Sold.

Wow, it has been a crazy past 9 days!!  I think I have had every single emotion possible in that time and have been living in a little bubble of thoughts. 

We put our house on the market a little over a month ago.  I was ready to get it sold and got so excited when we had showings.  But sometime after the second showing some things changed.  The weather got nice and we spent a lot of time outside...in my beautiful yard.  And we saw our amazing local friends quite a bit.  I was starting to wonder if I really wanted to move.  I realized how great we have it here, for so many reasons.  I am finally in a good routine and life has been nothing but fabulous for me for the past few months.  I was almost completely ready to pull the "for sale" sign out of the yard.  It was a Saturday and James took the kids with him so I could have some alone time and it was exactly what I needed.  I just felt so recharged and amazing and decided I love my life just the way it is. 

Then James called to tell me we would be having our 3rd showing the next day.  I had zero excitement about this news.  Zero!  I almost didn't even want to clean the house.  But I did.  We left the house during the showing and I told James, "We are going to get an offer today.  I know because I'm second guessing this move."  We went back home after the showing and I was messaging my local friends and told them I was thinking about taking our house off the market.  About 20 minutes later I saw the email come through...."House Offer" was the subject.  My heart sank.  I told James, "I knew it.  We just got an offer."  We took a look at it and neither of us really said a word.  We just kind of sat doing whatever it was we were doing (it was 9pm and kids were in bed).  About an hour or so later James said, "I'm not even excited about this and I should be."  Neither of us had an ounce of excitement.  We talked about our options a little bit and then decided to sleep on it.

In the morning we discussed and decided this is what we intended to happen, so lets just move on.  We countered their super ridiculous offer and they countered right back.  Part of me was hoping they wouldn't be able to get to the amount we wanted. We countered again and then received their final offer on Wednesday afternoon.  I didn't even look at it until 9pm that night and I wasn't really sure I wanted to sign it. 

I hadn't full on cried yet, but I had been nothing but sad since we got their first offer.  All of my thoughts were centered around how much I love my house and our life and that my kids don't know any other place and we have so many memories here, etc.  Every time I would think about it, I would get more and more sad about leaving.  Then I would think about future things, like Rylee wanting to have her birthday party at our house and thinking about not being able to do that would upset me so much that I couldn't even entertain the idea of moving.  I had completely forgotten why I even wanted to move in the first place. 

We looked at a few rental places that Wednesday and I was so disappointed in what we saw that I felt like we were going to have to live in a dump and I wasn't going to do that to my kids, so it would just make the most sense to stay where we are.  I was really down.  I told James I wasn't sure I wanted to sign that final offer.  In so many words he pretty much told me to figure it out by morning because we needed to get it signed.  I talked with my wonderful friends for a couple of hours (we joke that we are going to blow up the internet with all of our chatting we do on facebook messenger) and they said some things that made a lot of sense and I slept on it.  I still wasn't 100% positive of the decision in the morning but I went ahead and signed it.  I figured "what if I really do love living closer to Ames like I've always wanted? And, if I don't...we still own land that we can build a new house on by our current one." 

While our house was on the market we had decided that if someone only wanted the house and 10 acres, we would just keep the rest of the property for recreation.  Luckily, these buyers only wanted 10.  So, knowing that we can still come down here and enjoy the beauty and the land we have called home has given me something to look forward to. 

On Friday morning I started making some phone calls to possible rental possibilities for us in the Ames area.  The first call I made was to a sweet girl who, unknowingly to either of us, had to listen to me cry for 5 minutes.  The second I started to tell her our story I got all choked up and then I just lost it.  I couldn't even catch my breath to talk.  I was super embarrassed and was not expecting that to happen at all!!  The poor girl was so nice though and let me finish.  I hadn't had a good cry about this move yet and unfortunately it happened at such a random time. Anyway, by the end of Friday I had a few rentals lined up to go look at on Sunday.  Later that evening James and I discussed the possibility of building a small cabin down here so we have a place to stay when we come down.  That got me excited.  We also started looking online for some land and found an existing house for sale that we wanted to go look at.

