Now, now. Don't drink too much!

Here's a fun pic of Kristin and me on our Summer Wedding Circuit ... with our "shot glasses" of wine!

We had a blast at last weekend's wedding for two of our friends from high school. It was fun because we got to hang out with lots of old friends that I haven't seen in a really long time. We also went out to the Power & Light district afterward. I haven't been down there too much, so it was fun to see the summer crowd.

Thanks, KK! I had a blast hanging out with you ... 2 wedding weekends in a row!

My little Megan & John ... all grown up!

I was there when John proposed to Megan, my oldest friend, at the Southwest boarding gate in Chicago. I was there when Megan started dress shopping for THE dress. I'll be there for the big day in October!

Megan is having Tyler Wirken shoot her wedding. Tyler and my friend, Becca, work together as 2 of the best photographers in Kansas City!

This morning, I woke up and checked my e-mail to find that Megan had shared the link to a blog post that Tyler had written with pictures from Megan & John's engagement shoot! They are fabulous! The pictures are fun, bright and show just how much love is shared between Megan & John. Go check the pictures out for yourself!

The Move in Parts: Getting Settled

Now that things are starting to get unpacked and organized, here are a few pics. I'm interested to see if the people that came the first day can actually see a difference.

This is my NEW fancy couch! This couch and the black table behind it are the only 2 pieces of furniture I have that are new to me. Everything else is a hand-me-down that was given with lots of love ... however, it's still fun to have my own stuff that I bought with my own money! The couch came with all those pillows and actually two additional ones, but I had to move them because there was hardly enough room for a nap! :)
If you look closely, you can see my laptop (I was in the middle of blogging when I took the picture), Miss Minners stretching after a nap (she has such a rough life) the water gun on the table (used to squirt her since she's taken to barking at ALL noises outside) and 2 books laying around (that's what no cable will do to you!)!

This is in my back storage closet, off of the living room. I got smart and set up some bins for recycling. After living with Molly & Erik and their recycling service, I was feeling bad about everything I used to throw away ... no longer! So far I have cardboard, aluminum, plastic and paper sorted.

These apothecary jars are my new obsession. I've been collecting them for the last year or so, and now I can finally put them out. The goal is to fill them with some colorful rice, beans, grains, etc.

Here's my bed! Can you tell that I like PINK?!? Ha! Minnie has already found a perfect spot on here.
And my closet. This was one of the first things to get organized. Everything is color coordinated for easy use. The tiny white shelf in the bottom left is going to be my mini linen closet since it's right next to my bathroom.

Here are the plates Mom helped me hang in the "look through" part of my kitchen.

Here's the upstairs patio off of my bedroom. Minnie seems to like it just fine!

And my mail/keys/phone/catch-all table. We hung these things in a "random", not-so-straight way. I think I really like it!

That's it for now! More updates to come in the future ... I'm sure!

The Move in Parts: Moving Day

Most of closing day was spent cleaning (HUGE THANKS to Mom & Jeanette) and moving over small things that I could handle myself and clothes, which I didn't want going in the truck.

Then, on Tuesday, I met the moving company at Molly & Erik's house for our first stop. There were only a few things to pick up there, and I was amazed when we were already on the road to my parents' house at 10:30am, which was our original starting time.

Here they are loading all my stuff into the truck. There were only 3 guys, but they hauled all the stuff into that truck so fast, I could hardly believe it!

Here's one of the guys moving my large coffee table trunk by himself! That took Mom & I working together with several breaks to get it upstairs and into the truck when I moved it from Jenny's! They never used 2 guys to carry anything ... even when they had large stuff to carry up the stairs once we got to my condo!

Here I am with a HUGE smile on my face because I didn't have to move or lift a single thing! Hiring movers was the best money I ever spent. They were done unloading at my condo in about 1 1/2 hours after we first started at M & E's! UNBELIEVABLE! I kept calling Mom with updates along the way, because I was in shock over how fast it all went.

So now, here's the dining room/sitting room after they set up my table for me. In the very front, you can see the cute black & white doormat that Brenda brought me! I love it.

Here's the living room in complete shambles. We were leaving room for the couch to be delivered the next day. That large piece of art is my favorite thing I own. It's borrowed from my Aunt Susan and it is about 9 feet tall. It looks great in my living room with the super tall ceilings!

This is the loft that overlooks the living room. It will look like this for quite some time until I can find some storage and furniture for these things. Most of these boxes are books and photo albums. As of right now, I don't have any bookshelves, which means they will stay packed.

And my room. The movers even put my bed together for me. This was my childhood bed that Molly & Erik have been using in their guest room. They were nice enough to give it back to me ... and I love it!

