Fall Changes

Ah, life. I feel like I'm so busy all the time, but when I look back and try to write about what's been going on that's had me so busy, I come up empty-handed. What have I been doing with myself?? I've come to the conclusion that just life in general is busy and crazy. Even when I don't have events going on. And that's okay. Its my life, and I love it. ( :

Not all the time, of course. Well, maybe I shouldn't say that, exactly. Its not that I have true moments when I just hate my life. Hate certain situations, yes. Either way you look at it, I'm not happy-go-lucky all the time. My glass is not always half full.

I'm on the quest to find a new blog to follow. I know, I know, I need another blog to read like I need another hole in my head. But this blog I'm looking for will be different. All of the blogs I follow are written by stay-at-home-moms. And I love that. For them. I'm truly happy that these women can be with their kids every day. And I love that they have enough time to blog so people like me can read and learn from them.

But its hard to relate to SAHMs. And I feel like maybe they can't really relate to women like me, who have to work full-time and still figure out how to manage a family. I would love to be able to stay home with my daughter (and any future kids we may be blessed with), and I would love to eventually homeschool her, but right now that's not a possibility. No, I'm not giving up my dream of doing just that. Maybe one day it'll happen. But its time to stop daydreaming and start living in the here and now.

I'll still follow my beloved blogs by the SAHMs - they are good inspiration for me, and I truly love reading their stuff. I just want to find a good blogger who is a working mama. There's got to be some of us out there, right? Or are we all just too busy to do it all and blog about it? Cause I know that's my problem. I struggle with keeping up with all my normal, every day stuff - throwing a blog into the mix is almost impossible. Which is why this baby doesn't get updated daily. Or even weekly sometimes.

I want to read about someone else who is struggling like I am. Struggling with having to be away from home 50+ hours a week and not having enough time after work to get things done that need to be done. Struggling with the fact that I leave my child every day to be raised by someone else. Struggling with the fact that I miss out on so many moments with her, and that I missed so many of her firsts. Struggling with coming home and trying to be the wife God has called me to be, and the mother He has called me to be, all while being exhausted from working all day. Struggling to cook good meals for my family when I am home just a few waking hours every day. Struggling with wanting to spend time with my daughter after work, but needing to wash clothes and cook supper, etc.

Don't get me wrong, I know SAHMs struggle, too. I know they're busy. I know that. I know when you're home all day with a toddler or a baby its hard to get stuff done, and I know how an entire day can go by without you realizing it. But its still a different struggle. Cause us working moms have to deal with all that, plus our mommy-guilt over not being with our kids all day. At least, I do. Every day, it kills me to leave C with her grandma. Even though I know my MIL is doing an excellent job with her, and C is shaping up to be a nicely mannered girl.

So when I get home at 5:45 with her, I want to just drop everything and play with her, make memories with her, do stuff with her. Instead, I have time to take just a few minutes to talk with her, maybe read a quick story, then I have to rush around and start supper, do laundry, what have you. Otherwise, I'll spend my entire Saturday doing nothing but cleaning. As it is, I spend at least 1-2 hours on Saturdays just cleaning. And I feel guilty for doing that, cause Saturdays are supposed to be our days together. Guilt is so powerful.

Sure, C helps me around the house. She likes to "help" in the kitchen when I cook - but not all the time. She likes to help get clothes out of the dryer, or put them in. She likes to help hang wet clothes on the drying rack. She likes to "sweep" with her little broom while I sweep the house. So we're spending time together, and I have to remind myself that that's what's important. It doesn't really matter what we're doing. And I know that having her help me do housework is good for her.

But some nights I lay her in her bed and think wow, we didn't do anything fun tonight. We just worked. And it makes me sad.


So, I'm gonna make a few changes in my life. (Again. I feel like I am constantly doing that! But I guess that's good, cause it means I am constantly trying to improve myself, right?) Three weeks ago, my iPhone was stolen. (Yeah, that was a fun day.) Since then, my boss hasn't given me a new one. At first, I was pretty bummed, and couldn't wait for a new phone. Now, though, I kind of like it. I didn't realize how attached I was to that thing. I still have my other cell phone, so I've gone back to using it. I can talk and text on it, and that's it. Sometimes it would be nice to have a smart phone (like when I need directions!), but for the most part, I don't need it. Its been nice to be "unplugged" a bit. I don't have my phone attached to my hand at all times anymore, so I'm not constantly checking facebook and my email. Or taking random pictures. I have, however, taken way more "real" photos with my nice camera.

