Right Now...

HEARING--The hum of the washer and the buzz of the dryer. Gotta love a good wash day!

SEEING--My dog standing at the back door whining to be let out so he can bury his bone. Not gonna happen!

COOKING--Mac and Cheese for dinner, I think!

CRAFTING--Piecing a quilt top for a Christmas present! Never too early to start thinking about Christmas.
Also working on a photo album scrapbook of our trip to Japan.

THINKING--That if I want to live a more centered and mindful life I need more quiet and solitude in which to process and think through things. Hmmmm, where am I gonna get that!?!?

PLANNING--A shopping trip and getting ready for Halloween!!!

HOPING--To be able to go to the lake today for a walk and to see the ducks.

OUTSIDE--It's gray and foggy right now, but I bet that will burn off by this afternoon. Perfect morning for getting things done!

INSIDE--The house is still waking up and greeting the day. There's a nice peace in that!

Happy Monday! =)

{THIS MOMENT}

Inspired by SouleMama...
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment to pause, savor and remember.

Have a great weekend!!!

An introduction.

Hey!!! I have ideas! I love blogs! After coming out of the newborn baby haze I remembered that I have a blog! Like my house, I hope to make this, my virtual home, a place of joy and beauty...Dawn has this up on her blog today and I thought it would serve well as a form of introduction...Hi! I'm Kristie and I blog!

1. What is your middle name? Mary

2. What's your favorite magazine? Family Fun (for the kid ideas) and Better Homes and Gardens (for the mom ideas)!

3. What are you wearing right now? A tank dress. Its hot here lately!

4. What color are your bed sheets? Bright Green. The Springmaid sheet line from Target. LOVE them! The only fitted sheets I have ever had that actually stay on the bed!

5. Who was your third grade teacher? Mrs. B??? Don't remember. I do remember that she was not good and that year I had like 50 "sick" days cuz she upset my tummy. =(

6. What is the weather like right now? Hot, hot, hot! Record highs here, but its cloudy today so it's a little bit cooler.

7. Do you know how to ski? Nope!

8. What was the last thing you drank? Wild Cherry Pepsi.

9. Dream vacation? HI or Greece or Italy...but I'm not picky!

10. Favorite article of clothing? Pj pants, or cozy socks.

11. Do you prefer baking or cooking? Um, take out? ;)

12. Is your hair above or below your shoulders? Its pretty much at my shoulders. Any longer and it starts to bug me.

13. What drink do you order when out? Water. I really hate to spend $3 on a pop!

14. What book are you reading? Quaker Summer by Lisa Samson.

15. What did you dream about last night? Family and a giant blow-up slide. No idea! =)

16. What was the last movie you went to? Harry Potter #6? Or Thomas the train...babies+movies don't mix well for us!

17. Any injuries at the moment? Nope.

18. What color is your bathroom? Cream, but that is scheduled to change...someday ;)

19. What's the state of your laundry right now? Its in the dryer.

20. Do you take vitamins? Yes, every night.

21. Where do you love to shop? My local thrift store.

22. How often do you buy groceries? Once a week.

23. Do you have a pet/pets? Two. A 2 yr old dog and a 8 yr old cat. Deep down inside they really are quite fond of each other. Deep, deep, down!

24. If you are married, when is your next anniversary? Next summer will be 7 years.

25. How do you take your coffee and/or tea? Neither...

26. Mac or PC? Desktop or Laptop? I'm a PC...Laptop.

27. Favorite month of the year? December.

28. Do you have a hobby? Sewing and scrapbooking.

29. What salad dressing do you prefer? Italian

30. Live or fake Christmas tree? Love a live tree, but with babies, and pets, its not always a good option.

31. Did you walk or take a bus to school? Walked. Never took a bus. Loved it.

32. Do you have any phobias? The dark, heights, and I get claustrophobic when driving (lots of fun!)

33. What's your favorite snack food? Cookies, or chocolate.

34. When do you take your shower/bath? In the morning while Curious George entertains the kids!

35. What time did you get up this morning? 8am.

36. What's your favorite animal? My cat (shhhh! Don't tell the dog!)

37. Have you ever broken a bone? Nope, which, given my klutzy nature is a miracle!

38. Do you wear makeup? Not usually.

39. Do you speak any foreign languages? Un pequito de Espanol? Pero no mucho.

40. Have you ever played a sport? Softball. Was bribed to play the first year and stayed for 5 years? 7??? Loved it.

41. Your last UPS package contained ... Photo Storage albums to set up my Library of Memories!!! So excited!!!!

42. What's on your desktop? A vase full of pens, a desktop file, a Precious Moments Graduate Girl given to me by my mom at HS graduation, hand lotion, and hand sanitizer. Computer desktop? Photos...tons and tons of photos.

43. What is your home page? Yahooooo

44. Extrovert or introvert? Both, depending on the situation and my comfort level.

45. Favorite board game? Trivia Pursuit. The original one. Must be played with Google next to you to look up answers to the q's no one knows...like Columbo's middle name. =)

46. What class did you like best in high school? In college? In HS--Community Service. For 5th period I got to go volunteer at the elementary school next door. Loved it. College--my psychology classes.

