My (very early) Bullet Journal Experience

I haven't blogged very much this year. I always want to do more and have tons of ideas rolling around but man! Time gets away from me!

The past four or five months have been a really difficult time for me personally. I struggled to find peace and to make good choices in a lot of areas of my life. I was a lazy parent, eating too much, drinking too much, and staying up too late. It didn't click that something needed to change until I knew without a doubt I was experiencing grief and depression. I cut back on extra work, stopped drinking so much and have been better about eating healthy and exercising. Though I still need to work through some bad habits, I do feel that I am finally beginning to get back at it again. I'm excited about what's ahead!

One area that still needs work is my personal planning and organization. I LOVED using my planner in high school and college. It tracked my whole life! There was so much going on and homework assignments to jot down! But life changes after college and it became pretty clear that what works for me on the job doesn't work for me at home. I'm always on the go and life just seems so busy. I don't have time to have a planner!

That being said, my life seems to work a lot better with a planner. My brain definitely feels less cluttered when I use one and I tend to think more clearly. I also don't tend to lose my $#!& quite so easily. Get the drift? Less mental clutter, less stress, less losing of $#!&. All good things.

All I had to do was figure out how to make a planner work in my life. Challenge Accepted.

That's when I stumbled upon bullet journaling. I had seen this before and to be honest, never really thought much about it. I was still fixated on using really pretty yearly planners from various companies - Luther's academic year planner, Erin Condren's LifePlanner, Emily Ley's Simplified  Planner, etc. However, when I did some research, it seemed pretty obvious that I needed to give this a try. Off to Wal-Mart I went and I came home with this beauty.

And this is when I tell you that it's going well!

What I really like about bullet journaling is that you can make it be whatever you want or need it to be. Mine is super duper simple. Remember, I really don't have time to use a planner so there's no way I'm going to fancy mine up with doodles, coloring or tape. Just not happening. (Disclaimer: I do think those are really cute! Maybe one day I'll get into it.)

I also really like making lists and it seems my bullet journal is one big ol' pile of lists. It makes me so happy!

Clearly, I'm a little behind :) I'll work on that!

One thing I have recently added to the book is a to-do list. I've been trying to figure out how best to keep track of everything in my brain and I will be the first to admit that this might not be the best use of this particular book. However, after adding it to this book I got to thinking that I should just get another book for that! Easy peasy.

So for anyone out there that needs an organizational outlet, why not give bullet journaling a try?!

Office Art

I've had my own office now for almost a year. In one week, I'll hit the one year anniversary and I'm just now adding art to the walls. You shouldn't be all that surprised because it took me 15 months to put the art up in our living space at home, two years to put up our faux headboard, a few months to hang the nursery art, and I have yet to put up the gallery wall in our bedroom. To that, I'll say that one year isn't so bad. I'm not quite done yet but it's close enough and I can't wait to share it!

My office has four walls, two with doors and one with cabinets. It's a nicely spaced office but needed some color to make the room pop. It also needed to serve as a positive space as sometimes the interactions in my office aren't always happy. Working in Higher Ed with students, let's just say it can get a little emotional or dramatic. Who knew? ;-) I wanted to evoke calm, positivity, happiness, cheerfulness, etc., and I think I covered that pretty well. Also, I wanted some of the art to serve me since I'm looking at it and then some of the art to serve those coming to our office since they'll be looking at it.

This is always the first art to be placed, since it's simple and easy to put up. All I needed was pushpins and luckily, my desk already had those. As you can probably tell, I'm missing a photo of my littlest niece but I hope to get a nice one soon when they come to town! I would also love to update our family photo since we'll soon have a new brother-in-law and of course all the little kiddos. The other art - definitely needed a photo of the handsome Mr., a photo with a college bestie (the SAC office went through photos and found this!), a Rubaiyat guest receipt with a really nice thank you from a diner to me, a tip calendar so I can see it every day to keep inspired, and a couple kid art pieces. 