However, I still have the iPad. Its big and bulky and heavy, and I don't like using it, but its easier than my laptop, so I do use it quite a bit now. I don't use it to check email and facebook as much as I was with the phone, but I still do it more than necessary. So I'm gonna put a stop to that. Starting tonight. Tonight, I will not touch the iPad until I'm rocking C to sleep. Instead of taking a few minutes after supper (and before bath time) to scroll through facebook, I'm gonna play with my daughter. I'm gonna squeeze in as much time with her as possible. When she's asleep and I lay her down, I'm gonna put the iPad away for the night. If I don't go right to bed, I'm gonna talk to my husband. Instead of ignoring him like its so easy for me to do.

And tomorrow morning when I'm eating my breakfast, instead of opening up the iPad and checking facebook and Instagram, I'm gonna do a Bible study. It just hit me earlier today that during breakfast is the perfect time for me to do Bible study. I always eat alone, since DH is gone by then and C's not up yet, but every morning I eat and stare at the iPad. I attempt to do Bible study at night, after C is asleep, but I'm normally too exhausted to do it then, and some nights I don't even lay her down until 11 or after, then I need to get to sleep myself. So breakfast and Bible study it is. I'm kinda excited to start tomorrow. And I wish I had thought of this sooner!

What else? Well, I'm finally gonna make a budget. I've been talking about it for a year almost, and its time to get serious. That's my plan tonight, actually. I want to sit down with DH and get him to help me. I want to be smarter with my money. Even if I'm never able to be a SAHM, I need to do this. And if I'm ever gonna be able to be a SAHM, I need to do this. No matter how you look at it, I need to do this!

Starting this week, I'm also gonna get back into meal planning. I haven't done it for several months, and supper time has been so stressful. This time, though, I want to do it a little differently. I want to meal plan and shop accordingly. The last time I did meal planning, I just planned meals based on what we had already. Which was fine, and its a good way to go through your pantry/freezer/frigde. I'll be doing that again, and then when its time to buy groceries, I want to shop with a plan of what we'll be cooking. Eventually, I want to try once a month shopping, but at first I think weekly or hopefully bi-weekly shopping will do. We need to cut out these little quick grocery store trips. And I want to cut out all this eating out we've been doing lately. (Well, its only once a week or so, but it adds up!)

The last change I want to make is to employ a home management schedule. I started one a while back and stuck to it for a while, but for whatever reason I just abandoned it. I need to go back and think on that, figure out what went wrong so I don't make the same mistakes this time around. My house cleaning goal is to do a little bit every day, so that I can have the weekends to have fun. A little cleaning on Saturdays is okay, but I don't want to be doing heavy cleaning every Saturday. Plus, more often than not, I end up gone for at least part of the day on Saturdays, so my house needs to be in order prior to that.

In reality, I end up just doing the bare minimum during the week (keeping the kitchen clean, washing clothes, sweeping - which is a daily task for me), and on Saturday mornings I find myself having to vacuum, dust, clean the bathrooms, etc. Luckily, it doesn't take me all day since I live in a small house. But I feel like I could be using my time better during the week.

No, I don't have a lot of time between the time I get home from work and the time I put C to bed, and I want to spend as much time with her as possible, but I also want to spend as much time with her on Saturdays as possible. If that means sacrificing just a few more minutes with her each night to do something quick (like wiping down the bathrooms so they don't need to be scrubbed on the weekend), then so be it. More likely, it'll mean "sacrificing" a few minutes on facebook each evening. I can do that. I'm already halfway there, since I don't have the easy temptation of the iPhone to deal with anymore. I can do it!

Okay, normally when I write things down and blog about it, I do it. Hopefully that'll be the case this time. This blog will hold me accountable, like it has for so many other things before. Wish me luck! Oh, and if you know of any bloggers who are in my situation, please share! Cause I truly want to read about other women like me! ( :

Weekend Recap and Other Awesomeness

Ugh, I am SO unmotivated today! Mainly because I can't take a decent breath. I don't know if I've pulled a muscle from all my coughing spells over the past 10 days, or if I have pleurisy (which I get all the dang time, so you'd think I'd know), or bronchitis, but my right lung/chest HURTS when I breathe. I'm still coughing, though not as frequently as I was last week. I can now breathe through my nose, though I still have to blow it quite a bit. I guess not being able to breathe deeply makes you tired, cause I have no energy today.

Yesterday afternoon, I ran around in the yard with C, kicking balls. It was fun, but man did it wear me out! Am I goin to the doctor?  Nah, probably not. If I thought I had a sinus infection I'd be there to get some drugs, but I don't think they can do anything for this right now. So unless I get a whole lot worse, I'll just complain about it. :P (Just kidding, complaining will cease now!)