I woke up Saturday morning with a new view on all of this.  I finally had some things to look forward to!  Because we will be greatly downsizing for awhile, we had posted several pieces of furniture on Craigslist to sell and had 4 different people in our house buying our things.  As stuff was leaving our house I started to realize just how real the process had become and decided to just keep looking forward. 

Sunday was fun looking at that house, a piece of land, and some decent rentals.  We still don't have a place to live yet, but I'm feeling a little better about the possibilities.  Plus I know every single one of you reading this will let us live with you....right?!?!!?  It's definitely a little unsettling not knowing where we will be in 5-6 weeks.  It's hard to sign a lease though when you don't know for sure that the sale of the house will go through....it's not sold until it's sold (closing).  We will have some inconveniences with this process....having to move our things to a storage unit for 2-6 weeks and then move it back out of the storage unit to the rental place.  But, it is what it is. 

Yesterday we had the inspection on our house.  This was another step forward for me as I realized it's become less our house and closer to becoming someone else's house.  First, the inspector just unlocked the door and walked right in...he wasn't expecting anyone to be here.  Then the buyers were in my house and it was very awkward at first.  I just kept thinking about building my next house for the whole 2 hours they were here so I could stay focused on the future.  I hated though when, at the end, the inspector told the buyers "you have a beautiful house"....ugh!!  I was like, "Yo, over here...this is MY house...I designed and built it (okay, James did, but...)...tell ME it's beautiful, not them!!!"  But as my friend said, "once you put it on the market it's pretty much not yours anymore." 

I will definitely be very sad to leave here, there will be tears.  I will probably cry during the first year in our rental home every time I realize we don't have room for visitors, can't have the kids' birthday parties in our house, only have 1 bathroom for all of us to share.  I will TRY to remember how blessed we are to have a roof over our heads no matter how small it is or how many "extras" it's missing.  It's short term and hopefully I can keep my eye on the prize....a new house that we get to design again.  Plus, being in Ames we should have so much more to do to keep us busy...even if it's just visiting Grandma and Grandpa. 

New Chapter...I hope you're awesome!  I am coming to you with an open mind and will try to make the best of you.  Your challenges will probably get the best of me though and I can't promise I won't break down....but, I'm ready for you. 

A quick fun story -- the girl I cried to on the phone (whom I've never met) called me yesterday and asked if I would like to join their play date and she could introduce me to some moms in the area.  How incredibly sweet!!!  Not only did it make my day, but I now know things will be OKAY! 

Gift Registries

Did you love registering for wedding and baby gifts?!?!?  I sure did.  Although both were so much fun, they were also a little difficult to do as well.  For the baby registry I had to ask a couple of friends what I really needed.  Yesterday, I saw some people on Facebook asking for help with both wedding and baby registries.  There's so much stuff out there, it's hard to know what one really needs!  Also, I feel like these registries, particularly the wedding one, is where having too much stuff starts.

When James and I registered for wedding gifts, we already had everything we needed (because honestly, people don't NEED much).  But just like everyone else, we wanted to upgrade the things we had.  Once we registered for upgrades, we really didn't have much on our list and I think we both would have been content leaving it at that, but we were urged (by store clerks, articles online, friends/family) to add a wide variety of things and in all price ranges so that our guests would have a good list to choose from.  I mean, yes, it's fun to just scan anything and everything you think you'd like to have.....but if I did it today, I would be more honest with myself and only scan the things I truly needed and thought I would actually use.  We have/had close to a dozen things we got for wedding gifts that we have never even opened....and we got married 5.5 years ago.  We didn't get married to get gifts.  We wouldn't even have cared if we got gifts.  I think it's great for couples to register for gifts and I do like having a list to choose from when I attend a wedding or shower, but I don't think it's quite as necessary as some make it seem to have a giant list with hundreds of items on it.  Some of my favorite wedding gifts were actually the unexpected and personalized ones :)  And to the person who bought our entire dish set (who probably doesn't even remember that and told me he rarely reads my blog)...Yes, I still have it, use it daily, and love it..thank you!! 

