they call me crafty pants...

let me give you a little insight on our house. we are renting this old lake house just about a block away from the home i grew up in. it's 4 bedrooms, an office and it has an AMAZING 3 seasons room with a view of the lake. when you live in an old lake house on the island here are some things to expect...
1. Your house will have a TERRIBLE foundation. Unless your house has been built in the last 8 years on the island...your foundation will be AWFUL. My parent's house is so bad that a part of their wall is falling away. NOT KIDDING. Our house isn't losing a wall but our entire house leans downhill to the right.
2. Your house will have very OLD windows. Some of our windows have been replaced BUT the outsides are all original and ALL bluish green...and i'm fairly sure...laced with lead.
3. Your house will have random cracks in the walls. Oh yes, applicable to us and definitely has to do with the foundation.
4. At least one of your doors will not shut properly...actually...one of our doors shut properly...OH and that's it.
5. Your house will have inexplicable charm...which ours TOTALLY does.

Now, since we're in a rental property I can't bring myself to paint. I DO want to paint our kitchen cabinets but that will have to wait until April...and i think that's all I'll be able to do UNLESS we get a bundle of joy between now and when we move... I'll paint the babays room:). So needless to say... I try and spruce things up here and there cheaply. What I'm about to tell you isn't to brag, but only to encourage you that IT CAN BE DONE!:) Our living room is almost COMPLETELY decorated and I've only spent 20 bucks...are you ready to have your mind blown...When we moved into this house the only thing we had for our living room was a shelf for our DVD's and...a chair. That's it. We now have... a coffee table, a console table, a love seat, a couch, a tv, a tv stand, 7 picture frames, and 3 posters. Holy. Moses. The only things I purchased were a few picture frames and 2 posters (which amounted to 19 bucks)...everything else was given to us. I keep trying to spruce things up in little ways and tonight I made a valentine's bunting and I'm in the process of making a few birds for our dining room. I LOVE finding new little crafts to try out. Oh man, i have to go to bed... I'm EXHAUSTED. Hope you enjoy the pic:)

hello, i'm a liberal.

just took a quiz online to find out what i would be classified as if i actually cared about being politically active (since I'm politically apathetic) and low and behold.
I'm a liberal...and not just a little bit of a liberal...like...a SUPER liberal. is it terrible to say I'm not shocked at all??

I guess all my SUPER conservative friends would be shocked to find that out.

i get to see these 2 in 11 days...ELEVEN!! I may be the most excited ever... so excited in fact that i FORGOT my birthday was a week from today. Holy crap... I'm going to be 26.

ICE DAY!!:)

I was so thankful to be off work today. I mean I'm not 100% for sure and feeling like my insides want to be on my outsides today makes me even MORE excited I could lay around for 45 minutes. I was able to do SO much which was awe-some.

I took down the christmas decorations. ANNNnnddd...it's the 20th of January...I think that's a new record for me. BUT everything is down and put away. After all the decorations were down and all the furniture and lighting was rearranged i started to realize that...ummmm...i need to do some work. Seeing as steve and I moved in here at the beginning of December and I made sure to unpack Christmas stuff I think the 3rd day we were in I hadn't seen the house WITHOUT the decorations and here's my conclusion.
1. Something HAS to happen with our staircase. It's really narrow and the railing slats are all uneven (the house is SUPER old and the banister is rather umm...loose?) so I have to figure out what to do there. We did have garland wrapped around it and some ribbon. I think I might put flowers along there or...paint it?
2. I need a few more things to hang in the house...I can see 4 areas that need something hung on them right now. I think I have an idea for one of them but I need a few other things and I can't figure out what else to put up on the walls.
3. I want to paint the cabinets in the kitchen...white. With black antique looking hardware. We could actually just keep the hardware we have on them now but I do want to paint them white. Steve says he think we'll have to sand them and then primer and THEN paint them. I think we MIGHT be able to get away without sanding them. I want to paint a LOT in the house but since we're just renting I've told myself no I may not.
4. I need some better throw pillows. I think I'm going to make some. I would LOVE to have cute ones that i could just buy at the store but with Cash being shedy mcshederson i don't think I can justify it. So I'm looking for cute fun pillows I can make. Now that the sewing machine is working again (THANKS GRANDMA WANDA!!!) i am going to sew to my hears content.

