2 jobs 1 day...

For the past year (wow time flies!) I have been living the dream, a stay at home wife. With all the free time in the world I am able to complete projects, blog, play with my puppy, and visit my family and friends whenever I want. However, this whole year I have been applying all over my small town and never getting hired. A wise old man once told me to get somewhere in Jasper "You either gotta know somebody or blow somebody" (please excuse the pure crudeness), ITS TRUE. I never realized how small towns operate and since we know next to no one and I am certainly not going to actualize the second part of that lovely saying the job hunt has been unsuccessful.
Then my prayers were answered, my favorite store in all of Jasper, this amazing little boutique located in the historic center of town called me in for an interview!! I went in an instantly clicked with the owner, she is wonderful and the store is such a creative environment and filled with soooo many beautiful things. The job consists of 2.5 days of work and off days that coincide with Pat's off days!! Since we get limited time together and he likes me at home this seemed like the perfect job and since it was the first one of the year I was really happy!
I walked out of the store with my starting date and a smile, as I was walking to my car I could see my phone in the front seat ringing so I quickly answered it, it was my dad's lovely girlfriend telling me she had found me a job! I couldn't believe it! She had gotten me an interview for a full time receptionist position at a dentist's office... What do I do? After a lot of thinking I decided to go to the interview this morning just to be polite and then I fell in love with the office and the people!!!!! AHHHH I'm so torn because this job pays almost quadruple the other job, but I will be working full time including Mondays (Pat's off day). Undecided. Luckily the dentist office is granting me a working interview tomorrow to see if I am cut out for office work. So who knows! Please Pray for Patrick and I as we try to make this decision! We are so blessed to have so many wonderful gifts in our life and now were waiting for a clear sign to see whats right for our family. I'll keep you all posted!

God Bless,
Cassie

Finally Learning

For my birthday this year my dad and his wonderful girlfriend surprised me with a new fancy camera. I love photography and think it is such a good way to channel creativity. Yesterday afternoon I spent hours in front of the computer reading all about my camera and how to use it. Then I spent a couple more hours playing with my favorite subject, Chip. This is the best one I got!
I hope everyone is having a fabulous day!

Cassie

In Lust

I am completely thankful for all that I have, but it may be out of boredom or a need for change that I am constantly wanting to redecorate... Currently I want...

This bed! Its from American Freight so I think it is affordable...

This Duvet Cover, the ivory one on top. From Overstock.com also affordable
Wouldn't they just be perfect together??? Especially with Ralph Lauren Cyrmic Silver Paint on the walls???? And maybe an accent wall of Mombassa Mist???

Also this week I think I'm going to start my bathroom renovation! I know my house is brand new and I already painted the bathroom once, but we picked the colors so hastily that generally I am unhappy with them... SO I'll take lots of pictures! DIY!!

Happy Birthday Chip

Although I consider myself to be a pretty sane person I will say that I may have a very unhealthy attachment to my dog! I love him so much, he has brought me so much joy since we brought him home, I can't imagine what my life would be like without him. It all happened so fast, Pat and I decided that instead of buying each other expensive wedding presents that we would get each other a puppy, the gift that keeps on giving. Flashback to November 17th 2008, Pat and I had just gotten back from our honeymoon and because Jasper has no airport we flew into Louisville and we got in so late that we spent the night at my dad's house. The next day was traumatizing. Although I had not grown up in the house the act of leaving my dad's house for the last time was really hard for me I broke down and a slight panic attack ensued. Fortunately my dad must have sensed it coming and he took off before it happened. My car was packed to the brim with wedding gifts and all of my other stuff... It was time to move to Jasper. Well usually Pat and I ride together back and forth, but because Pat had his car in Louisville we had to drive separately. One of us also had to pick up our new puppy who was waiting for us in Charlestown Indiana, so mid panic attack Pat decided to be the one to bring home baby.

Pat and I both left Louisville at the same time and as soon as Pat payed for and picked up the puppy he was racing home to Jasper to see his new wife, the whole time on the phone with me. Pat likes to remember that Chip was so small he had his head on his leg and his butt was on the seat belt. Aww. Well this day was not only traumatizing for me but for Chip as well. It turned out the breeder had given him all of his puppy shots that same day and had not bathed him. So I arrive at the new/old Japser apartment and start unloading all of my stuff and up pulls Pat with our bundle of joy. Ohhh how stinky he was! And in accordance with the previously mentioned OCD tendencies I quickly plunged him into a pool of water and scrubbed him with doggy shampoo. To our amazement Chip slept through the night no crying or whining. Boy was that deceiving. For the next 2 months Chipper woke us several times a night because he had to go #2! The poor puppy was suffering from an allergy to chicken and we had no idea!

My plug for the breed:Soft Coated Wheaton Terrier- Since we got his food situation under control, Chip has been the most wonderful dog we could have imagined. He fits our personalities to a tee. He sleeps late and plays hard and is so intelligent. He is the perfect family dog. While my 7 year old cousin was staying with me for a week he grew so attached to her he actually slept outside her door all night. He is the perfect dog for anybody who suffers from allergies because he is hypo-allergenic and does not shed (my OCD agrees with this), also I think he is the perfect size he is 35 lbs right now and might grow to be 40. He is small enough to sit in your lap but big enough to be a dog's dog. I think it was a great experience to share a dog before we have a baby, it let us see who will fulfill what parenting roles and kind of let us settle in with a new responsibility.

