Guest Bedroom Ideas -- Show Us Your Life

I have never participated in a Show Us Your Life from Kelly's Korner... but I'm going to today! :)  I could spend hours (and have) going through all of the bloggers that link up on Kelly's blog! Fun!!!

So, I have a list a mile long of things I want to do when I'm done with school in 8 short weeks (8 weeks!)  One of them, is re-doing our spare room.  Right now, it houses my old queen size bed from Pier One that is a creamy white and has slats that look like shutters.  I still really like the bed, it just needs a room to suit it!!! It's a bit shabby chic, which is just fine with me.

I want to go with a "cool and calm" feel in that room.  The rest of our house is pretty warm with browns, taupes, cranberry red, burnt orange, blacks and beiges.  I figure we could use a change of pace... :)

So far, I love the look of two duvets from Pottery Barn... Deirdre and Sydney.

I love Deirdre for the warm colors in the bedding... but I was trying to get away from that.  However, it may be a great way to tie in warm colors with a calm feeling... What to do you think?  I could do the walls in a nice green or blue... or even a similar color as what is shown.



Then, Sydney just grabs my eye as being cool and calm, don't ya think?  In this room I think I would definitely go with a green or blue wall. Hmmm...



I have some time to make a decision, but which do you like better?

Well, I never have any rooms cleaned and photographed in time to participate in Show Us Your Life... HA! But I do love looking at all of the ideas over there! Last week was nurseries/children's rooms! FUN!!! 

If you're one of my regular readers, hop on over there and check out the talented ladies that post their rooms and if you're here from SUYL... thanks for stopping by!

Wednesday Pick-Me-Up

**Thanks for everyone's kind words about me being dizzy.  If it keeps up, I will make an appointment with my pcp!!!***

I thought this is appropriate for the mundane hump day since music definitely serves as my pick-me-up!

Brandon is not nearly as into music as I am... in fact, recently he's gotten "old" on me and started listening to news radio! Holy MAN! What does he think we are? Adults?! Ahem... kidding! :)

Anyway, he is funny about his music choices.  He doesn't like just anything, like me.  But, some of his favorite are Pink, Casting Crowns, Garth Brooks, Rascal Flatts, AC/DC and... Sara Bareilles. Huh? Ha! Luckily, I love all of the above... well, I'm not a LOVER of Garth but I can handle his twang and AC/DC isn't my top choice, but it'll do as well.  We were doing errands with our sweet little man, Nickolai the other day and he asked me who was on the radio.  I promptly went to Target to buy the cd!!! So, anyway... Sara's new cd Kaleidoscope is chillin' in my car's cd player and I will probably play it continuously... for a while. :) 

So, if you haven't heard it... here it is! And if you  have, enjoy the video.  She really is beautiful! I appreciate her not being too overdone and I like her natural beauty! :)



Elaina & I were groovin' while we were running errands today!!! :o)

Long Weekend Review -- Under the Weather

I'm pretty sure I jinxed myself.  I have been thinking recently about how I am so lucky to not get sick very often.  Other than the strep-throat that I consistently get once or twice a year... I'm pretty healthy.  I also get seasonal allergies that are a real pain, but such is life. But Sunday morning I woke up with a bad case of the dizzies... and I can't shake it.  Hmmm...

I had a long weekend. This turned into a long post.

