I Survived!

I survived the Christmas weekend! I survived 6 adults and 3 kids staying at our house for 4 days (my husband's family).  I survived a sit down dinner for 40 at our house on Christmas day.  I survived it all, and now I am exhausted.

I thought I was a an adult.  When I bought my first house, when I got married, when I helped start a business with my husband.  I learned you are not truly an adult until you host your first holiday.  I have never cooked and cleaned and obsessed over every little detail as much as I did last week.  It didn't help that most people had not seen our new house before, so I was extra crazy about having the place look perfect every time someone stopped by.

One of Will's family members asked me if I was a neat freak, and I laughed.  I am the farthest thing from a neat/clean freak.  My bedroom has been a constant mess from the age of 4 until about a week ago.  And I am sure it will go back to being a mess just as soon as I get home again.  But I wanted everyone to think I am much neater then I really am, and it must have worked.

The last house guests left at noon yesterday and Will and I got up at 4 am this morning to drive back to Pratt for work.  I will be going to bed extra early tonight (if I don't fall asleep at my desk).

Here are a few pictures from Christmas Eve.

9 foot Christmas tree in the living room.

Smaller tree in the basement.  It was supposed to be decorated purple and silver (K-State) for my husband.  Didn't happen, ran out of time.

Look at all of those presents under the tree!

We made three kinds of soup Christmas Eve (potato, pork green chili and chicken & sausage gumbo).      We also made three kinds of meat on Christmas Day (pork, beef and turkey).

More yummy snacks on the bar.  Christmas Day everyone decided tequila shots were the drink of choice.

The kids are ready to stop taking pictures and start opening presents.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

These are a Few of My Favorite Things

Did you catch the sarcasm in the title?  You didn't. . . well you will when you read the list of my favorite things.

These are a few of my favorite things (I'm like Oprah)

1.  Shopping all day at several different stores for a rug, finally finding one you can live with, hauling it home and into your house, opening it up and Ta Da! It is the wrong rug! Ugly purple, green and blue, wrong rug.

2. Driving all the way back to Nebraska Furniture Mart a week before Christmas to exchange said rug.  Even 20 minutes after they open they are packed.

3. Having to go to four different places in the store to exchange the rug for the correct one.

4. Having a dog that won't stay off your new furniture to save his furry little life.

5. Frantically trying to unpack that last of your stuff, clean and decorate for Christmas, all while trying to work from home.

6. It has been cold and rain for the last couple of days.  Blah

7. Putting together a grocery list for 40+ people.  That's right 40+ people are coming to our house for Christmas dinner.

Here is a true list of my favorite things.

1. Christmas lights, they make me smile.

2. Baking with my mom, we do it every year and I love it.

3. Having an amazing mom that will come clean and decorate my house.

4. Have 40+ family and friends that want to spend Christmas Day with us.  I can't wait to see everyone!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Cuddle Up

Last Sunday Will and I were laying on the bed with our dogs watching TV and napping.

Will: "Cooper, come cuddle with me." (Cooper doesn't move at all.)

Will: "Derby, come cuddle with me." (Derby doesn't move at all.)

Me: "I will cuddle with you."

Will: "I don't want to cuddle with you."

Now I could have been upset at this, but after seeing the headlock he puts the dogs in when he cuddles with them.  I think I am better off that he passed.  :)

Laugh for the Day

A friend of mine pinned this on Pinterest.com and I had to share. Everyone needs a good laugh.

"This morning I had a fight with Victor about towels. I can’t tell you the details because it wasn’t interesting enough to document at the time, but it was basically me telling Victor I needed to buy new bath towels, and Victor insisting that I NOT buy towels because I “just bought new towels“. Then I pointed out that the last towels I’d bought were hot pink beach towels, and he was all “EXACTLY” and then I hit my head against the wall for an hour.

Then Laura came to pick me up so we could go to the discount outlet together, and as Victor gave me a kiss goodbye he lovingly whispered, “You are not allowed to bring any more towels in this house or I will strangle you“. And that was exactly what I was still echoing through my head an hour later, when Laura and I stopped our shopping carts and stared up in confused, silent awe at a display of enormous metal chickens, made from rusted oil drums.

