Who?

Yesterday my friend Kari and I went to the MOA to see the HGTV Property Brothers.  I am sure any HGTV Junkie will know who these brothers are but for those in the back, these guys are identical twins that have a show on HGTV.  One is a realtor and one is a contractor.  They take people looking to buy a house and help them find one...but with a little twist.  The couple will tell the brothers (Jonathan and Drew...Jonathan being the longer-haired, contractor in the plaid shirt and Drew being the realtor in the shirt and tie) what they are looking for in a house and what their budget is.  Most people have super high expectations and a lot on their "checklist" that they want.  Drew and Jon will first take them to a house that meets all of their requirements but unknown to the future home buyers, is way out of their budget.  The brothers are basically giving them a reality check and saying "Listen, you want all of this stuff but can't afford it.  Why don't we find you a fixer-upper that we can modify to meet more of your needs and wants."  This is where Jonathan comes in with his eye for opening up walls, renovating kitchens and everything in between.  He takes the run-down homes and does a computer generated design of what a couple of the fixer-uppers could look like.  The couple then picks one home and Jonathan gets to work.  It's a fun show and the brothers are cute together and even cuter together in real life.

Kari and I stood in line for about an hour, got a wrist band, waited for another hour and then the brothers came out and spoke for about a half hour and then signed autographs and took pictures.  I had them sign a paint sample swatch for me just to be a little different. 

 I also may have brought Jonathan something special...I gave him a before & after picture of my bathroom renovation project and on the back I put a picture of myself and said something along the lines of: "Jonathan, this is for inspiration for your next bathroom renovation.  Check out my blog (insert link here) to see more pictures (or just to drop me a line...I am also single!)."  It's a long shot but you never know!  They claim they answer all of the questions they get through their Facebook and Twitter accounts...I wonder if this counts as a question and if they will take the time to visit my blog...  :)

#26Acts

So you know how I'm now on Twitter?  Well after the events of the past week, I haven't been happier that I joined.  Tomorrow will mark a week since the horrific tragedy that struck Sandy Hook school in Connecticut.  It is still so hard to believe and tears still come to my eyes when the adorable faces of those innocent children flash across the TV screen.  With tears of sadness has also come tears of joy.  Ann Curry, the NBC news correspondent, is one of the people I follow on Twitter.  I am not sure why I started following her months ago, but I did.  Shortly after the Sandy Hook tragedy, she tweeted out a basic suggestion:  "Imagine if everyone went out and committed to 20 acts of kindness for everyone child lost in Newtown?"  The response has been overwhelming to say the least.  People started tweeting to her what they were doing as random acts of kindness and then she would re-tweet those tweets.  These re-tweets from Ann started filling up my twitter news feed and I find myself checking twitter more often just to see what people were doing for strangers everywhere.  People then suggested changing it to 26 acts, one for every person that died at the school that day.  It is so cool to know that although we may not see it for ourselves everyday, there are good people in this world that are willing to make a difference for the better.  One of my favorites that I've seen is a guy that said he got on the city bus and he told the driver he wanted to pay for the next 26 people to board the bus.  The driver looked at him and simply said "Ann Curry follower?"  If you haven't heard about #26Acts yet, I am sure you will soon.  Newspapers and TV stations have started picking up this story because it is spreading like wildfire.  I myself did one random act yesterday and plan to do more.  If you haven't heard about this yet, check it out, you won't regret it!  And because I feel it's part of my duty as a semi-"published" writer (ha ha, - as if), I am spreading the word and encouraging you to do at least one random act of kindness for someone in the near future.  You'll love it.  I promise.  Check out this link and this link to get your heart all warm and fuzzy.  And see just a glimpse of Ann's twitter feed below:
Again, Merry Christmas!

what i've been up to

I can gladly say that my computer room is back in somewhat working order!  I am no longer laying on my stomach on the floor to type blog entries which my back could not be happier about.  I will give you the rundown of the project when it's all said and done but in a nut shell, here's the deal so far:  Three paint colors (one which was actually applied to every single wall, one that was tested in a few spots and one that was finally the final one) and three 5'x8' rugs later, I finally have made peace with this room!  Now I just have to hang some stuff on the walls, get a piece of furniture or two in here, lay the rug down and I'm good to go!  I didn't feel like digging for any "before" shots of this room, but here is as it sits right now.  As I type I am patiently waiting for my 3M Command Nails to adhere to the wall so I can hang up some pictures.  I spent literally probably and hour and a half total trying to decide how to hang things and how to hang them symmetrically and proportionally on the large empty wall.  Math can be so tricky!

 

Even though it's not 100% complete, I LOVE this little corner.  I braved Ikea (after my very first trip to that store I swore I'd never go back) and picked up those shelves the other weekend.  I hate to admit it, but the store has grown on me a bit.  Not that I will go there all the time, but I won't avoid it like the Plague anymore.

Anyway, more on that room once it's complete.

I have a new position at work that I love.  It was time for a change of pace and although a good friend of mine left the company and I took her spot, I am very glad I was given the opportunity to learn something new!

It's almost Christmas!  Wow, I can't believe it.  Time flies.  Our family is doing something a little different this year that I'm excited about.  My Grandpa always said that instead of gifts we should go serve food at a shelter or give gifts to a family in need.  So in memory of him this year, we are taking the money that we would have spent on gifts for him and buying for a local family in need.  I am sure he would be proud.  :)  It will be sad and just not the same without him around the tree with all of us this year and I will defiantly miss reading his funny way of writing out the tags in his all caps handwriting as my aunt Kris and I gather all the gifts from under the tree and pass them out: "LEIANNEEEEE"...."KIMMY"...."TIMMY"....."JEFFREEEY"...."ASHLEEEEE"..."KRISEEE"
I wonder how he would have written out Niall's name - I am guessing something like this:  "NIAAAALLL".

And now for good measure, I recent picture of my little Ni Guy and my Christmas tree in all her glory.  Merry Christmas and Happy Shopping!