We also loved coming home from work to packages on our doorstep in the weeks leading up to our wedding.  Several people who either could not attend our wedding, or didn't want to mess with bringing their gift, had them sent to our house.  Honestly, I almost loved the unexpected doorstep packages more than gift opening the day after our wedding.  Note to self: send wedding gifts to couple's house. 

While I loved my wedding gifts, baby shower gifts were hands down, so much more fun!!!  Who doesn't get excited about tiny little outfits, blankets, and bottles?!?!?!?!  Eek!!  And, for us, we actually needed the things we registered for and used almost everything we got.  I had 2 baby showers and I remember coming home from both of them SO EXCITED to show James what all we got for the baby.  He pretended to be excited, but I know he could have cared less ;)  I loved putting everything away, in it's place, in the baby room.  Gosh, I'm getting butterflies just thinking about those moments again!  So fun!!  Everyone reading this who is pregnant and everyone who will be pregnant some day...PLEASE invite me to your baby shower so I can re-live these fun times through you :) 

Because we didn't find out the gender of our first child, most of our gifts were things we would actually use for both babies, which was great!  We didn't get many outfits and I remember looking at the baby closet a few nights before Rylee was born and being really sad that my baby didn't have very many clothes.  By the time we left the hospital 3 days after she was born, we had a closet full of pink girl outfits!!  I was glad for the way this all worked out.  We had gotten nearly everything we needed for baby because people didn't buy outfits for my showers (since we didn't know gender).  I've been to some showers where the gender is known, and while the shower décor was MEGA cute, the gifts were mostly outfits.  I'm also thankful for the people who had given us outfits to be worn at a later time (6m, 12m, etc), because infant clothes are worn for such a short period of time...at least that was the case with my kids. 

Baby blankets were by far our most received gift!  I've hated having to get rid of most of them, but I just don't see the point in keeping so many that are no longer used.  I have to admit though...I've given my fair share of blankets for gifts too...they are so darn cute!!!  Even today I will walk through the baby stuff at Target and consider buying myself the cute pink blankets.  I tell myself I could use them in the car or for a lap blanket at home.  Don't worry, haven't bought one....yet.

So, if you are getting married or having your first baby....I recommend registering for just the things you truly need/want to make sure you actually get those items and not lots of other things you may never use.  But regarding the baby registry, you'll probably love everything whether you wanted it or not :) 

Spring Decluttering

Before I get to the titled topic.....I won my 4th Honorable Mention award.  4 contests, 4 HM awards....I quit.  Just kidding.  This one was out of 27 entries, so I'm actually pretty excited to get an award.  I got a score of 41 out of 45, which I think might be the highest score I've gotten so far...can't remember for sure.  Here's the photo (taken last October):

Spring Decluttering.
According to your Facebook posts, lots of you are starting to spring clean and some of you are posting a lot of items for sale...yay for decluttering!!!  Each time I finish decluttering my entire house I think I finally have gotten rid of everything I don't want.  But then...a few months later I'm at it again!  This has been the case for me this week.  Having the windows open and fresh air flowing through the house has made me want to go through every room, closet and drawer in the house for a 15th time :)  Yesterday I did just that.  I'm sure you're thinking, "how could you do an entire house in one day??"  Well, it actually only took about 2.5 hours....and that's because the more I do it, the less there is to go through and the faster it goes.  I do still find plenty of things to get rid of each time.  Several have asked me what I could possibly be getting rid of....so here are some things I tossed out yesterday.

Winter clothes.  I went through my closet and drawers and pulled out everything I did not wear over the winter.  I figure if I didn't wear something a single time over the course of the cold temp season, I'm probably not going to wear it next year either, and thus, don't want it just hanging out, claiming space in my house.  I also got rid of a good portion of my kids' winter clothes because I know they won't fit next year.  I did keep lighter weight long sleeved tops to get them through spring and cooler summer nights as well as pants and lighter jackets. 

