Happy Monday friends! Hope your week was fan-TAB-ulous. We’ve certainly been enjoying ourselves remodeling the house and hanging with my parents. I can’t believe they will be going home a week from tomorrow already. Last year they spent 3 weeks here, this year they’re spending 4 weeks here…I think I’m seeing a pattern! My dad’s already talking about spending 2 months next year. I think it’s funny that every time I tell people that my parents are staying with us for 4 weeks, they look at me with either disbelief, surprise or sympathy lol. However, once they meet my parents they realize why 4 weeks doesn’t even seem like enough time. They are the sweetest, kindest, most giving people you will ever met. We all know it’s a pretty universal joke that husbands dread when the in-laws come to stay. On the contrary, Joe was literally counting down the days until my parents’ arrival. Quite rare and quite awesome, right?

I know you’ve been dying to know so let me tell you: I’m on my oatmeal kick again, but this time I’m actually enjoying it till the last bite!  ;) The trick? Stove top cooking, vanilla extract, brown sugar and fresh blueberries. Your mouth is watering, I know it! I’m eating it right now as I write and it is mmm mmm good!

Hallelujah, the Packers won the Super bowl! Now I’ve already confessed to you that I’m more of a pseudo-Packer fan. I mean, if I have to root for someone of course I’ll root for them, but I can’t pretend that my life rests of whether the Packers win or lose. Joe, however, as you know thinks he’s actually part of the team so he is very invested in the game. Watching him watch the game makes me so nervous! He can’t sit still, he yells at the top of his lungs and probably takes years off his life with the amount of stress hormones that build up inside of him. Talk about a roller coaster of emotions! And it probably doesn’t help that he drank an entire 2 liter bottle of Mtn. Dew by himself! But in the end, they came away with a victory and I came away with a very happy hubby (thank God). I guarantee he’s not going to get any work done today. He’s going to be excited to concentrate! Enjoy it love, you’ve earned it ;). I just hope that I don’t have to listen “Green n’ Yellow” ever again!

Dad-isms. I think every Dad has some, right? But anyone who knows my Dad knows that he is a walking Dad-ism. I used to get so embarrassed by his corny jokes growing up, but now I think it’s great. Don’t get my wrong, the jokes are not any less corny (in fact I think they’re getting cornier) but now I’ve come to appreciate them. How’s this one? Dad: “Oh, there’s a yard sale. I wonder how much of their yard they’re selling??” Or how about this one? Joe: “They said we just need to bring a six-pack to the party”, Dad: “Tell him, I haven’t been working out enough. I’ve got more of a barrel than a six-pack! And tell him, mom will bring the buns! “. The best part is he always, always, cracks himself up. Even if no one else is laughing, my Dad thinks he’s funny which usually makes everyone else laugh. Joe is already picking up some of my Dad’s lingo and even throwing out his own corny jokes. Oh boy! Here are a few other things that make my Dad my Dad:

1. He uses his hands and whistling noises to describe how something is done.

2. He loves to talk. And talk. And talk. :)

3. He can strike up a conversation with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

4.  He makes up RANDOM nicknames for people. Mine include: Tater bink, The Stinky (NOT because I stink, I promise!), Stayza, etc.

5. He loves to brag about his kids. Don’t all Dads?

6. He uses words like “yahoo” (not in reference to the website), “knucklehead”, “lolly-gagging”, and “keister”.

Mom-isms. My mom is the best. I know every daughter says that and I know it can sound cliche but really and truly I believe that I have the best mom in the world. Period. She has such a giving heart and a nurturing spirit and I adore her. I know anyone who knows her would agree! Here are my favorite Mom-isms.

1. She hums wherever she goes. That’s right, my mom is like a walking Disney princess. The best is when we’re in a public restroom and I can hear my mom humming a few stalls down. Tee hee. (I can hear her humming in the kitchen right now as I write this).

2. She calls my dad “husband”. Always. Never by his name. Just “husband”. Other people think it’s funny, but it’s quite normal to me.

3. She loves to bust out dance moves randomly. Especially when she thinks it might embarrass her grandkids :)

4. She laughs uncontrollably whenever she thinks back on times that friends/family have taken a tumble.

5. She could take Martha Stewart any day of the week. In cooking, cleaning or decorating ;).

I’m not quite sure how I survived as many Wisconsin winters as I did. After last week’s 3 days of less than 50 degree weather here in AZ, I’ve decided once and for all that I can’t live anywhere that gets cold on a regular basis. It’s horrible! It was hard enough running errands, I can’t imagine trying to shoot in it. No thank you. All my Midwest friends who are thinking I’m just being a baby, let me just say that my Midwest Mom was among the ones complaining about the “Arizona cold”! It doesn’t take long for you to think that 70 is jacket weather and anything under that is “stay-indoors” weather ;).

I’m not very good at taking compliments. I’m not quite sure what to say when they’re given to me. So you can imagine my awkwardness when my Dad started bragging to our waitress about my photography business the other day at breakfast. My Dad was making conversation with the waitress as usual (see Dad-ism #3) when he started up “Well, if you need photography for any reason, Stacy here has a great photography business going. Go ahead Stace, give her one of your cards. Yea, she was asked to shoot this event with Sarah Palin. What was that called Stace? Yup, they called her up personally.”………(See Dad-ism #5). O.M.G. is all I could think as my face began to turn beet red. I was suddenly time-warped back into middle school “Daddddd, you’re embarrassing me!” The waitress listened politely and took my card despite my awkwardness. Not to mention I was not dressed in my “professional” attire  nor was I prepared to “talk business” (we were at breakfast for goodness sake!). Needless to say, I won’t be surprised if she doesn’t call me HOWEVER I am grateful to have a Dad that’s proud of me enough to embarrass me.

We’ve made a lot of progress on the remodel. We’ve finally been able to move back into our bedroom, well sort of. Our dressers and bed are in there, but some of our clothes are hanging out in the Mancave while my Dad’s works on our closet. He’s going to move the hanger poles and add shelving to make it much more functional. You mean I won’t have to keep my shoes in a laundry basket like I did back in college anymore?? YES!  I can’t wait for it to all come together. So after that’s done, we just need to hang a few things on the walls and get some accent pieces. Wheww…so close! We’re still on the hunt for the perfect bedding for my parents room as well as accents but then we’ll be done in there too! And once we’re done with those rooms we can organize the Mancave which is acting as our transitional room at the moment. It’s all coming together friends!

Remodeling on a tight budget can be frustrating at times, but it can also make it more fun. We’ve had to get creative, and find ways to make old pieces look new. Last night during the game while Joe was on his emotional roller coaster , I was finding relaxation in painting our old night stand. It started off as a blonde piece which I painted white last night and then stained today. It turned out really cute and looks totally different than it did before. Now we don’t have to spend money on a new nightstand and we’ve made it our own. Perfection!

Thanks for joining me for another date. It’s always a pleasure! See you next week :) Lots of love-Stacy xoxo

He can barely breathe! P.S. please don’t judge the clutter in the living room at the moment lol.

Victory at last! My mom giving Joe his congratulatory hug :)

Before…

During…

After. :)