We had a great weekend. Saturday morning, me and C headed to town to find some tap shoes. On Friday during my lunch break, I went to the consignment store and bought her some tap shoes, but they ended up being too small. I also got a few leotards and skirts, which thankfully fit just fine - yay for consignment! I found some ballet slippers at Target, and they were too small as well.

Of course, Once Upon A Child (consignment) didn't have any tap shoes in C's size, but luckily I got a full refund. Next, we hit up Michael's, where I scored some ribbon on clearance for $1. I made a beautiful hair bow for her, and forgot to take a picture (haha). I'll try to get on that (and a bow tutorial) soon! We exchanged the ballet slippers at Target for a larger brand, then went on a search for tap shoes.

Luckily, we hit pay dirt at Payless. C is totally in love with her shoes and wants to wear them all the time. And I have to say, she's pretty much a natural at tapping. ( :

Hopefully that video will play! If not, here's a still:

She tapped all over the house for me, and after her long nap (in her CRIB!!), we went to my mama's house, where she tapped for her, my cousin, and my grandma. I love that kid. ( :

Yesterday, she was alternating between the tap shoes and the ballet slippers to dance for her daddy - so cute.

After church yesterday, we headed to my aunt's for a birthday lunch for my cousin. We had a good time, and got to eat some of my aunt's delicious chocolate pound cake with cream cheese icing! Yum. Of course, we stayed over there through nap time, and when we got home, C wasn't about taking a nap. So her and I played outside while DH worked on the chicken and rabbit pens.

C and I had so much fun playing outside. We played with the balls, she rode her tricycle, we swung on the swingset, and she had a blast on the slide. I cherish times like that. Then one of DH's friends stopped by to show us what he bought at the livestock sale that morning, and somehow we ended up with 6 guinea keets! When they get big enough, we'll turn them loose so they can eat bugs around the farm. Our farm will never be quiet again! If you're not familiar with guineas, they are LOUD - like, obnoxiously loud.

Anyway, after we got over our new bird excitement (note my sarcasm), C and I hopped on Sunshine bareback. Then C kicked me off so she could ride by herself, haha. I didn't feel up to giving her a "lesson," so I just walked around with her. She didn't care! I'm so glad she loves horses already. ( :

Speaking of birds, our baby ducks are still going strong! Well, 8 of them are. We lost 1, but that was expected cause he was very weak. I'm happy. Mama duck is doing a great job at protecting them. They hang out in the pond a lot, but have also been hanging out around the chicken pens - which is pretty farm from the pond, so they must be strong babies.

All in all, it was an excellent weekend. The only thing that would have made it better if is I had felt better. But I can't complain, since it was a drastic improvement from the previous weekend, when I couldn't do anything but hack and blow my nose.

At church yesterday, my pastor preached on Psalm 121. This is my favorite Psalm, and probably my favorite Bible verses. I'd never heard a sermon on it, and I was impressed.

This Psalm has gotten me through some tough times in my life. It reminds me that God is always there for me. My pastor's message was about much more than that fact, though.

It inspired me to be better about my Bible reading and studies. Well, I should say it inspired me to DO it again. Sadly, I've really gotten off track with that. At the beginning of this year, I was reading the Bible daily with my Bible In One Year app, plus I was doing other random studies through books I found. I also read several books about building a closer relationship to God. I'm not sure what happened, but I stopped doing all that gradually. Its just easier to read "fun" things, like trashy romance novels, I guess. But you know what? Lately, I've been feeling not quite myself, almost depressed at times. I was just thinking on Friday how I needed to get back into the Word, cause when I was deep within it, I didn't feel this way. And then I heard this sermon yesterday - coincidence? I think not. My God is just awesome like that. ( :

So, I'm jumping back in. I'm gonna pick up where I left off with my "The Excellent Wife Day by Day" devotional, the BIOY app, and a couple of other books I recently purchased. Fill myself with spiritual goodness, reconnect with my Maker, have peace again. Who's with me? ( :

Bible In One Year App

One of my resolutions for 2013 is to spend more time with God. My plan is to pray more, read the Bible more, read more "spiritual growth" books, and help others more. Its day 28 of the new year and I'm doing pretty well in my goals, except for the help others part. Though I did have an idea last night that will hopefully come to fruition sometime this year!

I think I mentioned before that my friend's church has started a book club this year. Its called 5 Star Woman. In the club, we read a book every month and the church has meetings (twice a month, I think) to discuss the book. Unfortunately, I probably won't ever be able to attend any of the meetings (they're on Monday nights at 7, and its over an hour drive for me), but I am trying to follow along, and my friend passes on the extra stuff to me after the meetings. I am very behind on the first book. For some reason, I just can't get into it. I think its because I started it, then decided to start a new "for fun" book (part of the series I blogged about Friday). I got so into the new book that reading something nonfiction just seemed so boring! I read a little more on Saturday, and I am not allowing myself to purchase any other books until I finish this one for the book club. I know it'll be good for me, so I'm gonna stick with it.

