The Most Exciting Weekend EVER

It's Monday and my little brain is not in the mood to function today. It's cloudy and rainy outside and I really want to just crawl back in bed and nap all day. Maybe mix in a few more Downton Abbey episodes.

Instead, I'm stuck at work, patiently waiting for 5 o'clock.

Since I'm feeling such a lack of inspiration today I will bore EXCITE you with my weekend happenings.

Friday evening I watched a coach pitch baseball game of a little boy I used to babysit. He's 8 and adorable and turns out he's a pretty good little first baseman.

Went home to be my normal exciting self and make popcorn for dinner which I ate with my butt planted firmly in it's dented couch cushion position while watching approximately 3 episodes of Downton Abbey. Thrilling, I know.

Slept in on Saturday instead of spending money thrifting at garage sales. I'm sure my husband was proud.

Decided that Dad's are absolutely impossible to shop for because if they want it, or need it, they buy it. Since the way to a man's heart is through his stomach, I baked pies. Apple pies actually. With homemade crust. I know what you're thinking...woah there Betty Crocker, don't hurt yourself. I promise you I didn't. Unless you count the fact that I didn't get to eat the pies. That hurt.

My lovely father wanted to go out to eat Saturday night for Father's Day so that's what we did. He got to choose the place so obviously he chose Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Who am I to argue with a greasy cheeseburger and brown paper bags filled with hot fries? If you have never eaten  at one of these fine establishments I encourage you to jump on it. Oh, and share the fries. I promise, you don't need two unless you want a career as a contestant on The Biggest Loser.

Big Bob loved his pie. Well, I think, he hadn't tasted it yet when we left.

All 6'7" of Big Bob and me.

My little brother Joe wanted in on the picture taking action.

As I previously mentioned, I live a life of excitement so I did the most exciting thing I could think of after dinner. Went home, put on pj's, and watched Downton Abbey.

Gunnar prefers licking my ankle to watching DA.
(I promise my ankles aren't as huge as they appear in this pic.)

Are you sensing a theme? If not, let me help you. I'm boring exciting and I watch a lot of tv, especially Downton Abbey.

Sunday morning I drug myself from bed to go to church where I set with my grandparents. I would like to point out here that I always set with my grandparents which I think makes me the favorite grandchild. Or at least one of two favorites. The other one is little and cute and the youngest of all 34 of us grandkids (yep, 34) so I feel like he has a little bit of an edge but he'll grow out of the little and cute stage so I'm not worried.

After church I delivered my second homemade-pie-crusted pie to my Stepdad, Dave. Him and my mom got married when I was 8 and I was more than lucky to have this guy in my life. He was busy doing some electrical work for a family friend so we didn't get to hang out much but we are going to go to dinner next weekend when Seth's in town so it's all good.

Hung out with one of my bff's/cousins, Jacqueline, and her family for awhile and perused the aisles of Target.

Made it home in time to lay on my back deck to soak up some sun, for about 3 minutes, before I was drenched in sweat. Thank you Kansas humidity. Decided, I'm going to be the weirdo that goes to the pool on my own so that's what I did. And it was lovely. Nice and hot but a little bit breezy and cool from the water. Took a mini nap and read some magazines. That, right there, is summer my friends.

Pure perfection.

At this point it's 7:00pm on Sunday and I have done absolutely zero productive things so I decided to go for a run. With my dog. While I can't say that Gunnar is an amazing running partner, he is way better to take when off a leash than when he is on a leash. Something to work on I suppose.

Wrapped up the weekend with a frozen, it's not delivery, it's Digiorno pizza, some Kardashians and Downton Abbey.

And there you have it folks. Too much excitement to handle. Maybe I should have warned you at the beginning.


Linking up with Sami's Weekend Shenanigans.

7 Quick Takes {6} (and a few past engagement photos!)

1. It's the weekend. Ohhh YEAH! Let's just say I'm super pumped for the weekend. I really have no idea why I'm this excited because I have no big plans but I'm just excited. Oh, and Downton Abbey Season 3 came in, sooooo... it's safe to say this will most likely be an unproductive weekend:)

No, I don't live in Ottawa, inter-library loan is a lovely thing:)

2. How cute is my littlest (age, not size) brother? I mean seriously I just love that boy (even when he's a butt head). 

He's in the army and currently stationed at Ft. Hood right now so I don't get to see him much. 

