Happy Independence Day!

 

Today, I’d like to thank all those who have fought, are fighting and will continue to fight for our freedom. This country, with all it’s faults, is still one of the better places to live in the world.

Here are some of my thoughts for today:

My last year of high school I had to write a paper, and I wrote it on government control and power. The process was long, and it took several months to finish the final paper. During this time, my grandfather, a Vietnam and Korea vet, and I talked a great deal about what freedom meant and where this country was going. This was also the years following 9/11 and the passing of the Patriot Act. I clearly remember my grandfather telling me this:

Our forefathers fought, bled and died to give us the rights guaranteed in the constitution and the bill of rights. However, today we happily give away these rights for the sake of security that is not guaranteed. 

At the time, and even more now the words of my grandfather ring true. We are happily giving away our basic rights to sit on our porch and drink beer. Nothing against drinking beer or seating on the porch or enjoying the Fourth of July, but let’s just take a moment and think about what we are giving up and if it is worth the lives that have been laid out to protect the freedoms that we take for granted.

In the Poor Richard’s Almanack published in 1738, Benjamin Franklin writes: Sell not virtue to purchase wealth, nor Liberty to purchase power.” The common paraphrased version of this is: They that can give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

So today, lets reflect and give thanks for what the 4th July really means to each of us. Lets thank not only soldiers that and veterans but the wives and mothers, their children and those civilians who stand beside them. Let’s thank teachers and historians who have kept record and educated the younger generations on what it means to be American, and what freedom is all about.

Have a happy and safe Independence day!

A few random facts and a little challenge

I’ve seen this little challenge going around, and thought it would be perfect for a Wednesday post… for the next ten week

So to start off here are 10 “secrets” about me that you probably don’t know.

1. I love cooking. I cook when I am stressed, when I’m happy, when I miss my mom, when I want to cry, and just because I want to make something yummy. OH and I never really follow a recipe. I get an idea from a recipe and then run with whatever feels right. Usually my food comes out pretty dang good.

2. I am completely and totally in love with my dog, and I cry when I think about the fact that she’s almost two and Dobermans usually live to about 12, and that means that I only have about 10 years with her. Then I start thinking about all the illnesses out there, and already assume that she’s going to die tomorrow and it makes me an emotional wreck. I’m a baby, I know.

3. The grandfather I always refer to is not actually my biological grandfather. BUT he’s more of a grandfather then my biological one (Sorry mom). My dad’s father passed away before any of his grandkids were born, and my mom’s dad has always been very distant. Also, the fact that he is on the other side of the world, 12 timezones away, makes it hard to have a relationship. Bob on the other hand has always been there for me, and has taken the role of grandfather completely! I love him to the moon and back!

 

4. I am deathly afraid of cancer. I know most people are too, but I get anxiety over it. I know several people who have had cancer and beat it (grandpa included) BUT it still scares the crap out of me.

5. I hate cleaning, but love a clean house. I don’t really think this is a secret, and I don’t really know anyone who loves cleaning. But I can’t function if my house is a mess.

6. I’ve never changed a diaper in my life. HA! Its true. I have a ton of baby cousins, and friends with babies, and I’ve babysit for quite a few of them, but never ever ever had to change a diaper. It kind of scares me to think that one day I’ll have kids and will have to change diapers and I’ve never changed one. Good thing I’ve got a neighbor who’s supermom!

7. I love heels and dresses and cute clothing. This one isn’t really a secret, but what is is the fact that I dress up and sometimes even put on heels just to sit at home and work. I work from home so my dresscode is really none-existent. BUT I feel better when I’m dressed to impress… even if it’s just Lilly that I’m impressing. … PS these past three months I spent in my yoga pants. I think it’s time to get dressed up again .

8. Our house overwhelms me sometimes. We got this big house and it’s brand new, and has so much potential and so many things that need to be done. And while I’m excited to turn it into a home, I’m overwhelmed at what it costs, what to do and so on.

9. I miss driving my Camaro. After moving to Arizona we traded in our little cavalier (hub’s beater) and got an SUV (my mom car). This meant that my beautiful hot rod turned into the husbands work car. AND as much as I love my Lilly-mobile, I miss driving a stick shift sports car.

