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Senin, 21 Agustus 2017
Managing My Time Part 2 of 2
Here, in part 2, I will share with you my strategies for organizing bills, mail, and coupons as I manage my time as a mother of a large family.
This is part 2 of “Managing My Time”. *smile* In part 1 I talked about why it’s valuable for moms to manage their time, and then how I do that using my desk, a calendar, a day planner, how I organize reading material, grocery shopping & errands. Here, in part 2, I will share with you my strategies for organizing bills, mail, and coupons as I manage my time as a mother of a large family.
Being disorganized in the areas of bills, mail, and coupons can carry costly penalties. For the first 5 years of our marriage we did not have a good plan for managing these areas. Mail stacked up on the counter which caused bills to sometimes be lost or more often late because there was no plan for how to make sure they got paid by their individual due dates. And if a bill disappeared in the mail somewhere and never arrived at our house in the first place then we would not know it was missed, causing late fees to be accrued and credit to be damaged by late payments. Damaged credit scores affect the amount of interest people have to pay on loans and credit cards, and can even effect whether or not someone gets employment as employers are looking at credit scores now. When that missed bill did arrive the following month with twice the amount due, sometimes we could not afford to pay it in full which would cause a financial problem to have to manage until it was caught up. Once an organizational strategy was finally established, however, there hasn’t been any of these costly penalties – and the stress of disorder has been alleviated (which of course affects everyone in the family). *smile*
Being disorganized in the areas of bills, mail, and coupons can carry costly penalties. For the first 5 years of our marriage we did not have a good plan for managing these areas. Mail stacked up on the counter which caused bills to sometimes be lost or more often late because there was no plan for how to make sure they got paid by their individual due dates. And if a bill disappeared in the mail somewhere and never arrived at our house in the first place then we would not know it was missed, causing late fees to be accrued and credit to be damaged by late payments. Damaged credit scores affect the amount of interest people have to pay on loans and credit cards, and can even effect whether or not someone gets employment as employers are looking at credit scores now. When that missed bill did arrive the following month with twice the amount due, sometimes we could not afford to pay it in full which would cause a financial problem to have to manage until it was caught up. Once an organizational strategy was finally established, however, there hasn’t been any of these costly penalties – and the stress of disorder has been alleviated (which of course affects everyone in the family). *smile*
Managing the mail
When my husband brings the mail home every day now he places it on my counter/desk for me to organize. But I never let it stay there. Now, I have time in every day for that day’s tasks, but not for today’s and yesterday’s tasks (mail, laundry, etc.), so the mail must be dealt with as it arrives each day. I immediately throw away the junk mail, an easy first step which reveals what is left for me to put away. Then as soon as is convenient – but always that same day – I put the rest of the mail, mostly bills, away as well. Within about 3 minutes my counter is clean and functional again, and nothing from the mail will be forgotten or missed.Managing bills
To pay bills we personally do not choose to utilize automatic bill-paying options because we do not want to have chunks of money disappearing from our bank account when ever the bill-senders are ready to take it. We decide when the bills get paid ourselves (but still by their due date of course), in compliance with when my husband is paid.
Bills always get paid on time, we live within our means, but the timing needs to be managed by us. To organize our paper bills I purchased a simple 5x10-inch accordion file at the local office supply store. I labeled the first 3 tabs with the numbers 1, 2, and 3, representing each pay check in a month (most of the time there are two pay checks in a month, but occasionally there are 3 in one month).
When a bill arrives in the mail I open it up that same day, separate the bill stub from the rest of the letter, highlight on the bill stub the amount due and the due date so I can see those quickly and easily and there are no mistakes made (sometimes there are other amounts listed as well, and other dates). I shred the rest of that bill’s letter in our paper shredder. We bought a nice one off of Craigslist.com (“confetti style” shredding is important to avoid identity theft). I then file that bill in the accordion file behind either the #1 or the #2 tab, depending upon whether it needs to be paid from the first pay check or the second. Since my husband receives his pay check every two weeks, we pay our bills every two weeks as well. I simply gather the bills out of the appropriate tab and pay those as a group. With this method I see how much total money is going out in bills from that pay check, and how much will be going out the next pay check, to help us gauge what additional spending can be made at certain times. I can also make sure that bills are paid right off the top of a pay check first thing, so there is not over-spending and then discovering that there is now not enough money left to pay the necessary bills.