I also decided to read through the Bible this year. I have read the entire Bible before, but it was years ago. And it took me THREE YEARS to finish. I know, I know. In my defense, I was in college at the time. Still no excuse. I am determined to read the whole thing before 2014. I have a great study bible that I got as a teenager, and its got a one year plan in it. But I decided to try something different this time. I wanted a way that would almost guarantee I'd actually do the reading, a way that would enable me to always have the Bible with me (or at least that day's reading) without having to actually carry a heavy book around.

So I searched for an app! Obviously, reading the Bible from an app doesn't give you the same feeling as flipping through the crinkly pages of an actual Bible, but I figure if it gets the job done, why not? I think Jesus would use technology to get the Word out there, if He were here now. Back in His day, they wrote stuff on stone tablets. You don't hear anyone condemning people for not reading God's Word that way nowadays, do you? So I'm completely cool with using modern technology to learn about the Word.

Anyway, I already use my iPhone first thing every morning to record my waking temperature (my husband and I practice Natural Family Planning - more on that later!). My logic was if I had a Bible app on my phone, after I recorded my temperature I could just open the app and do my reading for the day. For a few weeks, that was a wonderful idea. And then my daughter decided she didn't like to sleep at night anymore - not for long periods of time, anyway - and I was like a zombie in the mornings. Still am, actually. :/  So lately I've been doing my daily readings at night, while I'm rocking her to sleep. I prefer to read from the Bible early in the morning - I feel like it just starts my day out better - but I gotta do what I gotta do these days!

I have done pretty well with keeping up with the readings. Sometimes on the weekends I get behind, like this weekend. Last night, I had to do Saturday's reading as well as Sunday's. But that's okay.

The app was free in the app store, and its called simply Bible In One Year, or BiOY as it appears on my phone. I thought about shelling out the few bucks to get a paid app, but I decided to give this one a try, and I am so glad I did. I love the way its set up. The author is Nicky Gumbel, a vicar of a church in London. Admittedly, I haven't read much about Mr. Gumbel or his church, so I can't say anything about that. The church is called HTB and I can't figure out what HTB stands for, haha. Mr. Gumbel is also the founder of something called Alpha, which seems to be an organization to introduce the Word to people. I am gonna have to read more about these two groups, because they both seem very interesting.

Anyway, Mr. Gumbel's app has daily readings from the book of Psalms or Proverbs, the New Testament, and the Old Testament. After each section of scripture, he gives a commentary. They're usually pretty short, but enlightening. Each day's reading is prefaced with a short story that ties into the day's reading. At the end, Mr. Gumbel's wife Pippa always adds a little tidbit, just something that stuck out to hear in the day's reading and her reaction to it. Its always a very short paragraph, but I enjoy it.

Because of this app, I actually look forward to reading from the Bible every day. Let's face it, some of that stuff is pretty dull. And a lot of it is hard to understand (for me, at least). I like having someone help me to understand what I've just read every day. I'm even enjoying reading the Old Testament because of the way Mr. Gumbel has broken it down.

All in all, I am thrilled that I decided to give this app a chance. If the author decides he needs to start charging for it, I will gladly pay the fee - that's how much I love it. For now, though, I am tickled that I don't have to pay for it! Don't you just love how no matter what you need to do, "there's an app for that??" ( :

Quick Update

Blogging is not as easy as I thought!! When I decided to start this thing last summer, I assumed it would be super easy to always have something to blog about. I do have a ton of ideas, but I never have time to sit down and type! And then when I do have a few minutes, my mind goes blank. I really need to start a list or something of blogging ideas. Maybe one day I'll get it together and really make this blog something, because I do enjoy what little I am able to blog. ( :

Until then, anyone who might actually read this thing will just have to wait patiently! Patience is a virtue, you know. (hahaha)

We have been super busy lately. But what else is new, right? There's rarely a dull moment in my house! Last weekend was awesome. My friend came down Saturday and we rode horses. I wish I could do that every weekend! Then on Sunday, DH, C, and I packed up and headed to the coast again for the day. Well, sort of the coast - Pamlico River. I'll post about that trip later this week. I foresee more trips to that place in our future!

How am I doing on my New Year's Resolutions, you ask? (Didn't someone, somewhere wonder that? hehe) Well, hmm. Not so great. I haven't made a budget yet, I haven't started paying more towards my student loans yet, I haven't even started meal planning yet. I just haven't had the time to sit down and figure everything out. We don't stay home long enough, haha. To my knowledge, nothing is going on this weekend, so I should have a little time to make some plans. That's my hope, at least.

