Pic Stitch

Every once in a while, something comes along that takes my quality of life, happiness, enjoyment, whatever you want to call it, to a whole new, and wonderful level. I could say it was my iPhone, or the iPad that I am currently typing on, because, without them, Pic Stitch might not be as easily accessible, but I am not going to say that. I am going to say the fact is, Pic Stitch has rocked my world. I cannot even tell you the hours I have spent at the computer trying to cut and paste and organize photos into a collage to load them onto this blog or on facebook or make a print to frame in the house. Or the frustration I feel when I want to load a dozen pictures on my blog to show how fun the lake was, but I don't want to inundate it with photos, because I see my blog as more of a photo journalistic product heavier in words than images. Now, I can easily include 4 pictures in one little, perfect square. The more birds you can kill with one stone, the better.

I delight in efficiency. And I delight even more in user-friendly, high quality products that enhance my lifestyle. I recently re-decorated our small downstairs bathroom, and there was no angle that could include even 1/3rd of the changes. But I didn't want to post a bunch of pictures of just a votive, a shower curtain, a hand towel, etc. With this app, I CAN take seperate pictures of many details and put them together to create one image that portrays my story! Or renovations in this case. It doesn't get any more perfect. Or beautiful. Or organized. Or simple. Or satisfying to my picture/blogging OCD self then this.

 I am not sure if there is some unspoken rule about the number of collage photos you can post on facebook or Instagram, but I can almost guarantee you, I will exceed it. Look out Pinterest, my whole house is about to get displayed, room by room, detail by detail. The ideas and uses for this life-altering app are endless. Thank you Apple.

Things I love, right now.

1. My boys, all 4 of them. Duh.

2. Avocado and Homegrown tomatoes.

3. Pic Stitch.

4. My iPhone.

5. My iPad.

6. Being a 2nd year resident.

7. The pool, the Summertime really.

8. Losing weight, having my own body back to myself.

9. Baby babbles.

10. Leinenkugel's Summer Shandy.

11. Iced caramel lattes, Phish Food, and homemade Popcorn (like those will ever change).

12. Days off of work.

13. Wedding planning with Sissy.

14. Best friends having babies.

15. House hunting, for fakes.

16. Weekend trips.

17. Horseback riding, even if it's infrequent.

18. Frozen custard, mostly Foo's.

19. Christian Bale (and now I am allowed to, because he is no longer an ass, he visited the Colorado victims.)

20. Foster the People.

21. Mint green shorts, fun colored flats, Toms for the littles and Cole Haan for the big.

22. The nanny.
23. Family dinners.

 

I did not read last year's post like this, I didn't look at it, didn't even know how I had titled it, because I want it to be completely unique, authentic and from the heart.  But then I did go back and look, and here is what I saw: the 2011 version.  Looks like things don't change much, especially, how my mind works.

...I already have one!

I say I wish I had a twin, and today I was reminded...I already have one! Whitney. All you really have to do, is read this post, from a year and half ago when we were both pregnant with our November babies, Bobby and Curtis. It gives a nice little description of how exactly we seem to have been separated at birth. I would like to add, that since that post, we have both gone on to have another baby just 4 weeks apart! I also forgot to mention, that we both chose the healthcare profession, she as a nurse on the telemetry floor, I as a doc in primary care. And when we were kids, connected at the hip, we frequently got asked if we were twins.
Whitney and I left our hubbies to the kids, and set out to her family's new farmstead to go for a nice afternoon ride. We may have just traveled 40 minutes straight South, but to me, we traveled to a different world. A different time. In this world, I am living my little girl dream of having horses to ride on a whim. Where I can visit a beautiful farm, that is well kept and spend a perfect Spring day with a friend. And of course, the friend I always imagined to share this experience with, is the one who made it possible.

Whitney picked me up after her swim lesson with Bobby. We stopped at Latteland. Our favorite. We sipped our coffee and enjoyed some "girl talk" for the next 40, relaxing minutes. We got to the farm, and quickly toured the newly refinished, and furnished house. We were like kids the night before Christmas. We rushed out to get the horses. Found 7 (Butterscotch) and 10 (Buttercup), saddled them up, and went for a ride. We explored the trails, momentarily wondering if we were lost, maybe kind of hoping that we were, so that we had an excuse to give our husbands as to why we were riding for 5 hours. We trotted in the field. Then we headed back to the barn.

At this point, Whitney decided to try and canter a bit. Butterscotch wasn't really feeling it. He bucked, for what felt like 15 minutes to Whitney, but realistically was about 45 seconds. I watched, in amazement (and in a bit of panic as my horse began to become unsettled, and in helplessness as I tried to figure out how to help her) as she managed to get her feet out of the stirrups and jump off safely. With only a deep bruise to her elbow. Unbelievable.

