March in a Nutshell (Part 1)

When I thought it had all melted for good......2hotty and I woke up to just a few more inches of snow to moan and grown about enjoy the first week of March.  Instead of staying at home sipping on some hot chai tea (which would have made more sense if you ask me) 2hotty dragged me out of the house to enjoy the freshly fallen snow (hopefully one last time but you just never know around my neck of the woods)!!

(Our friend Chris and his dog, Madison, came on our little adventure too!)

Scott loves animals (and they love him).  I call him Mr. Dolittle because it seems like all animals flock to him.....like they have this unique connection with him.  He has a sixth sense or something.  They all think he's one of them.....I'm just sure of it.  Just weird.......but kinda cute!!  Oh and little kids/babies they love him too!! It's really cute to watch sometimes.  He'll make a great daddy one day (to both the fur and human kind!).

We have a huge brush pile in our back yard.  Its from a dead pine tree that we chopped down (and yelled 'timber") the second day after moving into our house. Now that the snow has melted we've been trying to widdle down the pile and eventually have plans to DIY an outdoor fire pit something like this (I'm hoping we get it done before our end of summer party!)  I'm sure our neighbors would really REALLY love it if this happened much sooner than later (the brush pile is kind of an eye sore to say the least!).

Madison doesn't seem to have a problem with the pile.  Look at all them sticks she has to play with!!

One of the main reasons I went out for this walk  (because who doesn't love chai tea and relaxing on the couch) was to try out the new lens my brother-in-law got both 2hotty and me for Christmas.  It's a EFS 55-250 mm lens and I must say it really takes some getting use to.   I find that its perfect for taking landscape pictures (if you really want to zoom in close) rather than day to day pictures.  I had fun taking pictures of trees in our back yard.  I love all the colors and textures.  (Now I can't wait to take some photos of all of our blooming flowers! Hooray for Spring!):

(this is one of my faves.....It deserves a title or something! HA!)

Two men and a baby puppy?!?!

I caught 2hotty observing the trees a little too closely if you ask me.  What a weirdo :-)

Planning on moving to the North Pole hunny?!?!  (PETA don't worry.....the dead looking fur thing on his head that looks like its going to eat him alive...is all faux fur!!)

Perhaps future botanist?!?!

When we made it back home I had this "grand" idea to make a snowman (and cross it off my bucket list).  I say "grand" because I was hoping to make a life sized like snowman.  Everyone laughed at me.  There was barely enough snow to make a proper snowball.  HA!!  I attempted anyway (Have I mentioned I'm very stubborn.....because I am!!  "My way or the highway" is my mantra most days!)

What a bad idea.  I ended up making "Frostys" evil step-brother.  We used some twigs for the demon eyes and some leaves (??) for the arms (it looked more like bat wings). HA! (warning: scariest mini snowman you have ever seen pictured below!)

I have mentioned in my last post that 2hotty and I have been hanging low for awhile (pretty much just channeling our inner "hermity" selves and staying in the comforts of our own "hermity" home/town).  I'd say partly due to the fact that the company 2hotty works for has changed the way they were going to pay him.  He is now getting paid once a month (rather than weekly).  And part of the stipulation was for him (and me. hehe.) to wait six full weeks before he (we!) received a paycheck.  I know how weird, huh?!?!  Don't worry it's nothing bad (he didn't lose his job or anything) it's just the way they decided to do it. Which now meant we both would have to be on a spending freeze for that amount of time (the freeze was mostly geared towards me however, and perhaps the new pair of shoes I wanted. shucks.)!  We both decided this transition period would also be a good time to take a break from any home painting/updating/decorating (all of the above. haha.) just until the dust settled a bit (we did end up buying a bathroom vanity that was on sale but more on that later!)  Sometimes it's nice to take a break, step back and rethink things every so often, you know?!?!  But who says you can't have fun without money?!?!  Isn't there a saying: "the best things in life are free".  So cliche but true.  I have a wonderful husband/friends/family/home and what better time than the "no extra money to spare" time, to really embrace it all (not that I don't already....its just it was more relevant during this time).   But don't fret too long my pets....... we made it to the finish line (thank goodness). Yay!  We were able to live off of what we had in checking and a little from savings for the full six weeks!  Can I get a big round of applause (Or you can just picture me clapping my hands in a circle.....with a big grin on my face. haha!)  It's shoe time baby (just kiddin hunny)!!  I now feel like such a responsible grown up. HA!  See why it is SO important to have a little nest egg built up in a savings account just in case of any financial emergencies like these?!?!  If you don't have one already......START ONE  (six months worth of your expenses is a rule of thumb)!

