Productive boycot

Like I said before in my previous post, we have been out of town every weekend for the past few months. It's been a fun summer, but I'm sick of packing my bags every Thursday. My days off are spent out of town, which isn't really a productive day off. There is so much I want/need to do around our house. We moved in two years ago and I still feel like I'm living in someone else's house. Lately I've done a few projects to make this house feel more like our home. When we first moved in I painted the shutters and bathroom - which were both burgundy by the way, my least favorite color ever. Last February I painted our bedroom a "midnight blue" which turned out awesome. I've been wanting to paint the kitchen since I first saw it. It is what I would describe as "country blue," hell it had blue and white checkered curtains when we moved in. Gross! Luckily my mom is super talented and made me some cute curtains to spice it up a little bit. Anyways, Mike and his brother are running a marathon together in Kansas City this weekend. I really wanted to go. I love cheering on my husband... but... there is only so much exercise watching a wife can endure. Plus, I had to work this weekend and it was my co-workers baby shower. So, I boycotted the trip. Put my foot down. Stayed home. Mike threatened to take Darrell with him to Kansas City as punishment. Ha. Anyways - I painted my kitchen last night. Took me four hours. Thought it would be a good idea to have a couple beers... until I had to stand on a stool and hold a tray of paint. In this picture you can see the old blue, and the new *Spiced Pumpkin.* Before you judge the orange, let me tell you my bathroom is painted lime green. I love bright colors. It may not be the color you'd paint your kitchen, but it's totally me.

I bought this pineapple cookie jar over a year ago. I always new it would someday look perfect in my kitchen.
I pulled Darrell's bed into the kitchen so he could watch. He's laying on the pink Snuggie Mike got me for our anniversary. :)
I got this table for my birthday. It's a pub-style table with two stools. Perfect for our little family.

What's new

What's been going on at the McGinn house? Not much, we've been out of town almost every weekend for the past few months. Most exciting of all was the trip to Madison for Mike's Ironman. 2.4 mile swim + 112 mile bike + 26.2 mile run. He finished in 11 hours and 30 minutes. It was amazing. What an accomplishment. He has a marathon later this month and after that wife says "no more exercise!" ... for a while atleast...

Happy birthday Brooke! Which means it's my birthday too ya! The big 27. I wish I was 19 again...

Worth the money

In my quest to be the perfect wife, I've started cooking more. I have found that some grocery items are worth the money. For instance...

Skippy peanut butter. It's awesome. You can't go cheap on peanut butter. The real deal tastes so much better. I was raised on Skippy and I've converted my ex-Jiffy-lovin' husband too.

What about jelly? I insist on having Welch's squeezable grape jelly. Maybe I'm biased because my maiden name is Welch and I someday hope to reap the profits from jelly sales.....

Next item: tuna. I have recently come to love tuna in the foil pouch. No messing around with the can opener and trying to drain the can without getting the juice on your hands.
Stay tuned for grocery items that I think are...
the cheaper, the better!

Seven

Today my little dude turns seven. We are planning an outing to Petsmart so Darrell can pick out a new friend (stuffed animal). He is so sweet with his toys. He carries them around and loves on them like they are his friends. I can't believe we adopted Darrell three years ago. It seems like we've always had him.

Look at his cute little crooked tail:
Darrell's favorite place to be: (Mine too - shh don't tell Mike - he's not as snuggly)
This birthday, #7, make me sad though. I keep thinking that he is getting older......... one year closer...... to not being around. Too awful to think about.

Happy birthday Billy!

Just wanted to wish my one-and-only brother a happy birthday!

Happy 28th Billy!

Love,
Your favorite sister

Ellie's visit

My niece, Ellie, is visiting for the week. My brother and sister-in-law are on vacation. She is so easy! And her and Darrell are in love... it's so cute. They get along really well.

Here is Ellie laying on Darrell's bed (she doesn't quite fit...). She's playing with Darrell's favorite pig.

She's so sleepy after a long day of playing. She isn't allowed on the couch at home, but when you stay at Aunt Becka's the rules don't apply!

Me and Ellie:

It's very different to have a big dog in our house. I don't know if you can tell by the pictures, but Ellie is huge! I know she's close to 100 pounds. I have been sleeping in the guest bedroom while she's here... because Mike, myself, Ellie, and Darrell can't fit in the same bed. Ellie has been falling asleep with me, and then Darrell sneaks in during the night. I'm starting to miss my husband! He's probably happy to stretch out and not have me watching tv until wee hours of the night. Oh, the things you do for dogs!

Our newest addition

Announcing the newest addition to the McGinn family.... no, not a baby.... a tandem bike!

Mike has been on the prowl for a tandem bike for quite some time. I kept telling him NO because I didn't want to be forced into outdoor activity. I'm more of an indoors/air condition type girl. Anyway, I finally caved and let Mike buy a tandem bike. The weather was gorgeous tonight so we decided to take it for a spin.

The last time I rode a bike (a really classy Huffy from K-Mart), the chain fell off and I fell bit the dust. Here is how nervous I was before the ride:

So what if my main motivation for a bike ride was to to get a hot fudge sundae?

I made it home in one piece. Now all I need is a basket for Darrell...