Oh the Holidays!

Lately, I have really been missing having a Thanksgiving break and a Christmas break. Right about now, it would be Dead Week in Pullman. Then, next week would be finals. Then? Nothing! Being a grown up, with a job that only gives you a few days off for the holidays is rough! No wonder some people never leave college. But alas, I did and now I am trying to prepare for the holidays, get a full work week in, and continue to tackle working on the house.

Lance has started devoting himself to cleaning out our garage after I agreed to him turning the area into a home gym. That certainly lit a fire under him! He's made some major headway. We still need to sort through boxes and give away a ton of stuff that's just sitting out there, but overall I think we're well on our way.

Our garage is SO deep that we could add a bathroom at the end of it, to be accessed from inside the house. I think it would be a beyond excellent idea and add a ton of value to our home. Right now, having the only bathroom be upstairs is okay, but having a second bathroom (just a 1/4 bath with a sink and a toilet) would really be nice. I love our little townhouse, but I dream of things like new bathrooms and laundry relocation! Poor Lance. I still want to build a loft area in the vaulted ceilings in our entry way. Why the home builder didn't just make the bedroom extend over and have a more decent sized room, I'll never know. I also want to remodel the attic into a master suite, but Lance said that isn't going to happen. Probably not an easy feat anyways, considering it's a townhouse. I don't think the neighbors would be too happy.

We are still working on finding someone to put on a new roof for us. It would be so much easier if we were just having a whole new level to the house put on, since they'd have to rip the roof off for that anyway! I can dream. Then again, considering the ONLY house project that we've actually finished is our built in desk, we probably shouldn't try anything too complex. I smile as I write that, seeing as I am trying to convince Lance to let me tear out the carpet that is on the stairs and we still don't have a handrail.

Well, time to get distracted by work! Looking forward to cleaning out the house tonight and playing with my Silhouette Cameo cutter. That thing is so beyond amazing - I have no words. I am still figuring out how to use it to its full potential, and I need to get different card stock for it to cut, but I think I am getting the hang of it. I was thinking of making Christmas cards this year, but I might do generic. Maybe I can send generic then, if I have time, send hand made ones too? Who knows. Better get some store bought just to be safe!

Hope everyone is having a great day! And hopefully it's more exciting than thinking about cleaning your garage and re-roofing your home, hah!

Mrs. D.

It is OFFICIALLY December!

I cannot even begin to explain how excited I am for the holidays this year! The other night I was shopping at Metropolitan Market -- well, I actually just stopped by to grab a few things for dinner -- and when I pulled up they had JUST put some Christmas trees outside! They don't have much room for the trees, so there weren't many. However, they were PERFECT for me! They are little trees, standing about 3 feet tall. I saw one that looked just PERFECT and had to have it! This way, it's the right size to sit on a table so the dogs can't attack it like they did last year. We already strung our lights on it (the only lights we had were some giant, white LED lights, but it made the tiny tree look more adorable) and we've been slowly hanging decorations since. Of course, while doing this, we watched It's A Wonderful Life and drank some hot cocoa with a little but of peppermint schnapps for that extra kick! It's been so much fun getting ready for the holidays. I can't wait to decorate the rest of my home!

I finally received my Silhouette cutter and I am in LOVE! You can cut anything! Shapes, cards, baskets (it even perforates the folding lines). The templates from their online store are about 50 cents each, which is a total bargain compared to the Cricut and their $50 cartridges. Now that I am learning more and more about the machine, I am realizing that the possibilities are endless! I'm currently having a fun time just playing around and learning the ropes, but I am so excited for when I get to tackle Christmas cards and decorations and gift bags and gift baskets and anything else I can imagine! I had read many reviews that people posted saying that with the Silhouette, the possibilities are endless, and with the Cricut, you're really limited by the cartridges you can buy. I am so glad I read those reviews and found my Silhouette on Black Friday! I did not know that a little die cutting machine could bring someone so much joy! I hope to make lots of Christmas decor and cards and all kinds of fun things with it. The learning curve is a bit steep, but I am catching on rather quickly and have already had some great successes! So, if you're ever looking to purchase a craft cutter, AVOID THE CRICUT! The Silhouette Cameo, although a tiny bit more expensive in the beginning, is an endless opportunity to create any craft you could possibly imagine. I couldn't be more pleased with my purchase! I just have to be careful - I'll sit up all night futzing with that dang machine! I think I already need a replacement cutting mat! 