Lotions.  I'm always wanting to try new lotions and new scents.  I had about 6 bottles of barely used lotions that I don't plan to use again.  Same with hair products.  I buy something new to try and usually don't like it after two uses.  While I know I should, I can't just use something until it's gone if I don't like it. 

Jewelry.  About a year ago I had a small 3 drawer plastic box full of random jewelry and other small accessories.  It's one of the first places I go to when I'm decluttering, because I know I rarely, if ever, wear any of those pieces.  Prior to yesterday, I had the box down to 1 drawer full.  After realizing I still haven't worn any of those items since the last decluttering 3 months ago, I decided they could all go.  I kept 2 sentimental pieces and 3 "just fun" pieces that I do wear on occasion.  Everything else though...out.  The toughest thing to get rid of was a watch.  It isn't anything fancy...just from Target...but it's so cute and I really love it.  But, I haven't worn it (or any watch) in over a year.  I keep thinking I'll keep it just in case I feel like wearing it someday....but yesterday I realized that the battery doesn't work anymore and the likelihood of me getting a new battery for it is slim to none.  So, bye bye watch...you are super cute and I hope you look wonderful on someone else's wrist.

Containers.  I have held on to several of my nice velvety boxes that my good jewelry came in.  I don't store my jewelry in them, but I have been keeping them just in case I want to, or in case I want to use them when I travel or move.  Well, yesterday I was honest with myself and realized that I never use them when I travel, likely won't when we move....and my mom gave me a traveling jewelry case for my birthday that I would be more likely to use.  So, I finally tossed out the boxes.  The best part of that was how much space they gave me in my drawer!!  I just love space...I like to be able to see the bottoms of my drawers :)  I also got rid of a few plastic containers I had bought when I was into "organizing" before my decluttering days.  See, if you just declutter, you no longer have any reason to organize, because you don't have enough stuff to make you un-organized.  Also, the less stuff you have, the less containers you need to store them in....and less containers is just less stuff :)  It's a fun little circle :)

Lids.  For whatever reason, I still had a couple of lids to food storage containers...but no containers for them to fit onto.  No sense in keeping lids. 

Thermal bags.  I have 3 thermal lunch bags, each of differing sizes.  They are all super cute patterns (notice how much I love "super cute" things??) so I have had a hard time wanting to get rid of them.  Two of the three I actually use quite often.  It's the third one...the smallest one, that I've never used in the two years I've owned it that I have never wanted to part with "just in case".  Yesterday, my honesty was high, and I discarded it knowing it will never get used.  It's just another cute item hanging out, taking up space in my house.  I'd rather it have a new home where someone gets real use out of it.

Books.  I have done a really good job getting rid of my books.  I almost never read the same book twice, so there's really no reason to keep them once I finished reading.  And if I ever do want to read a book again, I can always get it from the library or online.  I do have 2 first aid books though that I got from classes I have taken, that, until yesterday, I wanted to keep.  When I was looking through them yesterday I realized how unlikely I am to go look through those books in a situation where first aid is needed, when I could instead pull it up on the internet so much faster.  Those books are now in my discard pile.

Toys.  There really aren't many toys left to get rid of.  We are at a pretty good place with toys, but I still find random small plastic pieces of toys we no longer have, or that came from birthday party favors or McDonald's that aren't really played with.  My kids honestly play with everything but toys most days (mixing bowls, pots and pans, blankets and pillows, shoes, etc.) that I really don't feel we need a lot of toys at this point. 

Duffel Bags.  James and I had 3 duffel bags, but use the same two all the time.  It was time for the third one to go even though it was, of course, super cute ;) 

Towels. We have 16 bath towels in our house of 4 people.  That doesn't include the 5 beach towels we have too....nor does it include the 5 that are stored away "just in case we buy a camper someday".  I figure even if we have a house full of people over night, half of them probably won't shower, so we should be good with about 12, and even that may be too many. 

