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Saturday, October 16, 2010

The Big Surprise

After keeping you all in suspense for about two weeks now, I can FINALLY report that I successfully pulled off...

..."OPERATION FREE FURNITURE UPGRADE" :o) :o) :o)

I'm at a loss over how to properly explain to you how tricky it was to pull this thing off without making you read a 20 minute post. So, I shall try to explain how the magic happened as *briefly* as possible. But bear with me...keeping stories short has never been my strong suit!

So there we are sitting on our new (to us) leather loveseat. Cause we love each other. Awww. And because I made Jesse sit for a "blog picture" :o)

We said goodbye to this thing. It was from my grandma's house and smelled ever-so-faintly and suspiciously like pee, so no one will miss it. It was donated to the Airman's Attic...I feel kind of bad about the pee smell...but one man's trash, another man's treasure, right?


This beauty has replaced it. And now the only thing that smells like pee around here is Lily...

And we removed this one from our living room, but not to the Attic yet, because it's match (our couch) will be going with it when it does leave the house. For now, it's living in our bedroom. The plan is to ditch them both before our next base (and buy a sofa when we relocate)...that way someone gets the set.

We don't hate this furniture. It was given to us by a dear friend, and has served us well. But when we were at the Airman's Attic that first time, someone brought these leather ones in (and we've definitely been leaning towards leather when we buy) and we sat in them and longed for them but we couldn't get them because we had no way to transport them. So we left...

...And it broke my heart cause I could tell how bad Jesse wanted them...

...And I just knew that Lily would look so cute playing with them...(well, she actually really likes the pillows...she's recently become obsessed with getting them off the couches and onto the floor so she can climb all over them!)

So I worked my magic and surprised Jesse! This is a miracle on many fronts, firstly because I am terrible at keeping secrets in general, but ESPECIALLY with Jesse. And secondly, because there were many ups and downs to this two week process...and like I mentioned earlier, I had thought we were going to get them much sooner than this.

Then plans fell through. Then more plans fell through. And the Attic has weird hours and rules about things.

Then I thought my friends Bethanne and Adam were going to decide they didn't want to be my friends anymore. :o) But I discovered they have endless patience and a great sense of humor about foiled plans. I think they started to secretly want to help me get this dang furniture as much as I did! :o) See, we don't have any friends with an easily accessible truck right now, so Bethanne and Adam were willing to pretend their big car (it's some SUV-sort-of-thing) was a truck. Even though it meant that Jesse and Adam had to take two trips to get this stuff into our living room.

Those are some dedicated new friends we have! :o) The pizza we fed them for lunch *hardly* seems adequate.

Oh, and as icing on the cake of plans not working out the way you want, Jesse came home in the evening to tell me he had to work CQ from 00-0600 again...meaning he'd be up ALL NIGHT. I cringed inside...because I hadn't told him about the surprise yet...and the surprise would mean he wouldn't get to sleep in!

But when I told him at 6:15am this morning that he'd have to be up by 9:30, and why, he was not too upset about it...probably because he half didn't believe me, and half thought this is one of the best surprises I've pulled off for him!

And I ran out and got him an energy drink. Oh, the many reasons he loves me.

So yes, that's actually the short story. Believe it or not, there are other crazy plot twists in there, but this will suffice. Thanks to the generosity and patience of our friends at the Airman's Attic and our real friends down the road, our living room is looking much classier...

If you ignore the baby toys. And pack-n-play.

12 comments:

  1. I'm so excited for you guys! I had wondered what ever happened to the surprise, but I didn't ask 'cause well, I'm not so good at surprises, either!

    And I don't mind if you tell me the whole story in an e-mail - I'm interested in what happened!

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  2. I love the new furniture!! Looks amazing! :) So when will we get pics of the rest of your house? :0)

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  3. It looks awesome!! Jeremy and I want leather furniture too, and I'm so jealous right now (the good kind, not the ugly kind). I'm horrible at surprises. To date, Jeremy has never gotten a surprise from me because I'm physically incapable of keeping them. Good job! I'm also very interested in the plots, twists, and turns. If you happen to be writing up an email for mom anyway, will you just shoot it my way too? I'm so intrigued by all of this armed forces stuff. Totally off topic, I'm rising pumpkin spice brioche as I write! I'm going to make the doughnuts tomorrow morning!

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  4. ...oh and seeing you pregnant makes me want another. Curses! I thought I was done!!

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  5. Just to clarify, which you could probably already tell...it's not *real* leather :o)

    Mom and Hil: Um, it's a reeeeally long story that I wasn't planning on having to type up. But it would be a funny phone conversation to have with both of you at some point. Sorry to leave you in more suspense...it was pretty epic :o) Mostly it just involves me being stood up by the people who'd offered to drop it off...twice. Then it involved Adam's friend's truck that we were going to borrow suddenly being dead the day we needed it. I started to think the furniture was cursed! :o)

    Hil: I have baguettes cooling for lunch. Don't you love how fancy you feel and look and how people think you work so hard in the kitchen cause of all the fun bread you make? :o) They don't understand how awesome no-knead bread is! I seriously put about 5 minutes into those suckers! Are you making the doughnuts with pumpkin brioche? And you should definitely have another! ;o)

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  6. Yup, pumpkin doughnuts tomorrow! I need to go and get a candy-making thermometer today though. Did you read the little write-up in the book (in the doughnut recipe section) about how doughnuts don't hold onto the oil if it's brought to the proper temperature? It makes me SUPER excited about making my own. I have a doughnut obsession, so finding a way to make "truly healthy (um...healthier) doughnuts" is exciting for me. I can't wait.

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  7. That's awesome! What an awesome surprise! :] I have to catch up on your blogging....

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  8. Your posts make me laugh (the pee smell...LOL!)...that's so awesome that you could surprise Jesse AND get new furniture!! Go you!

    And...I would like it (f you had time) if you could send me a no-knead bread recipe. I used to make bread a lot but quit when I was pregnant because it was SO HOT and so much work...but now that it's fall I'm ready to try again!

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  9. Nicole: here's the link to the master recipe (complete with pics and instructions!) and with it you can make 4 free-form loaves that are super duper yummy and easy and everyone will think you're amazing! ;o) http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/?p=1087 Let me know if you have any questions about it. XOXOXO

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  10. I love how you can barely tell you are 8 months pregnant in that picture! The new furniture looks amazing! Good job!!

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  11. Haha...black tshirts are very slimming ;o)

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  12. Nice! Derrick and I are going to get leather (not sure if he is thinking real or not) couches too. I like not having to steam clean them for me to feel like they are clean. As long as we don't get a dog, they should serve us well. Plus I think they are pretty. I so wish I could sit on your couch and chat with you while drinking Pumpkin Spice Latte. Some day...

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