...molly and me...

What I've learned from living in the arctic tundra...

2011-02-06T07:06:00.001-08:00

I love living in Tulsa. I really do. There are great restaurants, lots of fun things to do, my friends, and you get to experience all 4 seasons. Spring, summer, fall, all are exceptionally great, even winter. Well, that was until Tuesday when I woke up and realized Molly and I had moved to Alaska overnight, as we were greeted with 15" of snow! Luckily, we were not in Alaska with Sarah Palin (thank goodness), but instead this insane amount of snow had just been dumped on Tulsa, or as I like to refer to it now as the Arctic Tundra.

During my week in the arctic tundra, I have learned a great deal about survival tactics that I need to share.

1. You can never have enough soup in your house. My snow week diet consisted of soup, fruit, and lean cuisines. And, for some reason when I looked at the ridiculous amount of snow on the ground my friends Miss Progresso and Mr. Campbell always made me feel much better.

2. Owning a puppy is key to keeping a small bit of sanity during a snow-pocalypse. Molly and I shared numerous discussions about what soup we should make today, what DVR-d show we should catch up on after lunch, what sweatshirt would make the best snow fashion statement, etc. But most importantly, having a snuggled up puppy asleep in your lap makes working from home the best thing ever.

3. Just because you pay your gas bill, doesn't mean you will still have hot water. Now, we will not go into the gas bill story circa July 2010 because that is a.) not blog worthy due to high embarrassment and b.) I would have to die my hair back blonde to pass it off as a blonde moment. Point of the matter is...pipes freeze and you lose hot water, but if you just cry to your momma a whole lot, hot water will eventually come back. Moms know how to make everything better.

4. I will always own a gas guzzling, non-Eco friendly, big ole SUV for the rest of my life. Sometimes when you've been cooped up for so long, nothing gives you greater satisfaction than taking out a snow mound in your beast of a car. But, Despite the fact that I was driving a suburban for the week (not the best snow mobile), the positive side was Molly and I could go on a mini-vacation back to 1973. Our new favorite pastime includes, sitting in the car, booty warmers turned on of course, and brushing up on our 70s on 7 with XM radio.

5. You know you are from Arkansas if you think your garden shovel can pass off as a snow shovel. For some reason my sweet little garden shovel that is perfect for planting hydrangeas and azaleas is not so sweet when it comes to digging through 15" of snow.

6. Countdowns to vacation just might be the one saving factor to realizing there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Florida vacay with my favorites is only 154 days away!

-LB

We aren't in South Arkansas anymore...

2011-02-01T13:36:00.001-08:00

Well, if you ever wondered what almost 20" of snow or a blizzard warning looks like, here's a first hand look.

Little Mo is guarding the front porch, as she was not a fan of sinking down in the snow!

I promise my driveway is under there somewhere...

The snow was nice enough to let my street numbers peek through...I'm sure the mail man appreciates that!

I wanted to make sure Dad's car got a good dose of crazy Oklahoma weather...

And, this little booger has decided that the only good thing about a snow day is that she gets to snooze in my lap and continue on her quest for the title of being the most rotten puppy ever!

-LB

At home with Molly and me...

2011-02-01T13:20:00.001-08:00

In honor of the one year anniversary of making an offer on my house, I thought I would take my small posse of readers on a tour of our house. I wish we had before pictures, but the after is just so much better!

Let's start in the living room...with my favorite orange chair and paintings!

Now we'll migrate on into the dining room and kitchen...

Of course, the infamous pink table. I think it is the best conversation piece ever and highlight of my house. And, to everyone who said I could never get a boy to eat on a pink table...my Dad has multiple times! Further proving my point, if there is food on the table to eat, a man does not care what color the table is that he is eating on!

Anyways, off to the bedrooms. First is the guest bedroom with my first do-it-yourself project: the red headboard.

And off to my bedroom, my favorite room in the house!

Pink pillows, pink flowers, pink headboard...the pink accents on the gray palette just make the pink pop that much more! Oh, I love it!

Oh, and one last stop, the hall. Did I mention I love the color pink?

-LB

2010 rewind...

2011-01-01T08:25:00.001-08:00

Let's ignore the fact that I've been on a blog hiatus, but instead I wanted to recap some of the highlights of 2010. I remember New Year's Eve last year I was sitting at home with a pitiful newly spayed, snaggle tooth, drugged up puppy thinking that I was having my doubts about 2010, but in the end 2010 turned out to be one of the best years of my life. So let's recap with my top 10 things for 2010...