I think that's it for the downstairs...I haven't even begun to tackle the upstairs... which I will not until we have imminent house guests.:) Alright, must go to bed.

OH, I just dyed my hair...pictures tomorrow.

Adult ADD or incredible Multi-Tasker...

I am currently...
Doing the Laundry
Writing an E-mail
Blogging
Listening to the music steve wrote tonight and writing lyrics to it in my head
Downloading the newest version of itunes
catching up on some of my favorite bloggers
thinking about the G's christmas card for NEXT YEAR
text messaging my hubs and my bestie
eating goldfish crackers
and drinking a mountain dew.

I am really doing ALL of those things. (i have the e-mail up and I'm adding to it as things pop into my head)

incredible.

they call us the planners:)

Mel (one of my BESTIES!) and I get to see one another in 17 days...that's right... 17. I haven't seen Mel face to face since her BEAUTIFUL wedding day in June (when Steve and I were on OUR honeymoon) and I MISS HER! I think it's definitely going to have to be a once every 6 months visit. It's also super convenient because she just happens to live with AND be married to one of my oldest and dearest friends who's birthday is a day after mine. To celebrate this wonderful occasion of aaron finally reaching his "late twenties"...I'm off to visit them. The ONLY bummer of the thing is that Steve isn't coming with me...we have to have someone here to run the studio and take care of our pup. He's excited for me to go but I'm going to miss the crap out of him (because i LITERALLY haven't spent more than 24 hours without SEEING him since the beginning of October of 2008...) I know...that's crazy. It will be good for us I'm sure.

Mel and I are both planners it's in our nature to make lists and plan ahead down to every detail (i think that's one of the reasons why i love her.)... here are some things on our list...

Go to "the city" and see...
The Mission
Paxton Gate
Japantown and specifically I've asked her to come see New People with me
The Filmore:)
The Legion of Honor
AND I might beg her to get some sourdough:)

Hang in Cotati and visit...
THE HUB!:) of course
the hippie bread place
in n out...all.the.time.
RYAN AND CHRIS!!!:) It's been SO long since I've seen them:)
Kunde Winery
Anywhere scenic
I'M SURE, Mel's family...yippee skipee
Bomb sushi place
Bomb burrito place

things I will do...
cook aaron and mel a meal
take a CRAP ton of pictures
buy a cool hat
find something neat for Steve
spend as MUCH time as I can with Mel and Aaron
sing happy birthday to my friend
go on a bridge

So. So. SOOOO excited...OH and i printed off numbers and addresses of things I wanted to see in Cotati, yes... I'm THAT much of a planner:)

my modeling debut...

So, when I was in highschool a few of my girlfriends and I who had a flare for the dramatic (we were THESPIANS!!) would borrow a camera and shoot a model tape where I would speak in a bored posh british voice all quiet and whispy "i'm a model" and then i would explain how fabulous my life was as a model. like many girls i've watched america's next top model and listened to the advice(model h to t and smile with your eyes! push your back out, take your chin to me) but to ACTUALLY put that into motion... not.so.easy.

When Jamie asked me to help her I was HONORED! Of course I would love to help you out. In my little naive brain I'm thinking... "it will just be normal and regular girls... not... MODELS..." i was wrong. It was me...and 2 ACTUAL models.Baha, I mean everyone says... "you should feel FLATTERED!!" I do and yet, i also feel like i was TOTALLY out of my league...I was nervous going INTO the shoot when I thought it was people like me (NOT MODELS!) I will say they were REALLY sweet and I was the only vapid narcissist:)

As promised...I'm adding the rest of the pictures from my shoot...if you'd LOVE to see the ones of me and the REAL models:) You can visit Miss Marah's page (weird fact: Marah and I met 5 years ago working together at....can you guess???... a daycare center...we taught the 3 year olds...and now she's a photographer and I'm a music guru?... obviously childcare is not our calling:) Here are the one's I took on Sarah's camera. She was so sweet to let me borrow her camera (i may have unintentionally pulled out my crappy cell phone to take pictures... i think she felt bad...) and then she went the extra mile and posted them on her facebook.

i absolutely LOVE detailed tiles, also LOVE exposed pipes... I know I'm a weirdo.



here's Jamie doing make-up:) she's precious!



