getting caught up, a photo tour..

so here is my attempt to make up for lost time....through photos. i'll post a meatier post soon, i promise. for now, these pics will have to doit just looks strange with colorado plates on it!!!
hands down the coolest violin player ever.... he's with the band Skillet, at Heavenfest. we went to this festival....three days before we left for montana. it was great!!
the beauty, and dustiness, that was Heavenfest
my bffaeaeae, cryssy , the night before she was cinderella..yes, cinderella
just in case you didn't know.... part of the sweet pea parade we went to while we were home.

some of my former coworkers in the parade

there she is....as cinderella, with her prince charming!!mat and i with his mom and sister, katiekrista, crystal, bonnie and i--friends from...what, grade school?!?! so good to catch up with them at crystals wedding!!that's right, the smith's getting down!!i miss this silly girl....yes, that is a mouthful of chocolate cake!!!the whole family, minus my dad and my cousin, brittany. what a crazy bunch!! loves!my cousin... more like my brother, with his little ladybug, briannethe week involved lots and lots of mean uno....so much fun!!

me and my rona, together again....

stay tuned for part two (any maybe part three......)

wow

who knew so many people (relatively speaking) would be so intrigued by my big surprise.... well, here it is.... i have finally opened my own etsy shop with my cards. i know, compared with having a baby this is tiny news, but it's something i'm really excited about. i've been thinking about doing this for a long time, and since my week wasn't busy enough...since my life in general isn't busy enough... i decided to just go for it and see what happens. so, here is the link to my beautiful new shop: carlysuesmith.etsy.com come see what i have to offer, give me tips and advice.... i welcome all feedback. i'm really excited about this and really want to make it a success. thanks in advance for all your support!!

i'm so glad that the past week is over. it was a long week. we found out we had a crack in our main sewer line, so on wednesday, the floor in our laundry room was torn up and all those pipes were replaced. it was a huge headache, made worse by the fact that....1) the rec center was closed, so we couldn't even go over there for a shower and 2) almost all the hotel rooms were sold out for DNC, making employee rate rooms nonexistant. and our good friend shawn was out here visiting, which made me feel terrible that "hi, you can stay with us, but you can't take a shower, or run any water, and we are going to eat out pretty much the entire time you are out here, since we can't do dishes or laundry...." it was just a super long week, but we finally got everything worked out, and spent all day yesterday cleaning the house and getting things back to normal. i think we probably did 6 loads of laundry yesterday, and probably have another 4 to do today....will it never end?!?!?!

school starts tomorrow too.... i need some major time management help. i'm taking three classes..... hopefully i don't go completely crazy. i'm taking a nutrition class, a biology class and a sociology class. looks like so far it'll just be a ton of reading, which i don't mind. i just hope i'll have the time to devote to mat, my cards, and our slowly blossoming social life. i'm sure things will work out.... there is just always that early semester stress. it'll be fine. just need to power through.

mat just woke up (he worked overnight again last night) and made me french toast... time to dig in.
happy shopping!! can't wait to hear your feedback!!!

something big...something exciting

something big is in the works. please bear with me. it's been a busy couple weeks...a week of vacation....four nights of mat working audit...two weekends of plumbing issues.....family coming in a week....school starting in a week.... be patient. i'll have big news soon. i promise.
thanks y'all


(ok, i tried uploading a pic of us in montana, and it didn't work...something about internal errors... so now you really have to stay tuned...)

montana here we come

just putting the finishing touches on my montana playlist, packing enough books for the plane ride, remembering to pack pajamas..... we are leaving for montana momentarily... and i am so excited..... we get to see my family, mat's family, my darling rona.... and lots of other friends and family. it'll be a busy week, but a good one. just wanted to bid y'all adieu (however you spell that) and i'll post a ton of pictures next week when we are back.
adios!

note to self

When sending a birthday gift.....or any gift for that matter, in july....... don't send chocolate.....
while i totally love chocolate in all it's forms, varieties and colors..... the presentation of this is a little.....lacking. no fun chocolate seashells or sea horses as originally intended... just chocolate blobs. dont' get me wrong, we are still partaking in the deliciousness. it is just a little messier. my darling cryssy sent me this deliciousness for my birthday. now our freezer is fully stocked of all sorts of abstract chocolate shapes, just waiting to be devoured.

