Since my fall porch had to be “secured” for hurricane Sandy, I thought I’d post pictures of her former glory.
Thank you fall for refreshing our porches, our mantels, and our hearts.
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I rearranged my living room during nap time today. Jeremy doesn’t even know it yet. It must be quite an adventure being married to me.
(I have an obsession with rearranging, did I mention that?)
So, about four or five times a year I get an itch. Not a literal itch. But I know when it’s coming on. I start staring down my furniture and rearranging the room in my head, and then, I just go for it. No measurements, no pen and paper, no fancy programs.
I find that rearranging helps keep up my need for change. If we can’t move right now, if we can’t get all new furniture right this instant, at least I can make it feel like a new room. Well, that’s my philosophy anyway!
And did you happen to see my glassine pumpkin, I’m in love with it’s delicateness. I had to resist the urge to buy two more. (Jer will attest.)
Fall, come forth!
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So it’s Monday and I feel like I’m starting off the week already so behind. Do you ever feel like that?
Last week, I failed to list my goals here and even on that list I missed so many of them… but that’s okay, I’ll post them at some point today.
However, this morning, I did complete day 2 of couch to 5k, or well, close enough. I had to end it early due to some issues with Liam vs the stroller. In the end, it’s okay because I got out there and tried. I am going to also attempt to Zumba later today at the Y. I am finding that it is taking some real intentionality to live a healthy lifestyle… it doesn’t just fall into our laps, does it?
You might remember on my last list of goals I posted, I wanted to write out my morning routine. Since then, I have nailed down a pretty one, which really helps me to feel productive as the day wears on. To determine my morning routine I used this post from Money Saving Mom. I am looking forward to sharing it with you and how I came up with it. I am currently still working on forming up my afternoon routine. It’s not as clear to me yet, but that will come!
It’s all worth it. Day by day. Excellence will come.
I’ve read a few posts lately about not using shampoo & about using a homemade face wash, which is a part of my 18 things to make in 2012 goals, but then I started discovering that she applied the same principle to many other areas.
Which got me thinking….
Maybe the only reason why we are dependent on so many of these things is because we’re so used to them, hooked, a self-created dependence. Or rather, marketed dependence.
we’re hooked…
I am so interested to try a lot of these money saving, simple, & green solutions to everyday hygiene. If they work, I estimate I’ll be saving our family upwords of $200 or more a year. With the potential to save a lot more, if the whole family embraces it.
So, take a look at one of my new favorite blogs, simplemom.net, she posts about a lot of great everyday and green solutions, sort of like Real Simple, but without the $5 price tag, per issue!
A few months ago we switched to Shaklee for our cleaning products, and got rid of a slu of other products (pictured below), and applying this same idea to other areas, may just be the makeover, or makeunder (as it were) this little life of mine needs.
goodbye unneccesary cleaning products
To de-commercialize, and break the dependences on so many of the products that I use.
I think it’s worth the experiment at least. Here’s to my attempt! I’ll update you on how it goes.
I so appreciate the pace of life on this Sunday.
It’s still, cozy, and life-giving. Full of family, and faith, and fresh air. Pancakes and grits.
Snuggles with the little one, football, and Christmas lights.
Not busy with errands, not scurrying about.
This is my Sunday. So perfect. So full of joy.
my home on this Sunday…
So, life as a stay-at-home mom, and trying to run a business and all, is tough. I mean, tough because I have expectations for myself and thus far I have not been meeting them. I have LOTS of ideas and lack the “time” to implement them. But, to be honest, what I really lack, is the organization of my time to implement them.
I have blogged about money saving mom before, but I’m not kidding, she has inspired my socks off. She’s living like no one else, runs a successful blog, keeps her priorities in order, sets goals for herself and her family, plans and organizes their meals, all of which I want to do/become. So, it makes sense that she would inspire me.
Recently she had a post of 10 goals for the week, it’s so simple, yet so needed. I have goals, in my head, and the problem with that is that there is no accountability or measurability. So, here we go, my 10 goals, posted in clear view so that you too, can know what they are, just you knowing them helps me to be accountable, strange, huh?
Family/Mothering Goals
1. Spend 15 minutes a day with Liam completely focused on him (ie not doing other things, like playing Words With Friends! ha!)
2. Track Eat, Wake and Sleep patterns everyday, on my new nifty spreadsheet.
3. Sync said spreadsheet to the Cloud (oh yes, I said it)
Personal Goals
4. Walk 30 minutes a day with Liam
5. Join the Y.
6. Finish reading So Long Insecurity
Home Management Goals
7. Meal plan & shop from E-Mealz
8. Finish 3 loads of laundry from start to finish.
Business Goals
9. Move blog & business website to new hosting company
10. Finish web project #1
So, there you have it. To clarify, these are goals for Monday, October 24th – Friday, October 28th, 2011. I’ll update as we move along to see if I’ve been able to implement these goals or not.
I have no idea how it happened, but it’s already July 13th! I simply cannot believe how time is flying.
Around here we’ve been busy redoing two rooms in our home! Why I decided to do two at once, is beyond me! We’ve been having fun with it, though, which I think is key!