Super old, really bad photo of both of us from the day before his bootcamp graduation in 2009.
It's hard to take updated photos when I never get to see him:(

3. There are approximately 7, give or take 12, craft projects cluttering up my house and garage right now. I should be ashamed, but I'm not. 

4. I recently introduced my mom to blogs (and the copy/paste feature) and obviously she hasn't read many because she thinks I'm just HILARIOUS. To prove that my hilarious-ness is a figment of her imagination I sent her over to read Grace's blog Camp Patton. That women is truly hilarious. Oh, and Hi Mom!! 

5. Does anyone else ever get overwhelmed by all the things they want/need to do that they end up doing none of them? Yep, I have that problem and I have it bad. I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that my list of favorite tv shoes is longer than my list of to-do's, right? That's what I thought. 

6. This Pinterest chicken recipe is so good that I have made it twice this week. Twice in the past 3 days really. Go. Make it. Enjoy. You're welcome. (p.s. use less vinegar)

Who needs a side dish when you have chicken this good?

7. It's so hard to think up a #7 and I have no idea why since I have a million ideas but they all seem lame. So, I leave you with this...avoid poison ivy. It sucks and is itchy:( If you insist on getting poison ivy, I advise this: Scrub with a loofah or something similar to open up the little bubbles of poison and wash it with Dawn dish soap to get the oils out of your skin. While I'm not a doctor I was given this information from a pharmacist once, so I trust it, but you don't have to. It will save you from clawing the skin of your arms and legs though. Fortunately I have only gotten it twice but the first time was during engagement photos (2nd time right now hence the reason for this #7) so it was totally worth it:)

Most likely poison ivy culprit right here. 

See? Totally worth it! (Photographer here)

Love, Peace, and Chicken Grease!

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary. 

Pinterest Project

It's time for a Pinterest Project!

That's right people, I'm co-hosting a little Pinterest Project with the awesome Kala at My Breezy Room!

We are super pumped you stopped by to check out the awesomeness:)

Here's what I made...

...scroll down to read how to make your own:)

Here's what Kayla made (read about it here)....

Here's the simple little steps so you can make your own...

Burlap Monogram Wall Art

Okay, this was a super easy project. I found the frame at a garage sale for $2! I loved the shape of the frame but the art just wasn't my thang. 

Gather your supplies

Remove the screws and take apart your frame

Trace the size of your opening and cut out. Cut out your burlap. 

Staple burlap to the cardboard. Admire and smooth out any bumps. 

Paint your frame. I painted mine and decided to change the color so there's no photo. 

You can figure it out though. I trust ya!

Reassemble your frame with the burlap in it.

Trace your monogram onto scrapbook paper. Cut out.

Mod Podge your paper onto your letter. Let Dry.

Put glue dots onto the back of you letter. Attach to burlap.

Flip it over and Ta-freakin-da! 

Easy peasy!

Pin me!

Feel free to share any of your projects in my comments section below. I love checking out new blogs:)

Linked up with No Minimalist Here.

The Blog Life

Yesterday as I was getting ready for bed I decided I felt like I had a blogger kind of day. 

I worked my normal 8-5 job and emailed a bloggy friend, read some blogs, and perused Pinterest during downtime. 

After work, I stopped at a hardware store and picked up some paint, a gunny sack and a few pieces of bamboo. Might sound random, but it's not. 

Stopped in at Hobby Lobby to discover that even though it's 97° outside and June, that won't stop them from putting out the fall decorations. Instagramed that obviously. 

seriously??

Texted my cousin about the cute 4th of July outfit she should totally get her daughter. 

Couldn't decide what shoes...

Stumbled upon several aisles of 80% off home decor and went a little crazy. Okay, not too crazy but crazy enough that when the husband called I said, "Sure honey, you should totally buy that new golf bag!" I also managed to find the two items that I went in for in the first place. Winning. 

Swung by the Dollar Tree to pick up a couple crafting items that were needed and found a couple additional bargains. No big deal.

