Holy shenanigans...

We've been MIA for 3 months. Holy shenanigans. We have, however, been keeping busy. In addition to home improvements, we've spent the last three months traveling for the holidays... which included trips to Disney World and New Orleans, AND I'm currently incubating a bambino, so needless to say we've been busy. :)

We have definitely been able to work on some projects around here, both large and small. We'll start with some of the small ones. We FINALLY replaced the broken bar on the outside lamp, and I painted the lower portion. The top still needs a good coat of spray paint, and we need to find the pieces that go inside in order to have it operating. You'll also see a change in the seasons! ;)Ugh, I seriously wish I had a before picture of this door. This is the door that leads from the inside of the house to the garage. It was BEAT TO HELL... and that's putting it nicely. There were scuffs and marks ALL OVER this thing. I talked Bryan into picking up some of that Glidden door paint that you see on the fancy commercials. IT'S AMAZING STUFF. I did one coat of white over EXTREMELY black marks, and it looks AMAZING! Well worth the $22/quart!Our biggest project so far has been re-tiling and painting the spare bathroom. I realize the befores are pretty dark... but the paint is grey, and this was taken after we had already began taking things apart.(Note how non-pregnant and skinny I am!)Nice and fresh! Left to be done is replacing the screen, kick board under the sink, and the toilet seat... oh and new caulk is needed around the sink area.(Note how pregnant and non-skinny I am! My belly button looks like it is going to poke someone's eye out... ha!)A closeup of B's beautiful floor.A current thorn in my side. It's organized, but it's not cute. I'm seriously considering getting some large baskets to house towels here and putting all the bath toys under the two sinks (which need organizing anyway).Our big project this past weekend was working on our master bedroom. This blank area is where the previous owners had a mirror attached to the wall. We could not for the life of us get it down, so we simply painted around it. Fast forward to a couple of years ago (we've been here 7 years come May), and the damn thing just came off, so this is what we've been looking at... sad I know. Add in a random dresser from the girls' room, a chair, a chest, a set of plastic drawers for linens, and a portable heater for the baby's room, and you have the master bedroom/catch all. I guess life just caught up to us, and we simply didn't make time to fix the things that were wrong. Now we're doing it all at once... oy.This is the only before shot I have of our room... and it's a good one for sure... all the mess and shenanigans are hidden. ;) We kept the same color... just a fresh coat was put on, took down all of our personal family photos, and took out everything that didn't belong. We still have the same duvet cover, I just haven't put the down comforter back inside it yet.There's that chest hidden on the left hand side. It'll be taken out this coming weekend when Bryan can put it in the garage to be put in storage. I can't wait to move, recover the cushion, and put it under a sweet little mirrored hook thing I have... it'll be so cute near the entrance to a front/back door/mudroom!The door to the right is the closet (which is also a project for this coming weekend), and to the right is the master bathroom (which needs more help than I even care to acknowledge right now).Speaking of taking down all personal photos... I really miss them. :( We still have personal photos out, just not with people in them. I'm starting to feel like I'm in someone else's home... which I guess is the goal.Fresh paint and lacking personal photos.This coming weekend's big project is repairing the flooring in the playroom/breakfast nook. This is the most recent before photo I could find, but it doesn't even look like that anymore... most of the toys have been taken upstairs into the girls' closet/garage.Damaged floor from our dog who used this as his potty while we were at work... ahhhh work... work outside the home... ahhhh... that seems FOREVER AND A HALF ago!And now this is the current state of my dining room... In order to get one room done, you have to totally destroy another. Our bedroom is looking great, but now it's all shoved into our upstairs hallway. Our living room is looking great, but now it's all shoved into our garage... it's a vicious cycle I tell you! :) Hopefully we'll have some more updates to share after this week/weekend... it's getting closer to listing time!

Hurdle crossed!

We are landowners! It's so super exciting and relieving! There were issues with the land being divided but apparently not according to the town... that was putting a damper on the appraisal. They ordered the appraisal anyways, appraised it according to the plat on file... everything seemed to work out because our loan went through! We're now the proud owners of 2.4 acres. I'm already so proud of us. A big goal of mine was to own my own home that wasn't attached to someone else's. It's amazing to me that we've done that and are now moving on to build our very own home.

