30 Before 30

Yesterday was my birthday.  The big 2-9.  The last birthday I will celebrate in my twenties.  Whoza.  I am getting up there.  HA!

The day was very enjoyable.  Chris went out and got me donuts in the morning.  So, little man and I had breakfast together (he may have had a nibble of my birthday treat, no judgement folks).

We headed out to see my mom afterwards at her office.  Henry always enjoys going to see Granma.  He gets to do whatever he wants!  Huge basket of toys, a box full of paper, kid was in heaven.

I had to work in the afternoon, boo.   But, Chris surprised me when I got home and had made arrangements for my mom to watch Henry so we could enjoy a meal out.  Perks of having family close who are more than willing to spend time with the babe. 

Chris also sent flowers.  They are a sweet surprise from time to time.  I love that guy!

While we are at dinner I asked Chris to help me with a "30 before 30" list.  I love lists, I am one of those people.  So, I thought it would be fun to think of 30 realistic things I would like to do before I reached the age of 30.  So, here they are:

• Get counseling license (they are reviewing my application June 28)
• Volunteer somewhere
• Run in two 5ks (I was reluctant on this, whatever)
• Read To Kill a Mockingbird again 
• Go to the beach
• Follow through and do something with the 7 Experiment (this counts for 7 things, it is intense)
• This book is LIFE CHANGING!!  That's all I'm gonna say on that soap box topic... for now.
• Wear more accessories (or get rid of them if I don't)
• Keep Henry's baby book up to date
• Finish Henry's first year memory book
• Complete the embroidery project I am doing with Wirth.
• Learn to bake bread
• Make a new friend (or hang out with Jenny Lotz in real life, I think this should count)
• Pay off student loan
• Go visit Katie and the kiddos
• Take a class with Henry (music, gymboree, another swim session, we shall see)
• Do a Wednesday night Bible study
• Do something with adoption
• 2 date nights a month
• 2 family nights a month
• Make homemade ice cream
• Meet up with friends for play dates
• Go on a tour of Askenosi Chocolate Factory
• Cut back on my fast food addiction (limit one time a week perhaps?)
• Complete a somewhat major home project

I think most of these are fairly measurable and doable.   I will keep you posted on my success. 

I can't believe I am already 29.  This age used to sound so stinking old to me.  It is fun to reflect on how I thought my life would be at this point and how amazingly awesome it is.  Lots of fun things are yet to come in this next year.  Can't wait!!!

A Big Day

So, today has been fun and it is only 10:45 am.  Wanna know why this has been a fun day?!?!?!  Because this morning, this went in the mail...

 

Now probably 99.9% of the readers of my blog know exactly what this is because I have been talking about it for some time.  BUT, for my own documentation purposes, allow me to expand about this thick envelope that went into the mail today.

Back in the spring of 2008 I was at a fork in the road.  I had been teaching for almost two years and knew I wanted to get my masters in something.  Helping others has always been on my radar and I was interested in finding a degree program that would help me do this either in or out of the school setting just in case I ever wanted to get out of education.  After much prayer, I decided to apply for grad school at a local seminary to pursue a masters in counseling.  This particular spring was full of life altering events.  I was a single lady who was ready to take on the world, bought my little blue house all by myself, and was accepted to AGTS.

I started classes the fall of 2008 and was quickly overwhelmed.  Grad school is so much different than undergrad.  Papers on papers on papers and I am not a great writer (round of applause for my mom for editing all of my papers for me and helping me in this department).  I had to quickly accept that I probably wouldn't be getting a 4.0 (I still graduated with a cool cord, but I had to accept the fact that I had to sacrifice grades to a degree for sanity).  Low and behold towards the end of my first semester I met a dashing fellow named Chris.  God has fun plans.  Here I was ankle deep in a 60 hour degree program and I met a guy waist deep in optometry school up in St. Louis.  

I was determined to complete my degree and Chris wouldn't have had it any other way.  So, we had "study dates" three hours apart and life as a grad student continued.  Through lots of tears, late nights, praises, and prayers, I wrapped up my degree in December of 2010.  Five semesters of papers, tests, flash cards and comps.  I was in my fifth year of teaching, engaged and playing that what now game.  Chris had applied for a residency and was placed in Mount Vernon and so we knew we would be in Springfield for another year at least.  

