Whatever happened to that "to do" list?

Back in January I came up with my master to do list for 2012.  It was lofty... but if you can't be ambitious with a list then what can you be ambitious about?  So, about a month later, I posted an update on how my to do list was coming along.  Then March and April hit annnd... life got really crazy.  Thankfully, we are moving along in the process!  My hubby and I have just been so busy with the list and life that there's been no update!  So here's what's been happening...

Painting

I had these high hopes of getting our entry hall, stairwell, and upstairs hallway painted (the only areas of our home, other than the basement, that we have not painted since moving here 2.5 years ago).  It's bugged me for a long time that as soon as you enter our home you are greeted with white flat paint.  Yuck.  So, at the end of February and beginning of March I convinced the hubby to help me do at least the front hall and up to the top of the stairs.  (Seriously, what decent and intelligent man says no to his 6 month pregnant wife.)

We did it all in pretty much 2 weekends.  I'm thankful to Andy for doing the bulk of it (and making several trips to Home Depot).  We paint well together.  We both do the taping.  I do the trim, he does all the rolling.  

The entry hall walls were painted "sagey" and I don't love it.  I'm not sure how long it will stay this way, but I wasn't about to make my hubby go through me picking another paint... again.  The stairwell walls are a very neutral "cornerstone" that I like.  It really makes a difference and I can't wait until we get the upstairs hall done, too!  Here are a few before and after pictures.  

 

The plan is to eventually make a new rag garland and make or find a new pillow for the bench that will include some of the sage, gold/mustard, and black colors that in the hallway.  For now I'm content enough to call it done and have moved onto the next thing. 

Jadon's Scrapbook

Well, very little progress was made on the scrapbook.  I think I've done 2 more pages since the last update.  But, progress is progress...  No pictures, so you'll have to take me at my word.  The weather has been so nice, who wants to sit inside and scrapbook!

The Nursery 

Well, I'm not really going to give away any new pictures of the actual nursery, but we've made a lot of progress.  I've done some projects and shopping and am very happy with how everything is coming along.  Hopefully by the next "update" I will have tackled the closet... 

After a lot of shopping around (my poor, poor husband), I finally got a crib bedding set that I love!  I had purple in mind for the nursery from the beginning.  I also knew that I didn't want to decorate the room in a way that made it seem too grown up.  It's a little girl's room and I want it to have that feel - pretty, fun, and girly (to contrast the little boy that I have who's current favorite thing to do is play/dig in the dirt... oi).  

Andy (and Jadon) worked on installing double curtain rods (Christmas Tree Shops - $7.99 each).  Cheap screws kind of made the job a hassle, but they are all up and look really nice.  Just don't yank on my curtains...

Here are the curtains that I got.  I really had initially considered making panels myself, but as I have been in that room more and more I've realized it is the sunniest of the 3 bedrooms in our house (particularly the afternoon and late day sun).  That, combined with the fact that since the time change my son has most often been up between 6 and 6:30 am, was enough for me to decide to invest in thermal blackout curtains (as I'm about to do the same for his room which gets the morning sun).  There will be no regrets for me.  I found these (that match pretty perfectly to the crib bedding) at Target for $14.99 each.  One for each window will be enough.  Shortly I'll be tackling a kind of curtain tie project that I'm going to make up as I go along.  (That's always scary... for everyone in our house, so prayers are much appreciated.)

Speaking of projects... here is just a part of a project I was inspired to do from a Pinterest idea I saw.  I definitely went about it a whole lot different, but it was a success and I'm very proud of it.  I'll reveal the entire project and directions on how I did it... eventually.  

Last, but certainly not least, here's a sneak peek at the baby bedding we purchased, as well as the mobile my mom bought to go with it.  This set is from Target.  It was initially more than what I wanted to spend on baby bedding, but... you know me... why pay full price when you can stress and wait impatiently for weeks until it goes on sale at a price you're more comfortable with.   Yup, that's what I did.  So if you follow the link to the Target site, I paid about $20 less, plus had free shipping (it's an online only item).  Normally I worry about getting something like bedding without actually holding it in my hands first, but our Target actually had this set on a display crib in the store, so I checked it all out before purchasing!  


