~~ They're leaving the nest, sew it's time for a trip - or two - or three...~~ D~'s bag ~9/22 ~~

Deep cleansing breaths! You can do this, and do it well! Remember Hakuna Mata!!!!

What else can the girls help with for the party? Any food prep they can do? Any household chores for them? Delegate! Any neighbors you can wrangle into helping? Just throwing ideas out there that might be helpful!

And do I spy with my eye a replaced Splash Mountain mug in the cabinet or is that just the good side? :)
 
Thank you - I am so happy with how it's turning out. You are right - it looks nothing like the house you visited a few years ago. I would LOVE to come and do your kitchen for you - I've found that this is something I really enjoyed doing and seeing come together - it was a lot of fun!

My door is open my friend.. and i enjoy the fact you enjoy doing this... so come on down i need help!

I know... I can hardly talk about it either... It's been a total roller coaster of emotions - and the worst is yet to come. Trying to brace myself for how terrible it's going to be when she leaves.

I cannot even fathom.
SO i have a solution.
Come over and heklp me with my house! and teach me how to Sew!!!

Tomorrow is when it will get crazier... Thankfully BFF is coming down for most of the day to help out. Even if she doesn't do much - the company and a 2nd eye will be very helpful. Besides, she hasn't seen my kitchen in person yet. :lovestruc

I truly wish i could be there for you.. I wish i could help out and just be there for you...


OMG i am IN LOVE with V's hair!!!
 
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V's hair is absolutely gorgeous!! I really like for coffee nook, I think it's a great size..maybe you will like it better when you put the shelves on the wall..I really hope you can accomplish everything you need to do, I'm sure it will be a great party! I know it will be difficult with all you have to do but don't forget to have fun!!:flower:
 

Chiming in D - you are a whirlwind and everything looks so wonderful; I love the front door color. I think I missed it, but where did you finally find your coffee nook cupboard? Did you stain it? I think it will look perfect once you put shelves up.

V's hair looks beautiful.

I have the best chicken taco recipe ever, and it is so easy. I think chicken tacos for a party is a great idea. Throw in some queso and I am so in:) Of course I live in San Antonio with some of the best Mexican food ever.

Cannot wait to see updates from the party.

I think it is good that you have V's trip to work on after Allison leaves. It will keep you busy, along with the stairs and other things you will start to cook up. I am so getting the Disney itch. I wish DH liked to go. I think your stay at AK made it even worse; I really want to stay there. We haven't been since our little short trip in February 2013.

Stay calm my friend! And don't forget to enjoy yourself at the party.

Love and prayers and hugs.
 
Love V's hair!
I think the coffee nook looks good. I have the same blue Donald Mug!

Relax and let people help with party, especially the girls. You need to enjoy the day some too. Best wishes for good weather all day. And good times with family and friends.
 
My two daughters became much closer once they finished school. They used to fight like crazy because they had to share a bedroom. Now they are good friends.

I love how neat and clean it looks. You have some ery cute mugs, too.


Her hair looks great. They did a good job with the highlights.
The cleaning seems to never end. I can always find something that needs cleaning even as the guests are arriving? Is the party Saturday or Sunday?

I forgot where you are with your kitchen. Is it 100% finished except for the shelves above the coffee nook?

Well, I hope so Sue... but their entire lives, everyone tells me "next year"... Well, next year has come and gone 18 times now, and I've pretty much given up hope. Praying that one day they will learn to love each other, but until then I just hope that we can live peacefully. LOL

Thanks... LOL I love all of my mugs. Honestly - most of my Donald mugs are up in my sewing room - I only have a few down stairs. I just need to get the shelves up now, then I can put my cute Starbucks Disney mugs up to display.

