The Simple Life of a Complicated Wife: 2013

Many many moons ago, or months ago, I promised to post more. I also warned that my promise would most likely be broken in a matter of weeks. Was I right, or was I right? At least I can break my promises with integrity and honesty. Uh huh.

As a full time wife, mother of four, and marketing executive, I have very little time for pleasure. Always doing someone’s laundry, taking care of a sick kid, dropping the other kids off at band practice. There’s just not enough time in the day!

I kid I kid… I don’t have any children, and I hope I never have to say “I’m dropping the kids off at band practice.” No kid of mine will be in the band. Well, if they are daddy will have to go to all the marching band retreats and performances (is that what they give, performances?) while mommy dreams of what her kids could have been, all star football players and cheerleaders. *le sigh*. Actually seeing as Owen and I are both so short – I’m 5’0” and he is 5’8” – we’ve accepted the fact that our children will be jockeys. This is good. This means I can buy pretty dresses and big hats and cheer them on at the ‘track’ while sipping coca-colas out of a bedazzled wine glass.

Oh I was also kidding about being a marketing executive, but who is counting (or noticing or cares or whatever). Moral to this story is that I do not want my kid to be in the band, everything else is fair game, even the science club. Note to self: In order to keep your kid from being geeky do not ever let him or her see one single clip of Star Wars as I’m certain that’s what converts young souls to the ~~dark~~ geeky side.

Let’s get to the subject of this post which is … nothing. I’m just typing as I go. Let’s talk about Chicks man. Ooook I have nothing to say about chicks other than Carrie Underwood is gorgeous and I want to be her. I’ve been watching too much ‘The Soup’. It’s possible.

How about this…’What’s On My Mind’ in bullet point format:

My birthday is in a week from tomorrow. I will be 43!! Holy cow. Okay, I’ll actually be 27 but it feels like 43. I can tell gravity is already pulling ‘the twins’ downward and there’s no turning back. When I put on eyeliner I can see wrinkles near the lash line. THIS IS HORRIBLE. I get headaches all of the time, many times migraines, my joints hurt when I walk more than a few yards… I. AM. FALLING. APART. Actually, I don’t think my joints hurt but felt that would be something a 43 year old would say. I should ask Owen, he’s getting close. He’ll be 36 in April. You know how I know he’s getting old? He’s always asking ME how old HE is. He tells people an assortment of ages when they ask him because he really can’t remember. My little precious old man. I just love him.

What do I want for my birthday? I want some materialistic junk, like most females my age. But honestly, for maybe the first time ever, I’m happy to not receive any gifts. I just want to enjoy the day with Owen. Dude! I really AM getting old. I’m about to throw up, yep, here it comes.

Intermission: While typing this I checked facebook for a breather. On my newsfeed is a picture of my little sister and her boyfriend. She’ll be 22 this summer. She looks like a full grown woman. It still unsettles me to see how grown up she is. I miss her being a young and annoying little girl who always stole the attention away by breaking her arm three or four times (I can’t keep count). Or when I would get sick she would ALWAYS get sick at the same time. It’s a magical power she’s had since birth. She would mess up her bedroom as a toddler with her Mickey Mouse train set and when she was done my mom would call me in to clean it all up. I couldn’t come out until it was done. Looking back, I should have moved out and got my own place at 9 years old. That’s just unacceptable. When she and I had bedrooms across from each other I could hear just about everything she was up to. So when she had maybe two bug bites on her leg, she cried all night screaming that her “bug bites hurt” and I was the one who had to try and help her. Well, I just stood there and told her to shut up. The point to all of this is that it amazes me how she’s gone from a pony tail with a ribbon wearing brace face who was quiet and ditsy (still is – she couldn’t answer who fought in the Vietnam War) to the grown up beautiful woman she is today. I visit Atlanta maybe every 3-4 months and each time I do I feel like she’s matured more. It’s fun to see her change and find herself. I feel like she’s my daughter. She’s not as good looking as me, her mother, but she’s decent. I’m proud of her. Very proud of her.

Back on track…I may have an unhealthy obsession with my dog. I’m also worried about having children one day because they’ll take away from the love I give to Birdie. That’s sad, I know this. She’s my little fur baby. I miss her when I’m gone and when I’m home we snuggle constantly. I let her drink some of my Gatorade and coke sometimes too. Mother. Of. The. Year.

