And I thought NO ONE could surprise me...

Let me just walk you through what happened to me last night...

I get a text from Katie asking what I thought about posting at night. Whereas it's never worked out well for me, she said she was going to test it out and see if anyone would actually be reading blogs on a Sunday night. Father's day, to be exact. She then continued with...

So 10ish minutes go by, and like the good friend I try to be, I attempt to be her ONE reader.
The title reads something like "Grow/Change/SURPRISE". I roll my eyes and think "Oh Lord. Another insightful post from Katie...is she drunk again?" (Slightly kidding...)

I'm impatient so I completely scroll through all this sentimental "change" crap thinking I need to get to the meat of this post already...

And then...

I read this...

*Steph (SJHK)-SURPRISE WOMAN! In just over 2 weeks, Billy and I will be arriving in your neck of the woods (literally-hello Frio river!) bright and early at 10am on July 3rd and staying for 6 lovely days, until Monday the 9th. Please have my Range Rover, our norm Iced coff, with a side of sangria, to pick us up from the airport. And yes, Beau and I planned/texted about this behind your back for a couple weeks...don't hate me.


Followed by this image:

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR IS EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT, TOO.


She said "Y'ALL"!!!!


Okay so maybe that was 50% of the shock. The other 50% was obviously that she has been planning this for WEEKS now and EVERYONE and their chihuahua has known about it except moi! WEEEEEKS!!


It took a few loud screeches and about 20 minutes of "OH MY GOD" before it really started to sink in. And then I realized this is in 2.5 short weeks and instantly started regretting that pizza I had just shoved in my pie hole. Shit.


Not only will they be coming to MY hometown but they're coming with us to our favorite place in the whole wide world...the Frio River!!!! FOR 6 FLIPPING DAYS!!! They'll meet all our friends, our family, go to our favorite bars and even get to see where we live/where we'll be moving in a few months. Excited is a complete understatement.


She ended her post with this: "It has been killing me the past couple weeks to not be able to tell you, but we thought it would be fun to surprise you via blog post so, here we are. I know Father's Day is a hard day for you, but I hope this cheers you up a bit. I figured you would kill me if I didn't tell you at all, because you would probably want notice to shop and detox first. Am I right or am I right?"


A surprise, on Father's Day (one of the toughest days of the year for me) and even a fair warning to shop and detox prior to her arrival. That, my friends, is what you call a gem. 

Five on Fri

'Ello potty peopel! (That's me with a British accent)

Happy friggin' Friday! (That's me in my normal accent)

I've got a few friends, err-strangers, you need to know about.

Five of them to be exact. (Hence the post title "Five on Fri")

Don't get me wrong, I have my select few that I read on a daily basis, possibly several times throughout the day, but you already know who you are... so today, I'm sharing my 5 other blogs I stalk on the reg. These people probably don't even know I exist, which they SHOULD, but I think YOU need to know who THEY are. K? K!

Now remember, I'm no fashion blogger, nor am I a foodie of any kind. I just like downright funny bloggers. I blog because it's an escape for this little frazzled brain of mine so every once in a while, I need something to laugh at, at someone else's expense, of course.

First we have Taylor at The Daily Tay. Holy ba-geez-us..chick is hilar. I don't even know where she came from but what I DO know is that she needs to be one of my best friends, like yesterday, so she can make me laugh so hard I burn off all the calories I consume in one day (including but not limited to the days wine and cupcakes are involved.) I promise-sister does NOT disappoint. She recently referred to her hair as a "blonde squirrel toupee" or something like that...if that explains anything.

Next, I present to you the cutest little love muffin you ever did see...that would be Sabrina at Sabrina Says. She is downright adorable, funny and probably one of the only fashion bloggers I read. (Nothing against fashion bloggers by any means...it's just not my typical cup of tea!) Sabrina is GORGEOUS and is an incredibly talented photographer, too. Reading her blog makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.

Love her.

This next girl you may already know...her blog has something to do with the color "Yellow" and she's a Juliana Rancic obsessee. Ok fine...it's Erin at Living in Yellow. Duh. Erin's blog is kind of like mine...all over the place...except she's obviously much better at it. One word to describe Erin: hy.ster.i.cal (Or does that count as 4 words?)

