Gobble Gobble

From my family to yours, 

Happy Thanksgiving.

Drew sporting Derek's Thanksgiving headpiece from 1984....

Weekend Shenigans

Today I'm joining in the fun with Sami for her weekend shenanigans link up! Here's a rundown of our weekend.

On Friday, Drew and I took my parents to the airport bright and early. We already miss them but were thankful to have spent the week prior playing, reading and enjoying their company!

Since it was super early, I was able to enjoy a breakfast date with my main man on the way to daycare. We tried this adorable mini donut shop near the airport and needless to say, someone loved his!

On Saturday we ventured to the IX Christmas Connection, which wasn't really what I thought. For some reason, I assumed it was this super fun kids event filled with Holiday activities. Instead, it was like 8,000 booths of exhibitors and things to purchase. As we were walking in, Derek even said 'where are the kids and husbands'. HA! We made the most of it by decorating cookies, riding the ferris wheel, watching dog shows and sampling the food, but it's not on my list to really ever attend again.

We ultimately found the 13 other kids and families in attendance near the Santa station which we dressed up Drew for. I had high hopes for this year after the crying shots we got last year, but apparently Drew didn't get the memo. Play-by-play below.

1. The protest         2. The escape attempt         3. The screams 

Yep, sheer terror again this year. He absolutely adores Santa and loves reading Santa's books. He talks all the time about being a good boy so Santa will bring him gifts and loves the guy in general. But try to put him near a Santa and it's like the world is coming to an end. Maybe next year.

The positive side to getting so upset is that you nap longer! Derek and I enjoyed a few lazy hours on the couch Saturday before we drove to the annual Christmas tree lighting at Crocker Park. There was a windchill of SEVEN so we didn't stay outside too long, but we love this annual tradition.

Derek worked yesterday and I enjoyed a lazy day with my little guy. We played indoors mostly, but were able to venture out to Target and get lunch together at Panera. I already admire you stay-at-home-moms (or "Domestic Engineers" as my good friend Des says), but having Drew to myself for an entire day just makes me appreciate what you do even more. Those toddlers... whew! They are work!

But the best part of the weekend? Knowing that Derek's siblings and parents arrive today! I'm super pumped for another week of family in town! Hope you had a great weekend as well!

A Grandfather's Gift

Sorry for the lack of quality, lengthy posts this week. I just would rather be stuffing my face enjoying time with my family instead of being on a computer!

Buuuuuuut..... I did have to get a quick post up about something my dad made for Drew.

My dad is an artist. It was his degree in college and although he never became the next Picasso, he still tries to do as much as he can for a hobby. He can draw pretty much anything you ask and is very good at creating 2D and 3D masterpieces.

But probably one of the most special things he's given/made for us is something that he brought up this week:

My dad also made one of these for both my brother and I when we were little and I used mine every day. I love that he drew and painted everything by hand and even made it the beautiful antique-white color that it is.

Pretty special, huh?

I'm trying to convince him to start an etsy shop when he retires!

Gorging and Games

What have I been doing with family for the last 4 days? It can pretty much be summed up in 2 words.

Gorging

At fancy shmancy restaurants to celebrate birthdays....

And at home to celebrate an early Thanksgiving....

You can never have enough pumpkin pie, right?

Gaming

You know how I've mentioned my competitiveness? It's actually in my DNA. My family has been big on board games since I was tiny and allbedamned if it's not a tradition I'm passing on to my kids. Whether it's MarioKart, Dutch Blitz, Monopoly or Sequence, at least two of those are mandatory whenever we get together!

Serious game faces right here.....

Hope you're enjoying your week so far!

Grandparents & A Giveaway Winner

The last few days have been full of coffee, PJs and family. I've loved being lazy with my mom, dad and brother in town and pretty sure Drew has fully taken advantage of them as well. There's nothing better than having my family all together and the fact that it's near a Holiday is icing on the cake.

We've done a couple things around town like enjoyed a nice bday dinner for mom and dad and visited a nature center, but mostly we've just relaxed and it's been perfect. 

I've got some pictures for a later post this week, but for now lets announce the winner of the stencil from Cutting Edge Stencils! 

Congrats to 'Distracted Debbie Lee'!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

(you have 24 hours to email me or another winner will be selected: ourjourneyblog08@gmail.com)

Now please excuse me while I get back to enjoying some donuts with my fam!

Friday Faves

Favorites from the week.....

1. Our Friends: On Saturday we hosted a cook-out for our friends and their families to enjoy the last of the fall weather and show off our new house! I love to watch Drew with his buddies and can't wait to watch him grow up with some of these kids. PS. Our friends are the bees knees.

I spy a nose picker.

Uggs: Derek surprised me with a grey pair for this winter. My brown ones were literally falling apart and I can't WAIT to sport a fresh pair.

Crown: We got crown molding put into our living room and our bedroom and it looks FAB! I love how it dresses up the rooms and makes them feel more formal!

Pictures don't really do it justice, but you get the idea!

Spindles: We also had the wood balusters taken out and replaced with wrought iron and I ADORE the final result!

