March review

I was a little lazy and never wrote a to-do list for March.  We did do stuff I promise it's just a matter of remembering what all was done.

-Potty trained Ian well at least 98% trained when home and out in public with us (zero accidents while out in public) and about 95% trained at the sitters.  Some nights he's completely dry while others not so much.

- Thanks to my dad going to pick up and deliver a load of mulch to our house, we gave our landscaping a little face lift.  We also rearranged plants now that spring has sprung we were able to take full inventory of what all was in the ground. 

-guest bedroom got painted, trim is still needing to be finished.

-Marcus' Christmas present from my parents got installed.  He got a flag and flag pole and I'm here to tell you that a 4ft hole is very deep.

-we colored eggs for Easter, Ian enjoyed bossing us around and telling us which colors to color them after he colored on them with the magic crayon.

Well now that we are over halfway through the month of April I better get a jump on what happened in April around the Z house.

December wrap up and January to do's

I feel like a lot has happened this month it could because of vacations, holiday's and birthday's all occuring this month. But it's time to look back and see what all got crossed of the list and what was added and accomplished.
November Leftovers
Layout photo collage for wall in living room

Christmas shopping/DIYing - this without a doubt got crossed off here's what I DIY'ed all are inspired (or copied) from Pinterest. 

I made the fabric covered with the flowers for both my sister and SIL as well as all my co-workers.  I made the flower covered one for my mom and another one for my MIL.  I loved them both as you could personalize each one by your fabric choice.  And gonna share a lil secret after supplies (fabric, straw wreaths, and felt) were purchased the break per item price wise came to around $6 .  Thanks to sale on fabrics and felt as well as coupons and in store deals.  So budget friendly and fun to make.  For the fabric ones you need 1/2 yard of fabric of your choice and 3 8.5x11 sheets of felt and push pins.  You cut the fabric into 1/2in strips and then pin it to straw wreath and wrap and pin and so fourth.  For the felt you cut it into circles (you pick the size and they don't have to perfect) once cut fold the circles in half and then in half again, pin it at the corner and open it up continue until you achieve the look you are going for.  Also you can get plearlized push pins and add those into the flowers.  For the all flower you need about a yard and half of felt you pick the color.  The picture above is the one I made for my mom and because their house is green I went with white, the one I made for my MIL is a soft pink as her door is white. Anyways, you cut the felt into circles and fold in half and in half again, pin at corner.  I plan to make one for myself soon so I will at that time take some step by step photos to explain better.

Share Pinterest love-I was too busy DIY-ing to share my love but trust me I love it!

Organize MB closet-this kinda happened, it happened enough to be crossed off

December List:

Organize guest room closet which has turned into a collect all - so glad this got crossed off, still needs some work but it's way better than before

Paint kitchen cabinets - now that they are painted they make our counter rop look like crap

Celebrate someone special in our house turning 2! - post coming soon!!!

finalize art work for dining area, we have agreed on the photo now just figuring out a size - Thanks to Brittany at Knox Photography our print has arrived.  More on that in January

Watch every Christmas movie we own at least 2x a rent what we don't own. - we watched, we laughed!!

Change Ian's bed into a toddler bed?? - not happening yet

Continue potty training- it's only crossed off because we did in fact continue, were not done though.

Come up with a head board/window treatment for MB- we are still brianstorming and tossing around the idea of purchasing a king size bed

Celebrate sister's 30th bday with her- we had a fabulous time


The following can be added and crossed off:

bake tons of cookies -  done, and I could careless to see another cookie for about a year

Paint backsplash-

De-Christmas house- I think we set a record and had the house de-decorated in under an hour and not only de-decorated but had everything put back into their proper tote and storage location.

purchase and install new entry way light and hallway light- it's amazing what a difference they make.  When Marcus took the old ones out they both smelled HOT as in a fire hazard so to the trash they went.

