circle of lights.

Choco got a new home!

An amazing couple from Ohio came to meet Choco this afternoon. I have been praying all week that they would be perfect for him.

I loved them & so did he. He runs marathons. They have an acre of land for him to play. No kids or other dogs so he will be spoiled rotten.

I am sad because I will miss him... he is such a sweet, great, super handsome, gentle, lovable boy. But I am so, so happy for him. He deserves this.

I hope they email me updates.

meet Choco.

We got a call Saturday asking us to foster Choco for the holidays. He is a two year old pretty chocolate Lab. Much more calm than Bentley, which makes me think he is actually a couple years older. Still in need of obedience classes but he does know "sit" (with encouragement) & he knows "come" very well. He is used to riding in the car & does not need to be restrained. He pulls a little bit while walking on a leash but does very well with a gentle leader. Choco was surrendered due to owner illness & now is in search of a new home. He is more gentle when playing with Bentley & submissive with Bentley. I think he would do find in a home with other dogs. He is housebroken & although doesn't need a crate, I am teaching him to go into the crate. We're not comfortable leaving him home alone to wonder while Bentley is crated. We were told he would refuse a crate but I worked with him for about 15 mins last night & (along with a hotdog as a reward) he now goes into the crate. He does bark/whine for about 10 mins but then settles in. He is neutered & microchipped. Choco is a sweet boy with a precious chocolate face who needs someone with patience while he is still learning & adjusting because he hasn't been socialized very well yet.

Here he is on the Love of Labs website.

our tree.

angel tree girl.

I started this two years ago & I have so much fun. This year I adopted a 10 year old girl. On her list were her clothing sizes (the focus is on new clothing), jewelry, & a bike. Buying clothing for a stranger makes me nervous - what if it doesn't fit? I hope it fits & that she likes it! I found this super cute vest at Old Navy & got her a matching long sleeve shirt. I figure when it warms up she can still wear the shirt by itself. & then I found a pretty bracelet at Justice, which I think she'll love. I'm hoping next year maybe I can adopt two children to help for Christmas.

JFK memorial.

This is the layout I created from this inspiration piece.

The red & rustic immediately made me think of our recent trip to the JFK Memorial in Dallas. What's more American than the color red? I love the red with kraft so I used kraft paper as my background. I incorporated texture (that I note in the firewood & the basket) by using a scrap of burlap & the corrugated letters. & I love the curve of that old door so I cut out the brackets from a piece of patterned paper to incorporate the curve of that as well.

Christmas vignettes.

the sewing desk in the hallway.

 This is my old sewing desk that sits in our hallway. Snowman garland around the mirror from TJ Maxx this year. Photo of Hunter during a blizzard two years ago & another xmas photo of my brother & I when we were little. Silver candle from Home Goods. Complete with berry/jingle bell garland.

close up of the sewing desk.

Next up, the space above the kitchen cabinets.



red wreath [Big Lots], an xmas photo from 2 years ago, xmas tree topper.

above microwave

We found the frame at Goodwill for $7 (originally from Kohls, $24). The apothecary jar I think I got at TJ Maxx & it's holding red disco ball garland. The silver garland has little stars on it & it came from Hobby Lobby. & then the greenery garland with colorful lights is so pretty :)

I am linking to A Thoughtful Place/Christmas Cheer blog party.

I count you twice.

photo is from our Christmas card photo shoot



Red Carpet Manicure.

I was at Meijer yesterday & on an end cap stumbled upon Red Carpet Manicure. It's a diy gel polish manicure complete with the LED light. The polishes are kind of expensive ($9.99/each) but they have some great colors & over 30 different colors available. There is a portable light (which is what I got) & the professional light (more expensive but cures the polish in 45 seconds).

I'm not opposed to painting my nails &/or getting a manicure (if it wasn't so expensive!) but my problem is that I always have chips within a few hours. I am too hard on my nails! At work I'm flicking glass bottles & syringes, I'm playing with the dog, I'm cooking, cleaning, washing, + I'm just accident prone anyway. So my nails look a mess within hours of painting them. I've seen the shellac & it seems like an awesome idea, but who wants to pay $30 every 2 - 3 weeks?! Not me.

We have a Christmas party (first of the season) on Friday (TJ's bar association party for work) so I thought I'd try out this diy gel kit in preparation for the event.