Next, to keep track of what bills we have, when they are due, and about how much is due on each one I made up a “Bills Due” chart (you may download a copy of my chart for free from DropBox if you'd like). I list our bills down the left side column in the order that they are due in a month. The tithe is always paid right off the top of the pay check. From there the rest of the bills are then listed in chronological order as to when they're due. The bill due on the 3rd is next at the top, then the bill due on the 7th, then the one due on the 10th, etc. down to the bill due on the 30th.
When a bill arrives in the mail, I mark on the Bills Due chart the date that particular bill is due. This serves two purposes. First, I can see at a glance if a bill did not arrive this month because there is no date written down for that bill. Second, I can know when a bill is due in a month (beginning, middle, end), so I can estimate how much will be due from the next two pay checks if I’d like, which helps us spend money wisely and carefully. See photo below (to enlarge double click on it). I keep this chart folded in half in the very front of my bills accordion file.
In the column marked “Amount” I write down for each bill either the exact amount (i.e. mortgage), or an average amount (i.e. electric bill) that will be due. This again helps me plan how much money will go out in bills in the next few weeks by knowing the usual due date and the amount.
In the row marked “tithe” there is a place for two separate check marks. From the first pay check I put a check mark in front of the back-slash to show myself that I paid it, and from the second pay check I put a check mark to the right of the back-slash.
My Bills Due chart is especially helpful for bills that are due every other month, and bills we get quarterly. These bills can be much harder to keep track of, and without this chart it’s very difficult for me to anticipate when they will be due in the future and hold that in my memory for 3 months *cringe* so I can plan our spending carefully.
When a bill arrives in the mail, I mark on the Bills Due chart the date that particular bill is due. This serves two purposes. First, I can see at a glance if a bill did not arrive this month because there is no date written down for that bill. Second, I can know when a bill is due in a month (beginning, middle, end), so I can estimate how much will be due from the next two pay checks if I’d like, which helps us spend money wisely and carefully. See photo below (to enlarge double click on it). I keep this chart folded in half in the very front of my bills accordion file.
In the column marked “Amount” I write down for each bill either the exact amount (i.e. mortgage), or an average amount (i.e. electric bill) that will be due. This again helps me plan how much money will go out in bills in the next few weeks by knowing the usual due date and the amount.
In the row marked “tithe” there is a place for two separate check marks. From the first pay check I put a check mark in front of the back-slash to show myself that I paid it, and from the second pay check I put a check mark to the right of the back-slash.
My Bills Due chart is especially helpful for bills that are due every other month, and bills we get quarterly. These bills can be much harder to keep track of, and without this chart it’s very difficult for me to anticipate when they will be due in the future and hold that in my memory for 3 months *cringe* so I can plan our spending carefully.
Managing coupons
Another way to manage money carefully and frugally is by using coupons. However, years ago the coupons that I clipped with the intention of saving us money never got used because they were not put in a place where I could see them, or use them by their expiration date, and remember to have them with me when shopping. You wouldn’t think it would take years for me to come up with a better plan *smile*, but it did. Now I only use coupons for the stores that I already shop at every week: Costco and Wal-Mart, and maybe for an occasional trip to Jo Ann Fabrics or Bed, Bath, and Beyond. I do not clip coupons for grocery or other items at lots of other stores because I don’t have time or the ability with lots of young kids with me to drive around to all different stores in order to “save money” with coupons. I would actually make up the difference in the amount of money saved by the gas money spent driving all around! *laugh* So I keep coupons very simple, and I usually have about 4-6 of them at a time clamped to the top of our refrigerator door, next to my Master Grocery List (See also - Charts and Lists That Save My Sanity). I do also shop at the dollar store periodically, Value Village, and the Good Will to save money, however. Before I go shopping each week I check to see if I have any coupons for items I’m already purchasing (I do not purchase items simply because I have a coupon for them). If I do have coupons to use then I’ll staple them to the top of my grocery list in an effort to not lose them, and to remember to use them.
