The Kitchen Facelift

We've been in our house for three years, and every single day I have loathed my kitchen. The first week in the house my sister and I painted the cabinets black, and that was awesome (and something i'll never do again). But the kitchen desperately needed a facelift in the form on new countertops and a sink. Well, about six months ago our oven died. The stove top still worked, and that was clutch. (And yes you can live without a stove bc toster ovens are just small stoves.) However, upon realizing that our oven was a 'drop in' my replacement was halted (as drop ins are strangely expensive for how outdated they look)and it took me months of research (in between changing jobs and juggling the twins) to find a suitable replacement. I knew I didnt want anything super fancy in this house on either the oven or the facelift. So, I waited until the big box stores were having a big sale, I think it was over Columbus day weekend, and got the stove. Then after a referral from my amazing handy man, Eric, I went to Counter Dimensions in Pelham for the counter tops. I chose a laminate counter top with a beveled edge that gives it the look of granite. The sink was another story. I bought one from home depot online at an awesome price, but since I waited until the last minute to do so, had to pay a arm and a leg for expedited shipping. Even with the outrageous shipping fee, I wasnt convinced it was going to arrive on time, so I went to Ferguson Bath and Lighting near Dr Pepper place. I told them my predicament, and that I had already bought a sink, and since they were very kind, they matched that price and promised it there by the next day. Since that was very kind of them, I got my faucet from them as well (and im in love with both the sink and the faucet). SO, the tear out and install went as planned and very smoothly. Three days later, I had a like-new kitchen and couldnt have been happier. The first sink did actually ship, but if you dont open it and refuse the package to UPS or Fed Ex, then they refund everything, even shipping. Very good to know. And here are the pics. Before

After!

(new post below)

One Year Photo Shoot

Thanks to sweet Olivia and her amazing work with a camera for these priceless shots. I cant believe these boys are one!

Merry Christmas 2012!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

im here...

I just uploaded a bunch of photos from my phone, so i'll be back soon with first birthday and other year old fun stuff. And im working on a great "photos of 280" post, so prepare yourself for that. Till then a sneak peak from liv's amazing one year pics in mom's hand sewn whale jumpers.

Baby Elephants

The boy's first Halloween was so fun. It brought back all those childhood memories of excitement and anticipation for this holiday. Although we only trick or treated in umbrella strollers to three houses, it was still a great time. My parent's neighbors/friends loved seeing the boys and each gave them goldfish snacks for treats. My mother bought these Alabama Elephant mascot outfits when I was still pregnant with the boys (she takes planning to another level). 

Happy Halloween and Roll Tide!

Who are you voting for? Be specific.

It seems like this election mania will never end. 6 more days... I try to stay informed, but mostly I get annoyed. Lucky for me, Saturday Night Live has been on its game this season, and does not disappoint. This might be my fav commercial spoof thus far. Much like these characters, I feel as though age as disenchanted me to the politcal process. I also feel like South Park got it right a few years ago (episode 8 of season 8 if anyone cares) when they aired their election episode. The elementary school was forced by PETA to change the school's mascot from a cow, so the kids had to choose between a giant douche and a turd sandwich. Realizing that neither was a likable mascot, they rebelled against voting altogether. By the end of the episode (after an appearance by P-diddy in a literal Vote or Die campaign) a PETA guy ended saying to them "Kids, every election is between a giant douche and a turd sandwich" I hate to say it, but I think South Park might have nailed it. Although the cow did get reinstated as the mascot in the end (even though the giant douche technically won...)

I LOVED politics as a kid. I even took notes during the Dole/Clinton debates in 96. True story. Another true story is that I met Bob Dole outside the his Majority Leader office in DC while on my family vacation. He invited us to finish the danishes in his office and apologized for not shaking our hand for he had a cold (and a maimed hand). I told him I was born in Kansas, and he gave me a grin. (He represented Kansas at the time) Ok, this is getting nerdier by the minute. In conclusion: age has taken away my fervor and love for the democratic process. Dont get me wrong, I will vote, and I will follow coverage of this election like a hawk all day next Tuesday. But gone are the days of my inspired political youth. Hopefully the boys will get into it. Family vacation to tour all the monuments and museums in DC? yes please!