Back up to the 3rd floor!
Here's another shot of the wall and the windows (yep, i'm singing that song in my head now too;).



Here's one of my favorite details...this was the crown molding...CROWN MOLDING... they don't make it like this anymore. OH, and this is tin painted to look like copper and painted over with white. Some of the white was off of the top tiles and holy amazing. I would say whoever remodels should KEEP the tiles and have them SANDBLASTED (not powerwashed as someone ELSE suggested...they would RUST...they're tin:) so they could be restored to the tin...even painted with the copper again.



Shot this from the back room to the front room...OH, all the rooms I shot through had working fireplaces in them. I wondered if I might be able to get away without anyone noticing and just secretly move in. I did have my wedding dress... I could have just acted like a scary ghost?!



So when Steve and I got married and talked about our dream houses one thing that I dream of on almost a daily basis is having my own fireplace... I DON'T EVEN CARE IF IT WORKS!! I just want a fireplace... i love them. I will take...this one.



There you have it. I became a model (something I have been practicing since high school). I am unsure if this was ever seriously on my bucket list but someday, many years from now, I can tell my children that in fact there mother was indeed a model and a rock star. Is it just me or do I sound like an AWESOME person on paper?!?;)
-k

Let's get serious...

Tonight while I was getting ready for church I began to think about writing this blog entry... anyone who knows me at all (and let's be honest...the only people READING this blog are people who know me) will probably understand that this is coming from a place of reflection and not anger or bitterness or judgment. That is a fine line for me to tread on this subject because for SO long I was angry and bitter and judgmental. This story began long ago and while I'm not affected by it every day (or rather, I do not LET it affect me everyday) that angry, bitter, judgey place rears it's ugly head.

Around this time 5 years ago I was dropping the bomb on everyone that I. Was. Pregnant. Which would be fine except that I was not married, the babies' father and I had split up months ago, i had no job, and for so long had been the conservative christian poster child. I didn't drink (lie), I didn't smoke (also a lie), I didn't have promiscuous sex (oh, wait...knocked up)...I lead a young girl's bible study (true), I lead the singing in my church (also true), and I had just taken a semester off from my Christian college to figure out WHAT i was going to major in (oh, yes...also true). I KNEW what would happen if I carried this baby to term. obviously i couldn't be cut out of the circles i had grown so accustom to living a lie in... i would just continue that lie and terminate the baby. now, i know some of you are reading this and your jaws are dropping...guess what, I was that person too. Who would EVER kill a BABY?!? Well, when you don't see it as a baby and you don't see ANY other options you start to think that it's just another lie you can add to the NUMEROUS other lies you've been hiding in your life. UNTIL... i met maya.

Maya is now a first grader and when I met maya she was a 5 month old with RSV. Her desperate grandmother had asked if i could watch her while she went to work since she couldn't send her to pre-school with RSV. I agreed cause i needed the extra cash and after spending a day with Maya I realized that "holy crap, I'm going to have one of THESE in a YEAR!" and my mom made the now infamous remark when she saw me holding Maya "oh my gosh Karyn, you look like a mom". After realizing the "thing" in me was an actual BABY my entire perspective changed. I knew I couldn't raise a child, I could barely raise myself and so I decided I was going to give the baby up for adoption since she had never really felt like mine.

My parent's ended up finding out I was pregnant IN A TEXT MESSAGE to my ex-boyfriend. OH! and it had a few grand appearances by the "f-word". Whoopsies. My dad asked if it was true, I said yep and then began the agonizing 2 hour long conversation of answering every question they had. I mean, my parent's are absolutely amazing people... don't get me wrong. When I told them I wanted to give the baby up for adoption they were supportive and said it was my decision. From there on out I was having to tell everyone I knew (most of my friends were SUPER conservative since most were from college and church...). Some people were REALLY amazing...but there were others...