Laura: I think you need one of those.
Me: You’re joking, but they’re kind of horrifically awesome.
Laura: I’m not joking. We need to buy you one.
Me: The 5-foot tall one was $300, marked down to $100. That’s like, $200 worth of chicken for free.
Laura: You’d be crazy not to buy that. I mean, look at it. IT’S FULL OF WHIMSY.
Me: Victor’d be pissed.
Laura: Yup.
Me: But on the plus side? It’s not towels.
Laura: Yup.
Me: We will name him Henry. Or Charlie. Or O’Shannesy.
Laura: Or Beyoncé.
Me: Or Beyoncé. Yes. And when our friends are sad we can leave him at their front door to cheer them up.
Laura: Exactly. It’ll be like, “You thought *yesterday* was bad? Well, now you have a enormous metal chicken to deal with. Perspective. Now you have it.”

Then we flagged down a salesman, and we were all “What can you tell us about these chickens?”, as if we were in an art gallery, and not in a store that specializes in last years’ bathmats. He didn’t know anything about them, but he said that they’d only only sold one and it was to a really drunk lady, and then Laura and I were all “SOLD. All this chicken belongs to us now.” Insert-inappropriate-cock-joke-here.

So he loaded it onto a trolley, but Beyoncé was surprisingly unstable, and the giant 5 foot metal chicken crashed over onto the floor. And Laura and I were all “CHICKEN DOWN! CLEAN-UP IN AISLE 3″ but he didn’t laugh. Then the manager came to see what was causing all the commotion, and that’s when he found the very-conservative salesman unhappily struggling to right an enthusiastically pointy chicken which was almost as tall as he was. The salesman was having a hard time, and he told everyone to stand back “because this chicken will cut you“, and at first I thought he meant it as a threat, like “That chicken has a shiv”, but turns out he just meant that all the chickens’ ends were sharp and rusty. It was awesome, and Laura and I agreed that even if we got tetanus, this chicken had already paid for himself even before we got it in her truck.

Then we got to my house and quietly snuck the chicken up to my front door, rang the doorbell, and hid around the corner. Knock-knock. Victor opened the door and looked at the chicken in stunned silence for about 3 seconds. Then he sighed, closed the door and walked away.

Laura: What the f*ck? That’s it? That’s the only reaction we get?
Me: That’s it. He’s a hard man to rattle.

Victor was surprisingly pissed that I’d “wasted money” on an enormous chicken, because apparently he couldn’t appreciate the hysterical value of a 5 foot chicken ringing the doorbell. Then I said, “Well, at least it’s not towels” and apparently that was the wrong thing to say because that’s when Victor screamed and stormed off, but I knew he was locked in his office because I could hear him punching things in there. Then I yelled through his door, “It’s an anniversary gift for you. Two whole weeks early. 15 YEARS IS BIG METAL CHICKENS.” Then he yelled that he wanted it gone, but I couldn’t move it myself, so instead I said okay and went to watch tv.

Then when the UPS guy came I hid, but he was all “Dude. Nice chicken” and Victor yelled, “IT IS NOT A NICE CHICKEN”. Which was probably very confusing to the UPS guy, who was just trying to be polite.

Victor seemed more disgruntled than usual, so I finally dragged the chicken into the backyard and wedged it into a clump of trees so that it could scare the snakes away. Then I came in and Victor angrily pulled me into his office so that I could see that I’d stationed Beyoncé directly in front of his only window. And I was all “Exactly. YOU’RE WELCOME.” I told him that he could move Beyoncé if he wanted to, but he totally hasn’t. Probably because of all of the giant rocks I piled on Beyonce’s feet to dissuade burglars. Or possibly because Beyoncé is growing on him.

Still, I can’t help but think that we wouldn’t even be having this argument if Beyoncé was towels. Honestly, this whole chicken is really a lesson in picking your battles more carefully. Plus, he’s awesome and I can’t stop giggling every time I look at him. Beyoncé, that is. the. Best. 15th anniversary. ever.

New Car!

I got a new car on Monday! Yipee! It's a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Isn't she pretty!

Another view (as you can tell it was a little chilly when I took the photo this morning).