Tomorrow night Lance and I are going to attempt some Christmas cards and continue working on getting our house cleaned and organized. I've finally accepted that it isn't going to happen in a day, but we are making some good progress. Even with all the madness and insanity and partially finished projects and completely failed products and considering the fact that this place is a money pit, I love our house. It feels so much like ours, and so much like home. Day by day, we accomplish something small to keep that going. Over time, I am sure that everything will be just perfect. Even with so much to do, it's nice to sit and enjoy the fact that it is OUR home! Adding the downstairs bathroom, finishing the painting, the new railing, and the endless list of improvements can wait. For tonight, I am just glad we have our adorable first home full of dogs, love, and holiday cheer!! ... and yes, that last sentence was so cheesy, you might've just puked a little in your mouth. But that is just what happens when you marry your dream man, find your dream house, fill it with your dream dogs, and start to live your own slightly fairy tale-esque life. SO gooey and dramatic I know. I guess that's what Sunday does for you!

Photos of our mini-tree to follow! And, hopefully, photos of our home improvements! I think it's time to pull out the paint and finish painting the stairs then trimming them, then on to the banister! Until then, I'll just remain patient until I can get my hands on a miter saw to cut the pieces to go along the floor myself! ... Poor Lance, I definitely have an evil streak in me when it comes to home renovations!

Hope everyone is having a great evening and those of you who are in the same boat with the 28% completed home projects, I hope you can also take a moment to appreciate the wonderful people in your life and the craziness they bring! Without it, it'd be pretty dang boring!

Best,

Mrs. Dyson

Life Lesson: Don't try to mohawk a Pekingese

This dog does NOT have hair to support this haircut. Now Cheese looks like some kind of mangy fool. It's awful. AWFUL! His hair cannot grow back fast enough! Our Havanese, Turnip, looks great with the mohawk.... But for Cheese? Yikes. Just yikes.

PEKINGESE MOHAWK = TERRIBLE IDEA!

Back to the grind!

Having four days off straight was AMAZING! I absolutely loved it! ... but getting back to work today? Not so fun. I don't know how I managed to be up by 5:30am and out the door by 6:30am, but tomorrow, the same thing needs to happen. I had better get some shut eye.

My big exciting news today? We bought our first ever sewing machine! It was one of those fancy newfangled Amazon.com Lightening Deals. I thought I'd watch it to see what the lightening price was and it was such an amazing deal, I couldn't pass it up! It looks like quilting is FINALLY in my future! I can even use my awesome new Silhouette Cameo cutter (to be arriving sometime hopefully soon) to cut the fabric squares so my shaky, unskilled hands don't have to be harassed! Yay for crafting!

In other news, I am eagerly anticipating the arrival of my latest book purchase. It's titled "F*ck, I'm in my twenties." I am not sure what exactly it's about, but based on the title alone I was obviously hooked! Hopefully it ends up being a good read. Book review to come next week! I definitely need a few good winter reads.

I am always on the prowl for new crafting books but have been having a hard time finding ones with truly awesome crafts I would like to try. A lot of books I have tried have been relatively disappointing. What makes them even more disappointing is some of them I ordered multiples of, so sure that they'd be amazing that I would want to give them as gifts! Now I have to give a few people some rather sad craft books. Then again, craft books are hard for me because nearly everything is beyond my skill level. Hopefully the recipients love them!

Ugh who would've ever thought that crafting is so dang difficult? Not me. I mean, I suspected. I know it's not the easiest. But dannnng - can I EVER get a craft project to turn out? I think my wreath would've been great if I could've found better berries. Finding the right materials is 90% of the battle - that is what I am telling myself. I have a heck of a time finding good, affordable materials so when I am left short, my projects just end up looking funky.

Well off to bed. Six short hours before I am back up and at 'em tomorrow! I brought my laptop home with me tonight thinking I would do lots of work at home but instead ended up visiting my parents and spending some quality time with favorite little cousin Zachary. He is so stinkin' cute I cannot stand it! I might steal him. But I probably shouldn't tell the world that. Thankfully, my Aunt would likely let me take him out for an adventure and would call it "babysitting" instead of "babythefting." Thank goodness for family.

Hoo-wah (don't know why, that just seemed the right thing to type),

Mrs. Dyson

Looking forward to Christmas... but why is this place such a wreck?!

Okay, us newlywed Dyson's definitely need a plan for getting our house in shape for the holidays. We've been living in this house for a year and a half now, have barely unpacked, and there is stuff everywhere. Plus, my suggestion to Lance to turn our garage into a home gym evidently hit a special place in his heart because we now have gym equipment making its way to our home as we speak. That's good though - he does go to the gym every morning, so by having one at home, we'll save $110 a month. Of course, in the mean time, we are buying the equipment AND paying the gym fee. I can't really gripe though - he doesn't buy too much for himself and if it's what he really wants, then that is okay. 