From the time I started telling people (5 months into my pregnancy) that i was pregnant it felt like an onslaught of horrible choices made by other people. I expected people to say, "oh wow, we're so surprised, what are your plans?, how can we help?, and even... we're disappointed in your choice to have sex outside of marriage (which by that time I had been doing that for 6 years) but here are some of the ones that I got instead: "How could you?" "How long have you been sexually active"- This asked by my pastor... "Do you know how bad this makes us look?" or statements like "I'm not surprised", "You need to get up and apologize in front of the entire church", "You can't give this baby up for adoption", "You should have had an abortion"...

These questions and statements above are just a few of the questions and statements said by LEADERS in the church. For some of you, that just blew your minds and some of you are thinking...and??

After I had Kait and she was adopted by an AMAZING family that I am thankful for every single day of my life. I became really REALLY depressed. Like... I didn't care about living, i just wanted to cry, and drink, and take ambien. I started to replay every single thing that had been said to me and said ABOUT me. I BELIEVED all these things and I started to think... if these are the people who are christians...who are CHRIST FOLLOWERS...if these are the people who are supposed to be Jesus... I want NOTHING to do with them OR him. I slowly came out of my depression but that thought and those feelings of doubt remained and quite honestly, looking back on it now... I don't blame me. I didn't know WHO jesus was, all my life I had seen him as this judgmental badger face who Smote the sinners and gave the good kids crowns and fluffy sheep. Now all he was to me were people who hated me...not "the sin" sorry all you people out there who thought talking behind my back and saying hateful things was hating "the sin" it really was hating me.

But slowly, surely...God brought people around me who showed me who Jesus really was. My parents who held me in the dark of a hospital room as i lost my mind at the thought of giving away MY baby, My dear friend Jalaina who spent the night with me and held my hand and reassured me the day Kaity was adopted, My precious friend Aaron who spoke to me honestly and spoke of a greater love than one that i had for myself a love that defied understanding and logic, the Bruners, The Behny's, The Yeh's, Nadine, Jo Faulkner who told me it was time to stop punishing myself, My sweet husband who at the time was just my friend who sat on the back porch with me and held me tight in the kitchen of his home as i broke down sobbing and helped me learn what it meant to love myself again before he EVER asked me on a date, and Miss Mac who sat across the table from me at an applebees and uttered these words "don't take everything that other people say as truth, because some of it's not."

Jesus commands us to love Him and to love others. Pretty simple eh? Yet somehow, the mark was completely missed in my situation by those who He commanded (well, some of those). For SO long I let those people who had said those hurtful things in the name of the Lord keep me away from the real Jesus. I blamed my absence from the presence of the Lord on them because...that was easier. I had someone to point the finger to. I had someone to be angry at and then that anger turned into bitterness and my soul was consumed. I couldn't sit through church, I couldn't sing worship songs, I couldn't bring myself to be around those who hurt me. This summer God began tugging on my heart. He began to soften my heart to those had hurt me...for no reason other than I begun to realize my bitterness and hatred and anger hadn't affected those who I had been bitter and angry and had hated...nope, it only affected me and my walk with God. I began to do PAINFUL things to break through the chains that had held me for so long. Things that when I told my parents or steve i was doing they asked me "umm, are you SURE you want to do that??" I started praying for those I had been SO angry with asking God to bless them and to turn their hearts towards Him. What has followed has been an INCREDIBLY strange set of circumstances...

I am no longer bitter... my heart has DEFINITELY been softened. There are some days when the anger hits but it no longer consumes me and when it does I have to test and approve what I'm saying or thinking. I am doing my best not to count my hurt against those who hurt me...which is some days...harder than it seems.I am once again going to church. With a church family i love. I can't stress that enough...i LOVE them.

I know this has been SUPER long but I had just been thinking about it on my way into church today and wanted to get it all out:)

people who look like people... 3

THIS one has been a long time coming... I'm going to apologize openly to my dear friend aaron because he really LOVES [read: hates] attention being drawn to him for his famous doppelganger but he's always been a good sport about it. this is SO accurate that someone who was friend of the Stiller family stopped him in an airport and told him he looked like a "young ben"...(I'm pretty sure that's how the story went). for many years (10 to be exact...) i have thought this and NOW you can too. This is dedicated to him, his LOVELY wife (bestie!), to their 44 mile bike race this coming weekend, and of course to my February visit to them.

Here's Ben...



and here's aaron...




SHOCKING!

