Unofficial - Official Start

It is 7:25pm here on Friday night - and shock of the year, I'm comfortably seated on my couch enjoying a little "Guiliana & Bill" on the Style network.  This may or may not seem out of the ordinary or special by any means.  But what it does mean or signal is that the unofficial-official start of football season has come.
I am moving in to football wife time -- and if none of you have had a coach in your family, let me just give you a quick run down of what the late summer, fall, and if luck is good to my husband's team, early winter looks like exactly.  
Early summer brings with it -- camp, lineman camp, kids camp, and then doubles start.  Doubles, for those who don't know, essentially means my husband is at the school & on the field for 2 3-hour sections for practice.  There's a scrimmage sprinkled in there somewhere, but I can't exactly remember where.
Then the there's the Fall which in addition to football, husband also has school.  But that's his "real" job so I can't really count that.  Anyway....Monday/Tuesday he's home about 5:30pm.  Wednesday is lineman dinner - home about 8:30/9, but this is ok, because I don't have to worry about cooking for the man.  Thursdays he's at either the JV or Freshman game.  Which of course brings us to Friday night games.  Post game, win or lose, we typically get food with the coaching staff and some parents join from time to time.  One might think that the weekend brings a much appreciated break....however, that is not the case.  Saturday mornings are film exchange with next week's opponent, then a coaches meeting where they breakdown the last night's game film & then Isaac does school work.  Saturday nights are our date night thankfully.  But come Sunday afternoon he is back at it -- early to school after church to work on school stuff, then it's another coaches meeting at 5 -- home about 8:30pm.
Reading all that might be a little exhausting -- so if you read it all, I'm impressed.  It's a little exhausting to be honest, and it's hard to share the man from time to time.  But then I see him after the games, either home or away, and he is so committed to being a role model to each of his players.  He strives in every way to be the best example, the best man, the best coach to every one of them.  I know how much he loves what he does and respects the responsibilities that come with his position.  It's a blessing to have such a wonderful man as my husband.  


So even though I will likely be spending a lot of quiet evenings at home, on my very comfortable couch, I try not to bemoan or complain about my situation.  Because, all in all -- I have a husband that loves what he does, is one of the best coaches I have ever known, and loves the kids he works with more than anything; and most importantly, he comes home every night, kisses me, & thanks me for being a coach's wife.  That's a part of my identity now - coach's wife.  And with that comes certain sacrifices, as well as certain, some times small, benefits.
Back to my quiet night, on my comfortable couch, trying to figure out what to have for dinner here at 8 o'clock at night.  Life could be worse....so I'll be thankful for the small things.
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Laundry Fairy

The Parker household is in DESPERATE need of a laundry fairy...one who will simply come in, start the load, turn it over, and most of all....FOLD it!

I've been slacking on the folding of laundry as of late, which is not good....considering I'll be gone to Seattle this weekend for a 1/2 marathon & then leave again next Thursday for camp!  Needless to say, I'm going to be in need of clothing here pretty quick & someone is going to have to hunker down & do it!  And I have a funny feeling that someone is more than likely going to be me!

How do you get thru the monotony of laundry?!
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Cooking At Home

We've be kind of lax over the last few weeks about cooking at home.  We wanted to start cooking at home more for financial reasons but also because it's just fun to try different things.  Get some recipes under our belt that we could do with our eyes closed once we have kids.

So this last week we made out our meal plan for this week before we head out of town & thus far every dinner has been great.  Bearcat Wraps on Sunday, Shrimp Fajitas yesterday & Steak Salad tonight with this  balsamic tomato concoction. Thank you Gina's Skinny Recipes for the inspiration!

  It was SO DELISH! Like extremely yummy - not something Isaac and I had thought of before but it was perfect for our dinner tonight.
And tomorrow you might be wondering what is on our agenda for tomorrow & Thursday... Well here it is: Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork sandwiches with coleslaw & corn, and Thursday will be bringing mini Turkey Meatloaf & Quinoa Salad.  Gosh I'm SO looking forward to the next two nights!  So along with trying to cooking more at home, where we have the most control,  we are going to incorporate more work outs in to our life.  I desperately need to get back on track with my weight lifting, and especially my running!  I know I can handle long runs - I just have not given myself the chance to do them lately.  But I'm thankful that Isaac has offered to join WW so that we can hold each other accountable to that plan and to the weigh ins.  Because we both want to be in the most healthy place possible before we start having children so we can be the most prepared & ready for those little ones.  I have a pretty fantastic husband
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Blogging Juices

Fear not friends -- I'm saving all my creative blogging juices for the office make over post! And yes I've been taking pictures thru the process.

Although I must confess up front that I can not take much of the credit for the office make over.  Hubby Isaac has done nearly all the work.  I can only contribute my style sense, my desk, and my wonderfully awesome hug skills as thank you's to Isaac.


Mooooooooore to come! :)
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Project Office

I've mentioned it a couple of times before - but I hate my office.  For the longest time it was the catch all room for Isaac when he had roommates.  And for some reason it has stayed that way.  There are boxes in there filled with I don't even know what - papers from Isaac's freshman year of college (circa 1998!) - and a handful of items that are mine.  It has the potential to be a great room, inviting & warm - a place for hubby to play his music and work on football.  

