YESiversary #3

Three years ago tonight, I said "yes" to Dan when he asked me to marry him. We made dinner together in our pajamas, drank wine and then he asked me to dance. He held me tight for a few minutes before nervously getting down on one knee and asking one of the most important and life-changing questions (the other being, "Do, you, Brooke, take Dan....?") a girl can be asked. There were no cameras, no spectators (besides Paisley), and no elaborate plans. Yet, it was perfectly private and special and US. I don't precisely remember everything he said to me, but it would stay between us forever anyway. I still get teary thinking about how incredible that moment was.

Tonight, we'll celebrate with a special dinner and a bottle of the same wine. I'll hug him a little tighter, snuggle in a little closer, and remember that on January 25, 2009, I told him I'd marry him, and I've been glad I said "yes" every day since.

Random Musings Friday

Hmmmm, it looks like I haven't done or thought about much since last week's post of the same title, but that's far from true. I promise. I've been busy.

• I am officially a (pending) lia sophia Independent Sales Advisor. What that means is that I now hawk jewelry. Mighty fine, fun, pretty jewelry with a lifetime guarantee, no less. I went to a party in November, then hosted my own in December. I thought it would be something fun and productive to do with my time and make some extra money for our home. Also, I've missed the fun aspect of work that I enjoyed working as a waitress pretty much since graduating from college. You'll be shocked to hear this, but being a tax analyst isn't usually very exciting. Basically, I'll be getting paid to shop, meet new people, and have fun. Couldn't really ask for better.
  



• I was driving to work this morning and saw a sign that said "Authotech's Direct." What's wrong with that? I'm like 99% sure they mean Autotechs and that apostrophe is superfluous. I see this everywhere. Apostrophes aren't that difficult to use properly. I find it astonishing that somewhere in the design, editing, manufacturing, and erecting of this sign, no one ever said, "hey, I think you have a grammar fail on your sign." I make mistakes, too. Even with reading and re-reading posts and emails, I will catch something and be all, "gah, Brooke! That was dumb." But this is a huge SIGN. Advertising your BUSINESS. Nothing elicits my confidence in an establishment less than the lack of awareness to display grammatically correct signage. It's no wonder to me that when the State Fair was going on, the parking lot that proudly displayed its "Fare Parking" signs was always empty. Those dopes only had to copy spelling on signs that were all over the place for miles around and they couldn't even do that. I wouldn't trust them to watch my car, either. Edit your advertising, people.
  



• My co-irker didn't review my account reconciliations in a timely manner, so the controller - who I don't in any way report to (my group supports his, but our reporting structure is technically in of a different part of the company) - reviewed them and found errors. He's intimidating and I'm going to have to sit down with him and go over them. I know it's a chance to shine and show initiative - since I eventually want a position on his team - but he's incredibly blunt and straight-forward and that style doesn't always go over well with me. Eeek!




• So Paula Deen has diabetes. Some people are seriously upset about it and saying she pushes unhealthy eating and now is advocating treating it with medicine rather than living a healthy lifestyle. Personally, I don't really see the big deal. Yeah, her food is generally rich and comfort-y. She considers butter its own food group. She isn't forcing anyone to make or eat it. And now she has diabetes, which may or may not be the result of her eating what she cooks. Some dope on Facebook actually said, "I have a pretty good idea of what she eats - I've seen her show." Moron. We have no idea what she eats on the regular. Her at-home eating style could be vastly different than her on-air eating. Assuming she eats gooey butter cookies and mac and cheese constantly is like assuming Candace Nelson eats only cupcakes - since that's all I've seen her eat on TV. Not to mention, not only unhealthy eating causes diabetes. Watch out, I'm going on an IF tangent: one of the major causes of infertility, PCOS, causes imbalances that lead to gaining/difficulty losing weight and insulin resistance. Ladies who eat perfectly by-the-book healthy and exercise as recommended may develop diabetes thanks to PCOS, no matter what they do. So seriously, just because someone eats 2 bites of crap on TV does not make them "deserving" of diabetes. And as far as her now selling diabetes medicine as a diabetic herself, ummmm... who else would be more appropriate? Someone without diabetes? Get real. I'm sure there are fails in my logic somewhere - there usually are. But the the moral of the story is that I have bigger stuff to worry about than who's the spokesperson for insulin. Someone has to take over the "diabeetus" when Wilford Brimly takes a dirt nap.

I'm linking up to Shana. Go see what is on some other ladies' minds. And have a great weekend :)

Random Musings Friday

I'm going to link up with the fabulous Shana this week and give you my random musings. Because if I didn't, I don't think I have anything that constitutes a blog post right now.