10. Fixing my first broken toilet and seeing the inside of a toilet bowl for the first time. This was a big deal, a really big deal.
9. Flipping furniture. Spray paint and sanding and flea markets, oh my did I do a lot of that.
8. Molly's first birthday. The little booger continues to be the goofiest, cutest, and best sidekick ever.
7. 23. I celebrated my 23rd birthday with all of my best friends in my house watching the bachelorette. It couldn't have been a more perfect birthday night.
6. Travel... 2010 was full of traveling. From Chicago for a bachelorette party to Houston for a family weekend to Gurdon for Poppa's 85th birthday to Nashville for a weekend of fun having with my absolute favorites to Dallas for a Spain reunion and wedding to Eureka Springs with our family friends and last but not least to Florida.
5. 5k+15k+half marathon?!?! What ended 2009 as a fun little hobby of running my first two 5k races started 2010 with a full schedule and full speed running. Since January, I ran five 5ks, a 15k, and my first half marathon, and a 10k is already on the calendar for February 2011. Goodness!
4. Florida. In August, we took our first family vacation with all of our dogs. Molly survived her first trip with multiple flights in one day. All of the dogs loved the beach and unlimited spoiling and laps.
3. The dream job. 2010 ended with the most unexpected blessing and wonderfully exciting cap to a phenomenal year. After seeing a random job posting on facebook, submitting my resume on a whim, 2 one hour plus long interviews, and the next thing I knew I was turning in my resignation and had just landed the job I had been dreaming of for years and the company I had been trying to get to notice me since college.
2. A wedding and a sister. 2010 will always be a special year for our family with the wedding of my brother and sister-in-law. We couldn't have gained a more perfect family member and I couldn't have asked for a better sister.
1. Buying my first house. So many great things that happened in 2010 can be tied back to buying my first house. From having more confidence and gaining independence to learning the beauty of homeownership to being a hostess with the mostest to having so much fun, the house has been the foundation (no pun intended) of an amazing 2010.

Here's to the ending of a fantastic year with the hope that 2011 will be wonderful too. Now let's eat some black eyed peas.

-LB

chairs, chairs, chairs...

2010-08-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

I have loved getting to decorate my own place. Painting the wall whatever colors I want, frequenting all the local flea markets trying to find new treasures, accessorizing with fun pillows or fabrics, and my favorite thing--rehabilitating old chairs! Now that I'm finally settled in at my house, I am noticing how many different chairs that I have "rehabilitated" and brought back to life.

I wish I could take credit on this fabulous fellow, but unfortunately this is one chair that I needed extra help with to finish. This little guy was a chair my parents purchased back in the 80s and has already been recovered a couple of times, but his current state is his biggest makeover. He started out as a cane back wooden chair with a rust colored cushion, and now he's a pretty suave chico who sits underneath my Spain posters.

My first chair rehabilitation by myself was on a fabulous flea market find that Molly and I were able to knock off $15 bucks for the steal! This pretty lady started out as a wooden back chair with a hunter green needlepoint floral design cushion. As soon as I saw her, I knew she had potential. After a quick trip to Hobby Lobby for paint and a trip down the discarded fabric aisle at Hancocks, I now have the perfect chair for my bedroom. I'm quite proud of how this sweet steal turned out!

My next chair project began after a weekend of painting my hall pink. I wanted a chair at the end of the hall to, well you know, "offset the pink hall." Lime green was the perfect accent color and tied in my bathroom wall color that is right off the hall. So, off Molly and I went to the flea market and came back with a $10 wooden chair. Once again, after a trip to Hobby Lobby for supplies, I painted the chair and made the accent pillow without a sewing machine, I might add!

And finally, one last chair that is a fairly new find is my accent chair in the dining room. Of course, this was another flea market find that required very little work. Just a quick recovering of the cushion and this one was good as new!

There is just something about chairs that I have come to enjoy. I love that all of my chairs are different and unique and each chair has a story of his own. Chairs have an inviting sense about them, whether welcoming guests to sit down and feel comfortable or circling up additional chairs around the dinner table. Those inviting and unique qualities of a chair is what has made me come to love them the most and take a seat.

playing a little catch up...

2010-08-24T19:16:00.000-07:00

Well, let's just pretend like I didn't actually take a 4 month hiatus from my blog, but instead I'll just give you the brief rundown of what has been happening since my last post ages ago...