Bear Down...

I think my husband has said this phrase 6 times in the last 2 minutes that I talked to him. He was at the store randomly talking to OTHER Bear's fans while on the phone with me saying "Bear Down" and he said it to me on the phone at least 3 times. I don't think he's excited about this game at ALL...He's gone to the store to buy "snacks" for the game and let me just say... the dude's gone overboard. If you don't know what "bear down" means it's something that Bear's fans say to other Bear's fans... like how Penn State fans say "We Are..." to another fan and the other fan replies "Penn State". Don't worry, these probably aren't common phrases but I live in boy world... With a husband, a father, and 2 brothers who LOVE football more than they can possibly explain...so it's either join in or get COMPLETELY left out from Thursday-Monday of regular season play. I'll leave you with the Bear's song they play after every touch down and you are judged if you do NOT sing along...
Bear down, Chicago Bears, make every play clear the way to victory;
Bear down, Chicago Bears, put up a fight with a might so fearlessly.
We'll never forget the way you thrilled the nation with your T-formation.
Bear down, Chicago Bears, and let them know why you're wearing the crown.
You're the pride and joy of Illinois, Chicago Bears, bear down.

i'm in love...

today i helped out a friend by letting her use my face for make-up and then throwing on my big puffy wedding gown again and letting people take pictures of me (i'll try and get you a link on Monday when Marah finishes them). We met at this AMAZING building and after my shoot i decided to poke around a bit. I asked Sarah (the girl who did our hair) if I could look around and she said... "OH! You have to see the 3rd floor"... Me: WHHHaaaa?!? There's a 3rd floor?!?... and was there EVER a third floor! It. Was. Amazing. Sarah had actually looked into buying the building and when I asked her about it she told me that there's asbestos in the ceiling AND the paint that was amazing and chipping was...LEAD! So to buy it would be REALLY reasonable... to bring it up to code though would be DOUBLE the money (at LEAST). yipes, so my momentary dreams of purchasing the building were hopelessly dashed. BUT the guy who owns it is REALLY cool and let's people use the building for photo shoots and I'm going to contact him to buy some of the stuff he has laying around (buy[read:beg for]it). I have a few more pictures coming but I'll put up the ones I have now:):):)

i get crazy...

ideas...
like this...

I'm going to start re-purposing old pianos. that's right. here's the deal. We have a very VERY dear friend who happens to own a furniture store, and has a truck with a tommy gate/lift (not sure of the correct term) basically a fair ride for grown-ups and it also means you do NOT have to lift a piano onto a truck or into a van or whatever. it's a blessing. owning a music studio you come to realize just how many pianos/organs are given away EVERY DAY. some of them are completely playable while some are pieces of poop. I'm going to be looking for the piece of poop ones. Here are some things you can do with a piano...

Rip out the insides, make a fun decorative piece
Rip out the insides, make a hutch
Rip out the insides (this is sounding gruesome) and make a tv cabinet
Take out the keyboard and make things with them i have some delightful ideas as of right now...still expanding
Do stuff with the insides
Take the panels, saw, repurpose to a coffee table, OR a console table.

Seriously, I'm a plethora of great ideas. I've found 4 pianos so far. Awe.Some.

SUCCESS!!

So today I had my dear friend Annie over for lunch. She brought her little girl Sadie over as well which is always an added bonus for me since ya know, me and the 3 year olds get along QUITE fine. It was Cash's first experience with having a little person around and I was a BIT nervous to see how he'd do since, as a puppy, he enjoys jumping, leaping, licking and shedding all over the place. he. was. awesome. He did jump on Sadie BUT even when she was pulling at him or sticking her hands in his mouth he didn't BITE!:)I was SUPER happy since I was REALLY nervous about how he'd do. AND after last night's potty fiasco (peed in the house...TWICE in about an hour with a trip outside...) he did GREAT. Waited to potty for 3 hours. And now I guess the good behavior has ended because he found a pair of underpants and is chewing them as fast as he can. Ah, the joys of puppydom. I just had to share all of his AWESOMEness today. So proud:)

Also, I may start referring to string cheese as "skring cheese" since that's what Sadie kept saying and I thought my heart was going to melt into a big giant puddle.

these are a few of my favorite things...

