I couldn't stop crying.

May 15th- Our trip to Ocean City ended up being sooo great (even if it did rain the entire 2nd day we were there) BUT, our trip didn't start out so great...

Right (and by right, I mean literally moments) before heading out the door for Ocean City I reached into the dryer to grab a couple of things we needed to throw into our bags for the trip and my heart immediately sunk (with a major downpour of tears quickly following) as I saw all the blue ink covering my dryer and all the of the clothes inside of it! I had thrown in a pair of Justin's work pants from on top of our bed to wash along with all the other random stuff that I was quickly trying to finish washing and drying before we left and didn't realize he hadn't emptied out those pants yet... and there was a pen in them... and it exploded/melted with the heat of the dryer...

I was so sad, and mad, and completely frustrated all at once.

These pictures don't even do justice to how bad the ink stains were...

But, we didn't have any time to do anything about the dryer or our clothes right then, so with tears pouring down my face and Keaton telling me over and over and over again, "It's okay mom, everyone makes mistakes!" we all hopped in the car and headed to Ocean City.

Once my crying subsided a tiny bit I immediately called my mom. (Cause who else could I call that could even possibly make me feel better about the situation and possibly have a solution to the huge problem I was facing!) And, of course, it helped a ton- she told me how she had done that before, and worse! (She had gum go through her washer and dryer before! Yikes!) "Ya live and ya learn," she said, and "it seems like everyone has to make this mistake at least once before you start checking all your pockets every time!" She also helped me to think of some solutions to try once we got back home. (Boy, am I lucky to have such a great mom! She is always there when I need her- even when the sky starts falling over such unimportant things like some ruined clothes and a stained dryer!)

May 17th- I spent the day using acetone and rubbing alcohol to get the stains out of both the dryer and our clothes. It was no fun. But, I finally was able to get most of the stains out of our dyer and our clothes.

Goodbye job, project apartment redecoration round 2, and scrub a dub, dub!

This morning I worked my final shift as a phlebotomist at UVRMC. It was surprisingly bitter-sweet. I have really enjoyed my job, it has been such a good and growing experience for me, I have had the opportunity to work with some really great, fun people, and yet, I am so very excited to not have to worry about working "on-call" anymore, AND, the greatest part is I now get to be home with Keaton again ALL THE TIME. :) It's very exciting.

My tray. All stocked up and ready to go. Tubes, needles, syringes, bags, tourniquets, transfer devices, gauze, alcohol wipes, and tape, etc.- the works.

If ya look closely you will see a repeated symbol on many of the products on my tray- BD! Yep, Justin has been an intern for and will soon be a full-time employee at BD Medical, which ironically makes most of the products I have used as a phlebotomist for the past [almost] 8 years (8 years!? Can you believe that? Never thought that would happen- my college job becoming my somewhat "career" for the past 8 years?! Weird. And, a little sad? ish?)!

And, since I was once again up all night my only tactic for staying awake during the day to take care of Keaton was to clean- clean like a mad woman! The perfect sleep deprived activity. Ha, ha. And, I gave our apartment redecoration a 2nd shot. So, after some creative thinking I was able to find a much more realistic set-up for our family room. Don't ya think?

Justin still hasn't seen it yet, but I think he will be pleased. Plus, since we will be having family over the next few days for graduation I thought it was a good idea to have not only a clean apartment, but a normal looking one as well? Ha, ha.

And, well, I normally don't scrub the tub each time I clean, but since there is a good chance Justin's parents will be staying the night with us tomorrow night and using our bathroom to get ready Friday morning, I decided it was high time to do some deeper cleaning in the bathroom. The tub/shower was NASTY. Sadly, and honestly it's the truth.

And, even more sadly, after taking these pictures and uploading them to the computer I have realized that they make the tub look even dirtier than before! (If that is even possible?!) So, out of the irony of how much I scrub-a-dubbed our tub I decided to post these pictures anyway. I was thinking it would be fun to post how proud I was of how clean our tub and shower looked... oh, well! Such is life.

Like always, it feels AMAZING to have a nice, clean home. I LOVE it. (Probably a little too much, actually... Shh, don't tell!)

Anywho... Justin has big graduation events both tomorrow and Friday. Super exciting! I can't say enough how excited and proud I am of my most amazing husband!!!