For those of you friends who use crazy amounts of coupons *wink*, I do have an idea for you of how I would manage those if I needed to. I would try using another accordion file, like the one I use for bills, and I would mark the tabs one for each week in a month: “week 1”, “week, 2”, through “week 5” (for those rare months when there’s an extra week or part of one). Since using coupons within their due dates seems to be the main issue, I would file each coupon in the week that it would begin to be available for use. Then before shopping each week I would check in the pocket of that week’s coupons and see if there’s any I would like to use. If I choose not to use some that have dates which reach in to the following week, then I would move them to that following week’s pocket so that I have the option of using them still. Any coupons that I chose not to use or have expired I’d throw away. When coupons are good for as long as a month then I would put them in the first week’s pocket that they’re available for use, and simply move them to the next week’s pocket until they were used or expired. You could also do a similar system using paper mailing envelopes, clamped or paper-clipped together in order by week.
With an organized plan in place that has become habit, managing mail, bills, and coupons takes almost no mental energy or attention (the reason I forgot to include these systems in part 1 of “Managing My Time”! *laugh*). I simply keep these systems running smoothly, daily putting things where they belong, and leave them alone until I pay bills every other week. No worry, no confusion, and there are pretty much no mistakes. *beam*
Blessings on your efforts!
You may also be interested in some of my related posts:
Managing My Time, part 1 of 2 - Why it's valuable & How I do it
Orderliness - A Closer Look
Charts & Lists That Save My Sanity
Enjoying Being at Home
Managing My Time, part 1 of 2 - Why it's valuable & How I do it
Orderliness - A Closer Look
Charts & Lists That Save My Sanity
Enjoying Being at Home
Jumat, 30 Juni 2017
My Worst Flight Ever
Well, Cecelia and I made it home last night after our five nights in Missouri. But the flight itself deserves a blog post all of it's own, my friends. In light of the actual tragedies America has endured this week in Boston and Texas, I realize this post might be a little silly. And my complaints are ridiculous compared to the sadness of this week. But I still want to blog about the trip home anyway because maybe it will seem funny and lighthearted looking back (not at the time). Who doesn't need a little chuckle at my misfortunes, anyway?
My dad drove Cecelia and I to St. Louis yesterday to catch our flight home. I was already feeling emotionally unstable after saying goodbye to my parent's house for the final time but it was sunny and 80 degrees outside, so it was a nice ride. Love that time to chat with the pops and Cecelia napped in the car the entire time (never happens!). Life was good.
As soon as we entered the terminal my heart sank. The lines were astronomical, especially for a random Wednesday afternoon. I already had my boarding pass but because Southwest makes you go to the counter anyway if you have an infant, I had to stand in the longest line ever just so one guy could add 'infant in lap' to my pass. Annoying, and 30 minutes of my time. Dad stood in that line with us since I had my checked bag at that point and then said goodbye to us as we stood in another 30 minute line to go through security.
Needless to say, once we had stood in lines for 1 hour with Cecelia in the stroller she was kind of over it. I let her get down on the airport germ-infested carpet to crawl around and burn some energy as we waited to board our flight, just because I knew the 1 hour in the air might be rough with her being so antsy already. Oh, the foreshadowing.
We boarded the flight (after I wrestled my giant carry-on bag and umbrella stroller with a wiggly baby who just wanted to get down) and found a window seat. The flight attendant kept warning us that this was a totally full flight so every seat would be filled but somehow by the grace of God the middle seat next to me remained empty, and the aisle seat contained a very nice middle aged man from mid-MO who became my bestie during this debacle. This was blessing number one, I've decided---that on a 'totally full' flight there was somehow an empty seat next to me which I used to it's fullest potential to house my restless baby numerous times.
