A whole house to decorate--Deep breath

So I'm getting rather excited to start getting new stuff for the new house, but it's also kinda overwhelming. :) In reality, Jared and I are pretty lucky as the house is in great shape and doesn't really need that much work, but what fun is it if you don't take some liberties to make it your own? Although the entire house can be a work-in-progress, my first priority is the master bedroom. The current color is a dark almost navy blue, making the room resemble a dark blue cave, and the master bath transitions to a pastel blue. Ick...Rest assured, I will be taking some before and after pics before this project begins.

After much deliberation I've decided on a new color palette for the master bedroom, and that's a success for me on its own. (You should have seen how long it took me to decide on my wedding colors. Just ask my sis, as it seems every week I was telling her what my new colors were going to be) I don't know when I became so indecisive, seriously. Every decision is like the decision of the year for me. It's annoying and doesn't bode well for the hundreds of decisions I'm going to be making for the wedding over the next year. Maybe that'll force me to get better about it! Anyways, back on the subject, the lucky color winners are....drum roll please.....


Tada!! Gray and Coral. LOVE, LOVE this.. . I'll probably add some silver and or white decor in there. Ahhh, perfection. The plan as of now, is for the walls to be the gray color, and the duvet/comforter will be coral, as well as fun little decor. However upon further research, finding a coral color duvet or even comforter set is harder than one might think. Although I do have a few options that I like:


West Elm


Crate & Barrel:

Although the Crate & Barrel duvet is very cool, (and I actually just realized the image has the same color palette as my picks, maybe that's why I like it so much?) :) but it resembles my current duvet cover with a large white print, so I am actually leaning towards the West Elm duvet. Maybe it's too orange? Ahh, decisions. What do you guys think? Help! :)

I sense a new painting brewing to hang in this room...

I love football, get over it.

Fantasy football. Some may think it is the most ridiculous idea of a game and the thought of participating would be about as fun as watching grass grow. Well, this is not at all the case for me. In fact, I look forward to football season more than any other sport because let's face it, football simply IS the best spectator sport there is. No other sport can make me jump up and down, yell and scream at the TV in excitement or anger, and literally clear out an evening/afternoon just to watch a game (Although college basketball is a close second). To this day I still believe that had there been an all girl league of football when I was younger, dare I say that it would have been my sport of choice rather than soccer. Would I have been good at football? Most likely not and I'm sure I would have cried on multiple occasions due to my rather low tolerance for pain. Football certainly would not have been a good fit for me, but I digress, this obsession with the sport as a spectator is only furthered by the addition of a fantasy football league or two.

For at least 5 years, I have been a part of at least one fantasy league per season. Before fantasy football, my football watching days were devoted mainly to my alma mater KSU, as well as the Chiefs and the occasional Bears game, whenever the networks decide to broadcast it here in Kansas. When I made the easy decision to participate in my first F.F. league, all of the sudden EVERY game needed to be seen. I just had to watch all of my F.F. players in action and see my points rack up live to be sure I was going to win my weekly match-up. My Sunday afternoons that typically consisted of watching one game, eventually transitioned to football marathons. If there is a game on, I'm watching it. I told ya, football obsession....fully.

Until this year, I have been the proud General Manager of the Victorious Secrets (laugh all you want, it's clever and you know it), and have unfortunately not yet seen a championship. This may reflect badly on abilities as a team manager, but make no mistake your draft position, your involvement in your team week to week,and a lot of luck are the key components to a successful team. Regardless, this year I decided to make a change to try and improve my luck. In 2010, Victorious Secrets is no more and the new team is ready for action. Somewhere Over Dewayne Bowe, make me proud. For those unaware, Dewayne Bowe is the top receiver for the Kansas City Chiefs. :)

My 2010 league's draft took place this afternoon. It's this league's tradition to do a live draft gathering. We get together, have our own individual research and paperwork prepared to do our best drafting, and have more food than we can eat. Here's a few images of the action:

I drew Pick #5 out of 12 total. Not too bad, but not great.

