General Happenings

Christmas festivities are in full swing here. We don't have a tree yet. We are waiting for my family to come into town to go pick one out. The weather has been wonderfully cold and rainy, which I love. I love the cold and to me, it's not Christmas if it isn't cold.
JW seems to be doing better at napping. It is a little touch and go some days. I just don't think he is destined to be a great napper. Hopefully, he will surprise me and really settle into his new schedule.
I'm trying to make the most of this productive time that I have. While I get tired more quickly than usual, I have not ballooned out to the point that it keeps me from getting stuff done around the house. I am trying to get as much done before I too large do anything but waddle from the bed to the couch.
It has been really nice getting to spend some more quality one-on-one time with JW. I am enjoying the quiet mornings where we read books while I drink my coffee. Our little world is going to be rocked very soon so I am trying to savor all moments we have together, just the two of us.
I need to get up and make myself some tea or I am in danger of falling asleep at my computer. These gray days are perfect for laziness but I don't have time for that!

Procrastination//New Schedule

I meant to sit down on write this the day after Thanksgiving. I didn't. I was still in a food coma from the day before and I had a lot of Gilmore Girls to watch. Saturday I spent all day shopping for the babies. Sunday is well, Sunday, so I rested. I had every intention of sitting down on Monday and writing a post but the day got away from me. Then Tuesday rolled around and JW decided that naptime was optional so I didn't have much time or energy to do anything but look after him. Now it is Wednesday and I finally getting around to writing my post. Procrastination at it's finest, right?
I am now officially a stay-at home mom. I had to move up the timeline that I talked about it my other post. An untenable situation was forming for JW. It was no longer reasonable or responsible to take him to work with me. It was hard to pull the trigger but I am glad I did. He is doing so much better and resting during the day (well, except this Tuesday, what can you do?). I feel better because I know that I am doing the right thing I and I am able to fully concentrate on taking care of him.
This new schedule still feels very foreign. I think it's because I haven't really settled on a real routine yet. I am trying to figure out how to best prioritize my time and get the most out of these days. I am enjoying being home, though. I have already tacked a lot of unfinished items that have been hanging around for seemed like forever. It's nice being able to channel all these nesting urges into home projects. I'm excited about this new chapter and I happy that I am at peace with it.
Until the next time that I get around to writing!

Letting Go Of Balance

(Craft Street Design)

If you remember back in my pregnancy announcement, I mentioned that after the twins are born am I planning on quitting my part time job. It's a decision that I made quickly but it definitely was not made lightly. It is a pretty big deal to me.  I love working. I really truly do. I love getting to put into practice the stuff that I learned in school. I love problem solving. I love the intricacies of small businesses. I enjoy spending non-work time learning about work related topics. I listen to podcasts about leadership. I read articles about market trends. I love doing what I do. Even with all that, I knew that I couldn't continue working with three small children.
One thing that I know about myself is that I am not satisfied unless I am giving 110% to something. The problem with this type of personality is it is impossible to really and truly give all of your energy to everything. It makes prioritizing things hard. I should be able to everything and do it all well, right? Wrong. Something has to give. In the case, it is my job.
I really don't believe in work-life balance. The whole concept of trying to "balance" all the different items in our lives immediately sets us up for failure. The reality is, some things are more important or vital and therefore should receive more of our time and attention. I had a professor in school talk about shifting the discussion away from work-life balance to work-life blend. The idea being, those important or vital things are going to require more time and energy and they should be given the time and energy they need. We don't need to assume that all activities should be treated equally or given the same amount of consideration. This type of thinking was so liberating for me. It helps me limit my focus and prioritize what is important. In this case and this time in my life, the most important things is taking care of my family. If I decided to continue working, it would be to the detriment of my children. This is not a statement against working moms. I have the highest respect and admiration for women in the workforce. I just know myself really well and I know that if I continued to work after the twins were born, I would put myself in a position where I could not care for them correctly. Since, it is about blending my time and my energy, I am not going to fret about balancing out my efforts. While they are small and require so much, I really want to be able to give them the majority of my time and energy.
I like to think of it as a pie chart. Can you tell I am business nerd? The amount of time in the chart is finite because let's face it, I have to sleep. Taking care of the three little ones is going to take up a lot more time than anything else. So if I taking care of my family and everything that it entails is my main priority, that is going to severely limit the amount of time I have to spend on other things. I have to be conscientious to not add more things that I can reasonably handle. That automatically means that some things are not going to make the cut. It forces to prioritize and really come to grips with the fact that I can't do it all. I am looking forward to what this new season will teach me. Plus, it's just that, a season. This is not forever. Seasons change. I am going to make the most of this one and learn as much as I can.