Host our 1st Holiday- we hosted Marcus' family New Year's weekend.  It was kinda all thrown together at the last minute as far as the menu.  I'm talking Marcus is running out to the store at 10p on a search for a fresh turkey for us to fry Friday afternoon. It all came together and I must say I'm perfectly fine with hosting my in-laws.  I think I'll continue to let my parents host our Christmas I think the amount of the gifts that were under the tree at their house this year would have filled my entire living room.  We had a great Christmas a seperate post will be coming soon...
I think that is it, but I could be wrong as I said earlier it's been a busy month.

January, so we obiviously have some items left see above but we will add:

Master Bedroom

Guest Bedroom

purchase/install light fixture for dining area

draft up, edit ,and post all the posts I have talked about posting (that one sounds simple but seriously I put quite a bit of naptime time into my posts)

I think this is good enough for now, Happy 2012!!!!

Double (L)oven

I feel like I have been talking about this since we moved into our house but good things come to those who wait right? We also get to cross something off of November's list!

I could only find one before picture of our antique gem that came with the house.  It was gas, house heating, not safe old thing.  We replaced it with a Kitchen Aid Superba built-in double oven.  We lost a little bit of drawer space under the oven but nothing from the top cabinet. Installation was completed last night thanks to Marcus and Uncle Don (Marcus' uncle) and this morning as soon as I finished my workout I pulled out my recipe box and got a list started of ingredients that I would need to test it out.  I did very little baking in the old oven as I said before the old one was un-safe! We could consisently smell gas and when I did use it, it heated the whole house...not very GREEN!  So needless to say my cookies we delightful and Christmas cookie season is just around the corner, I think we will be reducing our production time, we might even need more cookie sheets.   But before Christmas cookie season we have Thanksgiving and I do believe we will be hosting Marcus' family seeing as though it will be my first hosting experience I prefer to do it small and well there will be 10 of us (but only 9 will actually eat).

We will continue our hunt for black appliances and eventually cabinets will either be replaced and painted or painted a light gray color and a new black counter top will grace the top of the cabinets.  And beautiful new tile will be under our feet. It's a process but worth the wait!

Table

Well here it is what I've been talking about since August updated list

I know the before pictures are not the best but all I know is that is looks 100x better than it did when I brought it home.  Marcus used a black stain that had polyurethane in it, gotta love a 2 in 1 product. It took a couple coats and few lessons learned along the way but it looks beautiful.  The other thing I love is that we got the table and chairs for all of $50.  We are still undecided on the chair style we want and have yet to compromise on a light fixture. All good things come with time, right?? Anyways, I'm loving that we have a table again and not just a table but a table that I love!

House to Home

Since purchasing our new house in June we have been striving to make it our home.  At 1st walk thru we thought it was liveable as is.  Well after the pervious homeowner moved out we quickly realized that her stuff was hiding somethings that needed to be tended too.

911

• carpets cleaned- we had these professionally done and have rented the Rug Dr and done them ourselves and the carpet in the very near future will be taken up
• fresh neutral paint in living room, master bedroom, and guest room- Marcus pulled some late nights for this to happen before we moved.  It's not the most perfect paint job but compared to what our walls looked beforehand the walls look great.