So this is just a few things I got rid of yesterday.  And when I say "got rid of"...I don't mean that I threw anything in the trash to sit in a landfill.  It will either go to someone else I know, Goodwill, or a garage sale.  I still have some things I'm mulling over getting rid of, but after a couple more rounds in the next year, they will probably all be gone.  It feels so freeing to get rid of stuff and makes maintaining my house so much easier.  Plus, I want to teach my kids that a person doesn't need much....but oh boy do I personally have a ways to go on that one before I can model it for my kids! 

Happy Decluttering!!  Let me know if you need help or even just a little nudge to get rid of something :) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 







Growing Up

I don't usually get very sad about milestones, but the past few days we've had some big ones that made me realize how grown up my kids are getting. 

Rylee transitioned to a booster seat in the car.  I still feel like she's too little to be using the seatbelt, but she was definitely too big for her convertible seat.  My husband had been telling me for the past several months that she was too big, but I just kept ignoring him.  It wasn't until about a week ago when my mom asked how many inches tall Rylee was because she was looking into new car seats for her car.  After I measured her at 43 inches, I decided to check her car seat....max height: 40 inches.  Ugh.  I did some reading then about booster seats and when it's safe to switch to one and which kind to get, etc.  I picked one out and then let her choose the color.  We have been riding "big girl style" for a few days now and she does love it.  Her favorite part is that she can unbuckle herself (that's my favorite part too!!); she says, "mom, the red button part is so cool!!!"  Wyatt is nearing 2 years old and will be switching to forward facing soon too....the end of an era...

Wyatt's big transition this week is sleeping in a toddler bed.  We probably didn't need to do this yet, as he wasn't trying to crawl out of his crib or anything, but he's getting a little too big for the pack n play when we go places and I wanted him to get used to sleeping in a regular bed so he could do that at hotels, Grandma's, etc.  My mom actually got both of the kids sleeping in her big beds before I had even thought of trying that.  Rylee was a super easy transition to a bed from her crib...she never tried to get out of bed once.  Wyatt though, took a couple of nights of constantly putting him back into bed before he got it figured out.  I just pulled the crib out of his room today, and that's when it hit me...no more babies to gently place into the crib...sniffle.  I'm not one to keep sentimental items, but I might have to have the crib made into a bench or something....

As I rearranged the new "big boy" room and had the windows open to let in some fresh 'almost spring' air, I started looking at Wyatt's clothes to see what we are done with and what we will need for spring/summer.  Then I went to Rylee's room and did the same.  One of my favorite things is going through the kids' clothes.  Whether it's to see what still fits or to change out the season, I just really love being in my kids' rooms sorting through their clothes.  When they were both babies, it was tough to see them grow out of some of my favorite outfits, but even then it was fun to hang up a whole new wardrobe and get excited about seeing them in new clothes.  Once they were out of onsies I stopped keeping outfits...shirts and pants just aren't as adorable as baby onsies and tiny dresses.  They each have a small tote with about 15 of my favorite little baby outfits they wore. 

At a friend's house today, she and I were discussing how we aren't really "baby people" and prefer our kids to walk and talk.  95% of the time I do feel this way.  But then there's that 5% of me that misses the tiny outfits, little swaddling blankets, and baby snuggles.  This usually hits me in the spring, as that's when I had my babies and life was simple and mostly quiet.  The babies just slept a lot or layed on the floor and were content and I didn't hear "Mom, I need ____" fifty times a day.  I could just sit in a chair for an hour and hold the little bundle and we'd both be happy.  Now, there's fighting, whining and tears for no reason :) 

Each phase of my kiddos' lives has been wonderful in their own ways.  Today though I do feel like the best parts are yet to come.  As they continue to grow and be more independent and mature, I know the opportunities we will get to experience together as a family will be infinite.  While I look forward to the days of no diapers, getting their own milk and bathing themselves, I have a feeling I will also miss this stage of fighting, whining, and tears for no reason :) 

 

 

 

 

Childhood Robber

There's a robber in our house....and it's me.  I am guilty as charged of robbing my kids of a true childhood.  I am also guilty of denying them many developmental opportunities.  What am I talking about??  I'm talking about my desire to keep them clean and germ free.  Or what's more likely the issue...my desire to not have more chores to do.

