Taking a Hiatus from my Hiatus

Hey dudes!

I'm still pluggin' away @ my Disney-work...
I miss blogging & I crave Disney-churros.
But other than that, life is fab-busy.

But I had to take a break to prepare my class for this week!
{it's tomorrow & Thursday}

So, today's post-I bring you:

My life the past 24 hours
{aka} Simplicity August

I'll be back commenting my life away
on your blogs in no time @ all!

{Happy Tuesday friends!}

My New Rule

I'm teaching a Disney class @ SBE in September.
Like, the 7th.
{It's called "The Happiest Class on Earth"}

My new rule is that I'm not allowed blog or have any kind of general fun, until the album is finished & I no longer dream about layouts o' The Magic Kingdom.

See ya whenever that happens, yos.

{TGIF}

Peace in the Far East

Word to Mongolia!

It's email Elder Dixon/Eric Thursday!

Just wanna say I love you like crazy brother, even though you can't look @ my blog, & left to exist on the other side of the world before everyone & their mo in the Metro Phoenix area had a blog slash you might not even know what a blog is!


Peace!
{Hope everyone had a happy day!}

Priceless Treasures from the Black Hole

Us Dunns have 4 bedrooms in our house.

1 is Mine & Myron's.
1 is Bowhead's.
1 is my Crafty Room.
& 1 is THE BLACK HOLE.

In the black hole you will find anything & everything that I don't know where to put/organize it.
There are old yearbooks, random computer cords, 3 large tupperwares full of Myron's mission memorabilia {ps: I gave Myron a coupon 3 years ago for his birthday, promising I'd scrapbook all of it!}, quilts I've never finished, a DI pile, a years worth of food storage that i continuously fail to rotate, 2 twin beds that i plan to set up, etc. It's basically a room full of projects & intimidating crap that I choose to ignore. It's a royal disaster area.

So, I set a goal to clean up 5 things, and 5 things only per day. That way, in about 2013, we will have a functioning bedroom, thus enabling us to have/store more children.

Today, I was rather proud of the five things that I chose to find a home for. They are very random & each made me laugh out loud.

1. A vampire costume for Mr. Miyagi.
I found myself wishing it looked like Edward.

2. Bill & Hillary paper dolls.
I'm not a pack rat, I promise.
I'm simply hanging on to these for my next white elephant gift exchange.

3. My Pee-Wee bobble head.
Compliments of Ryan Dixon a couple Christmas' ago. Aw, he knows me ever-so-well to assume I'd highly appreciate such a gift. It was like Christmas all over finding him today!

4. A poster of Napoleon's sweet dance skills.

5. Ariel Barbie
I found my old Barbie collection, and might have played with them for a half hour. Or maybe more. I found Ariel, which delighted Chloe to no end. We couldn't find her shells though, so we had to borrow a rockin' pink 80's shirt from Skipper.

I heart useless junk.
{Happy Wednesday}

Angron

Here's yet another trendy blog tag.
This time, involving a hot redhead.

Basics:

1. Who is your man?
Myron Lee Dizzle Dunn

2. How long have you been together?
2003-2007, 4 years

3. Dating/Engaged/Married?
We kinda forgot to date. We accidentally fell in love. We were totally just hanging out as friends and then BAM!! Valentine’s Day 2003 was the moment of truth, we were engaged March 16^th & married May 17^th.

4. How old is your man?
27…like, pretty old.

You or your man?

1. Who eats more?
That’s an easy one. Totally me. Myron doesn’t get hungry. Nor does he crave things. Rarely does he go for seconds. I=the polar opposite.

2. Who said "I love you" first?
Him. But I’m pretty sure the first time he told me he loved me was him belting “I think I love you” by the Partridge Fam in a really annoyingly random voice just to be, well, hysterical.

3. Who weighs more?
Him. May it stay that way forever.

4. Who sings better?
Myron. But he won’t admit. I sing louder & basically all the time, but he has the better voice. Every time I tell him this, he says, “Whatever, you totally made Teen Tones.” To which I reply, “No I didn’t.” To which he totally cracks up because he knows that is a sore spot for me & shouldn’t be because it was Jr. High/10 years ago.

5. Who's Older?
My-ron. He’ll be 40 in 13 years, HELLO!

6. Who's smarter?
Totally Myron. I always tell him he shoulda been in ELP. He’s way smarter than he gives himself credit for. The man can figure out anything!

