Truths for Mature Humans

The boys are having poker night upstairs... so like a good student I studied in our room. Then, after I was done, I played on "Pinterest" my NEW FAVORITE WEBSITE!!

Studied = 1 hour
Pinterest = 2 hours

Pinterest is a website filled with pictures that people have "tagged." I added a little icon to my blog of the things I like on Pinterest (the "P" on the right hand side of the site). These images are prodimantly crafts, quotes, inside of houses, etc. And for some reason, I can never call this site "Pinterest" but instead "Pininterest." (I like the sound of that better.)

So after looking at crafts I wish I had the talent and the time to do, houses that I wish I could afford, and pictures I wish I could take, I found this funny list of "Truths for Mature Humans."

One of my favorites?


"I'm always slightly terrified when I exit out of Word and it asks me if I want to save any changes to my 10 page technical report that I swear I didn't make any changes to." --> So true. Mind games Word, Mind games.



Enjoy - happy Tuesday!

Source: stumbleupon.com via Brooke on Pinterest

Deja ... water bottle?

So I was sitting in the break room eating my lunch the other day, half reading my magazine, half watching Family Feud, and half eating my lunch.

There were wrestlers on Family Feud that day. Besides their interesting choice of clothing, the two teams were doing pretty well. Or so I thought.  As I was taking a swig from my water bottle, the question “What profession has the bravest people?” was posed. My immediate response would have been “military” or “police officers.” No brainer.

The two responses given? “Football players” and “Fisherman.” Are you kidding me? Seriously? I choked on my water.

Their defense consisted of something along the lines of “it is scary getting hit by big beefy lineman” and “fishing can be dangerous if you are fishing for sharks.” Lordy. You know what answer I would give for “the smartest profession?” Not wrestlers.

As I was rolling my eyes and coughing, a picture in the magazine I was “reading” caught my eye. I thought I was seeing things. I looked from my water bottle to the magazine back to the water bottle.  It was my water bottle!

I am pretty picky about water. I only really drink water, milk, and fruit juice (although that will be changing this year) so I know if my water tastes “a little funky.” I had been buying SmartWater, promising Justin I would reuse the bottles. **Confession** I would buy the bottled water for the taste, so when it was empty – I wouldn’t refill it – because that was the reason I had bought the bottle. I didn’t like the taste of the faucet. If I grabbed a glass and drank it immediately, it wasn’t bad. But after eight hours… the water went from fresh and fabulous to a musty mayhem.

I loved smart water… but didn’t like the plastic waste. I had to do something.

As I was perusing the isles of Target, I came across this pretty pink water bottle – called the “Water Bobble”. (I’ll admit it WAS the color that brought my attention to item.) After closer inspection, I realized this might be exactly what I was wishing for. With a built in carbon filter, the bottle would be super easy to tote around, easy to clean, and was good for hundreds of uses (when the filter's life has ended, just grab a new filter!)The bottle portion was also made out of recycled plastic... and was recyclable itself! Labeled a “new” item, I decided to try it out. 

I LOVE it!! I do have to work a little harder at drinking it then just taking off of the cap (the water has to be pulled through the filter.) But – tap doesn’t taste like tap any longer, and because of its unique design, it has brought many comments from onlookers that haven’t seen anything like it. 

I know I didn’t start the trend, but it did bring a small smile to my face that I am using less plastic, drinking more water, and had this little water bottle in tow BEFORE I saw it in the woman’s magazine. Go me!

If you don’t like the taste of tap water, I would suggest to try this 9.99 “bobble.”

Want to read more or find out where to find it? Check out at The Water Bobble.

Blast from the past... college dorm room edition

One of my annual chores is to move old pictures (this year it was 2009) from my computer to my external hard drive. If you are looking to have your computer run a little faster, I would recommend this 100%!

Anyway, I was bored so I started sifting through pictures from way back in 2005... almost six years ago... and I found these AWESOME treasures. Circa Fall 2005, I decided to take pictures of my dorm room. (My resident advisor room.)

I would like to preface these pictures with a simple fact... my favorite colors were/are pink and purple. (Side fact.. I also worked at Build-A-Bear workshop)

(P.S. I am wondering why people didn't tell me that perhaps this might have been too much pink. Maybe they did and I didn't listen to them. I am suuupppeer surprised I kept boyfriends during this GIRLIE phase. haha!)

Interesting side note... If you have this much pink in your room, the dust that collects is no longer grey and will actually be turned a pink color. True fact. And who was sooo proud of her pink dust collection? This girl! (Points to self.) Too bad the hubbie doesn't want pink dust in the house. Sad times.


Hope you loved this BLAST from the past.... does anyone remember this room... Did I even let anyone in to see this pink wonderland??

A lil’ peek …

J and I have our own rooms. You could call them caves, havens, or simply extra space to keep our “junk” that won’t fit elsewhere.

I love my “junk.” It is a hodgepodge of everything that makes me, me. From books to the color pink; from pictures to flower pens – all of these pieces fit perfectly into the mosaic that I see as my life.