You've gotta go vote!

Tonight was the last challenge on Design Star! My girl, Jennifer (from Olathe, KS) was one of the final two contestants. Both Jennifer and Matt (the other contestant) had the amazing opportunity to design and fix houses in New Orleans for two very deserving families.

As I was watching with my parents (due to me still not having cable, blech) my Mom and I mentioned that it is an absolute crime that New Orleans is still in shambles almost 3 years later. Parts of the city still are covered in debris and are a mess from the flooding and devastation!

Both spaces turned out great, but I LOVED Jennifer's kitchen and the stripes she painted on the walls in the living room! Mom and I did large stripes a few years ago in her dining room, and they look great!

The last few weeks, the local media has been interviewing Jennifer and getting her story out there for the community, whether or not they watch the show! Here's one of the pieces they did for her on the local news.

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So anyhoo ... after this Sunday's challenge, the winner is left up to the viewers. Up until now, the show's judges had the say in who stayed and who went. The winner gets their own show on HGTV! The voting lasts from tonight until the morning of Wednesday the 30th. You can vote by either going to the website (HERE) and clicking on the tiny black dot under Jennifer's picture and then pressing "vote" (once a day) or by texting (up to 5 times a day) the letter "A" to 44881.
The finale will air Sunday night, and we will hear who the winner will be! Cross your fingers (and please vote) for Jennifer! I think it would be really amazing if Kansas City had 2 major reality TV winners this year: David Cook and Jennifer Bertrand!

The Move in Parts: Closing Day

Lookie! SOLD sign in the window of my dining room! I'm on the second floor. Those semi-circle windows go into my loft on the 2nd floor of my unit.

This is a picture looking into the living room and through the kitchen. Down the back hallway is a coat closet, laundry room, 2nd bath, 2nd bedroom (which will most likely be my office/craft room) and one of my balconies.

This is the fireplace in my living room. You can't tell, but because of the loft/upstairs, my living room ceiling is about 20 feet tall! It makes the room look much bigger than it is. The dark brown room is the dining room with nice wood floors.

Here's my kitchen. There are some things I want to change, but for the meantime ... it is great!

This is my bedroom on the 2nd floor. I love the high ceilings and the paint is a pretty light lime green that matches my bedding. (You'll see it in the next round of pics). I also have a balcony off my bedroom, and my bathroom is inside the bedroom.


And ... here is the best part of the whole place. Okay ... one of the best parts! MY WALK-IN CLOSET! This picture only shows 1/2 of it. Don't be jealous (Amy, I'm talking to you), because I will have to use a chunk of the storage space for a linen closet and bathroom storage. One of my short-term projects is to paint the walls in here. I'll also be painting the bathrooms, so why not? I think everything would look better with a fresh coat of paint and I know I'll enjoy it in the closet!

The Move in Parts: My Stuff

Yes. I have a LOT of stuff! These pictures show my personal "storage unit" that was actually my parents' garage for the last 2 months! It was quite frustrating every time I wanted to find something, and I knew it was in a box on the bottom of a stack in the middle of the garage. Arg!

Niiiina Garciiia ... you crack me up!

Since I don't have cable set up yet at the new place, I was a bit worried about all of my shows. Project Runway being one of the most important. Luckily, I was babysitting yesterday and during nap-time (the kiddo, not me) I found that the parents had DVRed it! Yippee!

This is a tiny "review" that I found on Project Rungay today. Pretty hilarious!


Still, we have to thank you for this:

"I think tiny, shiny, and short is the quickest way to look cheap. I think I speak for all the judges on that point."

"Oh, um..."


"...sure. Absolutely. Yes, I agree."


"You have absolutely no self-awareness, do you?"

He proposed at a laser tag party ...

Emilie sent me this sweet story today. I hope it brings a smile to your face even though it is pretty sad.

Dying eight-year-old 'marries' his school sweetheart

An eight-year-old boy who had set his heart on 'marrying' his school sweetheart achieved his final wish the day before he died of leukemia.

By Laura Clout

Last Updated: 8:22AM BST 22 Jul 2008

Given only weeks to live, Reece Fleming proposed to his 'special friend' Elleanor Purgslove at a laser tag party.

After she accepted, their parents arranged a make-believe wedding at Reece's home in Mackworth, Derby. He died the next day with his family.

Reece's mother Lorraine Fleming said he told her, "I can go now" after his wish had been granted.

The 28-year-old said: ""He was so proud of her, and we were proud of them both."

Reece was diagnosed with leukemia in July 2004, when he was aged just four.

He fought the disease for four years until May when doctors told him he had just weeks to live.