One total silver lining? He is actually getting the garage cleaned out. Funny how all the time we've been together -- more than 3 years -- he's never sucessefully cleaned something out on his own. Every attempt has been... well, pathetic, and then I have to come along and do it. Even with the garage, he's "helped" me work on getting it organized several times but never actually did anything beyond moving specific items I asked him to move. Suddenly, with thoughts of this home gym, he makes more progress in 1 hour than he made in weeks. Hmm. I am getting highly suspicious of this man. I think that he may be letting his lack of interest in getting certain things done allow him to barely try, leaving me to do the work. But I digress.

For Christmas this year, we have the most excellent plan: WE ARE SLEEPING IN! For the first time in both of our lives, we are not going to be getting up at the crack of dawn to go to someone's home. We are going to sleep in and spend some quality time with our dogs before we head out. This year, Lance's family is meeting down at his grandparents so I am hoping we can load up all four dogs and take them down with us. The pups LOVE to run around their property and it would be the perfect Christmas present for them. Just the thought of being able to sleep in on Christmas and then get up and go down without being rushed to be there by 6 or 7am makes my heart melt. I can't wait!

For my side of the family, there is talk of getting together on Christmas eve which would be great. On my side, we do a gift exchange where everyone buys each person (or couple) a stocking stuffer gift. I think I got pretty dang creative this year! Anyways, getting everyone on my side of the family together on one day at one time is really difficult. I have cousins a few hours south who have a 1 year old, cousins an hour north who are always busy and we rarely, if ever, see them, and my brother in Texas. I know Scott won't be home, but I'd really like to see my cousins! Granted, it's also hard because my south cousins and my north cousins rarely see each other, so when we do all get together, Lance and I feel like we are intruding on their reunion, but I understand since my north cousins don't really come around much. Anyway, hopefully we can all sit down together on Christmas eve. The only bad news? My mom can't order her usual Azteca platter to avoid cooking! That's okay though. 

Anyways, for Christmas, hopefully everything goes nice and smooth. As long as I get to be with my husband and my puppies, I am all set! The only thing I really want for Christmas is a clean and organized house. I am working on it, but progress is very slow. Every time I get one room cleaned, it seems like the mess and clutter just migrated. Right now, I have our spare bedroom about 80% cleaned up, but now our bedroom is a nightmare. I figure if I just keep at it, things will eventually get better. Plus I have some stuff to take to the Goodwill which will clear up more room for us! 

I better quit rambling and get to cleaning and doing some laundry. Sometimes I let the stress of our constantly disastrous house overwhelm me so much that I just can't get things done. I sit and wonder "What in the heck am I going to do to get this clean?!?!" Maybe for Christmas, someone will give me coupons good for hours toward helping me clean and organize my house. That would be the ultimate gift! Although I know so many sweet and generous people, I know if I asked for help that they would gladly pitch in. I just can't drag anyone else into our mess!

Okay, time for dinner. Then cleaning and laundry! Someday, our house will be clean, organized and all our half finished projects will be complete. Oh to have a fully painted home! To have new flooring installed! To have a railing for the stairs! 

Love,

Mrs. Dyson

Sunday's Moment of "Awwww"

This Sunday's moment of "Awwww" is brought to you by Cheese.

P.S. I am LOVING using Instagram! The effects are so neat =).

Magnolia Dog Park

Tonight we took our first trip up to the brand new Magnolia Dog Park! We live about 10 blocks away from it (it incidentally borders our old apartment complex we lived in before we bought our house). They did an absolutely beautiful job creating the dog park and it was pretty busy! They have a large dog area and a smaller area for the wee pups. We didn't bring Juno or Cheese because we weren't sure how it would all work up there, but Turnip and Rockford are well seasoned at playing in the big kids' area! Both of the big boys had an absolute blast! They took off, running and playing with all of the dogs. Neither Turnip nor Rockford has ever had a problem with getting aggressive or fighting with other dogs, even when the dogs are 10x their size! The pups ran and played for about an hour, then Lance and I decided we were too frozen and headed back home. We drove them up to the park because A) it's freezing and B) to get to the park, it is straight uphill and the climb alone would kill the doggies. 

Next time, we're definitely going to bring Cheese! He is our only puppy who plays fetch (he is so great at it!) so I can play fetch with him in the small dog area. He wouldn't do well in the large dog area - he gets too protective of me and he'll fight other dogs who comes near his toys. It would probably be good for him to get some exposure though. Juno won't ever go to the dog park. She just PANICS! Maybe if Lance stayed in the little dog area with her she would be okay. I don't know though. Tonight when we left for the dog park with the big boys, Juno screeched like I didn't know a dog could! She is such a little princess brat. But she's our (read: Lance's) princess brat!

I just finished my first peppermint mocha of the Christmas season, and now it is off to make some spaghetti for dinner, do some laundry, and settle down and watch a nice movie on Netflix! I can feel Christmas in the air!

Love,

Mrs. Dyson