Speaking of mothers, I’m still trying to understand them. Because I’m not an actual mom, it’s interesting and kind of weird watching all of my friends and peers become moms. It’s like an elite club. You can only get into it by knowing the pains of labor and the pains of cleaning a blowout diaper in the middle of the grocery store. I fully understand and recognize the fact that I am not in said club. Due to this I have a hard time understanding why so many moms fill their facebook pages up with updates about their children. It’s like they’ve lost their identity. Everything is “Little Sarah smiled at me today and then spit up down my shirt and ruined my new VS bra. It was so precious.”, or, “I saved the first tissue from Little Bobby’s first nose blowing. Even his boogies are cute!” And I’m sitting over here like “oh come on, no one cares except maybe your own mother, try posting about politics or something thought provoking.” With all that said, and all that I currently don’t understand about moms, I am 110% certain I will be one of those moms one day. I said to Owen the other day “Pleaseeee yell at me if I turn into one of those moms who posts multiple times a day about my baby.” His response? “You already are, have you seen how many pictures you’ve posted of Birdie?” Touché. I look forward to joining that elite club in the future and annoying all non-moms with my posts too. So keep it up moms-of-the-year, more power to ya (although you currently annoy me)!

A few posts ago I told y’all about my desire to start creating wall art. If you know me, you know that when I want something or I want to do something, I do it full force. I’m happy to say I officially have my business up and running of which I’ll tell y’all more about in my next post…

Here are some recent pictures with explanatory captions to accompany them. Who likes blog posts without pictures? Not me.

My parents recently got what I like to call convoluted, which really means con validated, which really means married again (not to be confused with remarried as they've been married for 30 something years) in the Catholic church. I took a video of the whole thing for them to remember forever and ever. Said video includes everything from people saying the Catholic prayers to me getting the "stop it now or you're going in time out" eye from the priest for taking flash photography.

The weekend before I hung out with the Priest, one of my best friends from high school got hitched in Nashville. She's the blonde in the middle back row. It was such a beautiful wedding and great to see her so happy and eager to marry her amazing now-husband Dan.

Yes we are Charlie's Angels and yes we are soooo original. In high school we took a picture together like this and we've carried on the tradition.

Owen is drunk in this picture. That's all.

And here's O-dawg and I before dinner to celebrate Valentine's Day. We ate at the Melting Pot which is a tradition. We eat until we're in pain. It's a good, I'm having a heart attack, kind of pain. Delish. Our friends Dana and David joined us this year and it was a blast. They allowed me to eat most of the cheese fondue and in return I allowed Dana to eat the chocolate fondue with a spoon. BFF status.

As mentioned in a previous post, we recently embarked on the adventure of redoing our master bedroom. By redoing I basically mean we got a king size bed and some matching furniture. I didn't replace the carpets or put in molding or anything crazy. I haven't lost my mind.

Here's our old bedroom lookin' all gorgeous and stuffs (below, but don't scroll too far and ruin the surprise of the new room). To be honest though, I loved that bedding. It was a wedding gift from Owen's parents that we registered for. It's really nice and a damask print; a close second to paisley print in my home decor prints favorites list.

*Tip: Click on the photos to enlarge*

The furniture I believe used to be Owen's parents as well as the double pillow top queen mattress. It was very comfortable but not great for O's back. He is getting old after all. I've seen some gray hairs sprouting. I'm a fan of gray, like the Eric Dane look, salt n' peppa head. O's not quite there yet but one day my friends, one....day. Speaking of gray, I'm a bit perturbed (I know big words, I paid attention in school, sometimes). I do not like how gray can be spelled two ways and there's really no rhyme or reason as to when one should be used over the other. In the apparel World the spelling 'grey' is used most often. I feel like that spelling should be reserved for last name's, not to describe a color. But who am I? Merriam Webster?

Basically everything in this bedroom is/was O's in some shape or form. It didn't really feel like it was 'ours'. Actually, I contributed that sexy fan over there in the corner. Nice touch although it gathers dust and needs to be cleaned often, of which I don't do. A little dust up the nose or in the lungs makes you stronger and more rugged. We bought the bench recently at TJ Maxx for Birdie. She got in the habit of jumping straight off the edge of the bed to the hard ground. I was worried she was going to break a leg or a nail or take a nasty stumble. It took an hour or two to teach her to jump from the foot of the bed to the bench. She eventually caught on and became a pro. Guinness also starting using it to creep onto the bed when mommy wasn't looking. Does anyone know whether or not a dog can cause your face to be oily by laying on your pillow? Owen doesn't think so but I'm beginning to wonder. Or how about when he turns just right before plopping down so that his butt hole is perfectly placed on my pillow where I lay my dainty face. How about then? Does oil come out of a dog's butt?