Family: My entire immediate family is in town for a visit and early Thanksgiving celebration starting today. Then, a couple days after they leave Derek's entire immediate family arrives! Bring on the 2,500 calorie days and funny family moments for the next two weeks!

Have a great weekend!

Great Wolf Lodge

So my awesome hubs surprised us with an overnight stay at the Great Wolf Lodge on Sunday night! He had Monday off and I had taken it off to enjoy a day date with him. Little did I know he already had a room reserved and the dogs taken care of for some time! We had so much fun last year at Kalahari and I was pumped about sharing the day with Drew at Great Wolf. We left after family pictures on Sunday afternoon and were there around 24 hours total.

Drew LOVED it. Although he wasn't tall enough to do some of the older rides, the kid loved everything he could participate in...

... except one. Have you been to one before? If not, let me warn you about the annoying bucket of water that spills over every 6 minutes. Drew was TERRIFIED that it was going to wash us all away and when Derek went to get in it one time, he about had a heart attack. This went on the entire first day, but then after 8,735 times of seeing it spill with no repercussions, he was ok with it. By the end, he even pushed Derek into it to watch him get dumped on! Either way, the thing is still annoying and the pre-spill beeps go off way too often.

We went back and forth with the lifejacket but ultimately put it on him for when he went down the bigger slides. Nothing would take away from the fun the little guy had though!

After dinner, they had an adorable show at 8pm for the children and then it was time to hit the hay around 9. The kid was exhausted and fell right asleep and didn't make a peep until about 8:30 the next morning. It was a few more hours of pool time and then it was on to the arcade!

After some milkshakes from Steak N Shake, it was time to head home. Needless to say, the little guy passed out within 5 minutes of being in the car and was almost to the point of snoring.

Thanks daddy for such a great day at Great Wolf! Other than being locked out of room for about 30 minutes at one point, it was a SUPER fun staycation!

Accent Wall Stenciling & A Giveaway!

I'm so excited that our house is coming along, but so many rooms need more work. I'm in LOVE with the colors we chose for our room and the darker accent wall color, but knew that I wanted some design, stripes or art to dress it up. See how you couldn't even really tell it was a darker color than the other walls?

Enter Cutting Edge Stencils! Sure, you could spend 50,000 hours hand-drawing a design or spent $400 for wallpaper, but if you want a grand look on a budget, stenciling is where it's at. Their products are of high quality and they have tons and tons of adorable designs. WIN!

Don't these ideas just make you want to try your hand at it?

The total wall probably took me a total of 4 hours over two days. The first few blocks took a while, but once you're used to doing it, it moves quickly! I watched about 4 of their tutorials online to ensure I was fully educated on how to best utilize the stencils and recommend you do the same once you order yours.

But really, it's as easy as tape, paint, move the stencil and paint some more. I fell in love with the Hourglass Allover Stencil.

Funky lighting made it look green.

Sure, if you get up really close to it, there are some imperfections, but that's somewhat the beauty of stenciling. Plus, as you're going, you can use a baby wipe to remove any and all smudges that bug you!

Don't you think it looks FAB now?

And yes, I'm aware that I left a couple inches at the top... crown molding goes in this week!

Anywhoo....the lovely people from Cutting Edge wanted to give away something to one lucky reader!

Enter below for various entries into the drawing and a winner will be selected next Monday the 18th!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Terms and Conditions: Winner will be determined at random using Rafflecopter. The giveaway begins Tuesday, November 12th and ends Sunday, November 17th at midnight. Subject to all federal, state and local laws/regulations. Neither Our Journey, Giveaway Sponsor, nor any giveaway affiliates will have any liability whatsoever for any injuries, losses or damages of any kind caused by any giveaway prize or resulting from acceptance, possession, use and/or misuse of any prize or participation in these promotions. The winner must be located in the United States. All opinions are 100% that of Our Journey. Prize is for one stencil up to a $50 value.

My Veteran

While a lot of people are celebrating an extra day off work, today I celebrate my father.

As a graduate of Washburn University in 1966 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts, it was either try to become the next Bob Ross, or enter the Army. Dad chose to give back to his country and entered basic training in Missouri. Shortly after, he was off to Officer Candidate School in Virginia where he utilized his degree painting murals in the latrines instead of running miles outside in the heat. Upon graduation from OCS, he went on to flight schools in both Georgia and Alabama until he was called to duty. Deployed at age 24 in March of 1968, he served as a Captain and flew planes over hostile grounds in and around Southeast Asia dropping cargo and people. He was part of the 54th Utility Aircraft Company, flying De Havilland DHC-3 Otters and even designed their logo for the aircrafts.

Once his time in Vietnam was over, he came back stateside and was a Flights Instructor and Check Pilot for a couple of years in Ft. Stewart, Georgia.

I'm so proud to call this man my father. He, and all of the other Veteran's out there deserve to be recognized today for their service to our country! Without them, our freedom just wouldn't be the same.

Love you dad and am so proud of you! 

Happy Veterans Day to all the other veterans out there!

Our Family Is Growing!

Gotcha again. No baby news here.

Instead, I'd like to introduce the newest member of our family....