My girl Holly over at Running in Stilettos is a fellow Ohioan and you know I'm partial to those "midwesterns"...Maybe I love her because she reminds me of myself, maybe it's because, well, she's sarcastic and witty and had me at hello. OR! Maybe it's because she recently got back in her wedding dress and took wedding portraits and, well, you know me and getting back into that dress...Either way-she'll steal your little heart too. Pinky swear. 

I saved the funniest of funny kids for last. Friends-you have to meet Caroline at Shades of Gray. EVERY STINKIN' TIME I read her blog, I literally have tears running down my face. From videos of her husband snoring to her passion for being a crazy cat lady...she's a girl after my own heart. Those Kentucky girls...there's just somethin' about 'em...I feel like I can't even do her blog any justice without reading it in the deepest of Southern Drawls every time. Oh-and if you venture over to her blog tell her she needs to start blogging 8 days a week so we can all have more to laugh at...

Now go. Run. And find these girls' blogs stat...and then find them on Twitter and Instagram so you can follow them at all hours of the day...

Happy weekending! xoxo

All the single ladies

all the single ladies...

ALL THE SINGLE LADIES...

all the single ladies...

{Picture me dancing around like Beyonce in a black leotard and heels.}
Yaaaa buddy...

Ok so foreal...this post is {obviously} for the single ladies.

Yes...I'm talking about YOU sitting here reading this wishing you had that pretty little rock on your hand, cussing your boyfriend every time another couple gets engaged and welling up with tears every time you see a bride walking down that aisle because you just know, that one day, that bride will be you.

Trust me. 

I've been there.

I've been that girl all teary eyed wondering what my big day would turn out to be like, wishing I had a princess cut diamond ring my left hand and cringing every single time I heard about someone else getting engaged.

I was that girl who thought "Is he ever going to ask???"

My mom was that mother who thought "He's never going to ask..."

Well ladies, clearly...he asked.

But did I ever tell you it took 5 1/2 years??

Yes. FIVE POINT FIVE YEARS to put a ring on it.

(I mean, obviously he knew right away...he just needed to find the perfect stone...psssssh)

All seriousness aside: This would be our very first picture...on our very first "date"
...if that's what you wanna call it...8 years ago...

...and by "date" I mean underage drinking at a bar called "Pink Monkey"
and doing keg stands on the dance floor. Someone obviously had a little growing up to do...
{Be proud mom...I was such a class act back in the day...}

Enough about that...

We looked at engagement rings for damn near close to a year.

I knew exactly what I wanted the first week we looked.

I got my hopes up so many times only to be let down just about every single time...

Would he do it on our 5 year anniversary? What about New Years Eve? Would I find a ring in my dessert one night? Nope...it was the day BEFORE Valentine's day...the day-freaking-before Valentine's day. Talk about throwin' a girl off...

So anyways...my message to you is this: it doesn't matter how long you've been dating someone. When you know, you know and it doesn't matter if it takes 6 months or 6 years. So many couples have so many different circumstances as to why it takes longer than others...too young, too broke, too immature, too far away...the list goes on and on. Stop comparing yourself to the "social norm". Who says you have to get married before a certain age? Have kids before a certain age? That's right...NO ONE.

Take it from me. 

Take it from someone who's "been there".

A girl who went through what I like to call "hell and back" for a frat boy who took FIVE AND A HALF loooonnnnng years to get down on one knee.

The knee dropped. The ring was there. There were tears of joy and maybe even a few "This is a joke"s...It came. It went and now I've been married for over 1 year now. I was engaged over two and a half years ago.

{2.13.2010}

whoa.

Like WHOA.

The whole engagement/wedding process goes by so gosh darn fast so I don't want you girls to go off wishin' it away. Your time will come and though it will be one of the most exciting times of your life, it's gone in the blink of an eye and then you're just stuck being an old married hag.

Kidding...about the hag part.

What I meant to say is that you're just stuck being a hot married trophy wife...duh.