Nursery Inspiration

(1/ 2/ 3)

Being pregnant has allowed me to indulge myself a little more on Pinterest. I love looking at nursery inspiration even if my final product doesn't look the same way. I really didn't decorate the last nursery. I started late and ran out of steam before he arrived and it just fell really low on the to do list. I am hoping to do a little more this time. I love decorating and finding items that represent our family. I like baby rooms that don’t feel overly baby-like. I like the idea of the decor aging well with the child.

These three layouts are all from Lay Lay Baby. She creates the most amazing style boards. I love how eclectic and put together each one is. We don’t know the gender of the twins yet, but for some reason everyone keeps saying that they will be boy/girl. I kind of played off that with these three layouts. I used some of the design themes that we already want to incorporate in our house to guide the selection process. Our home has traditional architecture so I wanted to stay away from overly modern styles.  Plus, I am huge sucker for plaid so that one was definitely going to make the cut. While the style boards are much more masculine than many people would choose for a girl's room, I think with a little tweaking, each one could be adjusted to make it more feminine. I guess that I means I get to do more inspiration browsing. Oh, darn.

Hooray!

(Waiting On Martha)

This was one of the longest weeks ever. Monday felt long. Tuesday seemed to drag. Thursday felt like it would never end. To say, I am happy that it is Friday is the understatement of the year. I am hoping to go into the weekend with a renewed sense of productivity. Sometimes knocking out a few little things on Saturday and Sunday motivate me to get stuff during the week. A little jolt of hard work may be just what I need to hit the ground running on Monday.

So to round off this sluggish week, I thought I would leave you with a quick list of a few things that are brightening my days even when I feel like a sloth.

1. This made me feel pretty special.

2. Rebecca is super cool and this article might have alleviated some of my hesitation about doing something more dramatic with my hair.

3. The new J.Crew catalog. It's always gorgeous plus, this month they were in Amsterdam!

4. I nearly died laughing listening to Chris Loves Julia this week. Julia was talking about her childhood love affair with cleaning is radio/podcast gold.

Have a great weekend!

Room Makeovers

I like to take a slow approach to decorating. You could almost describe it as a glacial pace. Like, we've lived in this house for 5 years and I am just now getting around to painting. Earlier in August, Scott and I ripped up the carpet in the guest room and old office and it replaced with cork floors. This week, my in-laws and I painted the rooms a lovely shade of white. The white may not be everyone's cup of tea but I am excited. These rooms look so much better. Before, there were drab and dingy and now they are light and airy.
Even though it has taken me forever to get around to redoing these rooms, I am really ok with that. I don't think I would have done as good of a job if I had tried to do it all at once as soon as I moved in. I didn't really know what I liked or how these rooms would be used. I firmly believe that when it comes to decorating you should only buy what you love. That may make the process slower but I think the end result will be much better. As you can see in the above photos, our guest room is still pretty bare. I have visions of some new artwork and maybe a cool, funky mirror. I'll get to it one day. For now, you can find staring at the walls admiring the paint job.

Fail

You know those pins that say, "Never by laundry detergent again! Quick, easy recipe!" I am always intrigued by those. I love the idea of spending mere pennies on common household goods like stain remover or bathroom cleaner. While I'm sure there are some truly good recipes out there (this one on A Beautiful Mess looks promising), I have had zero luck. Case in point, my attempt at homemade stain remover. It all came about because I was needing to wash a load of very stained baby clothes. In the past, I have used OxiClean with great success. On this particular day, I was completely out of the heavy duty stuff and there were some pretty set in stains on his clothes. Instead of going to the store like a normal person, I took to the Internet in search of a quick, powerful, homemade stain remover recipes. The one I found looked promising. All it called for was dish soap, baking soda and hydrogen peroxide. Mix it all up, let it sit, apply to stains, wait and wash. You can see the mixing process at the top. It was really cool to watch the bubbles form as the baking soda and hydrogen peroxide mixed together. I was really hopefully that I had a winner on my hands.
Sadly, after washing and reviewing the clothes, I didn't even bother taking an after picture. The mixture did little remove the stains. Most were merely lightened and others looked the same. I guess I will just have to add this to Pinterest fail category and just buy some OxiClean.