Here are the girl specks on my new car:

* It's Blue (really all girls want to know is what kind of car and what color)

* Black leather interior

* Heated and Cooled front seats

* Heated rear seats (all my passengers can thank me now)

* Heated Steering Wheel (This has been my favorite thing so far)

* BlueTooth with voice control (makes driving and talking so much easier, and safer)

* Navigation and Back up camera

I keep finding cool new things to love every day!

Here are the boy specks on my new car:

* 2012 Grand Cherokee Limited

* V-6

* 4 wheel drive

Really, I don't know what boys care about when it comes to cars.  I know my husband is obsessed with what size wheels are on his truck.  Every time one of our friends gets a new car, one of my first questions is what color is it.  Will never asks what color it is, so obviously this is not what boys care about.

As with any new car I want to keep it perfect as long as possible.  So when the dogs had to ride in the car on the way to Pratt on Tuesday morning I was a little on edge.  First off, I walk outside at 5 am Tuesday morning and it is snowing.  I put the dog's bed in the very back of the Jeep for them to sleep on, then I went to get the dogs.  I open the back door (it has a power lift gate, so cool) and the dogs jump in and immediately jump over the back seat.  I am screaming and freaking out for them to get in the back of the car, it didn't want them to scratch the leather.  I am sure my neighbors enjoy the frantic screaming outside at 5 am.  "GET IN THE BACK!! GET IN THE BACK OF THE CAR!! RIGHT NOW!!"  So, I finally get them in the back and the whole trip I am yelling for them to lay down and stay in the back of the car.  Derby looked so confused.  I am sure after a while the dogs will have full reign of the car, but for now they have to deal with psycho mom and her new car.

 Steering Wheel (in case you didn't know what that was)

Navigation

Back Up Camera

Now she just needs a name.

Water, Water, Everywhere and Not a Drop to Drink

Every Monday after yet another week were my diet and exercise is, well, non existent.  I tell myself I am going to eat better and work out and the list goes on and on.  Lets be honest, half of this is not going to happen.  During the week I am living in a small town in a hotel room.  My options for cooking are limited, and take out food is still pretty horrible for you even if you pick healthy options.

So, baby steps it is.  My small goal this week is to drink more water.  It is all I drink at home, and I am pretty good about drinking a decent amount.  But on the road I find I am very bad about drinking enough water.  I know if makes you feel better, makes your skin look better and fills you up so you don't eat as much.

My husband and my dog, Cooper, drink more water then any to beings I have ever met (yes I just talked about my husband's and dog's drinking habits together).  But seriously, they drink a ton of water.  I need to be more like them (only time I am going to say that).

Cheers to another glass of water!

P.S. I got a new car this weekend, I will tell you more about that next time!  

A Pain in the Butt

My dogs are a pain in the butt.  And now they need a pain in their butt, they are due for shots.  Why do dogs need so many shots?  I swear they get 4-5 a year.  We get a lot when we are little, but I can't really remember the last time I had a shot.

I was trying to board my dogs this weekend (I know Thursday afternoon is kind of waiting until the last minute).  Turns out Cooper needs one shot and Derby needs two.  I am 250 miles from my vet, and I really don't want to have to go through a whole work up with a local vet just to get them boarded.

So I ask again, why do they need so many shots?  Don't they have better immune systems.  They eat poop and dead bird pieces and it doesn't even phase them (not that my dogs have eaten both of those this week).

If people want to interact with the general public no one asks for our medical records first.  No one asked me when my last shots where when I booked my hotel room for the weekend.  But my dog wants to stay three nights at a pet hotel and I have to provide detailed medical records.  When you have traveled as much as we have, and the dogs have been to four vets in the past three years, it is a little hard to keep track of all their paperwork.

I guess we will be paying Aunt Krista a visit this weekend for three shots.

Fa-La-La-La La-La La

It's Christmas Music Time!!!

I love Christmas music.  I always have (but only after Thanksgiving).  I know all the words to all the Christmas songs, even songs that aren't that traditional.  You could say I am obsessed.  Growing up, my family must have had 25+ Christmas CDs.  I think my all time favorite is Amy Grant's Home for Christmas.  I love to sing along to all the songs.

The only problem is I can not carry a tune, I can't even drag one behind me.  I am an awful singer, totally off key, off tune, off pitch, off everything.  My whole family suffers from being horrible singers, I think it is genetic.  I can't even stand the sound of my own singing, I know it is really bad.  So my solution is to turn the music up really loud, that way it drowns out the sound of my own voice.