I just want to warn you that my room and everything in it won’t be found in the next edition of “Better Homes and Garden.” I could never commit that space to a certain style/theme, as I, myself, don’t even have one. And you know what? I am okay with that. Until I find someone else with my identical fingerprint, I plan on making my life “one of a kind.”


Here is a lil’ peek of my life’s “one of a kind” mosaic…





This is "My Prized Possession" shelf. From a picture of my engagement to my hubby, to some of my awards and degrees, with a signed picture of Daniel Radcliffe completing the "mezcla" (<-- spanish word for mix or blend.) Everything up there brings a smile to my face.





Another shelf of meaningful items, I especially love the jars on the second level. Entitled, "Miracles, Warm wishes, and Mistakes," I like to add to these occasionally with little slips of paper. On days when I am looking to reminisce, I open them back up and peer through little blurbs of memories.







My book shelf... which is unfortunately not big enough. My kindle is currently hanging out in the shelf too, trying to pretend it is a book. If you can't tell, I absolutely LOVE books that come in series... the thought that there will be more books usually lures me into the first read. (I also have a tendency to power read aka reading more than one book at a sitting. Not healthy.) My next read? "The Girl With the Dragon Tatoo."






This is a picture that I am particularly proud of. Where did I find it? Well the picture frame, I picked up at Walmart for six dollars and the picture itself is actually wrapping paper I cut out. I am a huge Lilly Pulitzer fan and this was a little thing that I thought would make a wonderful addition to my room!





Well that was it, ladies and gentlemen! Everyone needs a little personal space and that was mine. Have a great day!

Home Improvement

So Justin and I have recently gotten the home improvement “itch.”


No… not this Home Improvement



Although I did like the show… especially Wilson. Now that we have a good sized fence, I have had this weird compulsion to pull up a chair and talk to my neighbors – making sure to wear a hat and only have my eyes show.



More like this home improvement…



I would now like to answer a few questions that are currently on everyone’s mind…

- Yes, this is a wall in a room in OUR house.

- No, I am not pregnant. Too young for that – and as I have said many times: “The baby club is NOT one that we are ‘joining’ first. Got to have a few friends try it out to make sure it’s safe.”

- Yes, this is pink.

- Yes, Justin consented to this idea and picked out the paint and painting materials.

- Yes, we are talking about Justin Cotton, my husband.

- No, we have not gone crazy – just having some fun.



Enough for now, baby birds. We will feed you some more pictures later. Have a wonderful weekend!

The Trials and Tribulations of ... Grass.

So Justin and I have not had much luck with our grass in our back yard. When I say back yard, I don’t mean sprawling acres… I mean 160 square feet. It can’t be that hard to keep a small patch of grass alive, right? Wrong. Although my husband is a landscape architect, (which I thought plants should be second nature) Justin admitted that grass was not his specialty. To his credit, he can save plants that I had deemed dead and wanted to throw away.

So let me explain. Our first spring, we had thick plentiful grass. It took a little while, but the grass seed turned into grass and we were happy. Then like clockwork, June turned into July and it became blazing fire hot outside, and our grass was reduced to ash and weeds. Yes, ash.

Our second spring we decided to go the sod route. Justin’s dad came down and the boys spent 5+ hours working hard to make our back yard look less like a pig pen (it had been reduced to thick mud) and more like a green beauty. It was successful!! Until two weeks later. Apparently female dog urine burns the grass. She would go in the same spots – which didn’t bother us too much. We could deal with it. What we had problems with was the mowing.

When you have only a 160 square foot back yard, the HOA pays to have a landscaping company come mow it/cut it. We had some issues with over cutting and had gotten into a habit of locking our gate so we could cut our own grass. Their motto: If we cut it super short we can get paid the same amount but come a lot less. One day I forgot to lock and we went on vacation. In a matter of three days, our grass was cut to ¼ of a centimeter in length and it died. Sad times for us.

So now we are brainstorming. We do have dogs and have had issues with burning. We need something tough that can handle anything and everything. So what have we come up with? Fake grass!

After having a few family suggestions, we have started looking into synthetic grass. Our initial talks with Southwest Greens Nashville have been great! They have special grass called “Envy Lawn Pet Turf.” Super durable and drainable, this type of “grass” prides itself with being dirt free and that puppy loving insects can’t thrive in it! The grass comes in various styles such as: Bluegrass, Ryle, Fescue, Blends, Centipede, and Zoysia.




There are also several “green” benefits of this fake grass – which the hubby loves! Top reason – conservation of water. Without living grass, we wouldn’t need to use thousands of gallons of water in an attempt to save our faltering grass. We also wouldn’t have to use fertilizers or pesticides … and we wouldn’t need to use gas to cut the grass or have the emissions from the leaf blower and grass cutters. Additional benefits? We’ll save money on the endless amount of seed/sod/and everything else we have bought in attempt to have our green beauty outside. Goodness!

The company’s representative is coming to the house to meet with us tomorrow and I will let you know how it goes. Maybe we will have a forever green grass after this! Yippee!

(Description of the layers the company will prepare, in addition to the layer of grass)



(Pictures of Synthetic Grass)