Candy and Coffee

Besides getting me a new air conditioner for our anniversary, Jonathan also took me on a date…and not one that involved getting Chinese takeout and watching a movie on the couch [which, by the way, is my favorite kind of date]. We actually got dressed up and went downtown, which can be a lot of work for a lazy couple living in the burbs, but it wasn’t that bad. Jonathan found a show that involved ropes and masks and spandex. It’s not what you’re thinking. We went to a production of “The Red Shoes” performed by Austin’s very own aerial arts school, Sky Candy. I know, pretty cool, right? 

Here’s how awesome we looked heading downtown. Jonathan’s so hot, he’s actually glowing.

If you can see past the dirty window, you’ll note that I’m wearing hot pink lipstick. That’s how dressy this date got. And I had to purse my lips because lipstick that bright makes you do such things.

 

I wiped it off about two minutes into the drive. I felt like a clown.

I did keep my red shoes on, though. These are my favorite pair.

Here we are standing in line…

I really need a haircut.

Here’s the show poster…

The show was impressive. These people were super duper strong, and I was nervous for them the whole time. The few pictures I did get were blurry because we weren’t allowed to use flash. I don’t know why, something about endangering the lives of the performers…blah…blah.

Seriously, though, I was so worried that my flash would go off, and I couldn’t take the pressure, so I quit taking pictures.

After the show, I decided, as any normal, noncompetitive person would, that we should go do pull-ups and climb light poles. Jonathan left me on the street corner and went and had coffee instead.

Okay, he took me with him. We had a delicious piece of carrot cake and watched people.

We also took a bunch of silly pictures all of which exhibit my crazy-eyed look, so I won’t scare you with them. Well, maybe just one…

We considered going dancing, but my favorite shoes were not being nice to me. [At least they looked pretty, and that’s all that matters] Instead, posed for a few pictures and quickly got in our car before we got mugged.

Then we got home and enjoyed our nicely air conditioned house

xo

nessa dee

Finnja the Ninja

Finn goes through a new obsession about every four days. His latest…being a ninja. He’s quite skilled for someone who’s never taken a karate class. He does moves like this:

And all of these moves have names, but don’t ask me to repeat them…I don’t know ninja speak. The key to all of these newfound powers is, of course, the ninja mask:

Without this, none of those awesome ninja moves would be possible.

That being said, I think I’m going to go put on a cape. Maybe it’ll give me super powers.

xo

nessa dee

Kitchen Progress

I’ve had big plans for this kitchen ever since we moved into this house. I was never a fan of the blonde cabinets, I didn’t care for the flooring, and the backsplash was kind of mauve colored…not my favorite. Well, we have replaced the flooring, and now we’re moving onto the backsplash.

This tile was my original choice:

That is, until I realized how much of it we actually needed. Once costs were figured [double what we had expected],a new plan of action was needed. 

But I really, really loved that tile. Sniff.

So, a compromise was made. I convinced Jonathan to go with a 3x6” brick style travertine seen here:

I’m going to use this over the majority of the backsplash area in a brick pattern. Above the stove, I’m going to use my beloved original choice and frame it with matching trim pieces. And since the 3x6” tiles are half the cost of the others, I’ll be saving $$.

Now, as I’m typing this, I’m still wrestling with the decision. You see, as of now, my kitchen looks like this:

 

The guys that will be installing the tile are scheduled to come today, which means I still have time to run to the store and pick up my ever-so-perfect original choice. But while I know that kitchen and baths offer the greatest return on investment, we do run the risk of overspending for the neighborhood.

Our neighborhood ranges from cheaper tract homes to expensive custom estates. We live in a section that is somewhere in between. I think we have a very nice home, but from my window I can see two houses that have the exact same floor plan. I’m trying to strike a balance between making our home feel more custom without pricing it out of the area. I think the improvements we’ve done thus far will give us some return on our investment, but we still have a long list of to-dos, some of which are necessary [i.e. replacing carpet, fixing the roof, replacing the fence] and some of which are for personal enjoyment [i.e. painting the cabinets, turning a bedroom into a studio, building a banquette in the breakfast room], which means I have to make smarter, more budget conscious choices.

And since the doorbell just rang, I guess I am forced to make the smart choice.

xo

nessa dee

Sweating Buckets

I don’t know about you, but I can’t think of a better way to spend a Friday afternoon in 100+ degree weather than sitting upstairs in the sun, painting in a house with a broken a/c.

One of our lovely units [the upstairs one] fail victim to the heat on Thursday night, and while it would have been much cooler [and smarter] to work downstairs, I didn’t want to risk ruining the downstairs stuff with paint. So, we painted in the room set aside for such productivity, wiping our brow all the way. I have to say, the new a/c was one of the greatest anniversary presents ever!

Here’s to staying cool!

xo

nessa dee

Oh, and if you’re wondering about the Team Jacob poster in the background…it was a joke gift to Jonathan. Does anybody want it? Frankly, I get a little freaked out with him staring at me all day.

11

11 years ago, on a hot summer’s day, I anxiously awaited at a church for the arrival of my best friend. As the clock ticked on, and seconds turned to hours…okay, minutes, I became more and more nervous. He was late. Of all the days to be late, why today? I panicked.  Did we rush into this?  Maybe he changed his mind. How can I do this alone? I tried to stay calm, but my thoughts were getting the best of me. I greeted family with a forced smile. I assured the photographer it would only be a few more minutes. I adjusted my veil and checked to make sure my dress was perfect yet again. My heart raced. I couldn’t breathe.