So, Ani, (probably the only person out there that might actually read this ENTIRE crazy, silly, most likely to most people- incredibly boring post) thank you for being THAT kind of friend. :) And, can we please get together multiple times a week now that I no longer have to worry about work and especially since Justin will be gone for a WHOLE week starting next Friday for the hybrid race car "stuff," pretty please??? I am feeling like I am going to have loads of free time! Oh, and p.s. when is your final theatrical presentation for school? I want sooo badly to be there!




[It's 1 a.m. now. Keaton has been asleep for hours and I am exhausted. AND, Justin is still at the school. Of course. Wow. Wow. Wow. I REALLY need to get some sleep. I think I am going C.R.A.Z.Y.! Will this post even make any sense in the morning? Ha, ha. Goodnight!]  

12 on 12: April

01. One of Keaton's (very few) latest staples- cereal. He mostly eats it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
02. The "thank-you" cards I have been working on for co-workers and friends- my last day of work is on Tuesday, April 17th, and we move in just a little over a month from now. (I guess it is my way of saying good-bye?)
03. My new temporary drivers license. Horrible picture.
04. Cash from the bank. The only way we have money until we get our new debit cards.
05. A fun present for our wonderful babysitter. She has done such a great job watching Keaton! Thanks Aubrey!
06. Another of Keaton's staples- fruit snacks. He would eat the whole box in 2 seconds flat if I would only let him!
07. For Keaton's hair? His scalp is so very dry and I am not sure what to do about it!
08. The spot on our carpet that smells HORRIBLY of throw up! Keaton threw up milk there almost 2 weeks ago and I still can't get the smell out! Justin came home and asked if I was trying sugar to get the smell out. Ha, ha. It's an odor remover carpet cleaner that I left on over night.
09. I love my new wallflower from Bath and Body Works. :) Mmm, it smells sooo good.
10. What I do once Keaton is asleep and while Justin stays at the school till 2 am- get out my purse and my electronics and work on our budget, look at blogs, and make "to-do" lists. :) I know- I'm a fun girl.
11. My ipad! Justin surprised me for Valentine's day. I love, love, love it! I use it ALL. THE. TIME.
12. Oh, and look what I found- chewy, giant Nerds! (I'm hoping they taste the same as the Nerds jelly beans I love so much!) (I'll have to let you know, Ryka!)

P.S. Don't ask what happened to my 12 on 12 for March. I am really not altogether sure. It just didn't happen.

attention to detail = OCD?

(I took these pictures for you, Ani. :) )

There is nothing like starting the New Year off with a nice, spotlessly clean house. And man, our house really needed a good cleaning after being gone for 2 weeks for the holidays! I think we pretty much packed our whole house up to go home to West Point and then we had all our stuff to bring back PLUS all the Christmas presents we were spoiled with. :) So, yesterday I spent ALL DAY LONG unpacking all of our crap and cleaning our apartment from top to bottom.( I also took down all our Christmas decorations and put up our Valentine's Day decorations.) Good thing Keaton is such a content little baby or I wouldn't have been able to accomplish as much as I did. And, good thing Justin is such a patient and loving husband, since after I was done cleaning I left him with Keaton and went grocery shopping and then stayed up till 3 am putting away groceries, doing laundry, packing Justin lunch, setting out cinnamon rolls to raise before breakfast, making hard-boiled eggs, and balancing the checkbook. (What can I say? I was on a roll!)

So, an explanation for these pictures. Back in December, Ani noticed in our Christmas tree pictures that I must have done some rearranging in our house and told me I needed to take some pictures and document our changes to look back on someday, plus, she really wanted to see how we had changed things around. (Sorry I never took any pictures till now, Ani, but better late than never right?)

In the beginning of December we had to buy a new computer. (Justin's laptop gave out on us!) and Justin really wanted the computer to be out in the family room instead of in Keaton's room, which meant we needed to do some major rearranging to make it fit.

I didn't take any pictures of our room, but one of our decorative tables that used to be in the family room now resides in our bedroom. All of our rooms are now pretty much packed to the gills.

We just have accumulated so much in our tiny apartment it is hard to find a place for it all... So this table that I set up in Keaton's room has become "the home to all things that don't have a home."

I think it all has turned out pretty nice, after a good scrub, a trip with a bunch of junk to the DI, and the sweetest baby to keep us company our home is such a happy place.