So we were all ready to take off and it was 4:55pm--I was counting down the minutes until we could see Truman and Nate in Milwaukee, and I texted to say everything looked good and we'd see them at 6pm.
But then all hell broke loose (prepare for a dramatic description of the rest of the trip). The pilot came on to say that they just got word of bad weather in Chicago, which was directly in our flight path. So we'd have to sit and wait a bit until air traffic control decided what to do. Then 15 minutes later he came back on half-way chuckling (an evil laugh from my perspective) to say that the weather was so bad, the controller wanted us to fly out to Colorado (oh, the irony!), then to Kansas, Nebraska, and eventually Wisconsin. OMG. WTF. He said that would add at least another 1.5 hours onto the original flight and we needed more fuel to complete this ridiculous path, so we had to taxi back to the airport to get gas. This was the first point in the trip I almost cried, but definitely not the last.
We waited some more and the pilot came on to say that on second thought, the new flight path was a dumb idea and he was trying to find someone else to give us clearance directly north. This is when I fell in love with our pilot. But my love affair with him was teetering on the edge of hatred because didn't he know I had a 10.5 month old in my lap who did NOT care about 'weather' in Chicago?! Chicago! Why did you have to have bad weather?!
I was the only parent with a child on the plane. And let me tell you, I was trying to embrace my role but I was sweating, edging towards panic attacks, and cursing under my breath while trying to appease my baby girl. I pulled out every snack I had packed and shared a few stale graham crackers with Cecelia for our dinner. I let her completely annihilate a few Sky Mall magazines--so sorry to whoever gets those crumpled treasures next. My favorite part of the magazine phase was when the flight attendant stopped by to ask if we wanted any water riiiiight as Cecelia ripped a huge page out of the magazine. I just smiled sweetly and said, 'Sure' hoping she wouldn't give me a death glare for letting my child destroy the plane.
We played with the lap tray, the window shade, and my phone until our minds were numb with boredom. I tried nursing her twice which did calm her down momentarily, but not completely. I'm certain that Cecelia might have even licked the entire fabric seat in front of us at one point but obviously, anything goes at this point of special torture. Eventually I told my best bud in the aisle seat I needed to get up with her--so C and I walked up and down the aisle, and eventually stood up in the back by the bathroom. It's pretty interesting to explore the little room with the cups and sodas and napkins. Did you know that babies can drink out of water cups with ice and then slam their hands into the cubes repetitively to pass 30 minutes of hellish time on an airplane? And then haggard moms will actually eat those same grimy ice cubes in desperation? Because Cecelia thought it was hilarious to hear me crunch ice and I was at her mercy. I would have stood on my head if it kept her happy.
While standing at the back of the plane we met a few very sweet passengers on their way to the bathroom. One very tough-looking black man stopped to say, 'That is one cute baby you have there.' Another business man smiled and waved at Cecelia and didn't seem to mind that both of us girls were complete hot messes at this point, dripping in water and sweat and remnants of graham crackers. Cecelia got cranky again so I made my way back to the seat, just as a woman stopped by to ask if she could help in any way, offering to change seats with my buddy in the aisle because she had twins and OMG--this must be horrible for me. This was the second time I wanted to cry on the plane because these strangers were all being way too kind. If only they could see that I was nearing my limit of mental sanity and praying without abandon to PLEASE let this plane take off soon.
Eventually the pilot came back on to say that he had talked to some other aircrafts who went for the Chicago route just now and they survived the trip, so he was going to persuade air traffic control to let him do the same. He was going to pull us away from the airport and go for it as soon as he got clearance. If that didn't work he said they were going to do the longer route. Praying commenced again on my end. Cecelia was being SO good but she was past her limit of being confined and I cannot blame her.
The voice of our pilot saying, 'Thank you for being patient, we are cleared for take off and should touch down in Milwaukee in an hour,' was the best thing ever. People were actually cheering and clapping. It was 7:10 pm at this point--over 2 hours sitting on this godforsaken plane since we originally boarded.
