all the brilliance . . .

Truth or Dare? I choose Truth...

So, I'm a senior in high school and my mom is tending someone's baby.  I'm down on the floor playing with the baby and all these random toys, mostly from Happy Meals, are laying around.  I pick up these Winnie the Pooh keychains that have the plush character dangling and on the plastic keychain part it has the first letter of each character.  Like, "T" for Tigger, "E" for Eeyore, "P" for Piglet, you know.  So I pick up the Kanga and Roo keychains and, to the baby, I start saying, "'K' for Kanga, 'R' for Roo! 'K' for Kanga, 'R' for Roo!" and DING! A lightbulb goes off and for a split second, I think I am BRILLIANT! But apparently not quite smart enough to think about it before letting my mom know how SMRT I really am. "But wait! Mom! . . ."

Kanga

+

Roo

=

"KANGAROO!! And that's what they are!!!"

My Mom gives me a blank stare, followed by uncontrollable laughter intermixed with snorting.

That's right people, pure brilliance. 

the birthday boy . . .

Happy Birthday Husband!!

I love this boy. 

He's so funny and spontaneous...

He has THE best smile and laugh...

He indulges my need for childishness... Ü

He's a great puppy dad and will be an even better people dad...

He lets me take pictures, and gives me his best fake smile...

(hahaha the best part is this is the same smile he has in 73% of our pictures! Thanks for pretending dude!)

And he really loves me...

So how could I resist giving him the present that has haunted his dreams for a month now?

I couldn't.  Ü  

I love you babe!

garth freakin' brooks . . .

So before this weekend, I just kinda like Garth Brooks. He was a little too country for me.  But after this weekend, I'm in love!!  Seriously, I have never seen anything like it.  The hubby's friend took us and his brother and his wife to Vegas for the weekend for their birthdays to see him. (THANKS JIMMY!!! Ü ) I had goosebumps the ENTIRE show.  This guy is hilarious, brilliant, incredible, sexy...pretty much the most awesome person ever! (I still love you husband!) We were on the 4th row, like 20 feet away from him!  I have never experienced something so cool.  Trisha Yearwood came out for a few songs and I was blown away by her too!  She has an AMAZING voice.  Who are these people?!  I would give anything to be able to sing like that! 

Us with Garth's Guitar!!!!!

(don't mind how I look 6 and a half months pregnant or how we all look possessed in this shot, it was a harmless trip to Vegas, I swear.)

So the show was awesome.  It was just him and his guitar playing accoustic the whole time.  Which is really the best way to play music, methinks.  I didn't take that first picture because they told us if we even pulled out a cell phone we'd get kicked out, but he wore pretty much that same thing. A blue hoodie, jeans that looked like they just got pulled out of a suitcase and a baseball hat. Apparently I'm attracted to pint-size, chubby guys that sing and don't give a crap what anyone thinks. (not really, it just works for him.)  He told the story of how he got started and who influenced him and played a bunch of old songs from like Simon and Garfunkel and Billy Joel.  It was seriously just plain amazing and we will definitely be going back while he's still down there! 

I LOVE YOU GARTH!!! Ü

worst campaign ever . . .

Seriously Victoria's Secret?  This is your brilliant advertising?

Okay, good for them that they are attempting to get a "Love Your Body" image out there, but seriously, I'd love my body too if I were these chicks.  Dove's campaigns were lame, but they look like genius' compared to VS now.  How are these 7 body types anything like the real world?!  Instead of slim, athletic, a little out of shape, curvy, va-va-voom curvy, more to love, and a lot more to love there is incredibly thin, barely there, taking on the shape of a twig, slightly anorexic, haven't eaten real food for 20 years, ready to break in half and the wind just might blow me away.  These people are dumb-dumbs.

I was just telling my mom the other day, I think I'm really growing up! I am starting to feel comfortable in my own skin both emotionally and physically.  I've never really felt that before.  I am probably the most emotional person you have ever met, seriously, I cry when someone looks at me wrong, I get goosebumps when I watch So You Think You Can Dance, and I swear a piece of me actually dies when I see those save the dogs commericals.  I always saw it as a weakness, a flaw.  Lately though, I see a power in it, a power to love more deeply and accept more fully.  I'm okay with it, more than okay with it.  I would rather cry when I see two people that are completely in love than to not see the overwhelming beauty of it.  I would rather know I have a heart and be tempted to give every ounce of my money to Sarah McLaughlin and those poor dogs than to feel nothing but indifference.  I am emotional and I wear my heart on my sleeve and I'm proud of it.

I'm out of shape.  I try to work out and feel the need to curl up in a ball and pass out 5 minutes into it.  My body is no where close to perfect, or where I would ideally like to be.  But for the first time I can ever remember, even when I was in the best shape ever my senior year, I look at myself in the mirror(most days) and instead of wanting to go hide under the covers and hibernate all my fat off, I can say, I'm not THAT bad!  Maybe it has a lot to do with the fact that I see potential in myself now, that I focus more on what CAN be, than what IS. So for now, I embrace this new found self-confidence and keep trying to be healthier with the hopes that this confidence will grow as I continue to grow.

But my chubby girl side of me still cries a little when that stinkin' VS catalog shows up in my mailbox.

 (Which seems like every day! Seriously, save some trees VS!)

experimenting . . .

So... I need your help!  Ü  I started an etsy shop and I want to see how things go!  I'm just starting out with a couple things I have made and gotten a good response and we'll see how it goes!  Here's what I've been working on...

What do you guys think?! I need honest opinions here! And please let your friends or anyone that's having a baby know about me and my new shop!! I will do anything custom!

Anyway, check out beautifulweirdos.etsy.com and let me know! 

I'm really excited about this and hope it works out!

Thanks guys!!