I have so many ideas swirling around in my head, ideas that may never become anything real. But that's okay. Inspiration is good. One thing I am going to try possibly tonight is rosemary bread in my bread machine. I've never had rosemary bread so I'm not sure exactly what it'll taste like, but it sounds delicious. I'm on a kick of trying new recipes. One night this week I made a Spam casserole. It was delicious! Even DH liked it. I'll have to post that one, though I didn't take a picture (it really didn't look very appetizing at all).

I am also reading a new book. I'm almost done with it, and when I finish I plan on writing a review of it here. Its an awesome book and has already changed my life. I know that sounds ridiculous and corny, but its true. I want to finish it before I say anything more about it, though.

I did decide on one final New Years Resolution. I want to get closer to God. You know, have less world and more WORD. I downloaded a Bible in One Year app to my iPhone and absolutely love it. I'll blog about it soon, too. (Hey, am I making a blogging list here?? haha) Every day, I read verses from Psalms or Proverbs, the Old Testament, and the New Testament, and then the author or the app has a commentary/devotional on the passages. I try to read the verses every morning before I get out of bed, but sometimes I have to do it later in the day. So far, I'm still on track!

To further accomplish my new goal, I am participating in a women's book club though my friend's church. My friend lives over and hour away, so I won't actually be able to attend the bi-monthly meetings, but they are working on letting me listen in via Skype. Either way, I'll read along with them, and my friend will fill me in on the meetings. We'll be reading one book a month. I haven't started yet, since I wanted to finish this other book first, but the list of books sounds amazing! I can't wait to get started. Oh, if only I had a few more hours in a day to accomplish all the reading and other tasks I want to do!

Look for more posts from me soon, all these ideas in my head need to get out! ( :

Off to a good start!

I've started the new year off right! I jumped right back in with my organization/decluttering goals. Yesterday after lunch, I sent C to my mother's house for an hour so I could go through her toys. I am extremely pleased with my progress, especially considering I only had one hour!!

Here's a look at her room before...

Wow. Right? I can't believe I let it get that bad. And I kept it that bad for quite some time. *shudder*

I sorted through all those toys (oh, these are not even the toys she got for her birthday and Christmas - those are still in the living room and will be added in later, when the new wears off). I'm not throwing out anything, since hopefully one day we'll need them again. But a lot of this stuff she just doesn't play with any more.

Here's a shot of the pile of stuff I moved out to the barn:

It doesn't look like much, but there's a lot packed into that box and that Victoria's Secret bag! (And I do plan to get some plastic bins later this week, I just wanted to get this little project done ASAP!)

Here's what her room looks like now:

Let's all breathe a collective sigh of relief. Much better, right? The best part is she absolutely LOVES it! She's never really played in her room much, but now she does. Last night she kept running into the living room, grabbing my husband's hand and saying "come on, Daddy, I show you my room!" It was so cute.

She still has way too many toys for just one kid, but oh well. At least now she can see what she has. I found things she hasn't seen in months, and she still loves them. Once we get the Christmas tree down and get the living room back in order, I'll figure out where all her new toys go. Some will, of course, stay in the living room. I don't plan to ban her from playing in there! It sure is nice to see my living room floor again, though...!

I still have work to do in there. I'm too chicken to take pictures of inside that cedar wardrobe and her closet. Those are scary places. Mostly because they hold every item of clothing she's had since she's been born. And she's had a LOT of clothes. I bought Space Bags for them, and they're really cool, but I'm not 100% in love with them. They don't get as smooth as the commercials make you think! And they're heavy and awkward to carry. I might get some more plastic bins to keep them in (in the barn). But for now, they're all shoved in the wardrobe and the closet. Baby steps, baby steps...  ( :

A Fresh Start

I'm not one for making resolutions in a new year. I used to, but I realized that I never stuck to my resolutions, and always just ended up supremely disappointed in myself later in the year. So for years, I took the easy road and didn't resolve to make any changes or do anything special when the calendar flipped to a new year. Now I think that's pretty lazy. I think we need to set goals/resolutions for ourselves so we keep growing and don't get stuck.

I don't think its necessary to make resolutions in January, though. In October, I made some fall resolutions. I've done pretty well at keeping them: I made good on making memories with my daughter (we've done a lot of fun things with her recently, including an impromptu trip to the coast this past weekend, which I'll blog about later); I've done better about not being a lurker in the blog world (I have made an effort to post comments when I have a reaction to someone's blog post); I have spent more time with God (though not nearly as much as I need to - still working on that one); and I continued my efforts to organize the house. (That "resolution" actually came about earlier in 2012, so I've been at it for a while.) In fact, I did a little organization project just yesterday, which I'll blog about later (I say that a lot, huh? hehe).