I am Jeris Burns, and I approve this blog post. 

Husband's Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Actually it's my third favorite. Let's do a quick list:

1) Thanksgiving- soly bc of my grandmother's cooking, and also its close to my bday and the iron bowl.

2) Christmas: do I have to explain?

3) Halloween!

I love dressing up, and I try to make it authentic when I do (ie: double spray tan for snookie in 2010, personal fav) However, I cant say the same for the hubs. As long as ive known him, Halloween has been J's least favorite holiday. Getting dressed up in goofy costumes and parading around all night is just not his idea of a good time. So, every year he goes to parties in either something lame we threw together in 10 minutes, or no costume at all. One year he showed up at a party where they took the holiday super seriously, and when he walked through the door a girl in a referee outfit threw a yellow flag and blew a whistle. Meaning he had to find a costume somehow, or leave. So this year, since we have the boys who will def be dressed up (as little Alabama elephants, of course) I figured he needed a heads up to get into the Halloween spirit.

The logical idea was Nick Saban  because he has tons of Alabama gear, and the boys will have bama stuff on too. But, maybe that was too obvious, but he threw it out. Then, keeping with the head coach/football theme we thought about Derrick Dooley. Mainly because of those bright orange pants. Which he found. Then, it morphed into Gene Chizik because everyone loves a good train wreck. But how do you do Chizik? A headset, a white short sleeve auburn windbreaker, chewing gum... ? Insert J's creative mind. He decided if he went as Gene, as an added bonus to his outfit, he would hand out "Gene's resume" to the party guests. So, about an hour after we have this conversation, this arrives in my inbox: (Auburn fans, you will most likely be at least slightly offended, and clearly he doesn't care)

Gene “Ole Toothless” Chizik

251 South Donahue Drive • Auburn, Alabama 36849 • suckmyballsnicksatan@gmail.com

_____________________________________________________________________________________

WORK EXPERIENCE

·      Head Coach,  Auburn University Football Team, Auburn, Alabama, 2009-present

o   Currently working as the head honcho of the Auburn Tigers football team.

o   Relationship Status: It’s Complicated

o   My day to day activities include:

§  Checking in with Coach Dye

§  Calling on various high school athletes and their parents and explaining the benefits of new home ownership

§  Watching game film

§  Conducting research (reading list includes Quarterback Development for Dummies, How to Tackle Good and Do Other Defense Good Too, and Modern Defense: Passivity + Good Offense = Winning)

o   Played a significant part in the winning of 2010 BCS National Championship (uncredited)

o   Expert in blame redirection (References: Tommy Tuberville)

o   Other references from this position:

§  Cam Newton

§  Pat Dye

§  Jay Jacobs

·      Head Coach, Iowa State, Aimes, Iowa, 2007-2009

o   In an innovative turn, I converted the “rope-a-dope” strategy from boxing to the football field, with the long term goal of taking enough “punches” from our opponents that in the long term they might let their guard down, allowing us the opportunity to strike.  Unfortunately, I was not in this position long enough to reap the rewards from such a strategy, but can assure you we had them right where we wanted them. 

o   Overall Record: Available upon request

o   Was not fired from this position

·      Previous work (Summary)

o   Defensive Coordinator for national champion Texas Longhorns (2005) (Notable performance: Held USC offense to 38 points in Rose Bowl)

o   Broyles Award Recipient, 2004 (References: Frank Broyles)

o   Served as inspiration for classic video game character (except for the teeth LOL!):

  

EDUCATION

·         High School

·         College

·         School of Hard Knocks

ACTIVITIES and INTERESTS

·         Thwarting energy vampires

·         Narcissism (References: God)

·         Gumming strangers

_________________________________________________________________________________

100 points for husband. Happy early Halloween!

Lincoln Love

The long awaited countdown to November 16th in underway! When you live with a movie nerd, nothing "in production" slips past you. This movie has been on our radar for years, and the transformation of Daniel Day Lewis into President Lincoln has us both pining for more. The actor is not the only draw, the subject matter is a personal obsession of mine. Lincoln was the topics of multiple college essays, and I might have even spent an whole interim in the BSc library studying his speeches...dont judge. So, when one of the greatest character actors of all time signs up for this roll, giddy doesnt even describe it. Ok, watch the trailer and then review my commentary at this point. I'm curious if you'll have the same observations as me...

