And some lovely words from a friend:
$7900 in 23 days!
Category Archives: Raves & Praise
Owen’s P/T conferences blew us away.
We just had Owen’s parent/teacher conferences and his teachers ALL had amazing things to say—they all commented on his attitude, empathy, helpfulness, friendliness, kindness, work ethic, class participation, grades…everything. After the shitshow of last year, we could not be happier or more proud.
I managed to record a snippet of his math teacher taking about him and this literally just scratches the surface of all the amazing things they said about him…
I think this might be a first for me!
Holy shit balls! I think this might be a first for me—two triple word scores for 193 points! Sorry Mom!
Owen is on the Honor Roll!
After the shitshow of remote learning last year, seeing this come home seriously gave us chills! We could not be more proud of him! And he was so excited to show us—made us get together and close our eyes!
I’m not generally one for bumper stickers but you can damn well be sure this one is going on my car!
I ♥️ Jenna Clark!
Oh. Em. Gee. I could talk with my amazing leader Jenna Clark forever. She is so funny and warm and open and welcoming — I think we just might be besties if we lived closer! Our 20 minute coaching call today just flew by. She has adopted me into her squad with open arms and I am forever grateful.
Way to go, Katie!
She was the fastest out of her entire PE class! (She also said the girls beat the boys overall!)
TOP TEAM IN THE WORLD!
Our team was working to achieve some really BIG goals before the end of our Leaders year… and guess what?!?
We did it!!! Our entire team made it happen and my adopted upline (6 above me) and friend, Jenna Clark, accepted the rank of Global Sapphire Queen (over 7 million in sales in just 1 year)!!!
She represented us on stage this weekend as the TOP TEAM IN THE WORLD!
I could not be more proud to learn from and work alongside such a wonderful team of women with her at the helm.
A whole lotta yum.
It could only be better with everything bagels (I used Hawaiian) and red onion!
A benefit we didn’t know about!
Imagine our surprise when we received a notice in Tom’s student loan account that they had been notified of his 100% disability and they assumed we wanted to apply for full discharge! Yes! Yes please!
Within two weeks of applying, we got this!
This zeroes out about $18,000 in student loan debt!
It feels so good to read again!
I don’t read nearly as much as I used to in my younger years but every time I do I wonder why I don’t do it as much. Especially on a day like today when the weather is perfect for sitting in my egg chair!
When I was in middle and high school I always had a book going—and in the summers I’d probably read 1-2 books a week! These days? I’m lucky if I get through one a year! 😱 I mean, I’ve wanted to read this one since it came out 10 years ago!
Crumbl!!
So after seeing Crumbl cornbread cookies mentioned TWICE yesterday on my Facebook feed, when Heidi and I found ourselves right down the street from one (by Costco in Kenosha), we had to try it. Some other choices jumped in the box, too.
Of course we dug into them as soon as we got to the car. And um, holy shit. The cornbread cookies are TO DIE FOR! They suggest eating them warm and I can agree wholeheartedly. The churro was good but REALLY sweet.
I posted on Facebook and guess what? I learned that Gurnee is getting a Crumbl, too! This could be dangerous!!
If anyone wants to check it out, grab the app!
So I finally took pictures of most of the newly redesigned house.
FYI We have had a few changes since these pics—that teal ottoman and gray loveseat are gone (long and sordid story that ends with us telling you to avoid Roomplace like the plague) and we have a leather loveseat on order. Missing rooms are the dining room and front room because we’ll need to rearrange that furniture again. I finally got around to taking the pics specifically because the ottoman was going away.
My friend Jodi Van Leer (J Van Leer Designs) was amazing in helping us figure out what we wanted, shopping for things, and pulling everything together. We trusted her implicitly and we couldn’t be happier!
Tom got to play woodworker and built:
- the walnut mantle surrounds
- the cabinet doors
- the birch forest (using trees we brought home from my parent’s house in the upper peninsula!)
- the stacked wood wall in the bar (my Pinterest idea)
- and new built-in shelves for the liquor in the bar (so now he finally has his “me room” (and not just a me wall!)—which we’ve named Ground Control)!
