I'm Like Chandler

Hey peeps :) Did you guys think I forgot about you?

I hope not, but I have been super busy. Let me tell you why here in a moment.

And now, please forgive me, but it's time for another Friends reference.

Do you guys remember when Chandler got laid off from his accounting job and didn't know what he wanted to do with his life? So he took an unpaid internship at an ad agency. And all his friends looked at him like he was crrraaaazzy.

That's me peeps :)

I am an unpaid intern and I honestly could not be more excited!

When I saw the posting, I thought, "Hey, I'm probably a long shot but maybe I should try."

And then I woke up and realized there was no way I could possibly be considered as I really had no qualifying skills. Trying would be stupid.

But then I thought again, it couldn't hurt.

And then I got an interview. I seriously couldn't breathe.

My first question was "Do you boat?" and that was followed up with "Do you fish?"

I managed to keep my smile plastered on my face but my mind was spinning. Obviously honesty is the best policy but my marketing background was telling me that ANYTHING can be spun positively.

So of course I was honest, but I expressed a desire to learn.

And it was in all seriousness peeps. I am EXCITED to learn.

I went home hoping but not getting my hopes up. When I hadn't heard by Friday at five, I thought maybe it was for the best.

Then I got the email. I was so excited.

And that, my friends, is how I became an unpaid intern.

Wish me luck :)

Pinterest PPAAARRRTAY

Over the holidays I hosted a Pinterest dinner party. It was super fun. At least I thought it was and my guests graciously played along. Of cousre they were all legally obligated being that they were family.

Everything I did I found on Pinterest! Including the name cards. As Martha would say "A dinner party without place cards leaves guests feeling wandering and may even lead to uncomfortableness."

I kind of doubt that but what the heck?

I ended up doing six different desserts, three meats and two different kind of potatoes. It took me seven days.
If you are doing the math here, let me simplify. It equals lots of work.

But it was worth it. At least for me. And my my kids. They were more excited than I was. Every person we randomly encountered heard about it and then was invited. I think we almost had a Walmart cashier talked into coming.

Painting Furnitue: The Right Way

This year for Christmas, Izzy asked for two things. A desk and a bible. Not a baby bible or even a children's bible. But a regular bible "with lots of tiny words."

Yes, I may be raising a small Amish person.

But back to my Christmas story. Isabelle and her desk. It was the only thing she asked for from Santa.

I found this beast on Craigslist. It really is meant for a computer, but I thought that we could make it work.

But lime green was simply out of the question. This is a boy color. 

I thought to myself, it can't be that hard to slap on a new paint color. And I read blogs. I read lots of blogs and some of those writers are naturally crafty. It can't be hard! So I went over some of their tutorials and got tips. That I'm going to combine into MY OWN TUTORIAL. And you don't even have to wait for it. BECAUSE YOU ARE ALREADY READING IT!

Step 1. Find the piece of furniture you want to redo. I opted to go through Craigslist. When you find the piece you want and come to an agreeable price with the seller, arrange for someone to go with you for pickup. This is two fold. One, you won't have to do all the heavy lifting alone. Two, you most likely won't get your head hacked off if you go in pairs. My hubby was out of town, so I talked my brother-in-law into going. And let me tell you, you can only imagine my nervous tic acting up as we drove further out to the middle of nowhere Firth, in the dark, to a vacant house to pick up this jewel. I'm sure he enjoyed the drive as I spent the majority of the time trying to decide what the probability was that we would end up being decapitated. The further out we got, the more I increased the odds. When a very pregnant woman greeted us, I lowered them a tad. Just a tad. I guess the most important part of this step is to live in order to complete the project.

Step 2. Read tutorials besides this one. This one will actually probably not be be good for much. But as you read through these additional tutorials, take into account that you are probably not as good as these people. This is not mentioned to bring you down. But I have to be honest. The people that write these blogs spend time doing the project and then additional time bragging up the project on the Internet. They must have low self esteem but a craftiness level that is so high it sustains them. But you can do it!

Step 3. All of the blogs recommend that you take the original finish off. But that sounded like a lot of work. And I don't like to touch sandpaper. So you need to find someone else to do it for you. So I cut a deal with my brother-in-law. He sanded it down and I agreed to sell his brand new iPhone 4 on Craigslist. Yes, I had to take an insufferable amount of emails from people named Truly Love and Edward McMahon and thirty other people who were all magically working oversees and wanted me to ship my "item" to Africa to they could inspect the condition. Do people still fall for that crap? Uuuuggg.