Ms Fleming, said she and his stepfather Mick Thompson had tried to help him achieve as much as possible before his death, including marrying his sweetheart.

"When we found out that we only had a few weeks with him we tried to do absolutely everything with him that we could.

"Him and Ellie had been 'special friends' for a couple of years but then they broke up.

"We said we'd have a pirate party, and Ellie came. She went to visit Reece a few times in hospital as well.

She added: "We also had a football and laser quest party, apparently that's when he proposed to her."

The pair went out to dinner in the mayor's limousine and the families organized a 'wedding', complete with rings, a stand-in vicar and a certificate.

The ceremony was carried out on July 4 and the following day Reece died at home with his family and a Macmillan nurse.

At his funeral, mourners followed a horse-drawn hearse on foot.

Ms Fleming added: "Even on the Saturday that he died, he got out of bed and walked to the sofa.

"He always tried walking, right to the end, so we thought if he walked for us then we would walk for him."

Puh-leaze let this guy get caught!

Tonight at Trivia, I saw this report on the CNN news ticker.

The media hasn't been on top of this story for a few months. I feel like we don't really know where the investigations stands. Maybe that's a good thing.

So anyhoo ... Drew Peterson was recorded talking about the "disappearance" of Stacey's body and the mentioned that he wished he had cremated her remains. This guy is such an ass! I hope something comes up soon that helps to arrest and charge Drew. His behavior makes me sick!

That's it for tonight. That is today's rant. I took a break from unpacking & cleaning to go play trivia tonight with a smaller-than-usual team, which means that our final score was also smaller-than-usual!

Once I get my own wireless internet set up, I'll post pics of before, during & after the move!

My Girls!

Here is just one pic from the fabulous wedding. I "borrowed" it from someone else's set of pictures. This will have to do for MY sharing until I can find some time to get my own pics uploaded.

The wedding was WONDERFUL! I couldn't have had more fun. Julie looked like a Barbie and it was tons of fun to hang out with family and friends from both the groom & the bride's side!

Thanks to Mike & Julie for letting me be a part of their weekend. :)

Today's the day!

The closing on my condo is this morning! I can't believe it's finally here. I'll be cleaning, organizing and moving things over there by myself today. The moving company comes tomorrow, so I want to be totally ready for them. If I am, then I should be able to sleep there tomorrow night. All by myself in my new home ... Yippee!

Who knows when I'll be able to get the cable company to come and set up the TV and internet for me. In fact, I don't know if I even have the stuff I'll need for wireless internet (which is a MUST), so I don't know when I'll be able to post again. Hopefully sooner than later!

Wish me luck!

I love this guy!

But really ... who doesn't love Joel McHale from The Soup?

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Joking with Joel McHale
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In honor of the Brides & Grooms

I am going to be in Julie & Mike's wedding today (hopefully, not falling down the aisle). But, I'm missing Amy & TJ's wedding that is today, too. I thought I post these fun luggage tags I found online.

They make a great gift to give a happy couple before they jet off on their fancy honeymoon. If only I had found them earlier ... and I might actually be able to give them, not just talk about them! Ha!

Here is the link to find them online at Shop Intuition. Luggage Tags. Maybe you know of a future bride & groom that could use these!

But we don't want to go to bed!

Check out this video my Aunt Dinah sent me! Too cute!

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I like those white pups with the brown eye patches!!

I'm not sure how I feel about this:

I saw this article on the front of the MSN homepage:

"New Yorkers try to swallow calorie sticker shock". It talks about the new NYC law that forces major chain restaurants to post the nutritional information for menu items right on the menu. It is no longer okay for them to just post the info on a poster in the back of the restaurant or have it online.

They say that, "putting the brakes on thoughtlessly inhaling calories is exactly the effect New York City health officials hoped the law would have. They say calorie labels could reduce the number of obese New Yorkers by 150,000 over the next five years, and prevent 30,000 cases of diabetes." That's pretty amazing!

The quotes in the article mostly came from customers who were shocked to find that the "healthy" menu choices were in some cases higher in calories than the typical "bar food" choices. Hmmmm. Interesting.

Pool time and grilling and fireworks ... OH MY!

Yes, the Fourth of July has come and gone, but I still wanted to get these pictures posted. We had a very lazy, but fun day.

It started with the day at Mitzi's resort/spa-like pool. We were shocked to see that it was pretty empty. We found chairs and spent the day reading, snacking and actually being pretty cool. We didn't have to get in the water too much since it was so nice out.

After plenty of pool time, we got dinner ready and Adam was the Grill King and made us some rockin' cheeseburgers. He also made a yummy fruit/cake/marshmallow dessert.

