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My Painted Bathroom Floor

A Love Story

I guess all major life events deserve a blog post . . . assuming after 13 years of waiting, my Rob would be considered one of those :) Our Love story is one that begins many years before we actually began dating, and a story that gives me butterflies to think about. In the beginning, Rob did all the watching and dreaming, and I was young and clueless.

We had our first encounter at a church Christmas party in December of 2004. I honestly don't recall the event, but is one that had stuck in Rob's heart for many, many years. Over the years Rob moved in and out of town and we occasionally would see one another in passing. Our girls were in the play Aladdin with a local theatre group, and occasionally he showed up in my ward or the halls at church (I now know he purposely threw himself in my path whenever possible). In the spring of 2011, I ran into him in the grocery store and realized he was fully aware of who I was! After all these years, I knew who he was but didn't even know his name. I quickly began investigating and became more and more aware of this "Robbie" character. In May of 2011, after finally realizing he had some interest in me, I told a church friend I would one day marry this Cosler fellow. It took me months to figure out how to make a move, and on Christmas Eve of 2011, a mutual friend finally made a move and told Rob to ask me out. It went quickly from there. Our first date occurred on January 6, 2012 and was originally described as "ehhh!" But it didn't take me long to realize Rob was the knight and shining armor I had been waiting for. We were officially engaged for 92 days and were married at Old Poway Park in a small (but larger than small) ceremony of June 1, 2012 . . . only 5 months after our first date. It has been a whirlwind of a year, filled with love, tears, and family blending, but I wouldn't rather have anyone else by my side in our journey to forever!

Mr. and Mrs. Cosler & Family June 1, 2012

Welcome back ME!

Apparently blogging isnt cool anymore! The majority of my side bar shows those I follow have months and months since their last posts . . .I was a fantatic (debatable, I know) blogger at one point in my life and recently I referred to my blog often to recall funny stories and pictures for a photo book I made for Cayds. I read through the entire recap of my life during those few years and am bummed to be missing the last 2 years, with one random Itsie-Bitsie-Polka-Dot-Bikini post thrown in there. So, cool or not, I'm attempting to keep up so I can entertain myself in the future when I'm old and grey and remember less than I remember now :) A full recap would most likely bore and kill someone, so here is a super speedy, 17 months later. . . I'm still on a diet, yet currently drinking a rootbeer float (yup, not much has changed there), I both succeeded and failed (a couple of times) in the Etsy business world, and am mentally preparing to launch a website with my sister. I think we are both purposely dragging our feet a bit, scared of the work that will once again consume our lives. I live in the same house (with an extra room), I have the same job, drive the same car, and I probably have the exact same dinners on my weekly menu. I still love to run but probably talk about it more now than I actually do it. My sister Shawna married her bff and gave me a final brother in law, and hopefully a couple nieces and nephews someday soon. Both my softball teams parted ways this past year which makes me sad but Cayden has been playing baseball for like 80 consecutive months now, so I still get my fill of sunflower seeds. Facebook, Instagram, and crafts keep me at the computer, but I now also search self help blogs, as I now have a sassy highschooler . . . a baby, (who isnt really a baby) old enough to realize I don't really turn 23 every year . . . and after 13 years of raising kidlets alone, I added a joyous husband, and 2 step kids to the mix :) awww, Life is GRAND!

itsy bitsy polka dot bikini

Anytime my sweet little Cayden hands me a treat to hold while he runs off to use the bathroom or something he says . . . "Remember,you're on a Diet!" and occasionally someone standing around will look at him funny,to which Cayden immediately responds, "Shes been on a diet my WHOLE life, I'm NINE!" and he will run off to do his thing. It always makes me smile because basically, the kid has me down! So Monday starts my 1 month to wedding bliss diet(guess I have some posts to go back and catch up on) . . . heres to one last weekend of delishness :) Happy Friday all

October costumes, take 2

Although I dreamed. . . it was no surprise that the Rick Riordan book signing costumes couldnt double as Halloween costumes. We planned and created both sets of costumes in September, making our October Halloween prep pretty simple.

I didnt have any say in the costume selection this year :/ I had this grand plan of being a family of "Where's Waldos," (So cute, right??) . . . Yeah, apparently my kiddos had other plans! This year my Aubs was the Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland. She let me design a special hat to match her outfit instead of using the little floppy thing that came with the costume. She was cute :) Cayden decided he wanted to be a super hero. Spiderman and batman werent good enough for his big head . . . and thus, Super Cayden was born :) I created and purchased the majority of the costume on etsy. Cayden however insisted on the boxers and green stretch pants from Justice (yeah, the store for girls lol . . . and now understands why his bff Katy wears them all the time, "they are SO dang comfy!").The plunger, his weapon of choice was also totally him. Yup, he just gets weirder with age. He loved his costume.
Halloween weekend was costume filled. On Friday Cayden's school dressed up, on Saturday we went to a Halloween party, and on Monday Aubrey's school dressed up. By the time Halloween night rolled around, Cayden's costume had been through the wash 3 times. We had a fun weekend and still have a fridge FULL of candy.