My poor dogs are the only ones that really have to suffer through my horrendous singing.  When I go on long car trips by myself, I sing along to the radio to keep me awake.  I am surprised I have not driven them crazy, I am sure I hit notes that only dogs can hear, and the whole thing sounds like a sick cat.

I hope everyone enjoys the Christmas music this time of year, and I promise not to come caroling anytime soon.

Word of the Day

How was everyone's Thanksgiving?  Mine was great, the best part was getting to spend a week in our new home.

So, I would do a pretty Thanksgiving recap for you, complete with pretty pictures of the mouth-watering food and the beautiful company.  But I am going to be honest, I am horrible at remembering to take pictures.  My whole family is horrible at remembering to take pictures.  When I was little we would find an undeveloped roll of film around the house and finally take it in to be developed and we would find pictures from two Christmas's ago on it.  We are just not picture takers.  As my brother says, "I don't need pictures, I have the memories in my mind."

To prove my point, here is the only picture I took on Thanksgiving.

This would be Mike with his jeans tight rolled.  I am really not even sure why he did it in the first place.  I think I heard something about showing everyone why he couldn't wear skinny jeans because it would make his hips look big.  We discuss important things at Thanksgiving.

So, now, finally on to the point of this post.  The Word of the Day.  We invented a new word at Thanksgiving.  Are you ready for it?

Chat-Bitching - verb - when one is chatting with you but ends up bitching about something you didn't want to hear about.

I will use it in a sentence for you.  Sarah called me up just to chat-bitch.  OR  I think we just got chat-bitched by that salesman.

Usually you don't know you are being chat-bitched until after it has happened.  I feel this new word will be very useful in future conversations.  This may not be the best new word ever, but we sure did think it was hilarious at Thanksgiving.  People were crying they were laughing so hard.  Could have been the wine.

Well, I hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving.

A Post from Starbucks

I am currently typing this post in a Starbucks near my house.  Why you may ask?  Well I will tell you, because I currently have no internet service at my new home, and Starbucks will let me use theirs for free (well for the price of a yummy non-fat chai tea latte).

I am so pissed at AT&T I could scream, actually I did scream earlier.  It didn't make me feel better, nor did it fix the problem.

We were scheduled to have our internet installed on Monday.  The tech came to my house and messed around with some stuff outside and then he came in and hooked his computer up and said that it all worked.  And then he left, now I know I should have made him stay and make sure mine worked, but I didn't.  So, I called the AT&T support and they told me that even though the tech had turned on the internet it would not work until after 8 pm Monday night because that was when it was scheduled to start.  Tell me how that makes any sense, it doesn't!

So I waited until 8 pm, still no internet.  I unplugged everything, reset everything, did everything I could, and still no internet.  So this morning I call AT&T again (their call service is very annoying, and no, I don't know the last 4 of my husband's social off the top of my head).  I explained my situation to several people and then my call got sent to India.  That guy was zero help, and didn't understand what I was telling him, so I hung up, and screamed again.

Then I called back and some call center woman kept trying to sell me other services.  Why would I buy another service from you when you can not get the current service I ordered to work?  She wanted me to switch my cell phone service and I told her no 3 times.  Finally, I got transferred to American tech support.  They put me on hold several times and then said they can't fix it from there.  So now a tech has to come to my house again.  Of course the soonest they can get anyone out to the house is tomorrow.  I screamed again.

Now here is the kicker.  If they deem the problem is on their end, the service call is free.  If they decided the problem is on my end, the service call will be $100.  Like hell I am paying them $100 for something they never got to work in the first place.  

I did a lot of screaming this morning.  I think my dogs think I am crazy, it's okay, I know they are crazy.

So, if I write you all another post from Starbucks, you will know AT&T has failed me once again.

AHHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Crazy Dog Update

As I have said before, my dogs are crazy.  Here is a little update on their shenanigans over the last week or so.