That's about all for an update for now.  Up next on the list is our yard sale, set to happen on Memorial Day weekend.  Hopefully we get rid of a lot of stuff and make a little money.  We have 6 weeks until the due date, so lots to do between now and then!  


~ Carrie ~

Checking in on the "To Do List"

It's been almost a month since I posted my 2012 to do list, so I thought it might be time for a little update.  The list was (and is) quite overwhelming to me... and even still, immediately after posting my list, I thought of at three or four additions to it.  So, not all of the things I'm going to mention that have been done are actually a part of my original to do list, but they are still big accomplishments.

My hubby reads my blog.  So, yes... he saw the list.  I'm not sure if he felt a sense of guilt about some of the things that needed to be done (I hope not!  It wasn't meant to be a gigantic honey-do list!) or challenged to see just how much he can get accomplished around the house before little girl arrives.  Either way, he has cranked out a few jobs in the last few weeks that may not be big projects, but nevertheless needed to be done.  

So, Andy accomplished 3 things that have been on the to do list since we moved into our home (two and half years ago...).  Come on... you all have projects like these, right?  A drawer in our kitchen has not worked right since we got here.  It was constantly falling off the track.  Andy tried to fix it a while back and realized it was going to be harder than he thought.  Well, it's fixed and we can finally open and close our "junk drawer" without fear that it's going to completely fall apart on the kitchen floor.  The other 2 projects he tackled were replacing the light fixtures in both bathrooms.  Both are older and, in my opinion, needed some updating, but the one in the full bath had never worked right.  So, for a grand total of $40, both fixtures were replaced and look awesome!  It's amazing how something little like a light can make a huge difference in a space!  

Now onto some things that were actually on my to do list!  

A big thing on our minds has been to convert our guest bedroom into a nursery.  The first step toward doing this was to get new wall-to-wall carpeting.  When we moved in, the carpeting was in rough shape and so we made the decision to rip it out and put down a temporary area rug until the church was ready to replace the carpeting.  We don't use the room much, except when we have company, and even then it was still useable.  But, since we're changing everything all around to prepare for the baby, we felt like this was the right time to finally replace the carpet (and the church agreed).  It was even more exciting when - yup, you guessed it - we got a great deal on the carpet because we were able to select a remnant piece that they had leftover in the warehouse (resulting in just over 50% savings)!  Here are a few pics... unfortunately I must be a terrible blogger because I totally forgot to take before pictures... Oh well!

Jadon enjoyed testing out the new carpet, and insisted on having his picture taken in the "baby's new room"

The new carpet... so soft... and so clean!

 The nursery will still double as a guest room, when necessary, so we've kept the full bed in the room, but have it in a corner to make more space for the baby furniture and "stuff".  

Walking in the door, the bed is on the left and the closet is on the right. 

All the baby's furniture is straight ahead when you walk in.

I'm a little concerned that Jadon may love this bed so much that he wants to sleep there after his sister is home!  (FYI, the glider will be moved if ever we have guests sleeping in this room.)

So, the process is well underway.  There's still lots to be done and decisions to be made, but we've gotten a good jump on the process.  Over the next month or so I'll be shopping sales and looking for bargains to decorate the room.  I have so many ideas rolling around in my head, but have yet to come up with a clear concept of what the room will look like... 


In addition to figuring out the nursery, I've been doing some reorganizing, shopping on Craig's List, and compiling more yard sale items (yup, something else on the list!).  I've also finally begun scrapbooking Jadon (now that his 3rd birthday is less than 2 months away!).  I'll wrap up with a few pictures of what I've done so far...

"Special Delivery Due to arrive on April 2, 2009"... and that's when he arrived!

It's a BOY!

 And so... until the next to do list update!

~ Carrie ~

My 2012 To Do List

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I've always got a to do list going - whether it's written or mental.  I think Andy's blood pressure rises every time I say, "Hey, I was thinking..."  Well, maybe not, but it does make him nervous!  

With the new year here and the anticipation of our baby girl (yup, it's a girl!) arriving in June, I've had about a million projects running through my mind.  So, with that said, I thought I'd make my "official" list.