There are SO MANY things to get done around here. As soon as I think I have some sort of plan, I get overwhelmed and change my mind. First it was "let's declutter the kitchen, fix the floor, paint..." blah di blah di blah. After I box things up, the box goes into the garage for storage until Bryan can get into the attic to organize. As boxes seem to be piling up, I'm realizing that I need to box up the things that are already in there to be able to better organize bins while I'm decluttering the rest of the house. Because we used our garage as another room of our house and not an actual garage... there is tons of stuff in there. So basically what I'm saying is... I'm working in the garage FIRST. :) We're packing everything into the 18 gallon plastic bins as opposed to boxes... of course that's a lot of bins, but we are forever using bins for something, and it's much easier to store things. Today I managed to pack up 2.5 bins worth of Hokie gear from the garage while Emma Grace was napping and Bryan was entertaining Reese... and that's not even all of it.

Hopefully as the process continues, we'll have more pictures to post dealing with both projects throughout this house and a couple things we'd like to get accomplished on the land this summer. Did I mention WE OWN LAND?! :)

Home Organization Update

I heart my new home organization plan. It gives me just a few tasks to complete everyday, and it's so super manageable... I feel liberated. :) Dorky? Maybe, but I honestly feel like I have control, and in my world full of chaos... this is awesome. There are certain days I can't possibly get them done with the girls running around 24/7, but there are built in "catch up days". I'm still working on the bathrooms from a few days ago. ;)

I wouldn't say our home is messy, but I definitely think we could take more pride in it and our belongings. Getting our home ready for selling has been a huge wake up call for me. We are lucky enough to have a BEAUTIFUL home and really BEAUTIFUL things, but some days you wouldn't know it. :) Going through things has enabled me to see what we have, to see what I "had to have" at one point, and what we just don't need anymore and definitely what's not important.

This new organization plan has allowed me to really organize things, consistently manage the everyday chores, and fit in the completely off the wall chores. How often have you even considered wiping down the light switch plates and doorknobs? I mean seriously... that's some of the off the wall stuff I've been doing. Such little things, but they add up, and I sincerely notice a difference around here. Also... because I'm doing these ridiculous things, I tend to keep up with the larger everyday things better because I'm working so hard... I find myself getting uber annoyed at Bryan when he leaves ANYTHING laying around... it's kind of funny. :) I figure this'll be great when we start showing because the small details will always be done. It's also going to be a great set of plans for taking care of the new home when it's all said and done. :)

Home Organization Plan

Rachel here. Soooo... it's no secret that I HEART BLOGGING. It's a great outlet for me, and not to mention... as hard as it is for me sometimes to be a stay at home mom... I love being able to document my children's lives whether it be a first word or a first tantrum. Not only do I love writing my own blogs, but I also love reading others' blogs. I have what feels like a ton of blogs that I keep tabs on. Some belong to friends, some friends of friends, and some belong to complete strangers. I get some really great ideas for art projects to do with my girls, places to take them or visit, AND some great ideas/links for things to do around the house. This is where this post becomes relevant for this blog. :) While looking at a friend of a friend's blog, I stumbled upon this great website called "Just Mommies." It's full of tons of great resources, but my favorite is the "Home Organization Plan."

It basically provides you with a monthly/weekly/daily breakdown of chores to do around your home. Sad... maybe?! But for a stay at home mom who spends 98% of her day playing playdoh, watching "The Little Mermaid," doing happy "I peepeed in the potty" dances, and changing diapers... chores usually get thrown onto the back burner. Last week I literally spent the entire week decluttering the kitchen. I packed up/got rid of tons of stuff that we're not currently using or never used at all. The result... filth. Who knew there was nastiness under all that "junk?" :) It's very easy to get overwhelmed when you have tons of things that need to be done around the house. This site provides you with a little bit to do everyday. It also gives you a chance to catch up on all of your chores every 3 days. For example, here are my "chores" for today:

Monthly: Wipe down kitchen cupboards and pantry
Weekly: Laundry, change linens, and change bath towels
Daily: AM... Make beds, wipe down bathrooms, set out dinner
Afternoon... Chores, afternoon tidy
PM... Kids bath/brush/bed, and clean up the kitchen

Then you also have a "Monthly Challenge"... you have ALL month to work on this chore... this month's is to declutter/clean children's bedrooms.

I figure if I'm doing a little bit of everything everyday, we'll have this place in tip top shape before we know it! Then again this is my first day. :)