sugary soul

i sent the following text to za husband this morning about work....
**this place just eats my soul.

he responded like this....

**hopefully your delicious soul is too much sugar for it and makes it throw up.

i smiled really big.  my mood went from horrible to much better in 2.5 seconds.  that's all it took and i love that he knows such things.

za husbands birthday

here is the birthday boy ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

and because it is his birthday it is a very special day!  he is a gift to this world and a gift to me so celebrating his years in the world is extremely important.  i gave him a couple presents during the week because it is so hard for me to wait to give presents.  so he got one of his vintage license plates and a journal i made for him early...

this is the view of the front and back.  it has a little kid vibe to it but thankfully he's cool with that kind of stuff.

we've celebrated all weekend. 

yesterday we went to bullhead for a little shopping and a movie.  za muzza and bruzza met us to attend the movie.  after that they came back to our house and a friend came over and we played board games. 

this morning started out with a scavenger hunt for his gifts.....first thing when we woke up because i couldn't wait. 

i got him 15 vintage license plates and they were hidden around the house.  i would read him a clue then he would guess the state and the place where it was hidden.  i tried to think of a way for the state to be tied in with the place that i hid each one.  he got some work done to his truck for the big birthday gift but this was the fun small stuff that i enjoyed putting together.

 

the scavenger hunt was so much fun!  i think i had just as much fun as he did.  i would put together a scavenger hunt every single day if i could find a reason to. 

since we did most of the celebrating yesterday we have enjoyed a very relaxed low key day at the house together. 

for those of you who haven't met her this is our kitty Bella...

she had a relaxed day too.....

i caught her all cute like this curled up with Will during his nap.

we played a few games of yahtzee at breakfast then a few games of rummikub this afternoon. 

Will may be the yahtzee champion but i am definitely the rummikub champ.

this evening we are going to drive out to my moms house to spend some quality time with her and the dogs {this was one of za husbands birthday requests, because he is just really cool like that} 

dearest husband,

i love you so much and i hope your day has been absolutely perfect thus far.  

you deserve all of the best of everything in this world!

happy birthday!

xoxo,

za wife 

skeletons

i am in l♥ve.....

with this magical new skeleton key collection.  i've always found them fascinating.  this weekend we visited an antique shop i hadn't been to before.  that is where i found these babies.  the antique shop i frequent never has them but i hit the jackpot with this new place. 

the giant key is an old jail cell key.  they had several other giant ones but they were pretty pricey so i got 1 and i'll eventually go back for more.  i have several more of the average size keys coming to me this week and i've decided on the perfect home decor idea for them........well at least i think it's perfect.
i'll share my decor idea as soon as i have more skeletons to add to the collection.   

hiking trail

i fulfilled another order.  my expertise is magical, cute, whimsical art but i dug a little deeper for something slightly more realistic as requested by my aunt.  this piece actually went to my grandpa who happens to still be an avid hiker that enjoys the desert.  i hear it was a big hit.

monsters DO exist

you wanna know how i know this? ok easy.
za husband went out to the garage.  i was having breakfast.  he yells for me to come look at something.
i go out to the garage and this is what i see....

huge and dreadful and positively disgusting.

i tried to get za husband to put his hand up next to it just to prove how big it was but he wouldn't.

i don't blame him.

when i was living with this best pal

marcy,

we had a situation with one of these beasts. 

we were out in the garage trying to figure out what was wrong with the hot water heater when all of the sudden she felt something in her shirt.  we screamed and jumped and out came the same nasty critter.  pretty much the same huge size too.  from that day forward marcy and i refer to those monsters as lobsters.

marcy had a lobster in her shirt.  haha. not really funny but kinda.

we can laugh about it now.

i'm a junkie

lipgloss junkie that is.  i made this observation when i couldn't leave the store without another bottle of the goo yesterday.  it's no secret that i'm a huge fan of makeup, but i've always had an extra special place in my heart for lipgloss.  i think my mom and grandma enjoy my craving for the stuff because they get a stash of barely used glosses when i periodically realize i have too many.  i've seen articles talking about all the toxic ingredients in lip gloss (and all makeup for that matter) but so far it hasn't stopped my ridiculous addiction.
does anyone else have this problem?