We then sprayed the horses down. Released them back into the pasture. And set off to find Whitney's glasses that had been tossed from her nose during the bucking. Found them. Got a big bottle of water and headed home. With a stop at Taco Via to complete the day. Our favorite.
I don't know about her, but even with the bucking, this was one of the best days I have had in a long, long time. Being home with 3 kids, and then heading back to work had me feeling old and beat. For just a moment today, I felt so young again. I felt so independent. The day rejuvenated me in so many ways, that when I came home to my little family it felt like I was arriving after a long vacation. Thus, I even enjoyed my time with them more than usual.

The Must Haves.

My next (and final) house MUST have:

1. A driveway that can functionally park 4 cars. At least.
2. Master Suite including: a.)Bathroom with Jacuzzi, large walk-in shower, double vanity, separate room for toilet. b.) Walk in closet. c.) Laundry room.
3. 4 finished floors, ideally one can walk out of both the basement & 1st floors, and I have always wanted at least one 3rd floor room.
4. A pool.
5. A 2+ car garage. Meaning, more than enough room for storage, plus 2 cars.
6. A kitchen that opens into a family room.
7. A tire swing.
8. A decent size front porch.
9. A large, clean, dry space for well organized storage.
10. A functional fire place.
11. An address that is located between 40th and 95th block on either the MO or KS side, no further East than Oak and no further West than Metcalf.

I think it's possible.

The Cleaning Lady

Sometimes, you do things. Then you wonder afterwards, now, what was all the hype about? That was a waste of time.

Other times you do things. And wonder, why the hell did nobody insist I try this sooner? I have been missing out!

Having a cleaning lady is the latter of the two. Amazing. Unless both Matt and I are out of work at the same time, we will pay someone to clean our house from here on out.

I want it to be known, that I have periodically begged for, and suggested, and pointed out why we need, a cleaning lady since the day I started medical school. (So, pretty much, since the day I became a home-owner.)

You see, my standard of cleanliness just cannot be met by two full time employed adults. It definitely cannot be met with 2 working adults, 2 kids, 2 dogs, a cat and a fish all living in the same house. While it was just Matt, me and the pets, it was at least manageable and nearly met my standards after a good, solid weekend of cleaning. But now? Now we are lucky if we can get 3 of the 13 rooms done in a weekend.

Not anymore! I came home. On a Thursday night. A night where the dirty, cluttered, everything out of place-ness is nearing it's Friday night climax. To a clean house. Not a picked up house. A clean house. I am fairly certain our stove top wasn't even that clean the day we moved in. The glass that encases shower, that both Matt and I took turns scrubbing until we were sore, yet still had watery, soap scum marks...looked as if no water had ever touched it. The inside of the fridge was spotless. The microwave, wait, microwaves can work without grease covering all the inside surfaces?
I can feel huge weight has been lifted. One of my seemingly, lifelong stressors has simply melted away. No more panic as to when I can schedule in some time to clean a room or two. All of this peace of mind, lack of embarassment if someone were to unexpectedly pop by, and freed time for $15 an hour.

Things I love. Right now.

Just like every decade has its' own set of fads, I realize every year has a slight shift in fads for myself. It dawned on me, it would be kind of fun to have a record of when it was I obsessed over certain foods, shows, movies, music, restaurants, activities, etc. So, that will be my New Year's resolution for my blog (which will probably be continually updated as I think of things to add.) So, here are this past year's obsessions:

1. Caramel Lattes with skim milk (I refuse to call them "nonfat" or "skinny" & not sure this qualifies as a fad because I doubt it will ever change. But I am saying there is a chance).
2. Indian Food.
3. Dexter.
4. Kettle Corn...well, maybe just popcorn in general.
5. Red Wine.
6. Or maybe I should just say eating popcorn, drinking red wine and watching Dexter all together.
7. Genghis Khan, D'Bronx, Mr. Gyros, Taco Via and The Mixx.
   
8. There Will Be Blood, Inception and Elmo (do my kid's obsessions count as my own??)
9. Letter Press.
10. Running.
11. Lady Gaga.
    
12. Buffalo Chicken (Pizza, dip, wings, etc.)
13. The Evo.
    
14. Photography.
15. Talking about, shopping for, and attempting to organize my house. Entirely.
16. Costco, Baby Gap and Target.
17. Fried Dumplings and Donuts (not together).
18. Leggings, boots and long sweaters/tees. Or shorts, tanks and Summer dresses with strappy sandals.
    
19. Christian Bale (even if he is an ass), Daniel Day Lewis and Natalie Portman.
    
20. I feel Brock, Curtis and Matt are a given, but thought I should mention them.