Catching Up!

A college Friend, Jen's wedding (above)

Tim's big catch at the lake! (above)

Liz and I in Chicago at the top of the John Hancock Bldg. (above)

My Cousin Jeff and his wife Emily (above)

Oh boy, where do I even start?!? What a summer it has been so far! Might as well jump right in, lets start with something fun...

There's no better way to begin the summer than w/a trip to Chicago to visit my best friend, Elizabeth! We had so much fun! We went to Navy Pier, ate at some great places and of course shopped our little hearts out. :) Plus, I got to see their first new home, it was beautiful. We had a blast, as always!

Tim left for Army Officer School on May 28th. He is in Fort Meade, SD for 8 weeks until he completes the program. I am excited for him! He seems to be doing well, but is definitely ready to be back home! He gets back July 25th, which can't come soon enough! He will graduate from the Officer Program on August 22nd, and upon graduation will be a Second Lieutenant in the Army. This will not be a full time job for him, as he is in the reserves.

While Tim is gone, my "little" brother Jon has been staying with me! He has been a huge help (especially with Wilson). Plus, it's just nice to have him around. He is working as a personal trainer for Optimum Fitness. He does boot camps, personal training, and also works with employees of companies like First National Bank and Mutual of Omaha doing training in their corporate gyms. He seems to be enjoying his time in Omaha! :)

Work has been very busy. We were named the 30th largest builder in the country by Big Builder Magazine! Last year alone we had 1,290 closings which is an exciting accomplishment! We're still plugging away too, things have not slowed down one bit! I still LOVE my job, but vacations are nice too! ;)

The Designers Showhouse is coming right along. Our walls are up and we have ordered plumbing fixtures, lighting and fabric! It's still on schedule to be completed mid-September. More details to come...

Otherwise if there's not a wedding, baby shower, bridal shower or jewelry party going on than you can find me and Wilson at the lake! :) We've been spending as much free time there as possible! Wilson is set to compete in the olympic swim trials coming to Omaha in 2012! ;) Watch out Michael Phelps! haha!

I hope this blog post finds everyone happy and healthy and having a wonderful summer! I will try to update as often as I can! Happy, Happy Summer!!!

Showhouse "pre tour"

Taking a little nap...

I know it seems like a big sacrifice (especially for me), but I have decided the blog needs to take a little nap while I do a little "spring cleaning for the soul."
So thank you for listening to myself when I ramble on about boring things. And for leaving awesome comments that show you care. And, mostly, for letting me share all these silly things that make me happy. So thank you.
Updating this site is one of my favorite things to do and I certainly love to share all of my pictures and resources. I hope you all understand and I hope you all will come back and visit when I start blogging again! :) Happy Spring! Much Love, Katie

On a roll...

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, things have really picked up for us at work! The first time homebuyer tax credit has been HUGE for HearthStone! It's all great, but can be a little overwhelming and stressful at times. It seems the rush just came overnight and was almost unexpected. But the great thing is we sold 61 homes last month and are on track to sell over 100 homes in April! My work days are fully booked with buyer appointments which is my favorite part of my job! It's so fun to work with all kinds of different people and to help them create a place they will call "home!"

The "Perfect Dressipe" website...

I thought I would share another cute website with you. Surprise! This one doesn't involve food (haha!), it has unique bags, aprons, pillows, and clothes. Their ETSY site is:

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6453875&order=&section_id=&page=2 OR their website to just view items, not purchase is:

http://www.perfectdressipe.com/index.html

Babies & Brides!

Below: The cutest mugs that my Aunt Deb got for Emily!

Below: Pretty spring bouquet that Madonna had for Emily's shower


Below: Emily opening gifts!



Below: My cousin Chrissy and her daughter, Joslyn, being silly!

Below: Our nephew Huston!

Below: Baby Jaxon (nephew) is all smiles, all the time!

Below: Jaxon's baby dedication

Below: Jaxon

This weekend we celebrated Emily's wedding shower and Jaxon's baby dedication in Lincoln! Emily is getting married to my cousin, Jeff on June 6th! My Aunt Madonna hosted a shower for Emily. Then Sunday it was back to Lincoln for our nephew Jaxon's baby dedication! It was a weekend of celebrating!

More fun ideas...

As you can probably already tell, I am a "savvy searcher" when it comes to the internet! I absolutely love to find fun, creative ideas and share them with my friends/family! Well I found yet another amazing website with some wonderful ideas! If you have time you have to check it out, I PROMISE it will be worth every minute! http://www.brightideas.com/

Cutest Cakes!

Today I ran across some of THE CUTEST cakes I have ever seen! To see more, visit this website and ENJOY! http://www.hostessblog.com/2009/03/absolutely-amazing-diy-birthday-cakes/

Showhouse

Today was my day off from work so Annette and I met at the showhouse to get measurements of the space. The interior pictures of the room were taken from my phone, so they are little blurry but can at least give an idea of how "unfinished" our space is! The owner of the house loves antiques and has A LOT of them! So they requested we use their furniture... something we didn't find out until after we selected our space, but we have to work with what we've got! Above you'll see the owner's sink with the fabric we chose for the window treatment and even the paint swatch (wall color, blue). Then below that is a picture of the owner's cabinet (we'll be transorming into a vanity) the sink will sit on top! The floors will be white marble w/gray veining (per owner). It will be a huge improvement! I can't wait until it's all put together!

Blogging!

Gosh, I feel like I have put my blog on the backburner lately as life has been busier than normal! Work has picked up tremendously (sigh of relief) with the $8000 first time homebuyer tax credit! Last Saturday alone we were at our capacity of 30 appointments!! And aside from that the showhouse project seems to take up most of my free time. But I promise to try and set aside a little more time for blogging! :) More to come soon...