With all that to say (about our little spending freeze).......now let me introduce to you our first official breakdown in the new house and the first official "this sucks you know what" grin from my Mr.  What's life without a little bump in the road (not my life that's for sure!)?!?!.:

Our washer machine decided to dump us.  Yes it was kinda hurtful at first. So much for a "spending freeze" huh?!  The above picture is 2hottys reaction to the whole situation.  It kinda makes me laugh now that I think about it.  Both his reaction that that the washer decided to wimp out on us.  I laugh because when we were buying our house the washer and dryer were not included in the previous owners asking price.  We had them added into our offer.  We were so excited when they had accepted (we thought maybe they overlooked it).  When we first walked through the house we didn't (at least I didn't) notice how old they were........I just thought "wow" hey they have a front loader washer and they aint cheap. In reality both the washer and dryer were already about ten years old (I'd say that's about the average time they are suppose to last anyway).  So bottom line is A. they are on their last stretch and 2. We ended up paying for a new washer (and eventually new dryer) anyway. We did have a good five months of use so it wasn't totally a loss. :-)

Here I am booing and sharing my sadness with Scott (but in reality I don't mind so much.  Anything to spend a little moolah......even if it was on a new washer machine.)  Please look past my outfit/and lack of makeup......I call this my weekend grungy chic look!

Our laundry room isn't finished yet.  I dream of a fabulous laundry room someday.  It's a BIG room and has so much potential but "OUI" where do we even start!  I often joke that we are on the "five year plan" when it comes to this house.  It'll probably take us five years (or longer) to update/finish all of the things we would like......and that is A-OK with us.  I'd say this room fits somewhere on the three to four year timeline (we have a long ways to go. sad face.):

Yes this picture gives me much anxiety. I hate having clutter around the house and well this rooms middle name is CLUTTER!!

With all that to say, we ended up going out and buying a new one that same weekend. It actually happened at the most convenient time.  Both Scott and I had a three day weekend from work.  (Bonus!  I considered myself lucky, because usually I'm far from it.  Oh and I had major laundry to do that weekend too!  Double Bonus!)  2hotty went down to do some laundry when it had started to make a REALLY loud noise.  So we decided to call a local company (actually the same company the washer was purchased from) to come out and look at it.  The technician told us it needed to be replaced. The broken part (I think the barrel??) was under warranty but we would have to pay for shipping and labor.  We thought "Hey, that's great news!"  Then he dropped the bomb on us.  We would be looking at a six HUNDRED dollar figure after it was all said and done.  Oh no no no no NO!!  (back to being unlucky. womp womp.) We taught about it for a while and had ultimately decided that the ten year old washer was not worth the trouble and a brand new one was the way to go (fosho!)!!

Meet our new washer:

Oooh lala so shiny and pretty! Never taught I'd say that about a washer, but welcome to the world of homeownership (I never knew that trips to Menards and Home Depot were going to be a weekly thing either!).  When it came time to picking the right one for us and our budget we turned to Scott's dad.  Why?!?!  He is a consumer reports junkie!!  I kid you not. 

We turned to the front loading washer section of the book and saw that this one was rated number one:

But coming at a thousand dollars it was just not happening. Common one thousand dollars to wash 2hottys panties.....I don't think so......even if they are cute panties (so goin to die for this......dyeing...dead!! haha!).  For some reason I can justify spending that amount of money on a Louis Vuitton purse but some reason I wasn't going to for a lousy washer machine.  You now see where my priorities are (I'm not at all materialistic....not one bit....nuh uh.....not me! hehe).

 First we had looked into getting this one, rated number twenty in the book and coming in at about six hundred dollars (same amount it would've cost to replace the old one):

But after some research and reading online reviews (which were mostly bad BTW) we decided we'd keep on truckin.  We spent a couple hours going from store to store comparing prices and models.  Which is a great tip btw.  Do some research first and allow yourself some time to compare prices at a few different stores in your area.....oh and read other peoples reviews....they're the most helpful.  We were able to find our new washer in our hometown (keeping it local is a huge plus!!) and we also found that they had the best deal around town too (wam bam to that!) The new washer we purchased was rated number four in CR (a Kenmore....I forget the model but can hunt it down if anyone is interested!) and after some negotiating we ended up buying an eight hundred dollar machine for only about six hundred dollars.  Sweet!  Another tip, bring your negotiating husband along......its wonderful (he is a negotiating machine and my little King Penny Pincher!). 