It's friday...and we're in for a BUSY weekend. Let's see... Tonight's Cab Company, Tomorrow's a show, and Sunday's church...I'm tired just thinking about it. BUT to make me excited and geared up for the busy weekend... I'm making a list of a few of my favorite things...

i love red, orange, and yellow peppers... BUT i didn't know I liked them until i was 21. i eat them frequently to make up for all that lost time.


cheesecake factory cheesecake...SERIOUSLY...if one was closer than...ummm CHICAGO??!! I would eat there pretty much weekly and weigh 1000 lbs. Biaggi's in fort wayne serves cheesecake factory cheesecake...and yes, I didn't work there for nothing...see all the useful information i possess??



alright, this is one of my new favorite things... bluntcards. seriously, they're SO funny...and inappropriate... many many times... it's actually what i would WANT to say but i don't.



umm, so before we got Cash we looked for a few months to find one of these buddies but couldn't afford spending 800!!!! Dollars on one...so we opted for the 50 dollar puppy and he's great I would not trade him...but some day...someday i want a big boy like this...and i want to name him buckley



if you know me...you know he's one of my favorite things...i love his music, i love his lyrics, i love watching him live (because he's amazing), and i love his sense of humor. what a super cool musician and guy. dear ben, please take us on tour with you. thanks.



here's my favorite guilty pleasure... haha. oh the kardashians. this is their CHRISTMAS card...I've decided steve and i will send one out like this next year. you're welcome friends, family and SOCIETY! seriously though, guilty pleasure. also, i have a girl i went to high school with that works with them. it makes me happy. (and as many people that think scott is a d-bag [which i TOTALLY think] i hear he's not...)



ever seen the commercial for the "swagger wagon"?? if not check it here... and then prepare to pee a little. i've wanted a sienna ever since JUST because i can see Steve and I being these parents...don't like...you can too.



my cannon rebel...i literally can not WAIT to get one. steve was getting me one for christmas but we moved the house, the studio and one of our customers stole close to 2000 dollars from us...we couldn't afford it. BUT I'm learning to be patient and to not do things on my time. le sigh, i've waited for it for 5 years...what a little bit more:). HOPEFULLY i can get one by the 4th of July!:)

People who look like people...deux.

Whilst watching "That Thing You Do" with my husband tonight after about 5 minutes of it being on I looked at Steve and said... "Hey, does Steve Zahn TOTALLY remind you of Matt Hoskins right now?!" To which Steve replied "yeah, kind of"... which was proceeded about 5 minutes later with... "CRAP, now all i can see is matt!!" Haha, and the game of people who look like people continues!! If you know Matt at all you will know this is more along the lines of their senses of humor and their timing being more similar than looks...but still...



Then...while looking up pictures of Matt and Steve Z I started noticing ANOTHER celeb he looked like...while in personality they don't really remind me of one another... but in look...i guess SO! Well done Matt, you look like MANY famous people.



And here's Matt and his LOVELY wife Leah (not only is she gorgeous she's SUPER artsy too, creativeness is next to sexiness in my book [wink!])



it's just uncanny i tell ya!

fueled by soy...and an insatiable love for new tunes.

So...i LOVE new music. I used to get a lot more of it when i had 2 jobs (one that was rather lucrative) and i could blow my money on whatever i wanted...ahhh, those were the days...ya know, the days before i was a boring married lady who owns her own business and wants to start ANOTHER small business?? Yes, the lady with no money... that's who i am now. But every year for Christmas and my Birthday (and sometimes even for anniversaries!!) i get an itunes gift card and it's new music central for a whole 15 songs. YIPPEE! Here's a list of 15 songs YOU should be listening to. ps, I did say 25 but pussed out at the end because it's 2am and my Melatonin is FINALLY starting to kick in.


1. Poison and Wine- The Civil Wars: This song...ugh...absolute deliciousness. To enhance the listening experience of this song...seriously, watch the music video on youtube. It will make you want to go and make-out with your significant other. promise.

2. Girl in the War-Josh Ritter: If you have been around me and my ipod or my computer in the past 3 weeks you will have already heard this song...because i make everyone listen to it... yes, against people's wills... it's music, if you don't want to listen to it... you probably shouldn't hang around me.

