When a Heart Breaks...

Today we will be celebrating JoAnn's life!

I was thinking about her the other day and a song I had never heard before came on Pandora and I thought it was a fitting song for how everyone is feeling about losing her.

"When A Heart Breaks"

I woke up this morning
And I heard the news
I know the pain of a heartbreak
I don't have answers
And neither do you
I know the pain of a heartbreak

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks

I heard the doctor
But what did he say
I knew I was fine about this time yesterday
I don't need answers
I just need some peace
I just need someone who could help me get some sleep
Who could help me get some sleep

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks
When a heart breaks
When a heart breaks
Oh, when a heart breaks

This isn't easy
This isn't clear
And you don't need Jesus
Til you're here
Then confusion and the doubts you had
Up and walk away
They walk away
When a heart breaks

lighting fixtures

I used pinterest for a lot of my inspiration for the new house.  This was a HUGE help for me when picking out lighting fixtures.  My husband, being the electrician, wanted to know exactly what lighting fixtures I wanted, and I had no idea.  So I headed to my pinterest boards to get inspiration, and then headed to the stores to start looking.  Here are some of my favorites...

 I LOVE the look of the black door and the pendant.  I already have my door but it still has to be painted and after a lot of looking I found the perfect light.  I wanted a square one like in the picture but was having a really hard time finding one.

my door

I wanted a door that would let a lot of light in, because there isn't a ton of light from the front of the house.  When the painter comes in, he will be painting the door black!  So excited for that!

I have always loved chandeliers.  My mom has a really pretty one hanging over her dining room table, so I wanted a chandelier for my dining room as well.  I wanted something like in the picture, but more simple because I have very simple taste.

And this is my absolute favorite.  I know these are all the rage right now and I'm not ashamed to say I followed this trend.  I probably wouldn't have, because these lights are very EXPENSIVE.  But, the lighting store close to home had a 50% off sale on everything in their store for the month of October.  I am so happy I jumped on this.  Can't wait to see my orb light hanging in my office.

 Yesterday I went and picked up two of the lighting fixtures for the new house!

My chandelier, which you can sort of see on top and the orb on the bottom.  I really wanted the orb in the picture above but it was WAY too expensive.  Instead, I found another one that was really beautiful too.

'L Bri order

Along time ago I used to wear 'L Bri often.  More recently I've been trying different things like Treskin RX, which I really like.  The good thing about 'L Bri is that all of their products use aloe, just like Treskin RX, and it's all natural, which I love.  I needed to reorder my FAVORITE lotion, and since 'L Bri offers free shipping on orders over $60, I figured I should find some other things that I need.  Here's what I ordered...

At the top is the Deep Pore Cleanser, this is their face wash for people with oily/acne prone or combination skin.  I have been slowly switching over to this to see how I like it and so far I really like it!  Haven't been noticing too many breakouts, or too oily of skin, so it's working pretty well.

The next product is my FAVORITE lotion, body butter in Cucumber.  I actually use this for my hands, more than anything.  I just LOVE how thick it is, and because the main ingredient is aloe, if you have any cuts on your hands, it is very soothing.  They also have a lotion that is meant for hands, and I love that too.  I just get the body butter because I can really make this last a whole year, whereas I go through the hand lotion much quicker.

The concealer I haven't tried yet.  I use their old concealer, which is the stick (like a lipstick almost) kind, and it works really well.  For some reason they don't carry the stick in any other color than dark.  LAME!  So I thought I would try this liquid concealer, but I probably won't use it until I run out of the other one.

The compact, I used to use when I got married about 2 years ago and I loved it, but with how expensive it was, I went through it too quickly to be able to afford it.  Now I don't wear as much makeup, so I know it will be worth it because it will last much longer.  I still love it!

The little packet is a sample of their face and body scrub.  I used to use it, but it is a little too harsh for my face.  I tried it again, and even though it still feels that way, my face was really smooth and soft after using it, so it did what it was supposed to do!  I might consider buying this or they have a different, more gentle, face exfoliant. 

the tile shop

On Friday night, me and Mark headed to The Tile Shop so he could see what tile me and the tile lady had picked out for the whole house.  It's so nice to go there and they just pick it all out for you based on the countertops and your style.  We had to pick out a new surround for the fireplace.  I had picked marble, but because of the heat, the tile guy was afraid it would discolor.  So we spent about an hour looking at what I had picked and picking out some new stuff.  Of course, we couldn't come to a decision, so my mom ended up going back there with me the next day.  I'm happy she did because we were able to finalize everything and make both me and Mark happy. 