The first art piece I hung up was one I created myself. I wanted anyone that came in and sat down to see it. It reads, "Positive Mind, Positive Vibes, Positive Life". Nothing fancy but with a pop of color, it's a gentle reminder to everyone the positivity starts with yourself.

The second art is my vintage Chicago photo. I ordered a print from Brim Papery and this was a free addition that I got to choose. I was so excited because I adore Chicago. I have such fond memories of time I've spent there. Gspice and I went there after only dating for a couple of months, we got engaged there, I spent a semester there, and had a great weekend with my good friends from college. We can't wait to get back there!

The gallery wall stumped me for a bit which is partially why this took so long to complete. It's a work in progress as you can tell but it'll be done soon. It started out a little different and it morphed after I ordered the circle frames way too large. My bad. But I'm actually really happy with how it turned out. It's not too overwhelming and is less artsy than I originally planned. I was going to hang up kids' artwork from daycare here but couldn't quite figure out how to do it. Then, I decided that I'll (eventually) hang those at home instead. In the meantime, I had painted and filled the circle frames and put photos in two of the other frames. For awhile, only the two frames with the kids' photos hung on the wall. It looked way too simple for my taste. So on a random Friday, I whipped out the measuring tape, hung up some paper to get my spacing right, then hung everything up. I've since ordered the photo for the small Luther postcard place holders and then hope to fill the remaining picture frame with a family photo after my sister's wedding. It'll come together very soon!

Lastly, you have these beauties to feast your eyes upon. I LOVE THEM SO MUCH. These hang on the wall across from the door to my office so everyone can see them when they walk in. I love the colors and that they fit the bill for adding calm and color in one shot. I first fell in love with these when I took my kids to the pediatric dentist. We love that office already but they had these canvases all over the place so of course I asked where she got them from. Much to my delight, they were easily accessible and in the right price range. So, when you have a few spare moments, go to to Wayfair.com.

I share an update after I've completed the gallary wall and share some tips I have for hanging photos. Can't wait to share!

Bathroom Remodel {2} - Half Bath Styleboard

In addition to renovating our main bath, we both feel pretty strongly that we need to add a half bath in the space directly underneath our main bath.  I am so sick of living in a house with one toilet. Sure, normally it's no problem at all. Until it is one. Then it sucks.

Right now, that room is used for storage.

Yuck. 

We have so many items in there that are either way too heavy to carry down to the basement or that we don't feel comfortable putting in the basement. That along with all the randoms that I simply throw in there because I'm just that lazy. My desire would be to have one side of the room be the half bath (with the likely possibility of adding in a stackable washer/dryer in the future) and the other side be a little play area for the boys.

The doorway to this room is teeny tiny so I'd love to open that up as well. I've also recently moved my desk in there so that Owen could have more dedicated space space to play and run around in. When we remodel, the desk will need to end up somewhere else. Where it was originally or simply taken apart. We shall see. My guess is that it will go back to it's original spot.

With all of that in mind, here is the styleboard!

DIY Bedroom Art

This is the real-life story of a DIY project of epic procrastination.

I had my eye on this particular project for quite awhile. Problem was, I could only find this particular image but no supporting details from its original location (you know, like within someone else's blog and such). Without the instructions I was a little nervous to try this out myself. I am soooo not a fly-by-the-seat -of-your-pants type of person. I love instructions. Detailed, numbered, listed instructions. With none, I just let the idea roll around in my head for well over a year.

Then, during one of my "let's be crafty and productive" shopping trips to Wal-Mart six to eight months ago, I grabbed 4 - 11x14 canvases and a crap ton of blue and white acrylic paint. I determined that the 11x14 was a little too big so again, I just sat on the project.

Then, on another one of my "let's be crafty and productive" shopping trips to Wal-Mart four to five months ago, I grabbed the 8x10 canvases and the rest of the supplies I needed. After determining these were a perfect fit, I let the project sit a little longer for no reason whatsoever.

