It's My Birthday Week!

Some of you may recognize what's in the photo above... yep, you got it, the Famous Rio Margarita. This was #1 of 4 for me on Saturday night when I went out with some good friends for the kick off to my Birthday Week. I had such a good time, I love that I have "grown-up" friends now. It's weird how different our lives become when we get married and have kids. It becomes such a blessing to have "couple" friends, people that Brian and I can go out with together, that we share the same interests with and can have the same kind of fun. Nothing crazy, just good-ole-fashioned get drunk off of a couple of drinks because we don't drink that much anymore, laugh at everything, ready for bed by 1 am, hungover for the whole rest of the next day kind of fun!

Here are my great girl friends, love them - love that they are willing to give up a night of their crazy-busy lives for me!

Here is part of the group in some Mardi Gras masks that I actually have no idea where we got them, but had no problem just putting them on my face?? Also, have no idea, why Brian isn't wearing his??? We are missing a few people by this point, 2 sleep-deprived parents who were in desperate need of a good nights sleep and one person who already was throwing up. Sorry Nickie!

So, even though it took me all day Sunday to recuperate, it was well worth it. We had a great time at the Rio and later dancing at Croc's and I am so grateful to my husband for planning this and for all of my friends to help kick off Birthday Week.

I am leaving for Vegas Saturday with some family members to celebrate my cousin's 21st Birthday, should be interesting, should have a few more days of recuperating coming my way.

Happy Birthday Week to me!

Project Life...

Well thanks to my friends, Kelly and Lindsay, I am taking plunge into Project Life! I will start by saying that I hope that they are still my friends by the time I am "trained" in this new world of digital scrapbooking.

IT IS HARD! I don't know why I am having such a hard time grasping this, it is soo overwhelming to me. I thought maybe it was because I am having to train myself to think outside of my "normal" scrapbook life, I have been doing paper scrapbooking for years and finally feel like I got that down, now I am learning a whole new way to capture the memories of our life.

I have chosen to do a book for Mason before his high school graduation. If you remember from last year I did one for Rachel too. Last year though, I went to a weekend scrapbooking retreat and cranked out almost her entire book; I basically ate, slept, and breathed her book for a few days and got it finished. I am starting earlier on Mason's but with a whole new process to learn.

I also wonder if I'm struggling because I am trying to re-create a life of 17+ years into this book. I am having to dig through tubs of pics to find what I need and ask for photos from other people because I wasn't Mason's mom from day one, I have pics of him from age 6 and up. I also have a hard time choosing his pics from that early age because I wasn't there, I don't know why the photo was taken or what the memory is that goes with it, I don't know if I am choosing the right photos for the right reasons. Hmmmmmm, uggghhhh, I am struggling!

I also am fighting with the "old fashioned" photos, remember when they were printed on 3x5 instead of 4x6? Well I am scanning them all into my computer and wow! they are little things that I now have to try to fit into the squares. Hmmmmmmm!

I know I am sounding really negative, but I am VERY excited! Just scared to death. :) I will figure this out, I know I will.

I spent a few hours with Kelly today, getting some valuable lessons and have started putting them to use and actually finished a title page and the first layout for Mason's book. I am hoping, and Kelly and Lindsay are promising that once I get the hang of it, I will be moving along much faster, I sure hope so or I won't have his book done until Mason's kids are finishing high school.

So, here are my first finished pages. I will see if I still love them tomorrow, if not... the great thing about digital is that I can fix them, right?

So a big thank you to Lindsay and Kelly. I promise to stop bothering you soon, not real soon, but soon!

Mason's Senior Pics

We found ourselves ready for Mason's senior pics this year and we had the pure luck to catch Lindsay with www.5ivephoto.com before she moved out of state. What a true blessing for us, for Mason especially. Mason is incredibly shy and I was worried that he would just go and give his usual look and we wouldn't get anything different. Wow, was I wrong. Lindsay was able to get this pretty laid back teenager to smile and actually relax for her and got some amazing shots of him. She took us to a location that I would have never thought of and got a lot of different shots that I am so pleased with and more importantly that Mason actually loves, that right there should tell you a lot about his experience, who likes their own photo?