(Kristen...look familiar?!) ;)

But foreals...look how much all you single girls still have to look forward to!! Picking out rings, seeing the love of your life down on one knee (or in my case, lunging on one knee...), picking out flowers and venues and trying on your very first wedding dress. What about seeing your groom for the first time? Sharing your first kiss and singing to each other as you two-step to your first dance? Gosh dangit you have SO much excitement coming your way and you don't even know it. 

Don't get me wrong, I L-O-V-E being married. It's like a permanent slumber party with your best friend in between picking up their stinky socks and cleaning up their dirty dishes. And though I still have really exciting milestones in my future like building a house, having babies and growing old together, I still ask...err-BEG Beau to let us get married again...like every single day. He thinks I'm nuts (and perhaps he's 90% right) but there's just something so romantic about hearing the guy you love profess his love for you in front of every last person you know. And being in a diamond white dress with a fluffy little veil on your head ain't so bad either..

So be patient, my little grasshopper. Realize all that you DO have in your near future and don't wish it past you. Obviously, if your man-candy didn't want to marry you, he wouldn't waste his time, money or sanity on you and one day...you WILL be that girl. <3

Just my words of wisdom...take it for what it's worth. ;)

3 important things you need to know about...

.ONE.

THIS happened. THIS morning. AT 5:30am.

Though it took an act of congress to pull me out of my nice, warm fluffy bed all curled up in my pj's, I did it and gosh dangit it felt SO good!! Who has two thumbs and doesn't have to do cardio after work?!! THIS GIRL!

.TWO.

As per yesterday's post, I bit the bullet and got my very own blog domain. http://www.snhblog.com/ In saying this, I'll need you lovely ladies to add my NEW URL to your blog roll as my OLD URL will not show up anymore. (If you need help doing this, let a sister know!) Below is an example of my blog roll in case I've lost ya:

Also-if you're not a blogger and/or don't have a blog roll within your template, please make sure you save my new URL to your favorites. :) I'll love ya for-eva! Pinky swear!

.THREE.

Today is my beautiful sister-in-law's birthday!! Of course birthdays are a BIG deal but the BEST part is that Julie has just joined this blogging world of ours so head on over to her blog and wish her the HAPPIEST of birthdays wouldya?!

PS-who watched The Bachelorette last night?

I may be married but I was totally goo-goo-ga-ga over that beautiful Texas boy, Sean.

Aannnd...GET THIS. His sister is a blogger!! (Talk about a small world, huh?!) Today she posted about The Bachelorette watch party she had last night WITH Sean and all of her girlfriends! So cool! Read here.

***

Ok so technically that was 4 things you needed to know about but who's counting?!
Toodles.

Ba ba ba...ba Barbara Ann

First things first, I finally gave in a got my own domain (I don't know WHY I didn't do this sooner) so even though you will be redirected to my blog no matter what, if you have my URL saved anywhere, would you pretty pretty please switch the URL to www.snhblog.com?! I'd love ya FOREVER!! If you're not seeing me on your blog roll, you'll have to change me there, too. Sorry for the hassle but a URL that consisted of like 30 something characters was a little out of hand.

So what have we learned in class today, kids? ...No more www.thehowardsbeautifulmess.blogspot.com ...

http://www.snhblog.com/ is WHERE IT'S AT!

Capiche?!

***

Ok-now on to the more important topic at hand today...

I love me a good surprise.

But more than that, I love being the one plotting the surprise.

Last Friday, if you popped in, was my father-in-law's birthday and little did he know...we had somethin' up our sleeves when he got home from work that afternoon...

It may have POURED on us at the concert but we danced and sang our little hearts out...well-at least from what I can remember... And though I spent the entire day Saturday nursing a hangover from H-E-double hockey sticks and regretting the 1am Taco Bell run I slightly recalled...I had an absolute blast! I did, however, stay FARRRRR away from anything containing alchol for the rest of the weekend. This little liver o' mine needs a break, to say the least...

Hope you rugrats had a FAB weekend too!

Here's to yet another Monday...

The In-Law Lottery + a sneak peek

The day I said "I do" to my handsome husband, I hit the in-law lottery. No joke.

People tell me this all the time and I know it. I've known it for a long time.

