Most Embarrassing

I stayed up way too late the night before my brother’s wedding.  My hubby, my two brothers, my dad, and I just had to have one last game night before J got married.  We are quite fanatical about our game playing.  Bonanza, Ticket to Ride, and Wanker are our current favorites (“trade you a green bean for 3 wax beans” = awesomeness!).  We played one last game and then said good night.  As soon as my head hit the pillow something was wrong.  Seriously wrong.  I writhed in pain all night long and made too many trips to the bathroom to count.  My hubby is such a deep sleeper he didn't even know I had been getting up all night until he heard the deafening dry heaving.  “Oh babe, you’re sick?”  Uh, HELLO!! Where have you been all night?

So, I was up the entire night feeling horribly, then had to get out of bed, get our little family ready, and attend a freaking wedding.  In my mind, it was not an option to stay home.

We headed to the temple where the ceremony was going to take place.  We walked up to the front doors and my mom had a wheel chair waiting for me.

“What is that for?”

“It’s for you, get in” she said, driving over to me.

“Uh, heck no it is not.  I’ll be fine.”

We’re sitting in the ceremony, and I’m no dummy so I sit right by the door.  Just in case.

My brother and his fiancé come into the room.  They look amazing.  Happy.  The ceremony begins and basically so does the sweating.  And the light headedness.  And the nausea.  If only I could put my head between my legs, or better yet just lie right down on the floor.  But I worry everyone will think I’ve gone mad.  I did forget to eat now that I think about it.  I look over at my mom.  She mouths to me, do you need to go?  Wow, I looked THAT bad.  I nod.  Two seconds later, I’m out the door and on the floor on my hands and knees.  Everything goes white and I am thisclose to passing out.

I wish this was the end of the story but sadly, the embarrassment continues.  After the sweet temple workers help me up, let me lie in an empty room and bring me juice and crackers (I’m feeling so much better at this point!), my hubby and others come to find me.  They all think it is a good idea that I go out in a wheel chair.  A wheel chair people!  What am I, 80?  It was beyond the most embarrassing moment of my life to come out of the temple just prior to the bride and groom and have everyone staring at me going, what’s with her? I know some people knew I was sick but others, perhaps, had no idea what was going on with this crazy sister.

I kept thinking my new sister in-law hates me.  Probably thinks I couldn’t handle someone else getting all of the attention.  But she was so sweet.  Everyone was very sweet.  It really sucked to be miserable on such a joyful day. Even though I was so happy for my brother,  I honestly could not wait for the day to end.

At the reception I’m telling my cousin, who I love to death, this whole story and she says “Awww, did anyone get a picture?”  :)

Yes.  Yes they did.

**Side note, both my hubby and parents got this little stomach flu after I did.  Every time each person got it, and they had been up sick all night puking, I would annoyingly say to them, "Ok, now get up and go to a wedding all day!"  

Moving along

Our last house took an entire year to build.  An entire year.  So the fact that we broke ground July 7 and are now almost done blows. my. mind.  And of course makes me happy.  Here's the recent progress:

Stucco!

And stone!

Finish work is done.  Mark worked his tail off doing the entire house by himself, among other things.  

We had seen this door casing at a lot of entries in the Parade of Homes, and in Mark's brother's house, so he replicated it. I love it!  Before paint:

And after:

For some reason I decided to paint the laundry room a different color (momentary insanity?), but our painter was going to charge $100 bucks just to change color in his sprayer.  I was cursing myself almost the whole time, mostly when I peeled back the painter's tape and there went the ceiling color with it.  ARG!  But I like the way it turned out.  I straight copied Shelley at House of Smith's laundry room color. :)

Sami's room.  I found this chandelier at Home Depot for $26 so I could not pass it up.  The board and batten wall turned out so cute and I love the color of the wall (it's a bit off in this photo but it's basically a bright pinky purple).

Just a few more touches and then electrical is finished.  This is the breakfast nook with my most favorite light in the house.

And finally, this mother.  We got this puppy for free (that's an $800 door folks) but weren't crazy about the color.  So again, my momentary insanity helps me to decide to sand and stain it.  Yesterday I sanded for over FIVE HOURS--with a power sander-- and I am still not finished.  The end result better be gorgeous or I'm going to be very bitter.  I'll post the final look when I am finished.

Kitchen cabinets are delivered tomorrow and Mark will finish the hard wood and tile in the next couple of weeks, so look for more updates!

Lowe's Much?

I went a little hog wild with our lighting and did practically all of it in one day.  Here's hoping I don't have to go to Home Depot or Lowe's for at least a week (oh the joys of building!).
I can't wait to see these installed. My favorite is this one from Lowe's, it's going over the breakfast nook.

Also.  This man....is the shiz.

Fancy Nancy Party

We just attended my niece's 4th birthday party and I had to share some of the cute details.  I know my sister in-law was on a very limited budget, but I think it turned out so darling.  And if your little girl doesn't know about Fancy Nancy, fix that, asap!  It is a darling series!

What I Want/What I Get

What I want:

(from Nordstrom)

What I'll probably get:

(From Target)

The House that We Built

We are in the midst of a huge building project.  Sometimes I pinch myself--I can't believe we are building another house.  We've had so many arguments discussions about each and every detail. Building can be such a headache, I can see why people just purchase from a builder.  And as painstaking as it can be sometimes, I realized today how blessed I am to have this opportunity and to have options and choices.
Right now we are in the midst of picking paint colors, tile, and pretty soon carpet.  I can't believe we are getting so close to the end!  YIPEE!!!
Here are some pictures of what the house looks like right now.

Sorry for the crappy iPhone photos! We had virtually no light at that point.

DAILY BATTLE

Get dressed, comb hair.  Easy enough.  But not for my 3 year old.  Some days, although very rarely, I do not pick this battle with her.  But most days I figure, everyone and their dog gets up and gets dressed--and so will this child.  Today I had been battling with her about combing her hair for 35 minutes when I momentarily gave up and she went up to see her grandparents.

My dad says, “Why do you give your mommy such a hard time?”

And what does she say?

“Because I like to.”

Yup.  That’s my kid.