Here are some of my favorite ones

My Grandma always told me when I was little that in life, it's not what you know, but who you know. This is just another example of how well this lesson has played out in my life. Without my friendship with Lindsay, Mason would not have had this great experience for his Senior Pics. So a big thank you to Lindsay. Now I just need her back here in time to do Brady's (Lindsay you have 5 years to move back or we are doing them in Reno).

Last of 2011 in a Nutshell...

So obviously, I have been a slacker! Instead of getting all carried away with what I haven't posted, I am going to just do a quick recap, get current and move on.

What we haven't shared over the last few months ---

-Mason had his senior pictures taken (I will actually do a separate post on this because they are really great and I have to give a big plug to our photographer).

-Went to The Rio downtown (haven't been there for over 10 years) with friends and learned that for some reason there is no longer a 3 margarita max - I had 4.5 and then remembered why I hadn't been there for 10 years (that's how long it takes to be ready for a Rio marg again).

-Brady turned 13 (I cried most of the day). Had 5 teenage boys spend the night and eat and drink me out of house and home. Also learned that teenage boys are indeed just as hilarious as teenage girls, they can sing the sh*t out of I'm sexy and I know it and I now know every word to that song.

-Did an 8-week challenge at the Rec Center with some friends and lost 15 lbs. and actually learned how to work some weight equipment. Had a ton of fun.

-Celebrated Thanksgiving at our house with only a little family drama

-Rachel came home for Thanksgiving and Christmas (she is still here!)

-Spent the holidays hanging with friends and family (I had to learn and deal with Christmas as the mom of a bunch of teenagers and not little kids. I actually mourned having little kids this year and had a hard time learning my "new" type of Christmas, which is actually quite different than what I was used to.

-Brady is still in a cast, it's an acrylic one that will be on for at least a couple more months, but he is doing well.

-Brady was released to start playing indoor soccer and has his first game last night.

-Became obsessed with Pinterest.

Ok, I realize this is really lame, but if I get all caught up in wanting to post pics and do seperate posts on everything than I will never get this blog caught up.

So..... here's to 2012!

Meet my new Nephew!

I'm a little behind on blogging, but on October 23, I became a TT again.



Meet Brogan...







This is probably going to be my last niece or nephew because I think all of my siblings are done having babies, unless there is some adoption going on, this will be it!

I was blessed to be at the hospital hanging with Brogan's brother and sister, keeping them occupied while awaiting their baby brothers birth.

Brogan is so cute, he is such a little guy, weighing in at only 6 lbs. 11 oz., we don't usually have such small babies in this family. He is such a little snuggler too.

Thank you Brother and Sister for making me a TT again, I love your little guy and can't wait to watch him grow up. XOXO

On the Road to Recovery... finally!

After 4 1/2 rough weeks, approximately 10 trips to Children's, a week off of school and work, a lot of rest, and serious amounts of praying, Brady had a great appointment with his Orthopedic Team today. This was a big appointment for him because they took off the long cast to see what his arm would do, well it did what it was supposed to, which is starting to heal and he was able to move to a short cast today; something he has been anxiously awaiting. A short cast means a whole new world for the almost 13 year old (and for mom too, let's be honest, I am ready for him to be able to shower on his own again).

So, from here, he wears this cast for about 4 weeks and HOPEFULLY if all goes well and he doesn't have any more injuries, he will be in just a sling by mid-December.

Thank you to everyone that has been visiting, checking in, and sending good thoughts and prayers his way - it has all paid off because he is well on his way to a full recovery (without surgery) and I'm sure on to his next injury to scare the crap out of me again.

So that happened...