Arn't you excited!!! My thoughts:

-They were SUPER kind to Mary Todd Lincoln by casting Sally Field. MT was a portly woman and has never received the kindest words regarding her beauty. She was, however, witty and charming and (before the death of her sons) quite a social woman.
-I had to watch this several times to come to gribs with DDL's adaptation of Lincoln's voice. At first it sounded, well, quite un-presidential and strange. But, after doing some reading about this topic, it is apparently widely understood that Lincoln's voice was somewhat high pitched and un-fitting to his stature.
-Like I said, DDL is a character actor, and so he did enormous research on the subject matter, and lived as Lincoln for the entirety of production. In an interview with Jason Gordon-Levitt, he explained that he didnt actually talk to DDL as himself and not Lincoln until the filming was complete. The movie was in production for two years...
-Im definitely buying the soundtrack and making it the background music to my life. From now on each day will be inspirational in a way only Lincoln can be...
-Speaking of Jason Gordon-Levitt. I cant think of him as anything other than the sweet little kid from 10 Things I Hate About You. Im hoping for some good things from him.

Let the #Lincolnlove begin!

The Gig

It's been one month since I completely turned my life upside down and backwards. I did what many Americans dont have the luxury to do right now, which is to leave one job and immediately join another. I feel so blessed to have this opportunity, yet honestly it was one of the hardest decision ive ever made in my life. I nearly had a panic attack daily in the weeks leading up to the big day. If you've never resigned from a perfectly good job, then the anxiety involved is inexplicable. Luckily I have a lawyer brain for a husband who gave me good advice on logistics because I would not have representation in the room (honestly, we thought of that). Once it was over, I could finally breath a sigh of relief for the first time in months. For some background, in the financial industry when you leave a firm you must immediately leave the premises, and take with you only the names, phone numbers, emails and addresses of your clients. So, my sigh of relief was short lived, as we left Liberty Park for the last time, and headed over to our new life in the Colonnade.

So why did I leave a perfectly good job? The reasons go far beyond what I could express is a blog post, but the overlying theme is a better opportunity all around. I will admit this past month has not been easy. Business disregards friendships, and unfortunately this departure has severed relationships that I thought were  unbreakable. It breaks my heart, but I have to remind myself that there's no crying in business (until you get home to your wine...). So the past month have seen it's ups and downs, but im now a legitimate business owner in charge of my practice within the realm of a larger business (Bridgeworth Financial). The logistics of that is a bit harder to explain, but myself and my business partner now have payroll to meet along with rent, postage, printing ink and the like. It's overwhelming but amazing at the same time.

Amiss the chaos of the past month, I have seen moments of serenity that have kept me on my feet. One of these such moments came earlier this week when an older woman who is a client of the firm, and now a new friend, wanted to hear about some of my trials and tribulations dealing with my previous firm. I explained it had not been an easy transition, but we were doing well and somehow landing on our feet despite having many odds against us. She just smiled and then did something very unexpected. She starting quoting Kipling. (Kara, you would have been in heaven). Embarrassingly I wasn't familiar with the poem as she recited parts of it verbatim, but then again I studied the people that wrote the words, not the words themselves, so I quietly listened. 

IF.....

IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

"If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same." That verse completely sums us the past four weeks for me. I really should include more British lit in my life.

A quick word about the new place. Like I said, i'm with Bridgeworth Financial. We can be found here. Unfortunately for me, we took these pictures ten pounds ago  several months ago, so i'm not quite myself. I clearly needed a change if i was willing to go through a professional photo shoot (complete with a makeup artist, so cool) 6 months post twins. Oh well. In addition, our office is beautiful. There really isn't another way to say it. The partners that designed it are women, nuff said.

SO, in conclusion. Im happy, re motivated, exhausted and fulfilled all at the same time. This place is my future and im so excited to see where it will go.