A month later, I finally got down to business (with a busy boy to care for, my "let's be crafty and productive" bits don't come around too often!). I was nervous to paint the letters but it wasn't too difficult and am quite pleased with how this step turned out! First, I painted three coats of blue. Then, I painted the letters free form so if I can do it, so can you! I also painted the sides to make it look continuous (if you look at it on an angle - check out my final pic below). One thing you don't need to do is buy so many little bottles. I completed everything with one bottle of blue and one bottle of white. My bad!

The next step was to attach the hanging pieces. The instructions I had for that made it seem WAY easier than it actually was. I should have been able to twist the eyehooks in myself. Yeah, right! Three weeks after that, I was visiting my parents and decided I needed my dad's help to get this part done. Out came his handy dandy electric drill to save the day! I was able to twist the eyehooks in and attach the hanging wire easily after that. Thanks, Dad!

And now, here we are, nearly two full years later, I've finally hung up these bad boys to their rightful home. I am not so proud of my productivity to actually finish this rather simple project but quite pleased with how it turned out. Couple this new bedroom art with new bedding AND a completely painted-all-by-myself ceiling....This is much better than how this room started! (I should mention that way back when we painted our living room in December 2012, we also painted our bedroom a beige color to match every single other room in the upstairs - not sure why we did that, but oh well!)

I have dreams of adding in a small gallery wall in this large open space to the right of this picture. Given my track record, I'm sure this will be completed in a couple years or more but I've already drawn up a plan and figured out which photos I want to use. That's something right?!

Bathroom Remodel Styleboard

When Gary and I moved in to our home over a year and a half ago, we had many ideas of what we'd like to add, update, remove, etc. Did we have the money to do any of it? Of course not. SO, we came up with a few different key things we wanted to do and are now beginning to bring some of these ideas to light. The most important thing on our list - adding a bathroom. For me, I want to at least add a toilet. With another little body that will someday use the commode, I am determined to have this second bathroom. And, if we're going to add a bathroom, why not update the existing bathroom at the same time? I know, great idea, right?

We are in the planning stages right now - we hope to get some estimates and quotes within the next month or two and plan to do a complete remodel early 2015. I would have loved to demo YESTERDAY but with lots of bills and little Owen to care for, I have to be patient. Being on maternity leave has not helped me be patient. Not in the least.

To keep me from taking a hammer to the hideous built-in box around our bathtub/shower we have now, I have tried to look for inspiration on style and colors. Thanks, Pinterest, for giving me tons and tons of ideas.

But one caught my eye.

You can see a full blog post here on Bower Power Blog (I've become a little obsessed with her blog! Love her energy!) She got inspired by the shower curtain, and honestly did I!

As of right now, I am completely in love with their bathroom - I want to take that room and put it in our house. I love how bright it is and doesn't make it look as small as it probably is. Our bathroom needs to look more open and bright and fresh to death! The art is not necessarily what I'll be going for but it definitely works in their space.

Here is my own styleboard - it's literally pictures straight from Lowes.com so it's not the prettiest. Oh well.

I look forward to getting started on some of the less intense projects throughout the year - who says I have to wait until we rip out the clawfoot tub to redo the vanity? For reals.

Stay tuned!

Hello, 2014!

I'm really excited about 2014.

So many fun things will take place and LOTS of progress on things Gary and I have planned to do for awhile. I love to see when ideas that fill my head finally start to take shape in the real world! Oh, my heart is just jumping with excitement.

For one, I cannot wait to see how Owen progresses. He is sooooooooooo darn cute with his lanky legs and little arms. I can't wait for more expressions, for him to hold his head up, for him to start crawling, etc. But, one thing I want to do is really cherish every moment because they go by so quickly!

For all my other "to-do's", I decided to create a PINTEREST CHALLENGE board with some of the things I want to accomplish this year. When I realized I already had all the necessary components for one of the projects, I went right to work!