Since then little Mo and I have packed up and finally moved out of our apartment and finally all moved in and settled in our wonderful and perfect first home. I don't think we could ask for a better place. It's the perfect size, perfect yard, perfect neighborhood, and the ability to make everything in my sometime hectic life seem calm and perfect. It's funny now, how much a house has changed Molly and I both. We are both so much happier with our own, new, colorful place.

Also since my last post...my little booger, Molly, had her first birthday! I can't believe my little 16 ounce, 7 week old puppy is now a 10 pound, big kid! We've come a long way since our first weekend together a year ago, but I can't imagine not having my little goofy booger bear around.

And, the most important thing that has probably happened since my last post is the NEW and WONDERFUL addition to our family. My brother got married this summer, and I'm so excited to have an amazing sister-in-law. Their wedding was such a great, loving, special, and best weekend ever.

So, now that I'm finally back in the blog world, I will begin updating all of my fun and exciting and hilarious home makeover projects that have been going on in the new house and show you what being at home with molly and me is really all about...

85+easter...

2010-04-13T17:46:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted probably because I've been a little busy with being out of town, painting, sanding, playing with Mo, and trying to get everything together to move into the new house!!! (wahooooo!) But, it's been a busy and fun few weeks!

I went home a couple of weeks ago for Easter and my grandpa's 85th birthday party which might go down as the party of the century. It was so much fun and so great to see everyone on that side of the family. Here are some fun party pics...

Blowing out his candles!!

All the grandkids plus the soon-to-be new family member=)

Sweet little Molly dog!
My brother with all of his favorite girls on Easter!

All of my project pictures will be coming soon...but most of them are in the final stages and I'm really happy with how they are turning out! More posts and blogging to come soon!

sanding, priming, sanding, priming...

2010-03-17T18:28:00.000-07:00

A few things have happened in the past couple of days that I never thought would happen in my life.

1. I bought my first power tool and became good friends with the tool man at home depot discussing all different types and kinds of sanders. I now own this bad boy from Black and Decker, it is pretty amazing and so powerful to use...2. I also became best buds with a Sherwin Williams worker discussing the different types of paint. Latex vs oil, gloss vs matte, basic primer vs tinted primer, etc, etc, etc. Needless to say, I now have a couple of quarts of oil based paint sitting in my garage waiting to be lathered onto my dining room table.
3. And, well, I finished my 5k in 30.03 minutes, my best time yet. Who knew I could do that? Not me.

Other than that, my weekend and beginning of this week has been spent spoiling Molly, of course, and sanding and priming a lot. My dining room table has been sanded and has one coat of primer on it and is sanded waiting on the next coat of paint. I'm also working on a mirror that has been primed and sanded over and over. My garage has definitely turned into a full workshop!

And, don't worry pictures are coming of these projects!

Run LB Run...

2010-03-11T19:43:00.000-08:00

I hate running. I do. I just hate it. But at the same time there is something about running that makes me keep coming back to it. I had to run in college, not by choice, but for cheerleading. Then, running was associated with a punishment or doing something wrong. Show up late, run laps. Mess up on a cheer, run some more. Running, to me, equaled being punished.

Last summer, I randomly mentioned to my Mom that I thought it might be neat or cool if I could run a 5k at some point before 2009 ended. Then at that time, there was something (aka someone) that held me back. The punishing feeling I associated with running wouldn't go away because I thought I couldn't do it and someone else really thought I couldn't do it or more importantly, they could do it better. At the end of the summer, a lot of things started changing, and I finally made the turn to start running again and running for myself. A good friend of mine suggested we should do a 5k in the end of October. I debated back and forth but knew this would be the perfect opportunity to accomplish my summer goal. I signed up for the race with about 4 days to spare, and I am so thankful I did. Finishing the race without stopping was such an incredible personal accomplishment and exactly what I needed in my life at that time. I needed to get confidence in myself back after a rough ending to the summer.

What I didn't expect to happen was my new addiction/liking to doing 5ks. Maybe I just enjoy getting the free t-shirt or seeing a cheesy photo of myself crossing the finish line, but I do enjoy them. I may moan and groan up until the days before, but I honestly love the satisfaction I get from finishing the race.

It still amazes me how quickly things can change in a matter of months especially when it started as doing the Tulsa Run at the end of October...