Have you attempted to make your own household cleaning products? Have you had any success?

Making A House A Home

(via Pinterest, Sherwin Williams paint colors)

If you're like me, you have the most wonderfully curated collection of Pinterest boards. You might even occasionally browse through said boards in order to reorganize them or discard pins that no longer match your style. It's a dream like place with amazing kitchens, beautiful outfits, delicious recipes and fitness inspiration. If I am honest, my Pinterest boards do not match my life. This is not a judgement against Pinterest. I love it for the inspiration and vast amounts of information that it brings. But if it is supposed to be for inspiration then something physical should eventually come out of it. I  have become dissatisfied with all the pretty stuff staying on Pinterest on not making its way into my "real" life. So, I have decided, this is year I actually getting some decorating done.
My first and foremost goal is to finish painting the hallway and guest bedroom. The hallway will be Revere Pewter to match our living room and dining room areas. It is a Benjamin Moore color that I matched with Sherwin Williams SuperPaint. I think I am going to try and use the leftover Sherwin Williams Anonymous paint in the guest room. This is same color I used in the baby room and I love how it turned out. I think it will be striking with white and cream bedding.
Even though I am set on getting stuff done, I am also very concerned with not spending a lot (or any) money. I used to use money as an excuse to not do stuff. I would put off doing anything because I felt like I needed this or that to really complete the project. When I couldn't buy that one thing that I thought I needed then I wouldn't do anything.  Since I have been in purge mode, I have realized that I have a ton of stuff that I can use. I have more than enough decor items to fill this entire house. It is just a matter of getting creative.
Lastly, I finally have come to terms with the fact that it is ok to settle into a place. It is a weird feeling for me. For longest time, I was concerned that if I decorated or made an effort to do stuff around the house and then we moved, it would be a big waste. I don't want to keep pushing off making our house a home just because we might move one day. I am tired of the balancing act of emotions. Always trying to not get too involved with where I am because I know it will be easier to say goodbye if I don't actually care. It is exhausting to live with the anticipation of upheaval. So I am going to love on this little house. Dress it up, make it pretty and create cozy, little corners. Maybe it will make a future move harder but I am ok with that. I will cross that bridge when I get there.

Productivity

I did not mean to go this long without posting, but it has been good. I can honestly say that this last month has been the most productive month of my life. This may be the closest I have come to feeling like an "adult" ever. Back in the beginning of January, I was reading a post on What I Wore, where she mentioned her 2 minute resolution. The idea is if you can do it in 2 minutes just do it. Do not put it off, to do say that you will come back to it later, to do pass go, do not collect two hundred dollars. Just do it. This little 2 minute rule really kickstarted my brain. I like I have said before, I am messy, but this month I have managed to wrangle in the mess like never before. Nike had it right all along. Just do it. While everything is not spotless or Pinterest worthy, I feel so much better about the state of our life. I have never felt less overwhelmed but having accomplished more. It's very weird.
I am hoping to get back into a better routine of posting. I do enjoy it and I want to work it back into my schedule. It may just not be the right season for it. We shall see. I love that saying that I keep seeing floating around the Internet. You can do it all just not all at once. I have to keep that in mind as a reminder as I prioritize my time.

Until next time!

Thanksgiving Meal Prep

(via pinterest)

What to bring to Thanksgiving? The age old question. We celebrate with my husband's family since we live close to them. Usually it's a mixed bunch of extended family and close friends. It is always a lot of fun and there is always a ton of food. I am not the greatest cook in the world. Instead of bringing something, I usually opt to help prep dishes (I am a great sous chef.) However, I really want to start contributing to the spread. When I do contribute to pot luck style meals, be it at family get togethers or church events, I try to be the healthy/healthier option. There will be plenty of good, Southern food, this is Georgia, so it's nice to bring a little variety to the table. For this year's Thanksgiving, I am really wanting to do something like this. Maybe I am just a sucker for good food photography but doesn't that spread look sumptuous? I could eat the entire thing by myself, easily. It might be nice appetizer sort dish while the rest of the food is being prepped and setup. It would be a good excuse to buy a nice cheese board. 

I guess I'll back to salivating.

