{the beautiful girls - fighter girl}

The Beautiful Girls has been our soundtrack since Tim stumbled upon it earlier this week.

{unexpected fun}

Coming into this weekend, Tim and I had no expectation of it being a great one. We were expecting another quiet weekend consumed by our bathroom project. Fortunately, we got much more.

Last spring, Tim went with Carlos and Ryan to a beer festival outside Chicago. The day of the festival is the only time that you can buy Three Floyds Dark Lord Russian Imperial stout. The stout is rated one of the best beers in the world. Of course, the boys had to get their hands on some. Tim bought his with the intention of selling it on ebay later in the year (just the empty bottle sells for 20 bucks). Earlier this week, though, Tim decided he was going to have to drink the stout because he didn't want to waste money on beer when he, indeed, had some beer in the cabinet. On Friday, a few friends came for the taste test. The beer had to be good, right? I mean, they only sell it one day a year. We turned up the heavy metal music and all had a taste! We all agreed it had the consistency of motor oil and Meagan thought it smelled like Beggin' Strips, but the boys said it was smooth as molasses. The best part? The beer is 18% alcohol and after one glass, the boys were as giddy as could be. Dark Lord, thanks for a great Friday night!

if you want your own Dark Lord, visit http://www.3floyds.com/

The next morning, we made French Toast and headed out for an adventure (in our pajamas, I might add). I took Tim to ReStore - the place I found my sink - and he enjoyed it as much as I had. We didn't feel like going home, so we went to the Kemper Museum. They had some pretty interesting exhibits on display. One in particular was right up my alley. The artist made sculptures of deer and covered them in rhinestones. I wonder what my buffalo head would look like covered in rhinestones...

Then, we went to Planters, had lunch at Costco, and headed to the library. (I know...we are rebels!) Tim checked out some plant books and I looked for some interior design books. Apparently there is not a limit of how many books you can check out because we ended up coming home with fourteen! We spent the rest of the afternoon listening to music and reading our books.

Our Saturday ended with dinner and music at Jardine's. My grandma's brother was in town and the family took him and his wife out. We always have a blast when we get together. The music was great and it was so nice to see everyone. (did you notice mom got a hot new haircut...lookin' good!)

{i found it!}

I found it! I found it! This is the sink I've been looking for since the thought of remodeling our bathroom crossed my mind - and wouldn't you know, it was in my backyard! There is this new (and I might add AWESOME) store at 79th and Wornall called ReStore. It's the Habitat for Humanity outlet. They take all of the furnishings and hardware from the houses they remodel/tear down and bring them, literally, to my backyard.

Anyways, we started the bathroom project last Saturday. We pulled the old flooring and replace it with new plywood and tile. It is looking really nice. We ran into a few problems, mostly ones we made, along the way. First, remodeling a bathroom DOES NOT fall into our budget. So after a few tears were shed, we decided that if we were going to do it, we were going to do it right! That only meant the budget fairy (I bet you can guess which one of us that is) was not a happy camper. Regardless, we are both going to love the new space. Second, for some absurd reason, we decided to paint our current vanity turquoise. That has to be the least thought-out decision we have ever made. As you can imagine, it was HORRIBLE! Bad-kids-room-horrible!

Now that I have found the sink, we have to move a few pipes and figure out how to hang it on the wall. Sounds simple, but I can imagine it will take a while. Soon enough, though, we will have the bathroom I have been looking forward to.

Regardless of the frustration and headache it causes, I love the challenge of remodeling and figuring out how to make the small space of our house seem a little bit bigger and more usable. It is definitely worth it in the end. Tim and I make a pretty good team. He lets me know when I'm being unreasonable (and by that I mean when I am spending too much money) or overly ambitious. He always puts in his two cents about the design of the space and, thankfully, he always pulls me back on track. I always try and do the same for him. The product of our crazy overly-ambitious projects is this beautiful little love nest we call home.

{my newest project}

 

I painted this stork for good luck. Hopefully, it will go in our baby's room one day. 

Cross your fingers.

Below is the image I found that inspired this painting.

{the new year}

The start of a new year always makes me reminisce of the year that just passed. Tim and I didn't have any huge projects, crazy vacations, or ridiculously exciting events, but we did have one heck of a year. In 2010 we laid low, going on small vacations, working on that beautiful yard, and hanging out with our favorite people. We had a few weddings to celebrate and babies to welcome. We have had in the past "the year of adulthood (2008)" and "the year of home improvement (2009)." I would call 2010 "the year of enjoyment." We were able to fully enjoy all of the hard work we had put into our home and our gardens.

I am hopeful that the new year will be as fulfilling as the last. Tim and I have a lot to look forward to. We jumped on the "Total Money Makeover" bandwagon. So far, we have successfully created a budget, an emergency fund, and at the end of this month, we'll be paying off our first loan. If we stay on track, we should have our loans paid off within the next year and a half. It's going to be tough, but it's something both of us are really excited about. !!!SPOILER ALERT!!! More exciting than our money makeover is the prospect of having a baby. We have been trying for about six months now and are more ready than ever to start our family. It's hard to really even put into words how excited we are.

On that note, let's take a look back at the past year so that we can begin to think about our future...

Our trip to Chicago last winter - the windy city is even windier in the middle of winter.

 Tim turned 27 and the boys from OC came to celebrate!

 

 Four our two-year anniversary we went to Hermann - one of our favorite places to go!

This time we stayed at the Hermanhoff Inn. We had a room with a wrap-around porch. 

The weather was beautiful, the wine was tasty, and the company was perfect.   

 

 Before we knew it, plants were popping up everywhere. Tim started his own greenhouse in the basement and grew SO MANY plants. (Honestly, I didn't think it would work, but he proved me wrong!) One of our favorite summer activities is soaking up sun on the patio with
the music playing and a good magazine or book in our hands.

 

 Neither Tim or I had ever been to Arkansas, so when we had a wedding to attend there, 

we thought we would make a road trip out of it. The part of Arkansas we went to 

wasn't very pretty, but the Ozark Mountains on the way were beautiful.

We spent Fourth of July at the lake with our family. Although we will never watch fireworks 

on the boat again (EVER), it was a Fourth of July that we will never forget. When we got home, I picked Mason up from the kennel and noticed he was sick. Long story short, he had bloat. We addressed it just in time and he recovered nicely, but it was a pretty scary moment for the two of us.

 

Tim sold his car and bought a scooter. It has to be the best and most fun investment we made all year.

We went to visit Carrie in August. This was our big vacation of the year. We had a blast - 

camping, hiking, and exploring. For Christmas, Tim got some camping gear and 

we're already planning our next trip.

We must drink a lot of wine. This is at a local winery (Lexington) where we ended up 

crashing a wedding. Unfortunately, we actually knew a few people in the wedding, 

so we couldn't pretend we were guests. 

We went with he Lozanos to Weston this fall. We went to the Big Red Barn and picked 

out pumpkins and then went on a brewery tour that ended in the amazing pub above. 

It was four (maybe it was five) stories underground.

 Tim see's Halloween as a time for dress-up, I see it as a time for decorating. 

I think Tim executed his Dos Equis man costume perfectly!