Yes - I was really happy with how her hair turned out... The blond highlights in her bangs still throw me off - you can't see them in the picture, but they are almost white - cute, but very, very light. At least she didn't do some crazy color or black - anything else I can deal with... I guess, I'd put my foot down in that case anyways. :scratchin

The party is tomorrow - can you believe it? Yikes! :eek: We are getting there. The kitchen is totally finished, yes - aside from the shelves above the coffee nook area. There are still a few things I'd like to do to it... Like after the party - we will swap out my good dining room table for my smaller farmhouse table, then I am on the hunt for a cute fun and large China cabinet - I will donate this one to a family member, since it belonged to Josh's grandparents, and then I will paint the new one something cute and fun that goes with my kitchen. Maybe, before V's party, I'd like to get a new fridge (side by side with the freezer on the bottom, can't remember what that's called...) and then have Josh "build it in". But for now - I consider the kitchen finished. There's not much else we can do to it now, and as it sits, I really love it. Those counter tops still stop me in my tracks every time I see them. :lovestruc

V's hair looks great! And I love those flowers. The colors are perfect.

It sounds like things are coming together for the party. Yea! It will be wonderful, I'm sure.

My husband lost his best friend on a fishing trip some years ago....it was devastating. Secretly, I was glad we were moving out of state that summer because the river where they liked to go dipnetting (in Alaska) was notoriously dangerous and I was worried about losing Mark to the river, like he lost his best friend. I'm glad Josh is home, safe and sound.

It looks like I probably won't be buying prescription sunglasses at my appointment today after all. A few very unexpected expenses popped up yesterday that are really frustrating and upsetting to me, and they have to be dealt with right away...including about $1000 of work on the car we just bought for our daughter about three weeks ago. I'm pretty worked up about that....long story and I won't go into it, but it is what it is. So my husband won't be leaving for Utah tomorrow morning as planned (he's driving) because I can't have him gone and me working an hour away from home with our daughter having a car that is having problems and isn't reliable....so we'll have to get the work done before he leaves for Utah (parts must be ordered) and he'll leave next week after the repairs are done. Our older daughter is very upset by this news -- she was so looking forward to seeing her Daddy this Sunday and spending Father's Day with him and helping him surprise his parents....but I just can't have Brie driving a car that has a serious oil leak when I'm so far from home during the work day in case the car breaks down. I'm just glad my husband hadn't told his parents he was coming a week early, since he wanted to surprise them! *Sigh* Anyway, between that and an unexpected home repair yesterday (had to replace the garbage disposal that was leaking horribly under the sink), I think the sunglasses will have to wait.

Thank you - I really love the flowers too, they are perfect. I am still kicking myself that I didn't get more of them. I am in that area today - I may try to stop by to see if there are any left. :scratchin

It is coming together, it will be close, that's for sure. ::yes::

That is terrible. I am so very sorry for your loss. I am thankful for you that you moved, as well. That would be scary for sure! :hug:

Oh no! That is so terrible and sad. What a true bummer. :( I hope that it doesn't turn out to be as expensive as they quoted you, and I hope that your DH is able to spend some time with his family. I hate unexpected things like that - especially right after you buy something... Which is why I hate buying new cars - at least I know what's wrong with the ones I have. LOL

And I hope you are able to get new sunglasses soon, before your trip. :lovestruc

Can you come to Ohio and decorate my house? haha :I just love all the little extra touches you are putting here and there. Stuff I would never have thought of. It all looks great! Hang in there and have a great day!

Thank you so much! :lovestruc I would love to! I am having so much fun with this... but I've gone over budget like 6 times now. So, I would love to spend someone else's money. LOL

I absolutely LOVE the painted Ball jars! I want to do that--but first I need to decide where I would put them!!!
Congrats to Allison! I know that her party will be perfect!

Thank you! Considering I had no idea what I was doing, I am pretty happy with them. They were a very low cost addition to my kitchen - I had the jars already... The paint was like $3 total, and the flowers were under $4... Oh and i had the string too. It just took time, and some of a learning curve - which I am not even close to perfecting. LOL I still don't know where I am putting them? I thought they would be a cute centerpiece on my table, but I kind of like them on the counter top like that too.

