Italia

This is my sister Morgan. Being famous on ESPN after a K-State touchdown this past Fall.

In less than two months she will be here...

ROME

Source

and her university is right by the...

Trevi Fountain

 Source

I am sooo excited for her and very jealous. She will have a blast! She will be taking two classes - one of which is a wine tasting/connoisseur class. We are all still trying to convince her that we will fit perfectly in her suitcases.;)

In the meantime, I am content to be going to Italy for two weeks. Let me re-phrase that. I am extremely lucky and blessed to be going to Italy period.

I am a planner, and I have been driving the hubby absolutely crazy with all my planning. I've decided that if teaching ever fails, I would be a darn good travel agent! :) But, I'd also be super sad that I wasn't going with my clients on the actual trip.

Here is a brief run down of our two week Italian vacay this summer... Fly into Rome and spend two days exploring. Take the train to Pisa for the day, and then head to Venice for four days. Next, off to Verona for two days. After that, Cinque Terre (Northwest coast) for three days. Finally, go back to Rome for three days.

I still have a lot more planning to do, but here are four things I know for sure: 

I will walk around Rome commenting on how old it is. Rome is older than Jesus. That is crazy!! I've already commented about 50 times on this. The hubby says I'm weird.

In Venice we will see them..and it will be amazing!

 M and the bf Diego at a recent DU date party

I will be a very nerdy teacher in Verona and take a ton of pictures and buy a ton of souvenirs so next year I can show my students Juliet's (fake) balcony and tell them all about the setting for Romeo and Juliet.

And lastly, Cinque Terre will be beautiful.

This is Vernazza where we will stay one of the nights.  Source 

Until then, I will be planning away. And practicing my Italian. Ciao bella!

Living Room

I have yet to blog much on house updates, so I thought the living room was a good place to start. This room was probably the most difficult for me to decorate. It has gone through several furniture arrangements, a new wall of paint, and a transition from country style to a more modern traditional look with blues and chocolate browns. It is also pretty formal, but I'm sure that will change in the next few years once there's babies crawling around. :) I'll let the pictures do the talking...

  

Before (view from top of stairs)

 

High gloss and flat paint stripes on accent wall                                                              

in transition...

and today...

 

We do still need to buy a TV stand once the hubby wires the cable upstairs..

One thing I've definitely learned is that it takes time to decorate and get each room to where it's really you and you love it. Although, I have heard from many, you are really never done decorating and updating your home. And once you are, you move. :)

Shakespeare

I love this!

http://www.google.com/images

Spring Has Sprung

Spring is officially here - Spring break was last week, flowers are blooming, the flip flops have come out - and it looks and feels great! Yesterday I decided to scope out the backyard to see what was going on out there...

 I had helpers, duh. 
 

It's hard to tell, but on the fence right under that tree is a little squirrel that barely escaped with his life. Daring little thing ran from our tree in the middle of the yard and jumped up on the fence with two Beagles at his little heels.

 "Darn! We missed him!"

This picture is very ugly. But I kinda love it. With death comes new life. Kind of like the story of Jesus. It is so fitting that Easter happens during the Spring.

Here is my next project once the weather warms up a bit more and we are in the clear of snow and frost. (Can you spot the Beagle tail?)

This deck (and patio area below) needs some serious TLC. Look at the poor dead plant that got left out all winter.)

I decided on this project while we did a little sun soaking over break... 
(Love this picture - Gert hopped up on my lap and Gid was right in the background.)

This morning when I got to work I got a text from the hubby saying a bird had been tapping on our front storm door. When I pulled into the driveway this afternoon I saw a Robin on our porch. As I'm typing this I hear a "tap, tap" every so often. What does this mean? Is the bird trying to kill himself?? He's obviously been going at it all day... Unfortunately we are all too familiar with birds. They are the only thing I don't like about Spring. Why? Because they torment my Beagles and then my Beagles (hunting dogs - duh Lauren!) kill them. And then sometimes eat them. And it's always when the hubby is gone. I don't do well with dead birds.

Speaking of birds, here is a mini project I took on over Spring break. We have a very narrow walkway from the top of the stairs into the living room and needed something small to go along the wall. We used to have the bookcase there, but when we got our new couch we needed more balance on the couch wall. I am a little obsessed with this skinny table - love the iron because it matches a piece in my entryway. It is so me! Blues, greens, Paris, books (on London and France) and I love, love, love the ceramic birds.

I blame the ceramic birds on my obsession with Young House Love.

Here's to an amazing Spring and zero dead birds! 

*Update on the bird tapping on the door...

I did some research (ie I called my mom) and apparently the Robin is probably a male who is seeing his reflection in our glass door and is protecting his family that has a nest nearby. Poor guy.

Happy Birthday!

Happy 3rd Birthday to my beautiful, loving, loud mouthed, sometimes naughty, wonderful, furry babies! 

April 21, 2008 (the day we got the girls)

March 5, 2011

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*I realize I am a bit obsessed. However, I have no children, and they are good practice. :)

**I also realize I'm kind of a bad mom. Their birthday was March 5. Like I said, they're good practice.