Now here's a kicker.  Remember how I graduated?  That was fun and all and a huge accomplishment, but I wasn't technically done.  See, I had my counseling degree, which means a lot, but not a lot at the same time.  There's another step in the process, becoming licensed.  Which takes another stupid test and 3,000 supervised hours.  THREE THOUSAND!!!  So, the question was do I teach for another year, sit on my degree and see where Chris' career took us?  Or do I start applying for jobs and step out in faith that God will provide a way for the hours to be completed in the five year time period.  

I started to look for a job.

Nothing was overly promising at first until I stumbled across a post about a local private Christian practice.  The boss man decided to have an interview with me and I reluctantly went.  I figured it would be bogus and my teaching contract would be signed for another year by the end of the week.  Remember how I said God has fun plans?  I walked out of the interview with a strange peace that this was what I needed to do and immediately called Chris and my mom in tears.  

So, here I was a wedding coming up, I turned in my notice to my principal (that was another tear fest, I miss my teacher friends), and Chris and I were going to start our marriage BOTH with new jobs and in essence new careers.  

I started my supervised hours that summer and started seeing clients in August.  EYE OPENING!!!  I work with low income families primarily and do in home therapy.  I learned a lot about myself and society as a whole real quick.  

Things were going smoothly until I peed on a stick in December and two lines appeared.  Seriously God?!  Here I was again, just ankle deep in a long process and a baby on the way.  I forged through sessions over the next nine months trying to get as many of my 1,200 direct client hours done.  

Baby boy made his appearance in August (I don't think I need to go into how delightful this surprise in life was and has been, he is perfect).  I dreaded going back to work, DREADED!  But, I had about 900 hours to wrap up.  Chris pulled his "head of household" card and said push on sweetie, push on.  I wanted to stay home so bad, but we made adjustments to life and I returned to work in October.  The days and weeks have plugged by and that leads us to the present.

As of June 1 I will have completed 1,200 direct client hours and 1,800 "other" counseling related hours (research, notes, phone calls, supervision, etc.).  My application went in the mail today for a board of about eight people to review and give me their stamp of approval or denial in June.  Everything should be fine, but there is always that "what if" fear.  I pray I am not doing a follow up post in June with sad music in the background that something wasn't completed correctly or I messed up my addition on my hours between supervisors and I am short x amount of hours.  But, I can't think that way, ha.

These past two years have been HARD and rewarding.  I sat in front of the mailbox and said a tearful prayer over this thick envelope before putting it in the blue box.  The next chapter is unknown but I am so excited to see what God has in store.  

There have been countless times I have prayed to God a prayer of frustration that I don't see BIG things in my life anymore.  I look at how He vividly answers prayers for other and I was a big baby and wanted the same for me.  Oh how He has opened my eyes over the past several months.  I cannot go through these past five years and deny His hand in EVERY STEP!  He has answered and continues to answer my prayers.  I am so, so very thankful.

Texas!

Last week was a week I had been highly anxious about for sometime.  One of Chris' close friends from undergrad popped the question to a fine lady a while back and their wedding date was set for March 16.  Chris was asked to be in the wedding and I immediately went into panic mode about leaving or taking Henry with us.  My loving husband convinced me it would be best for us to leave Henry with the grandparents and enjoy a little time away.  As the time drew near, we compromised a little.  Chris drove down on Wednesday before the wedding in order to enjoy some golfing and guy time.  I flew down on Friday and met up with everyone for the rehearsal, had the day to myself on Saturday until the wedding and we drove home together on Sunday.  Here is a brief synopsis of the long weekend...

Since Chris took the newer car down to Texas, Henry and I were left with the Mustang for a couple of days.  Whewy, a two door car and a car seat are not my idea of fun!  But, I got to look back at this sweet face at stop lights.

We attended a baby shower of a sweet friend on Thursday evening.  I was exhausted by this time and needed to get out of the house a little before the shower.  So, I strapped Henry into his Beco carrier and we headed to TJ Maxx to look around.  He had never faced forward and loved it!! 

No pictures of the rehearsal dinner.  It was delicious though and nice to catch up with Whitney and Ryan.  I could sit and talk to Whitney for hours!! (I'm sure anyone could though) Hilarious, sweet lady!  I ventured out into Dallas afterwards on my own to a hotel for one that evening.  King size bed all to myself!!!  I slept terribly though. 