7. Who's temper is worse?
When the Suns lose/refs are geigh? Him. When Lost is a blasted re-run or yet another annoying re-cap of episodes I’ve totally already seen? Me.

8. Who does the laundry?
Yours truly. We might be better off if he did it though.

9. Who does the dishes?
Mostly me, but he’s totally down w/ helping. He’s good like that.

10. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed?
Myron. Now, who sleeps on the left AND right side of the bed? Me.
Poor, poor Myron.

11. Who's feet are bigger?
Myron’s. Size 10.

12. Who's hair is longer?
Mine, barely. {Waa, I’m a man!}

13. Who's better with the computer?
Def My.

14.Who pays the bills?
Myron brings home most of the bacon/ works his guts out. I supplement some bacon. And I write the checks & send the bills out, check the accounts, blah, blah, blah. I LOVE paying bills and being ridiculously organized about it.

15. Who cooks dinner?
Um, usually me. Myron probably once a week. And Chipotle, Barros, Rio, & TB do the rest!

17. Who drives when you are together?
Always Myron. I loathe driving.

18. Who pays when you go out to dinner?
Whoever, same dif.

19. Who's the most stubborn?
Chloe. {wink}

20. Who is the first one to admit when they're wrong?
Hopefully whoever 's wrong.

21. Who's parents do you see more?
Since the Dixon Family Fairness Doctrine is ingrained deeply into my soul, we see both sides pretty much the same amount of time, down to the minute. Jk, but pretty much.

22. Who kissed who first?
Myron kissed me. And then I started laughing hysterically/falling off the couch…saying, “I just kissed Myron Dunn, hahahahahahahaha”…I later found out, that didn’t boost his self esteem very much. Woops.

23. Who asked who out?
Um, we were hanging out every waking second that wasn't spent @ work or school.
It was just a given.

24. What did you do?
We saw “How to Lose a Guy in 10 days”…this is when our relationship was still on the DL-hardcore because I was still in major denial about us being a couple/way in love. That night we saw like 5 thousand people we knew @ AMC & confused the heck out of them. It was a very funny & memorable evening.

25. Who's more sensitive?
Me, I mean, naturally-I’m a girl.

26. Who's taller?
Myron. I fit perf under his arm.

27. Who is more indecisive?
For sure me. I’m an expert @ being indecisive. Ask Myron about me & picking out paint. I rock.

28. Who has more siblings?
Me, 5. Myron, 2.

29. Who wears the pants in the relationship?
It’s pretty even. We make a pretty rockin' team.

30. Who has the best husband ever?
So me. And anyone that knows me, knows I know so.

M-diz & C-dawg

I've been sorting through old pics.
This one might have made me cry.
{freaking happy tears}

Blessed beyond measure,
fo sho.

{Happy Monday folks!}

Chloe discovers her shadow.

{Happy weekend peeps.}

Chloe's Book Nook

There is a small nook in our hallway downstairs.
This fabulous Marshall's find was just the right size to squeeze in there.
And perf for DVD collection storage.

That is, until Chlo-bow turned one.
I had to put a gate up, or else...

...she'd be all up in it's grill.
{single tear}

This has been a prob for a while, so this morning I decided to figure out a solution.
{'Cause I don't think Chloe's a fan of being a prisoner in her own home.}

So, I hit up my laundry room change jar.
{There is an unspoken rule in our house that if you leave change in your pockets, all proceeds go to me aka laundry service o' Dunn household.}

I rolled my change {which took me six months to collect} while Chloe consumed her breakfast.
We went to DI, Half Price Books, and Ross to score some sweet deals on used books.
We also purchased a posh stool for Chlo to cozy up on.

We came home & relocated the DVDs.
And then created a lil book nook for some toddler leisurely reading.

I couldn't be more excited about our new installment!
And Chloe's in total heaven.

{Happy Thursday}

Betty Croc Style

I'm not the hugest fan of cookies out there.

Like, don't get me wrong, I LOVE a fresh baked cook, any day.
But-let's just say, it's not my vice.

I'd much rather hit up some Sour Punch Straws, Nerds, or Tropical Mike & Ikes.
It's the truth=I heart candy more than just about anything.
{Clodhopper thinks my sugar preferences are crazy.}


That being said, I truly love to bake.
I love smelling my kitchen up with cookie goodness.
I love to pretend I'm Martha.
{But a more friendly version.}
And I love having a reason to use my mixer o' joy that = my Kitchen Aid.
And I love taking freshly baked goodies to friends in need of a lil sugar.