October Costumes, take 1

Cayden is infatuated with the Percy Jackson book series, and LOVES its author, Rick Riordan. For months and months he would randomly ask me to go on his website and find where he could meet him . . . and for months and months I didnt do it :) Welp, as my super mom powers would have it, I finally looked it up, and just 2 days earlier, his 7 day book tour (including a library in orange county) was announced. WAHOO! It took weeks before the library hosting the event announced how to get tickets. And for those weeks, to make sure we got tickets, I emailed and pestered those in charge. In the end, I was successful . . . and a proud Aliso Viejo library card holder :) Super Mom Status lasted for weeks!

The event encouraged the kids to come dressed as their favorite "demi-God." Appeasing Cayden a while back, I read the first book in the series and sort of knew the lingo. I did a little online searching and found these cool orange "Camp Half Blood" shirts (obviously from the book) Thinking it would be cool, I asked Cayden if he would want one of these shirts instead of dressing in costume . . . . " MOM (in that preteen Aubreylike voice I am all too familiar with), this is like the comic-con of books, I cant wear a tshirt! . . . Needless to say, he went in a full blown costume :)

The event was located in a beautiful park facility in Aliso Viejo and was an entire day ordeal. We woke up early, dressed the kids up (aubrey had a greek goddess costume from a school thing last year), and drove up north. To get to the parking area we had to pass the will call lines, and lines for the different viewing sessions. There were trillions of those cool orange shirts and not so many kids in full blown costume. It took some encouraging to get Aubrey to get out of the car . . . .and as all would guess, Cayden was never prouder in that lovely red beard :) (he was dressed as his favorite character,Hephaestus, the god of fire and tools)

It didnt take either of the kids long to realize they were amongst the best dressed there. They got interviewed and photographed by every magazine, newspaper, and website present. . . in the end, I think Aubrey was pretty dang glad I didnt let her take that costume off. haha

The event was perfect. The setting, decor, weather, activities, crafts. . .everything was fabulous. Rick Riordan arrived by chariot and spoke for about 30 minutes. We scored front row seats to this (at the price tag of 1.5 hours in line :) and enjoyed his humor and "fame story." When it was time for the actual book signing and greeting, there was no posed pictures allowed (which totally bummed me out) but Cayden got to meet and speak to his idol, and I guess that was the main reason we were there.

Fantabulous Friday

Some days are better than others. . . . Fridays are usually not too shabby, but today stands well above the norm :) I'm still smiling!! The day was just all around splendid. After a couple of days of rain, we woke up to the beautiful blue sunshiny day. My work day was chipper and laid back . . . could have something to do with the lack of work taking place haha, but it was good :) It was parents day at lunch with my middle schooler. A day that always helps reaffirm was an awesome little girl I have. She has chosen such good friends and has such a good attitude on life. Her school is fabulous. She has great teachers and a great principal. Always make me smile to be on campus there. The kids get slurpees on Fridays (or maybe everyday I pick them up. Shhhh, dont tell grandma) and today I got one too. Oh the joys of a sugary drink, on a nice sunny afternoon. After school pick up, I ditched going back to work and spent my afternoon with a good friend, in an amazing spa in Poway. During that treatment, I missed a call from Aubrey letting me know her passport arrived in the mail. A short 10 days after we crossed our fingers and filed that application without the approval of that lovely father of hers :) I have paperwork to shred, and my Tuesday court day to cancel. Makes me smile! (Yep, I smiled lots today). That phone call was followed by dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Then a passport frozen yogurt celebration with my future world traveler. We went home, watched tv, vacuumed the house and am now finishing up my favorite little guys costume for our fun adventures tomorrow :) Wish I had a pict to share from the day. I'll refrain from posting our passport mug shots :) Eeek, scary! We totally look like criminals :) Happy weekend all

I LOVE angry birds and not a clue how to play :)

SO after months of debate. . . sister and I finally decided to bite the bullet and open an Etsy shop. We opened almost a month ago and at this point should have named our shop "Angry Birds Party Decor" . . . its madness! I havent got to quit my job yet, but I look at Angry Birds everynight (and they arent getting cuter haha)! We are thus far excited with the adventure and hope to expand our themes soon :) Like us on fb (our page stinks right now) or find us on Etsy, pass us on, share with friends. . . We are HAPPY to customize and create anything :) Yeah for new adventures, I think :)

http://www.etsy.com/shop/PaperOwlPartyDesigns?ref=pr_shop

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Paper-Owl-Party-Design/254735151235609