I was pretty pumped to have a day to myself on Saturday, not gonna lie.  Had full intentions of going to Ikea, HOWEVER all the local guys told me it was an hour drive (Mapquest said 26 minutes, we will never know who was correct).  I opted to stay close rather than driving out to an unknown territory to a place I could really go crazy at.  My fear was I would be sucked into Ikea wonderfulness and seeing as how the house is still on the market and we have no idea where we will be next, house decorative items are really a no go right now.  So, Wirth suggested a fun mall I hit up and boy did I hit it up!!!  The place was huge and so fun!  Wish I had a girlfriend there to enjoy it with, but venturing around with no agenda was nice.

The mall had one of these fine cafes inside.  I've heard so much about this place from friends, I had to stop.  It was scrumptious. 

I had a little time before check in at the second hotel (we stayed at the reception sight the second night together) so I ventured over to Crate and Barrel.  What do you think of this sectional Danavee (in gray of course)?

The wedding was at the SMU chapel.  Beautiful and fast, my idea of a wedding!!!  I think Whitney said it lasted 18 minutes :)  Andrew and Bailey are two of the sweetest people.  I am a blessed gal that Chris has so many great friends from high school, undergrad, and grad school who have welcomed me into their circles.  I love seeing them and it is so fun to see Chris interact with his buddies.  Hate that everyone lives so far apart. 

The reception was at the Adolphus in downtown Dallas.  Fancy, smancy!  It was classy, simple and elegant.  This was the centerpiece at our table.  Lovely!

Yummy grub!  They had an assortment of southern foods; crab cakes, pulled pork, chicken, mashed potatoes, mac and cheese...  I could have had three plates, but I held back.  This gal is a bottomless pit (have you seen my son's thighs?).

The Mizzou gang in the wedding.  Wish I would have gotten a picture of our table. 

This is Patty and Allen.  I went to their wedding with Chris way back when we first started dating.  It was fun to catch up with them and actually talk to this couple whose wedding I crashed (I was a newbie girlfriend back then). 

 

And of course, I was SOOO excited to get home to this little man.  Remember how I went shopping?  Umm, I bought A SHIRT for myself (and mugs from Anthropologie).  Everything else was for Henry.  I missed him just a little.  Oh, and Jasper was missed too of course. 

I am sure many more weekends away are in our future.  Henry did great and we love that he has grandparents who want to steal him away from time to time.  Before we know it, he will be begging to spend the night at Granma and Papa's or Grammy and Doc's.  

Feast and Famine

I have always loved these verses from Ecclesiastes 3.
3 There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
2 a time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
3 a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
4 a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
5 a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
6 a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
7 a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
8 a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Thank you to The Byrd's for setting these verses to a catchy tune as well so that I might sing them in a round about way from time to time.
A coworker of mine once described our line of work as "Feast or Famine". I held on to that bit of wisdom and notice it play out more and more not only at work but in all areas of life.
It has been a long while since I have experienced full blown famine in my life, praise The Lord. But, there are those periods of hunger.
A client who is on your heart in the wee hours of the morning and all you can do is pray.
Constant cancellations which effect finances.
Hearing about pain in a friend's life.
The garage door being bipolar.
The questions of what is next.
But, in this house, we feast. A lot! Our bellies are full both literally and figuratively. That's why I love these verses (and use them so often with my clients). Sure, there is a time for frustration and sadness. However, with each of those not so great things, there is a time for the complete opposite.
So, pass another roll, slather on more gravy and don't forget dessert. You might find a hair in your peas, but really... Who likes peas anyways? Just toss them in the garbage and laugh about it later.
I'm going to go enjoy some of my favorite rolls now...

This Week

This week has been... Interesting.

We took Henry into the doctor last Thursday because of a cough. Chris figured it would be a good idea to get him in before the weekend just in case something was wrong. I was all, oh it is just a cough he will get over it, but am working on listening to my dear husband more, so we headed in. I hate going to the doctor. Hate. It.

Low and behold they diagnosed little man with bronchitis and put him on breathing treatments. They stink. He never had a fever and took them pretty well, but it is never fun to see your little one with a mask over their face.