It started out early on Friday with an appointment at my Endocrinologist's office.  I had a full blood panel and thyroid ultrasound in July and my blood work came back fine, my primary care physician found a "nodule" on my thyroid.  Well, I suppose the radiologist is the one that really found it. Anywho, she kind of scared me (us) a tad by discussing that while the "nodule" AKA lump could be nothing, it could also be thyroid cancer.  Thankfully, I'm not too much of a hypochondriac but it freaked Brandon out, that's for sure.  I was referred to a specialist, Mr. Endo, but he didn't want to see me for three months or so.  Apparently it was so he could measure whether the lump had grown or not.  Thankfully, I had forgotten about my appointment because I had kind of been fretting about it for a while, but eventually I put it on the back burner.  I got a reminder call on Thursday and realized that D day was finally here.  The whole time I didn't really think anything would come of it, I just was nervous over what they would do at the appointment.  I'm not a huge fan of needles and having a needle stuck in my neck for a biopsy didn't seem like a grand ol' time... ;)  Anyway, Dr. Endo is hilarious.  He is a younger guy and certainly quirky, as I believe most docs are... but he put me to rest with his jokes here and there.  He showed me his normal acting thyroid on his ultrasound machine and then I got to see mine in comparison.  That was kind of cool.... except mine is dead and black while his is nicely alive and white! Ha! Oh well, my meds take care of that. :)  Thankfully, the lump has not grown at all and is apparently small enough for him to not be concerned.  So, no biopsy.  However, he did let me know that the biopsy is no big deal and would just leave a hicky looking thing on my neck.  He said I was free to tell anyone that I got it at the Dr. but I was not free to say that Dr. Shannon gave it to him... he warned me that I would have a 5'2'' Asian lady after me (his wife) and "she's no scrapper..." he said! Haha!!!  He also mentioned to me that if we ever decide to become pregnant, or are blessed with a pregnancy, that him and I will be really close.  I then joked that we would be BFFs and he said "yeah... but without the necklace, ok?!"  Ha! Then he proceeded to explain that while I would have to see him every 6 weeks for blood draws, he will not be looking at my "bajinga" or anything. Hahahaha! I about died when he said that... Bajinga has now replaced "hoo haw" in my vocabulary for body parts!!! :o)  So, he wants to see me in 6 months to measure the lump again... I'm sure it'll be fine! :)

I then worked a 13 hour shift at the family biz on Friday. Sheesh! We were BUSY!

Saturday was a busy day too... I have been putting together a "cousin reunion" on my step-dads side of the family as we haven't seen each other in over a year.  It's just kind of one of those things where the family isn't that close and if you don't do something to organize a meeting... it just doesn't happen.  So, a few hours of visiting and some snacky foods and we're set for another year! ha!  Then, we have been having Texas Hold 'Em tournaments at the family biz on Saturdays so it was a bit of a busy night that night too... But, we were home and tucked into bed by 11pm that night... a rarity for us, especially on a weekend night!

Although I got plenty of sleep, I woke up Sunday exhausted!!! We were supposed to go to dinner at B's parent's that night and I had plans to make pumpkin treats with a friend during the afternoon... Well, for some reason I have been super dizzy.  I thought when I got up for the second time (at 11am, mind you) that I just needed to eat something because I was so dizzy I almost fell off the toilet! HA!  But even after I ate a sensible breakfast (one fried egg on whole wheat toast and greek yogurt) I still felt icky.  But, Brandon had plans to practice golf while I was with my friend, so we got ready and headed out.  Needless to say, I spent two hours on BFF Shandy's chair while she watched Confessions of  a Shopaholic and I nodded off here and there!!!  Brandon came back early as it was raining sideways...! He isn't hardly bothered by the rain so he must have been kind of tired...

Sidenote:  He's started practicing seriously for some golf tournaments! Golf is his true passion... I only want him to be happy! So, he's (we've) decided for him to take it seriously and try to make a name for himself!!! He has been playing awesome lately, but he only plays about once a month and NEVER practices.  But, when he can be only 3-4 over par when not playing very often... he can be a scratch golfer, easy!!! He has so much talent and love for the game... I hope he follows his dream! :)

Anyway, so we proceeded to his parents house which was fine because they don't care if I wear my sweats and they have a cozy fire going in this type of weather! *wink* Plus, Nickolai was going to be there.  I haven't had him for a couple of weeks because they haven't needed a sitter and Auntie misses him!!! :)  My MIL put on a feast, per usual... we had peanut soup, beef wellington, pear/gorgonzola/candied pecan/craisen/rasp vinaigrette salad, and a yummy green bean dish. Whew! I know that took her forever to make... I mean, who  makes Beef Wellington from scratch!? She even takes the time to cut out sweet little fall leaves to put on top of the dough... Oh my.  Oh! I forgot, she made her famous creme brule (sp?)  too... It's amazing. Better than any fine dining restaurant, I promise. I promise that I did the dishes.  I did! I  made her go hold her little grand baby, oh right, like I had to force her! haha!