I was so proud of myself yesterday.  We got home from being gone overnight and before we even went in the house, I asked the kids if they wanted to play outside for awhile.  I knew how muddy it was and before yesterday I wouldn't have dreamt of letting them play outside in that.  I don't like dirt, mud, I hate giving baths (because they make a giant water mess in the bathroom), and I particularly dislike having to scrape mud and dirt off of shoes.  Maybe it was because this was our first opportunity to play outside in 3 months, but I didn't even bat an eye when they were getting dirty. 

Well, a small part of me was having a little anxiety, but mostly I was pretty calm.  The small part was that I kept thinking 1) our dryer is broken so I can't do laundry right away to clean their clothes and 2) Wyatt only has 1 pair of shoes...and they are crazy muddy!!!  Until yesterday, I didn't see the point in having more than 1 pair of shoes for a little boy.  It's not like they need them to match their outfits or anything...just a good pair of tennis shoes to run around in, right?!?!

This looks like a great chore for Daddy, who said "that's my boy"!
 

I know that playing outside and getting dirty is part of childhood, and probably something kids really actually NEED.  Ironically, a friend posted this article on Facebook yesterday and I saw it after we came back inside. http://wakeup-world.com/2015/03/08/dirt-is-not-dirty-how-playing-in-the-dirt-benefits-the-immune-system/  It reaffirmed my good feelings about having them playing outside yesterday.  As I think back to my childhood days, most of my memories are playing outside.  Some summers we would be outside with neighbor kids the entire day.

I know they say farm kids have some really great childhood experiences, but I have to admit, I feel really bad that mine will miss out on all the fun running around the neighborhood with other kids all summer long.  Maybe I can just drop them off to play a few times a week. 

Another thing I'm really bad about is letting Wyatt (and Rylee when she was his age) eat anything messy.  If he wants yogurt, for example, I hold the container and spoon feed it to him.  I know I'm haulting his ability to learn to do it himself...but I just really don't want to have to change his clothes and clean yogurt off the table, chair, and floor.  It has also taken me a really long time to let Rylee drink from a cup that doesn't have a lid, for the same reasons.  I know when I have toured daycare centers, they have young toddlers using cups without lids....but I just couldn't let Rylee do that until recently (and she's almost 4).  Wyatt will probably be 10 before he gets to do that ;)

I think I will make my goal this summer be to let them just enjoy their childhood and do the things kids need to do.  I realize that will likely mean more work for me, but at the end of the day, it will all be okay.....I think....I don't know, yesterday I saw some kids wrestling in the mud and all I could think was, "Glad I'm not their mom!" 

Laundry Day

It seems like every time I've been on Facebook the past week or two, someone has mentioned how much laundry they have to catch up on, or someone is asking for advice on how to keep up with laundry.  As much as I dislike doing laundry, I have to say I've never been behind on it or found myself in laundry up to my ears.  I know we have a small family of 4 and I'm home more than most, but I don't feel that laundry takes very long to do.  I do approximately 5 loads per week (sometimes more, sometimes less).  I usually do 2-3 loads one day during the week and then another 1-2 on a separate day. 

The kids each have a laundry basket in their room and I put all of their dirty clothes in that one basket (no sorting).  I usually do their laundry separate from each others and throw their sheets in with it.  I wash and dry their clothes/sheets on delicate and the whole process is complete in just a little over an hour.  Once they are finished drying I sort them into folded piles on top of the dryer and then stack their piles into the laundry basket and carry it straight to their room and put it away right away.  Rylee puts her own clothes away (I help with the hanging stuff), and she gets really excited to do it too! 

