Oh Cinderella, Cinderella, Cinderella

I could lie to you and tell you that I am a housework goddess, but those of you who know me well know that is not my kind of thing. I HATE housework! It is definitely on my top 5 list of things that I HATE! Though, it is something that really should be done and it is something that has become a little better because I have been working on it more consistently. Doing a little bit of housework a day is way less stressful than trying to clean the entire house just moments before company is arriving. I have been reading flylady.net and springcleaning365.com and both have been very helpful in this new attitude I have towards housekeeping. I still have a long way to go, and many rooms to cover decluttering/ cleaning etc. yet I have hope that I can accomplish these tasks and will be able to do them to the best of my ability which is all that really needs to happen. Besides when our home is put together, clean, and organized it is much easier to have people over.

2014: Courageous

I was on Pinterest yesterday when one of my friends had pinned this quote onto one of her walls, I think I scrolled past it twice before I actually stopped to read it and, think about it more than a superficial "oh, isn't that nice." kind of way. This quote sums up quite beautifully what I want my theme word for 2014 to be. I want my word to be courageous, because I have so many new tasks coming up this year.

"Do something uncomfortable today. By stepping out of your box, you don't have to settle for what you are- you get to create who you want to become." ~Howard Walstein

I am a twenty-something year old who is a little bit closer to thirty than I care to admit some days, and when you look at how people describe me there are a lot of different descriptions such as teacher, wife, momma (to-be), friend, sister, aunt, etc. All of these adjectives don't describe me as a whole; these adjectives describe different facets of my life that are viewed through a very specific lens.There is a blog that I enjoy following immensely, because of the author's honesty. It is hard to try and figure out what your style is, but to do it in front of others with as much grace as she does is amazing to me. You should check out Audrey's blog Putting Me Together. It is a thoroughly enjoyable read, about making your closet work for you by embracing your lifestyle and your own individual needs. So as I blog this next year I will be creating a journal of my year, and I don't have a specific topic that I will be blogging about, but rather different topics, because here in the middle of nowhere we have a lot of irons in the fire... such as continuing our bathroom remodel. The Doc purchased materials while in town today, there will be some demolition involved, me and the baby will be less involved in the demolition, but I am sure that I will be involved in the putting back together... the unknown arrival date of the baby... Organizing the nursery along with the rest of our house... adjusting to the new roles as parents... I will probably write some about the literacy project that I have been involved in this year, since it has stretched me so much! As I have beenn preparing for baby to come I have also been preparing for post baby, and to be honest I am a little bit disappointed with the information out there about postpartum (a.k.a the fourth trimester) dressing. There are a lot of different adventures popping up this year, and I hope that you stick around to enjoy the ride with me. XOXO

I have NOTHING to wear!

I am 8ish months pregnant and I feel like I am in a clothing rut! It is making me crazy, I don't like anything that I have to wear because I can't think of any new or creative ways of wearing anything. I am feeling stuck and honestly a little bit frustrated because I don't want to buy new clothing... but I keep thinking in my head that I just need to suck it up and buy new maternity clothes. It was at that moment that I decided to look at this blog and I saw that Caitlin was doing a winter wardrobe remix! I love remixes, they make me think creatively and really stretch my wardrobe into some really fantastic ideas! Here is the scoop! You pick 21 articles of clothing (undergarments, pjs, tank tops, accessories, shoes, tights, and leggings don't count; I would never wear any of these things by them self outside of my home) and then proceed to make 30 outfits. I have a mix of casual and professional wear, since I am still working. Here are my pics/picks:

This is a large portion of my maternity clothes... I think there are only 2 more sweaters and approximately 5 tops that were not selected because of their lack of remixability.Not all of my items are posted because they are in the wash as I was taking photos and writing this. Dresses (2) Gray & Mint Sweater Dress, Navy Blue Ruffle Dress. Bottoms (6)f Jeans, White Jeans, Black Dress Pants, Navy Blue Corduroy Skinnies, Black Skirt, patterned black skirt. Tops(7) Gray Lace T-shirt, Green & White Ruffle Shirt, Black Lace 3/4 Sleeve Top, White Polka Dot Top,Black Empire Waist Tank Top, blue gingham, chambray button down. Sweaters (6) Black & White Cowl Sweater, Gold Cardigan, White Striped open front cardigan, red puffer vest, camel colored open cardigan, Black & Blue striped sweater. Not pictured: Jeans, Black Pants, Blue Gingham Shirt, Chambray Shirt,Black Skirt, Camel Colored Cardigan. Here is to my fashion adventure!