Today, I was in the OOC mood to bake.
{In celebration that SYTYCD is on tonight!}

I used Betty's recipe:


While chillin' to some beloved Mae:


And sported my fave apron invented:
{featured pic doesn't do it justice, btw}


{Story o' this apron: K, so last year me & my work friends took an inspiration field trip to Anthropologie. Like any other sane human being, I am obsessed with this store. I usually just walk around & pet things, imagine them cutely displayed in my house or on my body, and then slap myself back to reality & go to Tar-jey or something. But, this particular afternoon, there was this delightfully charming apron that I totally loved & wanted/needed. I couldn't stop telling my friend Kelli how much I coveted it. I kept going back to it, trying to memorize every seem, so I could go to JoAnn's, buy some fabric & attempt to ghetto-fabulously duplicate it's perfection. I left the store empty handed, per usual. When dropping me off at the end of the day, my sweeter than sweet friend Kel, said, "Wait, Chloe's mom, you forgot something!"...she proceeds to hand me a shopping bag, contents equaling this apron. She had purchased it for me while I wasn't looking. {Sneeky.} I think of Kelli & her out of control thoughtfulness every time I bake. Thanks Naye's mom, I've said it before & I'll say it again: you rock.}


Man, I don't bake nearly enough.

{Happy Wednesday}

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Well folks, the time has come.

I am venturing into the scary world of capitalization.
{For those of you that haven't noticed, I rarely capitalize things.}
Reason being: I am NOT smarter than a fifth grader.

But, I've decided to give the capitalization thing a go...like @ the beginnings of sentences & pronouns & stuff. {Ha! As if I even know what a pronoun is!}

I'm pretty much getting really tired of Word/Blogger fixing it for me, and having to go back & make everything uniformly uncapitalized.

I still can't promise proper grammar.
And I'll prolly continue to misspell things, and use fake words.
Oh, and most likely attach unnecessary suffixes here & there. *ie: -ness, -dizzle, -ity, etc.*
{that's just me.}

But, I'm ready to grow up, I reckon.
It's time to use capital letters & learn good habits for my future-"mom can you help me with my homework"-days.

Besides, a big Q is way cuter than a small q.
Wouldn't you agree?

{Happy Tuesday w/ a capital T}

specsh is short for special

daddy took a much needed break {if ya wanna call it that} this weekend. he embarked on a supa-fast roadtrip-izzle w/ his childhood buddy, brian n. to californ-i-a. he also enjoyed some shootin' time w/ bryan a. saturday morn. yes, the majority of myron's close friends are either named bryan or brian {insert last initial a-z}

anywhoo, since daddy was MIA, specsh & i got to play all weekend long, no boys allowed.

about 80% of the weekend chloe sported this get-up. {minus 2.5 hours for church} she's basically obsessed with this particular shirt of mine. if i wear it, she starts yanking on it slash begging to cozy-up in it. it is rather comfy, i kinda don't blame 'er.

we spent some time catchin' some rays @ the pool. since chlo refuses to lounge in any sort of pool floating device, i have to hold her the entire time. so, we just stay until my arm gets tired, or when some random stranger comes & acts like they expect complete silence as they sunbathe. {which ever inevitably comes first}

chloe likes to play with front door. like a lot. she'll close the door to play peek-a-boo & then freak out, 'cause she doesn't know how to open it back up/realizes she's home alone. i have to be careful playing this game, because one time she locked me out. and that was the opposite of awesome.

we played with toys. read books. watched ariel. ate string cheese. danced to amy whinehouse. slept in. took long naps.
ignored work. were lazy w/ chores. bonded mo & daught style. walked mr. miyagi. etc.

and pretended that we were princesses 24/7.

it's been real specsh.

