death.

attention all: our lovely little home has officially been INVADED!

i came home from work tonight & started pulling food out of my fridge for dinner. as set the milk, eggs & butter down, i noticed an ant crawling on my clean countertop. i was understandably horrified & quickly killed it. immediately, i noticed a few more. so, i killed those. and then i started really looking & noticed that there were ants EVERWHERE. and i mean everywhere...on the counter, crawling up the walls, in my sink, on the floor, on my stove...

i want to die.

i do not do well with bugs. i do not do well with bugs in my sink, in my kitchen, on my always-clean-if-i-can-help-it-COUNTERTOP.
(my apologies to ryan & mckenzie for all the screaming/vacuuming/freaking out i am sure they heard)


husband & i cleaned the entire kitchen from top to bottom. we disinfected & sanitized everything. i mopped the floor twice. and then, we took a break and watched jason be the biggest jerk of all time (seriously, LAME). after we finished, we noticed that all our hard work was for nothing, because there were a new set of satans crawling around everywhere.

help.

no, seriously.

HELP!

recently.

you might be me if you fall down the stairs at work & bruise both legs from ankle to knee.

you might be me if you have nightmares that leave you too terrified to get up and pee.

you might be me if you knock magnets off the fridge while playing fetch with your pup.

you might be me if you think gregory john is hot. but then again, you might just be some chick (he is taken, ladies).

you might be me if you call hillside floral to request a hydrangea replacement. and you talk with the manager for 4 days & get them to agree to replace said hydrangea & then arrive at the store & realize the flowers were purchased from cactus & tropical. and husband definitely told you that. and where in the world did hillside floral come from?

you might be me if there is always a bag of clothes to be returned in the backseat of you car.

you might be me if you bake a dozen cookies, eat one & then give the rest away, because you know you are not strong enough to resist the temptation of eating all 12.

you might be me if you think to yourself that you are so sick of blogging. so you log onto blogger & blog about it (true story, but i didn't post it).

you might be me if you get a brand-spankin' new cell phone & vow to never drop it. you might be me if you then proceed to drop it twice in the first 24 hours.

you might be me if you are in-capable of producing anything besides random, pointless posts.

(sorry about that, friends)

6 + 6. sorta.

i checked the 6th picture in my 6th folder, but it was completely inappropriate & in no way suitable for this blog. or any blog, for that matter. so i hope you won't mind that i'm not really following the rules here.

in the spirit of sharing random photos, i've decided to share with you a little something i like to call, "stuff around aunt jess' house" by morgan ana. all photos were shot by mo while we waited for uncle g to take us on our date. please keep in mind that these pictures are straight out of the camera & have not been touched-up or corrected in any way (shocking, i know).

ladies & gentlemen,
i give you...

"stuff around aunt jess' house"
by morgan a.

"a young pup"

"polka dots"

"play time"

"the ceiling"


"aunt jess"

"possessed squeaky toy"

"norwegian troll"

"self-portrait"

please contact the photographer directly to inquire about prints & photo sessions.
but be warned, she isn't cheap.

because i can count.

10. emails from shopping sites this morning.

09. painted nails that haven't chipped yet.

08. hours of work left.

07. pellets i feed fish face daily.

06. plants in my home that currently rely on me for life. (yikes)

05. ice cubes in my morning orange juice.

04. free quizno's sandwich coupons i printed.

03. goodbye kisses this morning.

02. fur babies.

01. lover.

yes, i am a nerd.

creative writing was always my favorite class. always. while everyone else grumbled & complained about the writing assignment we'd been given, i could hardly wait to get started. which is why i am excited to join marta's write club and follow along with this little project.

i'm completing my first writing assignment today & thinking about who i was back in 2005. before i met g & changed the course of my life as i knew it.

you should do it, too.

hello & welcome.

to my sunny little home.

Once upon a time, back in October, I met my new home for the first time. It looked very different then, to say the least.

4 months & lots of blood, sweat & tears later, I am amazed at what the Olsen family has accomplished. And I say Olsen FAMILY because it was a family job. Greg & his parents transformed this place with the help of Erik & Ty. I helped as much as I could, but up until I met Greg, I didn't know the difference between a philips & flathead screwdriver. So my help wasn't paramount.

