Winter Recap

With winter FINALLY ALMOST GONE and spring on its lovely way, I thought it would be fun to provide a recap of some things that were accomplished this season. I never usually keep a record like this, but with writing one I can feel better knowing that I didn’t just sit inside for four months and do absolutely nothing. Winter is always an unenjoyable time for me, and being that this year I didn’t have to work or go outside much, I had to be creative with how to use my time indoors. I really missed the opportunity to have lots of greenery in the apartment, so that will definitely have to go on the list for next year!

Winter recap –

recipes made [some new, some old]:

+ veggie soup (x4)

+ pizza dough (xWeekly, almost)

+ spinach, mushroom, and zucchini lasagna

+ veggie bean burgers (x3)

+ salsa (x2) [recipe found here]

+ chocolate chip/butterscotch chip/flax seeds/walnut cookies

+ walnut rum wafers ( - rum + cocoa)

+ chocolate cut-out sugar cookies (for Christmas)

DIYs:

+ heart garland [diy found here]

+ recipes listed above

household / homemaking:

+ rearranged apartment (x2) [related post found here]

+ simplified “stuff” and gave away many items [related post found here]

+ hung holiday, seasonal decorations & memorabilia

+ framed artwork, hung pictures/memorabilia

+ got rid of cable and internet

+ bought a small Ivy plant

baby v:

+ eating some solid food

+ cut two (bottom) teeth

+ crawling

+ completely transitioned to her own room and bed :( - done with decorating & set up

+ doing cloth diaper laundry ourselves (no more service)

+ photoshoot session

+ smiles for the camera/phone when you hold it up to her and say “cheese!”

personal / husband & wife:

+ virtual marriage retreat with Pope Francis (National Marriage Week) [post found here]

+ Lenten daily devotional [related post found here]

+ read Cuckoo’s Calling

+ completed lots of word search puzzles

+ celebrated A’s 26^th birthday (a one year subscription to Reader’s Digest & Clarks (lifetime guarantee) socks were my gifts to him)

+ re-vamped the blog a bit more/decided on a style (still hoping to have an actual website soon) / made a Facebook page for the blog for easier access

+ visits with/from family and friends

+ decided to go as organic as possible after reading an Organic Living book received for Christmas

+ watched movies / my favorite: The Grand Budapest Hotel

+ found some direction in terms of career / excited for the new possibilities! Now it’s just about implementation and acquiring clientele – expected to be a continually developing process

Now it's time to create a list of all the things I am looking forward to and hope to accomplish this spring! What are some of your winter recap moments?

Heart Garland DIY

Perhaps it looks a bit childish, but it's the thought that counts, right? :D

I have had TONS of leftover, unused coffee filters sitting in my cupboards for months. I have been brainstorming other ways to make use of them, and with Valentine's Day coming up, I figured it would be simple enough to cut out some hearts and put them on a string. So, there ya have it. And with the intention of having perfectly shaped hearts, I was able to use a lot of filters as it took a few tries to get the right heart! Get creative and think of other ways to shape the hearts, other string colors to use, and other times of the year to hang up some heart garland.

What are some other ways to use unused coffee filters?

Weekend Wanderings

I'm sure I have posted about this before, but ever have one of those really good weekends? One where the balance between getting things accomplished and resting was just perfect? Well, this weekend was another one of those weekends for me.

Saturday started with my husband making an overdue trip to the auto shop for an oil change. I'm so relieved that it is taken care of! Once my husband arrived home, we made an obligatory Saturday stop for some donuts at our favorite local bakery, Sandy's, on our way to the in-laws for breakfast. The rest of the day was spent accomplishing other things on our list which left us feeling satisfied of the fact that we had used our time well (though perhaps not exactly according to schedule). But why do you need to have a strict schedule on the weekend anyway? :)

Most of Sunday was spent rearranging the apartment yet again. My husband did most of the rearranging this time; which is odd because I'm usually the one itching to change things. But I was thankful that he took initiative to move the furnishings in ways he thought were more practical for our lifestyle these days. Yesterday we successfully changed the living room and dining room and tonight we plan to finish off with the two bedrooms.

One of the main reasons for the need for change is due to the fact that our daughter is now sleeping in her own room (sob!) and needs more space. We have been placing her in the other room for a few weeks now to see if any of us would sleep better, and what was thought to be a temporary solution has now become a permanent one. I am sad to let her go! We have all slept in the same room since her birth and I truly miss her presence (even though I still get up 1-2 times a night to nurse). I have been a bit tender these past few weeks with the sobering fact that my daughter is getting older. I'm realizing how quickly it is happening and sometimes wishing to go back to those first few days and weeks of her life.

