forgive me, whitney, for i have sinned.

a little less than a year ago, my dear friend and colleague moved from dubuque to the sunny skies of tampa.  i could write a few blogposts about that sad day and its aftermath, but that's not the point of this post.  the good news is that since we packed up whitney's u-haul back in september, we've been fortunate enough to have her back for several wonderful visits.  christmas, a moustache bash, a wedding... luckily we've only had to learn to live without each other for a few months at a time.

i love when whitney comes back town.  so, i can't really explain why i treat her so HORRRRRRRIBLY.  i am awfully controlling and domineering (50 shades of estephania RIGHT HERE), insisting that she stay at MY house and spend every minute of her trip with ME.  about fifteen minutes after her plane touches down, i begin exposing whitney to a rigorous boot camp for her liver.  she is forced to drink far too many alcoholic beverages, stay up until way too early in the morning and, undoubtedly, smoke a "few" cheap cigars.  it's awful.  i spend a lot of time wondering why she keeps coming back to be mistreated in this manner.

and the worst of these grievances would have to be the accommodations to which whitney is subjected at my home.  it's not so much the early morning toddler alarm (because hello!) he's pretty cute (see below for gratuitous picture of my sweet boy), and that adorable smile makes up (i hope) for his A.M. antics.

it's more the fact that i forced whitney to sleep in a plain white prison cell with nary a bedside table or a lamp to be found.  can you believe the HORROR?  i am embarrassed.... beyond embarrassed... over the state of my spare bedroom.  my apologies to all the guests (mostly whitney) who were forced into solitary confinement in that room over the past year.

so... i finally shamed myself into doing something about the state of my spare bedroom.  no, there isn't a BEFORE.  picture a white room (white walls, cheap white blinds... completely devoid of any color, furniture, accessories or anything)

and.... the AFTERS...

ok, so i know it's not perfect.... we need some art on the walls and a headboard, but at least i can feel good about forcing whitney back to dubuque, riiiight?

my favorite thing in the whole room (maybe my whole house, at least right now) is this new addition:

it's a craigslist find.  and yes, despite my forewarnings, john was mad at me most of the way home from picking it up.  he just couldn't believe that i would actually spend $10 on that piece of junk.  oh ye of little faith!

so, forgive me, whitney, for i have sinned.  i cannot believe that i made you sleep in that prison cell of a guest room for almost an entire year.  please have mercy on my soul!  for my penance, i will drink any concoction of beverages you choose... but it'll have to wait about seven-ish months.

yes.  i am pregnant. (will be back to share all of that SHOCKING news soon!)