I have the sweetest, most caring, supportive in-laws a girl could want and am truly blessed to have them in my life. It's a rarity to love your in-laws as much as I do...

Not only are they the most kindhearted people to ever walk to face of the earth but they have an everlasting marriage that I truly admire. They've owned their business together and have worked within arms reach of one another for yeeeeaaars and they still treasure each other as if they just got married yesterday. I can knowingly say if Beau and I worked that closely, well...let's just not go there...

Anywho-my point is..today is my sweet, sweet father-in-law's birthday. Ric is the epitome of a free spirit. In the 7+ years I've known him, I can honestly say I've never seen him in a sour mood. Ever. Everyone who meets him, loves him and every time I'm around him, he instantly brings a smile to my face. Maybe it's his 3-stooges impressions, maybe it's his killer dance moves (or lack thereof) or possibly his random bursts of YAHOOOO!'s but I just adore him to pieces and am so glad I have him in my life. He really is going to make a great grandpa...one day... ;)

Good ol' Ric-A-Roo (as I call him).

He's known to pop in on this here blog every once in a while

so if you could leave him a little birthday love, he sure would be flattered! ;)

***
In other news, my little love puffin, Shalyn has a sneak peek of the wedding pics she took of us last month up on her blog today. Sister is one talented mofo.

Swwooooooon. Incredible, right??!

[Now picture me kicking myself for not having her shoot our wedding...]
***
Last thing-promise! Jodie over at Ramblings of a Fabulous Brunette is having an AMAZING Marley Lilly giveaway today. Go show her some love and go ahead...sign up for the giveaway. But don't get your hopes up...I'm scheming up a way to rig it. ;)

Pinspiration for the Home

So here's the deal...I may not have had Pinterest when I was planning my wedding but (excuse my French) I'll be damned if I don't have it when I'm building my house. Holy hay...my "home" board has gotten out of flippin' control.

(Sidenote: Brides married circa April 2011 and earlier...is it just me or does it downright piss you off that Pinterest wasn't around when we were planning our weddings??! Good. Glad I'm not the only one.)

First things first...you should all know that mine & Beau's taste is SO different. We're from Texas, y'all. Give us anything rusted or wooden or old and it's as good as gold. (If Beau were writing this post he would probably mention something about his knack for decorating with dead animals. His most favorite animal of all is the next one he wants hanging on our wall...)

Modern decor...well...is something neither of us has ever preferred. Like..at all. Not that modern style isn't pretty...it's just not our style. We're more earth-tone kinda folks. To each his own, right?

Anywho-I've been dreaming up some some of the structural things we'd like to incorporate into our new home. Don't worry-you'll be hearing ALL about the decor and paint and comforters and pillows and fun stuff soon enough but first things first...the actual design/structure of the house.

(Sidenote #2: I promise this blog is not going to turn into a 100% home decor/DIY blog. Maybe 99%...but not 100% so bare with me here...) ;)

****

Two words here: cedar. beams.

Holy beautiful. We LURRRVE us some cedar beams on the ceilings so if any of you (ahem...Katie, Erica, Shalyn) come to visit, don't be shocked to see this kinda thing in our house.

Stone fireplace=happening. There was no argument with this one...we'll have a stone fireplace from floor to ceiling if our lives depend on it. You can't tell me that isn't gorgeous?? I can already picture our little stockings hanging from the mantle at Christmas time. Ahhhhh...

So much fantasticness going on here. High ceilings. Cedar beams. Stone hood. Dark cabinets. Light countertops. Rod iron chandelier. Inset stove. Incredible island. Oversized sink.
Oh dear God. I could go on for days...

Hellllllllllo fluffy white bed!! I've always been a busy, colorful comforter kinda girl but I'm really loving solids these days. Like....l-o-v-i-n-g. Don't EVEN get me started on those chandeliers and the wood ceilings...

Obviously the backsplash is incredible but I'm mainly loving the sink. The oil rubbed bronze faucet with the deep sink. Am I in heaven??  Lighting under the cabinets....gah. So perfect! 

(The color cabinets & granite...not so much...)

One word: tables.

Coffee table, end table, wine barrels/boxes. Amazing, right?!

