Wednesday, August 31, 2011

I Choose You... Yesterday, Today, and Forever





Three years ago today I married the man of my dreams, my best friend, college sweetheart, and partner in crime.  Looking back at the eight plus years we have spent together I have to laugh.  We have been through more then I could ever tell you in this one little blog post.  I can't imagine a better person on this planet.  Kyle is simple when I am complicated, sweet when I am sour (together we make the perfect sour patch kid:), sturdy when I am unstable.  He is the rock in this marriage and he doesn't even know it.  If you asked him he would tell you that he is the lucky one, but I have a confession...  I am the lucky one.

 He supports my crazy needs to be creative, even when it makes us zero dollars and I spray paint everything he owns.  He works hard so that I can be home with our daughter two days a week (a luxury I will NEVER take for granted).  He is silly and fun and probably the most entertaining person in the world.  With him I will never be bored, lonely, or without a laugh. 



I know that God made us perfectly for each other and for that I am thankful.  


Life is an adventure... thanks for being the Lewis to my Clark:)

Monday, August 29, 2011

I Heart The Beatles

This Friday night Kyle and I took a break from moving, cleaning, moving, house repairs, oh, and moving to have a little fun.  Ever since I was little The Beatles have held a special place in my heart.  Growing up, both of my parents were fans.  My dad would play tons of their songs on the guitar and we would all sing along (not as cheesy as it sounds I promise:).  These are some of my favorite memories growing up.  My dad and I even danced to "In My Life" at my wedding.  The first song I ever learned to play on the guitar was "Yellow Submarine," mostly because it was easy and I suck haha, but also because I like it.  So, when we saw there was going to be a Beatles tribute band playing at Red Rocks (hands down the world's best venue) on Friday Kyle and I decided to get tickets for the four of us.  It was so fun, my only complaint was they only played the early years so I didn't get to hear some of my favorite songs.  "Blackbird" and "All You Need is Love" are probably my two favorites.  All in all the night was a blast.  It even ended with a little karaoke fun... My mom and I got suckered into singing "Hey Jude" at a karaoke bar after the concert... it was not pretty... I will not be posting the video. 

On a side note, I don't know if there is a person in this world who sucks at being photographed more then my husband.  I think he does it on purpose but he claims he is just that bad/awkward.  I wanted a nice picture of us at Red Rocks and this is what I got...





So after three failed attempts and laughing until I cried, I settled for this...



Also, our basement bathroom is almost done with its face lift so I will be posting pics soon!!  It should be done by Friday (if we don't procrastinate like we usually do:)

Thursday, August 25, 2011

Printable LOVE!


Proverbs 31:25


My inspiration for the day.  Love this printable and her shop is so great. 

Sometimes you need a little inspiration to get you through the day.  I think I might have to get a few of these to put around my house while we are renovating.  Just a little something to remind me not to run out of the house screaming on the days that seem to not be going my way.  (running down the street screaming probably wouldn't impress the new neighbors:)

My mind has been filled with dreams of old crappy rooms to pretty up.  The possibilities are endless and I just can't wait to start.  This weekend we will be re-doing the basement bathroom.  What do you think of this one framed in my new bathroom....


BAHAHAHA I crack myself up!

I will keep you all updated on our renovation adventures:)




Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Moving... BARF

This week has been INSANE!  We were supposed to close on our house on the 15th. Of course this did not happen.  Due to FHA/HUD sitting on their thumbs taking their sweet sweet time, our closing was pushed back to the 23rd. 

Anyhoo, my husband and I are the world's worst (or should I say best) procrastinators.  I got back from Texas on Wednesday.  Went to a wedding on Friday.  Sat around the house on Saturday.   And then there was Sunday.  Oh Sunday, how you sucked so bad.  Instead of using the months we had leading up to this move to box and prepare, we decided not to pack a single thing until Sunday.  Not a single plate was packaged, not a single picture taken off the wall.  Nope we did it ALL in one day.  In a mad rush to get our house ready to move we decided to pack all 2,000 square feet into an 8' x 8' x 16' foot storage container (did I mention we did this IN ONE STINKIN DAY!) ... just the two of us.  I don't know if you really got that last point so let me tell you one last time...

ONE DAY!! 

JUST THE TWO OF US!! 

Holy H E double hockey sticks I am SORE.  My husband seems to think I am much stronger then I am.  We moved an insane amount of extremely heavy things, all while watching my sweet little Luci Rae.  A 10 month old is many great things, but a good helper she is not. 

So here she is, packed to the brim and ready to be hauled to her new home:  Our lovely container:





Oh and here is just one of my MANY battle wounds from the day.  OUCH!  Kyle almost wet his pants laughing when this happened... not nice:(




So now I go, bruised and battered back to work in anticipation of our new home.  Stay tuned as we take our 1980s time warp into 2011.  It's just a jump to the left, and a step to the righeieieight.  Put your hands on your hips, and your knees in tight.....  LETS DO THE TIME WARP AGAIN!!!! 