Then turned into doing the Jingle Bell Run in December...

and now this Saturday I'm doing the St. Patrick's Day Run. This will be my 3rd 5k in less than 5 months! Crazy how things can turnaround so quickly in your life, but I guess that's why I've just been running around and chasing it and loving my life now a whole lot more!

No pasa nada...

2010-03-09T19:11:00.000-08:00

With Spring Break coming up for nearly every single person I know, I have been remembering how great it was to have breaks from school. I loved getting to go home and relax and eat lunch with my Mom every day, but at the same time, looking back on my breaks from school, my favorite break would be summer 2008. That summer I got to spend the first few months abroad and living the life in Spain. Nothing can compare to that summer. I had no worries, I was doing something new everyday, I was experience life the way I never had before, I learned who I was, and I got to be my full and total self in a totally new place. It was unbelievable. Especially getting to see this every afternoon after class...and getting to sit front row at a bullfight...

and getting to meet some of the greatest girls ever...

and, without a doubt, having the best host parents you could ask for...Oh, Spain. Such an amazing, incredible, life-changing experience. Looking back at these pictures I long for my old beach on the Mediterranean, fresh olives at every meal, to die for sangria, funny interactions while attempting the language, and the best tan I've ever gotten in my life.

But, since I know I won't get to get back any time soon, I guess I can enjoy my pictures, clean puppy curled up in my lap, and think about how my new deck at my house will be my summer substitute for a Mediterranean beach in Spain...

The life of Mo...

2010-03-02T17:17:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just wish I could have Molly's life for a day. It's pretty simple, basically. Sleep, get spoiled, sleep, play, walk, sleep, eat, and sleep some more. Here is a glimpse into Molly's daily life...

Not a morning fan...

Going for walks are her new favorite thing to do...

Molly also loves happy hour. REALLY, really loves Sonic happy hour.

And, of course she loves to play!

But, let's not forget her newest favorite thing to do...sit in front of the door when I try to leave.

Oh, to be able to live a puppy's life! She's a mess, but how can you not love this cute little face!

Elementary art goes a long way...

2010-02-23T18:11:00.000-08:00

I went to the best elementary school ever. The older I get the more I realize my elementary school was so cool and so special. The teachers, the classes, the curriculum, the fun projects, everything was bigger than life and greater than you can imagine. It was obviously amazing if I am 22 and still talking about elementary school. But, it's true. Every time my brother and I are home and we are sitting around as a family, funny elementary school stories always come up. It really was the best school ever.

Part of my job at work is designing new things for our latest projects. I had to create a background to build off of but I didn't have a theme to work with for this project. I brainstormed a little and thought back to my favorite colors, objects, art, etc. This made me think of elementary school. Every year we got to do these great school-wide art fairs, and they were literally the highlight of the year whether getting to show off what you did or meaning that you were one year closer to being a 2nd grader doing the Impressionist period, 3rd grader doing the Baroque period, 4th grader doing the Renassiance period, 5th grader doing the Medieval period, or just like me who loved being a first grader doing modern geniuses...OH I just loved it: Georgia O'Keefe, Andy Warhol, Piet Mondrian, Pablo Picasso, Matisse, Van Gogh, etc, etc, etc.

My little daydreaming at work paid off and led to me creating a Piet Mondrian inspired background that WOW-ed the bosses and added a fresh new approach to our project.
And in honor of elementary school, I have to add the Matisse classic painting that was on our school t-shirt. Seriously, how cool is it that instead of having a mascot on our elementary school shirt, we had a Henri Matisse painting...and every student knew who it was!

And, let's throw in one more of my favorites...Pablo Picasso. I'm partial to him because I lived in his hometown for a couple of months, read his personal diaries, and saw a huge chunk of his original artwork in person. Viva Malaga!

I know I received my great appreciation for art when I was just a little kid in elementary school, but my art appreciation has gotten me a long way. It helps you become more cultured about things outside of your comfort zone, learn new things, grow a bigger imagination, or just help you come up with a background for a work project making you just as excited as learning your 1st grade art homework is coloring an Andy Warhol Campbell's soup can!

images: artsender.com, wikimedia.com

Remember me, I'm the next Reba...

2010-02-22T17:37:00.000-08:00

Not only was Saturday the best day ever because I found a dining room table, but I also got to see my childhood music idol in concert, Reba McEntire. Reba and George Strait were in town, and at the last minute I got an extra ticket with one of my good friends. Our tickets soon got upgraded when we found out some of our friends had extra tickets in the TU suite for the show. It wasn't too shabby getting to watch some country legends on TU's tab...=)

Sorry the picture isn't the greatest, it's from my phone.
Reba was wonderful. She sounded great, she was funny, I knew every word to every song...it was just awesome. The only thing that could have made it more perfect was if Mom was there to sing the Linda Davis/Reba classic duet of "Does He Love You,"our personal favorite.