Last week we brought Cooper and Derby's kennel down to Pratt to our hotel room.  After being in the kennel (the one I thought they could not get out of because it has been reinforced several times) for only a short time, Cooper managed to pull the door in and let themselves out.  He then let himself out of the hotel room and was roaming the halls once again.  He did, however, forget to let his friend, Derby, out of the hotel room.  So Derby was barking as loud as he could because he got left behind.  How we have not gotten kicked out of the hotel I do not know.

In Cooper's great escape from his kennel he managed to poke a hole in his fur with a wire that was sticking out of the door.  His fur now looks like Swiss cheese because two weeks ago he tried to chase Derby through some barbed wire and cut himself up.  He now has four patches of missing fur.

Last weekend, while I was enjoying some time in Manhattan with Laura, my husband, Will, took the dogs to his parents house while he went hunting.  Derby decided that while Will and his parents were eating dinner he would eat one of Will's niece's shoes.  And as an added bonus, on Monday when I was just about to walk out the door for work, Derby threw up a bunch black rubber pieces.  I am guessing they came from the shoe.  Just what I wanted to clean up before I left for work.

If you haven't heard, it is hunting season in Kansas.  The hotel we stay at has been infiltrated with hunters.  To keep the hunters from cleaning the birds they shoot in their rooms the hotel has set up a bird cleaning station (a picnic table and a hose) behind the hotel where we take the dogs to use the restroom.  When I got home last night to take the dogs out one of the hunters told me to watch out because there were a bunch of quail and pheasant pieces by the cleaning station.  So I had to run around like a crazy person to keep Derby and Cooper from eating anything by the cleaning station.  I really don't want to know what constitutes bird pieces.

I promise we are good dog parents, our dogs are just an extra kind of crazy.

Welcome to my life on the road.

Let the Blog Off Begin

If you read last night's post, then you know that Laura from Beer, Dogs and Getting Healthier, and I are having a  Blog Off.  We both went to Manhattan, KS together for the K-State game this weekend, and here is the long anticipated recap of what went down.

First off, I must comment on how epic is was for me to go to a K-State game without my husband.  I did not got to K-State (I went to Baker University).  I grew up a die-hard KU fan, in a die-hard KU family.  I rooted against K-State my whole life, until I met my husband.  Since that time I have gone to many, many K-State games, but this was the first one without him.  As I heard many times this weekend, "I am officially converted."

Laura and I met in Wichita and drove up to Manhattan on Friday night.  Once we arrived, we met Laura's friends (and my friends too) John and Lori at Hibachi Hut.  There we had some great food and few beers, of course.  After dinner we went back to John and Lori's and proceeded to sit on their deck and drink until 1 am.

John and Lori got a new puppy a week ago.  This has to be the cutest puppy ever.  The problem is John and Lori thought they had a girl puppy, that they named Stella.  Turns out they have a boy puppy, that has been re-named Porter.  (Sorry, no cute puppy picture.  I am sure Laura will have several.  Laura 1- Jordan 0)

Saturday morning we were up and ready to start tailgating at 9 am.

Here is our tailgating spot.  No, the recent earthquakes have not thrown the stadium off center.  My camera skills are just that awesome.  And I had a killer hangover from the night before.  What has happened to me!?!  I used to drink and get up the next day with no problem, now I feel like I am going to hurl.  But I could not show weakness to my fellow tailgaters, it is survival of the fittest.

So, I decided a frosty beverage would make everything all better again.  Like the snowman straw?  I did not drink my beer through a straw, I thought that would be a recipe for disaster.  Also notice the camo cup.  Laura and I were sans husbands this weekend because they were both hunting.  In all our drinking wisdom throughout the day, we planned an excellent ladies weekend for next year's opening weekend of pheasant season (can't wait).

You can't tailgate with out food.  Chocolate chip cookies are a healthy breakfast, right?  Then we moved on to lunch.

Isn't Laura cute with her hamburger?

I had a bratwurst, nom, nom, nom.

John needed a time-out so we put him in an adult sized Pack-N-Play, poor John.  

After many beers, lots of food, a little tailgate hopping, and much needed bathroom break.  It was time for the game.

The Band is ready. . . 

BRING ON THE CATS!

I am not going to try and be SportsCenter and give you a play by play of the game, but here it is in a nut shell.  K-State would get behind, and then battle back to tie it up, and then there was overtime (I will tell you about that), but first, Halftime.

