Boggles the mind...

It boggles my mind...i am so behind in all that i hope to do! I havent written in my journal in over a month, and normally thats okay because i've written on here to make up for it. ANNNND....
i havent.

I even wrote down something i wanted to blog about a 3 weeks ago and i never got it up. Well, better late than never.
With out further ado:

TODAY I'M NOT GRATEFUL FOR:

• waking up late
• not doing my hair or makeup
• eating a full 12" subway sub for lunch
• my apartment being a disaster zone
• my chipped brand new pedicure
• jace being in pain (we are pretty sure its kidney stones)
• the management at our apartment complex (and maybe the apartment complex in general)
• 110+ degree temperatures (banging head on desk)

TODAY I AM GRATEFUL FOR:

• getting to work on time despite waking up late
• getting a water instead of a soda for lunch
  
• getting 2 new clients for my hair business
• jace doing the laundry
• being able to get Jace right into the Dr.
• a place to live
• my cousin Mike for his mad computer skillz, and my dad for helping as we shop for a new car.
  

Joe--so late!! ugh.

I'm a girl who has always gotten along better with guys.
Maybe its partly my personality, but the other part is because i grew up with LOTS of boys around.
As a result, i love boys...well, specifically MY boys.

I love my brothers--alot. I probably dont show it or say that as often as I should.

My baby brothers name is Joe. Joe and I had a rough start, to say the least.
I was 7 when my mom told me she was going to have another baby. I was thrilled and not at the same time. I didnt want to give up my "baby" position in the family, but when my mom told me she thought it was a girl I got really excited.

We were SURE the baby was a girl--a girl we planned on calling Allison.

The day my mom came home from the doctors with that VHS will be forever burned into my memory. I had no clue at what i was seeing. BUT i could read.
"Its a boy!"

I turned, ran into my room, and cried and cried. I'm pretty sure i was sulky for awhile.

Then Joseph Harold was born and all I wanted to do was help out with him...hold him...take him swimming...

He was such a punk baby! He never let me help out at all!!!

As I got older, Joe always wanted to be a part of my things, and be with my friends.
And my friends ALL loved Joe--everyone does. Hes just one of those people others are drawn to and like without even knowing.

It annoyed me. I got older. It then only sometimes annoyed me. and I loved Joe.

Well, thankfully now I've grown up a bit. And so has Joe. Sometimes that 8 year gap sends me for a loop...long car rides are not a good idea when we are stuck in the back together. I think we've finally managed being able to sit by each other for Sunday dinners without getting into a fight and thats progress :)

Joe is a crack-up. Hes mostly cheerful (only recently becoming a moody teen) and is a big help to my mom and randy since Jeff and I have gotten married and moved out. He is tough (recoop-ing from knee surgery and not being able to play varsity football) and hes smart. I'm excited to see what life has in store for my big little brother!

Happy 1st week of your Junior year Joey!! I love you!
(junior year was my fav, i'm a little jealous!)

Lemony goodness

mmmmkay.

ever had costco's lemon cake??

no?

best cake ever. no lie.

i'm considering getting a costco membership JUST so i can go buy that cake.
(jace supports that idea)

My mom brought it back from a funeral a few weeks ago...and i tasted it and it was like laced with some type of drug or something because i wanted to just keep going back. Addictive. for realz.

I gave Jace some...and you shouldve seen his face. It was like the heavens opened and he had never tasted food before. He even made this statement, "Dare I say, this has become my new favorite cake? It has surpassed red velvet even."

(Now if you dont know Jace, RV is his ABSOLUTE favorite cake. What he said could be considered blasphemous.)

I decided to scour the internets in hope of finding a recipe of a lemon cake that was as close to "the cake of perfection".

I found one. It looked close to what we ate.
and so my first attempt at baking a cake (and icing) from scratch! began.

It took way longer than i expected.
But apparently it was worth it.

Jace ate half of that cake in a day.
The rest of my family ate it almost as quick.

Awesome. Now i want to have a party just so i can make another one!
Behold the beauty:

Farewell, Aragog.

So, yeah. another harry potter psych out.
Sorry.

I just love (when aragog dies) how hagrid says his name and how the professor says "farewell aragog". The emotion hagrid shows is how i felt the other day.

And let me tell you why.

I bought my laptop my first year in college. It was my first major spend---something that my parents didnt pay a portion of. And it nearly killed me to spend as much as i did. But it was awesome. I used it as my TV in my room, and it helped me get through all of my tough college classes (and provided entertainment with facebook and solitare when i didnt feel like paying attention). She was a beaut.

When we got married, the phrase "whats mine is yours" took on a whole new meaning. See...i dont share well. Only girl syndrome, i suppose. And see...Jace came with practically nothing (materialistic) into our marriage (expect his xbox). So MY computer became OUR computer. And for the better part of a year and half it worked out just fine.

