easter best

this year we spent easter with my side of the family.

so we packed two dogs, some fruit salad and headed to warrensburg.

we had our traditional lamb for easter dinner
 and ate outside on my parent's deck.

then my cousin and my aunt went out looking for
wild asparagus and came back with bags full.

[this is pretty standard for my family.  my grandparent's farm has always
 had wild asparagus growing on it and yearly we get to try some fresh.]

after, my mom hid easter eggs for the kiddos

and then again for ronzo, brian, jaime and me.

that's right.

we're all around 30 yrs old and still hunting eggs.

it was a perfect day.

[all pictures thanks to my cousin, kelly, the photo queen.]

madeline on her search for eggs

easter lilies my mom got me.

 madeline, still searching.

 easter bunny cake pops - a la aunt margo

 my two cousins on an easter egg hunt.

hope you had a happy easter too!

lady my ass

we had an amazing time at the lady antebellum concert
and acted like anything BUT ladies.

actually, we had an amazing time even before the show started.

lots of talking, drinking, and silly pictures.
once at the concert, we thought double fisting would be
the most appropriate way to go.
you know, less walking and all.
we're nothing, if not thinkers.
and all too soon the concert was over.

so we made it back to dana's for the post party.

sleepovers are few and far between at age 28.

but that didn't stop me and my besties from cuddling up on friday night.

nights like these remind me why

when push comes to shove,

i've always got my girlfriends.

and that's something.

we owned the night.

thursday in pictures

linds, shan, her kiddos and i took a mini-roadtrip last night to visit jana and max.

what's happening

i found some gorgeous flowers at hy-vee that i brought home for my toolbox.

and no, my toolbox does not = ronnie.

well, not this time.

blue hydrangeas.  love.

jana, my longest running friend to date, had her baby on april 2nd.

mr. max earl holt came into this world at a whopping 7lbs 3oz, 21 1/4 inches.

he's already inching toward becoming taller than is 5'2 mamma. 

and we're having lots of family time this week.

ronzo's mom is in town making her way around to see everyone

and celebrate easter.

this is a good for me -
i pulled our house together and i might make a meal or two.

i've got two invites on my fridge for the same day.

two of my favorite people are celebrating big things in their life:

a little baby that was wanted a year before conception.

and an engagement 3 years in the making.

so i'm sending my well wishes to kass, while ronnie and i travel to st. louis

to see my gal pals and their new babies, visit my margie and rub fanger's belly at her shower.

and i'm real excited.
now i only have a wait another month before i actually go.

and that's what's been happening.

when it rains, it pours

there was a chain reaction this weekend.

once one thing happened,

something else did too.

none of it was good.

it started with ronnie and i finding leaking water in our basement.

thank god it was in the unfinished part and didn't ruin our new carpet.
but it's never fun to find shitty water anywhere around your house.

it left us without our guest bathroom and without both bathroom sinks. 

i was brushing my teeth in the kitchen.
and ronnie made these handy-dandy patronizing signs, so i wouldn't forget.
(i got great joy from him being the first one to walk in the bathroom and remembering he couldn't use it.) 

so ronnie started his plumbing project, while i went to use the one shower left that still worked.

between the hot water line, standing on a milk crate, and no patience...

ronnie broke his arm.

who knew plumbing was so dangerous?

we decided to give up on that project

and have another couple (and their two kiddos) over for dinner and deck time.

we ordered pork n pit and just added some

 corn on the cob, a bowl of mixed fruit and summer shandy.

perfection.

but when i finally went back inside

 we had 10 missed calls from ronnie's mom.

our brother-n-law was rushed to the emergency room

 with what we thought was a heart attack.

then we got a call saying it was a stroke.

then we got a call saying it was a fainting episode.

and then we got a call saying it was a migraine.

turns out the our b-n-l has a syndrome that causes

hemiplegic migraines with stroke-like symptoms.

it was definitely scary.

but thank god, by sunday

our plumbing was fixed,

ronnie's arm was bandaged

and our b-n-l was on the mend. 

it was a freaky weekend.

paris in the springtime

i have big plans for the basement.

back in 2006 i took a European vacation with my sis-n-law and our tour guide told us that you either have a parisian or roman soul.  jaime was a roman at heart. and me? i'm a parisian.

i couldn't get enough of the eiffel tower, champs de elysee and notre dame.

so in that honor, this will be my paris inspired room and most likely the only red you will find in my entire house.

but it takes money to decorate and right now i'm focused on saving.

especially, when i want to experience europe with ronnie next summer.

(happy 30th to me and happy graduation to him)

but i did manage to pick up a few items for the back bedroom.

before shots:

a new comforter and lamp shades - both from target.

i still need to buy pillows (bed and throw)

and two nightstands.

the ones pictured are temporary.

oh and notice that my comforter and pillow shams didn't come with a bedskirt?

i was pissed when i realized that... so i'll also be needing a black bedskirt.

cheap sons of bitches.

my goal is to have a black and white room with mustard yellow accents and a tiny shot of red.

here are some pics from my trip to paris and my inspiration.

au revoir!

adventures in babysitting

i got a little extra time with my special girl.

we ate snacks.

watched a movie.

went for ride in the stroller around the neighborhood.

colored.

had a dance party.

played with rocks.

and practiced with our walking stick.

[this girl is clearly ready for a colorado hiking trip]