-----
Frankenstein

(obviously named by the shortest member of our family)

-----

It was only logical that we start adding pets to our household, right? I mean, by the time I was in high school, we had already enjoyed dogs, bunnies, gerbils, hamsters, chameleons, parakeets and fish. And Drew is already almost 3! Poor Derek. He only had one dog growing up and that's it for pets. Little did he know he was marrying into a family of animal lovers. 

And if you've been following for a while, I do complain about the dogs a lot. But a fish can't blow stanky breath on you, not to mention you don't have to clean up puke or butt scoot stains. Plus, if Frankenstein happens to leave this earth early, I can buy his brother for $2. Drew picked out a black one despite all of the bright orange and white colored goldfish, but the thing does have a pretty shimmer. He has also taken over the responsibility of feeding for him and quite enjoys when Frankie drops a load in the water. Drew loves his new fish and it's super easy for us to maintain. 

It's the perfect first pet.

- - - - - - - - -

My mom found the picture below of our fish growing up; Goldie. 

The thing lived forever and grew to like 6 inches long.

#thatswhatshesaid

Sweet Boy

I don't want to ever forget your sweetness. 

When you look at me and say "Mommy, you are so pretty", I melt.

I love how you often ask "Mommy, you don't want me to get bigger?" 

I say "Nope, I want you to stay little forever."

And then you end with "But I'm going to get bigger mommy."

And then we smile at each other.

I love how you let me know I'm a good cook, or you like my glasses.

And when you make me a bracelet out of your connecting toys. 

You always want to kiss my booboos just like I do yours.

And when I bump into something, you pat me and say, "it will be ok mommy".

A family member posted this last week on FaceBook and I fell in love:

A little boy and his mother were crossing a river. 

Mother: "Please hold my hand"

Boy: "No mom, you hold my hand"

Mother: "What's the difference?"

Boy: "If I hold your hand and something happens to me, I might let go of your hand. 

But if you hold my hand, I know for sure you will never let go. 

Swoon.

Pimpmobiles // Old and New

This sweet thang was my very first car.

Apparently I started the high waist shorts trend back in 1997 and please check out those awesome wedge flip flops.

I worked hard lifeguarding, temping, bagging groceries, etc to save up for that beaut. My grandfather and parents helped out a bit, but I was proud to have worked hard all summer to pay for my own car, even if it was from 1985. Don't be jealous of those sweet rims and its awesome boxy shape. Anyone remember the CD player you had installed back in the day with the removable face? Yeah, it made that car a total pimpmobile.

Want to see my second car?

Less skanky pose but still super tan. Thanks lifeguarding!

I got this before heading to college in 1999. I was so glad to NOT have a car from the 80's and who doesn't love an awesome spoiler? Oh, and there's a subwoofer in the trunk. #gangsta.

- - - - - - Back to 2013 and 6 different cars later - - - - - - 

The original plan was to stretch out our Explorer one more winter and then car shop next year. We actually even had to pay $1800 this summer to rebuild the transmission. UGH. Over the past couple of months though, we've just noticed several more issues like the heater, starter, brakes, etc. We just decided that it was time. I didn't feel like pumping another grand into it and we have had our eyes on other cars for a while.

We were actually set on a Traverse, Acadia or Enclave and had only been shopping those three. And then, for the first time a few weeks ago, we cleared room and pulled our Explorer into our new garage. For some reason, they just must make garages tighter these days, but goodLAWD we had no room to spare. After researching dimensions online of the 3 aforementioned SUV's, we realized we were screwed. You see, we have to have a 3rd row and that really limits the SUV's available that can fit in our garage.

But one of my besties had the perfect solution. She just recently bought a brand new Toyota Highlander and loved it. I come from a Ford family so changing brands feels like cheating. On top of that, they always looked more like a van and less like an SUV to me, but once we saw that it was significantly shorter in length than the others, we decided to test one out. Surprisingly, it was very smooth, I liked how it looked, it was very spacious inside and we loved the captains chair option. Basically, it was either this SUV, or a van. Period. And guess who will never drive a van in her entire life? Yep, this one.

So here we are. After weeks researching, hours at dealerships and a lot of negotiating, we finally have a car; a new 2013 Toyota Highlander. I know I'm definitely in the minority, but I LOVE car shopping. The searching, comparing data, test driving and exploring options are fun, but the absolute best part is the negotiating. You see, I negotiate quite often in my career and am pretty damn good at it so it's only natural that I love negotiating with car salesman. On the other hand, I hate spending a lot of money on something that gets me around town, but since the 2014 model comes out in a couple of weeks, they were really pushing the 2013's.

Here she is.....

I love the black exterior with light grey leather interiors and I think the silver running board makes it look more 'SUVish'. But really, we only chose grey leather because it will hide the dirt and spilled ketchup better. You gotta do what you gotta do, right?

And just for the purposes of journaling, here's a rundown of my past cars!

1985 cream Ford LTD
1995 white Nissan Altima
1997 green Isuzu Rodeo
1999 silver Grand am
2002 black Ford Explorer
2006 blue Ford Explorer