I had the entire last week of the year off. So what did I do? I took down the tree, put away all the new loot, and I made laundry soap.

Now I’m not becoming some crunchy hippie type. I just simply look for easy ways to save money sometimes. Like how I always buy my toilet paper from the Family Dollar now instead of at the grocery store. The good stuff is so much cheaper there.

My only regret is that didn’t have any scented oils on hand. So my laundry smells like nothing when I pull it out of the dryer. Oh well. It made a lot of soap and there’s still plenty of stuff leftover to make a few more batches.

I was gifted some lovely things for Christmas. And also gifted some cash so that I could buy my own lovelies.

I have too many things. I love them so.

1. What did you do in 2011 that you’d never done before?

I went to Austin, Tx. I visited friends and family and had a wonderful time.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

Some I did, some I didn’t. I wanted a kitchen remodel and new appliances, which I mostly got. I wanted to save more money and be better with my finances. That didn’t happen. I also wanted to be more organized. I suppose I am a little bit, but not like I’d like to be. I will probably not make any resolutions for 2012. I’m just not good with them.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

No, but I still got a fair amount of baby snuggles in throughout the year.

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thankfully.

5. What countries did you visit?

I’ve never been outside of the US. My sister is always begging me to get my passport. Someday…

6. What would you like to have in 2012 that you didn’t have in 2011?

Besides a baby and a boatload of money? I would really like to have financial stability. Money in my savings account. Bills that are always paid on time and me not living paycheck to paycheck.

7. What dates from 2011 will be etched upon your memory, and why?

I celebrated my 5th wedding anniversary on 8/5/11. That was pretty cool. Other than that, I can’t think of anything.

8. What was your biggest achievement of this year?

Probably all of the work I did on the house. There is still so much more to be done, but I’m happy with what I’ve accomplished so far.

9. What was your biggest failure?

I’d rather not say here.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

I’m happy to say no.

11. What was the best thing you bought?

My new appliances. They make me so happy. I also really dig my iphone and my kindle.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

My sister and my husband are the two people in my life I cannot live without. We don’t always get along, but I could not imagine my life without them. They are supportive and strong and an ear when I need to talk. So I would like to celebrate them. Warts and all.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

The whole Penn State thing comes to mind. And even though I don’t watch reality tv, all of the attention and fame given to the Real Housewives and the Jersey Shores continues to annoy me. But at least the people in my life aren’t bringing me down.

14. Where did most of your money go?

Bills. I took no extravagant trips or bought anything major this year other than my appliances.

15. What did you get really excited about?

The kitchen remodel. Even though it was only a partial remodel, it’s made a world of difference.

16. What song will always remind you of 2011?

I don’t know of just one song, but Adele’s 21 album for sure.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you: a) happier or sadder? b) thinner or fatter? c) richer or poorer?

Sadder in some ways, happier in others. But probably more sad than happy.
I don’t think I’m fatter, but I’m not thinner. It seems like every time I lose 20 lbs it goes back on slowly.
Poorer for sure. Which adds to the sadness.

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercise. Saving. Cleaning. I’m really lazy.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Eating. Spending. Watching tv.

20. How will you spend Christmas?

I’ve never not woken up in Texas on Christmas morning. This year will be no different. But due to work schedules and whatnot, we’re staying less than 48 hours. Driving down on Christmas Eve and back on Christmas Day. I won’t get to see all of my family, but I’m doing the best I can.

21. Did you fall in love in 2011?

I was already in love with my husband. I did manage, to fall in love with a lot of material things. Silly me.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

I watched a lot of tv this year on Netflix. Friday Night Lights was probably the best. Although I really enjoyed Damages and I love the new show Revenge.

23. What was the best book you read?

The Help. With the Hunger Games trilogy coming in second.

24. What was your greatest musical discovery?

Listening to country music again after years of not opened up a lot of new favorites for me. Lady Antebellum for sure.

25. What did you want and get?

Appliances, iphone, kindle.

26. What did you want and not get?

Pregnant.

27. What was your favorite film of 2011?

It sure wasn’t Breaking Dawn. Probably The Help.

28. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

I turned 34. I went back to work after being off almost a week for my Austin trip. But on my actual birthday, nothing fun.

29. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Having a baby. And not having all of the plumbing in our house go crazy.