47. What would you do with an extra hour each day? Sew or scrapbook or sleep...can I get three more??? =)

48. Do you have allergies? No.

49. Are your nails painted? Nope...my teething baby loves fingers!

50. Where are you right now? At the dining room table.

Thanks Dawn for the inspiration!

Weekend Recap

Don't know why it is posting this under Saturday, but this is Monday...

How nice it was to have a long weekend! Of course, now we are spoiled having DH here with us for so long! We will have to get used to the work week again! We did quite a bit, but the lawn turned out to be too much for us! The front yard is ready to be attacked by the tiller, but the back yard is proving to be a bit harder because of the vine-like weeds growing back there, but we made great progress there, and the errands mostly got done. So, here's how we did...

Lawn:
Mow (this is 2/3rds done, but proved to be a bit much)
Rake (this is also 2/3rds done)
Till
Spread amendments
Till again
Level and re-grade

Start removing Pepper tree roots and digging up sprinkler head

Errands:
Kohls--returns & cookie sheets (Yea! for Kohl's cash!)
WM/Target--nightlights/tums (heartburn is not conducive to sleep!)
Post Office--mail book out
Toyota--get 2nd set of keys
Downtown--pick up table and chairs (Sunday)
GW & TS--drop off donations
Home Depot (twice)--amendments, flags, hardware, tiller
ABS--food

Library

Michaels--return box

Home:
Wash curtains and trash cans
List books on Amazon
Drill bigger holes in bookcase
Hang bathroom cabinet
Finish cleaning bathrooms

Went through all books and cleaned each bookcase

Cleaned drawer under stove and organized baking supplies

The rest of the time we spent running and playing in the yard and vacuuming up all the dirt and leaves that made it into the house afterward! =) Hope you had a great weekend too!

Hello Weekend!

Boy! Now that DH is done with grad school, we spend most of our weekend trying to cram as much household work in as possible. This weekend being a four day weekend, we have a lot going on! I thought I would take a page from Molly's book over at My Happy House and post what we have going on this weekend and see how much we get done!

(keep in mind that with a very active two year old, and a baby belly that grows larger and heavier by the second, I swear! we may be just a bit ambitious in our plans!) However, we are off to a great start!

Lawn:

Mow

Rake

Till

Spread amendments

Till again

Level and re-grade

Errands:

Kohls--returns & cookie sheets (Yea! for Kohl's cash!)

WM/Target--nightlights/tums (heartburn is not conducive to sleep!)

Post Office--mail book out

Toyota--get 2nd set of keys

Downtown--pick up table and chairs (Sunday)

GW & TS--drop off donations

Home Depot (twice)--amendments, flags, hardware, tiller

ABS--food

Home:

Wash curtains and trash cans

List books on Amazon

Drill bigger holes in bookcase

Hang bathroom cabinet

Finish cleaning bathrooms

See? Told you we were ambitious! I'll let you know on Monday how much we get done!

Have a great weekend!

Go team Go!!!

Going Against the Grain

Welcome 2010! Its a new year, the holidays are officially packed up and put away, and the house is...a mess. Hideous actually. Life has kept us busy and away from the house too often and now it needs lots of love to get it looking great and feeling peaceful! Time to get down to work and get organized! I will bet that many others feel the same way, and that searches and readership for information on organizing has gone way up. I have been addicted to anything that has to do with organizing lately and I wanted to throw my two cents into the ring...so here's my advice for organizing...don't take any advice!
Often, the first thing people will tell you is to deal with the surface clutter first so that your home looks good and you get a sense of accomplishment, but I say if your closets, drawers, and files are a mess, there is no way you can clear surface clutter. Start with the closets and drawers first. Pull everything out, clean, sort, and organize. Get rid of all that you can. Then you have a place to put all those things lying around away. Warning: Your house will get very messy doing things this way, but trying to stuff twenty pieces of paper into a full file drawer stinks!
Also, stop listening to what other people tell you about what to do with your stuff! Tie hangers can be used for ties, or scarfs, or necklaces, or yarn, or ribbon, or gift bags, or whatever! Kitchen organizers can be used in the kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, kids rooms, or garage. You can store your shoes in the closet if you want, or under the bed, or down the hall, or in the garage or mud room even. Think about how you live and where you want to use your stuff and be open to anything. There is no right way to organize, just so long as you can get your stuff without causing a concussion, its all good!
Now go and get to work!!!

Lingering Summer

As a mid-westerner turned California-girl, I usually hate this time of year. As everyone I love pulls out hats and gloves, jeans and sweaters, and starts decorating with colored leaves, and scarecrows, I am dealing with heat. Lots of heat. Last week it was 104 degrees. And did I mention I don't have air conditioning? Yeah. Feeling sorry for me yet? =) 104 is hot with no air. Instead of fighting it this year, I have decided to go with it. Our summer was busy, busy, busy and it feels like we didn't get to do summer. Just live through it. So, I vow to walk right past those tempting Fall and Halloween aisles, and ignore my sweaters (okay, my one sweater. Used in December. For one day.) and instead I am lingering over summer. I think there will be pools, and beaches, a new water park, and ice cream. Lots of ice cream! And in October maybe it will be cool enough for me to pretend that its fall! Maybe... ;)