{happy monday}

happy thoughts o' august afternoon

here's a handful of things that make me {smile} as of late.

my new purchase: the george forman lean, mean fat grilling machine.
{who i have affectionately nicknamed jorge, btw.} this device is fab. in a mere nine minutes, frozen chicken breast {barf on that word} turns into a delightful fajita dinner. i am truly obsessed w/ this invention.
it makes the most juicy of meat & the steamed lovliness o' vegetables.

all things chi.
thanks to my adorable sil, audrey, i am a daily user o' this miracle working contraption.
it turns my weak-skills o' angie hairdo-ness into hopefully something not as much brown helmet-ish.
and it's pink. gotta love that. (:

clorox joy
mel introduced me to this world of convenience. how nice are these for EVERY surface to exist? honestly! best ever. {and the smells are heavenly to boot!} i plan to purchase a container for every room of the house. {and i'm not kidding.}

studying up
since sometimes i catch myself teaching my primary kids false doctrine [myron corrects me, don't worry], i decided it's time for me to brush up on the minor details o' the good old Book of Mormon. so, i purchased a religion manual @ deseret. it's really helped me in my studies. a attribute most of my happiness in life to the truths belonging in this, said BOM. and that makes me smile, like, big.

bath life saver
k, so mi madre purchased this awesome device for me. if you don't have one, it's awesome...and perhaps you should get one. it is to assist rinsing children's hair out, post head scrub, w/out getting bubble-water in their eyes/faces. i adore it, and use it every eve. thanks mo.

smokin' deal
so, i LOATHE spending money on necessary yet often expensive items such as: pjs. and makeup. and tires. and undergarments {including diapers}.
so, you can imagine my joy when m-dizzle spotted these pjs for the chlo-ster @ mervyns for $2.50 each!! {and they are surprisingly cute & refreshingly colorful!}
yay for wicked bargains!

opening new detergent
i LOVE gain detergent. i've tried tide, and other brands, and always go back to my fave: gainers.
last month i purchased a large container of a different kind, and it was OKAY, but i missed my usual laundry-staple so much. i'm excited to report the old kind is gone, and this morning, chloe & i rejoiced upon the opening o' a new box of gain. i can't wait for it to perfume-up my laundry room! we are gonna have a sheet washing party today in celebration.

wally world purchase=my new mop
i just got this new cleaning device, per my mother-in-laws recommendation. and i LOVE it. reason being: it is huge & covers {nearly} the entire width of 18in tile! it has a microfiber cover that you put on, and then when you are done, throw it in the wash w/ some bleach & it's ready to use again! it's so inexpensive to use! i could go on & on...but i won't.

i'm awesome.
so, i've been cookin' the fam dinner a lot more lately. it's going relatively well, but last night we ran into a little prob. um, i was making taco soup & accidentally put ground cinnamon in the crock pot, instead of taco seasoning. ooops. i repeat {in the most sarcastic voice ever}...i'm awesome.

SYTYCD fever!
go sabra!!
amen.

my husband's new obsession:
mexican coke. pretty random. but, apparently you can buy large quantities of it @ smart & final.
who knew?
but, just for the record, i wouldn't put it past him, to drive to nogales for it.
that's all.

sportin' something other than target flip flops:
i love the casual, yet ultra cute feel of these new birthday shoes my sis got for me!
thanks heidi!
i've said it before & i'll say it again...i heart shoes. they always fit.

my new musical discovery:
oh regina,
where have you been all my life?

that's all.
{happy wednesday everyone!}

my child is crazy...

in a cute way.
{lol}
here's some recent funny things that have been goin' down in the chloe mae department:


she really likes being pretty. anything dress-up is her friend. {which does her girly-girl mom's heart good, btw} BUT she still continues to rip out her bows as soon as she is aware they are atop her head. {hence her crazy locks in the majority o' these pics} last week grandma dunn came over & put her pretty dangling earrings on top of chlo's ears. she loved it! she thought she was pretty hot.


for some reason chloe is obsessed with taking licks off of daddy's popsicle & daddy's popsicle only. we like popsicles @ our house, but she will have nothing to do w/ sharing with me...just myron. i try not to take it personally. lol.
{maybe that's why he's the favorite?!}



last night i made a special trip to target to buy chloe a new pool chair, so we could take a dip this morning. i was so excited to show her when she woke up. well, we took it out to the pool & she hated it. {sad face} yep, she basically cried a river the whole time she was in it. but, don't worry, she loved it in the living room post-dip. {crazy}


oh, i just love her. i don't know what the heck i'd do w/out this girl. thanks for being crazy/funny bow. we love ya!

{happy tuesday}

home sweetest home

i took advantage of nap time on friday to create somethin' fun for the casa. i've had these cardboard letters for-EV-er now, so i thought i'd finish up that lil project. i'm marginally thrilled w/ them. i plan to hang them above my teley sometime in the near future.