This is me working hard to prepare dinner. See that bowl of watermelon and the bag of goldfish? that's what I brought "to the table" for dinner.

Here we are ... sun kissed, tired and gross looking. We drove up to JCCC to camp out to watch the Corporate Woods fireworks. I can't believe how many people were there! You can't see it yet, but by the time the fireworks started, we all were bundled up. Who would think that we would be wearing coats on July 4th. It was a good thing that all my winter coats and shoes are being stored at Mitzi's, because I could just pick up one of my jackets from her place!

This is just a small portion of the cars and people that came to JCCC to watch. By the time it got dark, it was packed. We even ran into the completely unsupervised 6-year-old that manages to come to Mitzi's pool every time we go. His mother apparently just takes him places and hopes he can find small kids to harass so she can talk on her phone for hours at a time.

And here are the love birds! Isn't this a fun picture? We had a good time watching the fireworks in our perfect spot! Even though we all ate so much dinner that we "could never eat again", the girls managed to snack on animal crackers, pretzels and candy. :)

After that, we went back to Mitzi's to play dominoes (an awesome new game that Jill taught us) and then popped about 300+ "Pops" on Mitzi's patio. It was like we were 12-years-old! Lots of fun!

Thanks for a wonderful Fourth of July, friends! :)

Feel great story of the day!

If you aren't reading CuteOverload ... shame on you! I even have a very simple link to it on the right-hand side of my blog. That way, when you come here to read, then you can go check out the other great blogs and sites I read daily!

Anyhoo ... I just ventured onto CO, and found the best story! It is about a Momma duck who was brave and built her nest for her babies 10 feet above the sidewalk in a busy city. It also happened to be right outside a window of a business office, which meant that all the workers checked in on her daily.

Well, when it was time for the babies to hatch and find their way to a pond, the 10-food jump made the beginning of their journey very difficult. But, don't you worry, the story has a very happy ending!

Go check out the story and great pictures, too!

Heart came to play a concert ...

... at Molly & Erik's. Okay, maybe they didn't.

We sucked them into the obsession. Well ... maybe. I think Molly & Erik had fun at our mini Guitar Hero party a few weeks ago, but I don't know if they will become addicts like we are.

Mitzi, Jill & Adam came over one Friday night to play a little GH on Erik's big screen TV! We were all pooped from the long week, but it was still fun to relax and have fun for a few hours. Molly & Erik were out running errands earlier, but came home to find us.

Here they are jamming out! It wasn't quite as funny as when Mom played for the first time, but both of them did WAY better than I did the first time I played.



Okay ... so here is a video of them rocking out. Turn up your volume to really hear them.

I think this is the first song they played ... Barracuda. Molly didn't seem to get into it as much as Erik did. :)
And here's Minnie ... totally bored out of her mind! What's wrong with her? We were putting on an awesome concert! :)

Aunt Betsy ... that has a nice ring to it! :)

Here she is ... my little niece! I finally got the clearance from Molly today that I can share the BIG news with you all! Molly & Erik shared the news with the family over Memorial Day weekend (also the weekend I moved in here) and then a few weeks later with more friends and extended family!

Molly found out last week that the little baby she thought all along was a boy ... is actually a girl! We already have one thing in common -- PINK! No names will be shared until she actually arrives. That drives me crazy, but since teachers have a hard time finding names we don't already have a "connection" to, maybe this is a good thing that I won't know it.

The due date is mid-December. That is perfect! That means that the little girl and I will get to hang out all during my winter break! Who knows if I'll even go back to work in January after seeing her! I may just want to be full-time Aunt (Nanny) Betsy!

Congrats to Molly & Erik ... we couldn't be happier for you!

Come Design My New Condo!

Since I'm on a "reality TV" kick ... who out there is watching Design Star on HGTV? I watched the first 2 seasons because I think it really is one of the best design competition shows out there, but this season, I HAVE to watch because one of the contestants is from Olathe, KS. Right near me! {She's #2 in the picture above.}

Her name is Jennifer, and we actually had one of our Masters classes together at the Edwards Campus a few years ago. Jennifer is a very talented painter and artist who used to teach art in the elementary school down the street from ours. She left teaching to open a design business with her husband, and her work is incredible!

Here is a picture of one of the room she did this season. She painted that print on the walls by hand. I love it. I'd also love for her to come help me get settled in my new digs. Too bad I'm working on a teacher's salary. :)

After tonight's show, we're down to the final three contestants. Jennifer is still in the game! I think the next challenge is when they typically go to 3 different cities to help 3 different families make over a room in their homes. Then, if she makes it to the final 2, they will have a challenge and America will vote for the winner. The winner ultimately gets their own show on HGTV. Pretty cool, huh?