As a mom of a boy, I expect a lot; a lot of injuries, a lot of sweat, a lot of stink, a lot of imagination, just alot of everything. But I did not ever expect to come home to my sons arm angling up like a ramp. I pulled into the driveway at home on Thursday to Brady sitting inside the garage on the phone, I thought "hmm, his face looks weird", then I looked at his arm and he brought me the phone and said "talk to the 911 operator". I'm sorry, what? "Hello ma'am, the ambulance is on it's way". Apparently this is what happens when you are skateboarding and fall off catching yourself on your arm.

I cannot believe how brave he is and has been. He was not screaming, not crying, just very calmly asking me "if this was normal" on the way to the hospital. We got to Children's North Campus and they were so fast to take care of him. They had him on the splint above and pumping meds into him within minutes. I just kept hearing them say "we have a deformed arm" over and over again. After stabilizing him and getting his pain under control, they took him into X-ray to see how bad it was.


After talking with the orthopedic surgeon, they decided to manually manipulate it and get it back into place if they could. Luckily, they put him under and did what they needed to to make his arm "un-deformed". He did awesome during the procedure however didn't do so well coming out of anesthesia. He couldn't stop throwing up and they ended up keeping him overnight because he couldn't keep any pain meds down. They let us go home 1st thing Friday morning and he has been home resting all weekend. He has to keep his arm elevated and take it easy for three days to try and keep the swelling down.

We will go back tomorrow morning to get more x-rays done to make sure the set is doing what it's supposed to be doing so he won't have to have surgery (plates and screws, boo). He should have this cast on until tomorrow, get another one, and then another one (only to the elbow in 3-4 weeks) for a total of about 7-8 weeks of casts and recovery. Seems like a long road for him. He is doing great though, getting more independent every day.


Here is his awesome pink cast, pink in honor of breast cancer awareness month (his idea, cute, huh?). We shall see what color he picks tomorrow...

We will keep you updated on his progress, keep the good thoughts coming his way. He is already bored and driving himself (and us) crazy. :) A big thank you to everyone that has brought him treats and gifts to occupy his time, we really appreciate your love and thoughtfulness. A BIG special thank you to Grandma/Mom for taking such good care of US! Love you.

It is amazing how fast life really does pass you by! Brian and I have been married 11 years today and I can still remember how I felt the day he proposed and the day we were married. We started our life a little backwards, but managed to get right on track once we did get started; 3 kids, a mortgage, some car payments, braces, carpooling, PTA, and now the first one of to college. I don't know where I thought we would be looking ahead 11 years, but I do know that I love Brian more today than I did 11 years ago. He is a wonderful husband, so supportive and kind that I sometimes wonder if I even deserve him (I always decide that I do, he's the lucky one, right :); he is an amazing dad to my (our) children and I love that he teaches them about love and respect between parents; I love that our daughter has learned how men should treat her and I love that our boys have learned how to treat their wife or girlfriend when the time comes from their dad. I know that even when it gets hard (and it does) that he will be there to help pick up the pieces; I know that marriage is hard work and that it takes two people everyday to keep it going, even though one person may carry the other from time to time; I know that I want to grow old with him and even dream of renting beach cottages so that our grown children and our grandchildren (not any time soon) will be able to come visit us.

I am blessed to have married this man 11 years ago and look forward to many more.

Happy Anniversary Honey, I love you!

Disney Autograph Books

Last month my sister and her family went on a Disney Cruise, which included the cruise and 4 days at Disney World. I remembered that when we had taken our kids on Disney Vacations, one of their favorite things were to get autographs from all of the characters. I wanted to make an autograph book for each of my nieces and my nephew for their trip, which I hope to do for all of my nieces and nephews when they go on their own Disney Vacations someday.

I spent a lot of time of these and I was really happy to be done, because I think, no I KNOW that I was a little more optimistic than I should have been. It was a lot more work that I thought it would be, but in the end, I thought they were great. I got on-line and looked up all of the characters that would be on their specific cruise and I did the same with the 2 parks they were going to visit and got the list of characters that would be at the parks those days, so I knew just what to put in their books; 22 character pages total, one side had the name and a place for their photo and the other side for the autograph.