It's been a long process, but so worth it. To say we love this place would be the understatement of the year. It is perfect for us. I adore the huge windows in every room, the constant sunshine, the gorgeous views, the perfect neighbors, I could go on & on. Every day I wake up & love this house. We feel so lucky to be living here.

With that said, enjoy these pictures of the transformation. And hopefully, after seeing this, some of you will forgive me for dropping off the face of the earth for 3 months. As you will see, it was a ton of work, but look at what we did!!

office before.

office after.
(this is the most neglected room, thus far.
still needs work. we haven't ripped the tape down yet, oh well.)





family room before.

family room after.

master bedroom before.


master bedroom after.





bathroom before.

bathroom after.






kitchen before.


kitchen after.
(still need to paint & put on one cabinet front & all the cabinet handles)

dining room before.

dining room after.

Thank you so much to everyone who helped in various ways. We love you.

r.i.p. miss hydrangea. you will be dearly missed.

remember this lovely plant i blogged about earlier? g gave her to me for valentines day & what a darling hydrangea she was.

i was, however, very concerned about the well-being of this little lady. you see, i am the plant killer, and i knew that husband bought me this plant specifically because "bouquets are a waste of money, they die in a week". so instead of dropping all that cash on roses, he wanted to get me something that we could enjoy for a while.

at least that was the plan.

that's right. i got involved & killed the little sucker. i really don't know what i did. i tried to be a good plant mother. i followed the instructions of my personal florist & even googled to learn more about my new house guest. i checked the soil for dampness daily & even spritz the little love with cool water each morning in addition to the water she got every 3rd day. ms. hydrangea did not pass away for a lack of love. she was admired by all who entered the olsen household (for that WHOLE 5 days!!).

my wonderful friend, mckenzie, was nice enough to come upstairs & check on her when i reported her death. she came up with high hopes of reviving the little sucker, but was shocked (as was i) to see that in 24 hours, ms. plant had completely withered away.

thanks to mckenzie's great recommendation, i have called the florist & claimed that the plant "must have been sick or something" and the nice manager has agreed to come let me pick out a new one tomorrow. any recommendations for something that is bullet proof? we are talking a plant that can live anywhere, under any conditions & without food or water, and is possibly earthquake, fire, flood, jacky b. & plant-killer proof?

g isn't home yet, and i am seriously nervous for him to see what i've done to his gift. g & ms. hydrangea had a special bond, right from the start.and now i've just written 6+ paragraphs about a bunch of hydrangeas. bless all of you who read this pathetic excuse for a blog.

that is all.

best. picture. ever.

and i would also like to take the opportunity to officially dub this photo:
best picture ever.
because it is.

"look at the camera, j bubba, look at the camera...."

and to think...he didn't even want dogs at first.
no dogs for the olsens?
ya right.

and annika makes 4.

we were lucky enough to visit ty & jennie at the hospital after their little annika was born.
she is so beautiful...tiny, darling & sweet. plus, she totally rocks the mohawk.
we love our newest niece so much already (and g was completely smitten & in love, let me tell ya).

congratulations ty & jennie
& welcome baby annika...

(see smitten & in love look on his face? i am not the only one who is obsessed with babies anymore.)

the big finish.

Valentines Day can be over-rated, right? We spend so much time anticipating a day of flowers, chocolates & romance and then the actual day comes and we forget to make reservations, the flowers don't get delivered and you wake up with a zit on your forehead. I have had a few Valentines like that.

"I'm setting myself up for failure" I thought as I drove home on Friday night. I was SO excited for Valentines Day this year (could you tell?)... There was really no way it could be as wonderful as I was imagining. Luckily for me, a rare (and I mean RARE) thing happened and the actual event was as great as all the build-up.

Friday night we went out for a steak dinner & then home to open presents. Saturday we picked up a heart-shaped pizza & stayed in with our pups, homemade treats and some great rentals. It was a fabulous weekend...better than I even hoped for. G loved his gift (a handmade tie with his initials on the tag) and I loved mine (gorgeous hydrangeas & a necklace from Whimsy). Most of all, I loved spending time cooped up in this darling home with the city lights twinkling outside our windows. I loved spending time with my G.

This year, I felt really lucky to be so genuinely happy. I felt lucky to be so in love.

Hope you did, too.

PS. I am the proud new owner of one of these. Can you believe it? A dream come true. Photos & explanation coming soon. (Get excited).