We also saved some money on delivery and installation.  How?!?!  Well we just so happened to know a friend with a truck AND my brother just so happened to be up visiting from Chicago.......so we borrowed him (and his muscles) to help carry it to the laundry room in our basement.  2hotty also carefully went over the directions to install and align the washer properly.  The instructions will be your friend.  Easy Peasy.

After all of the "hard" labor intensive work (ya right!) 2hotty chugged down a liter of coke and was ready to relax with a few drinks. (He says its tradition to do so if he remotely comes close to working up a sweat.  Dream on hunny......dream on!).

So that pretty much concludes the first half of the month of March for us.  We endured some financial change when 2hottys company transitioned to monthly paychecks (I kinda like it!).  We took advantage of the last snowfall before welcoming Spring (more on that in Part 2) and I built a pretty wimpy (but scary lookin) snowman.  Oh and lastly, we experienced our first house breakdown (even if we were on a spending freeze) which lead us on a hunt to buy a new washer machine the same weekend.  So ya overall not anything overly exciting but we took advantage of it the best we could.  Next up,  I'll include our eighty degree weather we welcomed with open (white as a ghost) arms not to long after the last snowfall, our blurry St. Patty's day celebration with friends, and anything else I'm forgetting to share right now (because I'm focusing more on watching the Real Housewives of New Jersey right about now.  Anyone watch?!?!  I LOVE IT....SO JUICY....TOTALLY UP MY ALLEY.....DEVOUT FAN I AM.....I DON'T CARE FOR THERESA!!) 

xoxo Joanna D. 

Easter Blessings

Wow has it really been a month since the last time I blogged?!?!?! I wish I was better at it I really do......but I know it takes some time gettin use to (even if I've been doing it for almost a year.  Has it been a year yet?That's so bad that I don't even know!)  I have just been struggling with keeping a regular schedule, especially after moving into our new house and all (which BTW has been half a year already!! Canyoubelieveitohmyga?!?!).  I try and make lists.....I have a planner.....I make mental notes......but ultimately I feel like I just cant get it together and am scraping by just to get regular day to day stuff done.  I don't know how other bloggers do it.....I really don't (Any tips let me know....Palease!).  They inspire me SO much.  So please forgive me as I try and figure this whole thing out......mmmkay?!?!  HA!

Actually there hasn't been too much excitement around here as far as any house/DIY projects go.  We've been on a spending freeze (more on that in another post).  I would say we've actually acquired "hermit" like tendancies by simply just enjoying the sunny days in the comfort of our own home.  We spend most days lounging around on our three season deck (yes even when its raining out):



2hottys been golfing as much as he possibly can squeeze in, and I've been just bummin/dreamin about vacation/pinning inspiration/ and really anything else that has to do with being unproductive.  Ya.....so ultimately a whole lotta nothin goin on!  (I will try to get around and post my March highlights whenever I can, but I make no promises....I can promise you that. HA!) 

Speaking of lounging around and enjoying sunny days, I wanted to share our Easter weekend......you know before it gets to be Memorial Day weekend and nobody really cares what I have to say about bunnies, nephews, and/or Polish sausage (and not in any particular order). :-) We received a special treat from the Easter bunny this year when this little birthday boy payed us a visit:



 

Yup that is my little (actually he aint so lil anymore) cutey patootie nephew, Nathanial, who just happened to turn the big ONE year old the week before Easter. His birthday was sock monkey themed and super duper adorable! Needless to say we couldn't wait to make the three hour trip to Illinois just so we could party our socks off (no pun intended!) with him!  Before I get to Easter highlights I wanted to show a few pictures from his birthday.   Because no party is complete without me DIY somthin outta somethin (if you know me you would understand).  :-) I made Nathaniel his birthday hat and banner:

You can see the stuffed sock monkey wearing the DIY birthday hat in the picture below:

I found a great tutorial to follow that showed me how to make these fun birthday hats on this BLOG (I simply just searched "sock monkey parties" on my beloved Pinterest acount.) Here is the hat she created (and I so shamefullylessly copied):

The banner was just a yarn wreath I quickly came up using a mini wreath form and some red and cream colored yarn.  I also made fun yarn pom poms to add to the garland and the number 'one' (I just cut out the number out of cardboard and wrapped it with some more yarn) to tie in with the theme!  I am nothing if not milking a theme until its bone dry!!! (I don't really think that meant a whole Lotta sense but......ya. HA!
You can sorta see it in the picture below (top left):

Don't all of the treats look yummy!  Can't have a monkey party without bananas  because that would be well.......bananas (it's bananas....B-A-N-A-N-A-S.....sorry love me some Gwen Stefani!!).  I'm not sure how the the life savers were suppose to tie in (maybe they were meant for the parents! :-) 
Lucky for Nathaniel.....he survived his first year with the two people raising him......AKA my brother and SIL.......more specifically my brother.  HAHA!!!!  I'm totally joking......my brother and sister-in-law have done/are continuing to do such a beautiful and wonderful job when it comes to raising my precious little munchkin Natey Nate and I am totally taking mental notes when it comes time to having a little cupcake of my own. :-) Great job guys, you totally rock at it and make it look so dang easy. 

Speaking of his parents......lets take a peek at the Easter highlights shall we.  Here they are all dressed up, getting ready to bless the Easter baskets Saturday afternoon:



Blessing of the baskets is one of our Easter traditions that we do every single year.  My mom fills it up with yummy food that will be eaten for breakfast Easter morning.  Food such as Polish sausage, dyed hard boiled eggs, a round loaf of bread, lamb butter (Mmmm my favorite), chocolates, mini babkas (cake), and other things I'm sure I'm forgetting......get filled in a beautifully decorated basket.  On Saturday morning we take the basket full of yummy treats to church and set it up in front of the alter (along with hundreds of other beautifully decorated baskets) for the priest to come around and bless with holy water.  Its a tradition that I look forward to every year (except for this year...shucks... because I unfortunately had to work so that I could bring home the bacon.....er um or in my case the Polish sausage. HA!) and cannot wait to pass these same traditions along to any future mini 2hottys.  :-)

Speaking of little 2hottys......Here is me and my little 2hotty after Easter mass dressed in our Sunday best:



I totally forgot to bring along "Mr.Sexy Canon".... AKA my camera.  I know GASP! But lucky for me I have a SIL who just so happens to be a PRO!!  Ya I know.  YAY for beautiful "EDITED" pictures!! Holla!

We had such beautiful weather too.  It was wee bit chilly, but the sun was shining bright and more importantly we did not get any rain!!  Alleluia to that. 

Another pic of us and a picture of my parents AKA proud grandparents with their ray of sunshine:



Check out those chubby wubby pinchable cheeks this guy has (and NO I'm not talkin about my dad, Frank the Tank. HA!)  And if you think his cheeks are squishy cute, you should see his squishable thighs.  He must get that from his aunt (although his are much MUCH cuter and mine well they could really lay off the chips and brownies!):



If you think his grandparents are gaga over Nathaniel..... you should see him with Uncle Scott:



Just makes my heart want to burst (and maybe even my uterus! HA!) with how much I adore seeing 2hotty with him (actually with any child).  He will make such a wonderful daddy one day!! Tear.

After Easter breakfast (our belly's were full as can be......my mom did not dissapoint...as always), 2hotty and I headed back home so we could set up for Easter dinner.  This year we were the ones hosting it and my wonderful mother-in-law was the one cooking it!! Yup that is right.......I did NOT have to do one bit of COOKING this year (actually I've never had to any Easter cooking......EVER!).  Yes I know I have the bestest MIL in the world (sorry you can't have her so don't you dare try!) who still treats us as her little kids and not only cooks us the whole entire meal, but also brings over a basket full of goodies (that I'm sure my thunder thighs lurve her for!) just like the Easter bunny once did when we were younger.  I know BANANAS right?!?!