We decided, somehow, in the midst of baby coming (real soon now!) that we would make-over our bedroom, instead of taking a fancy vacation, that we ran out of time for (I don’t know how it happened, but the 3rd tri crept up, and cruising in the 3rd tri isn’t recommended) we decided we would re-do our bedroom instead. Which really means, I get to play with color and fabric (you might have noticed, I sorta like doing that!)
I have long-loved this bedroom, and it’s served as my inspiration for our bedroom-redo.
I just love the color combos here and how soothing and calm it is. Perfect for our bedroom oasis re-do!
Our bedding is on order and our KING arrived yesterday. I can’t wait for this look to be a reality in my own home! I need to hunt down a headboard like that, if you find one, let me know!
The other room we’re working on is obviously baby boy’s room! With just 5 weeks to go till the due date, we’ve painted (with the help of a few friends), we’ve assembled the photo wall (but it’s still in process). I’ve purchased a crib set, and returned it, tis true – no more rockets. I purchased 2 sets of lamps and returned them both after not liking either.
In the beginning, these were the images I just loved for the baby room.
See if you notice any similarities?
I think this blue, yellow, orange combo is stuck in my head! But, I love it. Those three. I pulled what I loved from each, and progress is at hand. (This is why the rockets never fit, why didn’t anyone tell me?) It felt like when you break up with a boyfriend and no one tells you till after that he wasn’t the right one for you, the boyfriend = the rockets.
Can’t wait to show you more progress pictures in the next week or two! And at that point I’ll feel like it’s so fitting to say, “We’ve come a long way, baby!”
Source: ohdeedoh.com via Kelly on Pinterest
So, earlier, when I posted the update on the baby boy and his room, it was hard to not reveal very much, but I simply couldn’t because the bedding issue was so influx, mainly because it was out of stock for the longest time! But today, I checked (like I do everyday) and it was there, so it is purchased and hopefully en route to us soon! So, without further adieu, the rocket ship bedding:
Although, there is no orange, I fully expect to be adding pops of orange around the room for fun.
After 6 or so samples, the paint color I chose is called River Mist and is a Martha Stewart color (but in Behr). I think it will complement well and not overwhelm anything (that’s the goal).
We also got our glider & ottoman in this week, the glider looks like:
but ours has a ribbed type fabric.
We also have an awesome dresser from j.bradley which will be delivered soon! It looks like:
For now, the nursery is completely empty, well except for one lone desk chair. Jer has moved his office downstairs and is a bit cramped with all of the other things in that small room as well. It’s hard to move from 3 bedrooms down to 2, much harder than I thought it would be. We are a house in transition right now and things are in odd places, bookshelves in the hallway, a glider in the living room, etc.
The nursery will also double as a guest room, because it is quite a large space!
Tomorrow, several friends are coming over to help paint, of which I am so thankful, and we’re going to knock out some river mist!
Then it’s time for crib assembly, and to put the room together! I’m getting excited. Can you tell?
This post is a day late, but it’s important, so it still made it to the publishing table. Oh, what if there was a publishing table! I digress.
My momma is wonderful. In so many ways, she’s always there, she’s a wise wise woman, she loves me without asking much in return. She is accepting, caring towards everyone. She’s simply the best.
I am so thankful for my momma, this mother’s day and always. Happy Mother’s Day Mom!
So, you might remember from a month ago, this post about my living room, and I made mention that we would be making some changes. I guess I just didn’t expect the changes to be so dramatic (this is what almost-floor-to-ceiling curtains can do for you!)
So, the photos, if you will recall…
house tour: living room, view from the stairs
house tour: living room, another angle
house tour: living room, view from the dining room
I mean, if I was as jazzy as Young House Love, I would definitely have BEFORE emblazoned on these pictures, but instead, I don’t, so you’ll have to settle, for just the “progress” pictures. Which I just LOVE. I love that Young House Love, did I mention I love this blog, does not but before & after, rather, before & progress. That’s so much more like it, so much more realistic.
A brief run down on what we added/changed from the before pictures:
Curtains (probably the most obvious), we already had one pack of the curtains, and picked up the second pack for a mere $15 at ikea.
A cushy chair (our first ever!) finally! Also purchased at ikea. $99 for the chair, and $30 for the slip cover. So worth it.
A so cute dish-towel, cloth thing from antropologie in that frame made by my talented brother-in-law, and the cloth was gifted to us by our sweet friend Lauren, initially for baby’s room because of it’s orange!
A floor lamp: also from, you guessed it, ikea, stand and shade, were only $35 together, you simply can’t beat it!
Raising the blinds: free! Ever since we’ve lived here I’ve wanted more sunlight to stream through our windows, and since we have a lovely, lovely wrap around porch, it’s mostly shaded, so I wanted to maximize the sunlight!
An end table: Also free. I’m a big fan of having places to put your drink down in comfort and reach. The table was in our back bedroom that will soon be converted to Jer’s office. We’ve had it for a long long while, originally purchased at a thrift store.
Oh and just for a more realistic, unvacummed, uncluttered glimpse, this is more like what it looks like on the daily:
I mean, am I into blue & green & yellow right now or what – my laptop cover & even my scissors match. Ye-owza!
What about you, what are you up to in & around your home?
