For Becky

Dear Becky,

I love that our girls love each other and that they unsolicitedly hold hands in public. Just so you know, if it wasn't creepy...I'd hold your hand walking into our dance class together and do a loud spinning/clapping cheer with you every time we say goodbye. That's the kind of love I have for you.

Peace out,

Jamie

Get your Groupon on!

Every "Brandon & Jamie" Leavitt family photo we've ever taken of the three of us has always been on the back end of a giant photo session with the in-laws. Now, my in-laws have exquisite taste, but their taste leans toward photos where we are all wearing coordinating suits and pencil skirts, trying to look casual in front of fire places. We've been looking like healthy, successful, captains of industry for years now. And as much as I've enjoyed my home being filled with photographs of us looking like we're heading off for job interviews, I decided I wanted to try my own thing for once. Which is why, when a groupon came up for a photographer who would take my pictures outside (heather harris of pure photo), I snatched it up. I am so freakin' glad I did. She was wonderful- she didn't even bat an eye lash when I opened up the back of my car and hauled out 3/4 of my living room furniture. Here are some samples pre-photo shop that we took this weekend.




You know we'll be back for Heather Harris!!

Gonna hammer in the mornin', Gonna hammer in the eve'n

This picture was taken about 15 minutes ago, on a Sunday evening, in what was my master bath. First, the picture is blurry from the flurry of activity taking place. Second, Brandon's helper crew was intentionally left out of the picture to protect their innocence (since we are literally breaking the sabbath- breaking it with power tools and sledge hammers! But trust me when I say my ox isn't in just mire- he is in drywall dust, broken glass, and a fair amount of black mold. Thanks Max and Ben!! [names potentially changed to protect the innocent]).

We saw a little spot of mold on our wall by our shower and that was all the motivation we needed to rip our master bath out. We've hated it for a while and it's one of the two remaining untouched areas of our home. However, if I had known the dang EXPENSE of a bathroom before we ripped off walls, I might have just worn a haz-mat suit to protect me from the mold while I did my make up. But, the mold was much worse than we thought, so I am slightly glad we did this. I'm sure further gladness is coming. Here is our before:

What you're missing in this picture is all the interesting dry wall choices on the ceiling line we're changing. I'm excited for the changes, but the sticker shock is unreal. I've felt that about almost all the areas we've changed in our home. I was actually looking back at my blog and realized I haven't done a good job updating all of the changes. Home changes are some of my favorite things to read on others blogs, so hopefully when we've swept up all the broken shower glass and finished this project, I'll take some pictures and do a house tour. Even though it is costly, I can say it's one of my favorite hobbies. I love, love, love gutting a house! I'd do it every time if we could afford it. I get to have exactly what I want (within reason), and we use the heck out of it! Two examples from this weekend...

My back yard. I love it! Perfect place to dirty all of my linens making forts and drinking capri suns with friends. I love watching the children run through the grass, ride scooters, play basketball. It feels like childhood is happening out my windows and it was totally worth it.

My cozy kitchen. I love that people stop by all the time and sit in my kitchen. It is the perfect size for my family (and hopefully future family) along with visitors. I love the lay out. It isn't huge, but it's super duper functional. This picture is from one of those said visits. Our friend Chef Niel brought us some freshly smoked ribs and hung out with us for a while. Sure, I need to paint my table legs yellow, hang some art work and install a ultra white subway tile back splash- but I'm sure happy to have my kitchen!

From my money pit to yours!

Love, Jamie

starting off the new year awkward

We were asked to chaperon the new year's eve stake dance. I was pretty excited- I haven't been to a stake dance since I was a card carrying, jittery teenager myself. I had forgotten a few things about stake dances. Namely...

1.) No one dances at stake dances.
2.) By the end of the night the room smells like B.O.

After an hour of watching the kids awkwardly stand in same-sex groups, shuffling and looking around, Brandon and I decided it was time to get the party started. "Heck!"...we thought..."We're young, stylish. They'll accept us as one of their own." And with that premise, we headed to the middle of the dance floor and started busting some serious dance moves to a Kesha's "blow." Any second,I was sure, they'd join in the riot we were starting.We got to the chorus and were ready to start some serious moves you can usually only find on TV or youtube...when we looked around and noticed that our 30-somethingness had cleared the entire dance floor...

...and none of them were looking at us.

...here I come housecoats and blue hair...