my monica closet

for all those FRIENDS fans - you know exactly what i'm talking about.
to get clued in - you can watch a small clip here.  but basically chandler realizes that he has never seen the inside of one of the closets in monica's apartment.  turns out that is is jammed full of crap and clutter which goes against monica's ocd personality.
my house is always picked up.  maybe not shiny clean, but definitely free of clutter. 
until you get to my basement.

it has been the 'catch all' to my clutter.  anything i don't know what to do with - - it goes in the basement.

and not in some neat and organized way, but basically stacks of crap ranging from high school memorabilia to decorations and old furniture. 

it is our next project.

clean, declutter, throw out and organize.

wish me luck.

king me

it's here. it's up.  it's made. and it's been slept in. 

one problem.  my puppies do not take advantage of all the extra room.  leia is still snuggled into my side and louie is still toothpicking me with his legs.
(definition of toothpicking: when a dog lays on it's side with it's legs straight out so they can dig in your back) 

i think ronnie likes it though.

we spent all friday evening moving beds and getting ready.  the weather was gross but we managed to get everything put back together by saturday night.  we even had to make a late night run to target because we forgot obvious things we would need like new sheets and a new matress pad. 

yesterday was martin luther king day - - i had the day off and i spent it getting to know my new bed. 

a good day.

****
ps - with all of this running around i managed to go back on my "no fast food" thing.  shucks. 
but i did end up making a big pot of chili so at least i didn't spend the whole weekend in the drive-thru.

friday weigh-ins

i meant to weigh-in this morning. 

i've been going running at least 3 times a week for three weeks and i wanted to see if i was either

a) back to pre-holiday weight

or

b) maybe a little down from 147 lbs.

i'm not "dieting" - - just trying to make healthy decisions while adding exercise. i've given up fast food - sort of.  i'm picking things like goodcents over mcd's - or getting a salad instead of fries.

i can't bring myself to go to title.  it's too cold to get out of the house, right?  

i think so too. 

one step at a time.

oh the weather outside is frightful

we had our first snow. and i love snow.

my little girl loves the snow too.  she bounds around, playing as long as i'll let her stay outside.  then she is hauled off to the sink, where i have to defrost her whole body which is now caked and shivering.

my tater, on the other hand, hates it.  snow is his mortal enemy.

i'll find poop at the back door because he refusing to go any further away from the house.  he'll also pee on my outdoor rug and scream and howl until i let him back in. 

i think i caught them both in their element this week:

miss leia coming inside after playing.

louie in a coat (so what if pink looks good on my mister)

and blanket that stayed on as he made his way to our bed.

take a seat

ronnie and i spent the weekend shopping (ugh) for furniture - living room style. 

we were also on the hunt for a king size bed. 

my puppies are tiny, but have somehow managed to take over our bed. 

nebraska furniture mart was a bit overwhelming.  we walked around there for a long time, trying to find our perfect couch/chair/love seat.  we didn't really know what we wanted.  i know i hate microsuede and ronnie hates hard couches.  we sat on everything and found something wrong with every single one. 

picky much?

so we moved on to the beds.  we couldn't find one we loved there either.

actually, i found a bed i wanted, but ronnie wasn't satisfied. i think its because the pick-up line outside was so freaking long, he didn't want to have to wait.

on to the next store - furniture deals.  it didn't have as much to choose from which made it easy to glide right through that store without falling in love with anything.  only one sectional couch caught my eye, but ronnie wasn't impressed. next.

crowley furniture - and yes, we found not only the couch, but also a bed, a tv, and coffee table. 

wtf - how did this happen? 

we dropped the majority of our christmas bonus in one fell swoop.  it started with a couch.  we ended up buying a sectional - - which was not at all what i was looking for.  i wanted two pieces... i like the looks of that more.  but when it comes down to it and you sit on the couch and then you sit on the sectional - the sectional was SO much more comfortable.  even though both were the same brand and style.  i don't get it, but i swear it's true. here is a little sneak peak:

picture this without the chase lounge.

so then we decided that we would need a new coffee table because our other one would no longer fit in this space.  not only would it not fit, but it was my brother's from college that we spray painted black.  it has scratches and one of the legs is split.  we need a new square one, or a round one, or a small trunk...

we ended up with this one... and i really was the one pushing for it.  i think ronnie wanted to keep looking.

since we spent so much $$$ - they threw in a 32" toshiba flat screen tv.

um, score! that thing is going in my bedroom. 

on to the beds.  ronnie wanted a pillow-top and i wanted a plush.  i won.  and they were on sale (bonus!).  we ended up with a sealy - which i think is a good brand.  don't really know, because i've never bought a bed (without ma and pa) before.  here's to hoping we love it.  

the bed will be delivered on saturday and the furniture won't be here to february.  i hate waiting, but this gives me time to pull my basement together.  it is inheriting our current living room furniture and with all the junk down there right now, nothing would fit.  it's a good winter project for me - but no fun.  

stork delivery

so my clever lawyer friend, dana, that i have mentioned a couple times so far had her baby. (actual date: 1.9.11) 

a perfect baby boy, mason james. 

my family keeps growing.  i am now an auntie to four kiddos. (and a "real" aunt to three).  i can't believe how lucky and blessed we are. 

he has ten fingers, ten toes and lots of hair.  it's on his back, his forehead, his ears... everywhere.  mamma refers to him as her little monkey.

he is precious and i'm so happy for my friend and her family.

days like this get the wheels turning when/if ronnie and i will welcome a little one into our family...

happy 2011!

i can remember being 16 and on my drivers licence it said NOT 21 UNTIL 2004. 

at that time i was thinking how far away that is.  now i'm thinking how long ago 2004 was. 

where did the time go?  how did i go from 16 to 21 to 27? ew. 

i'd like to make 2011 a new start - a new job, a new diet, a new bank account. 

but i think i say that every year.

****
a good sign?  i went running four times last week.