I texted Nate again with the good news and was anxious as can be to get home. Poor Truman had been AWESOME for Nate all five nights that I was away. But this whole waiting to hear if mom was going to make it home thing was too much. He was hysterical all evening, truly inconsolable. I guess he was crying and whining, 'I just want something to make me happy!' over and over. Nate provided the heavy hitters of fruit snacks, TV, and chocolate milk but nothing helped. Finally Nate said, 'Do you just miss mommy?' and Truman cried, 'Yeaahhhhhhhhh' and was beside himself;( Break my heart. When they finally left for the airport Truman told Nate, 'Daddy, mommy is my best friend.' Sigh. Both of my kids were trying so hard to be patient but it just sucked!
We finally took off around 7:15 and Cecelia lost it. I pulled her under the nursing cover and I was numb at this point. She actually fell asleep as we were ascending and stayed asleep during the whole flight home. Blessing #2 or 3, if you count the fact that we did NOT have to fly all the way out to Colorado or have a layover somewhere as an additional blessing. But let me tell you that this was the most turbulent flight I've ever experienced in my life. The pilot apologized but said basically, 'Hold onto your butts' because it was going to be bad. He didn't even allow them to give us 'refreshments' mid-flight because none of us were allowed to take off our seatbelts. I was SO looking forward to my splurge Diet Dr. Pepper, too. One time I had to brace myself on the seat in front of me and wanted to cry (again) while I tried to shield Cecelia's nursing little head from slamming into anything. The gentlemen in my row was nice enough to strike up a conversation about biochemistry while we were bouncing to and fro and it did help me take my mind off our imminent deaths.
The landing was pretty awful but finally, at 8pm we landed on Milwaukee ground. Hallelujah. Cecelia woke up when we got off the plane and I put her in the stroller and practically sprinted to the baggage claim. Also, did I mention that I was starving and had not eaten dinner yet, only crumbs of half-eaten baby snacks? I don't do well when I'm hungry. And I just wanted to get home.
As we approached the baggage claim I spotted our men waiting for us. Nate was holding Truman and poor T looked as emotionally spent as I felt. T grinned but let out a big sigh when he saw us and I thought he was going to cry. I looked down at C in the stroller and she reached both of her arms out towards Nate and Truman and had the biggest smile on her sleepy face ever. Nate and I hugged and kissed, Truman went over to Cecelia first and kissed her head about 3 different times, and then I demanded a hug and a kiss from him, too. He seemed happy to see me but a little mad at me for being gone so long. He recovered quickly, though, and was sprinting through the airport with his family reunited in no time.
As we waited for my bag, I had two separate women come up to me to tell me they were thinking of me on the flight and were stunned with how great CC and I handled the whole thing. Which is really surprising and sweet since I thought it was pretty obvious I was close to breaking down. Nate kind of looked at me like, 'Wow, it must have been pretty bad if two strangers just came up to you to say 'glad you survived!' A freaking two hour delay on the plane. There are worse things in life but at the time it was pretty awful, I can assure you of that. Also, it was a whopping 37 degrees in Wisconsin when we got home. Pretty harsh reality after weather in the 70s and 80s 'down south!'
We got home after 9 and put both kids to bed around 9:30--so incredibly late, but whatever. Truman hugged me and said 'I missed you, mama' a lot during our bedtime together. I love that kid so much. I unpacked and showered because OMG, I have never needed one so badly. I attempted to have a beer while scarfing down pizza for dinner but I couldn't even finish the brew I wanted so badly. Passing out in my own bed with my husband and two kids down the hall, was like heaven. And all day today Truman has been so incredibly sweet, coming up to me saying, 'My mommy' over and over again while hugging me. He told me that he was 'super duper excited' to get Cecelia out of her crib this morning....at 8:20 am. She did wake up once last night at 5am to nurse but then slept in REALLY late for her! And right now she is rounding the two hour mark for her first nap. I think she is a little bit tired.