When I took them to the kids, they were kinda like "... thanks TT" but they didn't really understand what they were for. However, when they got back, they were so excited to show me their books. They saw all but 2 of the characters I put in their books. My sister said that people were coming up and asking them where they could get the books and the characters were showing them off to each other, which made me feel proud that they had them for their trip.

So here are the books, with a few pages out of it. This is what it looks like without the pics or autographs, hopefully I will update after my sister gets the pictures in there.

Our Daughter's New Home

I know I have been bad about blogging this summer but it's just been crazy.

The end of August we made the 6-hour drive to Hays, Kansas to leave our 1st born child. It was a great day and I was incredibly proud of her and yes, I cried. I did good though and didn't cry until we actually drove away.

We drove up the night before so we could be at her new "home" early in the morning for the big move in. The school, which I have been so impressed with thus far, was incredibly organized as usual. We had a sorority actually offer to help us carry her stuff in and we had our car unloaded in a matter of minutes and her room almost fully done in about an hour.

Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to meet her roommate Valerie because she was in orientation all day, so hopefully we will do that on our next visit.

She is doing great, we have been Skyping with her weekly, I think she misses her dog the most, but Tater doesn't like Skyping with her; she won't look at the screen, which is hilarious. We are so proud of her, she seems to have grown up overnight. She takes care of things all on her own (I know, she is supposed to but we weren't really sure it would really happen to be honest). She is getting pretty good grades, but hasn't had any luck getting a job yet. She and her roommate get along great and I don't think there have been any drunken episodes... yet. However, the ever popular "middle of the night - fire alarm" has been very popular in her dorm and she is very much over that!

Brady and Dad

Any man can be a Father, but it takes someone special to be a Dad!

Brady and Brian fishing on Father's Day!

While we were out...

We have been a busy family!

Here is the run down:

*We painted our house

Before

After

*Rachel Graduated High School

Celebrated her Graduation with Family and Friends

WOW!

Our daughter just left for her last day of High School! Wow!

When life hands you lemons...

You just paint another room!

Well as I eluded to last week, we were supposed to paint the outside of our house; something we have wanted to do for awhile but really got the urge to get ready for Rachel's graduation party, thus giving us some serious motivation to get it done. However, the house is still white and not the beautiful boston fern that I have chosen. We were not blessed by the weather last weekend and not to jinx us, but things aren't looking too good for this weekend either (boo).

I must admit, I was very disappointed. We had spent most of the week power washing the house, moving everything away from the house, and even trimming all of the bushes and such so we would have a nice clean house to paint. Got up bright and early on Saturday to get ready to tape the windows and we were not cleared for take off by our Painting Crew Supervisor (aka my mom's bf who was a painter in his former life). So back to bed we went and ended up having a great day running errands and spending time together.

However, Sunday morning I woke up and decided that I really wanted to paint the living room. We got new furniture several months ago and the new couch blended in with the old wall color a little too much for my taste. So I conned Brian into taking me to Home Depot after grocery shopping and picked out a new color... mulled spice (sounds spicy, doesn't it?). He was a trooper and after we put the groceries away, we got to work on the living room. I must admit I love color and I am not afraid to use it in my house; however this was a little brave for me, it is a bit orange and scared me a bit putting it up on pretty neutral walls.

So here is a before and after shot, I am very pleased with my new choice of color and think that is feels much warmer in our living room and a bit Tuscany...

Before

After

Mother's Day + Committment List Check Off

I had a wonderful Mother's Day Weekend this year.

My sister invited me to a Scrapbooking Retreat in Bailey to the Gingerbread Cottage http://www.gbcottage.com/ and it was awesome! My goal was to do Rachel's scrapbook, something I had put on my Committment List for the year. It was something I really wanted to do for her for Graduation. I was able to start and finish it over the weekend, and I am so pleased with it. I can't show any pictures yet because it's a surprise for her, but I can mark it off my list of things to do this year (Yay!).