10. I don’t watch TV. This probably isn’t a secret for those who know me IRL, but for a lot of people it comes as a shocker. We don’t have cable and don’t miss it. There are a few shows that we’ll get on DVD or stream online once in a while, but honestly I’d rather read a book then watch TV.

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There you have it! 10 Secrets. If you have any questions or would like me to answer some other questions, please send me a note or leave a comment. I’d be more than happy to.

Have a great Hump Day!!!

A Floorplan tour!

We’ve been homeowners for 3 months and a few days now. We closed on our very first house on the 26th of March and got our keys on the 28th. As customary in our relationship at least one of us had to be deathly ill. I decided it was my turn to be sick and had not only a sinus infection but also bronchitis!

So there weren’t too many photos taken of our house, but I have some from the builder as well (they sent me pictures since we purchased the house online) and a floorplan off the builders site.

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Here is the layout of our house.

It’s a ranch (one story) and is a little over 2500 sq feet. The reds are the upgrades that were done. We have the bay window in the master, which will look super nice once it’s painted and has furniture. The kitchen was upgraded and has the double ovens plus a gas range. And the front office was turned into a bedroom. There is a lot of room in this house, that we’re not too sure what to do with just yet. Bedroom 3 is being converted into my office. Bedroom 2 is the “theater” room, and has a sleeper sofa, so it acts as a guest bedroom. The front bedroom (Bedroom 4) will be the official guest bedroom as it has the bathroom right next to it and is kind of separated from the rest of the house.

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Here are some photos:

This is the front of our house. The arched window is bedroom 4.

This is my favorite part of the whole house! The kitchen! The hallway-looking thing on the right goes to the front door, on the left of that right behind the kitchen is the formal dinning room and a little further down the 3rd bathroom and 4th bedroom.

My bay window! I’m obsessed with these things. This will be a future reading nook!

This is the master bath. The counters look like plastic and I hate them. They are purred marble, but we’ll be changing them out in the future to either a tile or a stone. They are pretty easy to clean though.

This is the master closet.This is the view from the master bath. Just imagine that the pictures actually fit together.

The photo on the left is taken from the bay window in the master, this is the master door with some of the bedroom, the one on the right is the hallway from the master. On the left of the hallway is the laundry room and at the end, if you turn right, are the two other bedrooms. If you turn left you’ll see the 2nd bathroom and the kitchen.

The photo on the left is the laundry room, and the one on the right shows the 2nd bath on the left side, a closet/pantry thing next to the bathroom door, and on the right is the door to the garage. You can also see the kitchen and the nook area.

This is the second bathroom. Two sinks! It’s also pretty big!

 

This is the great room/living room area. You can see the island on the bottom right. So if you are standing in the kitchen this is the view.

The dining room. Looks just like this right now. Totally empty! Well… there are blinds on the window.

On the left is the 3rd bathroom, and the 4th bedroom.

The island is HUGE. I am leaning on the corner of it just so you can see the size of the dang thing. We didn’t realize how big it was, but we love it. We also like that the sink and stove are on the wall not on the island. It gives us a ton of room when we’re cooking or entertaining. We have six barstools around it right now!

We have a little nook area right by the pantry. This is where all the formal dinner dishes go. I want to change out the cabinet doors to glass ones down the line. The kitchen has a ton of storage and a bunch of light.

I love the range! It’s gas and heats up super fast. I hate the sink. The stainless steal stains soooo much. I want to change it out to a black sink. Again, down the line.

And that is that! We are painting the underside of the island a dark brown so that the legs don’t stick out like sore thumbs.

When we drove up on the 28th to get our keys, this was the sign on our garage door. We had to wait around for about an hour for the final okay to come through from the main office so that the building manager could give us the keys.

And this photo was taken right after we got our keys. I was ready to pass out. Hubs is pretty much holding me up. The house on the left is the original one we wanted and then had to cancel our contract due to not knowing when we’d move.

And for good measure, this was the first day we met Lilly! She made herself comfortable on the tile. In fact, she is laying on it right now as I type this.

There you have it. Our house and our baby girl! We’re really blessed to have been able to afford such a beautiful home, and both the hubs and I are excited for all the little projects that we have planned. Now only if we weren’t lazy and got things done, it would be perfect!