The next few months of my life will be dedicated to painting, flooring, counter tops, yard work, decorating ... I am exhausted just thinking about it.  Free labor is always welcome:)

Wednesday, August 17, 2011

DIY Dry Erase Boards

I bet you all thought I had gotten lazy on you.  That I haven't done any projects lately... just been kicking back and taking in the summer sun. Well, you would be right... mostly:)  But here is a little something for your viewing pleasure. 

I recently had to ask my best friend Heather for a VERY last minute favor.  I needed her to watch my dog for a few nights and I felt really bad for springing it on her at the last minute. I wanted to give her something special and unique to say thank you for being such a crazy, forgetful person.  This particular friend of mine is super organized and LOVES lists.  I mean the girl keeps a list for literally everything.  She loves to check things off.  It's almost like a sick addiction... Love you girl but its true!

I came up with the perfect gift for just such a special lady.  I started with a list... Shocking I know.  I made a list of chores.  I actually found a blog that had a free download of a cleaning list.  Thought it was brilliant!  So I put this list into a word document and prettied it up.  I also added a blank chart at the bottom so she could add in her own chores.


Then it was off to Goodwill to find the perfect frame.  I, of course, found two awesome frames so I decided I should probably make two.




I busted out my handy dandy spray paint and got right to work.  (of course take the glass out first)  Then I just put the glass and list back in and viola, a dry erase board chore list!  You can write with dry erase markers on glass, so now Heather can check things off to her hearts content, then erase and start over the next week.



 


So if you have that very special, slightly OCD friend in your life this was a SUPER easy, super fast way to say thank you!!!  Plus it looks so cute on the wall, like a functional little piece of art.

Oh yeah and Heather... THANK YOU!!  Skylar had a wonderful time at your house:) 

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Thursday, August 11, 2011

Labor of Love

You know how a lot of my posts lately have been about birthdays... WELLLLLLLLLL...  this one is no different. 

Today I witnessed what I consider to be God's most amazing work.  I witnessed the birth of my beautiful niece... Stella June Barrett!  I have never witnessed a birth, unless you consider watching Courtney Kardashian give birth on TV witnessing.  You see, I had a C-Section with my own beautiful little miracle so I haven't actually seen nature at its finest.  It was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.

Shena started having contractions at about 2 pm yesterday and even progressed to a contraction every 7 minutes or so but by midnight the contractions had slowed drastically and by the time she got to the hospital for her induction they were only coming every 15 minutes or so.  She was induced at about 10 o'clock this morning and by 3:30 pm she was ready to push.  Fast right!  At 5:28 pm Stella June made her grand entrance.  We were all crying, yes this includes my usually stoic sister.  She was 6 pounds 3 ounces, 18 and 1/4 inches long, and absolutely perfect.  I now have a better understanding of the phrase... Labor of Love.  There is no better reason to be in that much pain for that long.  So with all of that said, I will let the pictures speak for themselves:










It was beautiful, frustrating, painful (to watch), thrilling, and if you asked my sister, worth every single second.  It made me want to do it all over again... ok not really, but kinda:)


Monday, August 8, 2011

Flash Mob... CHECK... Bucket List Complete

Have you ever seen that commercial (I think it is for T-Mobile or Sprint or something) where the guy doesn't get the message in time that the flash mob starts at 1230 so he starts dancing too early?  Well, it is one of my husband's FAVORITE commercials.  He laughs so hard when the guy yells "WE ARE!"  Anyway, as we were sitting there cracking up watching this one day it hit me.  I am adding flash mob to my bucket list!

I have been meaning to start my bucket list for some time now but I just can't figure out exactly what I want on it.  I am pretty adventurous so I have already completed many of the typical things one would put on their bucket list:

Bungee Jump:  Check
Surf:  Check
Scuba Dive:  Check
Climb a 14er: Check
Sky Dive:  Check...... That one didn't go so well... Lets just say I am now referred to as the "Vomit Commit."

So when I saw this commercial I knew I had a winner.  And because God has the best sense of humor, not even a week later, out of the clear blue, my best friend Heather asked me if I wanted to do one.  Of course I saw this as Divine intervention and went about learning the dance to Lady Gaga "Born This Way."  Well, this Saturday we gathered up our husbands, babies, and even my cousin and headed down town.  Our group was running late and we almost missed it but we sprinted up about three 8 counts into the dance and joined in the almost 200 person flash mob in front of Coors Field.  I laughed hysterically the entire time, probably missed half the moves but when it was over I was ecstatic!  If you are friends with me on Facebook you can see the video my cousin took.  Kyle was supposed to take the pictures but he was in the back of the pack so unfortunately this is the only one he got. 

I am in the white t-shirt on the bottom right and Heather is in the black jersey with the number 2. 


As you can see we were very proud of ourselves!!