So, I had today off... and really don't have a TON of homework to do so I wrote a list on my mirror of things I needed to accomplish:
Figure out airport transportation (aka ask my BFFs if they'll take me)
Make a hair appointment for next week
Get a pedicure? Wow!
CLEAN!!! Oh, geeze, the house is a wreck.
Take care of a title/registration for a quad Brandon bought a month ago... Shoot! Fines!
Laundry (have I mentioned that my uber-expensive washer broke two weeks ago!?)
Make a meal plan
Run!

Well, I slept in late, again. Shoot! And caught up on my DVR... because honestly? I'm still super dizzy.  I have ZERO other symptoms.  I am not nauseated, no cough, no fever, just dizzy with a slight headache. Sigh. Wasted day off... At least I managed to make dinner and do the dishes... Oh yeah, and I put away the laundry that has been sitting on the love seat for weeks....

So, after WebMD'ing dizziness... I see that common causes are a drop in blood pressure & low blood sugar... I don't think I have either. What gives?!

If you made it through this very long post, I thank you... haha! Have you ever had random dizzy spells? What could it be? If it lasts much longer, I'm going to call my doc.

**I'm not pregnant.**  Not sure if dizziness is even a symptom, but I'm NOT! LOL!

Meeting Ms. Cakeball Herself!!!!

Well, I'm a little obsessive over Cakeballs.  Have you had them? WHAAAT? You haven't? Holy man... you DO NOT KNOW what you're missing!!!! Where have you BEEN?

Hey, I warned you I was obsessive.  If you haven't had Cakeballs, you certainly haven't me me IRL. In fact, Midwest girls? I should totally make Cakeballs when I'm at Jen's! Addie will help, right!?

I first found out about Cakeballs from my sister-in-law who found them off of Pioneer Woman's blog.  In fact, I helped her make her first batch.  They're pretty fool proof, really.  She did a post on her blog about them and then it was all history.  Now, I make them for most family birthdays and any other special occasion.  I just followed the tutorial from PW for the longest time until I realized that the real pioneer (ha!) of the cakeball was in fact Bakerella!  Heck, she has TONS of delicious recipes on there! I made my other SIL this Chocolate Peanut Butter cake for her birthday this year... WOW!!! Delicious!

So, when my BFF Shandy asked if I wanted to go with her to Bakerella's Cake Pop book signing, I didn't hesitate! Better yet, it was on Shandy's 25th birthday! See, she even got #25 in line! Sweeet!



We had to drive to a Snotty Potty town a little east of Seattle to meet her, but no big deal. Once at the big gorgeous mall, we all huddled into William Sonoma (holy snotty store, btw!) and listened as Bakerella answered various questions about the perfect size for cake balls/pops, etc...



Then we were pushed back out into the mall and let in to meet her by groups of 10.  At this point, Nickolai was OVER meeting Bakerella! Ha! I had been wearing him in his Bjorn most of the time and we both were sweatin'! His stroller was used mostly for storage of our Starbucks, purses, cupcakes, Harry & David goodies and Lululemon loot! But, at one point he was happy and smilin' in his stroller! .



We were pretty close to the beginning of the line so we really didn't wait long.  Then, the snooty William Sonoma lady sneered at us to come inside the store to meet her... and then when I asked if we could have a picture apiece she snarled at me again! Good LORD! You can bet I bought my damned Cakepop Cookbook and that was IT! No $20 muffin mixes or $200 crock pots for me! Sorrrrrry lady! Haha!!!



I have to say, while the WS staff ticked us off a tad, Bakerella was really so sweet... so was her photographer that she had with her. 



So, there you have it! I've now met both PW and Bakerella and they were both so gracious and sweet! Both of them spent a good amount of time answering questions about their recipes and techniques and other random stuff too!!!