The coughing subsided, praise The Lord and we started to cut back some treatments. His sleeping patterns have gone down the crapper and I really think part of it is due to the treatments (and probably some growing and maybe a little bit that he just likes his mom and dad and loves to cuddle). He is a hyper mess at times and the past two nights he will scream bloody murder when you put him into his crib. Ahhhh. So, no more treatments as of today. Praying that helps.

On top of all of the sickness (Chris and I have both been under the weather, too) it has been a battle of contentment as of late. I'm so ready for certain chapters of our life to begin.

To finish up my hours for my license and see what God has in store next. I am overly ready to not be working nights anymore, or at least not three a week. We miss seeing friends.  I enjoy having family time and hate missing things.

To move into a bigger house that gives us a little more elbow room.

To see what God has in store to grow this family (I say all the time that Henry will be an only child, ha).

To see answered prayers in the lives of some people I care about and love.

But, this season is oh so good and I really need to step back and see that at times. Seasons where there aren't major life changes or battles are nice! While there are things we are waiting on, He has been so faithful.

So, this week has been a blur. A take one step at a time kind of week. During those steps we've heard lots of giggles, read lots of books, had great conversation over cups of tea, gotten a surprise pillow from my dear husband, and even ordered a slouchy t haha. Very thankful.

Love his laugh.

Constantly reaching for things and moving however he can to get them.

Some More Fun News

I shared this information over a week ago on twitter, but most of my twitter peeps are church folk so I thought it would be time to share it on other social media avenues.

If you recall, my husband Chris has been working at a local VA for his residency this past year.  The experience has allowed him to grow more as a doctor, learn more, and provide a year for me of wondering what's the next step for our growing family.  Back in January we started to pray seriously about what that next step would be.  I knew it was still very early for him to have a job lined up (his residency ends next Friday so at the time, a good 5-6 months to go), but I am a bigger picture person and wanted to start discussing our options.  

The months flew by and before we knew it, April had arrived.  The job seeking had begun, but nothing was promising.  I of course became anxious, Chris was cool as a cucumber.  In May Chris was contacted by two potential jobs for interviews and spoke with both in a week's time.  I laugh about this because the week prior Chris had started searching for options in other towns (Kansas City and St. Louis, I think he even spoke with the school in OK?).  It was my way of knowing God was saying, hold on a minute, Springfield is where you are supposed to be.

After a few late nights for me of over analyzing every angle and Chris being at total peace about his decision, Chris has a new job which will begin July 2nd!!!!  

Chris will be the new doc at Sunshine Eye Clinic.  From very early on in our relationship we discussed long term goals for ourselves as individuals.  I remember him specifically speaking about how much he desired to be in a private practice.  The freedom and opportunities that could come from it and he mentioned Sunshine specifically.  A few years down the road, this desire has become a reality.  

"Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart."

Psalm 37:4

Still a work in progress of learning how to "Delight myself in the Lord", but this step in life has been a huge blessing of how He does provide the desires of our heart in His timing and perfect way. 

So, if your eyes are bothering you or if you are in need of an eye exam, be sure to look Chris up.  He's pretty swell in my opinion.  

 

Hooray it's Friday!

So, let's see if I can get back in to this blog routine shall we?  

This past week has been full of fun times, FULL OF 'EM!  Hard to narrow it down to just five.

1.  My sister's dear family got into town this past Friday.  Katie and Brian were able to stay with us until Monday before heading up to KC (my brother in law donated his kidney to his father, surgery went well, he is doing great, seems heartless to include this in a parenthesis and with so many commas, but I am very proud of Brian and Katie for the selfless decision they made and am so very, very thankful everything is going well and pray it will continue to do so).  The two little people, Kharis and Ben, are headed up to KC tomorrow, so they have been with us ALLLLL week.  More on that in a few, back to my weekend with my sister.  I adore her and love seeing her.  We were able to finish up my registry, she gave me some pointers on baby room, we drank lots of Starbucks, AND she brought Henry a LOAD of stuff.  Hand-me-downs are awesome.

2.  This past Sunday was Mother's Day.  While baby Henry is still tucked away in my belly, it was an overwhelming day to be recognized as a mom.  Chris got me the Bible study I have been eye balling and a Sonic card for some treats.  My mom gave me a fun clutch that can be thrown into the diaper back and holds all the essentials (phone, debit card, cash, and keys).  And Chris' parents gave me some spending money to do whatever I desire with (I bought a pair of shorts and two shirts).  Fun day indeed.

