessed to have found her even though she hogs the bed and suffers from A.D.D.! We couldn't have asked for a more happy dog whom we trust around anyone and anything and is so fun to be around. From the day we picked her out from the Kansas City Humane Society (left), she has melted our hearts and made our family complete!



Here she was just a couple months after birth -

And here she was this weekend indulging in her birthday cake from Land of Paws. (And yes, Lacy got half the cake).

Then we played her favorite game in the world for quite some time - BALL FETCH! (the tennis ball is in between her legs in the pic!)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BAILEY!!

Freshman Move In Day

It was 10 years ago this weekend when my family was moving me into GSP at KU. I finally felt like a free adult and was so excited to be done with high school and starting my Freshman year in college. I was born a Jayhawk and couldn't wait to experience this amazing school on my own!

The memories all came back again Friday when we helped move Whitney into her dorm at KU. From the guys around campus checking out the 'fresh meat' to the girls all dressed to impress, not a ton had changed since that weekend 10 years ago. There was so much excitement in the air and Whitney was on cloud 9 as she met her roommates and prepared their dorm suite by asking all the important questions; Who gets the bottom bunk? Which desk are you claiming? Where will we put the keg? (J/K Lesa!)

Matt decided to check out the amenities and is very thankful that he'll never have to squeeze into that shower!

Enjoy college Whit! We are so excited that you decided to join the Jayhawk tradition and we know you will do so well up there. It's only 4 years, but will include some of the best times of your life!

ROCK CHALK!!

Talons

I was playing with Bailey last night and was gouged by these things! Looks like someone is in need of a good clipping before we have friends over Saturday night!

Does anyone else have a heart attack before every clip when they do their dogs nails? I just get major anxiety that I'm going to hurt her and it is NOT a fun chore.

2 Inches Closer = Sting City

While trimming my front yard bushes today, I noticed a couple wasps flying around this bush -
Only when I finished and was cleaning up the trimmings did I notice this sucker hanging on a limb with several wasps flying around it! I literally almost chopped the nest in half which would have resulted in an afternoon of NO FUN!

(Note: no wasps were harmed in the destroying of their home and taking of these pictures... all flew away safely and without injuring the photographer.)

The Blame Game

If you spotted Derek darting through oncoming traffic on Pflumn this past weekend, here’s why.

On Saturday morning, Derek was picked up by his friends to golf. Once they decided who was driving (he didn’t get the short straw), he tossed his keys onto the back of his closed trunk and was off. Fast forward 5 hours later when we were getting ready to head out for the evening and the keys were nowhere to be found. I’m asked “did you leave them on the back of the car when you went to the Farmers Market?” I had NO clue what he was talking about until he explained the situation..... and went on to blame me for not noticing they were there.

After several round of this (not so fun) game, we decided to re-drive the route I had taken earlier that day with the hope that they maybe just slid off the back of the car and were laying in the street. About 10 minutes in (those suckers apparently held on for life!), Derek spotted them in the road and we were jumping with joy. It wasn’t until after a few minutes of running in between cars when he finally retrieved them and I could tell by the look on his face that something was wrong.

He got in the car and handed me these. Rolled over, thrown around, beat up, but yet still all on the chain. At least we know that our house can't be broken into now with half the key missing!


** Feel free to cast your vote in our 'battle of the sexes'! Was Derek at fault for leaving them on the back of the car without telling me? Or was it my fault for not having magic powers and automatically checking the back of the car for anything left behind?! Only you can help decide!