On Being Messy

I have a confession to make. I am a messy person. I wo the "Messiest Room Award" my junior year of high school. It takes me days if not weeks to unpack from a trip. There is a pile of clothes on my chair right now. There are dust bunnies the size of dust mammoths looming underneath my couch. It is a problem and I have yet to deal with it.

I should preface this, post a little before someone misconstrues what I am saying . The mess that I am talking about is not coming from creative endeavors or enjoyable activities. Those type of messes I fully support! I love doing creative projects and there is certain amount of stuff and mess that comes with doing them. What I am talking about is clutter. A more accurate title would be "On Being a Slob." Just being all around messy and untidy.
I have struggled with this problem for a long time. I was not a neat kid. I maintained a decent room in high school and for parts of college because I had RAs and I could get written up for not cleaning. Now that I am married and I have my own home, I do not have that external pressure pushing me to clean. My husband is messy as well and he really does not care what I do. It is nice because I can blow stuff off and he does not get mad but it is bad because he does not push me to get better in this area.
Most of the time the mess does not bother me. However, as life gets more hectic and I become more stressed, the mess starts to pull me down. When things are fine, the pile of dirty clothes on the floor is no big deal. When I am running late and I have "nothing" to wear, that pile is the bane of my existence.
It also limits my social life. Even though I am usually ok with the messiness, I do not want people to be at my house when it is messy. Getting ready for visitors can take days if I have let it get really bad. It makes me self-conscious when people come over and I have not cleaned. I know that my value is not tied to the cleanliness of my home and I should feel comfortable being "real." The messiness is not what causes me to feel awkward. It is the fact that the mess is a visual sign of how lazy I am.

I think that is why the mess bothers me. It throws my flaws in my face. My house is messy because I do not use my time well. I used to not think that it was just a personality trait but lately I have been really convicted of that fact. I am not that person who is frantically trying to make time for the important things. My life is jammed packed with activities or work.  I am simply lazy. I watch too much TV or stare at Instagram too long. I am also horrible about not putting something away as soon as I am done with it. I will drop clothes on the floor instead of put them in my hamper. I do not go that little extra mile on the small tasks that would make such a difference. This is incredibly frustrating to me because on the whole, I am a pretty conscientious person. So why can I not do this?
Part of me says, "Just embrace the mess!" Life is not about spotless floors or perfectly put together room. Plus, if I am just ok with stuff then it really knocks our. Another part cringes though at the sight of everything. That is why I cannot let it go. On some level it does bother me so I have to deal with it.
I am not perfect. I will not ever be perfect but in this area, I need to change. I am much more content when my house is clean and organized. It is just hard to stay motivated to get there. Maybe putting it out there to the world will be the fire that I need to get going.
We shall see.

Anyone out there super messy as well? Or are you a neat freak who is having a heart attack looking at these photos? What is your strategy for staying on top of house work?

Freezer Meals

On Friday, my mother-in-law and I decided to make some freezer meals. It was kind of a spur of the moment decision but something that we had talked about wanting to do for a while now. We headed to Costco with a grocery list in hand and several recipes on our phones. A couple hours and a LARGE cart later, we headed back to her house to begin the prep.

I mainly pinned recipes that did not require any cooking. The two recipes that I wanted to make were the Slow Cooker Honey Sesame Chicken and the Crock Pot Red Pepper Chicken.  All you do for these recipes is portion out your raw meats, vegetables, and seasonings into bags. You then seal and freeze the bag and you are done. I liked the idea of having essentially a fresh meal ready to go. It is just a matter of throwing in the crock pot. My MIL wanted to make jambalaya and turkey burgers. The jambalaya was a bit more involved. It required prepping and cooking the entire thing so that once you were ready to eat it, all you had to do was thaw and reheat in the oven. We decided to tackle them all. I am glad that the jambalaya was the only recipe that require cooking because it was definitely the most time consuming. 

Still, I was amazed at how much we accomplished. We worked nonstop from 4:30 pm till 8:30 pm and we made fourteen entrees! Not bad for 4 hours of hard work. It was so rewarding to get stuff done. I love that I am better prepared for busy days when I would probably cave and order pizza. Having stuff ready to go in the freezer builds a little bit of a buffer into my meal planning routine, which I am still working to flesh out. Now I smile every time I look at my freezer. I am really thankful I have a mother-in-law who wants to spend all day shopping and cooking with me. 

Have you used freezer meals in the past? What do you do to be better prepared for hectic schedules?