Can't cuddle with Henry this Mother's Day, Jasper was a good substitute though.

3.  Tuesday was my birthday.  I took the day off and headed to the zoo with my mom and the little ones.  SO FUN!  We fed the giraffes, went to the petting zoo, saw the snakes...  The only downfall was that every school seemed to be there to survive the end of the year.  The little ones were fine, the junior high kids... good gravy (don't get me wrong, I think junior high kids are hilarious, but those without manners you just want to sit on).  Chris surprised me with a Kindle Touch and a stream of texts throughout the day of memories over the past three years.  He also got off work early and helped out with the kiddos, that guy is great.  Kharis made me a beautiful cake and mom made me breakfast for dinner (my favorite).  Great day.

Need to finish my 800 page book my friend Natalie got me hooked on then on to my first ebook!

I will post some pics of Kharis is another post.  The girl is busy and rarely stops for a photo.  Ben is the same, but you can entice him with food.  He was all for sitting on my lap for some birthday cake.

4.  I ordered a rug for Henry's room.  Here is a picture of it from another blogger who used it in her nursery.  It is loud and I love it.  Will be interesting to see how it works in the room, but I don't care.  We were looking for something with black in it because we haven't incorporated any black accents and when I saw this...  how could one resist?

Source

5.  Monday I was also able to start back up with my gal pals and our Bachelorette watch parties.  We attempt to do this every summer and it is so much fun to know you get to see everyone at least once a week.  Now that I am not teaching, my time with some of these ladies has changed drastically and I miss them so.  Snack foods are brought, commentary is made, and laughs are shared.  Good times, good times.  Danavee was the only bright one who took pics of our first party.

Really good week overall!  My dear teacher friends are all bragging about getting out of school this week or next.  Yeah, yeah, yeah.  One thing I do miss about teaching are those nice summer breaks.  However, hopefully I will be able to see my kiddos during the day over the summer and not work so late into the evenings.  Maternity leave starts 13 weeks from today!  Happy Friday all you cool cats!

 

Friday... Finally

So... my blog has taken on a whole new format as far as when I go to post things.  I can't find my dashboard and I'm not up for change.  I am sure everyone using blogspot is experiencing this, but it kind of is freaking me out.  Therefore, if for some reason this post looks totally off skilter, it ain't my fault.

I am very excited that it is Friday.  This past weekend was a whirlwind and I didn't feel normal until about Wednesday of this week.  Here are five highlights from the week.

• Here is a little sneak peak at Henry's room with terrible lighting.  We also have the dresser done.  I am in need of some more inspiration before I continue with the details of the room.  Right now the colors are a mustard/gold yellow, gray, and white.  I love it so far, ready for little boy to be tucked in his bed though...  in 18 weeks.

• This past weekend, my close gal pals from college were in to celebrate Brittanie's wedding in August.  It was so much fun seeing everyone and getting to hang out with the bridesmaids.  Our time together is always way too short.  I'm excited for when we are able to plan vacations together because we will all be married and what not.  Henry was also able to meet his BFF, Wirth's little bean.  These guys are two days apart and will be Skype buddies before they know it.

Took this pic from Emily on facebook.

• A close friend, Jessica, and her family had their going away party this past Saturday night.  They will be joining another family friend of mine in Amsterdam to be missionaries.  It is bittersweet to say bye to them.  We are not sure when we will see each other again and the reality that Amsterdam will be their home is kind of strange.  Thankful for technology!  Skype dates, facetime, and whats app are all amazing things.

• I learned the valuable lesson to look up directions to a client's house and not depend on your phone this week.  I had two clients out in the country and thought it would be no big thing to just type in the second address in my phone.  Ummm... country means sketchy cell phone signal and dropped calls when attempting to get directions because your GPS won't work.  Needless to say, I drove around the country side for a good 30-40 minutes and missed my session.  Ah well, it was an adventure.

• Last but not least, it's Friday and that's high five enough, right?  Loonnnggg week, so thankful it is the weekend!!!  

It's Friday, It's Friday!

I so hope my blog title placed that song in your head for the day.  This week has been a whirlwind of a week I tell ya.  Lots of good things (Martha Stewart insert there).