A Dirty Birthday Celebration

I ran the Survivor Mud Run in Lake Elsinore last weekend and it was seriously a grand and DIRTY adventure. A friend of mine recruited team "Happy Birthday Marcie" to join her in celebration of her birthday (yup, thats totally my kind of friend)! I was super excited to participate, signed up, and honestly never looked at the course map or obstacle shenanigans prior to the race. I wasnt a bit nervous. The course was only 4 miles and I totally felt prepared. On the drive up there, the car load began discussing strategies and problems we might encounter, blah, blah, blah and suddenly it dawned on me that I might be in over my head :) Turns out, they were all the worriers and everyone did smashing! The mud pools were awesome. . . it was like a day at the spa (without the pampering) and the giant waterslide into the lake would be reason enough to participate again. SO FUN!! Lesson learned. . . the less clothes the better . . . muddy clothes get HEAVY! Happy Birthday Marcie!

Facebook Party Cake :)

I am the official office birthday baker . . . and after 13 years with this lovely task, I have run out of ideas and dread the thought of another office birthday (sorry guys). Sheesh, one can only make cupcakes so many dang times. I know, I know, there are a trillion ways to make cupcakes but the birthday workers have gotten pickier and more comfortable over the years. Making me more conscious of what I make compared with what I made the year before. Bigger and better is always the underlying motto of life. So this week we had a birthday to celebrate. With limited time to think of my next creation, and absolutely no time to actually complete this masterpiece, I broke down and bought one of my favorite cakes. The night before (when I should have been baking at 10pm) I was feeling a little guilty and came up with this grand idea to spruce up the store bought cake (didnt want any hurt feeling that I wasnt baking with love lol) . . . four hours later (yep, I ended up staying up way too late, which was what I was trying to avoid to begin with) . . . I had my fun party cake :) The cake was widely accepted and was renamed the cool "facebook cake" (my awesome picture source)! As an added bonus, they all totally thought the cake was homemade . . . next time I will run with that :) It was fun . . . you should all try it!!
I never actually took my own picture :( This was from a phone. Guess I will have to "bake" another cake soon.

Back to School Blues

Besides back to school falling on Cayden's 9th birthday, the kids were basically ready to return. YEAH! So, hello new school year! This year I have a 7th grader and a 4th grader . . . and feeling older by the moment.

Cayden has managed to keep himself out of school trouble for quite some time . . . could have something to do with the fact he has been on Summer break for 2 months, but we will ignore that :) As many might know, he has a little history with detentions and minor principal office visits (nothing big deal, just the basic too-much-energy-for-school-boy-stuff) Dropping him off the first day I dangle a little bribe. 100 bucks if you dont get detention ALL year. I'm smarter than I sound, and know the feat is impossible! I knew I would keep my 100 bucks in June, but was hoping it buys me a month or 2 of good school reports.

Yeah, keep hoping mom! . . .

So I pick him up (day#5 back) and we always go through the same daily check in routine . . . have a good day? Yep. Learn anything new? Nope. Among those questions falls. . . . Detention today? "ummm, let me think, let me think . . . . NOPE!" (although i see his mind still thinking) . . . Oh yeah! I did, BUT . . . (there is always a BUT with Cayden when discussing the trouble he gets in) . . . he proceeds to tell me the incident. Something about a fire drill (It wasnt even a real fire mom!) and playing catch with a ding dong with a friend in a different class, while they were in their uniformed quite emergency lines. "The fire drill was SO boring!!" So he gets done telling his totally unfair detention story and kind of hangs his head in shame and says. . . " I was trying so hard to not get detention (and in his best auction-announcing voice, repeats his teachers words "Congratualtions Cayden, you got the first detention of the year!"

There must be some reward for that right?? It was hot, he was sad . . . the kid got a slurpee :)

Amazing, I know . . .

Yeah, yeah, I have been gone for a long time. I have been wanting to "return" for a while, but was worried my sweet sister, Shawna would want me to take over the vacation blog recap . . . she finally finished (and did a fantabulous job, I might add), so I felt it safe to return to the blogging world :)
Pictured below incase you missed her blog (our quest to find bigfoot lol) . . .

hmmm, yeah good luck with viewing those :)

So Much has passed in the 9 months of absence (fortunately that 9 months did not include a baby)

My kids are getting old! Cayden just celebrated his 9th Birthday and a few months back my Aubrey turned TWELVE! Yikes!!
Birthday celebrating and planning is such an exciting part of my life (hopefully making it more a part of life planning parties for others next year), I couldnt skip sharing our celebrations . . . .