Besides Rylee, I think the rest of us can agree that putting away laundry is the worst part.  We purposely have our laundry room right by the bedrooms and I find that if I already have the clothes sorted into piles according to where they go in the drawers/closet, then putting it away is SUPER quick!  It only takes me about 7 minutes to pull it out of the dryer, fold, and put away.

James and I just have 2 baskets for our laundry...one for lights and one for darks/brights.  We put our dirty clothes into those baskets as we take them off, which saves having to sort later.  Also, this helps to see when I have a full load of lights or darks.  Neither James nor I like to see the baskets get very full, so I try to wash laundry as soon as I see a basket getting full.  By doing it more often, there doesn't seem to be as much to fold and put away, which also makes it much more tolerable. 

My favorite loads to wash are towels, blankets, rugs....super easy to fold and put away.  Plus, I feel like when I wash all of our rugs and blankets the house smells so fresh :)  Can't wait to open windows a little bit next week for REAL freshness!!!! 

One cool thing we have on our washer that I use is a "delay".  If we are going to be leaving the house, but I really want to get a load of laundry done, I will put the load into the washer and set the timer for it to start approximately an hour before I think we will be home....that way once we get home it is ready to go into the dryer and will be ready to be folded/put away in less than an hour.  The trick is remembering the wet laundry when I get home :)  Another thing I've done is put the laundry in the washer before bed and set it to start about an hour before I get up....then first thing in the morning I put the wet load into the dryer and in an hour's time I have one load all clean and dry before I've really started my day. 

I'm going to guess that the reason why people have so much laundry to do (aside from maybe having a large family), is that they wait until they run out of clothes to do laundry, rather than just doing it regularly.  If we went that route, we would have about a month's worth of laundry to do and yes it would be a nightmare.  I never check to see how many pairs of socks I have left or anything like that....I just go with "if the baskets starting to get full, it's time to wash that load".  Our dryer wasn't working this week and even though James and I have plenty of clothes to get us by for a couple more weeks, I took our laundry to my mom's house and washed/dried them there to make sure I didn't get behind.  And just as if I were home, I folded and sorted them into piles before I put them into the baskets so it would be easy to put away when I got home :) 

Do you do laundry when the basket is full, or when you run out of clothes????

Yes, it's such a boring day that all I had to write about was laundry ;) 

Hugs

I opened up my Dove chocolate the other day and this was on the inside of the wrapper:

 

In case you can't read it well, it says "Hug someone today".  I felt cheated of great advice that normally comes with my Dove chocolate.  I am not a hugger!  I have never been much of the touchy-feely type.  My family members weren't really huggers (that I remember) and we just didn't hug much...or maybe I just always escaped the hugs.  I remember the first time I met a boyfriend's parents and they hugged me....I thought it was so strange.  Fast forward to when I met my husband's family....hugs.  What?!?!  And then a few weeks later I met his entire extended family....lots of hugs!!!  What was wrong with these people?!?!?!  Haha.  I later realized that I'm the odd one!

 

One time I visited my best friend after not having seen her in a while and she hugged me when I walked in the door....I was like, "what?  we're really doing this? we don't hug each other." Now we always hug, but the first time it was strange for me.  I occasionally hug other friends I haven't seen in awhile too, but in general...I don't hug.  It's just not a big deal to me.

 

Supposedly hugging is good for us for many reasons, and I guess I can see that.  I can particularly see why those who aren't exposed to another's touch often would like to hug.  I do love to hug my kids and give out many of them each day.  They don't always like it, but I know someday (especially if they take after me), they will dislike me hugging them.  So, I try to get as many in now as I can.  They're just so fun to hold...I can wrap my arms all the away around them and squeeze them tightly.  Love Love my kiddo hugs!! 