Exhibit A: Look at those gorgeous 70's white ball light things. Just adorable. They're fun to bang your head on. There's Guinness' dog bed in the left corner. He peed on it once. On the wall you'll find Owen's diplomas for his undergrad and masters at Clemson. What a smart little boy I have. Between those is his weird abstract statue which is kind of cool. I made sure to incorporate it in a our 'remodel' so he could kiss it good night. On the right hand side you'll see my full length mirror. It's probably only 4 ft tall but we're short in our family. It worked. I sat there each morning and did my makeup because that big white ball gave off the best lighting for a perfect makeup application. Oh... there's Bird's trusty bench. It's a keeper.

Exhibit B (said in British accent more like "Eggs-hibit Bayyy"): See that pretty bedspread. So regal and such. Then if you turn your attention to the back middle front top side of the photo you'll see a lovely contraption. It's called a broken down, super glued together, old piece of patooty desk that acts as a TV stand. Next to it is a matching filing cabinet. Before (and even after) I moved in with Owen he had his computer in the bedroom so that he could sleep and work simultaneously (I just spelled that word right on the first try by the way). Eventually he decided it would be best to move his computer downstairs and put a real live TV in our room Hallelujah! Unfortunately the desk and computer didn't leave the room together. Oh well. The DVR box fit perfect in the little sliding drawer where a keyboard usually goes. That made me happy. It's the little things in life.

Eggs-hibit Sayyy (C): Here is our room all cleaned out and ready for the new furniture! It was so spacious. I could make carpet angels (much like snow angels but with more dog hair). What you won't see in the other photos but you see here is our big window/door hybrid with small porch. It overlooks our backyard which is actually very pretty. I like to watch deer and ponder life from that porch, and then slowwwwly creep downstairs and out the basement door to go pet the deer at which point they run away (sad face). Oooh fun fact. When Guinness eats a tampon or dirt or a small child's arm and needs to throw up, we take him out onto that porch. It's easier to clean up that way. Anywho, here you'll also see the pretty new taupe-gray wall with the pendants lights. That wall helped bring a little life to our plain room. Perhaps I'll paint a mural on another wall. Maybe a cat. Or a deer. Or a cat going horseback riding on a deer? Deerback riding?

Now, my little buggy boos, it's time for THE BIG REVEAL. Again, like I said it's just new furniture and a painted wall and some sheets and stuff but all of that sure did make a heck of a difference. I need to see if I can hire my mother-in-law and sister-in-law Christy on contract to install molding and perhaps a tray ceiling, oh and some hardwoods. They're crafty. Have I mentioned how talented Christy is? I can't recall. She literally guts her house, herself, and installs cool new stuff like custom closets and bathrooms. She cuts and drills and glues and sands, the works. All while maintaining perfectly kept long blonde hair and juggling kiddos and a husband who loves home cooked healthy meals. She has a blog where she posts about the updates she does to her home and the crafts she creates. I highly recommend reading it. Your mind will be blown. Go visit Confessions of a Serial Do-It-Yourself.

Without further adieu (this should be spelled uhdo)... I present to you... OUR BEDROOM REDONE & CHANGED & MADE PRETTY!

BAZINGA! I just love it, don't you? If you don't that's not important because you don't have to sleep in it, I do. That right thurrr is a king size bed with lots of space for forward rolls, headstands, and other gymnastic moves. Hey hey now there's Bird's trusty bench looking all cute in its new room. Let's break this down...
The bedding is a down comforter (not alternative, we splurged). I've never had one before and I super love it. The duvet cover and matching shams are from Bed Bath & Beyond and the collection is called Harbor House Lincoln Duvet Set. It's so perfect. I could not find anything I liked so I enlisted the help of my extremely talented interior design friend Paisley of Designs by Paisley. She sent this to me in a text message while I was out shopping and I instantly fell in love. She knows me, well all of her clients, so well. If you need interior design help, give her a call. I cannot rave enough. I also got the sheets from BB&B as well as the additional king sized pillows. So many pillows, so little time to lay on them all!
Isn't the furniture just gorgeous? I can't believe Owen's friend was selling this set. It was fate or destiny or serendipity or a mix of all three.