We must go outside the stadium and replenish our beers.  It's been a long time since we last had one, and we are parched.  Look at those happy beer (I mean non-alcoholic beverages in a plastic cup) drinking people.

Will someone please shoo that homeless man away from our tailgate, he is digging through the trash.  Ewww!  John was actually trying to do a good deed, he just looked a little suspicious doing it.  Even his wife was ready to dis-own him.  He was collecting pop tabs for a charity, I just think he likes touching other people's empty beer cans.

After quenching our thirst, we went back into the game.  I hope you all got to see the end of the K-State v. Texas A&M game, because it was a doozie.  It went to 4 overtimes!  The crowd was one of the loudest I have heard at the stadium.  Every time the Cats were on defense we screamed as loud as we could.  Laura and I were both loosing our voices, but it was awesome!

And after 4 overtimes. . .K-State was victorious!

CATS WIN!!!

We were so happy, and exhausted, and filled with adrenaline, all at the same time.

If we were younger, and hadn't drank so much the night before, and hadn't drank all day, and didn't have to get up the next day, and didn't have a cute puppy to go home to (I know excuses, excuses), we would have gone to Aggieville to celebrate the win.  But instead we went home.

That was a pepperoni pizza.  It's a good thing the delivery guy got out of the way in time or he would have lost a limb.  And then we were fat, and happy, and sleepy, and went to bed.

The next day Laura took some amazing Senior pictures of Lori's niece.  I was the photographer's assistant.  The coolest part was we went down on the football field to take pictures, and got some pictures ourselves. (Again, I have no pictures, and Laura does.  Laura 2 - Jordan 0)

Now here is some randomness from the weekend that I just didn't quite know how to weave into my story.  So get ready for some fast and furious craziness.

The death of a hotdog.

Someone thought the dog looked cold.

And then someone went too far.

Yep, those are mustard balls. 

A few things overheard this weekend:

"I am not a ding ding professional."

"I think I just snotted all over myself."

"Just monkey-splatter the grout."

"Do you want me to bring a ding ding home."

"The left boob cost me $5."

Yep, that's just your normal everyday conversation topics, ding dings and money splatter and boobs. 

So now go check out Beer, Dogs and Getting Healthier, and let us know who has won this epic Blog Off.

Laura you are going down!

Let the Games Begin!

This weekend, my friend Laura and I road tripped it to Manhattan, KS to watch the K-State football game.  Since we both have blogs (Beer, Dogs, and Getting Healthier), we decided the only way to report on this weekend's activities was to have a Blog Off.  That's right, blog-against-blog, who can tell a better story of what happened this weekend.  And we have pictures to back up the stories we tell.

It will be like one of those epic rap battles
Except, we're white. . .
and from Kansas. . .
and we can't rap. . .
and we are blogging. . .
about a football game.
But pretty much the same after that.

Check back tomorrow for the blow-by-blow of Laura and Jordan's Excellent Adventure, and let us know who you think wrote a better weekend recap.

See you tomorrow!

Ready for Take Off

Last week we moved into our new house.  I LOVE our new house.  This week I am back in Pratt working, and I miss our new house.  :(

Little did we know when we bought the house we were also purchasing a rocket ship/time capsule/shower.

 Welcome to my master shower.

When we were purchasing the house, one of the few things we were worried about was the shower in the master bath.  It was new and all, but it wasn't very big.  Well, the size of the shower is not really a problem, but figuring out all of the knobs, buttons and spray heads has been an adventure.

The shower comes with a remote!  That's right, I can turn on all of the bells and whistles before I even step inside.  There is a built in radio, lights, fans, a steam function, foot jets, rain shower, hand held sprayer and a row of jets behind the seat.  There is a little touch screen inside the shower to control all of this, and I think I saw a little phone icon on the screen one time (I don't know when I would ever want to take a phone call in the shower).

Now the really funny part has been my husband and I trying to figure out how all of this works.  The first time my husband turned it on, water shot out of the back jets and sprayed us and the whole bathroom with water.  When I got in the shower for the first time I am pretty sure I sprayed myself in places I was not prepared to be sprayed.  I have been too afraid to use the back jets or foot jets yet.