The steps are super simple & easy to follow. Basically you prep your nails (I skipped this step) using the prep max adhesion sanitizer. Then use the structure and (these steps are using the portable light) cure them in the LED light for 1 minute. Apply a coat of polish & cure them in the LED light for 3 minutes (for dark colors, 2 minutes for light colors). Apply a second coat & cure them for another 3 minutes (or 2 minutes). Apply the brilliance top coat & cure for 2 minutes. (They will be tacky this whole time until) Finally you swipe them with the pre & post application cleanser (& that hardens them up). The key is to applying super thin coats.

I skipped the prep max adhesion sanitizer & instead just used the pre & post application cleanser before I started with the structure. It's only  been about 14 hours so far but I do NOT have any chips! It's amazing. I'm getting ready to go to work so we'll see how it holds up.

the night is young

wedding invitation ornament.

After seeing the idea here I knew I had to make one for my friend L for Christmas. She just got married in May & I was a bridesmaid in their wedding. If I can dig up the invitation from my friend S's wedding I will make her one too. I think they're so pretty & such a neat idea!

Kind of hard to photograph, but you can see snippets of the names, the church, the date & I love that. Christy gives a great tutorial & it was really easy to do.

Dallas & back in 3 days.

We flew out Thursday to DFW. We had a direct flight, which was awesome. We were there by 2pm & immediately headed to the JFK Memorial. History was never my favorite subject but I do remember a little about JFK & the assassination. A high school boyfriend wrote his senior paper on the theories around his death so mostly what I know comes from that.



on the field

tunnel the players run through from locker room to field

We ate at The Foundary, which was downtown by the Old Red Courthouse & Dealey Plaza. It was good for lunch but our waiter was rude. The next day we hit up Cowboys Stadium for a tour. We caught a deal from a guy who had upgraded his self tour tickets to the VIP tour & wanted to sell his self guided tickets. We planned to do the self guided tour ($17.50) & he sold us his tickets for $15. Score! Even if you're not a huge football fan or even a Cowboys fan, the tour is definitely something I recommend if you're in the area.

interview room





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boys locker room

We toured the football player's locker room & the cheerleader's locker room. We got to walk on the field. We went through the interview room & sat at the table where they do interviews. We went through the stands to see the views from different levels & different angles. We went through the private club where the people with floor seats pre-game party. The tunnel the players run through from the locker room to the stadium runs right through the middle of the club. We saw Jerry's private elevator that takes him to Jerry's Perch, but his suite was only accessible through the VIP tour so we didn't see that. The employees were all super knowledgeable & so nice. The stadium is actually five floors underground & it took a year just to dig the hole. It holds about 100,000 people. The huge t.v. in the middle of the stadium is 17 stories wide. The speakers hanging throughout the stadium are as big as tractor trailers. The place is just amazing. We were there for a little over an hour. There's so much to see & the amount of money spent is just mind blowing. The lockers are made from imported wood (I forget exactly what it's called) but they're $9,000 each & you're not allowed to sit on them (which I found out after I crawled inside one). We looked up the Cowboys' schedule before we left & for some reason we both thought that there wasn't a home game. While we were there Saturday they were setting up for the game vs the Bills. So sad! We considered for a moment trying to get tickets & staying to watch the game. One of the employees told us the nosebleed tickets sell for $90 but he said there's not a bad seat in the house.

find the joy.

for a challenge at Truly Madly Crafty

new windows!

We finally got our three new south windows installed. It took forever & we're less than thrilled with the company & how long we had to wait but that's another story. We are super thrilled about the work they did. The windows look amazing! & better than that the sound of traffic is reduced (only slightly) & there's no cold breeze drifting through the old 100 year old windows. It's great.

The blinds came from Steve's, which is also where the living room blinds (here) came from. Super happy with that company & their delivery times & their products. I ordered the same blinds for the dining room, the master bedroom, & the spare bedroom. Steve's has so many awesome ones to choose from that I would have loved to order three different shades but in the interest of keeping it super simple, I narrowed it down to one favorite. It's neutral so it works for all three rooms & we won't be taking them with us when we move so they will work for the future renters as well.

We still have to get them hung in the bedrooms but I am loving the dining room!

family portraits.

My friend & I took family portraits of each other for Christmas cards. Neither of us wanted to pay (or could afford) to have professional ones done & we both took a photography class in college. The weather was perfect - 50s, sunny, a slight breeze. This cool abandoned building is right behind her house. It went better than either of us expected - us with Bentley & her with their three dogs. We both were able to find a usable shot for Christmas cards.

red mirror re-do.

I found a little mirror for a few dollars at an antique/consignment store here in town. I thought it was cute & had potential but it was a dirty off white. 