The only fall resolution I haven't kept is to ride my horses more. I realized pretty quickly that it is still dark outside until pretty late in the morning. DH has to leave for work around 7:15, so if I'm gonna ride I have to do it and be back in the house by then. Well, it doesn't get light until about 6:45. That is not nearly enough time to ride and get the horses fed. I'm too chicken to ride before daylight around here. There are a lot of coyotes in our area and they really freak me out. They are not as scared of us humans as they should be, either. They come all in our yard after dark. I doubt one would actually attack me, but I don't like to take any chances. Last night when I was feeding the horses (after dark), a coyote was howling right beside the barn! I completely freaked out, ran to the house and made DH go out there with me with the gun. (Of course, the coyote had moved on by then.)

So, I'll get back to riding my horses more this spring. For now I'm just savoring what little time I do get to ride, and making the most of it. A few weekends ago, I hopped on Sunshine bareback and went down the road, to somewhere we've never been before. She was terrible that day, but it was still fun.

Moving on.

I'm considering 2013 to be my clean slate. I need a fresh start in several areas of my life. I'm not going to sit here and type up a huge list of things I want to accomplish or change about myself. I know that's too daunting for me. I've said many times I'm all about baby steps. ( :

Here's a few things I do want to accomplish/work towards/change this year:

~Potty train C. We're well on our way! She's been doing pretty well lately. In fact, she's in her big girl panties right now (watching Super Why on PBS while Mama gets some blogging done). Yesterday, she had 3 accidents, but I think that's pretty good. This weekend, she even pooped in the potty once! So I have no idea how long this process will take (we're certainly not doing the potty train in 3 days thing - way too stressful), but I know it will conclude this year!! And hopefully by the spring. Wouldn't that be wonderful??

~Continue to organize the house. My next project will be to tackle C's toys. She's 2 now, and we've still got her newborn and infant toys in the house, as well as a ton of toys she just doesn't care for. I'm not getting rid of anything (hopefully one day we'll have another child), but my plan is to buy storage bins so they can go out in the shop.

I also really want to work on the office. Every few months, I work in there (mainly on my desk) and get everything looking neat and organized, but it doesn't take long to get junky again. DH is actually really good about keeping his desk organized. But the office tends to be our place to stash random things that don't really have a home elsewhere in the house. Right now, its overflowing with extra boxes and wrapping paper from Christmas. And I mean overflowing. I'll have to take a "before" picture when I tackle that room. Its terrible. My plan is to ditch my desk. I haven't used it (other than to store junk on) since I completed my graduate degree. And that was in the summer of 2011. I do need a spot to store my laptop, though, so I'll probably get a small bookcase or something like that. Or maybe a small table. We'll see. DH and I have talked about that room becoming a nursery if we do have another baby, but that leaves the problem of where will we have an office. DH needs an office space since that's where he does all the bill paying and manages his business (he works a full-time job and has a side business as well). And there's no where else in this house for an office space. Hopefully one day we can build a house....!

There are other projects that fall under the "house organization" label that I want to tackle. But those two are the biggies, the ones that I know will make the most difference around here. Wish me luck!!

~I also want to get back to meal planning. I did that for a few months in 2012, and it was great. I didn't have a specific method, I just sat down whenever I had a moment and thought about what I could cook for supper the next few days. Sometimes I'd do a week or 2 at a time, sometimes I'd do a whole month. It really made nights much less stressful for me. I hate coming home from work, looking into the fridge, freezer, and pantry and thinking What in the world am I gonna cook tonight?! So I want to get back into meal planning. And do it better. Meaning, I want to grocery shop with meal planning in mind. I haven't decided which method I want to use yet, but I'll blog about it when I figure it out.

~I want to make a budget - and stick to it. I've been meaning to do this one for a while. But its time. I'm conscious about where I spend money, but it seems like it always runs out faster than I think it should. I don't mean I'm gonna cut out all my "extra" purchases - I regularly buy books for my Kindle on Amazon, and random things for C (though I usually shop the thrift store for her). I just want to know exactly how much I can spend each week/month on the extra things. And this will help me be able to finally start putting some money into my savings account.