We left on Thursday afternoon and came home early Sunday morning so we could spend the day with our kids on Mother's Day.

I came home Sunday to my wonderful husband and son working so hard in the yard. We are getting ready for Rachel's graduation party and it is a huge incentive to get stuff done. Brady and Brian had dug up our old - dying rose bushes and planted some new beautiful Choke Cherry Bushes that I had picked out before I left. They had gotten the backyard cleaned up from the winter, picking all of the weeds and dead stuff out, cleaned off our deck, and threw away all of the old stuff before I was even home. I helped plant the new bushes and then we went to Home Depot to buy new fencing and some flowers.

When I was growing up it was a tradition in our family that on Mother's Day, we would plant flowers for the year. We did it with my Grandma and Mom when we were kids and now I do it with my family. Brian, Brady and Rachel took me to pick out some flowers for this year and brought them home to get them planted. We also started spraying our house off with the power washer to get ready to paint (boo to the rainy weather this weekend; plan was foiled).

They also surprised me with a new purse, a big surprise because my gift has always been the flowers and the yard, so to get a new purse was a great treat. We had a wonderful day and I am so thankful to Brian that he makes Mother's Day important to our kids. I love him as my husband and he is a wonderful as a father, I am blessed for sure.

Happy Easter - growing up!

Oh, how times have changed for me! I was shopping for Easter baskets stuff this year and realized how fast our kids are really growing up. I used to fill the kids' baskets with kites, swimming suits, towels, goggles, diving sticks, matchbox cars, pretend make-up, barbies,... but now, those things don't really work for us.

Of course I know that our kids are growing up, it's evident by college visits, graduation planning, ACT testing, wardrobe choices, Axe body spray and shampoo replacing all of the kid stuff, pimple cream, I-pods, music, etc. but for some reason it really hit me shopping for Easter basket items this year.

I have never been one to fill baskets with a ton of candy, #1 our kids don't need candy, #2 Brady hates chocolate, and #3 I sure the heck don't want it around the house, especially while doing weight watchers. So I don't ever spend a lot of time in the actual "Easter Area" at the store, I tend to wander over to toys, crafts, swimming, entertainment, etc. But this year, I had to think a little more outside of the box. I am happy with what I came up with but, nonetheless, it made me a little sad to see how our Easter baskets have evolved! It was also the first year that we didn't dye Easter eggs together, it made me a little sad I'm not going to lie.

So, here are my "big kid" baskets, Rachel got all "college bound" items in her basket, Brady got all fishing and camping items in his and Mason got Aeropostle and movies in his. All in all, I hope they liked them and felt that they were good for where they are in their lives. As a mom, I want to achieve giving them things that they may not have even known they wanted or needed.

Happy Easter everyone, give your little ones a little extra squeeze tonight, they will actually be bigger than their Easter baskets one day.

The First of Many...

We have made the first of many road trips to Fort Hays State University, the place that our daughter will call home as of August 18!

It was parent/student weekend this past weekend, so Brian, Rachel and I geared up for the 5 hour drive + time change to Hays, Kansas on Friday evening. We had a great weekend and we are so incredibly proud of Rachel. FHSU did such a great job with this weekend, we did a little parent/student time, then they separated us. Parents went to little seminars on what the hell we are doing, and students were able to go do their thing. Rachel signed up for classes, got her Tiger Card (student ID), and met some other incoming freshman that are also majoring in History.

She seemed to be really excited and enjoy her time there. Brian had never been there so he got to tour the campus to see where his baby girl is going to be living. I think I may have seen a glimpse of a tear in his eyes. As we were sitting there learning about everything, I looked at him and said "can you believe we are here?" and he said, "no, I can't, she can't be old enough for college". I feel the same way, I didn't give birth to her, but I have been with her since she was 7 and I can't believe we are getting ready for high school graduation, let alone college!