Granted our bathroom will look absolutely nothing like this but I am swooning over A) the slate tile B) the multiple shower heads and C) the invisible shower frame. The only thing this bathroom is possibly missing is the fact that it won't be in my home. Darn. 

Our bathroom will (obviously) look nothing like this one either but can we dream for a minute? Round bathtub, stone fireplace, wine chiller, cedar baseboards...le sigh.... Ok-I really pinned this pic because of the framed mirror above the counter. I am ALL about this right now.

Yes-I realize this is nothing like the other pics but I wanted to show off the vanity space. Beau and I had an understanding from the beginning that we would not buy a house that didn't have knee space for me to sit in and put on my makeup. Was. Not. Happening. (You should all know that I have this thing. I must be sitting to apply makeup. If I'm not sitting on top of the bathroom coutner, you can typically find me in our closet...yes I said CLOSET...applying my makeup. Poor Beau-I always find dashes of glitter ((AKA: eyeshadow or bronzer)) on his clothes these days...Whooooops.) Our bathroom will look DAYS different than this one but I wanted to point out A) the vanity B) the cabinets with the drawer underneath (talk about a good use of space!) C) the oil rubbed bronze faucets/fixtures and  D) the framed mirrors. Gorgeous.

We've got a long way to go before this puppy is built so sorry...no wait...I'm not sorry if you follow me on Pinterest and all you see is home decor. I promise to do the same things with babies when the time comes! ;)

I'd like you to meet my new best friend...

Ahhhh. There she is...

And yes-she's a machine.

(No-not that kind of machina ya sicko.)

Anywho-you all know by now I'm a health nut. I love fruit and {most} veggies and although I usually eat at least 3 fruits and 3 vegetables a day, I really do find it hard to get the "required" amount in every single day.

I've always had a small interest in juicing but never persued anything because

A) I don't know jack about this so-called "juicing" thing and

B) I always heard that the best juicers were expensive

I knew I should have registered for one when we got married because yo estoy el-cheapo but alas, I needed more important things like pool floats, beach towels, a fancy blender and a soap dispenser. Priorities, people.

[ENTER THE BREVILLE JUICE FOUNTAIN]

Amazing.

How on earth it gets every last drop out of a spinach leaf is beyond me.

My favorite concoction so far consisted of strawberries, spinach, carrots, peaches & some leftover cucumber and watermelon that was about to go bad. YUM-MO.

You can honestly throw anything into this baby and I'm convinced you can't go wrong. This one was so fresh and made for the perfect breakfast that morning. Anything with strawberries is a win in my book...

I don't know what I was more intrigued by: the fact that you couldn't even taste the spinach & carrots or the amazing bubbly rainbow I had just created in my glass.

I had a few girls wanting to know how I liked the Breville and, clearly, I love it. Before I used it, I read all the reviews on their website and the worst thing anyone had to say was that it was kind of hard to clean. Um duh. When your beating the heck outta some fruit it's pretty obvious that you're going to have some kind of a mess to clean up. It wasn't that bad though and it's a "contained" mess that requires minimal scrubbing of the net thing inside the juicer. I've definitely made bigger messes in my kitchen...like the 4 times my Soda Stream exploded or the time I attempted to hand-mix a bowl of sugar and cocoa powder. (Don't try either of these...)

And because you just spent 5 minutes of your life reading about my new infatuation with a machine,  I figured I should reward you with a few iPhone pics from this week so far:

1. Welcoming a brand new baby boy into this world, Lil Eli!

2. Our new washer/dryer  set that we'll be storing in our garage until the house is built.

3. Cheering for that handsome boy Sean on our new TV #thebachelorette

4. Helping the in-laws find a new house. I think this one will do. ;)

I'm outty 5,000. Peace.

A retirement dream

Wow. So much love on this here blog after yesterday's big/exciting news!!

Thank y'all so much!! We are STOKED and can't wait to share every little step of the way with y'all!

So now that I'm obviously 10 kinds of grown up (you know...because buying a house = mature), I decided it's time I should think about retirement. Ok-so not seriously but I mean, I have really given it some honest thought. (Maybe it was for good blogging material, maybe I'm serious. I'll be the judge of that.)