Other changes include:
- a new ceiling fan in the living room and a huge chandelier in foyer
- new fixtures to replace contractor-grade boob lights
- a new dining room fixture
- a new foyer table coming this weekend
- new bar footrails
- and a new fireplace tile surround and flooring…
We absolutely love everything and when it’s picked up and free of kid shit it’s freaking amazeballs. It was a shit ton of work and expense and we pretty much got it all done in two months to be ready for the big party! But we finally have our forever home that looks put together and adult!!
P.S. Here’s a Before and After!
Unexpected free drinks!
We Yelped to find a good restaurant for dinner, only to get there and it was closed. So on we went to our second choice—Tine & Cellar. We get there and get seated…then proceed to watch a bunch of other tables get seated—and get drinks and orders taken—while we hadn’t seen anyone. So Tom went to find a manager.
A waiter came up pretty quickly and apologized profusely—he said they hadn’t told him he had a table (which was believable since they didn’t seem to have any rhyme or reason who served what table). He then said all our drinks that night were on the house. SCORE!
So you’re looking at a Smoked Manhattan and a pseudo margarita (I say pseudo because it was called Yolanda Be Cool and was just Blanco tequila, strawberry puree, lime juice, and habañero simple syrup). We were both VERY HAPPY and agreed that these free drinks made being temporarily forgotten about being seated totally worth it.
We went on to order the truffle fries which was about enough for four people (they really should say that on the menu)…but it was okay because they might have been some of the best fries I’ve ever had)
Tom had a fish and chips basket and I had JägerSchnitzel and both were really yummy. We were very happy with our meal!
YAY OWEN!
So Owen is still sometimes afraid of…weather. He doesn’t like wind or storms. So Gramma and Grandpa had a funeral to go to (that the kids didn’t need to go to) so I said it was fine to let them stay home alone. But Owen was VERY concerned because it was supposed to be stormy.
7/24 – Owen is watching the weather like a hawk. They both are afraid of thunderstorms and lightening. He especially is watching Tuesday for the funeral and is afraid of being alone if it storms. It is predicted to storm of course. I won’t leave them here alone if it is going to storm. We’ll watch the weather closely and if it storms we’ll make sure he is safe and not leave him alone. We’ll figure it out. Best case scenario is that the weather changes by then and it won’t storm! I told him that too, it’ll probably change by Tuesday. He seemed relieved and took it all in. He told me about the incident at Mike’s when he couldn’t reach you and it started raining and he was scared.
7/27 – The weather forecast changed so we did not get a single drop of rain. Kids did well. Katie wasn’t hungry so I guess she didn’t eat. I got her to admit she has one candy. But before we went, Owen was a champ. He said he’d be okay with it even if it rained or stormed. He said I have to learn to deal with it (or similar words). I asked if his counselor taught him some coping mechanisms and he said yes, and it helps/helped. I texted him once we got to the luncheon and they were fine. I know he played on his phone but he promised to share and he did. They did go outside for a short while and they watched TV. So, I think it was a huge stepping stone for him. Yay Owen!
Off to grandparent camp!
It’s time for a road trip to take the kids to Michigan for Grandparent Camp! Usually we go all the way to Grayling but we decided to try something different this year and meet halfway!
I’m not sure what Katie is pissy about other than that’s her normal look these days. (I told you!)
One of the few times she’s sweet.
Our meeting point was Bilbo’s, one of our favorite restaurants from East Lansing that we hadn’t been to in 20 years (since we got married and left Michigan). We were excited that Kalamazoo was the halfway point!
Making the actual transfer! We’re free! Good luck and Godspeed!
Seriously though, the kids absolutely love this time with the grandparents and couldn’t be more excited… especially after Covid put the kibosh on camp last summer. Here’s to making memories!!
I’m top 5 out of thousands!
This was awesome to wake up to this morning! It still blows my mind that I’m in the top five out of thousands!
We hired an Interior Designer!
I’ve always wanted to hire a designer so I can end up with a put together room/house…and it finally happened! A friend is an interior designer and came over to give us some guidance! We figured since this is our forever house, we’re ready!
We talked about what we wanted, what we liked, what we didn’t want —and decided on a color scheme, the curtains and rods, the mantle (Tom will build it), and carpet size.
So she sent us to look at furniture and we found a bunch of things we liked right away at the first store—a couch, leather glider chair (to replace Tom’s recliner that will no longer match), a new chair for the front room, a lamp, and an end table!