Now, don't forget to remind me to tell you the story about the day that BFF Liz and I met Lady Gaga... Oh.Lord.  Thankfully, it was pre-meat suit days. Geeze, she's weird!

Tid Bits of Fall

My life is crazy right now. Dangit.  So, I literally have maybe five fall decorations up... Man!!! Falltime is my second favorite season!!! Ha, Christmas is number one, for sure.  I just haven't had the time or energy (if we're being honest) to go down under the house and get my bins of fall stuff.  Actually, not only have I not done that but I haven't tidied up the house enough to decorate.  Do you do that too?  Do a good cleaning and de-clutter before you decorate?  I definitely do... So, for now... my few little decorations and Yankee candle will have to do.  I got a new Apple Pie scented Bean Pod candle, I should light that baby up.  Bean Pod candles are my ultimate fave! I swear one little candle puts off so much scent!!!  Anyway, here are my measly fall decorations!!!

Pretty fall colored Dahlias on my extra tiny table!!! I also love these tiny pumpkins, they're a tad glittery! Oh, see that sweet wooden high chair lurking in the corner?  That was my mom's and all of her siblings and then my high chair! Isn't that sweet?  I'm not sure if I'll use it for its intended purpose... but I love it anyway. :)

My lovely fall wreath... oh, and my favorite wreath hanger from PB! I love it, it says 'The Weedons' on it. :)

I forgot to mention that I did manage to get Elaina to the pumpkin patch last week... She had a blast talking to the goats, sheep and chickens but when it came time to make the piggie noise she was confused.  Her lion noise kept coming out, ha! The animals were definitely her favorite, she wasn't so interested in the pumpkin part!!! Ha! She wouldn't let me carry her through the rows of pumpkins and kept tripping over the vines but she just kept on truckin'! Ha, she's no sissy girl!!! :)

Happy Fall Friday! :)

MyAgenda Finally Arrived!!!

I have been putting off ordering my very own MyAgenda from the MomAgenda website.  I have always been afraid that I would spend a good chunk of money on a planner and then never use it... But, my phone's calendar setting is just not enough for keeping track of all of my obligations.  I've only had it a little over a week but... so far, I love it!!!

First of all, I ordered it in my favorite color, purple.  It's beautiful! A little flashy, I will admit... but oh well!  I had my name put on it too! The part that sold me on this planner is the week at a glance style with an additional FOUR places to organize obligations or tasks!!! Now, the original MomAgenda suggests using these spots for keeping track of different kids' activities.  For me, I am using the extra four spots in the MyAgenda for school, work, exercise and meal planning.  Whew! I love being able to write everything out!!! If you're in need of a great planner, head over there!!! I certainly linked the website enough... Haha!!!

By the way, this was my first attempt at using Picasa3 to make a collage and then posting it... So, it's a little amateur! Ha! I need to figure out Picasa because it seems much easier than the other route I was taking to upload pictures... Is that what everyone uses???

Hickery Dickery Dock

Elaina is too cute... I can't imagine what I will be like as a mom because I find myself snapping pictures of her all of the time and even taking way too many videos!!! Please disregard my silly voice!!! Isn't it weird to listen to yourself?

This is her favorite nursery rhyme... Hickery Dickery Dock!  Sorry that Nickolai fusses at the end... :)

Original Video - More videos at TinyPic

These two cousins are funny.  I know that they will have plenty of years to come of fighting and annoying each other... but it'll be fun to watch them have tons of laughs together too!  Cousins are a special thing and I can't wait to have my own kids to add to this mix!

Recipe Review: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Ok, I'm on a recipe kick... I've been meaning to post quite a few for a while so I'm just going to keep going until I run out of steam! :) 

I've seen recipes for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins a few places... A couple of weeks ago I saw Jenna's recipe here and was hell bent to try it.  Except, I couldn't find canned pumpkin.  Call me crazy, but I wasn't aware of the shortage! So, I gave up after toting Nickolai around to two stores... ugh!  But, I was reading another blog tonight and she noted that THIS blogger had mentioned just adding canned pumpkin to a boxed Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Muffin mix.  Hey, not a bad idea! I love to make stuff from scratch, but I don't always have the time.  I mean, who does really?  Taking a little help from the store is a bonus!