[a few of my pretties i had lying around]

besides that silly observation and statement i have some new art to share with you.  a dear friend of mine has three adorable little ones and she recently asked me to do a piece for each of their rooms.  i've totally finished this one....

i'm almost done with this one....

and i'll be working on the one for her little guy this weekend if time permits.  i text her pictures of what i have cooked up so far and her reaction was priceless.  it made my day to know she was so completely thrilled with the items i've created. 

new york and sore muscles

i few posts back i mentioned the crankiest kitty i've ever met that we took care of for a weekend.  the owners of that kitty had gone to new york and they brought us back some fun surprises.

i managed to leave the chocolate in the car for a while so it ruined the picture but it still was halfway decent looking and it tasted good so who cares.

i think the card is very cool.

in other news i'd like to say thank you to za husband for having me tag along with him to the gym.  my legs are NOT thanking you right now and i'm pretty sure the rest of my body won't be thanking you tomorrow but it's been fun working out with you.  i know lifting weights is your thing you usually do with the guys and you probably don't get as good of a workout when i'm needing your help.  it's very nice of you to sacrifice your time, energy, patience, and maybe even sanity to be my personal trainer.  i'm glad your friends are nice about it too.  hopefully i can walk a little less like a robot in a couple days. 

thanks for the motivation muscle man!   

creativity...where did you go?

i've been at a loss for words the past few days.  not totally sure what's happening but i think part of it has to do with a couple ridiculous people that recently went out of their way to be extremely rude which has just had me feeling silent and thinking a lot.  luckily it wasn't anyone in this lovely blog wonderland i escape to because i love this place.  i enjoy reading wonderful stories that come from friends and strangers and sharing things with you as well. 
wouldn't you know that besides feeling out of sorts verbally i'm feeling out of sorts creatively.  usually not a big deal but i happen to have several art orders to fulfill at the moment.  i am insanely thankful for the orders and it's one of the greatest feelings to be able to create something that a person is completely excited about.  just a few weeks ago you couldn't keep the ideas out of my head and it was pretty much a guarantee that Will would come home to find me with a paint brush in my hand or some other project brewing at my little art table.  now the pressure is on (not really pressure) but work is coming at me and i literally have to force the creativity out of myself.  i feel like a slightly damp washcloth and someone is wringing the last drop of water from me and that drop is reluctantly breaking loose from the fibers of the towel.  at least i'm still able to squeeze a drop of artistic ability out to fulfill orders but it's frustrating when something that i could ordinarily crank out in a few hours with ease takes me days because i have very little inspiration. 
so my wishes for the coming days are.......
*that mean people would either mind their own business or go to their own planet and stay there.
*that i will have endless inspiration and make art with ease.
and
 *to have more opportunities to take pictures of Will doing stuff like this to entertain me

or catch him doing dishes with his pants sagging like this

because that kind of stuff makes me laugh and that is exactly the kind of stuff that makes not so great moments bearable.

a little of this, a little of that.

this weekend has been awesome minus the fact that i've been less than productive and i have billions of things to do.  i don't know what my deal is but at least the lazy bug didn't just bite me it got Will too.  since we didn't get much done yesterday we made a list before turning in for the night hoping that we could tackle it all if we remembered it.  so far.....nothing has been marked off the list other than going down the street to look at the burnout mark Will left in the pavement when we took the car out for a chocolate malt run last night.  yes, that was what he contributed to the list.  he's silly but i love him.

my mom had to take Steinway and Mascara to the vet yesterday.  i met her there to assist with getting the two giant doggies in the office without incident.  they are funny and cute and i love them.  luckily we got to babysit them while my mom ran an errand.  we took advantage of the perfect cloudy weather and walked them around the neighborhood then i watched them run around the house while we waited for muzza to get them. 

i can never take enough pictures of the dogs.
although my camera tried to tell me otherwise.  i think it's getting ready to bite the dust.  it malfunctioned twice yesterday to the point where i was almost in a full panic.  since i might be shopping for a new one soon.....any suggestions?

here is one of the seven art orders i currently have.  i did manage to get that done yesterday.  my aunt wanted a love box much like the one i made for us last year.

i hope her family has as much fun with it as we have had with ours.  

now i'm going to try really hard to mark a few things of my list before the end of the day.....wish me luck!