~Along those lines, I want to start paying more towards my student loans. If I keep going like I am, I will have them paid off in 2020 I believe. That's a really long time, considering I got my bachelor's in 2006 and my master's in 2011. But I'm only making minimum payments. I hope to tackle them one at a time, starting with the smallest loan. I keep reading about the "snowball effect" and how great it is. So once I get my budget worked out, I'll start making more payments on that smallest loan.

~~~~~

My list is short, but I know that if I do these few things, my life will drastically change. Of course, I want to continue to do things like make memories with my daughter and husband, keep learning more about cooking, etc. Actually, I should probably go back up there and bullet point another goal: go on more dates with my husband this year!!

For now, its time to go clean up the Cheerios C just spilled all over the floor, then spend the rest of the day having fun with her. Its chilly and rainy here, so we're probably stuck inside all day, and I don't have anything planned. I got all my cleaning done over the weekend so I could spend today just enjoying her. Here we go!

Happy 2013 everyone! May this be our best yet!!! ( :

Making memories

One of my fall resolutions is to make more memories with my daughter and husband. We "do stuff" all the time, but so many weekends go by that we don't do anything memorable. Don't get me wrong, sometimes that's really nice! We enjoy having some weekends to do absolutely nothing, those are sweet memories, too. But like I told my husband the other day, I don't want to look back one day and think "Dang, I wish we had done more with C..." We already wasted a lot of opportunities this summer to go to the beach. We went twice, I believe. And I cherish those memories, but I wish we could have gone more. (Growing up, I was at the beach pretty much every weekend with my family, and I have so many great memories from those trips.) I'm so thankful that I now have an awesome camera so that I can capture all these memories and look back on them. (I have a Nikon D5000 if you're interested - totally worth the money!!!)

This weekend, we made plenty of memories. As you'll see, most of them were just plain, every day, around-the-house type memories, nothing "special." But they are precious to me. ( :

Saturday was an absolutely gorgeous day here in North Carolina, and me and C took advantage of it by going outside for several hours. It was one of those days where you need long sleeves and pants because the shade was pretty chilly, but in the sunshine it was glorious. Absolutely perfect. My mama came over with my cousin and another young girl and we all had fun playing on the swing set and in the grass.

I love this kid so much ( :
and I love how her diaper kept stickin out of her pants!

She has started doing flips...which really freaks this mama out!!

hehe ( :

She was kinda sad when everyone left us!

Yesterday, we decided to go to a pumpkin patch. I wanted to go to the State Fair, but DH didn't feel like driving that far, so I got online and tried to find a pumpkin patch close by. They are hard to come by around here! I did find one near us, but of course it doesn't open on Sundays. So I found a place about 30 minutes away.  Its mainly a corn maze, but the website said there was a pumpkin patch and lots of things for kids (including toddlers) to do. C didn't wake up from her nap until after 4pm, but we decided to go anyway.

This place wasn't anything like we were expecting. We were pretty disappointed. The arm bands we bought to get in didn't include any of the fun things, and we didn't discover that until it was too late. We didn't do the big 12-acre corn maze (well, its not really corn, but whatever) because you had to pay more for it, but we did do an itty-bitty toddler maze. I think if you're in a big group of older children/adults and you do the big maze and maybe the "haunted" trail at night, that would be a lot of fun. Or if you pay and arm and a leg to be able to have access to everything there! Despite our disappointment, we were determined to make the most of the trip. I think C enjoyed herself, and that's all that really mattered.  We won't be going back to that place, though!

Oh, and there wasn't even a pumpkin patch! That was the biggest disappointment for me. We're off to Gatlinburg, TN, this weekend and I am determined to find a pumpkin patch there!!

me and C in the "corn" maze

I need to teach my husband how to use the zoom! haha

C always twists her tongue like that...gets it from me ( :

Last night, we went grocery shopping and bought a ton of junk food for our upcoming trip. Normally, I don't like to have a lot of junk food sitting around the house. I mean, if its there, we're gonna eat it, right? And no one needs to eat that mess all the time! But when we go on vacation, that "rule" goes out the window. We eat at good restaurants while we're vacationing, but we make sure to pack a lot of goodies for the drive. We like to snack!

Our only mistake last night was me and DH were already hungry when we got there. Never go to the grocery store hungry!! We bought way more than we should have. But its okay; we had fun.

We got ingredients to make a homemade pizza (with store bought dough), and DH let C help him assemble it. She jumped right in like she'd done it a thousand times before, even though it was her first time.

yes, we make pizza in our diapers...don't you?

That pizza was pretty darn good, by the way. And I'm tellin myself its healthier than gettin frozen pizzas or ordering from Domino's....though its probably not. ( :

All in all, the weekend was excellent. This week will be crazy since I have a zillion things to do to prepare for our mountain trip, but I'm so excited to go. I have to go buy a new memory card because I know I'll fill my current one up. I don't even know what activities we have planned, but just being in the mountains will be enough for me, so who cares!

My fall resolutions