Two or three hrs later, all teams have their rosters full with 16 of the NFL's finest, and our belly's full with Papa John's finest. What a way to spend an afternoon. :) My team is looking strong, and I am optimistic for my chances this year to take home the cash. ($110 is up for grabs)

Wish me luck for the 2010 season and yes, I am a tomboy and I love sports. Get over it.

Four Lovely Ladies

Four lovely ladies need to be watching their mailboxes!

I know, I know, secrets are no fun for those not involved. Sorry!

Rupe-a-Loop

Rupe-a-Loop, Rupe-Dawg, the Rupe-ster...all interchangeable in describing the one and only Rupert.

Seeing this image, you would never guess it was the same dog from when Jared and I first visited and brought him home from Wayside Waifs, a local animal shelter. This is the story of Rupert, and how he came to be ours.

I had wanted a dog for months previous to the decision to make Rupert the newest member to our little family, and I spent countless nights searching websites of local shelters for the perfect mutt. Yes, I dreamed to find a great mutt. Not a purebred, AKC certified perfectly bred dog. There is something so exciting about a mutt...you never know what you will get, and their coats, eyes, and bodies display the most interesting combination of whatever breeds lead them to their existence. And there was no other option for me than to adopt a dog from a shelter. With so many helpless pups, and so many heartbreaking Sarah McLaughlin commercials constantly reminding me of them, shelters where the only place I would look. Anyway, finally one evening, I saw Rupert's picture and had an instant feeling of "Could this be the one?!". Jared was indifferent, as he has seen me research and gush over countless puppy images. How was he to know that this one was for real? "You should never go look at a puppy unless you intend to buy." Jared would say.

He knew I meant business, when I wanted to make a visit. He was all up for it, so we ventured to Wayside Waifs to check him out. This is what we found the first trip up to the shelter:

I know, adorable right? A perfect little mix of a German Shepard and a Chow. But it is important to note that he didn't hardly move from that spot, despite my desperate attempts to get him to come to me, to wag his tail, to show any sign of the playful 4 month old puppy I so eagerly wanted him to be. I began to have second thoughts. So much so, that Jared and I left the shelter, disappointed, without even meeting Rupert in the puppy viewing room.

A week passed, and yet still, Rupert stayed on my mind. I knew he had a rough start to his life based on the bio Wayside Waifs provided. I wanted to be the stable, loving owner this poor little guy needed. So Jared and made a second trip to Wayside Waifs, this time to meet him face to face in the puppy viewing room. He was everything we expected this time: timid, shy, uninterested and afraid of human touch. BUT...he had a small, I'm talking TINY, interest in the tennis ball. I saw a tail wag, and a small jump of excitement when the tennis ball was thrown. This was all I needed to make the decision that this little guy had great potential. He had to be ours.

One week later, March 31st, 2010. I drove to Wayside Waifs once more, only this time to bring Rupert home. Here he is, happy as a little clam ready to ride home with me!

The first few days were not easy. Owning a puppy who wants nothing to do with you was troubling, but I just had to remember that he needed time. Slowly, day by day, he warmed up, began to trust, and began to show the curious and playful personality Jared and I now see everyday. He certainly still has his issues to work out--Most notably is his overwhelming fear of strangers--but overall he has been truly a wonderful dog. His favorite place to hang out is in his kennel, I mean can it get any easier than that?! He was potty trained in 2-3 days, and he learned shake within 1 day (Just one of the now 7 tricks we taught him). We love him to pieces, and now hopefully you do too, even if you meet him and he won't let you pet him. :) There will be plenty of more opportunities to fall for Rupert when he graces the Curious Yellow Blog page in the future. We can't wait to see what kind of dog he is in the next few months, and years!

P.S. Why the name Rupert? Actually, his shelter name was Rupert, and Jared and I decided to keep it because it seemed to perfectly fit his timid and independent puppy personality so well.