The week we lived in a pink house

After the house fiasco last month we have sort of fell back in love with our house. Nothing like nearly losing your home to make you appreciate it.

We decided that our house just needed some TLC. It needed some attention that we should have been giving it all along. When we moved into this house about eight years ago we did all sorts of renovations. We painted walls, pulled up carpet, put down tile, crown molding, new sinks and fixtures. The works! But then we got lazy and decided that we would be out of the house soon anyways..so why bother doing anything else. Yeah, I know. Makes a whole lot of sense doesn't it?

The outside of the house has suffered the most. The paint (that came on the house when we moved in) was starting to look a little shabby and peel. The screens (which also came with the house) are bent and have a few holes in them. The back patio (which we did not put up) leaks all over our patio furniture when it rains. Our screen door (you got it..already on the house) finally gave up the ghost months ago. So, having a new found love for the house we wanted to show it some TLC and paint the outside of the house.

Sounds easy enough right? Wrong! You are so very wrong..and have obviously never done any type of home improvement. First things first, the siding on the front of the house, made out of masonite, was chipping at the bottom. Jeremy decides that we should probably replace those before we paint. Should be easy right? Ah-ha, you're catching on. The actual removing and replacing of the siding went pretty smoothly actually. It was the pesky spigot that happens to find its home in the bottom piece of siding that gave us trouble. The pipe busted, under our house. It was a two hour disaster in which I just prayed that Jeremy didn't get stuck under the house because I didn't think I could hold my shit together long enough to crawl under there and help get him out. It was also the disaster in where Jeremy had to send me to the hardware store...with a list...in a hurry...because we had no water. I must have looked like a deer in the headlights because when I found the first employee, pointed at him, and said in a frantic voice 'You there! I need help'. I think he actually thought about turning around and running away from me. But Jeremy did finally get the pipe fixed and we were back on track.

I had picked the color for the outside of the house. Hot Cocoa, it was called. I admired the little paint sample for weeks. And then, after the pipe busting, I thought maybe it would be a good idea to get a test sample and do a quick patch on the house..just to make sure we liked the color. I figured it would be our luck to buy a whole 5 gallon bucket and then decide we didn't like the color on the house. Smart thinking, right? Look at me, thinking ahead..trying to avoid disaster. We painted a test spot on the house and both decided we liked the color. Bought the paint and opened it up to check it out..it's not the right color. Instead of Hot Cocoa it looked like cream. Much too light. Jeremy hauls it back to the store for them to fix it. Turns out the guy only mixed in enough color for a one gallon bucket, but instead of starting with a fresh 5 gallon bucket they doctor the one we have to fix it. SSSooo, we wrangle some help and paint the front of the house.


That was on Saturday. By Tuesday, Jeremy tells me he isn't sure about the color. Oh great! He says he thinks the house looks pink. I'm not sure that it looked pink but after standing back and looking at the house we both decided that the color just wasn't right. I don't know if it was just a bad decision or if they botched the re-mix of the paint. Who's to know. But it was just too...warm. Or something.

So we go BACK to the paint store and very carefully pick out two more colors. We get paint samples of those colors AND the color we want to paint the trim, which is a bright white. We take all the samples home and paint big ol' swatches on the front of the house..with a few pieces of the trim painted white. Let's re-cap, shall we. That is a total of five colors that are on our house. Blue trim, with patches of white, Hot Cocoa on the majority of the front and two patches of a cooler beige and a gray-ish blue color.


And we lived with that until the weekend. We figured this is what we probably should have done with the original color, lived with it, some place on the house that we have to see every day, for a few days to make sure it was right. But..you live and learn right? Oh and we are learning.

Anyhow, three weeks later we are nearly done with the front of the house. The front and the carport, but that's it. This whole 'painting the house' project is moving along a little slower than we thought. But..at least the house isn't pink anymore.

My 30th Birthday

My 30th birthday is coming up in a few months. I don't usually make a real big deal about my birthdays. I like to have some cake, get a few cards in the mail, maybe go out for dinner. That's it. But for some reason I really, really want to do something special for my 30th birthday. I've been thinking about it and I've had a really hard time deciding on any one thing sssoooo I stopped thinking about it all. Besides, some of the fun is gone when you have to plan it yourself.

So today my husband sends me a text message.

Him: Is there anything that you really, really want to do for your birthday?
Me: I have lots of things I'd like to do.
Him: Well here's the thing. I want to plan something for you, but I'm not very good at this stuff. I don't want to disappoint so I need a starting point.

I'm thinking about it. I'm trying to think of the best way to direct him without giving him just ONE path. That would take all the surprise out of it.

Him: Nothing? You're not going to give me anything?
Me: I had to think about it. I want..to have fun, be with the people that I love. If that's here..or at the beach..or on a lake..doesn't really matter.

What I do know is that I don't want to JUST go out to dinner for this birthday. I don't really care if I'm on the beach or in my backyard, I just want it to be special and memorable. I want to be surrounded by family and friends. I want to eat, drink, dance, and laugh. I want to start this next chapter of my life with a bang.

New Summer Dress

I wore my new dress for the first time yesterday. I got a lot of compliments on it and one co-worker asked why I was so dressed up. When I told her no reason, she said, 'Just to show off your skinny-ness'. And I said YES! lol. This dress does seem to fall just right to make me feel very skinny (and it doesn't hurt that its a size medium..the first one I have bought since my weight loss). I love it and I'm glad I nabbed it from the sales rack at Target.