 This is the tile for the "kids" bathroom!  For awhile it will be the kid/guest bathroom, until the basement is finished.  The cabinets will be white with a dark blue granite countertop.  The dark gray tile is the flooring tile.  The light gray tile is for the shower surround with the glass tile as the accent for the niche and a small strip around the whole shower. 

This is the tile for the master bathroom!  The cabinets are going to be espresso, so a really dark brown.  The countertop is the granite in the bottom left corner of the picture.  The floor is going to be the grayish, brownish tile on the bottom. The main shower tile is the whitish, tanish in the middle. The accent for the shower is the glass tile in the top left corner.  It almost looks like a subway tile, and it will be used in the niche and as a waterfall in the middle.  The shower base will be the small square tiles.

Saturday, Mark and the siding guy were out at the house.  This is super exciting for me, because now it will really start to look like a house!  This is the progress at the end of Saturday...

It's a medium gray tone and I love it!!  I can't wait to see it all finished.  The siding guy is saying it'll take him about a week and a half so very soon!!

Also, over the weekend, I found some beautiful white dishes to use for the new house.  They had an amazing deal on them at Home Goods!  Our current set of dishes has a lot of chips and cracks, and we couldn't find them anywhere to replace them.  Plus, we got more place settings then our last one so we have more than enough!  It's been fun, slowly getting things together for the new house, but can't wait to use them!

We went to dinner with some of my old coworkers last night.  We went to Water Street Brewery.  It was Eh...  I've never really loved their food, so for $50(!) it should have been better than it was!  It was nice catching up with some friends, and meeting new people.


This week on the house....

Mark is finishing up the electrical.
Inspector will be out today.
Siding will continue to be put up.
Foam insulation will be going in on Wednesday.
Window will be installed in the basement.
Wall will be moved in the laundry room.
Pretty sure the cement will be finished for the basement and garage soon!
Plaster will be started either end of this week or beginning of next.

Ovarian Cancer 5K walk/run

About a month ago, we participated in a 5K walk for Ovarian Cancer.  My step mom just recently went into remission after having ovarian cancer for about a year.  We were so excited to be able to donate and participate in the walk!  It was awesome how many people came out to support her and the fight against ovarian cancer.  This was only the second year for the walk and they said that there were a lot more people this year than last.  We plan on participating in this every year.

Kaylin (my step sister), Aunt Sandy's bf, Aunt Sandy, and my dad

most handsome guy I know ;)

Dad, me (don't mind my ugly hair), and Mary Lu (my step mom)

This day was also SUPER exciting for us because we got to meet our niece, Audrey.  She is adorable!

how cute is this baby?!

Everyone walking :)

Unfortunately, I'm gonna end this on a sad note.  This has been heavy on my heart...My sister's (step)mother-in-law is very close to losing her battle against colon cancer.  She has fought very long and hard and done everything she could to overcome, but sometimes it's just time to go home to be with God.  Although she is not actually my family, I have always felt like my brother-in-law's family is my family too, because they started dating when I was young.  So I have been thinking about and praying for her often.

Please Lord, help ease JoAnn's pain and bring her home to you.  Please God, help the family to overcome this terrible tragedy that will result.  God, I know that she is ready for her next step, please help the family find comfort in knowing she will be where she is supposed to be, with you in Heaven.

relaxing weekend

This weekend was pretty mellow, compared to what we are used to!  On Friday, Mark got me some VERY pretty flowers (normally I'm not a huge fan of getting flowers) and a card for Sweetest Day (a day early).  It was so sweet of him :)

Saturday, we got up in the morning and when I went to make my cup of tea I realized that my fake Keurig had broken :(  Sad story!  So I had told Mark that if it ever broke I was going to get the real deal.  And that's exactly what I did!  Once I got it home and working, we had fun trying some of the variety pack (although neither of us actually drink coffee! Ha!).  I think Mark ended up liking as much as me!