Thanks - I hope so... It will just be a lot of fun seeing everyone. Many people are driving quite a long distance for it, and some of them have never actually been to our house - so it should be fun. I even cleaned my sewing room yesterday for the occasion, because everyone always wants to see that for some reason? :scratchin And since I live in there 50+ hours per week - it goes downhill fast. LOL

Deep cleansing breaths! You can do this, and do it well! Remember Hakuna Mata!!!!

What else can the girls help with for the party? Any food prep they can do? Any household chores for them? Delegate! Any neighbors you can wrangle into helping? Just throwing ideas out there that might be helpful!

And do I spy with my eye a replaced Splash Mountain mug in the cabinet or is that just the good side? :)

Exactly... LOL I think we will make it, but we are pushing the clock for sure.

Well, V is not much of a help... Can't even get her to clean her room, so people can see her mural. :( I thought, for sure, that would work. LOL So, her bedroom door will be closed. Neighbors and friends have offered to help, but I just don't want to inconvenience anyone... One of my neighbors left her garage unlocked and put all of her crock pots and anything she thought I might need in there - I assured her that I thought I was fine, and that wasn't necessary - but it's nice to know, if I need anything, I can go raid her garage. LOL

No, I haven't replaced my SM mug yet... That is just it's good side. :scratchin Maybe when I am down with V in October? :scratchin

My door is open my friend.. and i enjoy the fact you enjoy doing this... so come on down i need help!

I cannot even fathom.
SO i have a solution.
Come over and heklp me with my house! and teach me how to Sew!!!

I truly wish i could be there for you.. I wish i could help out and just be there for you...

OMG i am IN LOVE with V's hair!!!

I may just do that. ::yes:: Don't be surprised if V shows up on your door step too... We just found out that the college she was accepted to is closing... The next nearest one is in Chicago - so she volunteered herself to "go live with Mo"... Just so you know. :lmao:

I know... I bawled like a baby all morning yesterday - I was a sight, that's for sure. But it felt good to get it out. My heart is utterly broken, but it's not forever and she will have so much fun. The opportunity, and the way the stars aligned for this to happen, I know it's supposed to be this way... It's just terrifying and hard.

It's OK... I love you. Thank you. :hug:

Me too... She has great hair... So jealous. LOL

V's hair is absolutely gorgeous!! I really like for coffee nook, I think it's a great size..maybe you will like it better when you put the shelves on the wall..I really hope you can accomplish everything you need to do, I'm sure it will be a great party! I know it will be difficult with all you have to do but don't forget to have fun!!:

Thanks - it wasn't what she originally wanted, but I love it just the same.

I think it's a hair too small - when we have our mugs up there, and our creamers out of the fridge, there's hardly any room to move or to set anything down. I like the cabinet, and I love that I can get all of our mugs in there, but the space on top, I think, needs to be bigger. I'll keep hunting. ::yes::

We are getting there... I think we will make it - but we will be working into the wee hours tonight, I am sure. And we will definitely have fun - I am excited to see everyone. It's been many years since we've hosted anything at our house - Thanksgiving 2011, If I am remembering correctly... So, this will be a lot of fun.

I love V's hair! It's so pretty!! The flowers in the jars also look great.

Thanks! I am so happy with both of them. :lovestruc I wish I had more time to do other things - but if I do much more, it will start to look cluttered. I really want to do a nice centerpiece on the table, and I wish I would have been able to find something to hang on either side of the China cabinet - oh well. I still love how the room turned out - even if it is a little bare.

V's hair and the flowers looks great :)

Thanks so much Lillian! :lovestruc

Chiming in D - you are a whirlwind and everything looks so wonderful; I love the front door color. I think I missed it, but where did you finally find your coffee nook cupboard? Did you stain it? I think it will look perfect once you put shelves up.

V's hair looks beautiful.

I have the best chicken taco recipe ever, and it is so easy. I think chicken tacos for a party is a great idea. Throw in some queso and I am so in:) Of course I live in San Antonio with some of the best Mexican food ever.

Cannot wait to see updates from the party.