Oh and before I forget, I wanted to welcome Mandi (my sister-in-law), my friend Beth (a little belated, sorry Beth) and Katie Jo (my friend) to the world of blogging!! haha! They all recently decided to start blogs of their own! I told them that if they're like me, it won't take long for them to become addicted!! :)

Spring Fever!

Aren't these the cutest little flower pots?!?! Those are actually socks wrapped around a flowerpot! Ya! It's amazing to me what some people think of... :) Here's the how to:
http://www.rachaelraymag.com/every-day-style/kitchen-makeover-how-to/table-centerpieces/sock-it-to-me/article.html

Bachelor girls!!!

This is the group of girls I get together with for our Bachelor night!! We always have a good time! This week was the finale and Marion got us all roses... she's so sweet! Thanks for always hosting Mare!!

Oh Wilson!

If Wilson could talk he would probably be VERY mad at me right now, but this picture cracked me up!! Have a good day, hope this made you smile!

Yay Tim!

As some of you may already know, Tim has been trying to get on the Omaha Police Department. This is waaaay harder to do than what many would think! It's amazing to me the number of people who want this job so bad! He has tested with OPD twice now, and always makes it far along in the process, but unfortunately hasn't quite made the cut.
On Monday he applied for a part time job with Signal 88 Security and got the job the next day! They patrol malls, businesses, residences, and even the college world series in Omaha. The neat thing is there are many officers that work for Signal 88 when they are off duty, and the owner of the company himself is also an officer. So hopefully this will be good exposure/experience for Tim because he wants this so bad. I'll be sure to keep you all posted! Please keep him/his safety in your thoughts and prayers.

Omaha Home Show 2009

Below: Granite countertop

The 2009 ASID Designers Showhouse that I will be working on!

On Sunday Tim's mom and step dad came to Omaha for the home and garden show. It was fun! You can always get a lot of ideas from going to the home show! In the top picture you'll see what looks like fire ON water! It was crazy and kinda cool, and they showed A LOT of that this year at the show. It was neat!

We even had time to drive by the Showhouse that I will be working on, so I posted a picture of that too! Then, you'll see Deb and Wilson playing! They don't have grandkids to play with when they visit us, so Deb refers to Wilson as "grand-dog." As you can see, he's not spoiled at all... :)

Rainbow Cake!

I stumbled across this cool recipe today! I think this cake looks so neat! It would be fun for a 60's themed party, child's birthday party, red, white & blue for 4th of July, or just for fun! Here's the link with the recipe... http://www.hostessblog.com/2009/02/fabulous-rainbow-cake-tutorial/

Camp Bow Wow!

Today Wilson got to do one of his favorite things... doggie day care! Tim is out of town for work this week and since Wilson has been SO good and I had a busy day, he got to go to day care! He loves to play with the other dogs and is so worn out when he gets home! When I picked him up, it wasn't 5 minutes that he had been in the car and he was tuckered out and asleep. I am sure he will sleep well tonight!

Fun in the snow!

Riley wants to play with Wilson! (below)

Our little neighbor all bundled up! (below)

A polar plunge at the lake!

Wilson & Max loving their walk!

On Friday Omaha got about 7" of snow! It was even enough for me to get a snow day from work! Tim and I decided to beat the Valentine's Day crowd and go for dinner on Friday night. I am SO glad we did, we definitely beat the rush. We went to one of our favorite little spots... Lo Sole Mio. It's a quaint, family owned Italian restaurant tucked in a residential neighborhood in an older part of town. Dinner was excellent as always and this is the first time we've ever been and haven't had to wait!

In the pictures, you'll see our cute little neighbor boy, Riley! He was out enjoying the snow! Then, Wilson and Max got together again this weekend. We went up to the cabin in Fremont and they played hard. They really enjoy being together!

Cookie Recipe!

On Monday evenings I get together with a bunch of girls and we watch The Bachelor! We always have a great time! This week I brought butterfinger cookies and everyone really liked them. So, I thought I would post the recipe. Be careful, you can't ever just have one!

Butterfinger Cookies
1/2 c. butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
2/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 egg whites
1 1/4 c. peanut butter (i use creamy)
1 1/2 t. vanilla
1 c. flour
1/2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
5 butterfinger candy bars, chopped

In large mixing bowl, cream buttter and sugars until light and fluffy. Beat in egg whites. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture. Stir in candy bars.

Shape into 1 1/2" balls and place on greased cookie sheets. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Yield: 4 doz.

Exciting Opportunity!

This morning I received a phone call from the desinger I did my internship with at the Interior Design Group in Omaha. She asked me if I would be willing to work with her on the 2009 ASID Designers Showhouse! I was elated!

The team of designers met this afternoon at the beautiful residential home built in 1904 near 38th & Dodge. The owner requested to finish the basement themselves in the future, but the remaining 6000 square feet is ours to work with. Obviously, the residence is HUGE and in definite need of a designers touch! But it's full of amazing casework, and has so much character as many old homes do!

Annette and I will be designing the powder room on the main floor. It's small, just under 600 s.f. which is okay with me as I was a little overwhelmed with this being my first experience doing a showhouse. But, I am SO excited that I was asked to be a part of this, it is an amazing opportunity! And this came at the PERFECT time as I am wanting to take on more residential projects of my own. It will be good exposure. I will post again soon as I plan to take pictures of the home and I will follow up with more information. It will be open in Sept.-Oct. for public viewing.