But let me make this extra clear.

I cannot stand the State of the Union Address. . . when ANYONE gives it.

There’s the:

• Greeting
• Applause
• More stupid applause
• How about an standing ovation?
• More pointless applause
• Grandstanding
• Pointing out how great you are
• Political posturing
• More applause

This is not a knock on the President, as I am irritated every year I attempt to watch. . . and usually change the channel within five minutes. . . because it’s nothing but a long and painful political ad.

If I truly want to find the state of the Union. . . I will look for other sources.

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Back in the day. . . at one of my places of employment, two employees named “Dick” had gotten themselves into trouble within a matter of a few weeks.  I could never remember which one did what. . . . and was just having a moment where I was struggling to remember who was who. . . and came out of my office, saying loud enough for the entire office to hear:

“I CAN’T KEEP MY DICKS STRAIGHT!!!”

<Insert the entire office laughing hysterically and me falling over laughing when I realized how it sounded.>

~~~~~~~~~~

(Please forgive the crude language.  It certainly wasn’t intended to be crude.  My dad has this name, for crying out loud.)

It would have been a risky thing for me to buy a pile o’ sticks under normal circumstances. . . but I had seen the finished product of my house in another town and really liked it. . . just didn’t like the location.  I’m still really happy I made the decision I made, and I will never forget how fun it was to watch the house being built (or how difficult it was for me to get the damn combination lock on the front door unlocked). . . I just realized that I never posted the pictures of progress from start to finish. . .

The first day I looked at it!

Windows and a little siding. . .

A little more siding. . . (and some snow)

Garage doors, lights, and other details coming together. . .

Some brick. . .

All finished. . . with grass (but I can't find my pic with all landscaping!)

And let’s take a look at the living room. . .

Framed up!

Starting to look like a house (kind of)!

Now, really looking like a house. . . This is the day my friend Katie toured, and I made the executive decision to get hardwood floors instead of carpet (thanks to her for convincing me it wasn't too late!).

Fireplace is coming together. . .

And I have a mantel. . . (yes, the light is dumb in this picture.)

Soooo happy with the hardwood floor decision. . . love the shade I picked, too.

Almost finished. . . still doesn't have all my decor (I guess I don't have a picture with all of it!)

What the hell, let’s do the kitchen, too. . .

Pantry in the right corner. . .

Not many changes. . . just some insulation and wiring. . .

Made some choices. . . This was SO MUCH FUN!

Coming together. . .

And we have drywall!

Patio door. . .

Oooh. . . cabinets, floors, lights! (This was a super exciting night!)

Countertops!

The backsplash day was also an extremely exciting day. . .

And some appliances are in. . .

And all appliances are in. . . complete with the blue film on the stove.

And here's a finished product with my "stuff". . .

It’s been really fun.  It’s been really weird not to have to do much around my house.  I’m used to constantly having something to paint or work on.  It’s nice that I haven’t had to do any major repair work either. . . but then there’s been a lot to BUY with a new house.  All window coverings, landscaping, concrete, deck.  It all adds up, my friends.  Not sure I’d want to do it again unless it was my “forever” home. . .

I think it’s a great concept, but I am not as addicted to it as everyone else in America is.  I wish I could have had this a long time ago for the purpose of pinning home decor ideas from the blogs I read. . . but I’ve only pinned ~7 or 8 things thus far.  Just not that into it.

• Am I not into it because I don’t have projects I need to do around the house?
• Because I don’t have kids?
• Because I get my recipes off allrecipes.com so I can read reviews and pick the most popular?

Don’t know. . . but maybe it will grow on me!

I was just looking through my house pictures from Texas and missing my wall colors.  I wish I could paint now. . . but my house doesn’t lend itself to it.  So many angles and so open. . . there’s no natural ending spots. . . and I’m don’t want to do an accent wall.  Also, I use pretty bright colors in my decorating so I don’t want to go wild with the wall colors.  I guess my house will be boring and neutral for wall colors!  :\

“Always remember that no matter how useless you feel, you’re someone’s reason to smile.”

I am proud of myself for the no pop* at work** thing. . .

Tuesday–zero

Wednesday–zero

Thursday–zero

Friday–zero at work (but one with lunch at a restaurant)

Saturday–yes, I had pop at work, but it was a Saturday for crying out loud.  If you’re going to work on Saturday, you deserve a pop.

Sunday–zero (even at home!!!)

Monday–zero

I didn’t really plan this out or think I would stick with it.  It’s amazing how being crazy busy can make you forget about your bad habits.  :)

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*Please note, I am still drinking caffeine, but I only allow myself one Starbucks drink in the morning. . . and it’s water from there on out.  I’m not anti-caffeine, I’m anti-sweet drinks with sugar on my teeth.

**Please also note that I allow myself to drink pop away from work.  The goal is to not sit there and sip all day. . . if I drink at lunch, it’s very a very short sipping period.

Um. . . this made me nearly pee the bed when he sent me this screenshot last night. . . . and made me laugh all day.  Luckily, she took it well.  :)  He sent me the follow-up comments he had to make about how he didn’t really think she was a hillbilly, etc.

Amazing.  :D

Before. . .

And after. . .