3. White Blank Page- Mumford & Sons: love the sincerity of his voice. just sounds SO earnest. love the build up in this song...and the banjo.

4. Cosmic Love- Florence and the Machine: Alright, honest moment...i LOVE them recorded... i can't listen to them live. It's terrible. I mean i have actually TURNED OFF the tv after listening for a bit. I mean, wonderful performer... not great with actually being on pitch. So while I may NEVER go see them live...I will definitely continue to buy her recorded music...cause it's bomb.

5. Belong- Cary Brothers- Oh hey, haven't ripped my heart out in awhile...guess i'll listen to this song...oh.my. definitely the definition of making you want to smile and cry at the same moment.

6. Head or Your Heart- Mat Kearney: Wow, i love this guy. And the starting lyric is "baby choose one your head or your heart..." phew... come on now mat. I also REALLY like the guitar tones used in the guitar solo. I had a LONG discussion with Steve about it tonight. Apparently it's got a clean boost, played in the middle pick-up, with an analog delay just a second behind the original note and the reverb cranked... see how smart i am??!?

7. I'm a Criminal- Paul Reddick and the Sidemen: Canadian classic. Also, wanna feel like a total bad ass...hello, just turn on this baby. Sometimes when i listen to this song i feel like i should be walking out of a bank vault with just a brick of cash in one hand, a bottle of cheap whiskey in the other, and a cig in my mouth...ta dah indeed.

8. Hurricane Waters- Citizen Cope: I truly try to reserve mr. greenwood for the first warm days of summer when you can legitimately drink a corona without looking like a total douchelord. BUT this song seems to transcend the wintery mix coming down outside right now and makes me cozy and warm from the inside. i guess i better remove my snuggie right now...

9. Snow (hey oh)- RHCP: Of COURSE you should listen to this song... first of all... you really can NOT go wrong with RHCP and also, i try to listen to this song when it's freaking COLD outside...it makes me feel better.

10. Joker and the Theif- Wolfmother: See #7 when i told you to listen to this and feel like a BAMF (Samuel L Jackson style??) this song also applies...like as soon as that distorted electric pops in on that quarter note beat...shoot...i better go paint my fingernails black...and learn to play some kickass drums so i can play this song.

11. Skinny Love- Bon Iver: mmmm... this makes me want to live in the hills of Tennessee or in some dirty town in Alabama and not wash my feet and listen to this on a porch coming out of some old victrola...i've painted you a word picture...you're most welcome.

12. Desire- Ryan Adams: This song makes me want to play the mouth organ. period.

13. All of my days- Alexi Murdoch- Best song to end a mix cd with...just sayin.

14."F" You- Cee-Lo Green: I'm basically in love with large black men in general. I am also in love with black men with crazy amazing voices. I am also in love with people who use the "F" word too frequently... shockingly...i love this song...

15. People Get Ready- Joss Stone and Jeff Beck: LOOOOOVVVVVEEE Joss Stone, I basically love anyone british who sings...yes, shut it, even amy winehouse. I heard this song over the summer and it just blows me away. I'm fairly sure she's high when she's singing it in the video but Jeff Beck plays this little riff that gets stuck in my head for DAYS and best of all...his bass player is a girl...and Mel, I think she should be Trey's next girlfriend.

pukey puppy...

poor guy...
he's been sick all day. here's what we think...

Karyn: I think he's just sickie. He's been a little sluggish since yesterday and this morning i looked up at him and was greeted with a puke. neat. this afternoon he has slowly been eating his food and drinking water. and then about 15 minutes ago he threw up EVERYTHING he's eaten all day. i am completely unsure about HOW he got all of that out of him.

Steve: He's eaten some kind of material...it's making him sick.

Karyn: alright, i think steve's probably right...

hope our guy feels better soon.

Here's little red snuggie hood...

Bucket List...