I grabbed my Krylon gloss spray paint in Banner Red & here is the shiney new mirror...

Ikea shelf, vase from TJ Maxx.

Pet Suites.

When we went to the Bengals game a few weeks ago I looked into having Bentley in doggie day care for the day. I looked in the Cincinnati area because it's an almost 3 hour drive & I figured he'd rather spend the time in the car with us than locked up somewhere with strangers. I looked at several websites before contacting Pet Suites for more information. I'd never used boarding or day care for previous pets & this was obviously Bentley's first day care experience so we were a little nervous. Since he was adopted, I was afraid he would have anxiety over being locked in a kennel alone. Maybe it would remind him of his shelter days.

A representative from Pet Suites called me the same evening to confirm our stay & answer my questions. We didn't need reservations; we could drop him off any time. Day care was a flat rate of $19/day & they're open 7a.m. - 8 p.m. 7 days a week! You have to have proof of vaccinations & there are some requirements but one of the main reasons I liked Pet Suites is that the dog is still allowed a play time. With most places, the dog has group playtime & your dog must have a temper evaluation before he is allowed to participate, which is done in advance. At Pet Suites, they have individual play time so your dog can still get some fresh air & blow off some steam. (We were on a short time schedule & couldn't make two trips to Cincinnati for the eval - it wasn't that Bentley wouldn't pass.)

The location was easy to find & the place was super nice. Staff met us at the door, were very friendly, & were good with Bentley. He hadn't started obedience training yet so when they said, "Ok, we're ready for him!" we kind of laughed thinking they had no idea what they were getting into. He had potty breaks & they fed him dinner & they keep a chart on their pets so they can tell you if/when he pooped so you're ready for your 3 hour ride home.

Bentley appeared to have a good time. He was happy to see us, but didn't seem scared or to have any anxiety over the experience at all. There is also a Pet Suites in the Indy area, which will be convenient for us, especially for boarding if we're flying out of town. We will definitely use Pet Suites in the future!

Bengals vs Colts

We went to Cinci for the Bengals/Colts game. The weather was perfect! Sunny - a little windy - & low 70s. Perfect for an outdoor stadium! I love the atmosphere at Paul Brown & fitting in with all my  Bengals fans. We took Bentley to doggie daycare in Cinci & he had a good time too.

last loveliest smile.

for a challenge at Tally Scrapper.

DirecTv

We have finally made the switch & broken up with Comcast. I hate Comast. & that's an understatement.

I have had nothing but problems with them since I first signed up with them in 2009. I moved into my own apartment & set up my own account & got into an argument with them before my tv even worked! It all went down hill from there.

When I moved in here I was glad to cancel my account with them. T already had service with them & it was the same package that I had, but without a contract. We toyed with the idea of switching to satellite a few months ago but got into an argument with the lady from Dish Network who got pushy & T busted out his attorney attitude & she ended up hanging up on us.

We haven't talked much about it since... until our Comcast bill came for the month & they jacked up the cable $20/month (which they are technically allowed to do since we weren't under contract). To which I immediately told T we would not be paying.

Insert DirecTv. We have several friends who have DirecTv & are really happy. I was really excited about getting the NFL Sunday Ticket = all the games = I get to watch my Bengals play! We think we got a pretty sweet deal & we are super happy with it so far. T said when he returned our stuff to Comcast (in the DirecTv box) the lady said we would rethink our decision after our satellite went out with bad weather. I think she's a sore loser.

for adoption.

Bentley offically became available for adoption today!

This is the bio we wrote about him:
Bentley is a male black Lab, about one year old, who just wants to be near people. He is a very friendly boy who doesnt know a stranger. He is also social with other dogs & loves kids. Bentley came to his foster home in early September from a shelter in Alabama. Not much is known about his history, including his name, so to keep with his southern roots he was named after the governor of Alabama, Robert Bentley. He recently weighed in at 64 pounds & the vet said he will be about 70 pounds when he fills out. Bentley is a great companion & a really sweet boy. He quickly caught on to sit and down. He is being crate trained & house broken. He is also learning to walk on a leash. Bentley has a lot of puppy energy & is a very active boy who loves to play. He has the typical Lab chewing behaviors but has done really well at only chewing on his toys & not on anything that he shouldnt. He would benefit from obedience training & will do best in a home with an active lifestyle that allows him a lot of play time.

it's beginning to look a lot like fall decor.



Bentley's 15 minutes.