I keep telling her just to have fun and soak everything up. She looks at me like I'm an idiot and says "uh, ok" like whatever crazy woman. I wish I could give her a little life experience pill so she can see how much her college life will play into who she becomes and continues to grow into. I want her try new things and experience life (all within legal confines of course). I don't want her to ever look back and regret choices (I mean the bad regret, not the oh, I shouldn't have drank so much last night regret, although a good healthy dose of that will be needed too). I just want... well you get what I want, I want what all parents want for their kids.

Well, we got back into town early enough for me to work on graduation announcements. They are almost complete and ready to go into the mail, (not bad if I say so myself, I'm even a week ahead of schedule). I am missing a couple of addresses from Rachel and her mom and then, they will be ready to go. It's a little stressful though, I hope I don't forget anyone. It's hard when you are a blended family, making sure you get everyone that is important to Rachel.

So, senior year/freshman year are in full swing around the Strong Household. Next on the list after announcements are mailed, getting her an outfit to go under a white grad gown (boo!), getting our house in order for a party (backyard needs a serious make-over, and inside needs a face-lift), scrapbooking weekend coming up so I can get her scrapbook finished (lets be honest, it needs more than finished, it needs done!), and get ready for the grandparents to come in town, figure out menu for party.... yikes, I have a lot to do.....

If you can think of any suggestions, hints, fun ideas for grad, please post something, I always love new, fun stuff to work into our parties.

I can mark something off of my "commitment list", taking the week off of work just to get stuff done around the house - check! Although, I should have taken two weeks off because I was a little too ambitious to say the least, but not horrible for my first ever staycation. Here is what I accomplished while off for a week: *Cleaned my closet (pictures to be shared later) *Cleaned my dresser drawers *Cleaned out 40% of our storage unit (on my way to marking off another commitment) *Cleaned out 50% of our basement (another thing on the commitment list) *Called and set up donation pick up and dontated 10 bags/boxes of clothing and shoes to charity. *Planned and executed my very first garage sale with some neighbors and made a few bucks to go towards home repairs. *Got a sunburn from the garage sale. *Gave all of the remaining unsold items from garage sale to the high school girls tennis team for their garage sale next weekend. *Got my hair cut and hi-lighted, eyebrows waxed, a manicure, and got in a tanning appointment. *Set up an appointment for someone to come give an estimate to fix our garage (more of that story to come). *Hired Garage Man named Max and had our new garage installed. *Set up an appointment for the first service on Brian's new car. *Took Mason to an appointment. *Picked up a friend from the airport. *Baked a cake for a friend's Birthday. *Cleaned under the bathroom sinks in two of our bathrooms. *babysat my nieces and nephew for a few hours Hmmm, I think that's it. I will add as I remember more items. Not bad for a week's worth of work if I do say so myself. Looking around my house now, though, I have to say what the hell did I do all week, I mean it's a mess in the house right now. But I am a little closer to achieving some of the things of my list of commitments to myself. I guess it will get worse before it gets better, huh? I am proud of myself, I put a lot of hard work in and hopefully the more I do, the more I will accomplish and the better I will feel.

I'm going to be a TT again!

My brother and sister-in-law shared some exciting news with us last night, I'm going to be a TT again! I love being an aunt, I love the individual relationships that I have with each one of them and love watching them grow and my siblings parent. It is such a wonderful love that you have for your nieces and nephews and I can't wait to share more of my "TT" love with the newest member of my family in November. Here is his/her's first picture, cute, huh?

My niece Emma, started calling me TT short for auntie when she learned to talk and I love it, it melts my heart each time I hear one of them call me that. I love that not many people have this name. My friend Kelly asked for permission to use it, so she is allowed to be TT too, but I am and always will be the OTT (Original TT).