So, assembly of this recipe is super easy.  Thanks Betty! :)  I added more pumpkin than this blogger calls for.  I added half of a 15oz can and reduced the water accordingly.  I also added another handful of chocolate chips and a tsp of cinnamon.  I baked my muffins for 15 minutes and they are perfect!!! I was bummed that I am out of powdered sugar so I couldn't make the nummy looking glaze... and I improvised with a brown sugar concoction - not the same.  It's okay, but the glaze is probably much better!

I still want to try Jenna's recipe and will someday when I have more time.  I made her favorite chocolate chip cookies last week and they're AMAZING! I'm not a great baker and usually my cookies aren't so hot... But, these are awesome! Totally my favorite CCC recipe from now on! :)

Now I have half of a can of pumpkin to use... any suggestions?  I guess I could just make more muffins and give them away.... or freeze them?

Recipe Review: PW's Three Cheese Stuffed Shells

I haven't had a chance to try as many Pioneer Woman recipes that I want to... But, I'm trying to work a few in here and there.  When I stopped by her cooking blog earlier this week I decided I should give this one a try.  So, I'll give you all the link here and let you know my/our thoughts!!!

Prep/Cooking Time:

In my opinion, the most important part of this is letting the sauce cook for as long as you have time for.  I only let it cook for about 45 minutes and it was delicious, but if I had the time I would have given it another 45 minutes.  I just love the taste of long & slowly simmered home made sauces!!! :) I also would have preferred to use more sauce.  Adding a cup of water while it's simmering would help stretch it a bit. Also, I realized that I only bought regular shells, not jumbo.  So... Um... I stuffed a lot more shells! Ha! That's the only difference that I can see though...

I took a few pics, but really? Who am I to out do P-Dub's recipes? I mean, she takes a picture of each step for the love! It's that easy for us to follow!!! :)  So if you want to see pictures of this yummy recipe... go HERE!!! :)  I served ours with fresh green beans with some granulated garlic and butter spray! I thought it was great... Brandon put it above spaghetti (he really doesn't prefer sketti) and below lasagna (he loves zanyah) so... those are our ratings!!!

Oh, I also made a dish for our friends that just had a baby girl today.  I plan on giving it to them tomorrow.  I went ahead and baked it and they can just warm it up in the oven... Easy!!!

Huge Spider & Beetlish Cricket?

This was about a month ago... But, I still thought it was blog worthy. 

I always expect a few not-so-hot things to happen around fall time, but I usually let them slide because I love the crispness in the air and the gorgeous scenery.  Not to mention my CROCK POT!!! :)

I already posted this picture a while ago, but in case you missed it here's the same one again!  Actually, in all honesty... I forgot I posted a picture of this already until after I wrote this post and I just didn't want to delete the spider part.  Sorry! Ha!

So, while folding the dreaded "sock collection" that usually sits around for about 6 weeks while we dig through it every day for socks (no joke!), I found this nasty little huge spider!!! I mean, I know this is a cell phone pic with poor lighting/quality... but check out the size of that mother in relation to my sock!!!

Holy Geeeeeze! I was home by myself so I eventually (ten minutes later) had worked up the nerve to go whack it with a hanger.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I mean, what was I thinking? Why didn't I get a broom? Or... anything other than a hanger?  Hangers do not exactly produce precise results, FYI.  But, I killed it (sad, really) and then flushed him. Sorry Spidey, I just couldn't do it. Ewwww. 

That same week, only a couple of days later... I went to put Elaina down for her morning nap and a giant *idunnowhattocallit* was chilling on her crib bumper!!!!  Can you see him?

I seriously thought it was fake at first!  I put her down and stepped toward it carefully... then I realized it was GINORMOUS and freaked out a little (on the inside..)

and got the bright idea to attempt to get it into a giant cup.