Hope you all are having a great Tuesday!

Is it really July?

We’ve officially entered the hottest part of the summer here in Arizona, and it is NOT pretty. It really is super hot, but the monsoons are also here which cools things off.

Our yard is still a mess of dirt, sand, minus material, flagstone, artificial turf and rock. Our master has two walls painted and has all kinds of painting supplies laid out all over. The front bedroom has a quarter of one wall to go with the paint, and needs a trip to the store to get an accent color for the back wall. We did finally get couches but now need two chairs and some pillows to complete the set. AND I could keep going with my list of things that need to be done.

So instead of making a long, drawn out list, I’m just going to write things down as goals and get going on getting things set and done.

1. Finish editing the remaining sessions from June by the 6th of July (this Friday) – I have about 4 more sessions left to edit from my June shoots. I can’t wait to see how they turn out, and from all likelihood, I’ll have them done within the next few nights.
2. Finish painting the front bedroom, this includes the accent wall and the need to get my butt to the store to get a paint color – This bedroom was suppose to be done before my in-laws got here. I got most of it done, and then we realized that the couch we wanted to put in there wouldn’t fit, so I stopped painting and it’s set there like that for at least a month. There isn’t too much left to paint but I did run out of paint. So back to Home Depot I go.
3. Paint master bedroom  - our master is a mess. One wall is completely done and looks great, the other is 90% done and looking good, the others are half assed. We really need to get on this, as our bedroom looks like a construction zone right now.
4. Paint master bathroom – We haven’t even touched the bathroom yet, but have the paint and it’s all good to go. We just need to get on it. We’ll be able to knock it out within a day if we really try.
5. Organize spice cabinet – this is pretty much done, but I just got a bunch more spaces and now everything is crammed in there. I’ve also read that spices should be kept away from the stove and oven so that they don’t get hot and lose their flavor, well my spices are right in between my range and the double oven. SOOO I’m thinking I may need to move them.
6. Organize master closet & figure out what I’d like to do with it – this is pretty dang organized but I still have a few more boxes to unpack, and I need to figure out what kind of shelving system we want in there. We have some shelves but they are awkward. I may just need to get some bedroom furniture (dresser) to put all of our folding clothes in so that my shelf space is opened up.
7. Find paint for the office – I am pretty sure I know what color I’d like, but I may need to get a few samples to figure out if it will work.
8. Organize Office – the office is a mess of boxes right now, it needs a good organizing so that the space can be used.
9. Start working on Senior Session Promos as well as holiday promos – it seems that with the kind of weather that Arizona has, senior sessions cannot be done until after the monsoon season is over. However, it would be good to get things worked out and sessions booked for mid-August and on. Also, if there are brave soles out there we can get a few of them done in July.
10. Sell the clothing/shoes that I don’t wear – our community has a great little Facebook Page that’s an online yardsale, and people are constantly selling things on there. I’m thinking that it’s time I get rid of some of the things I have that I never wear. Maybe I can use the money to help save for our vacation.
11. Don’t drink soda. AT ALL – at one point I didn’t drink soda at all, and it felt so good. But lately I’ve been drinking some, and I really need to stop.
12. Only eat out once a week or less – there isn’t really much around us to go and eat out at, but we’ve seem to have found a way to do it anyways. I’d like to keep our eating out to one meal a week and on a weekend. Mainly because it’s unhealthy and it’s also expensive, and I’ve got a freezer full of salmon!
13. Save an additional $150.00 on top of our monthly savings – I’ve taken the advice of a good friend, Janna, and started looking at our savings account as a monthly bill. So every month, I put a chunk of money in there as though it was a bill to be paid. In addition to this, I’d like to save another $150.00 to go in there.
14. Put together a budget (clothing, food, and entertainment) – I’ve never really had to worry about a budge for these things, because my paycheck has always been an extra paycheck. It’s been my shoes and purse fund. However, having a house and needing to turn it into a home has put a damper on that fund. My paychecks now count towards the mortgage and car payments. Hence, I need to have a budget for what I can spend. I also think that a clothing budget would be good, and force me to buy pieces that I really love and know I’ll wear for a long time.
15. Find a trainer for Lilly – Lilly had a great trainer in Tucson, but it’s a long drive to go up there. So I need to find someone nearby. There’s a k9 cop that has a kennel and trains dogs so I think I’ll give him a call sometime this week.
16. Sign up for my Summer/Fall classes – this needs to be done today, as classes start next Monday. EW
17. Drink more water (2 water bottles full a day) – I’ve noticed that when my water bottle is not next to me, I don’t drink water, so now it will be dragged around everywhere with me.
18. Explore at least one new place around town – I’ve been dying to go to the mission that is next to us. Maybe Lilly and I can go explore.
19. Help hubs finish the backyard - our backyard needs to be done. My floors are continuously dirty because Lilly brings in all the dirt and dust that is out there.
20. Start back up on my P90X workouts – I found a great trainer here in Sahuarita, but with the need to pay off debt right now, I can’t really afford to hire her. AND I’ve got great results with P90X before, and I already have the DVDs soooo, I’m going to go ahead and try that again.
21. Swim at least three days a week – Our pool is awesome, there’s hardly anyone there at any given time. We’ve gone twice and taken our fins and snorkel gear to get back into shape for diving. It’s really good exercise and I love swimming, so win-win.
22. Take Lilly on walks at least 3 times a week – It’s been super hot and we’ve been busy, so poor miss Lilly has been sitting around the house. We play with her, and since there is no furniture in most of the house, she runs around and such, BUT it is probably a good idea to take her on more extended walks around the neighborhood.