For Aubrey's Birthday she had a mall scavenger party . . . what could be more fitting for a group of middle school girls. Money & Shopping, it was the BEST:)




Cayden's 9th Birthday was on the 1st day of school this year. He was THRILLED lol . . . we teased him and told him they start the school year on the birthday of the kid who got into the most trouble the previous year. He totally bought it . . . he is such a smart kid and sometimes, not so much :) We celebrated his birthday with a mad science party the weekend before school started. It was a hit and he had a blast.

XYZ . . . the end :)

Food Freedom officially begins in the am (although we have been pretty lax the last week or so)! We were driving home tonight and Shawn said, NEXT time, I would definitely do things different!
Ummm, Shawn. . . .we do a lot of crazy things but we arent repeat offenders :) No Next time my dear!!

Early on we decided in order to enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas, we needed to jam together the final 3 letters of the alphabet! I will be the first to admit, our final day of XY&Z was basically a cheating bust

I ended up having a surprise day off today and spent it with the family running every which way . . .

Breakfast: Zinger (kind of like a donut, right?? haha)
Lunch: Yoshinoa . . .an old time favorite, that isnt really a favorite anymore, but super for Y day
Snacks: Zinger (again), york peppermint patty, and some cookies (sprayed with this awesome Yellow food spray Tab bought me to help me succeed haha)
Dinner. . . .okay so embrass yourself for the FINAL meal of this diet . . .Zouplantation . . . ummm formerly referred to as Souplantation lol . . . yes, we shook hands and cracked the very last day :) Oh well, maybe we WILL try again HA!

Thanks for following us during our crazy month long adventure . . . we hope to find something fun and new to laugh about soon! Merry Christmas to you all friends!!

W . . . onderful Wednesday!!

So W turned out to be an all around WONDERFUL day!! My sissy had her adorable little girl

It was my last day of work for the week

and we got to eat some pretty wonderful items :)

The day started shakey. . . I headed out the door with only a pocketful of werthers - no plans on what would be on todays menu. For some reason I traveled a different way to work and coincidently ended up driving past good ol' Wedekings Bakery - delish!! I picked up a pastry for the office and basically made it my breakfast, snack and lunch :) YUM!

For dinner we conned mom and dad into taking us to their favorite joint . . . the Wagon Wheel
There I endulged in a Wagon Wheel grilled chicken salad and french fries. We often laugh about "the Wheel" but I have to admit, it was pretty dang satisfying tonight.


Shawn, the kids, and I then decided to head to the mall for some last minute items before heading out to look at Christmas lights. We left the mall with an armful of snacks and drinks (although i guarantee we didnt eat or even partake a bite of it all lol)
White hot chocolate
Wetzel Bites (both cinnamon and salted)
Warheads
Wax bottle candy
Wetzel lemonade slushee
and a diet coke lol
I'm really not sure if Shawn serious had intentions of eating all this - she is one crazy sister :)

**and I didnt eat the WWs but I thought it would have been pretty creative (and I was SUPER BORED at work lol)

V . . . ery close to done :)

2 more days, hooray! V was most definitely a sugary day . . .
We had a birthday at work . . . and being the office baker girl, I strategically planned pretty&pink Vanilla cupcakes as the birthday treat :) I forgot to snap a photo. Vanilla cupcakes and vanilla wafers were my healthy morning breakfast. For lunch, Shawn brought the kiddos, and veggie panda bowls to my work. For dinner mom made burritos. . . Shawn and I skipped the meat and consumed delicious Vegetarian burritos (creative, I know). We snacked on some sort of Christmas cookie. They were white . . . Shawn called them vanilla, so I called them legal. Shawna stayed at mom and dads tonight, so to show her what she missed, we rushed out for Vanilla Milkshakes . . . . Love you Shawn :) haha!

U . . . LTIMATE!!!