Not so 911 and were putting "our" stamp on it comes into place

• kitchen
• remove wallpaper- not gonna lie, it was a pain in the A**
• remove cabinets above breakfast nook- DONE, loving it
• purchase bar stools for breakfast nook
• paint walls- DONE
• paint cabinets
• replace wall oven and possibly cooktop
• upgrade ceiling fan
• window treatment
• replace door knobs w/brushed silver
• Dining area:
• table and chairs
• wall art
• refinish floors
• paint door
• 1/2 Bath
• remove wallpaper- DONE yes peasy
• replace vanity- DONE $60 for new vanity and mirror
• upgrade floor- went with stick tiles for a quick change
• replace flooring with ceramic tile
• paint- DONE
• paint doors- DONE
• replace door knobs w/brushed silver
• Ian's room
• paint- DONE
• Paint ceiling
• Paint trim
• replace light fixture with ceiling fan
• paint doors
• replace door knobs w/brushed silver
• replace carpet or refinish floors
• Bathroom:
• repair walls
• upgrade caulk around tub
• flooring
• paint doors
•  Master Bedroom
• paint walls
• paint ceiling
• paint trim
• paint doors
• replace door knobs w/brushed silver
• upgrade bedding
• mount TV to wall
• build better base for bed or replace
• replace carpet or refinish floors
• Living Room
• paint walls
• paint trim
• paint doors
• replace door knobs w/brushed silver
• hang pics on wall
• replace carpet or refinish floors
• Guest Room
• paint walls
• paint doors
• replace door knobs w/brushed silver
• paint trim
• purchase bed
• turn closet into desk area
• replace carpet or refinish floors
• Outside:
• finish patio bricks around pool
• walkway landscaping- DONE
• Remove bushes in front of house
• Basement:
• turn bedroom into play area
• purchase projector
• turn area into a entertainment area
• finish off laundry room
• improve flooring on finished side

Oh boy that is a long list for my very tried contractor and our small budget.  Here's to hoping we get some of these things crossed off without to much budget breaking or compromising coming from my end.  I don't like compromising nor am I very good at it.  I always think my way is the BEST and ONLY way and I don't like to steer away from my ways.  I will hopefully get to update this list every couple of months or so.  I will pull items off the above list and put them on the monthly to do list.  But this will be the master list.

September update

Another month has passed and it's that time to see what got crossed off and what is being moved to next month's list

August leftovers:

1. tuck both vehicles into garage at night. - this one was a close call in getting crossed off. but none theless it's off.  I'm loving it, new routine with entering and exiting from the garage but I'll adjust don't you worry!

2. get color painted on the walls- this is only temporarily being crossed off but this month we painted the kitchen and half bath.

 3. get pictures hung on the walls- not done but getting closer and by closer I mean, hubby has acknowledge that we have pictures to hang.  I'm okay with holding off as we have yet to tackle the paint color in the living room. We are doing one room at a time, right now it's the kitchen/dining area (they are connected) and half bath (it's little)

4. decorate guest bedroom- taking this off the list as we don't even have a bed for that room. And I'll just toss it on the house list which is coming.

Newbies:

1. refinish table and chairs- the table part is one coat away from being crossed off.  And the chairs well after looking this weekend we may be changing our mind on the style of chair we were orginally thinking. 

2. Clear out furniture from garage this will assist in accomplishing August list #1- it's gone and while they were here I also had them take our old kitchen table and chairs.


3. Kitchen upgrade- we aren't done which is why it's only partially crossed off, the kitchen got a mini upgrade. There are a few things we can't agree on and have yet to come to a compromise with.

4. locate new to us appliances (more on this a little later)- this is one of the items we haven't come to a final decision yet. Our oven needs to be replaced as much as I love the avocado green Universal Chef it is missing gaskets which means when I set the temp to be 350 then my kitchen basically doubles it's temperature we are wasting energy which means we are wasting money.

5. close pool for the season -after much debate we decided to hire this task out. I spoke to a lot of people who all said it's very easy you do this this and this.  Well, folks ours was different due to the type of cover we have we don't have to do steps x, y and z. I took notes, asked questions and so hopefully next year we can tackle the task ourselves. Glad we hired that out for the our 1st time and we also learned we don't need a new liner yet...YAY!!

7. order prints of latest professional pics taken by Knox Photography-well since the pictures we have currently haven't been hung, we have yet to order anymore.  We did purchase a frame and did a mini makeover on another. So we will be ready.


8. continue to work on printing off pics from snapfish- now that we are in a digital age I have made it my mission to print all pictures that have been taken since Ian's arrival and put them into a photo album. Why, so that we have them physically in our hands so that if someone (Ian) wants to look at pictures or work on identifying family who live out of state, etc he can do so without putting the laptop or ipad at  risk of being ruined.  Now, I only have about 400 more pictures to go and since I take at least 10 a day I'm only getting more and more beyond.  I also only print photos when I receive a specials via email so it will be a while.