I am TT to Emma, Ally, Sam, Lilly, Jett, and one more on the way. I am Aunt Amy to Mickey, Indigo, Iliyah, Dree, and Denny. I am psuedo-TT to Caroline and Sophia. I am blessed for sure. :)

Newest Obsession!

For those of you who know me well, you know that I am easily consumed / obsessed / addicted / etc. with things in my life! It could be as small as a new shirt at the mall that I didn't purchase but get home and wish that I had and can't stop thinking about it until I go buy it. I am easily consumed with real life stuff too, stuff going on in my life. Sometimes I just can't stop talking about it or fretting over whatever is going on in our lives. I have issues for sure, this is not a good trait! This new one is a little bigger though than my average obsession.

I am completely blaming Brady for this! We spent last weekend together, just the two of us and we did a lot of talking; talking about everything. It was AWESOME! I love spending time with him and listening to him talk. It started on Friday, we took some of his friends home after swimming at the Rec Center and drove one of the boy's home to a housing development where I have loved this one house for years, so of course I had to drive by and oogle at it, which turned into a conversation with Brady about moving and how he would love to move. By the time I got home from a meeting Saturday morning, he had found houses on the internet and wanted to go for a drive! So I indulged, only to find that the houses he had found were model houses, which meant... yep, we could go in and look around! Big Mistake, big, huge!

A little background... years ago when Brian and I were engaged, we had the big talk about moving to our "own" new house when we got married. At the time, we decided with a 5 and 7 year old and all the changes that they would be experiencing with a new stepmom living here and the adjustments they would be making, I didn't want to take them from the only home they had known, so we didn't move. Something Brian and I have both regretted since, not because of the kids, but because we never got our "own" start. Then about 5 years ago or so, we started talking about moving again, this time it was Brady who had a melt down about moving, this had now become the only house Brady had known, he didn't want to move from his home. So we stayed again.

Which brings us to the thoughts again! I have been living in our house for 12 years and Brian almost 15, now we have accumulated 15 years of, well let's be honest, crap! I have Brady's crib in the basement, Rachel's dollhouse, etc. I know I made one of my committments this year to get rid of stuff, but I am now focused on this more than ever. We are far away from buying a new house because our house is not even close to being ready to sell. We have to gut this place and make it "seller ready". WOW! Talk about a lot of work in the making. But I have to say, this may just be the motivation I need to get this place cleaned out. What better reward than getting a new house to move into without a bunch of crap. There would be no way to do all of this purging while trying to move into a new house, this is a good solution, right?

Here comes the consumption part, I can't stop thinking of this house. Brian, Brady, and I have looked at the two were are interested in at least 4 times THIS WEEK. I want to go there everyday after work, but force myself not to. When I mentioned that to Brady, he's like "oh mom, me too". He is obsessed too (not a good trait to pass on, grrr). He has even started a "house money" jar.

Cute, right? and a good way to learn to save for something, right? He thinks we can save up $200,000 plus dollars in the jar. Love it! I have even been shopping and looking for a new kitchen table, ours isn't going to work in the "new house". I even told Brian that IKEA would be open by the time we moved, yay -new stuff for our new house! I have a problem, we are a week into this thought process, and I am already plotting! I have taken a week off of work during spring break to start "gutting" the house. Brady insists that he is helping and this is our big project. He has already been cleaning out drawers and cupboards, he is just as obessessed as I am. How do we stop this train? Do I want to stop this train?

One of the thing's that I love most about Brian is that he doesn't usually let me do stupid things. He is the "fiscally responsible" half of our marriage (thank God) so I know that he will pull this train over when it becomes out of control, however I find myself looking forward to something, something that I haven't let myself do for a long time. We have had a rough few months and I feel like this is just the fresh start we are looking for.

So, I have decided, new house or not - worst case scenario, our house gets the serious 15 year clean-out and then we have a great "uncluttered" house to live in. Best case scenario... we take our now cleaned out belongings and move them into a new house! Either way, it's good motivation to get some stuff done around here, don't you think?