I think it is good that you have V's trip to work on after Allison leaves. It will keep you busy, along with the stairs and other things you will start to cook up. I am so getting the Disney itch. I wish DH liked to go. I think your stay at AK made it even worse; I really want to stay there. We haven't been since our little short trip in February 2013.

Stay calm my friend! And don't forget to enjoy yourself at the party.

Love and prayers and hugs.

Yes - I am, but what else is new? LOL I always think that "after <insert event>, my life will slow down" and then something else comes up and I am working frantically towards that. I honestly don't know what i would do if I didn't have anything to do? LOL

I found my coffee cupboard in my neighbor's garage. LOL I pulled up one day, and it was sitting there - it looked like the right size and it looked like it was either coming or going... My luck - it was going... Even better, I got it for free. :woohoo: It was a distressed red, so I painted it glossy black and added some fancy new knobs... I had it out on my front porch while we were remodeling - and I really liked it out there, it was cute. So, if I find something better to go in this spot - I will likely put it back outside. It's definitely NOT a well built piece of furniture - it's particle board all the way. ::yes:: But it was free - so I am not complaining. :)

Thank you - I really love how her hair turned out too. :lovestruc

LOL - well, I am from MN and we do have some good Mexican food up here, but nothing like where you live, I am sure. LOL So, we are just doing plain ol' chicken tacos - nothing special. This party was supposed to be done on a budget, remember? We went over that, back when we were redoing our living room. Thankfully we've cash flowed these entire projects, so there is no new debt from them... but I am still trying to keep the food on a budget. :scratchin

There will probably be more updates from the party than anyone really cares to read about. LOL But it will be a lot of fun!

Yes, I am thankful for a Disney trip to plan with V... Not only plan, but pay for. I need to get my behind in gear there. As soon as Allison leaves, I will be in my sewing room from dawn to dusk every single day, working on V's trip. That is my next priority. ::yes::

I loved the AKL trip - it was the trip of a lifetime for me, with some great friends. Great, great memories there! I hope you get to go back soon Carol. :hug: It's not easy when your spouse doesn't enjoy it - I feel your pain. :hug:

Thank you - we are getting there. I think we will make it - but we are cutting it close, for sure.

Love V's hair!
I think the coffee nook looks good. I have the same blue Donald Mug!

Relax and let people help with party, especially the girls. You need to enjoy the day some too. Best wishes for good weather all day. And good times with family and friends.

Thanks! I really love how it turned out too!

It's getting there, I am hoping that the shelves get hung today. I have them on Josh's list. I love that mug - V purchased it for me on one of our trips, it's so cute. :lovestruc

Thank you, I will, trust me. LOL V has a school thing tomorrow morning - so Josh, V and I won't even be here to help set up. LOL Allison is in charge with that - thankfully BFF took pity on her, and is coming to help - otherwise she would totally be on her own. It looks like weather will be perfect (thankful for that) and we are very much looking forward to seeing so many loved ones. :lovestruc

***************************************************************************************************

OK all... I am starting this off by saying - I woke with a killer headache this morning... I am trying to put off breakfast for a little longer, then I will take something for it. I never take anything on an empty stomach. So, bear with me here...

Yesterday - I didn't leave my pajamas at all...

I did my heavy lifting, the first week in several weeks that I've managed to get it done twice. :woohoo:

I worked on Allison's slide show for the party for a little while - As of yesterday morning, I hadn't even started on it. I will be amazed if I actually finish it. I also sent her poster into the photo lab to be printed - I need to pick that up today. ::yes:: I am pretty excited about it actually - I printed off her final yearbook spread, I think it will be kind of cool.

Then I worked upstairs all day long... Around noon, Josh came home - which shocked me a little bit. He doesn't normally come home from work early - so I was VERY concerned that he was sick. Thankfully he wasn't - he just took 2 surprise vacation days, so we are able to get everything done. What a relief.

He went right to work outside... Cleaning gutters and the back deck... Cleaning all of our fold up chairs off... Just outside cleaning in general.

I started my deep cleaning, as well. And I am glad I did. I started off by scrubbing the upstairs hallway and steps on my hands and knees. I scrub all of the time, but rarely on my hands and knees. When we were first married, and when we lived in our old house - I scrubbed floors on my hands and knees every few weeks - but once we moved here, I stopped doing that after the first few times, because our floors were in such bad shape, I would get annoyed that I could never get them clean enough - so I just went to mopping with a bucket and pail. When we put in these new floors ~um~ 2 years ago almost, I had every intention of going back to my preferred method of scrubbing on my hands and knees - but I never did, I just continued to mop. Well, lesson learned... All I can say is "yuck" and I am slightly embarrassed. IMO - in order to get clean floors, mopping just doesn't do it - it just pushes everything off to the sides - not to mention, it doesn't get everything that is in the cracks of the floor... Like our floor has a slight texture to it - so the dirt was caught in those tiny grooves. So, I spent a good 4 hours on my kitchen floor last night, scrubbing the dirt out of the grooves... It was bad. I guess I am going back to good old fashioned floor scrubbing now. Lesson learned. <---- Aren't you glad you read that - you now know where I stand on floor scrubbing. :lmao:

Anyways - floors are CLEAN! :woohoo:

That was my entire night.

Oh and while I was doing all of that, the (2nd batch) of chicken was cooking. Both batches (3 large crockpots full) are in the fridge ready to be shredded today.

Soooo... Today's to do list...

I plan to work out here shortly. I just took something for this headache, I couldn't stand it any longer. I hope it kicks in soon, otherwise not only will I be miserable all day long - I am certain that those around me will be too... Which won't be any good today.

Then I will get ready and run to town... I have a few things I need to pick up at Target, I also need to hit the liquor store for beer... I don't drink it, but it's something we should have around.

I will come home and meet BFF here... Shred some chicken, and get the front porch/yard looking pretty - she is loaning me all of her potted flowers. LOL Phew! So, she is bringing those down for me today. What are BFFs for right?

This afternoon, V has an appointment - So I have to run across town.

At some point, I need to do a thorough job of dusting and vacuum again. Then we should be good? I hope.

I have no idea what is on Josh's list? I have a couple of small misc. things for him to do... but I am sure he has his own list. ::yes::

I hope you all have a wonderful day! Sending Pixie Dust to all! :hug:

D~
 
I hope your headache goes away! Perhaps it's a tension headache? You certainly have a lot of stress right now with getting everything ready! I remember one of my Saturday chores when I was growing up was to scrub the kitchen floor on my hands and knees. I hated it! LOL But you're right -- it definitely gets floors cleaner than a mop.

It was so sweet of Josh to take two days off to help get things ready. What a great guy! Just imagine how wonderful it will be to sit back after the party is over and look at how much you got done on your house and how wonderful it looks. So are you already planning what renovations you'll do for V's party? *wink*

Try to snatch a bit of rest today/tonight!
 
That was really great of Josh to take two vacation days off. I guess the fishing trip was worth it after all. He was ready to go back to work after his mini-vacation. :)

I hope all the prep goes well. Good luck tomorrow. :)
 
I hope your headache goes away!!! That was very sweet of Josh to take a couple of days off to help you! You're party is going to be wonderful! Have a great time and enjoy!!

If V ends up going to school in Chicago, I'm in the suburbs if she ever needs anything!
 
I may just do that. ::yes:: Don't be surprised if V shows up on your door step too... We just found out that the college she was accepted to is closing... The next nearest one is in Chicago - so she volunteered herself to "go live with Mo"... Just so you know.

As said many many times... my door is always open!
V is totally welcomed to come and live with me!!! I'll take her and you can have a peace of mind knowing she is safe.

I know... I bawled like a baby all morning yesterday - I was a sight, that's for sure. But it felt good to get it out. My heart is utterly broken, but it's not forever and she will have so much fun. The opportunity, and the way the stars aligned for this to happen, I know it's supposed to be this way... It's just terrifying and hard.

Im glad you got it out. you needed too.. Just wish i was there to help in any way. :hug:


It's OK... I love you. Thank you.

Love you too

Me too... She has great hair... So jealous. LOL

Me too!!! brat..

Aren't you glad you read that - you now know where I stand on floor scrubbing.

I do and now i am even more excited for when you come here -redo my kitchen and now i can get my floors scrubbed? WIN! :rotfl2:

hit the liquor store for beer.

Good choice. :drinking1



Keep your head up and i think i have sympathy pains as i have a headache too! Feel better and good luck this weekend! I know i see ya on Facebook... :hug: Give everyone hugs from ME!
 
I am very very far behind on your PTR but I have been following the house project and such on FB. I think the house looks great!

I can't believe A leaves so soon. She will have a great time! I know you'll miss her though. :hug:
 
Hope your headache went away.

I'm sure everything will be amazing tomorrow for a's party.
 
Oaky, I have been reading about your wonderful WDW trips for 3+ years and adore the bags that you make. We are Disneyland/DCL people, but I have been to WDW three times, and enjoy seeing you go to places that I have been to as well.

I have thought of commenting before on some picture or story, but never have....so why am I finally posting....your girls.

My daughters are 18 and 20 and have basically fought from the time the youngest could speak. For Mother's Day, Christmas, Birthdays, all I have asked is for them to get a long. My youngest adores her older sister, but has a very ODD way of showing it. Now don't get me wrong, they don't fight 24/7 (well they actually can't anymore as the oldest goes to school in Massachusetts, and we live in California), but it is very stressful when they do. I keep hoping they will turn the corner. I believe hope is on the horizon. My youngest got some good news the other day and called her sister (who has an internship in North Carolina for the summer) to share the news. And then my older daughter sent me a message about how excited she was the her sister called. Baby steps I tell you, but better than nothing. Now my youngest is going to be going to college in Pennsylvania (field hockey is why they are across the country), and my oldest asked if her college streams the field hockey games because she wants to watch. Another step in the right direction, now this may all go out the window when we are all together in one house next December (yep, won't see my oldest until December), but I hope that they are maturing and so will their relationship.

Good luck with your graduation party tomorrow...we had our youngest's party last Saturday. We had a carnitas and chicken taco bar....sounds like you are having something like that too.

Anyways, kind of deep and drawn out for a first post, but as they say go big, or go home!
 
Finally caught back up!! Where have I been!? :)

The kitchen turned out BEAUTIFULLY, and I love the little coffee nook all set up. It does look a little small but I wonder if you put up your shelves and/or hooks, etc. above it if that will tie everything together?

I can't imagine all the whirlwind of emotions surrounding Allison's graduation and impending summer trip/adventure. Just be thankful our society has become so digitally connected--you will know everything she is up to! :)

Happy to be caught back up here!
 
Wow a surprise 2 days off...that is so awesome! I don't know a lot of guys that would do that lol. I am still getting over the fact that your kids are old enough to be graduating already....that's just nuts because...you look so young!! Congrats though, it's really exciting!! And it's true...I'm sure you will hear everything that is going on while she is away...I can't imagine being a mom back in the day when if you went away..you really didn't hear from anyone the whole time unless it was a real emergency!!
 
Hi D! I haven't said much past few weeks/months but I am still reading along! I just wanted to say that the house turned out AMAZING and I bet it feels better knowing that you guys did it yourselves! :) I also wanted to wish you good luck with Allison's graduation party! It sounds like it will be a great time, and I'm sure having that stress off your shoulders will be nice!
 
Ah headaches are annoying, I hope what you took kicked in and you felt better. :lovestruc

Good luck on Allison's photo slideshow! I love those things, I think they are so much fun, and also can make a person emotional... Are you setting music in the background or are you just going to have it playing in the background during the party?

Yay for clean floors! :woohoo:

Random, but thought I would mention, I just saw Finding Dory today, it was really cute and I definitely recommend it, especially if you enjoyed the first movie!:fish:
 














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