Oh and let's not forget...cute, studly, little cowboy George Strait was there too...

images from countrymusic.com, nothingfancy/wordpress.com

Best Saturday ever...

2010-02-21T08:58:00.000-08:00

This Saturday, two of my best friends and I set out for a flea market adventure to find a potential dining room table for my new place. Our first flea market stop proved to be a gold mine full of all things great and wonderful and amazing flea market worthy items. After walking around the place for awhile we found it. It being the perfect dining room table. We decided it would be best to walk around for a little longer to see if we found anything else. Eventually, we headed back to the table to negotiate a price. When we got back, there were 3 other people hovering over the table wanting to buy it as well. We grabbed the owner and told him I wanted it. We got a price, loaded all of us up in the car, and took off with my new table leaving lots of jealous fellow flea market-goers drooling at the sight of my table driving away!

So here is the before of the table...(iPhone picture)

It's a great sturdy table, and I know I got an awesome deal on it! The table was actually an old butcher's table, so the top is like one big cutting board. I'm so excited about my first big project for the new house! I've already got some ideas in the works...

I'm thinking adding a little of this...

and then maybe a little of this...(who doesn't love a good zebra chair?!)

(image: pier one)

OH boy I can't wait...I just love color!

One big Molly mess...

2010-02-19T18:38:00.000-08:00

Molly is my puppy. My sidekick, my booger bear, my snuggler, fetcher, silly kid, and best friend ever. I got her when she was only 7 weeks old and smaller than a 20 oz bottle of diet coke. Now, she's my big kid at 9 pounds and 7 1/2 months old. It's crazy how fast time flies, but it goes by even faster when you are having so much fun chasing around a goofy fur ball!

Certain things you can only find in a small town...

2010-02-18T18:03:00.001-08:00

When I first moved into my current apartment, I just had a full size bed in my bedroom. No headboard, but one adorable comforter and pillows. I knew I wanted to get a headboard, but finding just a full size headboard was much more difficult than I could have imagined. But, during a random weekend at home, Mom and I ventured off to a local furniture store and finally struck headboard gold! Hanging up on the wall of the furniture store, yes, literally hanging, we found a black, faux-wooden (I'm sure) full-size headboard! I knew we had to get it even though it was black and my bedding is brown, but I knew I couldn't pass up this hanging headboard.

After getting the headboard box back to Oklahoma, I let the box sit in my garage a couple of days while trying to decide what to do with it. Eventually I decided on a color and got to work. With this being my first furniture painting attempt, I knew this would take some researching. I got my sand paper, primer, and brush and got to work. After an hour of putting the headboard together, multiple sheets of sand paper, 2 coats of primer, and 4 coats of the paint...I finally had my first completed furniture painting project and a complete bed!

So my headboard went from this...(not the actual headboard, but close)

And the finished product!

I love how it turned out, and it totally gave me the bug to keep up with redoing things for my new home!

There's always a first for everything...

2010-02-17T17:40:00.000-08:00

I once said I would never start a blog. I had several reasons why I shouldn't, why I wouldn't, and why I just couldn't bring myself to put my life out there. Besides, I figured nobody would even want to read this besides my blogger/best golf friend ever Katie, who is quite the blogger (theschluter.blogspot.com) and my family.

Over the past 7 months, numerous things have changed in my life, changing me for the better. Changing me enough to start this, my very first blog.

I do have some ground rules for my blog that I feel will be best if I put it all out there up front.

1. I will not blog just to say I posted something on my blog today. For 2 reasons, A.) I don't want my blog to be a play-by-play of my day and B.) Blogging just to blog would take away valuable Molly spoiling time.
2. Speaking of Molly, I will be blogging about my wonderful, amazing, hilarious, goofy, nine pound furball quite frequently. Mainly because she makes my life much more entertaining, and she puts the fun in funhaver.
3. Well, I guess that's all the ground rules I have...

Overall, I want my blog to be fun and happy and be a good scrapbook to keep up with the ever-changing, new adventures in my life...whether that be a funny story, silly puppy moment, or a home improvement project!

So, that's it for now...let the blogging begin!