9. run in a 5k race with Ian and finish so he his the 1st finisher in his age group, ambitious?? Maybe but still worth a shot. Oh and not to pee my pants while running said race. - I ran, Ian stayed home due to cold, damp, raining weather condtions. Yes we have rain cover for the jogger but he hates it so the run would have been stressful for me dealing with that and didn't want to run the risk of him getting a cold.  Good news he is still the youngest finisher, there was a little one there but she was 17mos and Ian was 8mos when we ran it last year.  For me it was a PR of 24min 44sec and I was the 2nd female finisher but 1st female finisher in my age group.

Additions:
Move bricks from front of garage to side of house- this was not a fun task at all. We had about half a pallet of bricks sitting in front of the garage and since we don't own a fork lift each one had to be moved by it's self to a new a pallet on the side of the house.

replace water supply line to toilet- this made the list as of today. I heard water spraying in the bathroom and made a quick discovery of ths source.  Turned off the water to toilet, got myself and Ian around and headed to the hardware store for a new one. Replaced it and had toilet back in working condition before hubby got home from work.

Start pottying training- wait what?? Seperate post to come

So overall not a bad month.  Looking forward to this month where a kitchen table will be in our kitchen and we won't be sitting on the floor to eat our meals.

mini upgrade

This month we did a little mini upgrade to the kitchen

I first removed the wallpaper that was not put up properly.  Then Marcus patched the walls where the wallpaper took wall down with it. And then he painted the ceiling and then the walls.  Marcus also got the bright idea to remove the backsplash since it came down so easily in one spot.  Needless to say, I wasn't a fan of this idea.  Rather I was fine with just painting it until we were ready to figure out our plan. But he insisted it would a) be easy b) be quick.  It was NEITHER and there area now needs drywall patches installed. He agrees not the right move.

This was a quick/easy way to open up the space between the kitchen and dining area.  Yes we lost some cabinet space but we weren't even using them to begin with and the openess we gained from them being gone with worth the loss of storage.

Still to come: paint cabinet, paint/replace where backsplash was, replace ceiling fan or install recessed lighting. Oh and Sept list update...

lately...

Oh my goodness I feel like it's been so long since my last post.  But in fact a lot has just happened since june 30th and our plate is FULL right now.  So let's catch up:

1. Rental House (aka our 1st home): put a For Rent sign in front yard on June 14th and took it out of the front yard on July 5th.  During those 3 weeks, I had 60+ phone calls, scheduled 20+ showings, and had 4 apps. Needless to say I'm beyond thrilled to say we have a renter, not sure which I'm more excited about having a renter or having my phone number no longer on the front lawn. It's a tie I do beleive.  Renter moves in Aug 1st. it's single guy (he has a girlfriend, sorry single ladies out there) with a dog.  To say I'm not nervous I would be lying.  I mean this guy we really don't know him that well, we know his crimnal record is clean, his finicial history is clean but is he clean person as in does he clean the bathroom every week, mop the floors every week, etc.  Let's face it our blood, sweat and swear words are all over that house. He better take care it!

2. We are in our new house and I have yet to make it to work on time since we moved.  I still don't feel I have found the right routine yet to have smooth morning.  It will come just hopefully sooner rather than later.  Paint colors have been choosen for the kitchen, Ian's room, and both bathrooms.  So that just leaves the living room/hallway, our room and back bedroom.  The other night I took down the wallpaper in the half bath and came to the conclusion that the previous owner over paid her handyman by a lot.  Not only are the walls a mess but the medicines cabinets in both bathrooms have parts that were put on upside down.  And in the case of the half bath the cabinet was installed upside down. Back to the house, painting is put on hold there until the rental is up to par.