Here is MY "This Year's To-Do List"

Supplies:
-Empty Frame
-Fabric to fit inside frame
-Dry Erase Marker

The Bump {13} - The Prego & Eggo Project List - OCTOBER

Another month is almost over which means this little nugget is going to come out very soon.

Holy  amazeballs......excitement.........anxiety............fear...............sh*t!

That all being said, we are getting more and more ready for little Owen to arrive. I still have little to no motivation to do anything but the desire is sure there. That is motivation enough. I've come to realize that I want as much completed before he arrives just so that we can spend oodles and oodles of time with him when he does decide to show up. I'm just waiting for that surge of energy I keep hearing about at this stage of the pregnancy - it sure hasn't hit me yet.

Gary has been so supportive over the last few weeks which is sooooo appreciative as I become more of an irritable and emotional mess. Take last weekend for example: Gspice and his pop spent a couple hours cleaning our filthy garage, one item that has been on our project list since it was created back in July. Did I ever think we'd do it? Not entirely, but with a new car and the winter coming, it was on the MUST COMPLETE list fo sho. And thanks to their hard work, lots of trips to recycling and our hose, we have a nice, open and clean garage!

He was also able to put the crib together and for me, that has made all the difference in the nursery. Without that one piece, I had trouble figuring out what I wanted to do - choosing end tables, decor - you name it. I struggled up until that crib was put together. Let's not mention that we accidentally put the base all the way on the bottom rung and had to take it apart to bring it to the highest rung...

Though I'd rather wait to show you Owen's room until it's completed, here's a little sneak peak at some of the fun things going on!

 

You'll just have to wait and see where this ends up!

One other really exciting thing we've been able to accomplish this month has been completing our registry. I almost feel bad for the mail carrier because of the amount of boxes that need to be delivered. We've gotten 9-10 boxes/packages thus far with MANY more to come. Lots of these things are the necessities, but some are more fun - like the little rattle toys I was able to get on etsy.

Seriously, adorbs.

Door Decor Craft Time {6} - Halloween....ish

With my growing belly comes a lack of energy or motivation. Thus the thought for such an easy door decor. It was my hope to have this up by the end of September but I'm not that far off - and with that, I didn't want this to be so overly Halloween this year. I know that once Halloween has past, this wreath will likely remain until I have energy to create something else. I'm thinking we'll do something for Mini Mr. Owen but we shall see. Any ideas for that are welcome because I have no clue at this moment what I'd do.

Supplies:
* felt - in whatever colors you'd like - I chose lime green, purple and orange
* one grapevine wreath
* scissors
* yarn for hanging
* glue gun/glue sticks

How-to:
1. Cut out random-sized circles of felt - I went rather un-random as you can see below:

2. Cut little spirals for each circle and create a little flower. Hot glue the end to keep it all together. (Sorry, no photo of this part...)

3. Hot glue your little adorable flowers to the wreath.

4. Using the yarn, hang up the wreath!

 Happy Halloween-ish!

The Bump {10} - The Prego & Eggo List - SEPTEMBER

Oh how excited I've been for this month but oh how way less motivated I've been. It has been slow going for any progress on my part but I'm surprisingly okay with it. Any time I feel unmotivated, I try to do something at least somewhat productive. Like at this very moment - I'm blogging which is on my prego & eggo to-do list but what I really need to be doing is cleaning the house so it can be sprayed for bugs. Yeah, it's probably not completely necessary but our kitchen is a mess. But does this prego lady care? Not really. I'll try to get to it in the morning. We shall see :)

As with my other Prego List blog posts, here's a little snapshot of the fun things we did within the last month. Let me tell you, this was by far the most nervewrecking thing about moving in to a new place. I wanted so very badly to put up pictures and other decor but never did because I was deathly afraid of making a mistake. Turns out it wasn't that difficult! I started with one item and then realized, Holy Sh*! I can actually do this!