{happy mon}

31 years to date

happy anniversary to my cutest parents ever!
love you guys!
sincerely yours,
the preferred child

such a tease

yesterday chloe & i created these teasers to put in the store.

may they tease the heck out of scrapbooks etc. patrons.
{jk,lol}


just thought we'd share our creations.
more lata.

{TGIF}

i heart tag

my internet has been being {beyond} g-e-i-g-h this week…luckily, my qwest man came today & solved the prob. not having reliable internet for the past 36 hours or so has basically been drivin' me batty.

anywho…you guessed it! i’ve been tagged…by my beauty of a cousin, katie. and, what can i say, i seem to love the game of blog-tag…so, here’s more nonsense about me:

1. what were you doing 10 years ago?
i was enduring 9^th grade. i can’t honestly say i enjoyed ’97 all that much, not gonna lie. i was uber-awkward and hadn’t made the decision yet that it’s pretty alright to just be me. that year made for some pretty hot photo shoots too. And by hot, i really just mean oh-so embarrassing.

2. what were you doing 1 year ago?
i had just started back to work post birth o’ babe. i was IN LOVE with being a new mom. {still am} i had just replaced my housecoat of comfy-ness with real {if you wanna call size-huge real} clothes, post c-section. oh, and i was a tad bit high strung. wait, i think i still am.

3. five snacks you enjoy?
1. popcornizzle {especsh the kind that my lil sis holly makes}
2. tlc’s {tiny little crackers…scrumptious}
3. anything sugar related {aka my vice}
4. fresh fruit
5. debra’s salsa & chips

4. five songs you know all of the lyrics to:
1. stay – lisa loeb {who doesn’t}
2. c' est lavie – vanessa carlton {love her, squared}
3. tie the rope – the format {love him, cubed}
4. mint car- the cure
5. who i am – jessica andrews {my theme song}

5. five things you would do if you were a millionaire:
1. first & foremost: pay someone to finish painting my living room
2. buy all the PERFECT gifts i have picked out for all my friends & fam, but can’t buy because…well, i’m not a millionaire…and wrap them in cute TDF wrapping paper w/ lots of real ribbon.
3. pay off the mortgage baby!
4. invest in more rental properties
5. eat at the melting pot to see what the freakin’ hype is

6. five bad habits
1. jogging on the treadmill only long enough to think of an excuse to get off
2. consuming large ammounts of popcorn at 10-11pm
3. forgetting to charge my phone {myron’s a big fan, let me tell ya}
4. comparing myself to others
5. being a hermit & enjoying every second

7. five things you like to do:
1. clean & organize really messy spaces
2. dance with the bow bow
3. just putter {love that word, btw, it reminds me of my mom} around the house doing projects with my man
4. watch the same movie every night for a week/memorize it
5. laugh my guts out at funny people/shows/jokes/blogs

8. five things that you will never wear again:
1. u-knits {remember those? hot.}
2. size tiny
3. bodysuits
4. spandex
5. banana clips

9. five favorite toys:
1. my george forman {future blog post in the making}
2. my panasonic camera {wouldn’t want to ever live w/out it}
3. my new mop from wally world
4. my click-it {scrapbook or bust!}
5. this computer {my friend, my confidant}

10. where will you be in 10 years?
happily chillin’ with myron lee, chloe mae & hopefully we’ll be blessed w/ another midget or two to join the par-tay!

whew, the end.

oh, and you {can} be tagged if you want to be…

{happy thursday yos}

rug obsessing

k dudes, i need your opinion.

should i take the tags off these lovely rugs i just purchased from tar-jey?
or, should i return them?
i can't decide.
are they too boring?
or are they cute-n-simple?
i bought two.
one for the front door & one for the back door.
{thanks kate for the target gift card that made this all possible, love you!}


i relocated the green, fun, & happy rugs that were previously in those spots, 'cause since the tile instalation they have been very anti-functional. {the tile is higher than our old flooring, so the green rugs are too high, hence us not being able to open the door very easily...which makes myron really happy, btw.} just incase you wanted to know. {lol}

oh! and keep in mind, i have {this} rug right when you walk in the front door so i can't buy anything too crazy/busy:


so, what do ya think? you likey? or is it a no-go?

{hope you're having a happy wednesday!}