Happy Sweetest Day to me!

Saturday night we did puppy play date with Jake and Penny (and of course Jett and Maddie too).  We had pizza for dinner, and I made some pumpkin bars too.  It was my first time making them, they were less sugar than usual, and they turned out amazing!  We took a nice walk in the beautiful fall weather (even though it was a little chilly) and the dogs really enjoyed it.  They looked so adorable in their fall sweaters :)

Sunday we went to church in the morning and then I went to an eye exam while Mark went to work on the house.  It was nice to visit with my friends (old coworkers).  And then I went to see how the house was doing.  Mark is working on the rough-in electrical.  The plumbing was already OK'd by inspection.  We need to get the doors installed so Mark can finish the electrical (don't want all the wires stolen).  And one wall still needs to get moved.  As soon as that's all done, the drywall can go up!  I can't wait for that!! It'll really look like a place we can live in then.  Hopefully only about a week or two before that happens.  In the meantime, the siding will be going up sometime this week!

Remi (AKA Missy)

About a month ago, Mark and I decided that it might be time to look into getting a new dog.  We wanted a get a dog that reminded us of Luna, not to replace her, but to help fill a void that we were feeling.  Marley and Stella are full of energy, so we needed a dog that was the complete opposite!  Haha.  We had seen that WBTR had been getting some dogs in for fostering so I emailed Sue to let her know that we would be interested if an "old soul" came in.  She emailed back and said that Missy was the most mellow dog, and loved to just snuggle.  We were interested, but she was about 2 hours away, and we weren't in a huge hurry or anything.  About a week later, Sue contacted me to let me know that Missy was staying with her for the time being.  Since Sue lives only about 20 min away we made plans to meet her immediately!  We came in and sat down, and she came right to us and sat on our laps.  She wasn't our typical look of a Boston that we like but we loved her "old soul" personality.  We didn't take her immediately but after a few days, we thought we would foster her and see how it went.

 We decided to change her name to Remi because that was the name we had chosen for our next dog.  She didn't learn the name as quickly as some of our other fosters but she picked it up pretty quickly.  After only a few days of having her, she ended up getting a really bad UTI and had to be taken to the emergency vet.  We spent THREE HOURS(!) there that day, and it gave us a chance to really bond with her.  She recovered really quickly, once she was on antibiotics, but had a hard time with potty training because of it.  Other than that, she has been adjusting really well.

At first when we got her, it was really hard to tell if she liked us because she always has a very serious face and since she has no tail, there's really no way for us to tell if she is happy. But she has come out of her shell quite a bit.  She loves to run around the house and play with her sisters.

I took her up north with me to visit my sister and she had a great time.  She was the perfect "therapy" dog, just sat and snuggled with my sister.  She has been amazing and really helped us to not be so sad anymore.  I was crying almost everyday over Luna and she has made it much easier to cope.  She has a lot of Luna's personality and does little things that remind us of her.  

Next week is surgery week!  Remi has to have both knees and her tail operated on.  It is gonna be a tough recovery but I'm sure she will do great.  I can't wait til the day we get to see her run around like a normal dog.  And after her recovery, we can finally adopt her!  I can't wait for that :)

Our weekend away...

We had a wonderful weekend! 

On Saturday we went to the fundraiser for WBTR!  The dogs and us had a blast hanging out with all of the crazy Boston Terrier lovers.  There was section for all of the dogs to run around and play.  Of course, Marley was picked on quite a bit by the Boston's but she has learned to stand up for herself, and if that doesn't work, she hides by her Momma.  We got there at about 2pm and hung out until 4:30pm so the girls were exhausted when we left.  Remi did really good walking around and checking out the other dogs, but more than anything she was found hiding under the table or being passed from person to person.  Everyone wanted to hold her!  It was so amazing to see how much love there was for her.  WBTR had a raffle, which unfortunately I didn't win anything, but Penny did!  And they also had a Halloween costume contest.  Although Marley and Stella looked adorable in their bee and ladybug costumes, they didn't win, but our little Remi won second place!!  She made the cutest little owl ever!