As I sit here blogging away about my fur baby he is laying at the bottom of my chair sleeping. How much joy he has brought to my life. Happy Birthday Chip! Here are a few photos of our year with Chippies!

Just a few things to get off my chest....

So i totally and completely love my husband, more than I ever thought possible. Lately, however I have noticed some small behaviors that really tick me off. Due to my lack of employment and the slight case of OCD that I suffer from my house is always pretty much clean... and not just clean spotless. My husband just seems to be intent on destroying that! I know its not polite to gripe about your husband but if one newly-wedded wife out there can identify with me I think I will feel better.

Here is a really neat trick ladies, although the hamper is 7 feet away (yes I measured) my husband likes to stow his dirty clothes under the bed. HOW WEIRD. He calls these clothes- not so dirty - which means he is going to wear them again. Why not fold them and put them on a shelf in the closet???? I always forget to look here before I do laundry and end up with dirty clothes when I'm finished which is really aggravating!

Here is another neat thing Bass Master on the night stand...

Oh and I forgot to mention my husband does NOT read in bed.

SO WHY IS THIS HERE????

The printer on the floor with paper thrown about. I Know that in an office there is going to be technical equipment. I fully understand this concept, but will somebody please tell me why I spent time and money decorating this office for Pat when he chooses to accessorize with a printer??? UGGGG and its been there a while.


Here is another one of my personal favorites. Yes the hamper may be full and yes I may be a little behind on laundry, but does it have to spill out onto the floor?? Can you not get it in the basket??? REALLY????

Ohh laides here is my favorite, this morning I came in to check my e-mail and play on facebook when I discovered this disgusting germ ridden reminder that I married a little boy with a big-boy job, A dirty used band-aid. Oh my word! How disgusting!


I know it may seem like I have a real problem with my husband, but really I am so thankful that all I have to gripe about are these little things. Our life is in fact pretty wonderful, I just had to vent and try and seek some sort of reassurance that my husband is not the only one with these silly little quirks.

I hope everyone is having a marvelous day!

God Bless,

Cassie

Garage Renovations are Complete!!!!!!!

Finally after about a month of work on our garage we completed all of the work! I am so happy to finally be done it is so organized and so wonderful! I love it!!!

Before: No finished drywall, the floor was a mess and the storage and work bench was confined to my vintage table and crap every where!

Our make shift work bench and the dry wall seemsWorking on the dry wall

My handsome husband (I tell him over and over again brown and black don't go together)After all the finish dry walling is complete, what you cannot see is the inch of dust over all of our possessions.

After all the dry walling was complete we painted the garage, we painted it the same green as our living room. I know its weird to paint your garage a color but we had 2.5 gallons left and couldn't decide if it was more weird to paint it green like the rest of our house or buy new paint for the garage when we had tons of left over... oh well at least it looks good!

Before: After dry wall and paint came the floors. I previously used the garage floor as a drop cloth for my many household projects so we got a 2 part epoxy finish to seal and cover the concrete. I think it turned out nice and the best part is it cleans really easy! After: Clean painted floors (with decorative flakes for gripping when the floor is wet)


Finished walls and floorStarting on Patrick's man station... work benchAdded a top and a storage shelf

Complete with peg board for organization and paint for the bottom and poly for the top (had to seal it so germs from man stuff could be washed off easily)

Happy handsome hubby with a complete work bench and organized tools! Now onto the wife's project!

Before: this is the area we keep all our shoes and the dog's leashes and random stuff. Since our garage enters our house right in the dining room/kitchen we keep our shoes outside, What a mess!

So I came up with a design and my wonderful husband was able to bring it to life! What an amazing man! Here is my storage unit in the works

Here it is all finished with hooks for everything and way to much room for shoes! Oh well I guess I'll have to get some more!

Our completed garage... a panoramic shot I know its kinda weird to be so proud of a garage but strangely I love it and I'm so glad we put in the hard work!
Onto the next project, up next is a real big one... the back yard fence. The good news is my dad, the closest person to Bob Villa that I know will be here for a whole weekend to help and teach us how to put up our own fence. For now I'm just glad its over as you can probably see the garage was a mess it was but it is all better now!

Labor Day

My hope on this Labor Day weekend is that all of you have wonderful plans and are going some where fun and exciting. Of course my husband and I can't go anywhere because of his demanding job, but we do have Monday off! HOWEVER you can probably guess what we will be doing... LABOR. We are going to finish the garage!!! Completely done, shelving, work bench, peg board, and my coat and shoe center! Wish us luck!

I thought since I cant go on vacation this week I would share some photos of our latest vacation. We spent a wonderfully relaxing week in Kennebunkport Maine this June, ohh the memories!

Even though the beach was cold it was still so amazing and romantic

Truly the most amazing scenery! I can't imagine what it would be like to live here and always be surrounded by beauty and history.My happy handsome husband loving the beach and smoking a cigar! Oh and I may look like the Gorton's Fisherman but you have to wear that to go deep sea fishing and since I love my husband (and he spent a whole day antique shopping) I agreed to go no matter how silly I looked!

Walker Point... summer home of the Bush family! The best part of the trip for these two Republicans!

Happy Labor Day!

God Bless,

Cassie