girls girls girls

Lately I have been counting down the days until this semester ends and we are officially in our last year of optometry school. And not just because Dylan will be available, engaged, and hopefully relaxed.
But because I am dreading the day when I have to leave all our friends here behind as we set out on our first rotation.

In real life (and not in this weird limbo that is graduate school life), I have no friends.
No seriously...I'm not one of those people who has a gaggle of girlfriends by my side at all times. 
Post high school, I can count my close friends on one hand.

Who am I kidding?
Post high school, I can count my close friends on 2 fingers.

That is, until coming here...where girlfriends become a necessity.
And quickly become a confidant, spouse, family, entertainer, sounding board, and therapist.

I could not have survived the last 3 years without them.

brianne and mikelle
2012 masters party.

me, lyndsie and brianne
i look scared.

mikelle and lisa

laura, debbie, brianne, mikelle, me
don't worry, we don't usually dress like this.
it was a halloween party.

[back to front, left to right]
lyndsie, brianne, karen, debbie
mikelle, anna, me, laura
kristina, lisa, jenny
ps: we're in briannes bathtub.  yep, it's that big.  it rocks.
and so do we.

debbie and mikelle

[back to front, left to right]
lisa, debbie, muah, karen
corinne, heather
ashley, heidi, mikelle, lyndsie

lisa and me
we look shiny because we had just gotten facials, not because we were sweaty.
lest you think we're sweaty grease balls.

[left to right, top to bottom]
lisa, kristina, brianne
jenny, me
we're hot.  that's all.

corinne, karen, anna, heidi, me, lisa, mikelle, laura, debbie, heather, lyndsie, nanette
for all you preggos: you're welcome.

karen, lisa, me
this is the picture where i was accused of being a red head.

me, heidi, lisa, karen & risa, lyndsie & miriam, heather
thanksgiving dinner.

anna, me, lisa, jenny, debbie
worst picture ever...best night ever.
hunger games at 12:01am.
holla.

[top to bottom, left to right]
lisa, lyndsie, kristina, jenny, karen, laura, anna, debbie, sierra
me, brianne, mikelle

jenny, brianne (aka: sylvester stalone), lisa, me, kristina
we're so mature when we get together.
gotta love scotch tape.

me, lisa, lyndsie, anna
cheese tasting.

[left to right]
lisa, jenny, kaylea, heidi, mikelle, heather, debbie, laura, me
happy hour at applebees.
we're classy like that.

And although it may seem a bit premature to be posting this (after all, we do still have a month before we part ways), I want to remember how much fun we're having right now.
Before all the tears and goodbyes start.
Before we all forget the fun and focus on the sadness of being away (and for myself, friendless....again).
And definitely before all the ugly cry-faces start.

xo,
tracy

ps: I stole the majority of these pictures without permission.  Awesome.

this week

I've totally been slacking in the picture taking department lately.
I feel like the lighting is never right and the kids are always naked, fighting, running around like crazy people busy doing other things. 

This week, I made a resolution to document what we spent our time doing.

It was riveting.
Prepare to be entertained.

Those last 2 statements were dripping in sarcasm.

we see how many people we can cram into our miniature kitchen.

we practice being superheroes.

we make kites out of streamers/paper...

...and fly them.
i'm pretty sure our neighbors think we've lost it.

they're right.

yep.

we abuse the privilege of using markers.

we go hiking in the nude.

we talk to each other relentlessly...
i'm so glad they have each other.

we play with bubbles...

and get them on our upturned noses.

we decide we're offended when someone calls us a red head on facebook.
then we try to dye our own hair darker... to avoid being mistaken for a ginger again.
we've never dyed our hair before.
we make a gigantic mess.

we take pictures of our wife's new hair color without giving her warning.

...and again.

we take TONS of self portraits.

we play 'guess who' over and over and over and over.

Jealous??
Yeah, you should be.

xo,
tracy

dilemmas

You know how everyone has those things in their life that they hate?
Their thin hair that won't hold curl in the constant rain.
The color of their car.  The make of their car.  Their car in general.
Their upturned nose.

I'm not talking about myself...I'm just saying hypothetically that these might be things SOMEONE might not like about their life.
Anywayyyyy....

Lately, I have 2 things in my life that I hate. Dilemmas if you will.
And they're both in the front room of my house.  The very first thing you see when you walk through the door.

Lamp or no lamp?

That was not rhetorical.  I'm actually asking...
lamps or no lamps?
And also, my pictures are crooked. 
I'm awesome.

Here are the candidates....and I have 2 of each. 
Obviously.

The glass/black lamps live in our room and flank our bed.
And the white tube lamps are from Ikea.  I got them this week...convinced they would be PERFECT.  I now think they're too tall. 
I'll probably return them.
Story. Of. My. Life.
The retail community loves me.
Nottttttt.

Dilemma #2:

I have a love/hate relationship with this piece we bought. 
We use it for storage and I thought I'd really love it. 
But instead I despise it.
Because it's a cluttered mess.
At all times.

See what I mean?
Yeah.
So....I've tried it empty, full, baskets in a different configuration.
All sucked.

Even with the addition of these AMAZING horse head book ends, that I plan to paint:

I'm thinking of doing a monochromatic pallet in the open spaces...maybe whites/creams?  Or gray?
Things like this:

isn't this the CUTEST thing you've ever seen?
Yeah.  Me too.