One of these days my brain isn't going to function to the capacity it does right now. I'll probably have 3 different kinds of cataracts and my arthritis will be so bad I won't be able to hold the mouse and therefore, a professional 80 year old blogger is out of the question. (Oh dear God. What would we do without blogging??) 

Yes-I realize I'm only 26 years ripe and by no means do I want my life to speed up at all but it makes me feel a tiny bit better knowing that I have somewhat of a plan for when everything, including my boobs, head south.

Let me preface this by saying my idea of the perfect retirement job requires elastic pants, orthopedic shoes, nap time(s), ice cream and down right making people happy and there's only a small handful of "retiree" jobs that I foresee fulfilling my needs. I'll also need an extended lunch break on Tuesday's to get my senior discounts at iHop and Ross. 

I should also say that the worst retiree job I could ever imagine would require the company name "Wal-Mart", cats, volunteering at a local school or babysitting multiple children all at one time. All of the above sound like terrible ideas to me. Terrible.

The ultimate retiree job, in my humble opinion, is a flower delivery girl (err-senior citizen). C'mon. Who can be mad at someone bringing you roses and candy and balloons straight to your doorstep? That's right! NO ONE! You drive around all day in an oversized white van full of stargazer lillies and chocolate turtles. Talk about a damn good day at the office! We have a flower delivery "senior citizen" who frequents our office and even though I know I'm only getting flowers 2, maybe 3 times per year, he brings a smile to my face every darn time. I could be really good at this. Just saying...

A close second on my list is a barista @ Starbucks. First of all, who doesn't want to leave work every day smelling like a coffee bean? I know I wouldn't be hating it! Second-I can't even function on weekdays without my morning cup(s) of joe so what better place to be than the one behind the industrial latte machine? I would, however, prefer the mid-morning shift. I hear they open before the sun comes up and by using context clues, you can tell I am not a morning person.

Would you like whipped cream with that?
 

Finally, a tour guide at the zoo would suit me pretty well. Of course, I'd need to save every bit of my paid time off for the entire months of May, June & July seeing that I don't tolerate heat very well, but I could totally do something like this September through April. I don't know a lick about animals, or feeding times, or really anything that has to do with a zoo but it seems like a decent idea, doesn't it?

What I do know is that I look terrible with orangish/yellow bangs.

Well, folks. That about sums up my dream retirement jobs and my obvious inability to photoshop my face onto other people's bodies. I challenge you to go out and think about what you would do as a retiree. Who knows? I could be delivering you flowers one day! ;)

Home.

This weekend was one of the first weekends in a really long time
where we were actually home for a change. 

No plane flights. 

No road trips. 

No hotels.

Just me, Beau and our little town home.

Sometimes I forget how good it feels to be home.

We partook in a little bit of relaxing, a lot a bit of eating, a tiny bit of reading
and even a little bit of vino. Toss in a lil shopping and that just about sums it all up.

Oh! And by "shopping" I mean...

WE BOUGHT A FRIGGIN' HOUSE! 

Well-we bought a bunch of grass and dirt which will eventually have a house on it... ;)

Surely you didn't think our weekend was that low-key, did you?!

After a sh*t ton of research and hours of negotiating, the little Howard house on the prairie will be complete around December-ish and we couldn't be more excited!!

There's still floor plan reviewing, blueprint editing, design center choosing and  contract signing to be done before they even break ground so as someone who holds the middle name "Impatience" this should be a verrrrry interesting journey, to say the least. 

Our house will have a little different design in the front but this is the closest I can find to give you all an idea. Our bricks and stone will also be a little different, too, but you get the point...

Perhaps I'm bias but isn't she beautiful!? 

Excited is an understatement. I absolutely cannot wait!

Can't wait to call her "ours".

Can't wait to pick out the cabinets, the fixtures and the floors.

Can't wait to deck it out in all new decor.

Can't wait for itty bitty Howard babies to grow up here.

Can't wait to have all our friends and family over for dinners & parties.

Can't wait to share many wonderful memories in our very first home.

Prepare for this blog, Pinterest, Instagram and Twitter to consist of nothing but house stuff for the next 6 months. And don't say I didn't warn you...  ;)