Made it home in time to do a little spray painting, burlapping and other crafting (that will be seen here tomorrow) before it got dark. 

Played with the puppy and watered my rapidly growing garden.

Came inside and made up a quick Pinterest chicken recipe that was super yummy. 

Watched some reality tv, Pretty Wicked Moms. Followed it up with an episode of Call the Midwife and fell asleep. 

If that's not the blog life, I don't know what is.

Blueberry Lemon Cookies

Well as I posted on Friday, I was in the mood to bake something. So that's just what I did. I made it home in time to take a little one hour siesta, because I was draggin', and my husband wouldn't be home for awhile still. 

I woke up with an even stronger urge to bake so my husband walked in the door to Betty Crocker mixing up a batch of Blueberry Lemon Cookies! I'm so domestic. Not. 

In true wife fashion I managed to ask my husband to fix my broken garbage disposal since I was going crazy without it. Apparently I broke it by dropping a pop tab in it? No idea how that happened, but I guess it's good to know that if my hands ever getting mangled I just need to drop a pop tab down the drain to stop it. 

My cookie making was obviously interrupted approximately 5 times while I helped "fix" the disposal. Let me tell you, no matter how clean you think the inside of the disposal is, it's not. It's actually DISGUSTING. So much for that baking soda/vinegar mix from earlier in the week. 

Well, I finally managed to finish the cookies after washing my hands 27,000 times.  I thought they turned out DELISH! 

Here's the recipe that I adapted to these...

Cookies

2 cups blueberries (mine were some I got a few months ago and threw in the freezer, they freeze beautifully)

3/4 cup crisco

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 zested lemon

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt (all I had was sea salt, worked fine)

1/2 cup milk

Preheat your oven to (about) 375°F.

Mix Crisco and white and brown sugars together.

Add zested lemon and eggs to Crisco/sugar mixture and beat well.

Before the beating.

Slowly add in dry ingredients and milk. (I had to add in a little more flour because I thought they were way too runny. I would probably not add the milk the next time.)

Gently fold in the blueberries. 

I added LOTS of blueberries. 

Drop the cookie dough onto cookie sheets by the spoonful. (I swear by airbake pans and would never use anything else for cookies)

Ignore this awful photo. 

Bake for 10 minutes or until they look right. They will not turn brown on the top, mine didn't anyway. 

These have the glaze described below. 

Let cool.

Devour. Or...

Glaze

I added a little drizzled glaze (I'm sure that's the scientific baking term for it anyway) that was super easy.

1. Pour some powdered sugar into a bowl.
2. Add lemon juice squeezed from zested lemon.
3. Stir. 
4. Add more powdered sugar or lemon juice until it's a nice runny consistency that can easily drizzle. You can also use milk if you run out of lemon juice. 

Stuff your face because they are basically healthy with all that fruit;) They taste like summer and have more of a cakey texture than cookie. It's all good!

Realize that your husband doesn't like blueberries so he isn't a fan of cookies with blueberries. News to me unless he thought they were gross, but I assure you they are not. He is just picky. 

Next time I will probably mix half of the batter with blueberries and the other half with raspberries or strawberries so he will eat them since he loves lemon. 

Enjoy! 

Linking up with Give Me the Goods:)

7 Quick Takes (5)

1. Super excited about a co-host post (is that a thing) I'm doing with my bloggy friend Kala at My Breezy Room next week. I should probably make sure I get the project done this weekend though. Cryptic enough for ya?! Oh and you should probably check out her most recent furniture transformation. It's legit. 

2. My eyelids feel like they weigh 10,000lbs right now. I'm not sure though if it's because I'm tired, which I am, or darn allergies. I love spring/summer but I'm not loving the allergies this year. I literally wake up every morning with a tickle in my nose and sneeze. Over it already. 

3. The library has become my new best friend. Well as best of friends as inanimate things can be anyways. I don't know why I think this is so cool all the sudden. Maybe it's because I'm just used to always having to pay for things at this point in my life. I just checked out a few more audio books and I was getting ready to pull out my wallet to pay when it hit me! No ma'm, your money's no good here (unless you return the goods late that is.) Yep, I'm a nerd. 

via

4. In the past 5 days my dog has killed a total of 5(!!!) baby bunnies:( It is really sad, but at the same time, I guess I'm glad they aren't stealing food from my garden. Gunnar is just SO proud of himself but I wish he would catch the darn birds eating my strawberries instead.

