July 21st...Is there something special about that date?

Um...Alright, alright. It's our anniversary! Now if I would have seen the date this morning I'm sure I would have remembered, but alas I did not.
Yep, Jon and I both managed to forget that today was our anniversary. I was going along with my normal morning routine when Jon's mom showed up to watch Jared while I went to work. When I opened the door she said, "Happy Anniversary!" I'm sure my face dropped a little because I had no idea. My guess is that it's because we celebrated last weekend and didn't have anything special planned for today, but who knows? Maybe life is just kinda crazy right now. Anyway, I called Jon and had to leave him a voicemail reminding him. We had a laugh about it later.

For a little anniversary fun I thought I'd post some pics of the two of us through the years. I don't have any from the early, early years because that was before digital cameras (I feel like that makes me sound old). And now presenting (drum roll please), Jon and Torrie summer of 2001.

I have no idea why we are dressed up, but look at those youngsters. I always think it's funny when I look back at these kinds of pictures because I don't ever remember my hair being that blond, but here's the proof. Let me do a little math...Jon and I were together for 2 years here. I really need to dig up some pictures from the very beginning. 

Wedding day four years ago. My first day as a Boggs.

And here we are during our anniversary weekend of fun. Almost 4 years after the wedding day and 11 years after we started dating. 

What a ride it's been!

Daddy's Boy

In the last week or so I've realized that my little boy has been a Daddy's Boy! At least 5 separate times a day Jared will turn to me from whatever he's playing and say, "Dada? Dada?" I always explain that Dada is at work and he goes back to his fun, but you should see the sad little face he gets when he realizes that Dada isn't here. The real realization came the other morning though. Background: Jared normally just cries when he's ready to get up in the morning, no words, just crying. Jon and I were letting Jared cry a bit to see if he would go back to sleep because he woke up at 5:50. All of a sudden I hear "Dada, Dada" coming from Jared's room. Then again today he was refusing to take his afternoon nap and I hear "Dada Dada." I've decided it's because he already knows that Jon is the softy in the house.

Living Room Plans

As you can see by the slideshow on the side I've been busy looking at stuff for the living room. Here's my newest find from Crate and Barrel:

Found Here

My favorite part is the it's from reclaimed wood so it's got some real distress marks. Here's the top view.

Now to save up for it.

No Motivation

Grr! Today was a rough today. I've noticed that after I have a busy day of running around (like taking Jared to Chicago) I have a really hard time getting back into the swing of things. It's too easy for me to make excuses. Do you have any suggestions for motivation? My most recent thought is just to schedule something I have to do earlier in the morning so that I get moving immediately and don't end up sitting around. Without a set schedule I have a really hard time getting motivated and getting things done. Jared definitely doesn't make things any easier because he wants to be right in the middle of everything, just like any toddler.
Luckily tomorrow is a new day! Here's to a better day!

House Stuff

I think I've finally been inspired to get some design into this house. Jon and I have been talking about what to do with some of the space since Big Jared moved in. Having an extra roomie has really made us aware of the space and what it does to us. Right now our living room is the big problem and I do mean big. It's a pretty large space, especially for the size of our house, but it's become a catch all. Here's a description for those of you that haven't visited.
We have a large L shaped couch in the back corner that Jon says one just "falls" into. Actually we've been practicing my GRE vocabulary so he would more accurately say that we wallow in it. Next to the couch is a cabinet record player that takes up a decent amount of space. There's also a cheap bookcase, our tiny tv on a cheap tv stand, and all of Jared's toys. We've also got a coffee table in the middle of all that. Now moving on to the other end of the room. It's more open because the boys just moved another couch down to the basement. There's a large comfy chair, drumset, end table, glider, and lamp. There's also a fireplace and a large wooden secretary (that's what my mom would call it) type piece of furniture on that side. The walls are a shade of white that has a tint of green and the ceiling is dun dun dun...dark brown.
So here's what we're thinking. We want to have two sections of the room: a comfy relaxing section and a more "straight back chair" feeling (those are Jon's exact words) section for work. We don't have much money to spring for new stuff so we've got to work with what we've got. I am really drawn to clean modern designs, which I think Jon likes too, but he's a bit more quirky than me. Basically I need to pare down and organize all the stuff we have. All the designs I like have less clutter than I have and look much cleaner.
Jon would really like to get a big table to work on. The idea of painting a small section of the wall with chalkboard paint in order to create somewhere that Jon can jot down ideas. My understanding is that it will be framed out. I've also talked about getting organizers for the walls, so that Jon can just put his papers in there when he is done for the night.
Do you have any suggestions? Please send me links if you find any.
I've been looking at Young House Love and really love the overall look that they have going and the DIY stuff is always good. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Hopefully eventually I'll be able to post some before and after pictures.

My Life

Life has been moving along as usual. Since my last post Jared has started and become confident in his walking. It's funny how much more of a big kid he seems now. He's absolutely loving the independence too. That boy is going to be one interesting kid. So impatient already and he gets real frustrated when he can't do something immediately. I can also see glimpses of the terrible twos, which should be loads of fun.

In other news: I'd really like to be able to use this blog to update life in general instead of just life with Jared. I've been working really hard on fully developing myself and want somewhere to share it, besides with Jon. So, what's new with me you ask?

I am looking into some new options for more schooling. Throughout my time of thinking about what I'd like to do with my life I've been pulled towards the sciences, but the idea of having to complete so many prerequisites before even starting grad school was just daunting. The most appealing thing I had been considering was neuroscience, specifically looking at sensory processing. One day last month I decided to forget about the prerequisite issue and look into programs. I was surprised to find that there are PhD programs in Psychology that concentrate on Neuroscience. Yay! With these programs I'd probably only have to take one prerequisite class at the most. How exciting! So, I've purchased a study guide for the GRE and have taken a practice test (which did not go well, but now I've got some room to improve). There are several programs in Chicago, so that's encouraging too. Now, I just have to work on getting accepted to one. Applications are due in December and any suggestions or help you have to offer is greatly appreciated. It all seems a little daunting right now.

One last thing before I go. Cleaning my house is not something I enjoy and because of that it is often dirtier than I'd like to admit. I am trying to keep it cleaner and somehow work the cleaning into my normal routine. Since it's abnormal for me to be cleaning I recently sent Jon an email proudly listing my accomplishments for the day. He found it amusing, so here's a small excerpt:

"Here's my completed tasks so far today: cleaned the bathroom sink, counter, mirror, floor, and toilet (having two grown men makes the toilet much messier...yuck!); swept and mopped the kitchen floor (unfortunately it still feels dirty...maybe it's just my feet though); cleaned the kitchen; cleaned Jared's high chair; and I also thought about some ways of rearranging things in the kitchen, mostly the microwave and accompanying cart. My additional plans include cleaning the floor again because Jared just decided to dump his food there and vacuuming. I think that will be a productive day for me."

A day in the life of Torrie. =)