One of the girls involved in Bentley's transport from Alabama to Indy contacted me about doing a piece for her blog. She features a shelter animal weekly &  Bentley was going to get his 15 minutes of fame!

Bentley

meet Bentley.

We picked our boy up Saturday night. He is a sweetie. They say he is about two years old but we think he is younger. He is so curious about everything & has a ton of energy. He is learning a lot right now. He's learning to walk on a leash, he's being crate trained & house broken, he's learning to "sit" & "come." So far he's only had one accident in the house. He's also learning his name. The shelter in Alabama was calling him Dustin. We chose Bentley after the Alabama governor's name, Robert Bentley. He loves car rides & playing with his ball. He is learning "release." He is neutered & will be getting microchipped soon.

Bentley is a very, very sweet boy. I don't think he is listed on the Love of Labs website just yet but if you are interested in adopting him, please fill out an application on the website.

Bengals game.

Cinci.

We went on an overnight trip to Cinci to catch a preseason game. My team lost, as per their usual, but it was great fun. I thought it may be boring since it was preseason & it totally wasn't.

The next day we hit up an outlet on the way home & scored big. I spent roughly $700... got a great new rug from West Elm, a new purse & wallet from Coach, new Shox for work, & we both got some new winter clothes from Gap & Old Navy. I love outlets & this is the best one I have been to in a while. Definitely worth returning!

ready or not.

What am I doing with these four books I just checked out at the library?

Well, we just got approved to be a foster home for Love of Labs! We should be getting our first foster dog this weekend/next week. I am SO excited!

Fostering is something I have been interested in but unable to commit to with my work schedule & apartment living. Now that we've moved into this bigger place & I cut my hours to part time... we're ready for this new adventure!

getting energy efficient.

Our last electric bill was $180. My boyfriend almost died. I don't even want to think about what the gas bill will be this winter.

Our building was built prior to the 1930s. The windows upstairs are plexiglass & the trim around them is rotting wood so the windows don't even touch the glass. First on our list is new windows. We also have zero insulation. That's second on the list.

I checked out this book from the library. Lots of great ideas! Here are some of the projects I'm working on:

• buy an energy monitor to see which appliances are costing us the most
• buy a Smart Strip so devices can really be turned off when we're not using them
• install a low flow aerator for the faucets
• check the hot water heater temperature
• we already have a tankless hot water heater
• clean the a/c coils
• seal gaps around windows & baseboards with acrylic caulk
• cover all outlets with foam gaskets
• seal the foundation gap with 100% silicone caulk
• add insulation
• check into weatherstripping the doors

We went to Menards this weekend & bought lots of supplies so I could begin my projects. Today I am tackling the foam gaskets! & we've gotten three estimates on new windows so that will begin (hopefully) later this month!

yikes.

photo taken with my phone as we walked down the bleachers to head for shelter

We went to the state fair Saturday evening. On the way down we heard a severe thunderstorm warning was in effect & the storms were in Lafayette. I wondered if the concert would even get started before the storms hit.

We ate an elephant ear & drank a lemon shake up before heading to our seats. We were all the way at the very top. Not good for concert viewing. Turned out to be good for other reasons.

As we waited for the show to start we watched the clouds rolling in. It got darker & darker & I wondered if we should leave. Just then a man came on stage & announced storms were on their way, but the band would be out in a few moments. If they needed to pause the concert, we could all head across to the buildings, but hopefully it would pass & the show could go on.

The clouds continued to get darker & closer & lightning got closer. I started to ask TJ if we should head for shelter now, because by the time the storms actually hit, it would be a madhouse. Several people were heading toward shelter. But before I could form the words, a huge gust of wind came through & rocked the stage. It happened in slow motion. From our seats at the top row we saw the stage sway... & then collapse.

It was like a scene from a movie. I heard hundreds of people screaming. I saw people running. I knew people were hurt. Then the slow motion stopped & everything kicked into high gear. People were running down the bleachers, running from the collapsed stage, running to the collapsed stage. I heard sirens. The wind was blowing debris through the air. People were hunched down on the ground, covering up, bracing for the worst. The wind got stronger & stronger. We started down the bleachers to head for shelter.

We went to the horse barn to wait out the storm. We couldn't see outside but it didn't seem like it rained very hard or for very long.

I found out later the stage collapsed right around 9p.m. We were headed home around 10:30. By the time we got home they were showing video footage of the collapse. It falls so much faster on t.v. than it seemed to in real life. The next morning we heard news that five people were killed & over 40 were injured. Truthfully I'm surprised to hear so many more weren't harmed. There was no way to warn those fans in the first few rows that it was coming down.