30. How would you describe your personal fashion concept of 2011 ?

Black. And more black. I know I don’t have a great body so I do what I can to hide it without wearing tents. It usually involves layers and cardigans and not much color.

31. What kept you sane?

Am I sane?

32. What political issue stirred you the most?

I’m not political. So nothing comes to mind.

33. Who did you miss?

A friend who one was. And other bloggy friends I wasn’t able to see like Isabel and Sizzle.

34. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2011.

Don’t flush tampons down the toilet. Your plumber will scold you. And hand you a big bill.

35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

“My life is like a lemon drop. I’m sucking on the bitter to get to the sweet part. I know there are better days ahead.” – Pistol Annies

Well there it is folks. Sorry if it’s a bit depressing. Maybe next year will be better.

I set a goal for myself at the beginning of the year. I was going to bring my breakfast and lunch to work every single day for the entire month. Not only would I save quite a bit of money, but I had hoped it would help with my eating habits and whatnot. I was in the habit of going out to lunch on average 3 times a week. And probably buying breakfast out that much as well.

Well I’m proud to say I did it. I’m not sure how much money I saved since joining Weight Watchers and buying all that extra produce wasn’t cheap, but I know I had to have saved something. I’m pretending that I saved $140. Why? Because that’s how much my new Kindle cost. And so I’m pretending that Kindle was my reward for doing good.

It wasn’t as hard as I thought it would be. It’s kind of nice not having to figure out where to go for lunch every day. And while I do miss things like sausage rolls and donuts and Brewburgers, I know that I ate better and I lost 10lbs. I know I can’t keep this up for the whole year, but I think I will allow myself a once a week exception. I’m very excited to try the new oatmeal from McDonald’s. It looks yummy and healthy.

One of my resolutions for the year was to stop moving my keep the change money from my savings back to my checking. This went better than expected in January. Not only did I not take any money out, I managed to put more in savings than just the amount from the keep the change program. I’ve added an addendum to that resolution where I put X amount of each paycheck into savings and I leave it there. So, one month down, 11 more to go. If I can last the whole year I can probably buy myself new counter tops. They will go great with my new appliances.

Did I mention I’m getting new appliances? I didn’t think this would happen for a very long time, but it’s totally happening. Thank you Uncle Sam for giving me back enough of my money to make this happen. I’ve already picked out my fridge. She’s a beaut.

It’s a much nicer fridge than I originally had set out to get. And almost twice the price. It is still significantly cheaper than many other ones I saw, so I’m pleased.

I’m still trying to decide on an oven. We don’t currently have a gas line so I have been looking at electric, but I’m thinking that maybe if it’s not too big of a deal to get a gas line I would rather do that. Also I’m switching from a cooktop and double oven to an all in one range. This will require some construction to take place in our kitchen. I’m really hoping that all of this comes cheap. And quick.

So that’s my life as of late. Oh and we’re still snowed in. I did make it to work yesterday and today, but then it started snowing again so I left early. I have zero plans to leave my house all weekend.

So Tulsa is experiencing a blizzard today. It’s pretty crazy outside. Thankfully we still have power and no work today! (and hopefully none tomorrow)

Here’s what my back patio looks like.

We’re getting about 2 inches per hour. It’s ridiculous. Thankfully I have my new Wii and my new Kindle to keep me entertained. Netflix streaming is like the best thing ever. So are free e-books.

If anyone else has a Kindle and would like to be book sharing buddies let me know. And feel free to let me know any tricks to finding free and/or cheap books on Amazon. Do they have a way you can search by price?

I married weird.
I married tall.
I married goofy.
I married silly.
I married an interesting hybrid of redneck/hip city boy.
I married talented.

And hopefully he won’t be some modern day Van Gogh who only becomes rich and famous after his death. Because that would be a tragedy.

These two guys deserve fame and fortune and proper recognition for their talents.

This guy is a genius with a sketchpad.

Just look

and this guy

knows how to turn it into this

And he also does neat things like this:

And so together they know how to create awesomeness such at this:

It’s not always easy being married to a freelance artist. I use the term freelance because he’s been unemployed for over a year now. And now that the unemployment has run out, we’re relying on his artistic talents to bring in money here and there where we can get it. It can be stressful at times for sure. But I can’t help but be a little bit jealous that he gets to wake up every day and do what he loves. And I know he’s grateful that he has a wife who will stand by and support him as he follows his dreams.