Remi as an owl

On Sunday, we took the grandma's to spend the night at Grandma Kris's and then we head to Chicago.  We checked into the hotel at about 2:30, and then we got ready to go out for the night.  We went to dinner at Dib.  I thoroughly enjoyed their sushi and Mark really liked their Pad Thai and egg rolls.  This place was pretty original because you could BYOB (bring your own booze)!  I had never heard of this, and unfortunately we didn't partake in this but other restaurant goers definitely did! 

Then, we went to look for parking, and apparently it is VERY hard to find parking by the Riviera Theater.  Mark may have gotten pulled over for an illegal turn on red.  Luckily, the cops let us off because they said our punishment would be when the Bears beat the Packers this coming weekend.  Whatever buddy, as long as we don't get a ticket!!

bored in line (wearing his new shades I got him for Sweetest Day)

Once we FINALLY found street parking, we headed for drinks before standing in line for an hour!  We got inside at about 6:30pm and scored SECOND ROW standing!!  The standing part is what definitely sucks but either way it was a good time!

the opener, Harper Blynn

no zoom!

Monday morning, we woke up around 7:30am and had a good continental breakfast.  I made good use of the fitness center (ran 1 mile and biked 2 miles) and then we both hung out in the pool (which had to be 100 degrees!).  It was such a great way to start the day.  Then we headed to Schaumberg to hit up some good shopping!

I didn't go crazy buying stuff because I honestly have no idea what I need for the new house yet.  Me and my mom will have to make a trip back once I have a better idea of what we actually need.  For now, it was so much fun to look around.  After some shopping, we had lunch at P.F. Changs.  Apparently we had a craving for Asian food this weekend!

Remi didn't seem too happy when we picked her up from Grandma's but she bounced back quickly.  Stella and Marley could have cared less that we came back for them.  Pretty sure if Stella could talk, she would ask to live with Grandma.  Haha!

House update!

Things have been moving really quickly on the house!  It's so awesome to see the progress because it helps make the time go by quicker!  I can't wait to get into the house because we HATE the rental we are in.  But it's only temporary and it will help us to appreciate the end result on our house!

So let's start from the beginning...

Empty lot...really exciting I know  haha

Then after we closed on the lot the most progress we got for a really long time was this...

our very own culvert!

Stupid permits took FOREVER!!!  So the lot just sat like this from April until about July.  Then this happened...

YAY!!  Finally something was going on!

So after that, things started slowly moving along...

a hole in the ground!

the long awaited building permits!

 And then things really picked up...

walk out for the fully exposed basement

support beam

walls going up

covering up the "i fart" on the trailer  haha

looking out our master bedroom window

roof going on

windows in

shingles on

interior walls are up (vaulted ceilings in the great room/ kitchen)

Along with all of this, we have the plumbing and HVAC done.  Mark is going to be doing all the electrical this week, and the siding should be going up.

That means in 2 weeks the drywall will start, along with the tile!!  Then it will really start to look like a house.  Can't wait!!  We should be right on schedule for moving in right before Christmas.  It will be the best Christmas present EVER!!

Five on Friday!

This week has been great but this weekend will be even better!  Here's what I'm looking forward to...

1.  Tomorrow is Remi's fundraiser at Bay View Bark!  I am so excited that her fundraiser is finally here!!  She definitely needs new knees and possibly her tail fixed so I really hope it is successful.

2.  The fundraiser tomorrow is also a Halloween party!!  And since Halloween is my favorite holiday I get so excited when I get dress the girls up in costumes.  Marley is going to be a bee (she kind of got jipped cause that's the only one that fit her), Stella is gonna be a ladybug (because my Lu was supposed to be one this year)  and Remi is going be an owl (she looks freakin' adorable in the costume).  

last year's costumes (Kramer as a caterpillar, Stella as a bee and Luna as a witch)

3.  Me and the hubby are going to Chicago overnight Sunday.  We have never stayed overnight in the city and I'm very excited about it.  The overnight stay was a gift for my birthday from Kris  :)  I'm looking forward to just getting away with the hubby for a night.  I'm sure we will eat some good food and listen to some good music!

4.  The whole reason for the overnight stay and the most exciting part about the trip is we are seeing SARA BAREILLES!!!!  She is my FAV!! And I can't wait to see her perform songs off of her new album!!!

5.  And of course because we are so close, we will definitely be making a pit stop at my favorite store on Monday at...

Have a good weekend!