Great idea! I certainly wasn't going to put the child in the crib with a freaky critter and I was sure has HELL not going to get closer than arms length to that thing either! SICK!  I still don't know what it was... but I let it sit in the cup until her parents came home... I figure they probably let him free.

So, the last story of ewwy gooey fall critters is about a nasty little slug man.  We are VERY used to seeing slugs around these parts. Sick!!! But, they just are a fact of life around here.  With dogs that are roaming around the yard to potty and whatnot, I am always mindful of their feet and tennis balls (yes, sick!) when they come inside.  So, the other night I was sitting in bed using the laptop and Jack came up and wanted some love.  I had just let him inside from going potty and I noticed what I thought was an eye boogie.  Well, you guessed it... when I went to wipe it... and it was slimy... I freaked out and flung it on the floor... A couple of seconds later when I looked closer I realized it was a teeny tiny baby slug.  Sorry baby slug, I just had to flush ya. EWWW!!!

I hope I'm done with my fall critter encounters... I don't mind a spider in the house here or there... as long as they're on the ceiling or whatever.  I don't want them in my sock pile!!! Haha!!!

Blog Challenge: Day 6, 7, 8, 9 & 10!

I'm consolidating... :)

Day 6: Five people who mean a lot to you.


This little challenge seems to be a little redundant, no? ;)

1.  My HUSBAND!!!! Duh!

2.  My BFFs... Shandy, Kristine & Liz

3.  Our Parents... They're really good to us!

4.  Our extended family... I'm super close with my aunt, all of our grandparents and we're just so lucky to have them all!!!

5.  The buddies I've met through blogging!!! I mean, I'm going to stay with Jen in November! How lucky am I?!  It is nice to have a new group of people that I have different things in common with than my long-time BFFs.  I love them dearly, but it is always great to be able to be close to new people!!!

Day 7: Four turn offs.

1.  Bad breath... period.the.end. YUCK! I am obsessive over oral hygiene... In fact, I was ASTONISHED to hear recently that there are people that only brush their teeth once a day!!! SICK!!! I'm not a super germaphobe but that is just NAS TAY!

2.  Cockiness or the "always right" syndrome... This goes for men & women alike.  I cannot stand someone who thinks that their ish doesn't stink. I am all about being real and down to earth.  Sure, sometimes I'm a bit too much for people to handle but I certainly am the first to admit when I'm wrong!  However, if I really do think that I'm right?  I will stand my ground! Ha!

3.  Ignorance.  I mean this in the sense of... just plain being ignorant.  Not dumb or intellectually challenged... because that is just fine. I am not great at math either *wink*!  For instance, I was reading a blog last night and the lady was openly talking about how her and her husband were having a really hard time finding a babysitter because neither of them trusted any "non-Caucasian" people to sit for their son. Um, excuse me? Is this 2010? Is that REALLY tolerated in other parts of the country? Because, it is NOT here. IGNORANCE.  There is no excuse... in my book. Ugh.



Day 8: Three turn ons.

1.  Smelling great!!! Not overly perfumed, just a yummy scent of some sort.  I am known for seeking out girls' hair to smell it if it "looks like it smells good..." If that makes any sense at all, ha! 

2.  Clean teeth... and fresh breath!

3.  Being able to make jokes and laugh without it being at the cost of others.  Life is really funny... jokes don't always need to be racist/sexist... etc.

Am I coming off snobby? I sure don't mean to...


Day 9: Two words that describe your life right now.

Chaotic & Exhausting... Just wait until December, I'll have different words for it then when I'm done with school! ;)



Day 10: One confession.

Serious, or goofy? One of each? Ok!

I smell my armpits throughout the day to make sure I'm still fresh...

I'm very self-aware.  I know my good and bad attributes and am constantly reminding myself that I am a work in progress.  Life isn't about the destination of who I want to be but the journey that is making me who I want to be. Right? Right!!!

Thanks for reading all of this!!!