3. Back to the rental.  With renters comes gray areas when it comes to the initial walk thru and final walk thru.  Marcus wants to eliminate as many gray area as possible.  So all walls and ceilings are painted white, bathroom has been gutted new drywall has been hung, ceramic tile is going in tub surround area, carpets need cleaned and depending on how that goes maybe replaced, Marcus is hanging a drywall ceiling in basement and then the basement has to be painted. Once this is all done the entire houss will need a good cleaning.
Here's what's left to do on our list that we have a less than a month to complete:
1. paint master bed, bath, hallway, kitchen, and basement (notice living room and bedroom #2 aren't on list those rooms got tackled this weekend)
2. paint all trim
3. paint all exterior trim
4. tile bathroom tub surround
5. hang drywall ceiling in basement
6. clean
7. clean carpets, possibly replace
8. hang new ceiling fan in kitchen
9. paint cabinets (this project is halfway done at this point and will be over halfway done by tomorrow)
10. landscape enhancing
My eyes just crossed I think, that is a lot to do and in fact Marcus is staying home from vacay this month to get it finished.  It's not what he wants to do but it's one of those adult decision and one of us has to be responsible.  So tomorrow Ian and I will load up the car and head up north to my parents place to be with them and my sister.  We will then head even further north to Mackinac Island.  Sad Marcus isn't able to join us but having 4 days off with no interuppetions from a nagging loving wife or a clingy snuggly 18mo old a lot should get done assuming no issues come about. So till the next time...Oh geez I still have to finish vacay part 2.  Plus cute Ian stuff.


*Disclaimer I use the term WE very very loosely. 

our new space

Alright so here it is what you all have been waiting for.
I'm currently sitting out by this:

We are totally not going in order but oh well.  You'll figure it out, I do beleive you are smart.

Front:

 Living room from front door:

view of living room from hallway

view from kitchen doorway:

let's take a trip down the hallway:

Ian has a hallway to run down now

where we will stop in to Ian's room shhh...sleeping Ian

all toys fit so nicely plus still room to play

and let's take a pit stop at the full bathroom where I already have paint color picked out:

And one of the things I'm most excited about is:

A laundry shoot, I'm in LOVE!  Although after I throw clothes down it I have to run downstairs to make sure they made in the basket.  Kinda defeats the purpose I know can you say OCD??

Onto bedroom #2 our decorating staging area:

Back into hallway to take a look at the master bedroom:

And another view of the master from the half bath:

And a view of the half bath:

View of half bath from other door:

Kitchen/dining area from half bath door:

Kitchen view from living room doorway:

 Dining area from kitchen:

Kitchen from dining area

 Pantry is too the left, fridge and last but least my fantastic green universal chef oven, I love that it is a built in:

door leads out to garage:

let's head downstairs:

Finished area:

bedroom #4 in basement:

Another view of bedroom 4:

Storage area of un-finished side

Laundry and utility area of un-finished side:

Back upstairs and let's head outside:

Pool area which needs some landscaping help (aka a lot of things REMOVED):

our yard is BIG

 View of back yard from corner of property:

So there you have it our new home, we have lots to do as far as appearance goes in the landscaping dept and interior.  I'm determined to wait to paint until we have everything we need to completely complete a room and I'm dead set on a color.  I have the tendency to change my mind A LOT!!!!

5 days

This post was originally written last weekend:
We took over possession of our new this past Sunday afternoon and since then the following has been accomplished all while we have both worked our normal work hours and did our everyday routines (working out, gorcery store, etc), Marcus doing some station time, and I showing our current house to interested renters (since sign went up a week ago Tuesday I've had about 25 phone calls and scheduled 15+ showings however only 12 have showed)...I do believe a meltdown may occur in the very near future.
Here's the list of what has bee accomplished
-washed all walls, windows, kitchen cabinets, doors, and bathrooms.
-Painted living room, hallway, and 2 out of 3 bedrooms (Hubby was at house until at least 1am painting on Mon, Tues, and Wed)
-lined all kitchen cabinets, moved all plates, cups, and silverware except for 2 of each, all pots and pans except for 2, all non-perishable food aside from what we need to get through this weekend.
-Small kitchen appliances (blender, mixer. etc) are also at the new house
-carpets have been cleaned
-a frog has been rescued from the pool filter seriously this frog was huge I have never seen a frog so big not behind glass.  My dad played the role of animal control and was successful and released it at my Uncle's house in the woods.
-majority of our storage tubs from the basement have been moved to the new basement

So I'd say in the last 5 days we have made a lot of progress our goal is to finish moving by this weekend.  Then we will be back to old house to finish up some projects there and give it a good deep cleaning. I see a light at the end of the tunnel, hopefully nothing caves in and covers it or a meltdown will happen a lot sooner.