Another main reason I itch for change is because of my constant desire to not remain stagnant! I want to learn, do something new, travel, live somewhere else, move! As much as I hate moving (because of how many times I have had to do it in the past six years), I also hate being in the same place for too long. Add it to the fact that I am indoors all day, every day during winter and there you have my need to DO SOMETHING. Rearranging the apartment allows me the opportunity to live in a new space in a new way without actually having to move somewhere else. Granted, moving is a goal of ours for this year, but for now we are willing to live well within our space.

Anyway, back to the new arrangement. We are satisfied with where our furnishings and belongings are now placed, especially since we were aiming for more practicality and functionality. I currently have two new favorites:

The first is this small gathering area in our living room -

The chairs are actually from our dining room table set. We don't have guests over often enough to make use out of all four chairs so we figured they would be put to better use as more seating in the living room. And, if we do happen to need them for entertaining guests for a meal then we can simply move them into the dining room. The table is one we picked up for free from someone in our apartment building who was moving and didn't want to take it along (we snatched a few more items from them also). It has never been my favorite table, but I can already tell this is going to be the best spot and use for it. We decorated it simply with a few magazines and books as well as one of the MANY wheat centerpieces we made for our wedding.

The second is how we decided to make use of this piece of furniture -

Originally, this cart held our television, dvd player, cable box, and internet modem. However, I always wanted to make better use of it because I love the wheels and the storage space underneath. So, we got rid of cable, moved the tv & dvd player to our room, and wheeled this lovely piece of furniture to just inside the dining area for better use.

The idea was to use this cart as a coffee cart, but considering that we have so much produce these days (and not enough places to store it), I figured we could use the top of the cart as a produce stand. As I did some brainstorming, I realized that the bottom of the cart could still be used for a few coffee & tea items, so we sort of have a coffee cart :) The placement of this cart is easily accessible and serves as a reminder to eat our fruits and veggies! Considering that it is a small piece on such a big wall, however, I am still trying to decide how to decorate that area a little better. I think a vase of flowers or greenery would look especially nice on the stand itself (once it becomes a little less cluttered), or I might put up some streamers/garland/etc just above the cart to make the area a bit more festive. I'll have to use Pinterest or Apartment Therapy as a reference if I can't figure out what to do :)

Hope the weekend was good to you!

Diary of a Stay-At-Home Mom: Day 23 - #projectsimplify

One of the projects I have been working on while staying home with Vienna has been simplifying EVERYTHING. And I mean it! I have sifted through the living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and spare bedroom. I didn't mean to start this project, per se, but it has turned into quite the cleaning and organizing task. Each day I find more and more things to get rid of that I no longer want, use, or is just taking up space. Each day my piles grow and more and more things are getting put into bags for donation.

We live in a two-bedroom apartment, and don't have a ton of storage space (though renting a storage unit these past few months has helped tremendously). So my main goal has been learning to live with less, while having better quality. I realized that the past few years I have not had adequate time to go through my belongings because I was preoccupied with college, multiple moves, various apartments, work, and big life changes such as marriage and welcoming a baby. As I become more aware of myself and continue to create my identity, I find that I prefer a certain "style" and that I would like to streamline/make consistent that identity and style based upon the things I own and use in my daily life.

Let me tell you, this project leaves me feeling great! It feels so good to do a much-needed purging of items. While I think my husband is getting annoyed with my constant cleaning, organizing and re-organizing, consistent trips to Goodwill, and "Do you need this? Can I throw this away?" questioning, he assures me that he is not. Actually, the other day (upon noticing a more efficient use of kitchen space) he complimented me and said, "I love being married to you." I'm glad he sees my OCD with cleanliness and organization to be a good quality!

Although I am getting rid of a lot of items, I would also like to replace some that I think would help to enhance/solidify my style and identity. For instance, there are items of clothing, jewelry, and housewares that I would like to refresh since I have not shopped or updated in a long time. However, that will come in time. The goal is to live simply, right?

While I'm sure that this project will never completely end throughout life, I am glad that for future reference I will have a better idea of what items to keep, have on hand, throw away, or even collect. And hey, if you need help with cleaning or organizing in your place, you know who to call ;)

*This is the top of my dresser, simplified.

Pictured: Holy Water from Mount St. Mary's Grotto - Emmitsburg, MD; jewelry catch-all dish from World Market; box filled with other pieces of jewelry; July 2012 Linnea Design Calendar Poster 

P.S. I know it isn't July, but my husband put that poster on the wall to cheer me up (since I don't always do too well in the winter), to remind me of warm weather, and to remind me of the month my daughter was born this past year.

Diary of a Stay-at-Home Mom: Day One

Day One:

After an early morning nursing session (I wanted to sleep in, but Vie was being very chatty!), I got up and made breakfast and tea (had a little mishap, but all is well).

I then spent some time reading to Vienna His word. She listened intently (as she likes to watch mouths move) and it was a good start to the day.

Our plans for this dreary Monday:

- more winter/Advent/Christmas decorating

- a walk outside for some fresh air

- napping as much as we want

- lots of playtime and bonding