Impending Mamahood

I really love blogging, because it provides me with an outlet where I can write about my thoughts and experiences. The problem that I have with blogging is the fact that sometimes i get this idea in my head that I need to have the perfect idea or I have to write about a certain thing and that is what weighs me down. I don't have time for perfection and I don't have time to worry about what other people will think about me, and yet I still do worry about those things. Mompetitions- while blogger doesn't recognize this word, it is very real and very much so a downer.... Mompetitions are when moms are competing with each other about a variety of things... like baby development/ milestones, or keeping house or any sort of thing that has to do with parenting. This pettiness is very destructive to the community of parenting which I feel should be very supportive and listening to tv shows, reading articles/ books, or even just listening on the radio you can tell that there is this spirit of competition which is not healthy and is not beneficial to anyone. I just hope that after baby comes The Doc and I continue to be relaxed about parent the babe. There are a lot of parents that say a lot of things before baby is even born, and then they quickly change their tune afterwards. We really have no expectations going into it, because 1) we don't really know what to expect and 2) we are really relaxed about a lot of stuff. Our biggest concern is making sure that our baby is healthy and happy, everything else will fall into place. One theme that I have noticed is that mom's who take care of themselves are heavily criticized... what I mean is mom's who take the time to do what they need to for themselves are criticized or are not seen as motherly. This bothers me because it gives the idea that the mom who is most likely taking care of everyone else's needs, is not important enough to get the same consideration. Like a partner/ spouse taking over baby duties so that they can shower, or run some errands, or just enjoy some peace for a few minutes. In my opinion this is very important because when my body and soul are fed I am much more able to care for and bless others. When I feel rested, I know that I am of a clear mind and am able to respond to different situations reasonably and think clearly. One example of how I have chosen to take care of myself during my pregnancy that doesn't have anything to do with nutrition or doctor's appointments is the fact that I have taken a lot of care with how I dress myself. While that may sound shallow, I knew that for my own well being I needed to feel put together. Has every outfit I have worn in the past 8ish months been stellar? no, but I know that I put my best foot forward and I took the time to purchase clothes that I enjoy wearing and that fit my lifestyle. As a teacher there is a dress code etc. This time though, has taught me a lot about proportions, dressing different body types, and the importance of having a remixable wardrobe. While I am not an expert by any means, I do think that this learning experience is important in defining my own style. As I grow into mamahood my ideas will probably change, and develop-- but I do think that it is important for me to take the time to be me and continue to grow as a person; so that when baby leaves the house I don't wonder who I am or who The Doc is anymore.

Home Again

Those of you who periodically check my blog to see if I have written anything recently can tell that I all of the sudden quit my writing project and didn't return for almost a month. There really aren't any great reasons other than I felt like I didn't have anything truly meaningful to contribute anymore. Work got insanely busy and so everything else got pushed aside. Which is why I have been trying to play catch up this last week with getting caught up on laundry and dishes. It got really really bad! Like there were mountains of clothes to wash (and now fold) and dishes that needed to washed and put away. I am guilty of thinking that Oh! I will have more time/ energy to do it later... and then later comes and I don't have anymore/extra time than I did before and in fact the situation has progressed to being in even worse shape than had I done it originally. I like to read other people's blogs because I like the glimpses into their lives, but sometimes in reading them I feel guilty because my house isn't that organized/ clean/ shiny or whatever other adjective you want to put in there... but I came to a realization the other day, what I really like are the ideas. There are a lot of people out there who are definitely much smarter than me and have tons more brilliant ideas than what I could ever come up with... I just need to keep in perspective what works for our family and house... though, small as it is. So, for my house I am going to try something new... washing the dishes every night before I go to bed, so that the only dishes I have to do the next day are from that day... Will this work out everyday, probably not- but I need to make a concentrated effort, because we have very limited counter space and it makes cooking/baking difficult because there is absolutely NO workspace. I would rather take 10ish minutes and wash a couple of plates, silverware, glasses, and cookware opposed to washing everything and it taking more time. Time in which I could be spending time with my husband, crafting or doing pretty much anything else... In terms of laundry, that is a battle that is fought everyday, because there are some people who do one load a day, and others who don't sort their clothes or myriad of other systems... and for me it really just doesn't work out! I would much rather just do laundry on one day. Wash, dry, and fold everybody's clothes on one day. That way it doesn't get overwhelming! It is only going to take an hour to fold the laundry and the washing and drying can be done while I am working on other household projects. I am no, nor do I claim to be a homemaker of Martha Stewart proportions, but putting in a little effort will most definitely go a long way. So, today will be spent doing mountains of laundry so that The Doc and I don't have to become nudists (it is November in the upper Midwest... meaning it is COLD) and keep in mind next time when I don't have time or desire to do laundry or the dishes... that doing a few is way easier than doing a mountain load.

Day 15: Putting Things Away

Putting things away after I am done using an item tends to be the hardest thing for me to do. Not because it is a difficult task, but because it is one of those things that just gets put on the backburner because I have something more important to do at that exact moment. I am not sure it is always a matter of having time. Sometimes I think it is a matter of not wanting to do it. Sometimes it is difficult to decide where something should go. As I work on the living room (yes, I am still working on that project), my focus has switched to ensuring that everything has a very specific location and that it is very clearly labeled. I figure if it is clearly labeled the likelihood of it actually getting put back in the right spot will increase dramatically... which will make everyone's life here in our home more pleasant, because we won't be searching for that one thing that was put in that one spot. Once we get through the house room by room, we will be able to start purging ruthlessly. My reasoning for that is currently there isn't a lot of storage in our home, and not everything has a spot yet, so it is hard to know whether or not we would use it, since a lot of our belongings are stored away in tubs in one of our two closets. It is a project that will continue to take time, but for today, I am going to focus on labeling what we do have. I am borrowing my mom's label maker for this project. If I don't get a lot of it done today, I will be continuing on with it tomorrow. :)

Day 14: A disasterous Kitchen trial

I was going to blog last night, and then I was annoyed with the fact that I burned two pans of cookies. So, I was kind of bummed to be writing about that... so I decided to come back to it today. Burning one pan of cookies, totally makes sense. I get distracted and start working on other things... so, sometimes things get burned at our house. The one pan that didn't get burned did turn out delicious! I made Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies, it is super easy! 1 can of pumpkin puree, 1 spice cake mix, and 1 cup chocolate chips. Mix all the ingredients together (I used a hand mixer). Spray/ grease the pan, and use two tablespoons to make "drop cookies" Bake at 350 degrees. The time says 20 minutes, and the first two pans got burned at 15 minutes and the pan that didn't get burned baked for 22 minutes. So, watch them carefully. They should look like raisin hermits when they are done. You can tell that they are done, if you touch one in the center and it springs back. I will add a link to the site where I found the recipe later today.