So anyway, flying alone with one child is usually not this eventful. But coming off an emotionally draining weekend just to sit on the plane for 2 hours when I was eager to get home was pretty ridiculous. At least Cecelia didn't need a diaper change in the middle of all of this like Truman did at this age. At least we DID make it home. But I'm obviously pretty happy to hang with both of my kiddos all day today, soaking up the hugs and newness of being back home before Truman gets sick of me again;)
And so concludes the story of the worst flight ever. Onto compose a post about seeing my childhood home for the last time. Lots of emotions coming out of my blog lately, I suppose!
Kamis, 22 Juni 2017
Baby Boy Nursery How I Applied My Wall Decals
Instead of doing one huge 'reveal' post for baby #3's nursery, I think I want to break down the various projects a bit more in detail as we go. Of course, this would be a lot easier if I didn't have to be careful about sharing his name which will likely be plastered all over his room eventually. I think I can handle sharing bits and pieces without giving too much, though;) Sometimes I forget that my love for DIY crafty projects is not something we all universally share. A lot of the 'how to' posts on this blog seem to be helpful for readers out there, so I'm hoping that breaking each project down into 'what worked for me' posts will be appreciated. If nothing else, I can refer back to these posts to remind me of the headache each project really was in real time!
First up: his birch tree wall decals. I think these are going to be a major focal point for the room and because they took five times as long as I expected, I think it's worth a blog post to commemorate.
After doing a lot of Pinteresting research on the numerous options for birch tree decals on Etsy, I ended up selecting this version from InAnInstantArt. There are 7 birch trees, 9 birds, and seriously 100 leaves. I liked having the option of picking three total colors instead of just two colors, so that it could pull together both the yellow and the orange I had planned for his room. I knew I wanted bright white birch trees, more than one color after that, and really liked the style of this seller's trees. So with shipping and everything, this set was $109 total and took a few weeks to arrive at my doorstep.
I also loved this version with owls and an adorable birdhouse, since it allowed for 3 colors, but I thought maybe it was too juvenile (for a nursery.... I know, I don't make sense sometimes) and wanted more trees. This was another favorite since I love how the leaves are all very high and clustered together, and I'm pretty sure this pin was what inspired me to try a few 'falling leaves' on my wall. This one was also really cool and simple/clean, with adorable birdhouses. In the end I'm very happy with the version I chose but there are SO many other options out there! I read a lot of reviews on Etsy, too, to make sure my seller was highly rated and that the process would be relatively painless for application. And that the decals would actually stay on our plaster walls....that would be awful to see them peel away after a few weeks or something!
When my package arrived at our doorstep, I was seriously pumped up and took the box to the nursery immediately. I remained very excited until I finally pulled all of the sheets out of the box and laid them down on the floor. Seriously. Overwhelming. Not really sure what I expected but these decals seemed huge and daunting and like I would never complete the task of application. Then I read the instructions and found them to be three pages long and started muttering curse words under my breath. I think I was picturing something I could just peel off and stick onto the wall, but not so much!
Next step: of course I Instagrammed my mixed emotions about the project ahead of me. I had a few suggestions, including a lot of girls who said this would require two people to complete. Since I knew Nate would be gone until 9:30 pm that night and I had about an hour to spare before picking up my kids from daycare, I figured it was going to be a solo project in the name of getting it done STAT. I just get anxious to see the vision come to life and felt up to the challenge of doing this alone because I'm impatient. And I truly had no idea when Nate and I would be able to devote time to this project together, sans kids.
I read the instructions a few times and decided to just freaking go for it (#impatient) my own way. I cut out all seven of the birch trees so that I could place them all individually on the wall without the backing. Again, I just dove into the process and tried to picture how I would space out the different trees, which were all different widths.
I started at the baseboard and peeled away the non-sticky, blue backing paper as I pushed the decal itself and the sticky, white transfer paper onto the wall. Lucky for me, the trees are all a little crooked and you don't really need them to be 'perfect' when it comes to lining them up. I did try to make the base as straight as possible against my baseboard, though. These trees are all 101" tall which is more than I needed, so when I got to the top of the wall I just cut the decal off with a little to spare above my crown moulding.