Your thoughts with the shelving unit?
Again, not rhetorical.

I worry that they white will be too matchy with this new bad boy:

That's a rug.
And I also have a new chair in the room...and I'm not willing to get rid of it. 
Because it's beautiful.  And new (to me).  And my sister has the same fabric in her house...which I didn't know when I purchased the chair.
It's like one mind.

I digress.

Check out the legs on that beauty:

So, what to do?
My house is one huge conglomeration of random crap.
In case you haven't noticed.
Chevron rug, floral chair, a Buddha head, striped curtains, and now horse head bookends.
Oh, and a humongous avocado green credenza.
Hoarders called...they want me on their show.

See the pickle I'm in?
Please weigh in...all 7 of you.

xo,
tracy

ps: I ate almost an entire pack of Gaucho cookies while writing this.  Did you know they are making those again??  Yep.
Your life just got a LOT little better.

spring break

We just wrapped up Spring Break week here.
I'm so glad it's over and my kids are back in school we could have a week together.
And by together I mean all of us in our little apartment because of the torrential downpour outside.
Sans Dylan.
Because he ditched us (again) to go on an amazing tropical vacation for school.
Not that I'm bitter or anything.

I tried to utilize my time to do all the things I never get done with Dylan home.
Like clean the garage (it's still a disaster, for the record), make a list of all my pending projects, and rearrange the kids rooms:

Dawson:

dawson and harper were sharing a room, with another identical bed
 underneath the windows in this room.

over his bed, dawson can display all his school projects (see below)...

...like this frightening Easter bunny he made.
i could never sleep with this staring down at me all night.
ready to bounce down and nibble my face off.

project #1: sand/paint, seal dresser.  this was the very first thing i ever painted.
it was awful...i bought oil based paint and it wouldn't dry.  i had to cover it with a coat of spray paint. 
it desperately needs to be redone.

Harper:

we were using this as a guest room...and to house all dylans clothes...
since i have officially taken over our dresser and closet.
i'm so glad harper can enjoy this bedroom set that we bought for her a few months ago. 

project #2: we picked up this 9 drawer beauty for $17.50 at the last salvation army 50% off Saturday.
it needs to be sanded, painted (cream), and outfitted with new knobs/pulls.

this picture is sitting on the previously mentioned dresser.
 i have admired this picture at z gallerie for a while now.
last summer i found it at a yard sale for $5.  score.

Beckham:

beckham is in a big boy bed.
we're finally cribless.
holla.

project #3: sand/paint dresser.  replace knobs so they are not girly crystal knobs...
which only seems fitting since they're now housing an airplane, dirt stained jeans,
and teeny tiny star wars underpants.

how awesome is this globe?
the answer is: very.
 i got it at goodwill for $6 and it is every bit as large as it looks.

how cute is this baby?
the answer is: very.
i miss my newborns.

how cute is this not-so-tiny boy?
the answer is: very.

I also plan to take the crystal knobs from the dresser and put them on this board that I picked up at Ikea this week for $1.  Project #4:

In between the rearranging/decorating, I did manage to watch the entire season 1 of Glee.
Complete with 37 bowls of popcorn.  That I refused to share.
I'm a total Gleek.
Loooove it.

In addition, Jennifer and little Kate came to spend the week with us.
And I took 1 picture the entire 6 days....because I'm awesome like that.
And by one, I actually mean 4 pictures of the same pose. 
Because I have cooperative kids.
See for yourself:

Those were the best/only pictures I took.
Don't mind that Dawson looks possessed, Harper looks insane, and Beckham looks like he was attacked by a dog....he fell off his bike. 
And Katherine is thinking, 'WTH is going on here?!  Who are these crazies and are we seriously staying here all week?!'

Having Jen and Kate here made the time pass much more quickly.  We had SUCH a great time together....which I completely expected, as I always do when I'm with my sisters.
We stayed up WAY too late talking, eating, laughing, painting nails, eating, snacking (is that the same as eating?), and watching Friends. 
The time went too fast. 
Especially the time at night after all the rats were sleeping.

During the day when we had all the kids to entertain, we braved thrift stores (and had some AMAZING finds...pictures to come), got Chinese food from a great little place in town (food again?!  fatsos.), and tried to keep busy in the confines of our house...aka: annoyed each other incessantly while the kids whined about wanting to go outside.
My kids were SO thrilled to have Kate here...Dawson and Harper fought over who got to play with her, whose turn it was to sit by her at meals, and who got to read her stories.  Beckham was more interested in growling at her, stealing her toys, and tattling...he isn't used to sharing the 'baby' spotlight. 
Since their departure, all my kids have been asking when I'm going to have another baby because they had such a fun time with little Kate....that's been a fun topic of discussion.
Having them here was the highlight of our week and we can't wait for them to come back. 
Soon. 

The low light of the week? 
It's a toss up: probably the full strawberry smoothie that was spilled ALL over the dining room and narrowly missed my new chairs.  Or maybe the ear infection Beckham had...twice.  Or the 3 pounds I gained.

No, the 3 pounds were a highlight.  Homemade caramels, tortillas, salsa, candy, and jalapenos chips will do that to a waistline.

Spring Break did not disappoint this year and definitely produced more highlights than low lights.
I'm so thankful Jen and Kate could come visit.
And I'm so thankful that Spring Break is over!

xo,
tracy