But Jace is an insurance agent now...and he needs a computer for work. So it ended up being gone all the time and i couldnt waste my time away on facebook, or watch hulu and get caught up on burn notice or castle. I was a little put out.
BUT it was for the good of our future. So i got over it. Or tried to is a better way to say that.

Now. About 2 weeks ago...i tried to get on the computer...and it wasnt working. And not being fluent in computer meant that I called my awesome cousin Mike. He spreakens the computers language.
He said to bring it over and he'd look at it. When he did he said there were 2 possible outcomes. Either my computer was dead ($$$$$) OR my hard drive was (tears because that would mean i LOST EVERYTHING I'VE DONE--PICTURES, TALKS, NOTES, RESUMES, ETC SINCE 2006). It was kind of a no-win situation.

and i was praying that it was the computer.

turns out...it was the hard drive. ::head banging on desk; tears streaming down my cheeks::

but before we found that out, Jace needed a computer for work and so we bought this sleek baby:

Do you appreciate the irony? We spent money we didnt have on a computer because we were desperate and kind of hoping mine died. Instead we spent money we didnt have and now we have 2 laptops.

Oh well. We thank Mike for his time and wisdom, even if he gave me heart failure for a day or so.
and Jace is loving the new laptop.

Birthday!

My birthday was pretty awesome. (JUNE 15)
It was totally chill.
My mom told me to enjoy days like that because once i start having kids...chill days are far and few between.

My family totally loves me. Mom, Jace, Jeff, Joe, and Melanie all made special birthday signs for me...my apartment was overflowing! I had balloons (a bunch left over from Jaces bday a month earlier and my mom got me a couple of new ones). My mom and dad gave me my hair dryer for my home salon! Its awesome and i've used it alot already. Jeff and Melanie gave me a pedicure voucher and Joe and Randy got me a book (they know me so well)!

The best present though came from Jace. He secretly was skimming his tip money and putting it away---saving it for me to buy my styling chair!!! His family chipped in and made the difference (which was awesome) and i FINALLY (yeah it took me forever) decided on what i wanted!

It came so QUICK! Seriously, 2 days! And my daddy came home from work and helped me put it together! I love it. Jace loves how it looks and he even sits in it from time to time, just because! Now i'm designing my business cards and i'll be almost completely good to go for doing hair at home!

The end is near...

No. I'm not talking about Harry Potter.
Although, that IS ending tonight at 12AM.

I'm talking about my blog challenge! I have no idea why it took me so long to finish it, i guess i got lazy, BUT. I AM FINISHING IT!

17. most recent picture of you and your significant other and what you love most about them :) and any other thoughts.

This was us, up at my families ranch over the 4th of July. I must say that i'm getting a little better about taking pictures--as in, we finally have some!

What i love most about Jace:

• He is sweet
• Kind
• Honest
• Will watch super girlie movies with me
• Wants a family
• He claims to only have 1 tickle-ish spot, but i've found more
• Loves to make me laugh
• Loves his and my family
• Is starting his own business even though its hard and scary
• Loves his nieces and nephew
  
• His driving habits are changing--hes becoming a more responsible driver
• He is so much taller than me--makes me feel safe. (Also good to hide behind during hide and seek)
  
• Wants me to achieve my goals
• Wants a home that we'll be in FOREVER!
  
• Has our kids named already and refers to them often lol
• He dances with me at random times

etc. etc.

I know that this is who the Lord wanted me to marry. I love Jace more every day, even though some days feel like a big challenge.
Here is to eternity my love!

Reality

Reality hit me like a ton of bricks to the face the other day.

No lie.
I felt like I needed to go to the hospital...or lie down and practice some yoga breathing or something.

We went to my families ranch for the 4th---it was fabulous! It even rained---which meant i could do one of my 25 before 25 things...which was to play in it AND take pictures of Jace and I.

And we did.

Jace started taking a video "for the kids".

Well guess what those kids are going to be seeing??

MY FREAKING FATTER THAN ALL FAT, FATTY FACE.



Dude.

My neck has eaten my face. No lie.

I'm going on healthy overload people. You may have heard me say "oh I'm going to lose weight, I'm going to do better...blah blah blah."

I wasn't telling the truth. And you can know this by 2 reasons.
#1. I haven't lost any weight.
#2. I just told you i was lying.

Just sayin'.

I'm eating healthier now, I'm actually drinking water (unheard of!), and I'm going to be working out 6 days a week. Either swimming laps, or going to the gym. Its happening.

My children will NOT look back and think, "dude! she hadn't conceived us yet! there is no reason for her to look like shes pregnant!"
They wont!
(They wouldn't anyways, if my children were that rude I'd send them back)

So there you go.