Twining

"Twining" is much like Charlie Sheen's "Winning," but it's used when dumb twin things happen to me or those around me. For instance, yesterday at 3:45pm I realize that I had been wearing two different shoes all day long. Granted, one was brown and the other black and also in my defense, they were both kinda pointy. However, I had been to a ywca meeting downtown and in three different client meetings and no one said a word. Either it wasn't that noticeable, or I am around courteous sweet Southern women. I blame this on the twins because I got ready that morning while holding one and appeasing the other. Shoes weren't my top priority.

Meanwhile back in the People's Republic...

I thought China had a one child rule. I guess when they all come at once, you just shrug and tell your Communist leader to shove it. Twining.

Baby blog action

I actually updated the baby blog for those following along at home. I will try and be better at that moving forward. It's bedtime, but until I can write a proper post, I leave you with this. Via my sis in law-liz who always has the best finds. I'm still convinced she scours the internet to fund amazing stuff for a living.

My Life in bullet points

• Ive changed jobs. Im still a financial advisor, but at a different firm. Im super happy and totally overwhelmed at the same time. More on that later...
• Ive lost 12 pounds in a little less than two months. Boo ya bitches. There is hardly a better feeling than fitting into outfits in the depths of your closet. The outfits you never thought you'd see again, and you had basically written off as impossible. Love this. Although the excitement makes me want to eat a bowl of rotel cheese dip, I will try for the last ten so I can get down to that wedding gown weight one day.
• I dont understand this four square thing
• I cant stand the Walter White character from Breaking Bad. (Bryan Cranson is much more lovable as the quirky dad from Malcom in the Middle). This show is suppose to be ground breaking, but that character is ruining it for me. Dexter's return is way overdue. At this rate, im even looking forward to Game of Thrones; never thought id say that.
• Roll Tide.
• My neighbor two house up got chickens. Ya'll know me, I LOVE me some chickens, and if it were up to me, I would also have chickens because fresh eggs are amazing. However, my dogs are not convinced that these chickens are nothing more than fresh meat, and so we must endure their constant barking every morning, during the day while the boys try and nap, and every evening. My neighbors are probably pissed that my dogs never shut up, but its not my fault, it's those damn chickens!
• My boys are almost 9 months old. What in the world is happening there?

New Obsession?

We cant text and drive here in Alabama as of yesterday (which I completely agree with) but who says we cant take pictures at stop lights? You all know I love loath me some "family stickers" on the back of cars. They are so out of control these day and are completely ridiculous. I thought it couldnt get any worse, but thats what I get for thinking.

A GMC is a big truck, and thats a very big picture shellacked to the back of that SUV. I cant believe some 13 year old boy hasnt drawn a mustache on that little girl yet. This is not only telling some deviant, "Hey I have a daughter" but also "here is what she looks like!" NOT OK! When will people learn... Please collect images if you see these, because they are amazing/awful and I hope they dont become a fad-for those kid's sake.

Paleo update

Im finishing week 4 of this paleo thing and I feel like I'm doing pretty good. I've lost a solid 5 pounds and if it wasn't for babies refusing to sleep, I think I'd have more energy. I'm certainly fitting into clothes better which is always fun. I've posted some of my meals below which include spaghetti squash spaghetti, homemade kale chips, an urban standard omelette, Cobb salad, my fav milk substitute almond coconut milk, veggie chicken patties with onions, green peppers and mushrooms, and a few breakfast choices. I really try not to cheat but in some eating situations the paleo choices sparse. Hopefully month two will be just as successful!

Ode to a Bachelorette

Last weekend I took a much needed break from life and headed down to the lovely orange beach for my sisters bachelorette party. I took along with me plenty of paleo snacks, two new not so terrible non-bikini swim suits, Tina Fey's audio book of Bossypants, and a good amount of coconut rum. As I expected, the weekend was spectacular. We found time to chill, get some sun, "shower Taylor" and
Of course hit up the Florabama. I've never had a trip there I didn't absolutely love. Kara- remember when I stole that guys quesadilla? Or when matt got a henna tatoo of a dinosaur? Once i saw John Parker Wilson and almost lost it. Love that bar! This trip was certainly no disappointment. We had lots of other bachelorettes, fellow Chivers, a sailing adventure, guys in cat t-Shirts, and full filled runs on the beach. Can't wait for the big day in October!