My Kitchen (Eventually....hopefully)

After my daily prayer to the Mother Nature and the sunshine gods to PLEASE DRY UP OUR FARM, I like to obsess over my new home. If you know me, you know I have a control issue. I am bossy. The fun (I say that loosely really) is we are building this literally from the ground up. This home design is my creation and so is everything that is going in. I would quit my job and do home interiors if I had the $$$$ to do so!!! Anyways, since it has POURED rain here in the past few days, I went to my "happy place" AKA obsessing over the design details of my little home! So today, let's talk about the kitchen. Apparently I will be spending a lot of time there one day. My husband seems to think that I am going to take up cooking. ACTUALLY, this may be true, since residing with The Roommates I have cooked a TON. And haven't killed anyone or given anyone food poisoning.

Back to my ideas...we are having two different colors of cabinets. The main cabinetry will be an espresso finish: That is not our cabinet design or anything, but gives you an idea of the main color. We have an island (YAY!) and a hood over our range. These will be a different color. I wish I could tell you more than just "wood-y" with a black glaze, but I have no clue what the color is called. Very helpful. Yes, I know. But they look like this:

The cabinets are so fun. I LOVE looking at the millions of options. It is soooo easy to go WAY over budget in 2 seconds with cabinets. I am learning an excellent lesson on budgeting with this! I didn't even realize the assortment of drawer options you could have. Heck, I just want a normal drawer please! They have drawers that open at the touch of a finger. Sheesh! That is NOT in my budget!! So we have our cabinets, we will have hardwood floors in there. I couldn't find just the same shade in a photo. It's a darker wood with wide planks. Nothing too exciting.

If I thought cabinets were hard to choose, forget about tile and backsplashes. HOLY CRAP. In the end though, I found the most insane tile to go with the countertops. This is a Galaxy Series Vermont Brown glass tile. It is clear glass with a brown almost foil appearance. Very cool. It really brings out the gold/brown flecks in what I like for the counters. Here is what I like for counters, Venetian Gold.

Since everything in the kitchen is pretty dark and neutral, I feel we really needed a pop of color somewhere. The kitchen opens up to the living room so we will just have 3 walls painted for the actual kitchen. It will be a shade somewhere in between these two oranges: Just something super bright. There are lots of windows on the back side of the house so it will really brighten up the place. I am trying to finish a sketch of the kitchen to actually reflect what I am trying to get across here. Maybe I will finish it on another rainy day.

Party Like a Rockstar

Or, as close to one as old people on a normal people budget can...This weekend we went to Kansas City to see Kid Rock. Chad hadn't been to a concert in about 100 years. I LOVE concerts. The last one I went to...Britney Spears...her Circus "comeback" tour. It was awesome. But that's another story. We took half days on Friday and headed on over to KC. Chad knows the way to my heart and detoured us to the casino. We played FOREVER. That is the beauty of a penny slot I guess! It was a CLASSY establishment. Let me tell you. We were apparently on the "other" side of the river. I was happy. It was loaded with penny slots!

I found this game right before we left. It instantly became my favorite. Well after I figured out how in the world to bet. There were a lot of buttons but only a couple of options. I played for 10 minutes not knowing what in the world I was winning. Luckily Chad found me in time when I hit 3 different bonuses!! WOO HOOO!!! HELLO LOVER!!!

It was super fun, but we had to get downtown to check in and get some food before the concert. We met Elizabeth and Jon at the hotel. I find it important to note how appropriately dressed Elizabeth was :) This will become painfully obvious shortly...

We stayed at the Hilton President down in the Power and Light District. It's great because you can walk to everything and not see your car until it's time to go home!

Like I said, we met in the lobby (anyone, anyone see Lizzy's shoes???). It was cold (and icy) out. We decided to head down to the bars to get some food. McFaddens was beyond packed so we decided to gamble on a Irish Pub called Ragland Road. The menu was IRISH (duh, what were we expecting, but seriously, it has a "translation page"). It was really yummy though.
They had a live Irish band playing Lord of the Dance music. That's how I describe it at least ;) We were enjoying our food and drinks when my sister realized she left her tickets in the hotel room. Jon and Chad offered to go back and get them while we waited. It was at this time that Lizzy finally realized that the weather and the walking did not mesh with her 4 inch peep toe stilettos. Really?? Anyone else surprised?? So the gentlement that they were, they took her shoes with them and brought back some flats. I wish I could have seen the two of them, walking alone together, carrying stilettos. Adorable.

So that meant that Lizzy and I were left at the bar. I felt it was important to look at her feet:

We clearly weren't going anywhere until they were back!!

This is me laughing at my sister because she has to go to the bathroom and can't walk there because she has no footwear

I also feel it is important to note that out of the entire bar/restaurant we get seated right next to Elizabeth's gynecologist. It was hysterically uncomfortable for her (Lizzy definitely, not too sure about the doc). My ever so mature husband had a blast with that.

Every so often a Lord of the Dance girl would pop up and do a jig

Afterwards we headed on over to the arena. Lizzy and Jon (and again with my mature husband)

Hanging out at our seats. Chad was not aware of the long delays between sets. Apparently Ms. Dion performs alone :) Kid Rock finally made it out about 9pm

It was an insanely good concert. Loved every second of it. I am pretty sure that Chad has ranked it above Celine too

Had to have a picture of the set to show Aidan. He now wants a giant skull for his room. Anyone know where to purchase a 100ft skull that shoots fire???

Some of these are shot with my phone and others with my sucky camera so forgive me. I am on a quest for a new camera

Singin on the bar

He played all sorts of songs. From the way back hip hop to the Southern rock. It was fantastic. The show was sold out. Luckily the 2 seats next to us never filled and Elizabeth and Jon came on down to sit with us. Afterwards we were beat and went back to the hotel. We had a surprise ice issue in the morning and the roads were awful back home. We took our time and even stopped in the bustling metropolis of Concordia for some BBQ. It was okay. Won't stop at Biffles Smokehouse again though :) We finally got home after a quick pitstop in Columbia (Hi Gwen!). It was so good to be home and seen these cheesers:

They had a GREAT time with grandma and grandpa. It was so awesome for them to be able to hang out there. Aidan has been begging for a sleep over (uh hello, we LIVE there) but where Chad and I were gone so he got his wish.

Sunday Funday was relaxing. Lizzy and I took Aidan to Gnomeo and Juliet. SO ADORABLE. It was hilarious. Go see it. We hung out at home and outside since it was so warm. It was great. Grandma made tortilla, I grilled ginormous steaks. We ate. Lots of food. We all were pooped and headed to bed. Then the tornado sirens went off. We got everyone downstairs for about 10 minutes then they were off. Nothing of any importance.

Whew. That was the weekend. Who knows what is up this week!

Losers

Chad and I are still in our Biggest Loser competition with some friends. We are kicking butt right now (well we think, we forgot the weigh in this week). We had to adjust for the new lifestyle at The Roommates. We are eating awesome meals all the time! After we put our stomachs in check, we got back on the road to fitness. We are down some major weight. Now that it is getting nice out, we will be able to get outside so that will help surely.

I have been trying various fitness classes. Pole has been AMAZING in building my upper body strength. There is not a lot of cardio involved in that class so I was looking for something else. The same place where we do pole, they have a few other classes. Last night my mom and I headed over to try Zumba. It was so fun. And hard. And sweaty. Loved it! I felt awesome afterwards. My mom totally impressed me with her sassy moves :) We are going to try out another class next week! I am also equally impressed that I do not hurt anywhere (yet) or am sore. We will see what happens later though! It always seems to sneak up on me.

Tonight, Chad and I are off to Kid Rock and some party time at the Power and Light District. Should be a great time!! Kiddos are partying it up with the grandparents. They couldn't be happier of course. Aidan even woke up at 6am because "he was just so excited to play all day." Too funny.

One more thing, on the way home last night Aidan was talking to Chad about hunting. Aidan wants to go so bad. He is so excited for it. He said to Chad, "Dad, when are we going to go hunting?? I am just soooo excited and reeeeaaallly want to go." Chad tells him that he is excited for Aidan to come too and that they will go just as soon as they can. Aidan continues with this: "Oh I know you are excited. You just smile everytime you think 'Oooh Aidan and I are going to go hunting together' and I know dad, I know it just makes you smile."

I literally died. It was precious. Anyhoo! Have a great weekend!!

Making My Case

Today I will present to you Exhibit A in pleading my case for a hanging light over my bathtub. It seems that Chad feels I am a bit impractical at times (GASP, I know right!??!). He believes that a hanging light over a giant pool of water is some sort of safety concern. Does he not watch HGTV??? Does he not "get" Candace Olsen??? Where have I gone wrong here?? Anyways. Let's make my argument. This is my most favorite bathroom ever (colorwise; also important to note if you know me I tend to have a lot of "my most favorite ever" so get used to it)...

I love that light and our bedroom colors are black and white (our old house actually had that exact color scheme with the yellow). This time I am leaning more towards the black and white but with a bluish-purplish gray accent. I will show you what I am talking about in a future post. Back to bath lighting...how romantical/sassy/awesome is the hanging light, people???? LOVE IT. Chad needs to have a little faith here I think :)

LOVE this light and the corner tub. This will not be the case for our tub, but I am in love with that light. Chad tried the ol' "There's a building code AGAINST your light" trick, but I haven't met an objection that I couldn't research the daylight out of. Lo and behold, you can totally have a hanging light as long as you can't TOUCH it when you are in the tub. Makes sense I guess LOL. I know I love to volley a piece of electrical beauty whilst soaking in my tub. Riiight. So Chad: 0 Momma: 1. Yay hanging lights!! I also love this blue color. Very soothingI also want to talk about my most dream room in the whole entire house: my closet. Our first little house had an amazing walk in right off the bathroom. I LOVED having my closet off of our bathroom. It made sense. Well our last house had it off the bedroom. Fine and dandy, BUT. BUT, I say, it was the most awful use of space EVER. It was a sad little master closet and I vowed (I sound serious, don't I!) to never again have a puny closet. Enter: momma and Karla meeting with the architect (minus the men) to design a house. What does that mean?? AWSOME closet!! We are going to have us a snappy closet with an excellent use of space. If I had a million dollars this is what my closet would look like:I do believe that Chad in his oh so dramatizing ways would say that Mariah and I have a competition on the amount of shoes one person can own. But I, my friends, DO NOT have this wonderous experience when I walk in my closet: If I had that? I would never leave my closet. Bring my babies to me. I am moving in and never coming out. Anyhoo. I am wanting an excellent use of the larger space we have been allotted for ye closet. Maybe this time I won't intrude on Chadwick's side and he will actually have adequate spacing. I am hoping that I won't have to also intrude on a spare bedrooms closet either. Our old house had a bedroom in the basement with an AWESOMELY large closet...why that wasn't in the master bedroom I will never understand. I think the clsoet obsession coordinates with my craziness regarding an ORGANIZED closet. I am OCD about that. CRAZY. It. Must. Be. Organized. If you aren't careful I would probably start organzing yours if I am visiting at your house. The fact that at The Roommates, I can't have a perfectly organized closet drives me nuts. But I am dealing (thank you for being concerned). Next time I will review my other wishes/hopes/dreams for my future home. In the meantime, if Mariah Carey would like to send me a closet designer on her tab, I would greatly appreciate it :)

Tah Dah!

And with that...Sarah's vacation home is gone. Don't worry, I will find you a new place just a scary :)

We Don't Need No Water...

Burn, baby, burn! Woohoo!! The haunted house is outta here people!! Crap, where am I going to tell Aidan he has to live now when he acts up???

Rain Rain

Hey Mother Nature...quit with the wetness. We are trying to build a house here. It seems it is rather difficult to drive big ol' tractors and equipment on land that is soaking wet. So yes, give it up already. I would really appreciate it. I am sure my builder would appreciate it to so I will leave them alone. I am pretty annoying. So just do everyone a favor and send in the sun, wind or whatever else you have up your sleeve to dry us up.

Okay, thanks!

Sunday Funday with the Roommates

We had a super weekend. We had pizza with everyone Friday night for our anniversary. Saturday was spent running errands with the kiddos. Grandpa and Chad took the dogs for walks and watched basketball.

Grandpa and the kids are clearly not having any fun with this current living arrangement...
Sunday was Funday and we went down to the train station and capitol. It was 72 degrees out. A perfect day to spend outside. Grandma and Grandpa got everyone ice cream and we all enjoyed the treats downtown. Aidan ran around like crazy and Elin just wished she could eat some dang ice cream!
Governor's mansion

Aidan and his friends, Lewis & Clark

Grandma and Grandpa finishing their sundaes

Giving Elin the stink eye so she understands that she doesn't get any yet

The beginning of a tiresome game...

Resting on Lewis's (or maybe Clark's) dog...

Aidan's favorite part...the dead duck statue...

The boys

Still not happy with no ice cream!

Aidan had to go to the bathroom of course so they ran all the way down to the station. Of course the second they got down there a train was on its way! Aidan was PUMPED! Can you see the tiny red speck down there? That's Aidan and Grandma.

Aw, the lovers (Chad is blushing as he is reading this I am sure, love you dear!)

Aidan using the"map" to find our path

Shooting the cannon

We decided to go check out the capitol since it was open

Overlooking the river from the back of the capitol (Grandpa had kidnapped Elin and wasn't sharing)

Inside the capitol there is a really neat state museum. Aidan and I checked out the "touch" part. You could try out the soldier camp, get dressed up, etc. Here we are in a tent:

No flash photography in there so my cell pics are not the greatest but you get the idea.
Sporting our war-era outfits...supermodels, indeed!

Checking out how heavy their guns were! Over 10 lbs!

Aidan trying out the shackles LOL...

He looks a tad concerned there doesn't he?

Grandma and the kids in the USS Missouri room

Grandpa and Aidan at the stage coach

Dad and Elin

Grandma and Aidan climbing the front stairs...the rest of us just watched LOL. That's a lot of stairs!

Ta-da!

Me and my buddy

At home that night, hanging out and watching movies...

It was also bath night. Miss Elin truly enjoys her tub time...

I mean, hello, I would LOVE to bathe with my french fries (and corn on the cob) too!! That is a dream come true!!

Yeah, you know you are jealous!

We had an awesome day and are really loving the roommate thing! The kids are in heaven and we are enjoying the time with my family. I am certain my mom just has no idea how she survived without us in her house 24 hours a day every weekend ;)

The kids are excited for a night alone with grandma and grandpa this weekend because Chad and I are off to the Kid Rock concert! Should be fun!! Have a great week!!