And then, a door opened. He stood at the end of the hall, dressed in his tux, and perfect. Exhale. As I walked towards him, I started to cry. He embraced me and wiped my tears, and just like that, time stopped, and my worries disappeared.   I knew that the road ahead wouldn’t be easy, but I couldn’t think of anyone else with whom I’d travel it.

 

For two naïve kids, I think we’ve done pretty well.

I love you, Jonathan Stephen.

Happy anniversary.

ness

Finnanigans

My camera isn’t working. I’m not a happy camper. Finn just walked into the room dressed as a pirate, said “I’m Jack Sparrow,” and tried to attack me with a sword [flag]. Aaarrrgh! That was me screaming in frustration, not Pirate Finn. I think I might have provoked another attack, though.

I could use a bit of Finnanigans right now.

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Finn: PaPa wants to give me his bb gun.

Me: If you get a bb gun, you know you can’t shoot it at people or animals. You can shoot it at stuff like cans.

Finn: I’ll only shoot it at old stuff, but not old people.

Me: What do you mean "old stuff"?

Finn: Like stuff from the 50’s.

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Mom, I think that when I snap, God makes the sound from my fingers.

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Pointing to his baby teeth: Mom, I want to keep these teeth because they chomp very good.

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Finn: Mom, tomorrow when I get up I’m going to work out, and then I’m going to paint, and then I’m going to work out again, and then I’m going to eat breakfast.

Me: Wow! That’s a lot to do before breakfast.

Finn: Yeah, I want to get stronger so that I can hold a heavy nail if I find one.

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Mom, when I’m 30 I’m going to work out at the gym. Do I need to pay cash and then credit?

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Mom, I wish dinosaurs couldn’t be instinct.

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Finn: Does heaven have a lot of people in it?

Me: nod

Finn: Does it have a lot of lot of people.

Me: nods more vigorously.

Finn: It must be HUGE!

Me: nods with eyebrows raised.

Finn: I want to go there and pick up all of the gold. Maybe they have big gold coins with God’s face on them, and medium sized gold coins with Jesus’ face on them.

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Grin.

xo

nessa dee

Hello, Monday!

It’s hard to get back into a routine after a few days of R & R.

We spent the weekend at the Lost Pines Resort in Bastrop to get in a last minute vacation before Jonathan starts his new job, the kids start school, and I start going crazy. The resort is really family friendly and offers plenty activities to keep active children [and parents] busy throughout the day.

The highlights of the trip included movies in the park, tennis on the lawn, rock climbing [pictures to come soon], floating the lazy river, migas at breakfast, spa treatments, floating the lazy river, visiting the candy shop several times, floating the lazy river, and this guy:

Did I mention that we enjoyed floating the lazy river?

xo

nessa dee

S-C-R-A-B-B-L-E spells Sex Ed.

Words with Friends has become the new obsession in our family. And when I say obsession, I mean that with numerous smart phones and IPads, it has taken the place of real conversation amongst the extended family. If we want to say anything to each other, we better hope our letters can be combined to convey what we would have expressed with our voices had we not forgotten how to use them.

It’s not such a bad thing, though. When my kids are fighting over a game that provides spelling practice and promotes vocabulary enhancement, I count that as a plus!  Of course, with new technology comes a whole new set of challenges. Unlike traditional Scrabble, Words with Friends has a built in feature which tells you whether or not the word you are trying to play is, in fact, an actual word. This feature, while convenient, makes the kids quite lazy in terms of learning new words. The kids no longer have to look up words in the dictionary, instead, they just plug in any combination of letters, hoping it will go through. So the challenge comes in making sure the kids learn the meanings of the words they’re playing… OR…in making sure they don’t, as in this such case when Audrie was playing a game against her great-grandmother…

Audrie: “Oh, wow! I didn’t know that was a word!”

Me: “What’s the word?”

Audrie: “ G – O – N – A – D – S”

The rest of us burst out laughing.

Audrie: “What? What does it mean?”

Jonathan: “We’ll tell you later.”

xo

nessa dee

Tickling the Ivories

This is one of my three favorite times of the day:

As Audrie practices, it feels as though I have a soundtrack to my life. It certainly makes the mundane tasks of everyday seem much less so.

xo

nessa dee

Busy/Lazy Days

I’m sorry for my absence lately. I have to admit, it’s not because I’ve been super duper busy and haven’t had any time to sit down in front of the computer to write. It’s more of a kind of busy, kind of lazy about blogging kind of absence. I think my brain’s on hiatus and me not think too good right now. Plus, we’ve been trying to catch up on all of the summer activities that we’ve missed out on since I’ve been holed up in my studio for the majority of the break.

Now, we’re gearing up to start school, soccer, some projects around the house, and a bit of last minute travelling; and someone in our family will be starting a new job in a couple of weeks, while another person in our family will be working on art for a two month display at a coffee shop downtown. I’m not exactly sure who’s doing what, but hopefully I’ll figure it out before the job starts. Until then, I’ll leave you with a few pics of the lazy part of our busy/lazy days.

xo

nessa dee