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• Paint main entryway/hallway, stairwell, and upstairs hallway (never been done since we moved in, so... white, flat paint that shows every ding my 2 year old and husband have put in it)
• Actually finish decorating our bedroom (curtains, real nightstand(s), new/upcycled headboard - like this, only a different color)
• Convert guest room to our baby girl's nursery (requires doing something to the badly water-damaged hardwood floors that had old, stained, wall-to-wall carpeting that we ripped up)
• Replace the half fallen down fence in our backyard (since we live in a parsonage, this is pretty much out of my hands... but I'm really hoping it gets done this spring!)
• Have a yard sale this spring (may sound crazy with a baby coming in early June, but this has to happen to create room for baby girl... I've been setting aside yard sale items for years now.)
• Start a scrapbook for Jadon (I have nothing scrapbooked for him yet... and I have to at least have a good start on one before the baby comes)
• Paint the trim and baseboard heat in areas of the house that we just didn't get to before we moved in
• Make a growth chart (like this)
• Rough sand and wax coat the kitchen island so that there is no more chipping paint
• Paint the screen porch and replace/patch broken screen (wanted to get that done last year, but it didn't happen...)
• Purchase a new/used patio set (We have a nice, big deck but no patio furniture except for a couple deck chairs... It's sad, really.)
• Paint the deck (Ours is in desperate need of something.  My talented father-in-law did his last spring and it looks awesome!  Inspiring... hopefully.)
• Re-work our built in shelves on either side of our fireplace to be a little more practical (like for storing books and DVDs in nice covered baskets, of course)

Well, I think that may be it for now.  This list is a little scary to me... especially since I'd like to see the majority of it completed by the time baby girl arrives.  I'm realistically optimistic - meaning, I know not all of it will get done, but hopefully enough will get done to keep me sane.  The next several months will no doubt be a whirlwind, but hopefully I'll be able to share a few "to do list" accomplishments with you.  Well, here's to making my list and checking off a few things soon!  

~ Carrie ~

My Home Pick

www.zazzle.com

This week's home pick is...

Yard Sales

... or whatever you happen to call them (garage sales, tag sales, etc.).  You know what I mean.  Besides the budding trees and green grass, as sure sign that spring has arrived are the countless yard sale signs that line the streets and major intersections.  Living outside of Boston has showed me that people go nuts for yard sales around here!  The newest rage is to advertise your yard sale on popular forums, such as craigslist.  If you aren't big on driving around from yard sale to yard sale, look for signs/advertisements for "community" or "multi-family" yard sales.  You'll be sure find a lot of stuff in a relatively small area.  

Although it can be somewhat addictive, yard sale-ing can be very practical, in addition to thrifty.  The thing that you must remind yourself of as you go is to only get what you need or know you will use.  Otherwise, in six months you'll just be adding to your own stash of eventual yard sale stuff.  So, if you don't know what you'd do with it or where you'd put it, then it's probably best to just say no.  (This statement can probably be applied to more than just yard sale shopping, but I don't think I'll go there... :P)

I haven't done a ton of yard sale-ing this year, but I have hit up the occasional huge yard sales with tons of good-looking stuff, as well as the yard sales the neighbors are having.  

To date, this is my biggest yard sale find this summer (although there is still time!).  I got the purple chair (which I'm planning on sanding and painting black) for $3, the books on the chair were given to Jadon by the lady running the yard sale :), the old wood-framed windows were $1 each (there are 4 total - some craftiness coming down the road with there...), and the old-fashioned kid's all wood rocking chair was $2!  This chair is in our living room and Jadon uses it all the time!  Yup, that's $9 for everything!  (I only had a $10 bill and told the lady I didn't want any change because this was such a steal and because she was so incredibly helpful carrying and loading all this stuff into my husband's car, since he had my van that day - figures...)   


Other items from yard sales this year include a few toys (mostly for our church nursery), kids' DVDs (VeggieTales, Sesame Street, etc), and a very cute winter-themed stationary set that was still in the original packaging.  


I'm looking forward, now that I'm home, to getting out to a few other yard sales between now and Labor Day weekend (FYI, in my experience, the number of yard sales dwindle considerably after Labor Day).  So stay alert!  You never know what "treasures" you may be able to find at a yard sale!  

~ Carrie ~ 

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