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Now the tricky part is actually getting all of the above done. I do have to admit that I tend to get more done when I have things written down and goals in mind. So we’ll see how this all works out.

Hope you all are having a great Monday, and if you have goals for this month, go and link up with Meghan for Go for the Goal!

Sunday Social–Shopping

 

It’s Sunday. AND the first of July. Really? How did June end? I can’t believe it’s the 7th month of 2012. I’m still writing 2010 on my checks… oops. I don’t know where time is going and why it’s flying away so fast. I never believed that as we got older the faster time went by, but I feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, or days in the week to really get things done.

 

I’ve been up since 7 AM today, Lilly really doesn’t care how late we stay up or the fact that it’s the weekend. She needs to get up at the crack of down to go and pee. Then whine a bit and get me fully awake before she passes back out on the couch. As I was reading blogs with my morning coffee, I cam across Neely’s link up, and since I never really post on Sundays, I figured this would be the perfect way to kill some time before hubs is up.  OH and the questions are shopping, questions, how could I not answer them?!

  This Weeks Questions are:

What is your favorite store to shop at?

I love Zara, Forever21, Victoria Secret, Express, Bebe, Guess, and several others. I’m currently obsessing with H&M and their affordable prices.

If you could afford anything and everything, which designer brand would you covet?

My closet would be filled with little red soles! I love Christian Louboutin shoes, and believe that every single woman out there should have at least one pair of red soles!

Must have closet staple?

 

Favorite kind of shoes? (brand or type)

 

I LOVE the Guess Carries. Sadly, Guess only makes them in black now and has stopped making all the other colors. I lived in these shoes, and have gone through at least 3 pairs of the black. They are the most comfortable pump in the world. I used to spend over 12 hours in these on my feet for most of the day and felt like I was wearing flats.

Best clothing deal you've ever gotten? (sale or amazing find)

The dress above. I got it from The Limited for $16.00 a few years ago, and love it. It’s easy to dress up or down. The colors are fun, and I’ve made it work in every season, Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Maybe I should do another post about that.

Style you'd love to try?

There isn’t anything in particular that I’m dying to try since I love to stick to classic styles that are versatile. However, I do need to pick it up with the casual chic a bit more since my current style consists of yoga pants and tank tops. Really, living in the middle of nowhere and working from home doesn’t really require a fancy wardrobe.

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So what are your staples and what are you dying to try this summer? Go link up with Neely and let us know.

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Today, we’re going to BBQ and celebrate the 4th a little early. We’ll go to the pool and walk the dog when it gets a little cooler. Maybe we’ll get some painting done, and finish cleaning the kitchen. I should probably do some laundry as well.

So happy early 4th to you all! Hope you have a great Sunday!