As far as the nursery goes, we got one step closer but we've still got MANY more to go. We've got the changing table put together but not the crib - I'd say we picked the right piece to put together first :) I also was able to buy a couple of the decor pieces but have yet to really decide where they'll be on the walls - I really need to see it all put together first. On tap - getting the glider finished and the crib put together fo sho. I think that will help.

We still have a TON to finish before Little Mr. arrives but I'm guessing a good amount of it won't actually get done. At this point, finishing even just a few things is making me feel good so we'll keep trekking!

Door Decor Craft Time {5} - Back to School!

Going back to school was ALWAYS something I looked forward to. I loved buying new supplies and having everything be fresh and clean. I loved getting back to a routine and yes, I even loved having homework again.

Go ahead and say it - I was a nerd.

Needless to say, this door decor has been on my radar for awhile. This particular decor, no. I actually had something else in mind but that'll come another time. I decided to go with something a little cuter and so much easier than my original plan and boy that made my day. From start to finish, it probably took only 30 minutes. Craft time in an half hour? Yes, please!

 This may even be my most favorite door decor to date!


Supplies:
* 1 large quilt hoop
* 1 small quilt hoop
* 2 packs of crayons
* ribbon
* glue gun/glue sticks

How-to:
1. Line up the quilt hoops so the small hoop is in the middle of the large hoop.
2. Lay out your crayons in the order you want them placed.
3. For each crayon, place one spot of glue on the small hoop and one on the large hoop. Then place crayon.
4. Have all crayon bottoms touch and leave space near the tips. This will create a little sunburst.
5. Leave room for a ribbon so you can hang it up.

 

Done!

Door Decor Craft Time {4} - Fourth of July!

After a few wreaths that took forever to make, I decided it was time to make one that was quick and super easy. This one fit the bill and it may even be my most favorite wreath so far!

I had a buddy make this with me (actually, the youngest big sis of the cutest little boy I nanny, Rose). She's a bit quirky and fun like myself and I knew if I bought some extra materials that she would likely join me in making one while Jack Attack was napping. Besides running out of ribbon, the project was super simple.

I'm sure Gary would like me to note that it was HIS idea to have the wreath hanging with the blue slightly tilted. Smarty pants. And he was so kind to go outside and take that last photo. See Peach in the window? His absolute favorite spot to be!

Project Baby Quilt {9}

Here we are, nearly half way through 2013, and revisiting this beloved baby quilt that was started so long ago. The quilt still has yet to be finished but I just now found the motivation to finish this blanket once and for all!

Part of the reason it may have taken so long? I wasn't 100% in love with the original backing I chose for this particular project. While the fabric is quite adorbs, the color combo was off. So, on May 16, 2013, I walked to the local quilt shop to buy new fabric.

Such a better fit, don't you agree?

Door Decor Craft Time {4} - the one that never was

Some of you may be wondering what happened after my last door decor post.....


Let me tell you.


I had every intention of creating something really awesome and spring-like for my Springtime Door Decor. Think GUMBALLS!

The pink ones are soooo good!

It was coming along really well but I was taking my sweet time completing it. I happened to make a ton of progress on it one day but forgot to take a picture to commemorate it. Not even an hour passed before Gary went beaming through the dining room/office and the craft toppled to the ground, splitting and breaking every which way. Gary freaked out that Peach was going to eat one of the gumballs and started raising his voice. I just giggled - it was way too funny to be at all upset. Here are some of the pretty pictures I took before it was demolished in one fell swoop. And no, I did not have the motivation to re-create it. Sorry folks!

Door Decor Craft Time {3} - St. Patrick's Day 2013

Here's my door decor for St. Patrick's Day. It was a lot of fun and only took about 2 hours from start to finish.

 I started with 5 fat quarters of fabric plus extras from a past project. 

 I just out a 6"x21" piece from each and then cut those into 1x6" pieces. 

From there, I took a white wire hanger and shaped into a circle. Lastly, I tied each fabric piece to the hanger.

 It came out great!