Now if you notice in the picture above, you can see the reflection of my leg.  Yes, that's right, two walls are mirrors.  I don't really need to see myself in a full length mirror while bathing.  Luckily, these mirrors fog up most of the time so I can't see myself.

Also, this shower is completely enclosed, because it is a steam shower (not a shower for those who don't like small places).  Which is great while you are in it, you never get a draft.  But once you slide back those two doors, the bathroom is still freezing cold.  It is kind of a rude wake up after a nice shower.  I am sure I will not enjoy that part in the winter.

One final thing, the shower has an alarm in it.  Not really sure why, but my husband thinks it is pretty funny to turn on.  He said he is going to use it as my wake up call in the morning when I need to get out of bed.  Not my idea of a happy wake up.

Beam me up Scotty!

Mind the Gap

Let me tell you a little about my love/hate relationship with Gap jeans.  I have been wearing Gap jeans since high school.  I have always loved them.  They are classic, fit well, and were one of the first stores to carry longs (I am pretty sure I looked like I was preparing for a flood most of my childhood because I grew out of pants so fast, or they were never really long enough in the first place).

Anyways, in the last few years Gap has changed the way they make their jeans.  They now have stretch in them or something.  The sales people even tell you to buy a size down because they will stretch out as you wear them.  I think this is a little ridiculous, don't most jeans stretch out as you wear them anyways.  Well I still buy Gap jeans, and I always start out my day with tight jeans that fit properly and by the end of the day I have what I refer to as "saggy ass."  I do not need my jeans to stretch out 3 extra sizes to be more comfortable, it just makes my butt look weird.

Speaking of my rear, what has happened to it lately.  I always thought I had a nice looking behind, but lately it seems wider.  I sure this could be from sitting all day, my lack of exercise, my less then stellar diet, the fact that I have recently turned 30, or all of the above.  But I digress.

I wish the Gap would just go back to making regular jeans and not magical growing jeans.  And while they are at it, can they just go back to selling the cute basics they always sold.  Lately I never find anything I like at the regular Gap.  Now the Gap Outlet is a whole other story, I always walk out with a huge bag of clothes (like the one I did last Tuesday, new sweaters!).

I would post a picture of the current "saggy ass" jeans I'm wearing to illustrate my point, but you don't want to see that on a Monday.  Hope your Monday went better then mine.

The Power of Craigslist

So, if you haven't heard the news. . . we moved!  We are no longer Texans, and once again Kansans.

First, I have to say a big THANK YOU to my mom.  She rode down to Texas with us and helped us pack, and then rode back and helped us unpack.  As she informed us, this was not the first time she has helped us move.  So, if you need an wonderful packer to help you move. . . don't call my mom.  She said this was the last time she was helping us move ( I think I have heard that before).

Anyways, Craigslist is amazing.  I kinda knew this already.  We have sold many pieces of furniture on Craigslist in the past.  But this sell was really, truly amazing.  On Sunday when we were packing up our place, and we decided that we didn't want to move our washer and dryer all the way back to Kansas.  Here is the timeline of events.

12:00 - We decided not to move our washer and dryer.

12:30 - We post a listing on Craigslist for our washer and dryer.

1:00 - We realize we didn't get the listing uploading correctly from our cell phone.

1:15 - We finally get the washer and dryer listed.

1:16 - We start receiving a million phone calls and emails from people wanting the washer and dryer.

1:40 - We receive an email from a single mom who wants us to give them to her for free, and then she emails again and says her husband's pay check didn't come on time. (How are you a single mom and have a husband?)  Her story got crazier and crazier.  Lesson learned here: If you are going to lie, keep the story simple.

3:00 - The guy who called first shows up and loads the washer and dryer on his truck.

4:00 - We close up the truck and leave for Kansas.

I was so excited to list, sell and have our washer and dryer hauled off in under 3 hours.  But not nearly as excited as when these beauties were delivered today.

I am sure doing laundry will be exciting for about 5 more loads, and then it will just be laundry again.

Making a Break For It

I would like to introduce you to my kids, Cooper and Derby.

Cooper is the grey dog in the red life-jacket, Derby is the brown dog in the green life-jacket.  This is them on our boat.  Oh yeah, they hate the water.  They can swim, but hate the water (the life-jackets make it easier to drag them back in the boat).  I could tell you tons of funny stories about them on the boat, but today's story is not about the boat.

