Pictures of the flower girl

She wanted a dress exactly like mine. She was appeased by one with a train, and the promise that she could wear mine in 25 years, when she got married, should she want to.

Petite thing is still wearing a size 4!

And this is the little girl who likes to catch tadpoles!

What is NOT to love about this dress?

This is probably my favorite part!

Or how about this?

Wine cake with wine butter glaze?

Cake? Soaked in wine and butter? Yes please?

Pass it on.

Baking mood strikes again

I am either making a Swedish Apple Pie or a Hot Toddy Pudding Cake.  I can’t decide.

Making both would be diet suicide. HELP ME DECIDE!

When I make the Swedish Apple Pie I add an extra egg, fyi

Stories of Evil Mother Fuckers, cont.

You’d think, on being told that your child has increased nightmares after her visits with you, that you’d be concerned and perhaps go along with a suggestion that perhaps overnight visits could wait until the nightmares ceased- they have been less frequent.

But no, you are her FATHER.  You know how to comfort her.  Even though you don’t even know her.

Parenting: FAIL.

It just gets me that he says FATHER.  FATHER.  Like donating sperm automatically means you are going to somehow have a clue about raising a child.

The back yard of doom!

From the Northeast corner

Sorry, Still can’t find the camera- this angle makes the back yard look bigger than it is.  Brian’s been mowing/weed wacking for 2 days and it looks much better.  This yard is 30% thistle.

We have a dip?  I guess you could call it?  I’m going to call the City we live in and see what we can do to level it out- there is a drainage thing at the bottom of the dip.

Looking up from the dip in the yard. At the random wysteria planted in the middle of the yard?

My yard looks bigger in pictures.

The drainage thingy- which the neighbors all tell us has NEVER had any water in it.

I don’t know why I couldn’t  build a retaining wall around it- so that it could still function if needed- and then level  out the rest of the yard?  Note the fence up top- yet another reason why a dog will have to wait for a few more months…. between that beauty of a fence and the thistles

From the back porch- that's my man! You can see the damned trees that must die. We actually have a really pretty little pine struggling for life between those monsters.

We can’t find his clippers either. His hair is getting a wee bit long.

Brian’s been slaving in this yard.  He was fussing last night that he wasn’t making more progress.

“Honey, were you not listening on Sunday when your friends were telling you it took them YEARS to tame thier yards?”

“…No…”

“Well START LISTENING!  Unless you want to hire someone to come in and do the work for us, its’not going to happen in a couple of weeks.  So CHILL OUT!”

I love him:)

I can’t find my:

Automatic dish detergent, my work pants (I’m wearing jeans) or the other box of towels. Or my camera.

Casualties of the move: My kitchen table and one wine glass (so far).

We went into sign papers on Friday and our loan officer was there.  “I almost never go to signings, but I’m just waiting for confirmation that your loan is insurable, because the program you were going through was canceled as of today.”

FANTASTIC.  We were grandfathered in, and we got the loan that we wanted.  But as far as we know – according to the loan officer, title company and brokerage company- we are the only people in Idaho who got to use the program.

But they didn’t have all of the paper work there, so we didn’t officially close on Friday- we closed yesterday.  Finally. And I was on pins and needles until Cory called to tell me it had funded.

We met the seller on Friday- said he hoped we liked the house, he had not emotional attachment to it- it was a good little house- he’d acquired it as part of  a judgment from the previous owner, who’d rented it out and let it get trashed.  He put new paint and carpet in, because it was too nice of a house not to be loved.

The house is lovely but no one had mowed the yard since our offer was accepted.  When I got the keys on Friday- the listing agent left a note “I came by to get my sign and felt bad about the yard. Sorry! But a little hard work and it will be great in no time!”

The front yard, yes.

The back yard? Is a jungle.  We knew that the back yard needed work, but after a month of no one weed eating it once a week, it’s scary.  SCARY.  As in inhabited by THISTLES scary. It will take MORE than “A little hard work” to get it looking nice.

So when I read that note I was all “Bitch” under my breath.

But she gave us a Scentsy warmer!  So she’s probably really nice anyway.

If I could find my camera, I’d take pictures   My phone doesn’t take the best quality photos.

Our subdivision has 2 little parks- and they are both easy walking distances.  Our neighbors are quiet

We forgot to put the trash out last night, so I heard the truck coming and woke up yelling “SHIT!” and I totally freaked out Brian- our house came with full trash cans so it was REALLY important that the trash get picked up!  Luckily it does the rest of the subdivision first, so the trash made it out and no one saw me in my pajamas.

So I’m unpacking and settling in.  I love my house.  I’ve never owned my own home before and I’m just thrilled- even thought the list of things to be done grows daily.  Welcome to home ownership!

Brian mowed the yard, and started weed wacking the parts that can’t be mowed- and we discovered that underneath all the lovely TWO FOOT HIGH green grass was an exposed sprinkler pipe with a gaping hole.

But I have roses!  Many many roses!  And lilacs!

And we had 6 arborvitae(plural?) until I jokingly asked Mike, Brian’s best friend(and best man) if he wanted to cut them down for me.  I didn’t think he’d do it- as I only had a little hacksaw- but the man took the saw to it.  I eventually handed him the hatchet.   So now I only have 5 arborvitae.  And as soon as I borrow a chainsaw, I will have ZERO arborvitae!

I don’t like arborvitae.  They make me itch.  And I think they are ugly.  And spider infested.

And it turns out that Mike should have been a lumberjack, because if you give the guy a beer, he’ll try to cut down any tree in sight.  Mike is a really good guy.    He does remind me of a Monty Python character though.

Boo California!

My day today, in pictures :)

ELEVEN!

WE SIGN AT ELEVEN!