Check out how cute these cookies are:

Oh and who could forget my FIL, D, who is also is the bestest!  He gifted us his "like new" riding lawn mower so we didn't have to shell out the extra moolah this year (they are dang expensive), especially after having to replace our washer machine that wimped out on us last month (ya more on that in another post!).  We are so GRATEFUL and will definately work for it in anyway they please. Can someone say "deck staining" like pronto. HA! It's a John Deere kinda like the one Nate-Dog is sporting below:

 

I actually decorated the house really REALLY late this year.  Like I said I cannot get my life together right now.  Its a hot mess.   I think I went to JoAnnes on Good Friday quick after work to pick up some fake flowers to make my house look more "springy":

I just popped them in my large glass vase that I'm sure you've seen so many times before.  I've used it to hold branches and ornaments for a Christmas centerpiece and also burlaped it for my Valentines Day centerpiece.  And now here for an Easter display:

I still have my book page wreath up.  I think I'm going to leave it up all year round:

A wine table (using this for now until I can find something better) holds my holiday decor.  It's the first thing my guests see when they walk in.  (It's actually more as a distraction in hopes they wont notice my messy kitchen. hehe.)  Ultimately I would like a wooden table with drawers (hello can you say storage) bur for now it works just fine.  Oh and the candle holder thingy is a thrift store find.  I wasn't going to get it at first but I'm glad I did.....it works so nicely in this space:

Besides the flowers I didn't really have to purchase anything:

I filled some candle votive holders with dried split peas for a more natural "springy" feel.  It brings in a pop of color in a more subtle way.  My little bird also finds his way into all of  my holiday displays some where.....some how:

Free printable art/quotes are my "go to" when it comes to jazzing up a holiday display.  It's fast and cheap (just the way I like em...haha!) and I just love the beautiful wording on this one:

As far as the table scape goes.......it was done in a hot minute and on a dime!

I wish I would've taken a picture when the whole table was set but I unfortunately did not think of it until it was too late.  Bad blogger....BAD!!!  Here is what it looked like more or less (now times that by five. HA!):

I added just a few things purchased at various times during trips to the thrift store, craft store, and grocery store and put them all out on display at the middle of the table.

The basket filled with eggs turned out pretty cute.....I likey.  I found the basket at a local thrift store for a couple bucks and filled it with some newspaper to add height (because I wanted to fill it with eggs).  To cover up the newspaper I covered the top with moss (found at Joann's) and added a bunch of fake speckled (freckled?) colored eggs:

(The colors of the eggs are washed out in the pictures below but they were mainly neutral colors with a few turquoise ones mixed in.)



The white ceramic bunny was also a thrift store score (it was 2 dollhairs) and I think he so cute (reminded me of something similar I remember seeing from a PB catalog!) and the hand painted egg I bought at a grocery in Illinois when we were visiting for Mr. Nates birthday.

As far as the place setting I just kept it simple with a pop of color using everything I already owned:

Actually my sister-in-law was in aww of where I shop for all of my stuff.  I buy mostly everything on sale (like major sales)!! I bought the white plates at Walmart (they were seventy-five percent off after Christmas), the yellow plates were from World Market (bought on clearance after Thanksgiving), the napkins were from Tar-jay (again on a super sale), and the napkin rings I purchased at Goodwill (got a whole bag of them for a buck....nuf' said!).  So bottom line I bargain (I mean like BARGAIN) shop but I try to get pieces I can interchange year round and that don't skimp out on style and cuteness.....know what I mean?!?!  I don't want to just buy something because it was ninety percent off or somthing crazy like that (well maybe I would if it was ninety percent off...HA...but you get what I mean!):

So ya besides stuffing my face with yummy treats and ham we had an pretty layed back family filled weekend.   Just look at this deliciousness.......there's nothin I enjoy more than my mammas homemade bakin and cookin:

(I am so salivating all over my laptop right now!)


Oh BTW I think I have started quite the addiction collection as far as little bitty animals that are scoured throughout my kitchen:

Please let me introduce to you Mr. T.....my new sugar bowl I found at a local kitchen boutique just a few weeks ago.  I love him......isn't he so cute?!?!:

So wow that's a wrap!! Holy cow I forgot how much I miss posting and documenting.  Sigh!  I'm going to try and figure out how I can keep a consistant schedule but in the mean time tell me "how was your Easter weekend?!?!"  Did you eat tons and tons......like I did?!?!  Theres nothing like eating Easter breakfast at my parents house every year......so nostolgic to me!!  Anyone procrastinate with holiday decore (that is my middle name after all)?!?!  Lets talk.....I miss you guys!

xoxo Joanna D.