summertime

dear summertime,
i regret to inform you i'm not your biggest fan.  i may have been your biggest fan when my days consisted of a break from school, swimming all day like a fish, and eating lots of popsicles.  now i'm over you before you've really even begun and i'm just dreading the months ahead.
reason #1 the heat is not enjoyable when you can't escape from it by being in a pool all day.  i don't enjoy sweating the moment i step outside.
reason #2 the heat invites bugs and spiders to play.  i can handle a few bugs even if i don't enjoy them but spiders, no thanks.  since it has warmed up the spiders have been making a guest appearance almost daily in our house.  one night i was sitting on the floor and a spider decided it was a good idea to crawl across my leg.  not a good idea at all.  then another night as i was sitting here at the computer i felt something crawl across my foot but never did find it.  pretty sure it was a spider.  now i'm a paranoid maniac constantly looking for the spiders and afraid to sit at the computer with my feet touching the floor.
reason #3 rattlesnakes love this weather. i was just informed today by a neighbor that there was a rattlesnake down the road from us.
so dear summertime please pass swiftly.  i beg of you. 
that way i can enjoy my favorite season (fall) and then enjoy the other seasons that don't haunt me with menacing creatures and hot days.
sincerely,
the creepy crawler heat hater

all i have to say is thank goodness for air conditioners, bug spray, and beautiful sunsets.

 

witty

Will is the kind of guy that refuses to take medicine even if he has a bad headache.  i'm the kind of girl to offer up motrin at the first sign of him complaining of an ache or pain. 
with that fact said, please enjoy our conversation we had last night......

w---i need more motrin.

s---(thinking....i didn't even know he took anything in the first place...i wonder what is hurting)
       why do you need more?

w---(trying really hard not to smile)
        because i keep having a big pain in my butt.

s---(puzzled look for about 2 seconds then tons of laughter)

w---(tons of laughter)

hard to believe he was referring to me but he was.
this was after i asked him to go get me some water out of the fridge, my book i left on the dining table, and countless other things while i was being lazy in bed.  his witty little comments never cease to amaze me.

was it you or me?

probably me.

i was ready for a cup of tea.  had the water boiled.  got out the fancy vintage teacup.  went to the pantry and decided my tastebuds were craving the chamomile.
opened the box.....

that's right, a big fat empty. 
i felt robbed of my wonderful tea drinking experience.  then i realized the honeysuckle tea sounded just as good.  and guess what Will, i'm not going to accuse you of leaving that empty box in the pantry since i am the primary tea drinker in this joint. [so much of a fan of the hot stuff that you think i have a serious problem]

the joy of cleaning and other stuff

i have moments where i feel incredibly blessed and loved.....

when i mopped all the tile in my house(and there is lots of it), dusted all the surfaces, made fresh vacuum lines in the carpet, spruced up the bathrooms, and picked up all the messes we made during our busy week.
cleaning isn't neccesarily the funnest thing to do with my free time but when i tidy this place up it reminds me of the unpleasant journey we had prior to getting this house.  after the months of uncertainty while all was out of our control i can't think of a more joyous activity than scrubbing up the very place that we now call home.  the place that is ours.  the place we love.

when at the end of a weekend we open our love box.  some of the notes have a made up little song about something that occured during the week.  some of the notes are incredibly sweet and sincere.  some notes have me laughing really hard especially if they include a drawing by Will.  it's just one way we can make each others day and i love it.

i have moments where i feel overjoyed to have a brave husband....

when we go to take care of the kitty we are watching for the weekend.  it was hands down the crankiest kitty i have ever met, but to know we were helping out the owners while they were far away was nice.  they are new to town and don't know many people in fact we don't know them really well, but they trusted us with their most precious friend and thought that we could do a great job even if we were being hissed at the entire time. i was not brave enough to cross paths with this ferocious house cat that seemed more like a cougar than a loving indoor pet. luckily i have a very brave husband who was able to walk past the mean kitty while she was trying to fight him so he could take care of her basic needs.  i supervised from the corner.
i have moments where i feel really happy.....

when i cook up a fancy little meal with za husband.  we splurged on a grill this weekend and all the fixings we would need for a delicious meal.  a meal that would be a little more time consuming to prepare.  something special we aren't always able to do during the week.  it was quite the feast and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  it is so nice to have entire days together on the weekend, to do fun stuff like that or go to a car show together in the hot rod.  it may not be my most favorite thing to do {mainly when it's hot out} but i know Will enjoys it so i enjoy spending that time with him.

when i watch Will hang things on the walls with perfect precision.  something i'm not great at and something i'm glad he takes time to do.  after painting these frames and deciding where they should go za husband granted my wish by hanging them up.  i imagine this is just the beginning of quite the frame collection.

i can hardly wait for another weekend.