yum!!

also, in a stroke of inspiration from sarah, i have finally done something with the blank wall by our dining room table. i personally think it turned out beautifully.

i'm very proud of myself for my little spark of creativity. i got some papers at hobby lobby, got that darling little "no place like home" sign at hallmark (75% off!!! how could i pass that up?!?!) and got the mirror for a $5 steal at target. i love it. it makes the room appear so much bigger too. it's great.

so, i got another promotion at work and started shifting into that this week. i am now an asset specialist, which means i work more closely with agents and brokers and the properties getting them ready for market. so far, i'm very overwhelmed, but that's to be expected. most of the week i was doing my old position (contract prepping) full time, while trying to stay caught up with the tasks for my new position (the girl who was in it quit suddenly on monday...) and train the temp who is taking my place. it was a hectic week, but i think the change is for the better. i think i'll get a raise, and it's always good to be advancing and learning new things and being challenged. this one will definitely challenge me to be making decisions better, making phone calls and not letting broker intimidate me. we'll see how it goes!

our house is still a million degrees, nothing seems to help. i think i have convinced mat to get our a/c unit out of the garage and put it in our bedroom so we can sleep in our bed as opposed to the basement guest bed, where we've been sleeping for the past week. call me crazy, i just prefer sleeping in our own bedroom. hopefully we can get that up and running this weekend and make it more bearable upstairs.

we are leaving in 11 days for montana....i can't hardly wait. i am so excited to see mysha and my family and mat's family...... i just can't wait. it'll be a busy week, but so worth it. we'll get to see my cousins, my cousins' baby (who is 1 1/2....hardly a baby anymore!!!) it'll be great. i'm really looking forward to it. plus, what a great break from work. i'll be in my new position for 2 1/2 weeks and then leave for a week..... i'll feel bad for all the people who'll have to cover for me, but it'll be well deserved break! but, before that, we are going to heavenfest.....mat finally decided he could take saturday the 26th off, even tho we leave on the 30th for montana. i'm so so so so excited to go!! can't effing wait!!

can't get enough of:
thunderstorms (i think there is one brewing right as we speak!)
neon pink toenails
reading for pleasure....until august 25th at least!
the fresh prince of bel-air
confetti

birthday

thirty two ounces of coffee.... does it get much better than that?!?!

flowers from my momma, daddy and sister

this was my desk when i came in on monday afternoon. crazy confetti, strawberry shortcake doll, pinwheels, balloons...the whole nine yards.

birthday explosion!!



yes, my husband got me a princess cake. jaidyn had an amazing pricess/castle birthday cake extravaganza, which totally made me crazy jealous. so mat, being the amazing husband he is, gave in to my childish desires and got me my very own princess cake. he's the best!

loving right now:

my crocs primas, from my hubby. they are amazing!!

reese's pieces and dark chocolate m&m's....yum!

summer...... i am mostly appreciative of this because i just registered for classes for fall semester....start august 25th. trying to grasp onto every bit of summer i have left...

The new clintons cd, "Have Another" from my sis-in-law katie....such a great cd. i love it. it makes me smile.

i still smell smoke.....

the smell of campfire is haunting me today. immediately upon stepping out of the shower it was in my nostrils, and even now, after having worked for 6 hours, and both of us took a shower, i still smell it in our house. hopefully it will linger no longer once i wash the laundry. all that complaining to say we had an excellent time camping!! it was so much fun. i really enjoy camping, i've forgotten how much i like it. and hanging out with the kids was so much fun too. they are fun little kiddos. other than their meltdown sunday morning, they were great. so much fun. only two snafu's on the weekend--a broken waverunner and forgotten utensils on our "dinner pontoon boat" but other than that, it was a great weekend.

he wanted to take the runaway truck ramp so badly.... i wouldn't let him!

