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I'm back!

I know I've been a bad blogger since I got back from vacation 1 week ago. I haven't felt in the mood to post anything. And I've still got pictures from the vacation to post. But thinking of how I need to edit all the photos makes me feel like crying. It's a PITA.

Jarred and I have been getting pretty comfortable in our new home.  We still have decorations to hang on the walls, but aside from that, we're set.

Can we talk for a minute about how August is almost here?  Yeah.  I'm a little bummed.  Summer has been hot, but it's been nice.  While I am looking forward to my classes next semester, I'm also nervous at the same time.  I'm enrolled in a drawing class and I'm not too great of a drawer.  Little Sis is, but not me.  I was in the beginning stages of learning to draw when I was at PU, but it's been over 2 years since I've picked up a drawing pencil.  Scared.  I told myself that I'd work on my drawing skills over the summer, but so far that hasn't happened.  There is still time and still hope though.  It's a class I must take in order to advance to weaving courses, so there's not much to discuss.

Finally, the video.  Except there isn't much to say that wasn't said in the video.  Fairly self-explanatory if you've seen this particular GEICO commercial.  Everyone with an iPad or iPhone must must must get this app.  Who wouldn't want the ability to whip out a brostache at any given moment?  Search GEICO in the App Store.  Do it.

And for clarification, yes, Jarred is singing a Lady Gaga song at the beginning of the video.  It's called 'Teeth' and is the music in the background of Shark Week 2011 commercials.  He's so hip and relevant.

M &J Hooray!

I am (as of this very minute) getting ready to close down shop at my first blog, M&J Hooray.  I've imported the blog onto this one and will be sifting through the muck.  I originally wanted to make a completely separate page that readers could view my past postings, but I'm not too sure that's possible.  I'm also not wanting to take the time to import everything to GoodleDocs and link from there.

That being said, my M&J posts will be in chronological order and possibly interspersed with my Wistful postings.  I'm going to be pretty liberal with what I deem worthy of being kept, so if there is a post from M&J that you liked, chances are, it will probably make the cut.

I will be going back through and editing so that readers will know which posts were imported from M&J and which were written for Wistful.  It will more than likely be a disclaimer at the top of the post.

We've had a good run at M&J, but it's time for me to get on with it.  I haven't posted since March or April, so I think it's time to hit the deletion button.  Established in February of 2009, I feel that I've grown and my blogging needs to do that same.  I want to have a tiny corner of the web where all my ramblings can be found in one spot, so deleting the blog was a pretty easy thing to do.

Thank you to anyone who read M&J and I can hope that you will come to The Wistful Wife to continue my life journey with me.

My Kid

My kid is extra sweet.  He takes naps without complaint, goes to bed when we do, eats dinner with us, is always full of energy, and loves attention from Mama and Daddy more than anything. 

Yes.  My doggie.  My child.  My constant companion.

He is the greatest child I could ask for. 

I wanted to take the time to post about Lucas and how he came to be with us.  In a past life long ago, Lucas was abused.  Jarred's parents adopted him, but I'm not sure if they took him from the abuser or adopted him from Lucas's rescuers.  Either way,  I don't know the exact details and don't want to know.  I'm sure it would break my heart. 

We've had struggles with Lucas.  We can't clap our hands or snap our fingers.  When we first brought him home, we had a squeaky toy waiting for him.  We pressed the squeaker and he was sent running to a corner shaking with fear.  He wanted nothing to do with us and even a simple pat on the head was difficult to achieve.  I assume he thought we were going to hit him.

He's had health issues, mainly involving his teeth. He doesn't have many left because they weren't taken care of. He has to get teeth pulled about once a year. I often worry that his teeth hurt him and it's painful for him to chew.

Lucas also deals with mild separation anxiety. I'm sure it has something to do with what happened in his past. He gets pretty nervous whenever I leave and is my shadow when I'm home. But honestly, I don't mind. Like I've called him before, he's my constant companion, and if it makes him feel better to be near me 24/7, I'm okay with that.