So now that my bucket list is complete, I will need to brainstorm some new awesome ideas to add to it!  Of course win the Lotto is on there but that one might take some time.  I am just waiting for the light bulb to go off in my head once again so I can start the next ridiculous task we decide to do.  Any suggestions??


And totally unrelated to this topic I just couldn't go without showing you these ADORABLE pics of Luci Rae!!  They are just too cute not to share.



"I love my daddy:)"


Helping Grandpa play the guitar.  She LOVES when he plays for her :)

And just a quick update on my Sis and that baby in her belly.  She is officially 2 days past her due date and if Stella doesn't make her appearance before Thursday Shena will be induced!!!!  I fly out Wednesday so stay tuned for more updates!


OK that's all for now! 

Thursday, August 4, 2011

War in our house

My friend Leslie recently wrote a blog about some funny marital advise.  She basically said that instead of getting mad at the little things (leaving the honey on the counter, clothes left on the floor, etc) she makes a fun game out of it.  Well, I thought, this could be FUN!  So I started. 

Kyle always leaves his dirty clothes everywhere.  So I started placing them like a person in funny spots.  His undies and a t shirt on the toilet like someone was sitting there, his work clothes on the bed like he is laying down.  This was fun at first but it did not get my point across, which was of course to get him to put his dirty clothes in the laundry basket.  So, I started more.  In the evenings he lays out his work clothes for the next day.  I took his dirty socks that he had left on the floor and put one in each pocket.  He has at least 3 pairs of shoes out at one time... no idea why... one of the many mysteries that is my husband.  Well, I started by having Luci's giant chicken wear them.  When that went unnoticed I started hiding one and putting the other away.  My favorite was one in the freezer:)  Well, finally he cracked.  Instead of getting mad he got even! 

He decided to take ALL of my tank tops, still on hangers, and put them on my side of the bed.  When I explained to him that my antics were all to make a point and his were just to be a brat he responded with this... "I AM making a point, my point is that you trying to condition me will NEVER work".  Well, our competitive nature has taken over and now we are in full on war.  It is hysterical and FUN!  The other day I spent the entire day looking for the remote (of course I told him I found it right away as to not loose face). He of course had put it on the highest shelf possible, we short people don't tend to look above eye level very often.  There are no more points to be made just a war to be WON!  So, if anyone out there has any great ideas I am all ears.  No mean pranks, just funny subtle ones please:)  I am thinking of collecting every single pop can he leaves in his car over the next month and building a HUGE tower somewhere.  What do you all think?

Monday, August 1, 2011

Winter Park or Bust

It seems that most... ok... ALL of my posts lately have revolved around birthdays, but lets face it, the people I love just keep getting older!  This weekend was my sister-in-law, Erin's birthday.  To celebrate in true Remley fashion my two sis-in-laws and I rented a condo in Winter Park. 

You would think we did this to enjoy the fresh mountain air, to hike the pristine trails, or to go screaming down the alpine slides.  Although all of those would have been so much fun, the reason we rented a condo in winter park was to scrapbook/craft.  That's right, an entire weekend of uninterrupted crafting.  No kids and no boys allowed :)  The men folk took the kiddos for the weekend and we did what we do best!  Eat, drink, hot tub, and CRAFT!!   Within one hour of arriving, the condo went from clean and organized to this:
I was bursting with project ideas!  I dusted off the old hot glue gun and got to work.  Here are a few of the MANY projects I got done.



 The banners I made for Luci Rae's one year birthday coming up in October:)  LOVE how they turned out!






 My new pillow case (to go with my navy side table I made this summer) and clipboard.  I want to make 2 more of these in fun colors to hang in my new office so we can organize our bills... did I mention that we are supposed to close on our new house in exactly 15 days???  Can you feel my excitement???

My friend Heather had made me the L for Luci's room last year and I decided I wanted to add some spice:)  So here is the final product!  It will hang on her door in her new room... in 15 days that is.

And finally what took up most of my time:


Luci's bird mobile!!!!  It has been broken for about 5 months now, basically half her life haha, and I finally got around to fixing it:)  Her new room is going to be so cute! 

When you are a mother, sister, daughter, wife, housekeeper, chef (not a very good one at that), and of course insurance agent, time seems to get away from you.  This weekend I was able to take off all of my other hats and put on my crafting hat.  It is a rare and precious thing when we are given the gift of time!!

So basically Erin's birthday turned out to be one of the best gifts I have ever received! 

Just so you all can get a good laugh before I sign off here are some hilarious pictures.  I set my camera on self timer mode so that we could capture a "candid" picture of what our weekend looked like:

So cute and poised huh:)  Well, what I didn't realize is that I had also set my camera to take multiple pics in a row... So after this beautiful, composed picture was taken the flash just kept going...

and going...

and going...

So that first picture of a composed, well put together trio was false... the last three are what the weekend really looked like! 
Guess your true self always comes out one way or another!  Cheers!