 

The last office I worked in was very casual, and if someone left their computer screen unlocked, a passerby would send an email from that computer to the whole company announcing "I like hugs".  It would of course look like it came from the person who that computer belonged to.  So not only did the whole office know you left your computer unlocked, but you also received lots of unwanted hugs.  I worked with several people who hated hugs, so this was always a fun prank on them.  Needless to say, I never left my screen unlocked! 

 

I don't know why I'm not a hugger, but I'm just not.  I will give the obligatory "good-bye" hugs, but only after I first try to dodge them :)  If I can escape a place without a hug, I'm doing good.  If not, oh well, hugs don't hurt me.  I do give out genuine hugs on occasion.  And if you're a hugger, I promise I won't snub you if you want to give me one...but the hug is for you, not me :)  And if you're my brother....No, I do not want any of your overly dramatic hugs either...I know you're planning one....

 

 

 

 

 

 

Making A List.

For as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed making lists.  I have a list for everything!  For some lists, I prefer to write them down on paper.  For most, I use the "memo" app on my phone.  Anytime I'm in the market for a new phone, the first thing I check out is to see if it has some sort of application for making notes/lists.  Making lists helps keep my mind from getting too boggled or having to remember too many things.  If I just jot it down while I'm thinking about it, then I don't have to stress about trying to remember something later.  Many of my lists are for future things that I just don't want to store in my brain for that long.  Here are some of my lists:

Grocery.  This is a paper list, because I make it twice.  The first time I just write down everything I need.  The second time I write it in order of the aisles at the grocery store.  No matter which grocery store I go to, the isle layout is mostly the same. Produce first, then canned goods, then processed box crap, then cereal/breakfast, then baking.......all the way through to dairy and frozen.  I get in and out of the grocery store very quickly by following my list and I don't go down aisles I don't need.  Most of my list usually contains items on the perimeter of the store anyway so I don't need to go down too many aisles.  My husband on the other hand...has to go down every frickin aisle looking for a good deal...don't even get me started on why I hate his "bring home way too much crap" method :)

Trip Packing.  I doubt I would ever forget anything for a trip, but I just feel better if I make a list of things to bring and then cross them off as they are added to the suitcase.  I used to do this for every overnight trip, but I have stopped doing it if it's just one night that we will be away....nothing can be that critical to forget for one night.  This list is also always on paper.

"To Do".  At least once I week I make a "to do" list.  Sometimes this is a list of things I want to get done over the course of the week, and sometimes it's just a daily list because I have a lot I want to get done on that particular day. This one is usually on paper as well, because I love the satisfaction I get from crossing the items off once they have been completed!

Gifts.  I don't know about you all, but I have a terrible time thinking of a gift for someone's birthday or Christmas once it gets close to that date....but 6 months prior I can have a great idea.  I've started jotting down ideas for people as they come to me, no matter what time of year it is.  Then when the event gets closer I check out my list that I've already made and pick something from that.  Rylee's gets particularly long as she tells me all year long things she wants for her birthday and/or Christmas :)  After my "Favorite Things" party a few weeks ago, I have started a list of items I love, so that when our next one roles around I'm not scrounging for an idea. 

Books to Read. Because every time I feel like reading a book, I have no idea what to read.

Trips to take.  Whenever I hear/read about a particular place I've never heard of before or hadn't thought of visiting, I jot it down to review later when I want to take a trip somewhere.

Places to take the kids.  Similar to the trips list, I jot down places/events I want to remember to take the kids to.  That way when we need to get out of the house and don't have anywhere particular to go, I can consult my list for some place new to try out.  Most of them are warmer weather related though.....cannot wait for Spring!!! 

Blog Ideas.  Almost daily, something sparks a blog idea in my head.  Sometimes it's something I want to write about immediately and other times I decide to just put it on the list and get to it later when I have more to say about that topic, or have more time to write.  I have been blogging a lot lately, as it has been sort of therapeutic for me and gives me something to focus on besides cold weather!  So glad March is here!  Spring ahead next week!!!