Favorite Moments From This Week

Beach Time

We went to the beach!  A lot!  I have a friend who is originally from Florida and she has taught me how to make going to the beach less of a hassle than I thought it would be.  We had a blast!  N really took to walking in the water and loves to feel the sand.  On the second day she slept through half of our time there, but that was fine.  It was still an amazingly relaxing day.

 

 

Memorial Day

Monday was a "chill out" day for us.  Our beach days wore us out, plus Mama had to do some serious laundry.  We had some good outside time though.  N is exploring more and more and getting more comfortable walking on the uneven grass.  She cracked me up when she pushed the mower up our little hill and plopped down for a little break.  



Big News!

N said her first serious words!  She repeated "Pop! Pop! Pop!" after I read it from a book.  She also says "Mama" definitively.  But the cutest thing is when she takes any object and holds it up to her ear, like a phone, and says "Hi" in this soft voice.  I LOVE it!   

February: Baby-Proofing

February was spent recovering from our trip back to the states.  They say it takes about a day for every hour difference you travel.  I believe it.  We finally got back on track, for the most part, but it took lots of time. 

February also meant doing some baby-proofing for our cruisin' girl.  N took off and was QUICK to get around the kitchen using the cabinets as support.  I really couldn't believe how fast she became in such a short amount of time.  She continually tried new foods every week.  Corn and cooked carrots were a favorite. 

February in Okinawa is bi-polar weather-wise.  We had some gorgeous days where we tried out her swing on our porch--she wasn't a fan.  We also had some chilly, rainy days where we just hung out indoors. 

What She Didn't Know

This newly thirty-something didn't know what was in store for her from this point on.

She didn't know she'd meet the love of her life six months from now.

She'd be married within fifteen months.

She'd become a Stepmom to two of the most wonderful boys in the world.

She'd finish her masters and move away from her beloved school in Texas.

She'd move to the South, the Gulf Coast specifically, and learn all about what that really meant.

She'd live in Tampa, FL for six months.

She'd move half-way around the world, while pregnant.

She'd learn to drive on the opposite side of the road in the opposite side of the car.

She'd LOVE being a Mom...although kind of suspected she would.

She had no idea how incredible life would become in the next six years. 

She just knew that she finally loved herself and was ready for whatever adventure her thirties brought.

Bring on the next four years!

De-clutter Me

Will I ever be clutter free? It seems as soon as I clear off the spare bed or the counter top something new appears within seconds!

I love the idea of being clutter-free. I love being organized. I love organizational tools. I just can't ever seem to sustain being organized and clutter-free!

It seems I've been on the quest to de-clutter for the last year. Moving will do that to a person. I had a LOT of stuff. Jason went minimalist after his divorce, so he had far less stuff. He's also not as nostalgic about some things as I am. For example, Jason has one stuffed animal from his childhood. I have a Rubbermaid 70gallon tub. Now, in my defense, I had two tubs and have reduced it to 1 and I want to put them on display in my child's room someday, so there's a reason to keep them.

Most areas of the house are always clutter-free. I hate clutter in the bathroom, so it's always clean. I hate clothes on the floor, so our clothes are always in the hamper or put away. Most of the time the kitchen counter is clean, but I also hate doing the dishes, so sometimes there are a few stray dishes in the sink or on the counter while the dishwasher is full.

My office is really the hardest place to keep de-cluttered. There are several reasons. It's a good catch-all for items that don't have homes yet. Scrapbooking stuff comes and in and out of it's home frequently, but sometimes it takes some time to get it back home.

But I also blame my mother (whom I love DEARLY). Mom is OCD about many things when it comes to her house. It's spotless, truly, it is. But mom is a "piler" when it comes to office paperwork-type things. Dad is pretty neat about stuff too, but he's usually got a variety of piles going in his office too.

So. there you have it. It's genetic. :)

This post all stems from finding two blogs today regarding organization. The first is this and from there I found this one. Both inspired me to tackle my office...AGAIN. It was clean when we got back from NYG and dropping the boys off in San Antonio. But somehow the bed had piles again. Most of them are gone. Pictures that needed to be scanned are scanned. The few remaining items are:
1.NYG cross to be hung
2. 2 beach pictures of boys to be hung
3. Creative Memories files that I need to go through to put my Memory Keepers club together.
4. 2 books I'm going to trade in for a different book at a used bookstore.
5. Some scrapbooking papers I'm going to send to my cousin.

So, everything has a reason to be out, I just have to get those tasks accomplished. Now, back to the tasks...or reading "Eat, Pray, Love." I must finish it by Saturday for book club. Yea!