Every day for two weeks now, we leave the dogs in our hotel room and go to work at our office a mile away.  We check on them several times a day, and even take them up to the office occasionally.  They have been doing pretty good with this arrangement.

Have I mentioned that Cooper has serious separation anxiety?  He has gone to some pretty crazy lengths to be with us (jumping through windows, breaking off metal kennel doors, I will elaborate more another day).

Well today I left them in the hotel in the morning and they did just fine.  My husband and I came back to the hotel for lunch and let the dogs out for a while.  We then put them back in the hotel room and went back to work.  Not five minutes after we got to the office, we got a phone call from the hotel.  Our dogs were running through the halls of the hotel!  WHAT!!!  Cooper had figured out how to open the door and let himself and Derby out.  Luckily, my husband's uncle was at the hotel and went up and got them and put them in his room with him.

I knew this day was coming.  Cooper has done this before.  He watches what we do and how things work, and then repeats them when we are not around.  When we lived in Shreveport we went to the pool at our apartment complex and left Cooper in the apartment.  A little while later I saw him frantically running around the fence of the pool looking for us, and our apartment door was wide open.  He had figured out how to spin the deadbolt and then open the door.  I though it was a fluke, and left him again, and not five minutes later he was out again.  At that apartment we had bite marks in the door lock because Cooper knew he had to do something with the lock first to open the door.  He is too smart for his own good.

Now we will have to find a new way to keep them contained.  Any ideas?

One more cute picture of my babies (don't ask me what they are doing).

What's In a Name

So why the Traveling JCP?

Well, if you know me at all, then you know that I spend all my free time in the car.  My husband and I have clocked so many hours in the car, I have lost track.  I tried to add it all up one time and stopped counting after it was adding up to weeks.  Our idea of a road trip is a little skewed now, 16 hours is a long trip, 7 hours is not too bad, 3 hours is like going across town, 1 hour is like going to the store, literally.  Our weekend plans routinely include at least a three hour trip in the car.

Because of all of this travel, you do not want to see the inside of our car.  I am so embarrassed when we have to give someone a ride.  Between the dog hair, dirt and spilled coffee, our car needs a bath. . . and another air freshener. . . and a full time maid .  My mom will be riding in the car this weekend, so I have 3 days to get the car looking and smelling better.

As for the JCP, that is and was my nickname since high school.  It stands for Johnson County Princess.  And while I don't often call myself a princess, the name kind of fits.  I grew in the suburbs of Kansas City in pretty much utopia.  My husband says I grew up in a bubble (also kind of true).  Everything I ever needed was within a five mile radius of my house or less, and I rarely left that radius.  When I went to college, my golf coach found out about the nickname and called me it all the time.

I guess people would call me a princess because I really don't like getting dirty, I don't camp, I know nothing about farming, or cows, I don't hunt, and probably never will.  If all that makes me a princess, it is alright with me.  I have learned to embrace the nickname JCP, and I think it's kind of funny.

So now you know why I am the Traveling JCP.

Welcome

As you can see, I decided to start a blog.  A place I can jot down some of my thoughts and observations.  I have wanted to start a blog for some time now, and have finally got around to doing it.  My friends, Marcie and Laura, have amazing blogs that I have been addicted to for a while now.  I have even been known to "stalk" their blogs to see if a new post has been made.  I hope that my blog can be as entertaining to others, as their blog has been to me.

A little about me:  I am 30 years old, and just recently got married this June.  My husband and I work in the oil and gas industry and recently started our own land services company after we got married.  A month before we got married, we both quit our jobs to start our business.  Let me tell you, you get a lot of strange looks when you tell a room full of women at your bridal shower that you both quit your jobs and don't really have a plan for what you are going to do next.  Hopefully being our own bosses will mean a little less travel.  In the last four years we have lived in 5 cities, 4 states, and I am not even going to try and count the number of addresses we have had.  We are currently "living" in a hotel in Pratt, KS, but are also closing on a house next week.  We also have two furry kids, Cooper and Derby, that make all that travel all the more interesting.

My life is never dull, but that is what I love.  I hope you enjoy my blog, and keeping up with my life on the road.