5yrs.

5yrs ago this month we purchased our 1st house and to say that was scary would have been a huge understatement.  I think I'm good at buying things and but I'm really good at having buyers remorse and returning them.  However I don't think the bank, seller or title company would have understood "after 30 days we don't think this is the right house, can we exchange for a different one?"  So, we said when we bought the house that this was out 5yr house.  Well, since we don't have a crystal ball and can't predict that the housing market would crash and the chances of getting what A) what we put into the house (new flooring, kitchen sink/counter, partially finished basement, new bathroom, new garage door, and the list goes on) or even B) we paid for out it back out of it.  We came to terms that we would be in our house for another couple years and that would be fine.  That does mean expanding our family beyond 3 is also on hold (for those of you who have been thinking it's time for us to become a family 4).  

Now, this all doesn't mean that we don't talk about what we want in our next house by any means.  We both have wish lists and as usual mine is longer:)  We are both willing to compromise in some areas and others absolutely no compromising what so ever, don't even try to touch the school district, garage, more square footage or bathroom those are non-negotiable.

Mine:
2 baths or more
attached 2 car garage
3-4 bedrooms
different school district
more cabinet/counter space in kitchen
bigger and more closets
in-ground pool
more square footage over all
open floor plan

Marcus:
brick ranch
different school district
more square footage
2 baths
pool or hot tub
good size yard

When we talk about square footage our dreams aren't too big as of right now we live in 790sq ft, yep 790 we are talking the size of a cracker box here folks.  So even 1000 is more than what we have.  We have learned to adapt and host parties/gatherings at my parents house.  So I guess when it comes to square footage we would like enough room to entertain without guests feeling like they are packed in like sardines.  We would like our next house to be our forever house so enough room to raise children in comfortably and then become **cough cough** empty nester's without feeling like we are surrounded by a ton of space that we now have to manage all on our own as our children will have chores while under our roof.  Some day our wish will come true we just don't know exactly when till then we will have monthly goodwill purge sessions to avoid being labeled hoarders. 

Happy 5yrs of homeownership!!

this is on my fridge

=

This was a craft that was done at Ian's sitters' house. It's meant to be for your front door but I'm quite found of my own personal craft I made for the front door (I know what a mean mommy I am). So instead I hung it on the fridge. To remind us when we open the fridge and are wishing it was stock full of everything we want at that moment. That instead we are thankful for what is in it at that time.

switching it up

Over labor day weekend Marcus and I moved our upstairs furniture downstairs and our downstairs furniture upstairs. Then we had the bright idea to move our TV to a different corner which involved a trip up in the attic for the surround sound cords and speakers to be moved.

This if you come in from the front door.

This is looking in from the area that leads into the bedrooms and bathroom:

In the 4yrs we've been in this house, we tried other arrangements but they simply didn't work however, we are both enjoying the new set-up and so is Ian. This arrangement gives him more room to play. The area rug is something that we got from Bed Bath and Beyond for $25 on clearance, normally 130.

Mrs Green Thumb?

This weekend I went out to survey our landscaping or lack there of, take dead stuff off the plants and remove the dead plants.