He also married silly.
And goofy.
And weird.
And while he may not have married tall, I like to think he married well.

Love you baby.

(and feel free to ask me where you can buy any of the stuff you see above)

Yesterday, right around 5pm I had an email encounter with a client that left me with spiked blood pressure and a strong hankering for a cocktail. On the drive home all I could think about was how I just wanted to get home and see my husband. His arms were the ones I wanted wrapped around me. His smile is the one I wanted to see. I knew that just going home to him would be what I needed.

And there he was with a cure for what ailed me. He listened to me vent and then he put on She’s Out Of My League. We laughed and laughed and I allowed myself to calm down and forget about my workplace woes.

Then we went downtown for the Joebot’s/Yokozuna Grand Opening event. I was given a sample of delicious iced espresso and listened to live music while we waited for a table. Once seated we were given some sake to try. It was my first experience with sake. I wasn’t much of a fan, but I hear there are many kinds and I shouldn’t write it off completely.

Then came my cocktail. My deliciously girly Hello Sumo Hello Kitty cocktail. I’m pretty sure that drinking it out of the ceramic sumo was half the fun.

Now it must be said that I do not like sushi. I never have. People always tell me it’s because I haven’t tried the right kind. Those close to me know that I have tried it on several occasions and am always left gagging and/or choking it down. (Rodger, do you remember that time we tried sushi at Tsunami? And how horrible it was? Yeah.)

Thom loves him some sushi though. He hardly ever gets to indulge because of me. In the same manner that I hardly ever get to enjoy things like lasagna or macaroni and cheese because of his utter disdain for all things cheesy and noodley. Yokozuna provides not only a full entree menu, but a full sushi menu as well. It’s a win win.

Dinner came and Thom had ordered two kinds of rolls.

-The Golden Driller Roll: Tempura shrimp, jalapeno, and cream cheese with spicy mayo.
-The Rising Sun Roll: Coconut shrimp, crab, cream cheese, and avocado rolled in soy paper and served with pineapple rum sauce.

He ate one piece of the Rising Sun Roll and this smile spread across his face. The same kind of smile that spreads across mine when I’ve just taken a bite of the most delicious and decadent dessert. He looked and me and pushed the plate my way.

“You are going to want to try this.”

I dipped my finger in the pineapple rum sauce and knew he was right. I wanted more of that sauce. And that meant I was going to need a vessel to get the sauce from the dish and into my mouth.

The lighting was not so great so I didn’t get a photo of it, but here’s what it looked like.

Image taken from Yokozuna’s flickr stream.

You guys… I didn’t gag! I ate the entire bite and enjoyed it the way it was meant to be enjoyed. It was such a triumphant moment for me. I don’t know if I’ll ever find another kind of sushi that agrees with me, but at least I’ll always have the Rising Sun Roll.

At the end of the meal my fortune cookie said to me: You have a secret admirer. Lock your doors. (gotta love humorous fortune cookies)

We saw lots of friends and familiar faces last night and the entire drive home I was just happy. Happy that Thom and I managed to turn what could have been a crappy night into a really enjoyable evening.

Happy that I have a husband who knows me. Who knows how to make me forget about the little things in life that bring me down.

There’s a song out there on the radio slowly climbing the (Christian radio) charts.

God gave me you for the ups and downs
God gave me you for the days of doubt
For when I think I’ve lost my way
There are no words here left to say it’s true
God gave me you

On my own I’m only, half of what I could be
I can’t do without you
We are stitched together, and what love has tethered
I could baby never undo

(watch the entire video here)

I may get angry at you for not cleaning out the garage. Or for never putting the toilet paper roll on the holder. These are those small things that people tell you not to sweat. And those people are right. Because at the end of the day you are my husband. You are the man whom I have chosen to spend my life with. And you are the one whose arms I run to. Thank you for being my lobster.

Ahhhh, another room done. Such a feeling of accomplishment! Thom was eager to help this time. Or at least willing. Even on the step stool on my tippy toes I’m not tall enough to do the top trim. I can’t for the life of me figure out how I did it in the master. I guess this explains why that room took me so long. This color was much darker than the others so the the uneven trim just sticks out like a sore thumb. We are looking into crown molding. For reals. Despite that, I am very much in love with the way it turned out. Since this room was home to many a framed poster, Thom gets to decide what goes back up on the walls. I’ve only asked that he not put up the evil clowns or anything outright vulgar. He seems ok with this.