That night I searched online for the perfect rug and found it! So we have a good start!
I’m finally getting pantry shelves!
I’ve just about had it with the pantry being a hot mess so I requested Tom start on the shelves. A few days later —voilá!
I still have to organize it more and the other cabinets need to be done, but…YAY!
This is what mom balls looks like.
I brought Owen to the pool and not Katie because she was a complete shit earlier and she needs to learn that bad behavior is not rewarded. #momballs as Anna says.
Also? Anytime my preteen wants to jump in a selfie with me I’m taking it.
SAPPHIRE SENESALES!
I’m stunned. I was excited to reach Ruby SeneSales the last two quarters… And this quarter I realized I might be able to make the next level…so I went for it! And did it!!
Look what vacation can do!
These two really don’t get along at home —Honey is just too young and wants to play hard all the time and Maggie is just too old and wants none of it. So we generally try to keep them separated so Honey doesn’t accidentally hurt Maggie… but today they were both tired so I put Maggie on top of/next to Honey and Honey stayed calm and they were totally nap buddies!
Up North Date Night
Dad and Lin offered to watch the kids so we could have a date night—so we took them to The Fitz! It was sooooo delicious… And then after dinner we sat on the deck and enjoyed the weather and the view.
And on the way home, I might have stopped by a HUUUGE lilac bush and made David jump out and grab us some. (They were ALLLL over the place and I hadn’t gotten any fresh lilacs this year so I was kind of going crazy.)
And then…as Anna and I were enjoying the small bouquet…we realized that David was still cutting…and then he thrust a huge branch at us through the window!
Which we thought was absolutely hilarious.
Then we stopped at the Eagle Harbor Inn to see their bar (per Linda’s directive, so we could see their bar rails for ideas) and of course had to have a drink. My pretty one was Mermaid Water.
Then they wanted to go up Brockway Mountain Drive—and since I was the only sober one, I got to drive Dave’s truck!
And when we finally got home and went to get the ice… Ooops! With the crazy drive up and down the mountain and the bags Nott being tied tightly…
The date night continued when we got home—the weather was so nice that we went out and watched the sunset then had a fire!
And this is what happens when you tell drunk Tom we need more wood and there’s brush handy from when he cut branches earlier in the day.
It lasted 13 days!
My Brazilian Blowout lasted 13 days before I washed it! I did have to use dry shampoo a little toward the end but still that’s the longest I’ve ever gone after a salon visit!
I was anxious about styling my hair myself—even knowing that the Brazilian would make it easier—because you can never do it as well. But it actually turned out really well!
I mean, they had a star.
We were at Costco and saw that Tom’s and David’s favorite whiskey had a * on the price tag—which means they aren’t going to be carrying it anymore. It’s legit $10 less a bottle here so we picked up a few extra bottles.
I made the top 5 banner!
We got Katie’s Halloween costume.
This T-Rex costume has made me laugh out loud every time I’ve seen it while we’ve been trick-or-treating the past few years. So when I got the chance to grab one for Katie cheaply I did. It did not disappoint.
Brazilian Day 2
I barely had to even brush it and it looks like this. I can’t wait to see how long I can make it last without washing—a regular blowout can last a week or so…and this is an extreme blowout!
OMG my hair is to die for.
I have wanted a Brazilian Blowout for awhile now—it’s been a lot a lot a lot (!) of years since I had one and it just makes drying and straightening my hair so much easier (and it shouldn’t be as frizzy). It’s a lengthy (and therefore expensive) process so it’s not a regular thing…
The process? First a clarifying wash, then putting the solution on, then drying on low heat (not high) so you don’t burn the chemicals off too early (this took close to an hour I think), then a rinse, then a regular high heat blow dry, then going over every tiny bit with a flat iron. Yikes. I was there for just over three hours.
It’s so unbelievably soft and smooth and silky it’s just dreamy. (Of course when I wash it and style it myself it won’t look quite as good but in the meantime I am enjoying every second of it.)
Vaccine #1 complete!
When you get called in for a standby COVID vaccination, you drop what you’re doing and go.
Today was Tom’s last day in the office!
With all of his banked vacation time (and planning to start the Abbvie Skillbridge training next week), today was Tom’s last day at the recruiting station! Retirement is that much closer!
This is the gift he received—-it will go on his ME WALL in the bar.