5. Today I found a recipe for Cotton Candy Cake Cookies from Mama Miss and I almost peed my pants with excitement. Okay not really but you get the picture. I'm what you might call mildly obsessed with cotton candy ever since I was little. Some people have signature drinks or a carving station at their weddings, I had a cotton candy station. (And, cotton candy taffy, stick candy and rock candy). Complete with a sign I hand painted. Love the stuff! 

this may or may not be hanging in my house now...

6. Since the person who has checked out the third season of Downton Abbey from the library obviously doesn't have the dedication that I have, and therefor hasn't returned it yet, I have had to start a new series while I wait. Impatiently. I had heard that if you like Downton Abbey you will probably enjoy Call the Midwife. They were right. I do enjoy it. I'm about four episodes in and it is quite good. I still want the DA though. Hurry up you under-ambitious tv show watcher that's hogging the only copy. 

7. In approximately 2. 5 hours I get to see my husband again. That will last approximately 42 hours before I don't get to see him again. And then I will wait another 290 hours (approx) before I get to see him again. This whole work out of town biz is getting OLD. As are we...

circa 2006 at the KC Plaza

Happy friday lovely people!

Linking up with Jen at Conversion Diary.

I'm a Right Brained Emotional Disaster

I stumbled across this little link here on the MSN home page and was like "WOAH". 

THIS IS ME!

If you haven't clicked on the link yet you probably should do it so you can take the "quiz" to determine whether or not you are right brained. Obviously, I already new that I was, but it's weird to have visuals that can nail down your personality so well. 

Here are some of my favorites from the list.

Your living room serves as an artist's studio, video arcade and jam space.

Maybe not my living room but this is what I have....

Craft closet...one of two.

I'm "organizing" garage sale junk (to get rid of), files, wedding supply leftovers, etc.
Excuse me while I hang my head in shame. 

It's all because I'm right brained though I tell ya! Luckily the rest of my house doesn't look like this or my husband would probably kill me. 

Plus you know why I keep all this stuff? Because of the next point...

You can make art out of anything. Seriously, anything.

I think this all the time and it's the reason it's so hard for me to throw some things away. In the back of my head I'm always thinking I could make something so cool with this! I spend hours on Pinterest looking at cool things to make with my junk. I used to spend hours on Etsy looking, but never buying, because why would I buy when I could make it?

You try, but you haven't been to a doctor appointment on time in about eight years.

Yep, this is me too. Always late. Or exactly on time. On Sunday's my priest always jokes, "Oh, Julie's here, it must be time to start mass." Too bad it's true. I try so hard but I always underestimate how much time stuff takes even when I try to overestimate. #RightBrainedProblems. 

You're definitely not a morning person.

EVERY.DAY.OF.MY.LIFE. - I wake up before 7:00 am for two reasons only. 

1. Black Friday Shopping - The last couple years it started on Thursday night so I have gone garage sale shopping early to make up for that one morning of lost sleep.
2. Vacation - I will get up at any time day or night if it means I'm going on vacation and I won't even complain. 

Unless I'm doing one of the two things listed above, don't wake me up early and don't talk to me before at least 9 am. You can thank me later (at a decent hour).

You love making other people feel good.

Does anyone not love this?? Random acts of kindness are the best. I need to do more of them. 

And last, but not least, of my favorites from this list...

This is you watching a sad movie.

Or listening to a song, watching a baby commercial, reading a blog, etc. Literally have felt like this twice three times already today. Not joking.

So, in a nutshell....I'm late because I hate getting out of bed and can't find anything in my mess of a room. Plus I got distracted by all the pretty things and trying to make people happy. I feel bad because I'm late and I'm sure it doesn't make you happy so I turn into a blubbering emotional disaster. (I hope you read this really fast and without pauses because that's how I would say it while reaching for a tissue).

And that my dear husband is what you married. A right brained girl who wants to make you happy but spends lots of her time crying for no real reason. Xoxo!