Step 4. Now that it has been sanded down, head to Home Depot. Park your cart in front of the painting section and wait for someone to walk by that looks like they know what they are doing. Preferably covered in paint because the odds they have actual life experience are much greater. Cambri watched Spongebob as we waited for our victim. When I found him, he recommended Floteral to keep the paint wet longer but then opted out of posing for a picture with us, so boo on that. Good advice though.

Step 5. Pick out the right refreshment while the hubby primes, paints and cover in polyurethane. I went for a purple rockstar. Yes I was worried about having to use the restroom an abnormal amount of times which would mean leaving my supervisory role but I went for it. It all worked out well as Chasey is naturally talented and I had lots of energy to run up and down the stairs. I also had a blueberry bagel but forgot to snap a pic. Such is life.  

This is pretty much the end of the tutorial. I bet you are wondering why I haven't included a finished project picture. That's the point of doing a tutorial right?  I would but it's all the way downstairs.

And I haven't had a rockstar today.

But Izzy LOVED it and was so grateful. Chase was a little dismayed that the big guy at the North Pole got all the credit.

He got over it. Merry belated Christmas all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving Peeps! I'm not behind or anything, aye? Considering that two additional national holidays have since passed since that glorious November day.

I wanted to catch you up on the goings on at the Burke house.

But to go back to Thanksgiving, we have to move the mental imagery to the Lanier house in smalltown Missouri. Because that's where we went and let me tell you, it was such a good time.

This is my brother-in-law Josh (and my super adorbs nephew).

He is the funniest guy I know. I'm not even joking. I spend the entire week laughing so hard, I couldn't breathe. Once again, I'm not even joking.

At one point during the week, he slipped his mom's school pic (she works for the school district) into my hubby's wallet.

And when she arrived home, he pretended to "discover" that Chase had been carrying around this picture, right in front of her. The horrified face she made when she thought Chasey was secretly carrying around her picture was priceless. I laughed for twenty minutes.

I can't even type this without laughing again. I'm sure it was one of those you had to be there kind of moments, but I loved it.

As my sister then pointed out, "Josh can intricately plan out every aspect of a joke and carry it out perfectly. But ask him to stop by the store for milk on his way home and it's hit or miss."

Ha ha, She's pretty funny too!

But in all seriously, my sister and I both really hit GRAND SLAMS when it comes to in-laws. Josh and his entire family are so welcoming and loving. I love them all. And Pam is an extremely good sport when she is the butt of Josh's funnies just so he can entertain us :)

Onward with a trip recap. Izzy lost a tooth the night before we left, on our way to Utah. Luckily her grandma was able to play tooth fairy. The five bucks Izzy got really upped the ante from the expired Arby's gift card I gave her the time before.

My sister lives about 30 minutes from the LDS historic town Nauvoo. While it has no religious significance for us, the history and restoration was absolutely fascinating. Chasey loves to study genealogy and he was in heaven. Here he is standing in front of his Great Great Great Grandfather (& namesake) Heber C. Kimball house. When the tour guides found out he was  a decendent, they lifted the velvet rope and let him go and really examine the artifacts. He must have snapped a hundred pics. A tad extreme? Sure. A tad embarrassing? Absolutely. But his geninue excitment was enough for me to hold my head up high and completely fight the urge to pretend like I was with the group in front of us.

In usual fashion, the kids were not that great on the plane ride out there when it was just me and them. And they were awesome on the ride home when Chase was with us. Sigh. The horrendous journey there was probably amplified in my head because we sat on the tarmac for 30 mintues after landing while they found a gate. The flight attendent had let Izzy announce our arrival into the Saint Louis airport over the PA system and so she preceded to ask every 30 seconds if she could say something else. That poor lady never realized what a can of worms she opened when asking a sweet looking child to welcome the crowd to the midwest. I do have to say that Izzy did such a good job while doing it that I was so glad I got it on tape. I tried to post it here, but it won't let me :( Take my word for it, it was super cute. 

My sister got the girls these super cute sweatshirts for Christmas. They love them and so do I!

On the way home, Chase got Izzy and I bumped to first class. It was AWESOMESAUCE. Full meal, plenty of room, full time drink service.

I don't think Izzy really got it. Considering halfway through she asked when the first class thing was going to start. 

That was Thanksgiving in a nutshell. Thanks again Laniers for an awesome week!