But currently - it is a black hole.  In talking with husband last night I think we are finally going to tackle the mayhem this spring break.  Clean, Organize, Toss unnecessary items and PAINT!

So here's what I need from you guys! What are your best tips for getting an office organized? Any ideas for desks - book cases(we're book nerds) - paint colors - comfy chairs.  Bring em' on! I'll take any & all the help I can get! And I promise to post some before (*shudder*) and after pictures once we get going.  Yes I know...it's still a couple weeks away, but with the kind of mess we're dealing with I think we're going to need the time to plan!



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Simple Things

Sometimes when life gets chaotic you need a dose of the simple things.  And today was filled with chaos for the most part.


So my solution you may ask?  


A walk with friends, Kraft blue box macaroni cheese, a Coors light, lights on the tree, and random television -- all while avoiding the laundry (that can be done tomorrow or Sunday in preparation for the trip). It's been a good night.


You really can't go wrong when you let yourself enjoy the simple things - the things that bring comfort and take you back to a good place.  If I were at my parent's house, I'd be snuggled up with their puppies.  But my choices will have to do tonight.
Side note -- can not wait for best friend reunion in 5 days! Beyond excited to see the Fox's. Miss them terribly.


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Weekend Guest!

In nearly a year of marriage, Isaac & I will have our first guest from either of our family's staying with us for a few days.  I'm a bit nervous!  Isaac's dad, Vernon, will be staying with us & I just love him.  I can see so much of Isaac in him -- wait, strike that.  I recognize so much of Vernon in Isaac, in his general personality - and mostly, in their laughs.  They have the exact same, full bodied, boisterous laugh.  It is so fun!
Vernon will be staying with us for about 5 days, so I'm running around our house trying to get things in order.

Items left to do before he arrives on Friday:
Clean upstairs guest bath (darling hubby taking care of this today -- it's the last day of school, so he'll be home early!)
Set out towels & maybe some extra toiletries, in case he forgot anyting

Vacuum entire upstairs & downstairs
Finish shopping for some food items
Make sure his room has an extra blanket, just in case.

What do you do to get ready for overnight guests??

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Parker Backyard Project UPDATE!

I think perhaps going out of town is beneficial to the completion of our backyard project!  Isaac gets so focused and zeroed in on completing about 100 projects.  Have I mentioned lately how grateful I am to have such a handy and creative husband?  What luck?!  A man who enjoys building things - and has the deep love of creating & designing it as well.

Here are the latest photos of the pergola out back - the biggest part of the project to date:

 

He even angled off the over hanging boards!

It looks so great! 

We're thinking of putting some shade beneath the boards -- a sort of roman shade.  And my dad, who's an electrician, will be helping Isaac switch out the light & add an outlet for some patio lights that we'll string up.

Next on the agenda: sod the back yard (my hubby enlisted some of his football players to lay a couple yards of fill dirt to start leveling out the yard), barkdust, finish flagstone side spot for garbage cans (get those puppies outta the garage!!), & finishing touches -- i.e. patio furniture, flowers, colorful pillows for patio furniture, etc.  The best part about this entire project was a text message I received from Isaac while I was in San Diego... He said that even though he's exhausted, what keeps him going is the excitement of being able to enjoy & play with our future children in our beautiful backyard.  What a sweetie!

Any other ideas on who to really finish off the yard project?  Or what projects do you have for your yard this summer??

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Upcoming Hobby

As I mentioned earlier - my wonderful hubby Isaac is re-doing our backyard.  And I'm pretty excited to enjoy it this summer.  Sitting on the deck, eating dinner, entertaining, and.... gardening!  Who would have thought...me, a burgeoning gardener.  I never thought it myself - but for some reason I'm actually looking forward to it.

I'm not sure what veggies, if any, we'll be able to plan that late in the season (Isaac is hoping to have the backyard done by the end of June) but we'll see.  Maybe this year is just about getting it set up and ready.  Then next year we start the growing!  So while he does the heavy lifting for the time being - I'm going to start doing my research about what our options are... Have to figure out veggies and/or flowers that love the sun.  Isaac is fitting in a planter box on the east side of our yard - so it gets a lot of sun through out the day.  We'll see what comes out!

Let the studying begin!! :)

Oh yeah... and the gardening!!

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Yard Project

My wonderful handy hubby is working on transforming our backyard.  It's at the point where I'm not much help, he had to fix the fence...re-do the UG sprinklers....re-sand & re-paint our fire pit, etc.  But soon, There will be projects I can be more involved in.  He's even going to build a beautiful pergola for our deck.

I'm looking forward to a "new" backyard - it'll be so fun to be able to sit back there & relax together and enjoy the Oregon summer.
Question though -- our 1 year anniversary is around the corner (CRAZZZZY!) and we're trying to think of something to do that is special but cost effective.  Any recommendations out there??

Back to work I go!
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