a glimpse

A glimpse of what it would be like to have not one, but two dogs.
With a real live kid on top.

And this glimpse scared the crap out of me.

Not to mention our house was a slight disaster.

Now we are back to only one dog. And no real live kids.

And I have to admit, I kind of miss it.

I miss the toys on the kitchen counter and the itty bitty suitcase on the floor.

I miss the cartoons on the tv and even the muddy footprints on the tile. Mmm, I’m lying about that one. But I do miss everything else.

This weekend I will clean and relax and have a couple of glasses of wine with husband.

The perfect weekend.

Except it won’t be as perfect as spending the weekend with these two.

Thanks to my amazing sister-in-law and brother-in-law for trusting us with two of their favorites. We had an absolute blast and I still have a few bumps and bruises to prove it.

christmas in march

How to make Christmas come in March:

First you need a sister.

And this sister must love to shop.

And your shopaholic sister must get tired of clothes easily.

Then you call up sister and tell her that you really need some new clothes.

Then sister ships you a gigantic box of clothes that she no longer wants.

Little sister gets clothes for free.

Big sister gets to go shopping for new clothes.

Both sisters live happily ever after.

P.S. My sister is officially a mom. She now sends me things in Pampers boxes. Pampers!

Oh how times have changed.

sherman eats sheridan's

Yesterday Sherman and I both had doctor's appointments. So we decided to celebrate afterwards with ice cream. Sheridan's frozen custard is the best. I could eat it every single day. And Sherm is pretty fond of their free doggy cones. Free!

Thank you to the nice employee who allowed Sherm to jump up on the counter to place his order. Also, thank you to the nice old lady for taking our picture during 60 mph winds. Thank you nice old lady for taking 14 minutes out of your day to figure out how to use a digital camera. You did an amazing job and I promise never to bother you again. Promise.

live to eat or eat to live

I write like a boy. I know. I've been told.

  This little chalkboard in our kitchen is what gets me through each and every week. I look at this board in the morning before I head out to work and think . . .

‘hooray! we’re having ____ tonight' or
‘oh that will be fun to eat ____ with husband this evening’ or
‘a nice glass of red wine will go good with ____ tonight’

I know they say you shouldn’t live to eat, but rather you should eat to live.

Huh?
I don’t get it.

Usually we eat boring healthy grilled fish. But for some crazy, wonderful reason husband decided to fry our fish. And now I don't think I can ever have grilled fish again.

I love grease.

P.S. The meals above were prepared by husband last week. This week Dan is traveling and the chalkboard looks something like this:

Monday- hot pockets
Tuesday- frozen burritos
Wednesday- uhhh, soup from a can?
Thursday- anything else that can cook in a microwave
Friday- husband returns! hip hip hooray!

weekend + sun

The sun actually decided to come out for a little bit this weekend.

I was brave enough to trade in my wellies for a real pair of shoes.

I was not, however, brave enough to put away the rain coat just yet. The second I would have done that, the rain would have come pouring down on my head.

I’m no dummy.

Even Sherman enjoyed this new thing called sunlight.

Thank you sun for peeking through for a bit.

It was so nice to see you.

happy birthday dad

sandbergphotos

Happy Birthday to the man who never stops smiling.

No really. He doesn’t. Ask anyone.

Love you Dad.

xoxo

the eight dollar dog

Getting Sherman was not easy. It took a lot of please, please, pleases to get husband to agree to a dog. Dan did not grow up with dogs. I, on the other hand, had dogs, cats, fish, birds, guinea pigs, hamsters and a hedgehog named Henry.

I'm not kidding. Henry was one mean hedgehog.

One of my selling points to get a dog was that dogs are super cheap. They barely cost a thing. All you have to do is buy food and maybe take them to the vet once or twice a year for shots.

Easy. Simple. Cheap.

Dan finally gave in. When we went to pick up baby Sherman, the couple just asked that we pay for any services they had already had done for the pups.

Sure. No problem.

They informed us that the pups had their dewclaws removed and therefore they were asking $8 for each dog.

$8.

For a purebred lab.

I’m pretty sure we gave them a ten and said keep the change.

So, we went skipping home with our eight dollar dog and here is what happened next: 

• Doggy health insurance plan. Thank heavens we got this. ($300)
• Kennel cough. ($150)
• Digestive issues for 6 months. Likely cause- food allergies. ($300)
• Conjunctivitis. ($110)
• Digestive issues caused by possible “obstruction in tummy”. Who the blank knows what he swallowed. ($175)
• Ear infection. ($50)
• Puppy acne. No, I’m not kidding. It’s real. And it’s fairly expensive to treat. ($75)
• Conjunctivitis round two. ($110)
• Ear infection round two. ($50)
• Not included: Procedure to remove his manhood, routine shots, heartworm, flea&tick, food, treats, toys, daycare and numerous dog beds that somehow keep getting destroyed.

And he’s only a year old.
I may have miscalculated a tad on the cost of an eight dollar dog.
Oops.

rain

This is what I have been wearing every day.

For five days.

Don't get me wrong, I love rain.

Unfortunately, Sherman loves the rain too.
And our floors love the muddy paw prints that Sherm so graciously tracks in everywhere.

EVERYWHERE.

I need a vacation.
Or maybe just a housekeeper.

a bathroom from scratch

Not only can husband make pasta from scratch . . .
he can build bathrooms from scratch too.

This is what our old yucky bathroom in our old yucky basement looked like before Dan got his magical hands involved.

He did everything from plumbing to electrical to drywall to tile to paint to . . .
everything.

Remember this fun little pinterest item I first showed you here?
Obsessed.

I love that he left all the wood natural. Smart man.
He is also smart for marrying me.

This was my contribution.
I bought a bamboo soap dish.

Look at me!

TWO toilets in the Jones household.

I could not be any more excited.

It’s the little things in life.

drowning in color

My eyes hurt.

This may take some time getting used to.

Fall could not come soon enough.

I miss my dreary sweaters.

be kind

"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle."
-Plato

Kind of makes you stop and catch your breath. 

Be kind. Love others.

Feel blessed. Be blessed.

And pray that others are blessed as well.

Thanks big sis for the quote.

You are the strongest, smartest and kindest girl I know.

P.S. Our neighborhood has the most amazing trees. Some of the houses could use some work, some of the yards could use some mowing and some of the streets could use some new pavement.

But the trees. The trees will keep me here for awhile.

Oh and I still want this camera.
So that I can take better pictures of trees.

itty bitty closet makeover

pinterestphoto

I wish.

This is my closet.

All five feet of it.

And this weekend I will be saying goodbye to my oversized totes.

And my boots.
Oh man am I going to miss you guys.
Especially you. Yes you . . . in the taupe.

And goodbye to my sweaters in gray, black, brown and taupe.

All must go.

It’s spring. And this itty bitty closet will be getting some much needed color. Stripes, flowers and obnoxiously bright colors are in the game plan.

Old Navy/Old Navy/Old Navy

Target/Target/Target

Don’t worry, this is not my attempt to start a fashion blog.

I probably spent $30 total on these six shirts. Six!

I’m not fashionable (and thank you husband for reminding me of this every single day). I'm just cheap.