Maybe some people wouldn't spend that much time and effort on a dog, but it's absolutely Bren worth it. To watch Lucas be rough and tumble around the room with his toys is so fun. To see him gradually come to understand the word 'goodie' has also been special. I think he is really starting to understand that he is very very loved, but maybe that's because he gets toted around or held like a baby. I have no shame. He deserves it.

From adopting Lucas, I have become a big supporter of shelter dogs. No, I don't give money to any organization, but I have pretty strong feelings towards rescue pets versus those bought from a breeder. My parents' dog came from a breeder. And we love her. She is very lucky to never know what it's like to not have a home or family.

That being said, Jarred and I will only adopt from a shelter or rescue. And I have no qualms telling others that they should do the same.

A common misconception is that shelters only have mutts. Not true. But there's nothing wrong with mutts either. There are rescues that deal with specific breeds. There is a dog out ther for everyone and he or she is more than likely at a shelter.

Lucas brings so much joy into my life. I can't think of a better feeling than walking into the house after being gone to the store and being greeted with a little tail wag and a wet nose nudging my hand for a head pat. It's been very rewarding to see Lucas grow to know he's loved and cared for.

I'm a proud pet parent and while a dog is not a human baby, I also never said I wanted a human baby. At least right now. There is no comparison to the amount of effort it takes to raise a child versus caring for a dog, but I don't care. Lucas is as human as can be. He knows that when Mama and Daddy sit down to eat dinner that he goes over to his bowl (which is left out all the time) and eats. Same thing for bed time. He sees us brushing our teeth and crawls onto his bed. I seriously have the best dog ever.

I know I will be a good mother to a child someday, but until then, I am content to know that I will always remember the first baby I loved: LouieBlue!

My kid. Lucas will always be my kid. I'm a lucky Mama.

Thankfulness: Home and Husband Edition

Jarred and I are being cautiously optimisitic about our townhouse.  We are enjoying so far but are scared to be immediately wowed just in case.  You know.  Just in case.  Loud neighbors are our worst nightmare.  Seriously.

I've not done much today with unpacking but took today to relax a little.  Spend time with Lucas and talk with Jarred.

It's been quite a long while since I've thought about what I'm thankful for.  Jarred and our new home have been weighing heavily on my mind, so I thought this would be a good time to remind myself how lucky I am.

1.  I'm thankful to have a husband that cares for my feelings and thinks of me.  On top of that, I'm thankful to have a partner that goals in life that I do and wants to make those a reality for me.

2.  I'm thankful for Lucas, always and for everything.

3.  I'm thankful to have a new home to decorate and be creative in. 

4.  I'm thankful for 2 nights of uninterrupted sleep so far.  And the energy to wake up early in the morning.

5.  I'm thankful to have a husband that deals with the hard stuff.  Like canceling our old utilities service. 

6.  I'm thankful to have working kitchen appliances. 


I think that that I need to remember that I am blessed everyday and though bad things will happen, there is never a day that goes by that is truly horrible.  Here's to a happy rest of the week!

Room Reveal

...Or half of it anyway.

Jarred and I still have much unpacking to do, but we got our bedroom straightened out before anything else.  There are some shoes and other items that need to be put away in the room, but for the sake of the picture, I threw those out of the frame.  

Yes, it's sorta blurry.  I do realize this.

The embroidery hoops are back with a vengeance, but this time, they have their ultimate leader who goes by the name of ModGirls by Jennifer Paganelli In a Giant Hoop.  Cluster of picture frames, you've met your match.  

I do love it and would consider adding more hoops later on.  But for now, these will do.  I finally hot glued the excess fabric to the underside of each hoop.  No more rough edges like I had at the apartment.

So let's talk specifics.  I love color and am intrigued by photos of rooms that are stark white but have pops of bright colors everywhere.  Naturally, renting doesn't give me such an option as painting, but Jarred and I are quite pleased with the wall color of the townhouse.  It's the color of sand, which is neutral enough for us.  No more ivory-turned-yellow-because-of-nicotine-stained walls for us.  

To those wondering, no, Jarred doesn't seem to have a problem with my decorating.  He lets me do what I want and I allow him to stick his giant NASCAR Winston Cup framed picture in the corner of the spare bedroom.  

Ahem.