1.  Most of my clients were on spring break this week.  Therefore, I was able to work days and have my evenings at home.  Bliss I tell ya, bliss.  Because I made it home by 5:30 at the latest each night, I was able to do a lot of this:

Recipe and weekly menu to come.

 2.  I am laughing because Andrea put a tree in her post which was my intention as well.  Great minds think alike!  We have a beautiful tree in the backyard and with all this nice weather lately, it is out in full force. 

3.  The anticipation is almost over!  Tomorrow night I am headed with Chris, his sister, his mom, his dad, and a few friends to see The Hunger Games.  Dum dum dummmmmm.  Erin introduced me to the books a couple of years ago and we were so excited to hear it would be made into a film.  Now usually we are midnight theater goers to events such as these (Harry Potter and Twilight, yup I am one of those people).  But, I will admit I was happy when Erin said we should wait until Saturday.  I think our hopes are that the screaming teenagers will be lower in number on a Saturday showing (not that that doesn't provide a little entertainment as well).

google image

4.  We purchased our first two big baby items this week.  A crib and a mattress.  It wasn't our intention to get these yet, but both were on sale and you just can't pass up a sale on baby stuff.  We still need to paint the room and rearrange a few other things before set up occurs.  Our goal is Mother's Day (well that's my goal).  This is still early, but I figure we better get used to cramming ourselves in this house so I don't have a panic attack when it actually happens.

google image

 5.  It's raining men!!!  Well, more like boys, but still.  Three little guys made their presence known this week in our lives.  Of course we found out Henry will be joining our family in August.  Chris is excited to have a little buddy and I am a little freaked out on what I will be doing with a boy!  But, many have told me there is nothing like having love from a little boy, so I'm holding onto that.  Also, two of my dear friends had little guys this week.  Nancy's little baby D made his way a couple of weeks early on the 21st and Shannon's little Noah came on the 22nd.  Lots of little buddies for Henry.

If Money Were No Object

So I am attempting something new today... linking up a blog post.  Gasp!  I am by far the worst at technology, so we shall see if I am successful with this new adventure.  My friend Andrea led me to a great blog which is full of weekly link ups under the title "Moments that Define Life."  

This week's prompt was to write about five things you would do if money were no object.  I got this.  

I am a dreamer, so I think of these things often.

• See Distant Friends Often-  I have many great friends who live close by.  However, I also have those who are near and dear to my heart who live 3 hours plus away, including my sister.  I would love to be able to book a plane ticket on a Thursday, fly out on a Friday, and return home on Sunday evening.  Texting, phone calls, and Skyping are great, but sitting down for coffee and staying up late to chat are deeply missed.

Friends who live too far away.

My wonderful sister.

• Buy Two New Houses-  Yup, two.  Remember folks, money isn't an object.  We live in a 50+ year old house currently that has plenty of character, as well as hair pulling aspects.  I am so excited for the day we are able to build our dream home or find the perfect match.  We also love to be on the lake.  My grandparents had a lake house for years and there is something about a summer night with the windows open hearing the water.  So, it would be dreamy to have a lake house. We'd have all the fun toys and plenty of room for friends to come along.

• Season Sports Tickets- This one is mostly to make my husband happy, but I enjoy a good game as well.  I would love to be able to take Chris to all the Mizzou football and basketball games as well as the Cardinals.  We always have a grand time and I would probably purchase a few extra in order to bribe people into being our friends and wanting to hang out with us (ha).

• Travel-  You know those cool people who have the RVs with the US map on the outside, completely color coded with all of the places they have visited?  Perhaps that's just me who has seen this amazing sight.  I would love to have a world map in our house with pins covering it representing all of the enjoyable places we have been.  A safari in Africa, pizza in Italy, seeing the tulips in Amsterdam, skiing in Utah, whatever it might be.  

found on google image

• Dishwasher- Ok so this is trivial and would probably fall under the new house listing, but still.  If money (and space) weren't an issue, we would have the most amazing dishwasher the world has every seen!!  This puppy would clean with the best of them and be as quiet as a mouse.  I'm going on 3 years with no dishwasher folks, a girl can dream.

I know some of these are silly and I could think of a million more things I would do if I were to become wealthy overnight.  But, after paying off student loans, starting some amazing organization to help those in need, supporting missionaries, and all of those noble things, these would be next up on the list.

Linking up with: