Weekly Challenge, Small Things, Photo month, My own list

I love Toni at A Bowl Full of Lemons, first she scheduled a daily organizing challenge right when I started getting that late pregnancy "nesting" feeling. And now, she is keeping us going with a new weekly challenge, right when my energy levels are lower and expecting my little bun to come out of the oven in the next few weeks. Worked perfectly.


If you weren't around when she started the challenge, I would like to challenge you to join the new weekly challenge, or go ahead and tackle any of the daily challenges the rest of us worked on throughout January. You wont regret it!


Loving the idea of the daily challenge before Toni's even started, I did some blog searching and came across Home Sanctuary, where Rachel Anne inspires us to do some small thing everyday. I wasn't sure what it was all about and didn't want to commit to 2 daily things, but after following her blog for about a month, and often participating in the small thing, I decided to actually keep track of the small things I do, and rack up some points. I have found that usually the small thing is actually multiple choice of several themed small things (candy inspired, "dispenser inspired and pirate inspired to name a few), so I can chose to do one, or more, small things from a list. I like that because I can personalize it to me. Also, with a new baby, I can pick whatever small thing best fits my energy level, household needs or just fun.


In addition to the weekly challenge and the daily small thing, I have my own to-do list. I wont be stressing over it, as the last few weeks of pregnancy should be stress free and enjoyable, with my amazing husband by my side, the entire pregnancy has been pretty great. But I also want to stay motivated to do what I can, when I can to improve our living quarters both before and after we get our new little roomie.


My ever-growing sometimes shrinking list:
THE OFFICE/CRAFT ROOM this is a big one, I have done some work on it but its a big job and I was kinda stuck because I needed some more book cases, my darling husband assembled one of them last night and him and a buddy moved another one up from his old bedroom in his parents house a few days ago, so that should give me some place to put a bunch of stuff. I really need to pull stuff out of the room, to give me room to work in there, and were having company over tomorrow, so that can wait for Monday.

THE PANTRY WALL (within the office/craft room) This gets its own place on the list, because it needs doing just as much as the rest of the room.

DECORATION IN THE BATHROOM
other than the paint on the walls, the shower curtain and my little jars on the counter, the bathroom is very plain. It hasn't bothered me because I had some holiday stuff in there for fall, Christmas and now Valentine's day, but my decorations have been limited to the counter top, or hanging from the medicine cabinet door handle. I need stuff up on the walls. I think a few shelves or a closed shelf/cabinet would be great for some additional storage.

SCRAPBOOK JANUARY PAGES
I really want to stay on top of scrap booking this year, Its our first year married, Ellie is due in February and of all the scrapbooks I have made over the last few years, NONE have been for me, all were gifts. Its time to focus my paper crafting on my new little family and me.

A SYSTEM FOR PARTY SUPPLIES
we throw a lot of parties in our home theater/shop. More than 1 a month on average. Most are low-key, monthly UFC fight showings, various football games. Then there are some bigger ones, including SUPERBOWL(there is a box of decor, someplace that needs located this week), Daytona 500, Thanksgiving, Christmas etc. Our wedding was held here last October and there are plans to host my nephew's wedding in a few months as well. We have quite a few party supplies, bowls, trays, extra silverware, table clothes, mass amounts of paper products, condiments, coffee supplies, cups, coolers etc. We need a good system for storing it all so that when party time comes, we can get out trays we need for our food and when someone brings a bag of chips or something, we know right where to go for a bowl for them. We also need to know how we are doing on supplies so we don't buy a new stack of plates for each party, or run out of hot dog boats because we thought we had another package, somewhere. There is a perfect closet in the shop I would like to house a shelving system for everything, but its currently used for other stuff.

ORGANIZE THE ATTIC
our little attic holds all the long term storage for our loft, (there are other storage areas throughout the building for business and collections etc) all of our holiday decor and long term misc stuff is up there. Its KINDA organized but could use a better set up.

MEAL PLANNING
this is something that I know would benefit us, both health wise and budget wise. With our new baby, we plan on staying at home more and therefore eating at home more. We are really bad about eating out and take out, fast food and sit-down restaurants. We enjoy eating out and it has been part of our lifestyle for a long time, but it is a habit that is costing us a lot of money and makes it hard to eat healthy. I would like to set up a meal plan, including calorie counts for both of us and cost counts so we can better plan food into our budget. I have been putting off meal planning because my appetite has been so unpredictable during this pregnancy, but I'm motivated to eat healthy for breastfeeding and soon, weight loss.

ORGANIZE ELLIE'S EXTRA STUFF we have been given lots of great hand me downs, and they need sorted so that as she grows, I can easily find the next size up clothing, supplies and toys. I have pulled out all the newborn-3 month stuff, but I have a feeling shes gonna be a big baby and I will need the 3-6 stuff soon enough, currently everything past the 3 month mark is all jumbled together in a few bins. I also want a good organization system for when she grows out of stuff It can be stored for another baby a few years away.

PHOTOS
ahh yes, I know that was one of the days of the 21 day challenge this month, but I knew it would be a big job, and that I had higher priority stuff to do getting ready for baby, so I skipped it. Jen at iheart organizing is focusing on photos as her February Challenge so I will ideally, participate in that challenge as well. I really like how she broke up the PAPER storage challenge in January into managable steps. I got most of my mom's photos a few years ago, after we gave her a scrapbook for mothers day, she let me take all the rest of her pictures, so I could organize them, make digital copies and more scrapbooks with them. I would love to finish that project and give the photo boxes back to her.

I am not giving myself a time line for all of the projects, (except Ellie's bigger clothes, and the photo challenge) I will use my blog, and the above challenges to keep me motivated.

a new challenge, organizing!

so i kinda lost interest in the last blog challenge i did, but i am really very much looking forward to this new challenge i found at A Bowl Full of Lemons.

I have no idea yet what im really getting myself into joining in, but im up for the challenge.

i reserve the right to skip a day or 2, alter the challenge as i see fit, but i will do the best i feel like doing!

cant wait to get started.

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #13-16

so im a bit behind on my blog challenge, oh well, sue me.

heres a quick catch up:
Day 13 - Your favorite musician and why?
dont have one.

Day 14 - A TV show you're currently addicted to.
i dont watch tv. i dvr Brothers and Sisters but havent seen them in over a month, eventually i will watch them all. we dont have cable hooked up in our loft yet, only in the home theater and we havent been using it except for sporting events lately, it takes a bit to heat it up in there.
I was addicted to LOST though. like Lostepidia adicted.

Day 15 - Something you don't leave the house without: my phone. whenever i do, (on accident) i realize how much i am addicted to it. I have the motorola Cliq and its super great, its actually over a year old, there was a time when i was getting new phones every 6-9 months or less, when i was phone spoiled working for the Mob.

All i want for Christmas this year is a new phone though. I dont get great signal in our loft and since it attempted suicide by gravity down from the attic earlier this month, sometimes, the bottom 1/3 of the screen doesnt respond to touch.
Santa is waiting for some money to come in or Christmas would have come earlier for me.

and because i will probably be pretty busy tomorrow,

Day 16 - Your celebrity crush.

well i wouldnt call it a celebrity crush, more like a character crush. i dont really know much about Naveen Andrews the person, but I do have a crush on (and miss much) Sayid Jarrah the character on LOST. Both his real life accent and Sayid's accent are both crazy sexy though!

Sayid was a torturer in the Iraqi republican guard and has to use some of his skills on the Island of LOST but when falling in love and losing his love, we see a much sexier side of him. ahhh.

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #12

so i have missed a few days of the challenge, oh well, it's my blog, ill do what I want.
i missed:
Day 9 - A photo of the item you last purchased. I've been doing some shopping lately, so i dont know what the last item I purchased was.
Day 10 - A photo of your favorite place to eat. I love Applebees and my kitchen counter.
I'm feeling way to lazy to take/find a picture, and the counter is full of bags of goodie making ingredients anyways.

Day 11 - What's in your makeup bag.
i dont wear much make up, its just some basic stuff. I mentioned my make up basket in this post though.

Day 12 - A photograph of the town you live in. Here we go, I'm caught up...

in 1876 (photo courtesy wikipedia)

after 1937 (photo courtesy this site)

in 2005 (photo courtesy this site)

the town i live in is pretty big and growing, we actually live on the outskirts of town, about 7 miles from a main road, one of the last Salem addresses before hitting the next town.

from Wikipedia:
Salem (pronounced /ˈseɪləm/) is the capital of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, which runs north through the city. The river forms the boundary between Marion and Polk counties, and the city neighborhood of West Salem is in Polk County. Salem was founded in 1842, became the capital of the Oregon Territory in 1851, and was incorporated in 1857.

Salem had a population of 136,924 at the 2000 census, with an officially estimated population of 154,510 on July 1, 2008,[1] making it the third largest city in the state after Portland and Eugene. Salem is less than an hour driving distance away from Portland. Salem is the principal city of the Salem Metropolitan Statistical Area, a metropolitan area that covers Marion and Polk counties[4] and had a combined population of 347,214 at the 2000 census.[2] A 2008 estimate placed the metropolitan population at 383,100, the state's second largest.[5]

The city is home to Willamette University and Corban University, as well as the main city in the Salem-Keizer School District and is home to the main campus of Chemeketa Community College. Other schools include the Chemawa Indian School, and the Oregon School for the Deaf. The state of Oregon is the largest employer in the city, with Salem Hospital as the largest private employer. Transportation includes public transit from Salem-Keizer Transit, Amtrak service, and non-commercial air travel at McNary Field. Major roads include Interstate 5, Oregon Route 99E, and Oregon Route 22 which connects West Salem across the Willamette River via the Marion Street and Center Street bridges.

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #8

Day 8 - A song to match your mood.

well, my moods change a lot, so I'm changing the challenge topic to it to

{Favorite songs right now}

"My Grown Up Christmas Wish"

and

"Was He A Boy Like Me?" by Veggie Tales (free download available at Amazon currently)
( check out my post on free downloads here )

and

"Christmas Shoes"

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #5

Day 5 - A photo of yourself two years ago.

This is one of my favorite pictures of me and my nephew Presten, we are coming back in to town on the shuttle from the Susan Komen Race for the Cure. My sisters, mom and I walked as individuals in 2005 and loved it so we formed a team the next year. "Just In Case", walks together every year, 2010 was 5 years as a team.

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #4

Day 4 - Your favorite photograph of your best friend.

My sister, the rubber ducky.

she has an impressive rubber duck collection, so it was the perfect halloween costume idea!

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #3

Here we go, day 3 of the challenge.

Day 3 - Your idea of the perfect first date.

hmmm. This is a good question. I would love to say how romantic and lovey Mikey and my first date was, and it really was, I just wasnt feeling it our first time dating. This was 3 years ago. He picked me up looking nice and dressed up, brought me tulips, which he didnt know were my favorite flower, and we went to lunch. We had a good time, but I was hung up on another guy who really wasnt worth my thoughts, so I wasnt really open to feeling anything for Mikey. I kept thinking what an idiot I was, hes perfect, has good values, respectful, thoughful, sweet, not a lowlife. I just couldnt feel it.

Fast forward almost 3 years and the other guy is long gone from my thoughts, and so are a few other losers. I wasnt really looking for love, just feeling like I aughta be more social, so I joined Facebook and was hooked pretty quickly. Browsing for friends, I came across Mikey on a mutual friends list and sent him a message, I remembered what a good friend he was when we tried dating before and decided to start the friendship up again. It was in the back of my mind that I hope we can try the dating thing again, with less pressure. The first time, I knew how much he liked me and I felt pressured into liking him and that didnt work for me. This time, I was a happier, more open person and didnt feel any pressure. We went into the "dating thing" as more of a "hanging out with friends thing" we had some Pizza and watched a movie, my brother, his girlfriend and my sister were all there, so there wasnt any pressure. We hung out more and more and things fell into place and here we are, married and loving it!

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #2

Day 2 - A photo of something you ate today.

Today's challenge reminds me that I am supposed to be eating healthier and cutting back on the sugar, this pregnancy has really peaked my sweet tooth! Mikey and I met with a nutritionist about a week ago and learned some good information, we have been shopping better, but not really eating better. But every good choice is better than whatever bad choice we didnt make, even if we dont always make good choices, right?

Breakfast I had some apple cinnamon oatmeal, 2 packets since thats all i was having. lunch was Huevos Rancheros from Muchas Gracias, I was craving Taco Bell but hubby doesnt really like Taco Bell and weve been there 2 or 3 times since weve been to Muchas. Wasnt the healthiest choice out there, but eggs and beans arent bad.



I remembered after my first burrito to take a picture, so this isnt as pretty as it was when I ordered it.

I have them sub the rice for an extra egg, I really dont like rice. They gave me more beans too, I didnt eat them all.

Ok I will be back tomorrow for the next day's challenge.

{30 Day Blog Challenge} Day #1

Taking cue from Ciao Bella, Im going to try to follow along with the challenge! Christmas is coming, so we will see how I do.

Check out the challenge here.

Day 1 - A photo of yourself and a description of how your day was. I chose this picture because I really enjoyed playing mom and teaching my kid sister how to do some cooking in preperation for Thanksgiving. this is us, cutting celery for the stuffing. She did great, and we still have all of our fingers! I love how pregnant I look in this picture. I can't wait to get to teach my daugher how to cut celery.

How did my day go? Well, woke up thinking my headache was finally gone, (had it since Monday eventing) I planned to finally get the Thanksgiving/fall decor packed up and put in the attic, so I can get the Christmas stuff down.
...but it came back as soon as i got out of bed. I did a lot of nothing until we got a call from the vet. Our bull dog Annie has a UTI and we opted to get her a shot instead of the oral pills, life had been kinda out of the ordinary lately with my father-in-law in the hospital and the holiday planning, so we decided it was worth the extra $ to get the 1 time shot rather than remember to give her pills a few times a day (although Im sure she would have liked the spoonfulls of peanut butter we hide it in).

This afternoon, I decided to call the midwife about my headache since Tylonal, laying down, darkness, chocolate and water wasnt helping. She suggested trying some caffeine. After my nap, I had a cup of strong tea and a can of Pepsi, which seemed to help the dose of Tylonal actually work for about 3 hours. Its coming back though, if this dose of Tylonal doesnt work, I will call the midwife on call.

In other news, my father-in-law is well enough to come home tomorrow, which we, including Annie, are all very happy about. This really lifts some worry stress off of our shoulders even as it adds some additional work stress on them. We can take care of him here at home.

Tomorrow, this headache better be GONE, I have some housework to catch up on, some decorating to do, an appointment to go to, and a dad to welcome home. Also, I should eat something interesting so I can take a good picture for tomorrow's challenge.