It was a scary, scary  night & I have been thinking & praying for all those people.

$35 wardrobe.

We bought this Ikea cabinet in the As Is section for $35.  It's missing the doors & the clothes rail (& the little feet but we don't need those anyway). I thought it'd be super easy to get a new rail & since we needed more closet storage, it was a deal too good to pass by for only $35!

Turns out it wasn't easy to find a replacement clothes rail. I emailed Ikea & they don't sell a replacement rail because it doesn't have an item number. So we searched online & found something similar but it was $20 & maybe wouldn't even work. We looked at local hardware stores & couldn't really find anything that would do. Of course we could have just drilled new holes & hung any regular old clothes rail but since there are no doors on our wardrobe, I didn't want 14 different holes visible.

Last week we went to Ikea again & while we were there thought we'd check out their wardrobes. We wrote down the item numbers of a couple different wardrobes that used similar clothes rails & crossed our fingers that they would be available for purchase separately. Luckily for us, one of the wardrobes had almost the exact rail that we needed sold separately for $10. It was a little bit long so we trimmed it with the saw.

& this week, finally got it mounted in our wardrobe...

a week in the life.

No photos yet.
This is the first year I've participated in AE's event. Unsure yet as to what kind of album I'll be making. Right now I just want to document the daily things before I forget them.

Sunday. Up early, plant new flowers, fix Sheila's rock wall flower bed. Spray weeds after a quick trip to Rural King to buy weed killer & a spray pump. Pull weeds from sidewalk all the way down Markland & in front of the office. Then little cousin's baseball game at 2pm. Home at 8pm. 2 mile run, felt pretty good.
Monday. Chiropractor visit #2. My first appointment was Friday & I was super sore Friday & most of Saturday. Sunday I felt good. Monday he told me I am going to heal quickly & he will only need to work on me a couple more times. I didn't crack as much this time as the first time (not sure if that's good or bad) & I wasn't as sore afterwards (definitely good) so I think this is working! Then I worked 3-11pm. A pretty uneventful night. Went for a run after work at about 11:45. Jogged down Markland & back. Tripped while admiring a dress in the consignment shop & almost face planted. Luckily the boy grabbed my arm just before my face hit the sidewalk. Then we laughed so hard I could barely finish the run.
Tuesday. I worked 3pm-7am. Was a pretty good night. After work went to mom's to sleep for a few hours before going to the lake.
Wednesday. Wake up at 1pm & head to the lake with mom. Boat not working properly. Come back home. The boy's making apple crisp for a birthday surprise. Vacuum. Applebees with mom & brother for dinner.

living room shades.

Desperately needed blinds for the 4 living room windows. They face the west (one faces south) & the sun sets so fiercely in the evenings. Also, we live on Main Street & are sick of people at the stop lights being able to see in the windows at night (we live in an upstairs apartment). I ordered a shade of red (after going through several samples) from Steve's that are top down/bottom up pleated. We still want to let light in from above, we just don't want the neighbors/every person driving by to be able to see in. We measured & double measured... but I made a mistake/didn't read the directions carefully enough. So we weren't able to hang them correctly. Rather than $364 going out the window, he jimmy rigged them. You can't really tell & they're doing well so far. We're hoping to see an improvement on the electric bill!

E T

using the Artful Delight March 2011 kit
posted online at Scrapbook Examiner 7/3/11

bathroom cabinet re-do.

When the boy asked me to move in with him [May 2011], I knew we needed to add some storage to the bathroom. I have a ton of beauty junk that was not going to fit in his bare minimum bachelor pad bathroom. I found a cabinet I liked (& brought him to peek at it too, he liked it almost as much as I did) at a local antique store. I paid under $200.

I brought it home & was determined to make this a quick, no sweat, no pain project. No sanding. No priming. Just find some grey paint to match the bathroom, a quick coat, & be done. Well, it took two coats. But then I was pretty much done.

We found some coordinating knobs at Menards. & here's what she looks like in the bathroom now [July 2011]!

first race.

May running stats

Total Distance: 5.9 miles


Total Time: 1:01:34 min

Run Distance: 5.9 miles

Run Time: 1:01:34 min

first step.

Published at Scrapbook Examiner 5/3/11

April stats

Total Distance: 18.7 miles


Total Time: 3:13:44 min

Run Distance: 18.7 miles

Run Time: 3:13:44 min

first 5 K

4/17/11