What? People make New Years' Resolutions, why can't I make ones for fall? ( :

Actually, I never make resolutions in January because I found that I never kept them and was always disappointed in myself later in the year when I realized that I hadn't done anything I said I would do. But every once in a while, I make "mini-resolutions" to improve myself and my life. Those are infinately more easy for me to stick to. Maybe the pressure of starting a new year and new things to do is just too overwhelming to me. Who knows.

Earlier this year (in February, not January), I resolved to work on making the house more organized. Its not happening overnight, but I am making progress. My first project was to work on our bedroom closet. That was before I started this blog, so I don't have documentation. But I went through all the clothes in there (mine and DH's) and donated everything we don't wear regularly. (Maybe I shouldn't say "regularly" because there is still a ton of clothes in there, and there is no WAY we wear all that on a regular basis. But I do occasionally go through the clothes again and donate more.) I organized my shoes and all the shoe boxes that I hoard. (Its a sickness, I guess! But you never know when you'll need a shoe box...!) I organized our kitchen cabinets and pantry. I decluttered in our bedroom. I even got rid of our bulky kitchen table and bought a smaller one that better suits our space (not really an organization project, but it makes the kitchen/dining room look so much bigger and neater). Then I organized the medicine cabinet. I also resolved earlier this year to start cooking more. Before that, DH did practically all the cooking. But I decided it was my job, too, and I dove in to the world of cooking. I'm not great at it, but I try really hard! And I know my husband appreciates the effort, even if it doesn't always turn out so good. ( :

Maybe that's not such a long list considering I began this journey almost 9 months ago. But I am pleased with my progress and proud of myself for actually doing it. If you know me personally, you understand why these little things are such a big deal to me. I'm very much a "go with the flow" type of gal, and I don't get too worked up over things like an unorganized medicine cabinet. All these changes take huge efforts on my part. So I'm excited to see what else I tackle and change around the house.

I follow several blogs, and many of them are taking part in an October challenge in which they post every day this month and all the posts are related to a certain topic. I am thoroughly enjoying them all! I knew I wouldn't be able to keep up with a daily blogging challenge at this point in my life, so I didn't even try to jump on that bandwagon, but my metaphorical hat goes off to you ladies who are keeping it up!

One of the blogs, Our Front Porch View, is doing 31 days to a more intentional life. I love that topic, but I can't imagine how hard it is for her to come up with a new topic daily! She has really opened my eyes to some things I need to work on in my life. I don't have it all sorted out in my head just yet, so I can't write about it, but I know the gist of what I want to see change in my life.

I want to make more memories with my daughter. I have a tendency to come up with ideas or buy craft supplies and then save them for "later" or a rainy day. And then "later" comes or we get a rainy day, and I don't do it. Like carving a pumpkin. She's old enough now to enjoy that, but I keep putting it off. Saturday we WILL carve a pumpkin together!!

Last night, DH and I took C down the road to our neighbor's farm to see his donkeys. We live on a farm, too, but we don't have donkeys. We can hear them all the time when we're playing in our yard, and C has been asking about them for a while now. DH and I always tell her "one day" we'll go see the donkeys. Well, yesterday after work, C and I were playing outside and she heard a donkey and asked where it was. I found DH and told him we needed to go see it, and we did. C loved it! That's the kind of thing I want to do more of. She's only going to be little once, and I don't want to regret not doing more with her.

Another thing I am resolving to do is find time to ride my horses more. Horses used to be my entire life, and I've lost that part of myself since becoming a mother. I know most women lose part of their former selves when they have a child, but I again, I don't want to look back with regret. Right now, I only ride every once in a while. Though when I get the chance to ride, I make the most of it and enjoy every minute. I never feel more at home than when I'm in the saddle (or bareback!)!. A while back, I decided to try getting up super early and riding some mornings before work. I did it one day and wasn't able to do it anymore. I want to try again. I'm not sure how it will work since the time is about to change, and I don't know what time it will be light enough to ride. But I'm hoping that it will work out. The time changes in just a few weeks, so I plan to start then. I think riding more often will make me feel so much better, and I'll be happier. And everyone knows a happier mama makes a happier home!

I'm also resolving to quit being a "lurker" in the blog world. All those blogs I follow, and I have never posted a comment on most of them! I don't have much of a following here (yet), so I know how it feels not to get comments. If I read a blog post and have a reaction to it, I am going to start commenting. It only takes a few seconds. I already started that one today. I commented on several posts. ( :

I also vow to spend more time with God. Reading His Word, I mean. I'm hoping to find an App for daily devotionals, since I know if its on my phone I'll be more inclined to read it. I downloaded an App last week, but I haven't been good about reading it because I don't care for the tone of the devotionals I read. So I'm taking suggestions for daily devotional apps!

There are several other things floating around in my mind, but this is all I'm really committing to for now. Baby steps, right? ( :