The color on the walls is Suede Gray by Behr. I was afraid it would be too dark, but it’s really perfect. The only problem is that the light on the fan isn’t very bright so the room is now even more dark than usual. Add black curtains to that and the room is perfect for watching movies. Or sleeping in. Or hosting a vampire.

Before:

After:

I wonder if Thom would let me hang some hot pink geese on the walls.

I have finished another room! Well, 99% finished it. I still need to find some curtains to hang. Actually, I think I’m going to try and make some. I just need to muster up the courage to take my pretty Amy Butler fabric and try.

Here’s the before shots.

And the afters:

Next up… the guest room!

Lately I’ve been bitten with the bug. The home improvement bug. It’s really no surprise to me since I spend so many hours in front of the tv watching HGTV. It was only a matter of time before I got up off my ass and did something. We have done a few minor things to this house in the 8+ years that we have lived here. But not much. Soon after we moved in Thom painted the formal living room. It has since been referred to as the red room.

I really wish I had a photo of the room before it became red. But that was back before I was on flickr and blogging so I didn’t take photos of every silly moment of my life.

Thom painted that room all by himself. At the time I worked a job that required me to work weekends. So we never had days off together. I’m sure glad that’s not the case anymore. So yeah, he did it all by himself and I’m pretty sure it ruined him for life. A red room is nice in theory until you realize how many coats it takes to make it look good.

Also upon moving in I painted the kitchen walls. I had it in my mind that granny apple green was the color to go with. And I guess it doesn’t look too bad. Of course the brown appliances and the country cabinets sort of distract you from seeing anything else.

That was pretty much the extent of what we did around the house the first year. Fast forward five years and we did paint the main bathroom.

Although I can’t figure out why I ever thought it was a good idea to put that blue on the cabinets. Why didn’t anyone stop me?

So it’s been just over three years since I painted that bathroom blue and now I’m sick of it. I still love the color I just realize now what a crappy job I did. And that I hate the (chipping) paint on the cabinets.

So in April of this year I decided that I wanted to redo the master bathroom. And not just paint it. I know from watching all the shows that kitchens and bathrooms are the hardest and most expensive rooms to do. And yet still I pressed on. So in April I got some paint and some tools and I painted the bathroom. And changed the light fixture. And bought new accessories. And ripped off the laminate backsplash. And took down the mirror and medicine cabinet.

My bathroom went from looking like this:

to looking like this:

and this:

As of today the bathroom is still in disarray. The “plan” is to replace the counter top with a piece of granite. Replace the sink and faucet. And put up glass tile backsplash. And then put the mirror and medicine cabinet back up. I’ll say the main reason this hasn’t been done is money. Granite is expensive yo. Even a small piece. And did you know that you have to pay for the granite you don’t use? They don’t give you a credit for the giant hole they cut out of it to put the sink in. Rude!

So instead of wallowing in self pity I just moved on to the next room. Which was the master bedroom. I blogged about it here but didn’t go into much detail. Let’s do that now shall we? I planned the entire design and I executed it. All by myself. Thom claims now that he sat back and did nothing because he wanted to see what I could do. I think he’s a Lying McLiarpants. I think he just didn’t want to help. Oh well, this means that I get all the glory for this room. And if it’s over the top girly… oh well.

Before:

After:

Full set of photos can be found here.

The wall color is Tide Pools by Behr. I went with their Primer + Paint in one. Great stuff. The trim is white. I found these adorable butterflies at Target for $20. They are made by Umbra Loft. And I couldn’t love them more.

The bedding and curtains are also from Target.

Then I painted the jewelry cabinet I inherited from my mother in law.

The color is Yellow Gerbera by Martha Stewart. In hindsight I think maybe I could have gone a bit bolder with the yellow. I was just really afraid that it would turn out some crazy shade of yellow. Like this.

Then I did a little bit of DIY crafting and etsy-ing.

And now I have a bedroom that makes me happy every time I walk into it.

And I haven’t let the momentum stop yet.