Thoughts from the dressing room

Has anyone else noticed how freakin' hot dressing rooms are? Or maybe it's just the dressing rooms in the few stores I shop at. I don't know if its on purpose or what, but you would think they would try and make the dressing rooms a little more comfortable. Because after being in and out of them a few times (because you are only allowed so many items at a time) all I am is CRANKY..which isn't conducive to clothes shopping. No, all it makes me want to do is leave and quickly. And I'm pretty sure that is NOT what the stores want me to do..get irritated and end up leaving with nothing.

I went shopping yesterday with a specific event in mind. At the end of August I'm going to my best friends bachelorette party in Austin. I need a 'going out' outfit. Sadly, I didn't find what I was looking for but I DID find a cute dress on sale at Target. And it was a size medium..hello?! Oh, and a rockin' pair of Steven Madden wedges that were on sale for $25.00. I couldn't pass them up.



So, at least I have some cute new shoes for my outfit. Now I just need a top to go with them.

West Texas Inked

Tattooing is about personalizing the body, making it a true home and fit temple for the spirit that dwells inside it.... Tattooing therefore, is a way of keeping the spiritual and material needs of my body in balance. ~Michelle Delio


Tattoos are a pretty normal, and fairly regular, topic in the Just Jinny household. We are always talking about our next tattoos. And my husband would have to cover himself from wrist to ankle to completely cover all of his tattoos..so he is always flashing some ink. Jaimie Lovely was showing off her new ink and asked about our tattoos. I thought I'd do a quick show and tell of my husbands tattoos...all 14 of them. Get comfy..ready? Here we go:

Tribal arm band, right bicep. This was the first tattoo he ever got. He was newly single and six months into being 18. He did what a lot of young people do..walked in and picked something off the wall (so did I for my first tattoo).


Tribal dragon, left side calf. Senior trip (mine) to Panama City, Fl. We wondered into a little shop on the strip called Mother's Grievance. The tattoo artists name was Leif, yes..like the viking. You don't even want to know how much that little thing cost.


Devil and Angel, back shoulder blades. You might recognize these because they came off the back of a Mossimo t-shirt. You don't want to know how much those cost either..because they were a steal.


Metallica Scary Guy, left shoulder. Jeremy is a huge Metallica fan. The rest of that arm is pretty empty and he has talked about doing a half sleeve that is totally Metallica related. Only time will tell if it actually works out that way.

Wolverine, right calf. This is one of my favorites. It's just bad ass. Jeremy is also a comic book fan, mainly X-men. What can I say, I love a nerdy boy.


Swallow, left inner forearm. You're reading it right. That's my name on his skin.


Tiki, right outer forearm.


Swallow, right inner forearm. He's left the banner blank for our first child's name. I joke that he can put his second wife's name in there.


Love and Hope, outer wrists. Love, hope, and faith are the only things you need in life.


Texas Star, right tricep. Jeremy was the only one in his family (Mom, Dad, and two younger brothers) that was born in Texas.


Guitar Pick, right lower inner forearm. If it ain't green he doesn't play with it. Jeremy has been playing guitar for 17 years..it's sort of a hobby. I can't even tell you how many picks that look just like this that are all over my house.


His latest, but not his last. This was taken from a newer Metallica t-shirt. It has a lot of things that Jeremy likes. Old school skull, hot rod piston, guitar neck. And all with pretty colors..what's not to love?

Something old and something new

Do y'all ever watch that show on TLC 'Say Yes to the Dress'? Me too. I am all for trying on really beautiful dresses and feeling all girly and princess-y. BUT, I would never ever drop $11,000 on a wedding dress..or $7000...OR $5000. That's just crazy talk.

My wedding dress was a small piece in my very large day. It was not, by any stretch of the imagination, the MOST important decision I made about my wedding. When I decided to say 'I do', when I decided to love and to hold, for better or for worse, in sickness and in health, through the good times and the bad, until DEATH do us part...now that, THAT was the most important decision I made that day.

So, even though I still think my wedding dress was and is beautiful I don't have any real attachment to it. It served its purpose for me and now it's just a beautiful dress sitting in a large box in the back of a closet. To me it's worse to let the dress just sit there, than it is for me to sell it for someone else to wear. But...it's now ten years old. Who is going to buy a ten year old dress? I don't know. And, now-a-days, everyone seems real concerned with the 'designer'. I'm not sure there is even a tag in my dress to say who might have made it. It's just a pretty wedding dress..nothing designer about it. Actually, if I took it to a tailor and had it made STRAPLESS..then it might look designer..or at least trendy.

It's Official

When someone hollars at you from out of their car window to tell you that they like your purse...you are offically a fashionista.

I have never considered myself very 'fashion forward'. But lately, I guess I've been doing pretty good with keeping up with the trends.

I bought this slouchy hobo bag at Target a few months ago and I can't tell you how many compliments I have gotten about it. People at work, a girl at the local burger joint. But, I knew I had hit fashionista status when I was walking home from work and a random stranger yelled out of their car window as they paused at the stop sign that they loved my purse.

Maybe I should start telling people that it's designer..and no longer available for purchase?