Once each tree was stuck to the wall along with the transfer/sticky paper, I went back over them and pushed them down with all of my might. So basically I rubbed my fingertips raw within minutes since our plaster walls are sort of textured. Once I was sure that they were not going to sag right off the walls, I started the painstaking process of removing the sticky white paper from the decal itself. This was not easy because the transfer paper is sticky and therefore stuck to the decal itself---which I guess is the point, so that it holds the decal in place on the wall first? I don't know. But I figured out the way that worked best for me---which was not at all what the instructions recommended.
I found that pulling the sticky paper directly up towards the ceiling while rolling it away from the decal would keep everything in place the best. If I tried pulling the paper away from the wall, aiming it towards me at a 90 degree angle, it would pull the decal too much and wouldn't work correctly. But rolling the paper up, right against the wall, aimed to the ceiling worked well. I would push the decal down with my fingers as I rolled the paper away. The little birch bark cut outs were challenging but were easier to manage with practice. I also had one of the $1.50 squeegees that the seller offered to help smooth out any air bubbles in my decal. That was fine but I preferred my (raw) fingertips.
Working my way from the bottom to the top of each tree was okay, but later on I discovered that going from the ceiling to floor was probably better. Both ways sort of sucked and my shoulders/neck were really sore for a few days after this. But! Once the seven tree trunks were on the wall? Glorious. I decided to wrap the trees around to the second wall, since they will surround the crib a little bit more like this. I could have just done the main wall with all seven trees but like the effect of surrounding my little guy in a forest.
I just had to use the end of my scissors to cut off the top of the decals at my ceiling and then I went back over each tree trunk with my hands to smooth them out. Honestly, even just doing the trunks without any branches or leaves or animals would have been really cute. But of course I had to use all of the decal set provided to me for the full effect in this nursery, but maybe even for our master bedroom someday---just tree trunks would be great.
Next came the branches. There were a LOT of branches and I didn't even use all of the smallest ones. I started with the two really big branches, after cutting most of them away from each other. I put the branch where I wanted it on the wall, peeled away the white sticky paper, and that was it. MUCH easier than the larger trunks, thank goodness. Then I started adding smaller and smaller branches to each of my trees. This was easy as far as actually applying the decal. Just hard to decide where to place them---definitely a creative process! I liked some of the options on Etsy that showed branches being up very high on the trees, instead of going all the way down half of the trunk. I tried to keep it fairly balanced without being too perfect or symmetrical. This part was really fun for me and I had a lightbulb moment about the name of my Etsy seller. It *is* sort of like creating art on your wall....just not in an 'instant.' Ha.
Then came the leaves. Because there were seriously 100 of these babies, I think I was most overwhelmed with them. But most were arranged in clusters of 4, 3, or 2 instead of being all individual. I cut out most of the clusters from the rest and left the individuals on the blue backing paper. I could even peel each leaf off the sticky paper with my fingers and just apply it to the wall without using the paper as a guide. That was the nice thing about the small leaves---very easy to stick on the wall.
I started with the quadruplets and applied those first, then did the triplets, the doubles, and finally added a few random single leaves. Eventually I re-did the leaves and removed all of the foursomes---it just felt like too many leaves by the branches to me. This part was also pretty fun since there is no right or wrong way to do it! I knew I wanted a few leaves falling from the branches, and it was Nate's idea to make a little branch popping out of the window frame with leaves. Great touch, Nate!
Finally we applied the nine birds and Truman/Nate both instructed me where to place each of them. I mostly just wanted them to be balanced across the trees and was glad some of the birds were obviously flying in their silhouettes. The flying birds and the falling leaves are two of my favorite parts of the layout---something about showing movement or making it more whimsical versus static?