Anyway, I brought the bedroom furniture into the marriage.  I got the set around the time I turned 7 or 8.  So yeah.  The furniture is 15+ years old.  Still in great condition, but obviously meant for a little girl.  It may be another 5-10 years before we get a new bedroom set, but we don't mind.  Both of us think what we've got is plenty good for now. 

I feel like it's pretty easy to decorate the bedroom and living room, but harder to do anything with the kitchen and the spare bedroom.  The latter especially.  It's our catch-all room.  We've got mismatched furniture and Rubbermaid shelving units of clothes in there now.  I don't want to trash it, but it's harder to find a real style when there's nothing to really be done with the room.  Maybe we'll just keep the door closed, eh?

That's all I've got for now.  There hasn't been much unpacking yet today, but I'm sure I'll find my groove later this afternoon!

Canopy ivory quilt and lamp from Wal-Mart.  Mint green pillow cases made by my sister.  Flower pillow made by me, fabric on clearance at Hobby Lobby.  Amy Butler quilt squares from Amazon.  Embroidery hoops and fabrics from various shops/boutiques/stores.

Worn Out

I took a break from arranging things in the townhouse and sat on the bed with Louie to surf the Internet.  He immediately went to sleep but didn't rest for that long once I got up to unpack some more.  He was swaying back and forth and looked very groggy.  I could tell he was especially tired since a lot of his tongue was hanging out of his mouth.

Poor sleepy boy.  The bed is so comfy!

I think Lou has gotten very worn out from being carted back and forth from the apartment to the townhouse to Mom and Dad's and back again.  He's been extra lazy these past 2 days!

Back

We are back and running here at Wistful Wife.  We've only been disconnected for the weekend because Jarred knew we wouldn't be able to handle any longer.  He made an appointment last week for the cable/Internet guy to hook us up today.  Ten o'clock came and went and along with it, our disconnect from the rest of the world.  Thank goodness.

There's been many trips back and forth to our old apartment to get everything we own.  Do normal people own this amount of stuff?  Jarred and I got rid of/donated around 12-15 bags of stuff.  And we still seem to be swimming in random stuff.  It may just seem that way because we have so many random boxes that items are stored in.  Hopefully sometime in the next few weeks, we will get this cool entertainment system from Target that will hold a lot of our stuff. 

I've gotten a little decorating done in our bedroom, but that's about it.  Most things are sitting in boxes waiting to be unpacked.  I'm kinda avoiding the kitchen simply because that's where most of our things are. 

I thought a quick check-in was in order.  Hopefully I can be back tomorrow with a few pictures of our new home.  And the mess.  In all its glory.

Moving Day!

Today begins moving day for us! We're signing our lease and then taking the weekend to move our things. I'm quite excited to call a new place home and to decorate.

This will be the last peep I make until we have Internet at the townhome. I'll be working hard this weekend so I can post pictures early next week.

There is still so much left to pack, but once the furniture is loaded in the truck, I know the apartment will look a lot more bare.

I really can't believe we're moving. This is something we've really been wanting to do for almost a year now but had to wait for our lease to run out. Now we're moving into a new, clean, pretty townhome. Step up? I think yes.

Please be thinking of Jarred and me this weekend as we pack and move into our new home. We are nervous and cautiously optimistic that we won't have too many of the same problems we have at the apartments.

Happy Fourth of July!

We here at the Wistful Wife are loving the new city ordinance that allows aerial fireworks.  We got a spectacular show from some neighbors and Jarred and Dad had some fireworks of their own to shoot off!

Everyone knows the meaning of Independence Day -- so thank you to all Americans that came before us who made this country great.  And I want to thank all our troops who continually defend our freedom -- now let's work on bringing you all home!

Eat lots of hotdogs, hamburgers, and celebrate our awesome nation today!

Yarn Wreaths

 I've been eying these super cute yarn wreaths online for awhile. Of course, I knew I could totally make one myself, instead of spending an insane amount of money to have someone else make it.

I finally decided to take the time to make some this weekend after I saw some of the other women on my anniversary board post pictures of the wreaths they made. It was high time I made some, especially since we're moving soon!

I made 2 - one for the downstairs bathroom and one for our kitchen window.

 

 

Love them!