1. Dan and I have officially purchased our third vehicle in less than three years. There was my Murano in May 2009 when we were engaged, Dan's Lexus in October 2010 after the hail storm that turned Phoenix into an insurance claim nightmare, and now the new truck. It's pretty rad, I have to say. I'm not a Chevy girl normally (I love me my Nissans), but this 4-door Silverado is a sweet ride. It's roomy and hauly (is that a word?) and oh so pretty. Dan gave up his old 2-door Silverado to get my Murano (awwwww) (wait, I have a bigger awww: his project truck, a 70-something Chevy, was sold to buy my engagement ring. I didn't realize it at the time because we hadn't even talked marriage yet. But that's what it became) and has been talking about trading in his teensy car for a month or so. Seriously, you should have seen him in his IS300 - you'd have never guessed that someone who is 6'5" would be able to fold himself into it. But he did, and he loved it, but he was ready for a change.

2. There has been so much effing drama in our group of friends lately. There are a lot of hurt feelings and some damaged friendships. Dan and I have been unfairly accused of withholding information and it's been really hurtful. It royally sucks.

3. This weekend is going to be busy busy, buuuuusy. But in a good way. I have a meeting with some ladies to get my own lia sophia company started in the morning, then a tattoo session (are you freaking out, Mom?) at noon. Then in the evening, we want to go see the hot balloon glow in a downtown nearby. It's part of a long seasonal even with a lot of lights, but I've never seen this balloon glow finale, and I'm excited. And on Sunday, we're celebrating a friend's birthday with mini golf and giant beers. The two go well together.

4. I'm selling Girl Scout cookies for a friend's kid. I have an awesome sign outside my cube, and the fact that I don't have kids myself seems to be drawing extra attention which leads to extra sales. Cha-ching. I may or may not have told some people I'm the world's oldest Brownie.

5. I'm wicked excited - irrationally so - that my new 2012 planner came. I got it with Amazon gift cards from Christmas and it's very cute. And, it matches my red Kindle cover. I'm so coordinated. And organized.

I'm off to judge a chili contest. Have a fabulous weekend!

Guess who's FOUR?!

This little lady!


Today is my Paisley Poo's 4th birthday. She's still as sweet as ever and just as loved. She's the one who curls up by my side when I'm sad, and she makes the most noise when I come home. She's the first little furball I was ever responsible for, and she has a very special place in my heart.


How could you not love that baby?

Happy Birthday, Paisley!

It Begins: Project Craft Room

So I've been talking about this craft room a lot lately, but I have some exciting news! On NYE, I started my first project toward making it happen. Aside from pinning ideas for it, that is. Before I get into it, here's the run-down on what needs to be done:

• Clear room of "junk" and find storage solutions in either the closet, garage, or shed



• Paint walls in tone-on-tone light greyish-purple horizontal stripes - the paint has been chosen!



• Build desk and put up shelving



• Figure out what to do with Dan's giant ugly black dresser (this is called foreshadowing)



• Take closet doors off and replace with fun patterned curtains that coordinate with existing limey green block-out curtains on the windows. We're doing this because the storage we're keeping isn't really conducive to the range of the doors now - getting out my ribbons and cookie cutters is a pain. Not to mention, Dan's tattoo supplies will now live in the closet (climate control) and the cart won't fit in it with the doors. So, curtains it is.



• Make/buy fun pillows for futon



• Create functional storage for wrapping paper/gift bags, etc.



• Decorate!
  

Keep in mind that while on a day-to-day basis, the room will be for creativity. But it is also serving as our only guest room while we have a roommate, so the futon will be staying and serving as a couch for now. Once we no longer have a roommate, our queen bed will be moved to the 3rd room and we'll get a king. But this is all in the undetermined future.

So, back to the first project. I had gone shopping at Pier 1 on Saturday and used a gift card to buy what I like to call, "the most glorious pillow ever made." It's big and royal purple and ruffley and I love it. Dan might not call it that, but what does a boy know about pillows anyway. We were talking about the plans and paint colors for the craft room, and I dragged him in to visually show him my layout, and said, "but we have to do something about that!" and pointed to his big ugly black dresser. The thing is huge - it was at his parents' house when he was growing up, he probably painted it black at some point in his teen years, and it somehow became ours when he moved in. I don't do black furniture. It's harsh looking and doesn't go with anything that we have. So when I was threatening to have to do something about it, Dan was willing to compromise, considering it's still full of a lot of his stuff (stuff = papers, old wallets on chains, pictures, tiny Virgin Mary statues, etc.). The compromise: he could keep it in the room if I could paint it to go with my color scheme.

And so, the most awesome dresser in the universe came to be. Beeeehold!


Isn't it fabulous? I pretty much want to take it to dinner and then marry it in about 6 months. It's my soulmate. The color is actually going to appear much darker when it's in the room and not in direct sunlight. It's really very close to the color of the most glorious pillow ever made. And it's just the push we both needed to get started on the room transformation, which we're hoping to have done by about mid-March, budget allowing.

The best part is, I have Dan's full support and enthusiasm. He seems to get that I need this space for my sanity and well-being. I'm so thankful that he sees this as our project and is almost as excited as I am to make it just right. What a wonderful way to start the New Year - I really couldn't have hoped for better!

Edited to add: As requested by Allyson, I present to you, the "most glorious pillow ever made."

And yes, I named the jpeg file that.