The entire process took somewhere between 6-8 hours I'd say. I lost track. But really, it was only Friday through Sunday so not *that* bad, since I prefer most of my projects to take no more than one weekend;) I did it all myself except for the suggestions given to me by my boys at the very end.
Nate's first question was 'if they are this hard to put on, are they going to be difficult to take off?' The answer is 'no', they will be easier to peel off but I DON'T plan on doing that ever! Seriously. If CC uses this nursery someday for herself, and the boys share Truman's room, Cecelia will just have to like the decals for her own room.
End result? I love it. Just how I pictured if not a little bit better.
Next up? Painting the pink crib yellow this time. Hint: I took a yellow decal leaf with me when I picked the color for the crib. And re-painting it was much, much worse than I remembered.
Rabu, 17 Mei 2017
My Little Monk
Have you seen the TV Show Monk?
It is one of my favorite shows (the series ended last year, but they still show re-runs)
Kevin and I would watch Monk on Friday nights after the girls were in bed while eating pizza & drinking wine. It is such a great show! Re-runs are on all the time, so if you haven't seen it, you should DVR it!
The main character, Adrian Monk is an police detective for the San Fransisco Police Dept. (another reason we like it....it is filmed in SF!).
Monk is totally OCD & loves numbers (just like someone I know....me!)
When Kevin & I started watching the show, we laughed at all of Monk's OCD tendencies...but then it made us realize how OCD that we are and how OCD Kate is. Last year, we started calling Kate "Mini-Monk".
Kate loves things to be clean, her favorite number is 10 and Kate notices when things are out of place or missing (just like Monk).
But, this morning's actions take the cake. Kate was helping me put away her laundry. As she was looking at some of her clothes, she noticed that most of them are size 2T.
She was NOT okay with this.
Kate: "Mommy, I am 3, so I can't wear a 2T, I have to wear a 3T."
Me: 3T is too big on you & 2T fits you better.
Kate: "No. I can't wear a 2T. We need to change all my tags. Let's go find a marker." So, this is what Kate made me do to her clothes that were not size 3T.
I simply "sharpied" a 3T over the actual size.
At first, I just put a 3, put Kate insisted I put 3T.
Seriously? This girl is a riot!
I am thankful for sharpies, for they saved me from a toddler meltdown.
We only sharpied a handful of her clothes, but she wants to change the rest of them tomorrow.
Seriously, who's kid is this?!?! Actually...the apple doesn't fall far :)
I think all of us have a little OCD in us. But, I actually prefer to call it CDO, because then it is in alphabetical order!Kamis, 30 Maret 2017
My Top 10 Favorite Chick Flicks
Kevin was out of town this weekend for a guys trip with some of his very best friends from his college years. While he was gone, each night I busted out the wine and watched some chick flicks.
I love chick flicks. The cheesier, the better!
I thought I would share my 10 favorite Chick Flicks.
These are movies that I can watch over and over and over again.....and never get sick of!
I chose these 10 because I own all of them, which means I have watched them over and over again.
In no particular order....
#10 Sleepless in Seattle
#9 Bridesmaids
#8 Father of the Bride
#7 The Notebook
#6 Sweet Home Alabama
#5 27 Dresses
I love chick flicks. The cheesier, the better!
I thought I would share my 10 favorite Chick Flicks.
These are movies that I can watch over and over and over again.....and never get sick of!
I chose these 10 because I own all of them, which means I have watched them over and over again.
In no particular order....
#10 Sleepless in Seattle
#9 Bridesmaids
#8 Father of the Bride
#7 The Notebook
#6 Sweet Home Alabama
#5 27 Dresses
#3 How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days
Honorable Mentions:
Clueless
Maid in Manhattan
Maid in Manhattan
Dirty Dancing
Pretty Women
Steel Magnolias
If I had to pick a favorite chick flick, I couldn't just pick one.
It's probably a tie between You've Got Mail, My Best Friend's Wedding and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.
Do you have any favorite chick flicks that aren't on my list?
Am I missing any good ones?
What is your favorite Chick Flick?
Senin, 27 Februari 2017
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