I was thinking about this tonight and started pondering over some things that are on my bucket list...decided to list a few


1. Get Married- Done, to my best friend in the whole wide world. What a lucky lucky girl i am

2. Travel, alone and with my family- This has been accomplished for the most part with myself BUT i would love to travel more with Steve and our future kidlets. Here are some places I would like to go/return to... Ireland, Scotland, London England (again), Italy (rome, venice, triste), Egypt, France, Belgium, The Philippines 100 islands (again), Kitty Hawk, NC , The DELMARVA penninsula, Florida with my hubs, and NYC

3. Along the same lines I want to visit really epic places ie: The Easter Island Heads, The salt fields, Angor Wat, Alaska, Mt. Ranier (DONE IT!!), and Stonehenge (specifically to sing the song from Spinal Tap)

4. Have a few babies with Steve- In the process of making them!:) yep, all about too much information here folks

5, Go on a television program- I would like to be in the audience for these shows... The Colbert Report, Chelsea Lately, and Oprah's favorite things show (too late for that one i fear), and Ellen... Secretly, i have always wanted to actually be a guest on The Colbert Report...which is why i keep asking santa and God for better song writing abilities...

6. Finish my book- That's right...no one may ever read it...but i'm writing it down.

7. Stick my toes into two different oceans within 24 hours: I've actually accomplished this... TWICE already. South China Sea and the Pacific (still counts) and the Atlantic and the Pacific. BOTH within a 24 period...rock.

8. Have an unusual pet- Always wanted a vietnamese pot bellied pig.

9. Eat at Morimoto's Restaurant

10. Hug famous people- So far... I've hugged Reba McEntire and shook Gary Sinese's hand.. in my defense...I met Gary on a plane.

11. Own my own business- HELLOOOO, doing it.

12. Say important and influential things

13. Lose Weight

14. Learn as MUCH about places that i visit as I can and TRULY appreciate all the historical places my mother showed me as a child

15. Play as MANY musical instruments as I can and play most of them somewhat decently:)

All I can think of for now...sure I'll add more later:) What's something on YOUR bucket list??

The Dog...

This is my baby...i know he probably looks different than the pink and squishy ones you're all used to but my baby nonetheless. Steve and I got him right before Halloween and he's amazing. Cash is my first dog...ever. Actually...I think I may be able to classify him as my first pet. I mean I had a goldfish once...that was killed by my brother. I had a hermit crab that lived for an unbelievable 6 years (even though I'm fairly sure I only fed him...7 times in the 3 years I had him and I'm certain that my little brother fed him 2 times in the following years and then I had my bunny french toast that I snuck into my parent's house when I was 22... that's right...I had to SNEAK an animal into the house when I was 22. So I think it's safe to say... Cash is my first actual pet.

Here are a few fun facts about my Cash.

-It's possible that he's confused on his own name. Here are some names we call him: Cash, Casher, Casher-Bear, Bear, Boo-Bear, Boo, Bubby, BoBo, and Bohby. More often than not I only call him Cash when he's running off to the neighbors house or when I need him to come to where i am.

-He's never really bitten me...(only on accident) when he "fights" he just opens his mouth...never closes it...just opens it.

-He's not comfortable with linoleum. He's fine on our kitchen floor and on my parent's (could be because it's covered in papers...) but even now he's still a little unsure anywhere else. When we first brought him home he wouldn't eat since his bowl was in the kitchen on the linoleum.

-He LOVES pillows and blankets...not to chew them...no, to LAY on them. I think he feels luxurious

-He likes laying ANYWHERE it's cold. There's a small hole in my parent's floor (he lays there) Our front door has a crack that lets the cold air in (he sleeps there) at the apartment he would lay right on the sliding glass door because it was FREEZING... WHAT...a weirdo.

-Music of any kind mellows him out. Even when the kids are singing loudly in lessons he just lays down on the floor and falls asleep.

-He loves underwears. If he could he would only play with underwear and empty two liter soda bottles.

-He loves empty 2 liter soda bottles.

-He likes to eat cheese, pretzels, carrots and ice-cream (he ESPECIALLY likes peppermint)...again, i submit... WHAT a weirdo.

I better get him to sleeps. One of my favorite times of the day when I pick him up and he wraps his front legs around my neck (LITERALLY) and lets me carry him into our room. Where he sleeps on a quilt and a large pillow that he commandeered from our bed. He's lucky he's so freakin cute.

EDIT: tonight cash rolled over for steve to rub his belly and steve said, oh no...he's got his balls... crap... i now officially live in a house full of boys.