This pillow may just be my favorite piece in the room. I really wanted a personalized pillow but it had to be feather and not stupid looking. I began my search on regular home decor store websites and then moved over to etsy. After searching through pages of stupid pillows, I came across this not so stupid pillow. It was perfect. The sample on the etsy shop had basic serif font but the girl who made the pillow worked with me and did a script font which worked better with our short last name. Her name is Megan and her shop on etsy is MCompany. I don't see this pillow on her site currently but I'm sure she just hasn't re-listed this style. You can message her directly if you want one of your own. It's made of burlap and would not be comfy to actually lay your head on but it looks good and that's all that matters. Beauty is on the outside after all, am I right ladies? Plus, if your kids misbehave, you can make them sleep with it instead of their normal pillow. That'll teach 'em!

Here's a look at the other side of the bed. That's my side. It's so snuggly and fluffy. On either side of the bed I hung two frames with our monogram in them. I'll probably replace them later but they'll do for now. I, of course, created and printed the monograms myself and can do one for you too! Just say the words and you can have your very own! Stop by my etsy shop CarLynn Creations or my facebook page CarLynn Creations & Design Studio to check out some other pieces I've done recently. I really am having so much fun with my new little creative hobby.
Let's get a little closer to the night stands shall we...

Here's a closeup of one of the pendant lights. It has a cool rustic finish to it. It gives off more of a yellow light which I don't love but I guess I'll deal with it. The second picture is of my beautiful flower arraignment I made all by my self. I'm a big girl now. Those are silk hydrangeas or gardenias, whatever. Then I put in some blue pearlized pebbles and some adorable fake corks I found at Michaels. When in doubt, always go to Michaels. They have the best deals especially on frames. Download their app on your iPhone to have coupons at your fingertips when checking out. They should pay me for this endorsement!

Here's O's night stand. It doesn't always look like this. This is his favorite spot to put lint from his jeans pocket and crumpled up receipts as well as pennies (because who wants pennies? They're like the red headed step child of the US coins). Oh wait a second, wait. a. second. there it is, O's trusty statue. Told you it would be in the new room. Wife of the Year Award? Yep! Check out the gorgeous counter top. It's on all of the furniture. I just love it.

Bird's bench with a pillow, in case she trips and needs to break her fall. Believe it or not she has figured out how to jump over the foot of the sleigh bed, onto the bench, and then onto the ground in one big hop. I don't know if this is safer than just jumping off the side of the bed but oh well. I give up. I also posted this photo because I forgot to get a good one of the new full length mirror. This will have to do. It's a whopping 7 feet tall instead of 4. This means you can stand real up close to it and still see your whole body. Genius.

Andddd here is the other side of the room. Not as exciting but so very pretty and MUCH better than the desk and filing cabinet huh? Again, loooove the counter top. It fit the TV and my pretty pictures perfectly. There's no fun keyboard drawer for the DVR but I'll let that slide.

To finish off the tour here are some miscellaneous pictures I took to really make you fall in love with the details of our new room; including pics of the fur babies...

Oops I almost forgot something really cool. Like many of you, I am signed up to receive LivingSocial and Groupon deals. Back in August maybe there was an awesome deal for custom canvas prints from Fabness.com of which I snapped up. It was like $99 for 3 canvases. Something like that. These aren't crappy canvases either. They're on a real sturdy wood base, not cardboard, and are done exactly as specified. I've seen this same deal a few times since purchasing mine so I recommend being on the look out. I decided to do one wedding picture that spans across all three canvases. The plan was to put them above our bed but once I received them I decided they didn't look right in that location. I'm still looking for their home. I'll take suggestions if you have one! When ordering my canvases I scoured over all the pictures I had of Owen and I and found that this wedding picture would fit perfectly. I didn't want the colors in the photo to be bright like they were originally so I desaturated the photo a bit. I also added a quote that I absolutely adore and truly feel represents how I feel about our marriage. Whoa there, am I getting sappy? He is my honey boo (not to be confused with the chubby little pageant girl honey boo boo). I can't wait to hang my canvases eventually!

Soooo... the question... are you guys in love with our new bedroom? Do you want to move in? Do forward rolls on the bed? Have a slumber party (girls only)? Thought so, but you're not invited.

*Special thanks to Jennifer B. for letting me borrow her nice camera! You're my favorite Jennifer! - for now*

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