This weekend I took on my craft room. This room has been a lot of things over the years. A guest room, a craft room, a junk room, a bedroom. One thing it has never been is pretty. So I’m working on that. The room currently serves two purposes. It’s my craft room and it’s also my closet/dressing room. Our house has tiny closets so I keep all my clothes in this room and Thom gets to keep his in the master.

Here’s some photos of the room over the years.

So yeah… let’s just say it was in dire need of a makeover.

So I took a dresser that I had painted once before.

And I painted it again!

I also painted the walls and the trim.

That’s all I’ve really got to show you in that room right now. I’m done painting but am working on bringing everything back into the room. In the meantime my house is a disaster. Who knew that the contents of one small room could fill and destroy three other larger rooms in the house? Funny how that works. I hope to be able to show you a completed craft room by this time next week. And when I get up enough courage, I plan to tackle the kitchen. If it were a money is no object type of thing I’d be getting out the sledge hammer. Instead I’ll just be painting the kitchen cabinets. And tearing down laminate backsplash. I have no idea when I’ll be able to get new appliances though. And those brown double ovens you see there? The large top one doesn’t work for anything but storage and the bottom lower one is slowly fading on me as well. This means limited baking in my future.

Ok so that’s what’s been going on in my household. I hate posting before shots with no afters and pictures of half done projects…. but at least now you know what I’ve been up to. And I promise to post the afters once I have them.

*the post title reminds me of Steve Carell in The 40 Year Old Virgin when he says to Elizabeth Banks’ character “do you like to do it yourself?” sorry, am a dork.

I’ve had heard great things about Compadres Mexican Grill, but since there wasn’t one right in Tulsa, I hadn’t eaten there. Well we have one now! Located at 71st & Sheridan where the Mexicali Border Cafe used to be. This works out perfect for me because I work just shy of a mile away. And in the short time they’ve been open I’ve already been four times. Yes four times. What can I say? I like to find something new and go full force until I wear myself out on it. Although it’s hard to imagine wearing myself out when the fajitas taste this good.

The menu is huge and full of things that look absolutely amazing.

What caught my eye was the Monterrey Jack Fajitas. Squash, zucchini, onions, mushrooms, beef or chicken, bacon, and Monterrey Jack cheese. I ordered mine sans mushrooms because I hate mushrooms.

And here’s where I have a confession to make. Something I though I would never ever say. Next time I would leave off the bacon. For whatever reason the bacon sort of got in the way of the awesome flavor of the carne asada. It’s like they were competing to be top dog. And well, the beef won. Sorry bacon, I still love you. Just not on my fajitas apparently. However, the bacon in no way ruined the dish. And there is just something completely sublime about prying a piece of well done zucchini off of the cast iron skillet and popping it into your mouth. It’s the kind of stuff dreams are made of. If you thought a fajita onion was to die for, just wait until you put that piece of squash in your mouth.

Here is the after picture. You can see all the little pieces of bacon I left behind.

You can also see I didn’t touch my beans or eat much of my spicy papas. The papas were great of course, but who has room for all of that food? I will say that I love the variety of side options they have. Instead of just offering beans and rice you also have the choice of papas (mashed or fried), grilled veggies, or okra.

I sampled the fajitas with both corn and flour tortillas. I prefer corn tortillas, but they just weren’t sturdy enough to support all of the things I wanted to put inside them. So I ended up using the flour tortillas.

I also tried out their drink of the month; the Acapulco Sunrise. I forgot to ask what was in it, but it was mighty tasty.

Our server Michael was very friendly and did a great job. The restaurant was very busy and full of happy people. We didn’t have to wait long for our food and the price was pretty average. We didn’t order any dessert although I’m sure they have some delicious ones. As much as I love dessert, it’s darn near impossible to find room for it at the end of most meals.

Here are a few other dishes they feature:

Combination fajitas

Chimichanga

Pretty sure there’s a burrito underneath all of that.

Oh and the chips and salsa are great, in case you were wondering.

The lunch specials are cheap and your beverage is included in the price. It’s little things like that that really make a place stand out in my opinion.

They also make a mean strawberry margarita.

Thank you Compadres for opening up a Tulsa location. Now I know what Broken Arrow is always fussing about.

Oh and they have daily specials too. You can go in today (Thursday) and get fajitas, queso, and margaritas for two for only $19.99. If I hadn’t already gone there for lunch, I’d be going back for dinner.

http://www.compadresgrill.com/