I would like to tell you to simply refer to Shawn's blog. . . she is home for Christmas vacation and we are basically mirroring each other's every bite!! lol but I suppose I can give you my version of the day. . . . basically, after much effort in preparing for U day last night, I FAILED!! I found myself starring at a bowl of Uncle Bens rice pudding this am and decided NO WAY!! YUCK! The day continued somewhat like this (far from any true diet strategy) . . . order the XL item on the menu and add the word ULTIMATE to the item and ANYTHING becomes legal :)

Ultimate Nachos . . . Ultimate trough of popcorn at the movies . . . Ultimate cheeseburger from Jack n the crack (honestly a true item and where the ULTIMATE idea originated) . . . Ultimate Shamrock-Kelly-Santa-Green-purple-4th of July-MUDPIE . . . . Just ultimate size it :) Oh yeah . . . .we also had Upside down cake! Obviously we are SO DONE but only 3 more days, why give in now?? Be prepared, we will continue to amaze you with our creative cheating ways! Happy Monday before Christmas friends and Happy my sister is in the hospital ready to have a baby day:)

Really Super Tardy

We had a Christmas Party weekend filled with family, friends and lots of food options :)With a little pre party planning, we were able to partake in some festive celebrating!!
Friday was R day . . . RRaisin Bagel and Rainbow chip cookies during my really, super lousy work day
I was kept in good spirits knowing I got to spend my evening with some fabulous friends.
After a somewhat Long and traffic-filled drive up north (and some appetizers on the road) we made it and had a lovely time. My friends are the best and all came with me in mind - they boys even claimed they were drinking some sort of R beer in my honor - I think they may have been lying but I'll take it anyways :)
Dinner was fabulous (although I missed out on Kristen's Enchiladas)! Restaurant Style Tortilla chips with Refried Bean Dip (aka 7 layer dip), Romaine lettuce Salad - mexican style with mangos/black beans/tomatoes/cheese/cilantro dressing, Rice, and topped off the day with a Red sugar cookie (yes, a stretch I know) and a rainbow chip brownie :)
Muchos Gracias AmigosSaturday was S day . . .
my morning and early afternoon was 100% sugar cookie galore . . . In case youre not aware, I make the bestest sugar cookies and have missed the last couple of batches during this holiday season. Yup, ringing my bell again lol
We then again headed to a Christmas Celebration with our extended family. We had a lovely time and I luckily was able to partake in much of the dinner. . . . If you would like Shawna's bitter take on my Christmas party experience - head on over to her blog :) lol Love you Shawna!!Christmas Party Dinner. . .
Salad, SMELLY Swiss Cheese (YUCK), Smashed Spuds, Sandwich of cracker and cheese, Stuffing, Shammrock Santa Kelly Green mudpie . . . yeah, yeah, shutup :) After the party we headed out for the famous "last saturday before Christmas shopping experience." It was amazing :) While shopping, we stumbled across the food court, and for the last 19 days, my heart has been dreaming of Sweet Fire Chicken from Panda Express . . .with intentions of just having a "snack," I suddenly found my plate quite full (who knew so many of my favorite panda items start with "S")
Dinner #2 was served . . .
Streamed rice, String bean chicken, and my FAVORITE, Sweet fire chicken
Overall Saturday was an extremely SPLENDID day

Today was T day . . .
It rained all day today but was a good family day. We went to church, played some games (which I of course won haha), and got to attend a special caroling activity for a family friend struggling with her fight with cancer. Although sad, it was a pretty amazing experience. Picture the movie Pay It Forward. Hundreds of friends, gathered in the rain, in her front yard to sing Christmas Carols. One, it makes me feel so lucky to have the health and happiness of my family during this holiday time and lucky to be welcoming a new baby into our family within the next couple of days and two, what an example! Rita is obviously a special personal and an example of one who have touched many. I hope to leave an impact on all those I come across.

sappy, sappy. . . back to the eating aspect of this blog :) For breakfast/lunch/snack: Taco, Tostada, Toffee, and Toast
For dinner, mom and dad cooked a T friendly Sunday dinner (they may totally make fun of us, but they are also very supportive lol) . . . teriaki chicken, tater tots, and texas toast
tata til tomorrow . . . the end is near phew!!

Q . . . . quite surprised

Yesterday I certainly thought I would be STARVING today. Lucky for me, that was not the case!

Breakfast
egg Quesadilla

Lunch
Quiznos

Snack
Spicy Jack Quesadilla

Dinner
Quaker Granola

Dessert . . . if you call it that lol . . . .
Queso Fresco (my favorite Mexican cheese :)


. . . think I will be skipping the cheese for the next couple days

P . . . .perfecto :)

I'm with Shawn . . . if I had to choose one letter to eat forever, P is definitely in the running! Lots of possibilities for sure :)
Mini apple PIE for Breakfast
Peanut Butter crackers and Potato chips for snack (dang snack bin)
Potato for lunch
then discovered a giant bag of holiday Peanut M&M in the stamp drawer at work (grrrr) . . .no worries, I shared :)
Personal Pizza and Pinto beans with cheese for dinner (yeah, random I know)

Happy P day and Happy Happy Birthday to my Pops! Love you :)