happy birthday america....
and then me....
and then geri
(sis-in-law katie corrected me...geri's birthday is the 7th (today))

here are the kiddos.... playing in the dirt. ain't they cute?!?!

yum.....smores and a bud select.....

so excited for smores!!!

beautiful colorado

more photos

he'd had enough!
yum-o!
brrrr.....the lake was so cold!
on the boat. it was such a great trip. i love my husband and his family. they are good people. i luff them lots!

here are some other things i love:

my decorated desk at work, courtesy of my co-workers

my sugar scrub on my dirty dirty feet

ice cold corona-with lime-in the mountains

etsy...enough said.

spinach artichoke calzone from old chicago....where we are headed tonite! yum!

advantage smith

we played tennis last night. not unusual, except for that i actually learned how to keep score and we played a full set (i think that's right.....more than a game, less than a match....) mat won 6-2. i put up a good fight. it's funny how much more serious he gets when we actually keep score. he was serving really hard and just taking it very seriously. silly competitive boy. i think i plyaed pretty well. sometimes my lack of hand-eye coordination is astounding. it makes me mad, but overall i have a good time. and if i pitch too much of a fit, it'll be like golf--another sport we are not allowed to play together. so i keep my cool.

this is apparently where we are going camping this weekend. hopefully i can capture some picturesque photos like these.....

i am really looking forward to camping; i haven't slept in a tent for a few years. there is just something to sleeping in the outdoors, sleep so good. and we'll have air mattresses, which'll make it even better. i'm sure mat's back will be really happy with him monday..... :) and we will have the wave runner, two little kiddos, crab legs, and.........

birthday s'mores!!! geri's birthday--mat's aunt--is on the 5th and mine is on the 6th so we'll definitely do some celebrating up at the lake. excellent! she and i always "argue" about how to make the best s'mores. let the battle begin.

.........pink lemonade, orange slices, fireworks, swim suits and flip flops. it's going to be a good weekend!

all i want for my birthday...

is this little lady

waiting for the hubby

just wanted to post some new photos whilst waiting for the hubby so we can go play games and eat food with some soon-to-be new friends. we are going on a couples blind date; meeting a couple from our church and sharing dinner and games. it should be a good time.

but, in the mean time, i'm sweating in the 90* heat, hoping their house is airconditioned or at least cooler than ours!!

here is a photo of my new craft corner, complete with scissors caddy and oodles of paper and other goodies. i just love having a place for all these things now!!

my new toy--found on craigslist!!

and a good time was had by all (!!!)

and a pic of the new 'do. compliments of my darling sister, who was out here last weekend. it was great to see her and spend some time together with her and her friend, amanda. a crazy busy weekend, and they made us go to hooters, but fun nonetheless. and we'll be headed home at the tail-end of july (the 30th thru august 6th) for a wedding and to see everyone else, so it won't be too long before i see her again.

oh, and by the way, i'm officially an AssetLink employee. i started being permanent on monday--complete with a raise. i'm no longer a temp..... "at my ten year reunion, it will no longer say "ryan howard is a temp".....office fans, anyone? it makes me feel good to know that my supervisor not only wants to keep me around, but she values what i do enough to give me a (substantial) raise. just makes me feel good!

also trying to figure out what to do for my birthday.... not feeling too inspired yet.

loving right now.......
bare piggies
short, blonde hair
orange fanta
thunder and lightning storms
rockies games

run errands as if you have ice cream in the trunk

my new grocery shopping/errand running advice. i find i am much more efficent when i act as if i have ice cream melting in the sweltering heat. just thought i'd share.

i set up my crafting area last night. since mat's in ny with the camera, i can't share pictures of that, but i'm way excited to start making some magic! :)

we've had some good weekends. two weekends ago, we were very ambitious with our back yard/patio and got it about half way done, still a work in progress, but already looking better. this last weekend, we were able to get free tickets to the jewel/john legend concert, and mat's mom was in town and was able to go with us. it was a good night, two very talented musicians and a beautiful evening.

loving right now:

sun tea with mint

sweet and sour cucumbers

KLOVE

big sunglasses