When we bought our house almost 4yrs ago the city had a program that if you sent in a pic of the front of your home and a plan of what you would do if the city gave you $$ to make your yard "beautiful" they would either approve or deny the grant money to you. The list of eligible items was quite large ranging from flowers to weed killer (I just finished using the last bottle of weed killer this weekend). Well we apparently made our plan money worthy and for some reason they approved us (2yrs in a row) to have some $$ we purchased 8 plants, grass seed and weed killer. Once you are approved and make your purchases and "improvements" you send a after picture in. Well I hope they don't ask for a 4yrs later picture (I cannot find any of the pics as of right now) as only 2 of the 8 plants are still alive (I got a little over excited with the weed killer well just leave it at that) what does grace our flower beds are from my parents house (we did some splitting and transplanting of some hostas) and some peonies (which did not come from my parents but was rather an undercover transplanting job involving dark time a hooded sweatshirt, bucket and one of those little shovel things.)

I do want our landscaping to look nice hello curb appeal is necessary to sell a house (no, we are no where near ready to sell the house I can only wish) it's just going to require a lot of motivation, work, time and money. And the day those 4 things all line up will be a miracle. Until then we will work with what we have I mean the hostas have been there for about 3yrs and I've yet to kill them so that's a good sign I feel. I may be calling on a friend who works for a local event planning company as a florist and has and eye for this kind of stuff. It's simple, I need easy to care plants(meaning they require nothing of me).

There are certain things Marcus simply won't let me do, do to previous experiences gone wrong.
Example: there was a tree behind our house and it needed to be trimmed Marcus felt this was a task I could handle and so I was super excited to be handed a rather large pair of scissors things and trimmed the tree in only the areas I could reach meaning I left it looking very top heavy and uneven. So I forgot to step back and take a look at my work as I trimmed minor detail. Well, not so minor when Marcus then had to dig the tree up and toss it do to it's awful appearance.
Example #2 we had a row of about 4 lilac bushes and b/c of a tree in our yard they were not growing evenly and after the tree was removed by the power line trimming guys (they did such a horrible job of trimming the tree around the lines that they had to remove it at their expense before it fell on our garage) I felt it was time to give the lilac bushes a trim well fast forward to today we only have 1 small lilac bush remaining (it's still recovering from the trim that I did).

Who wants to hire me to trim some bushes?? This could be why I was always my dad's assistant (I picked up the trimmings) when it came to trimming the bushes or the fact that he used a chain saw thingy and there are very few power tools that I get along when turned on. Ask me to bring you a power tool no problem ask me to use it and that's where things get a little iffy.

up and coming

*2mos shots (I know I'm late in getting these this is the soonest they could get us in)

*a trip to goodwill, I transitioned my clothes this weekend out with the sweaters and in with the tank tops, shorts and skirts. Which also means goodwill is getting some great outdated stuff. Is it bad that I still have clothes from highschool? I can still fit into them they just aren't very fashionable anymore.

*Easter which means a trip down to Indy

*we will have a 3mos old living with us

*flowers and plants which I know really nothing about will be popping up

*work in SB is moving locations (we've been kicked out of our current location as they are probably going to demo it)

*1/2 marathon is just 11 short weeks away

*budget, Marcus and I will soon be sitting down and working out a budget so our debt can disappear and we can start saving a down payment for our next house

*now that spring has arrived, home improvement projects will be put back on the to do list.


Just a few of things that will be happening in the coming weeks. Some I look forward too while others I could pass on.

Nesting

Nesting was a prego symptom that I got but couldn't doing anything about due to bedrest. So needless to say our house is in need of a super cleaning spree. Marcus did a quick clean later in the day after I delivered as his sister and brother in-law were coming into town and staying at our house. And then on Saturday (New Year's Day) we hosted Christmas with his family and then we brought baby home and visitors came over so all we've done is spot clean. Now I've been thinking oh for about week that I should do this but I would much prefer if Marcus and I did it together as it seems things stay cleaner when we clean together. I think that is because we are both putting the time and effort into the cleaning process therefore we work harder at keeping things clean. Last night Marcus said you know what I think we should clean the house this weekend. I said "I was gonna say the samething" and then he said "now I don't just mean clean I mean really clean." It's great when we are both on the same page so I'm going to start today in the kitchen. Although I love when we team clean I don't want to spend our entire weekend married to our cleaning supplies. Let the cleaning spree begin:)