Summertime...

It's been a while...much has happened lately. Guess I just skipped right over May with the blogging!! Here's a few highlights to catch people up!!

I started having midwife appointments every two weeks from the beginning of May and now I've started chiro appointments as well. I also got a combo pool/rec center pass for our town and have started walking and will start swimming once the pool opens next week to try to keep in decent shape for the birth and after.

We ended up skipping church on Mother's Day because Brack started having some bad asthma attacks (which had not been happening here in the metroplex before) so he went to an allergist a few days ago and we are hoping the meds they gave him will help clear things up.

My friend Jess Martin has started her photography business and took some preggie pics for me about mid-May. I think they turned out rather well and I've actually grabbed one for my pic here on this blog. Check out her blog here and see some more of her work!!

I am no longer nannying. I finished up with the kids the week they got out from school and will not be nannying them again till at least January. I will miss them a lot, as they are such sweeties, but we will definately keep in touch.

My birthday was very good. I had a midwife appointment that morning so I got to hear Edmund's little heartbeat again. That night Brack took me to Fry's and got me a little digital camera so that I'll be able to catch cute pics and vids of Edmund...even when we are out and not hauling our big camera around. He then took me to eat at a Peruvian restaurant that we hadn't been to before. It was so yummy and they had the BEST chicha morada I've ever tasted!!

Last Saturday we ended up being double-booked!! Our neighborhood had its very first block party and I got to re-meet a few of our neighbors that I met way back last fall...as well as meet some new ones. We were only able to stay at the block party for about an hour and a half though, as we had to scram for a birthday party...getting there just in time to see the candles get blown out on the cake!! Todd and Leah's little girl Maggie had a blowout party for her second birthday and it was a lot of fun. She is such a little doll!!

My sis Melody flew in the other day and I got to hang out with her for a little over a day before my dad picked her up to take to East Texas. I hadn't seen her since Christmas '07, so it was good to spend a little one-on-one time with her before the big family hoopla of this weekend. I was just sad she couldn't bring her kiddoes (Josiah and Lydia) with her.

Oh yeah...this weekend is my baby sister Beka's wedding. A bunch of my relatives will be there and Steve and Syrena will be there with my new baby nephew Caedryn who I can't wait to meet!! I can't believe my baby sis is getting married, but I'm happy she's found the guy she wants to spend the rest of her life with.

Edmund's room is only partially ready to go. We still need to get a dresser to be set furniture-wise and I still need to do a little sewing to get curtains and a crib skirt done. The decorative stuff for the walls is mostly ready to go, though...it's just a matter of getting it ON the walls.

We just started childbirthing classes on Tuesday...once a week now for three more weeks. The reality of just how close we are to seeing little Edmund and the reality of childbirth are both staring me in the face now. I am still determined to have a natural childbirth at home, but having a child is uncharted territory for me and I'm a wee bit freaked!!

I guess that's all I can think of right now off the top of my head, so there ya go!! I guess I'm all caught up now. I just need to be a bit more consistent with the blogging. I am sure that once Edmund arrives though I will probably be clogging up this blog with all kinds of posts...even if they are simply picture posts of my cute kid!!

New Bloggy Layout

Well, even though I just switched to a 3 column layout on this blog a few weeks ago, I was really getting a little bored with the plain old blogger template. So, when I decided to add a couple widgets this morning I also decided to try out a cute new template. I tested it out on my test blog first to make sure I wouldn't lose anything. It looked good, so here we are with a pretty new blog!! What do ya'll think?

It's a learning process...

I like to think of myself as a minimalist...and definately as an organized person...yet I am by no means perfect!!

As far as the organizing goes, well, I can't truly say I am organized if it took me almost two months to get the last of the piles of stuff out of the future nursery for our little one!! Even now, I still have two rubbermaid tubs of papers that need sorting!!  I can be a bit of a procrastinator if the project seems overly big...especially now that I have less energy because of my pregnancy!!

And the whole minimalist thing? Sure, I can look thru a Sharper Image catalog now and not be impressed or covet anything in there (a catalog I used to drool over)...but that doesn't mean there isn't still stuff I wish I had...as evidenced by the baby things and home things I've wished for/drooled over in the last few months.

The thing that makes it easy to turn away from those things is of course money....cause I don't want just any old stuff...but the stuff that costs!! But what if money wasn't an issue? Would I drown myself in stuff then? It's an interesting question. I'd like to say I wouldn't...cause I LOVE a clutter-free environment, but the pack-rat tendencies of my family are not that far removed from me. If you were to see the old farmhouse where my parents live, there is an abundance of STUFF there...mostly useless, but there nevertheless. My grandmother lived up to the last few years of her life in a small house that seemed bursting at the seams with all kinds of STUFF...things that she was certain she could make use of "someday"!! Now, there is some improvement from my grandmother's generation to my parents...as they at least acknowledge that they have too much stuff...but they still have a hard time parting with much of anything!!

My determination is to not let the wants and desires for STUFF rule me. I must acknowledge that the desires are there...but not give in to them. Only then will I be able to truly embrace the minimalist life.

How many of you come from a background of packrats? What sorts of STUFF do you drool over and wish you had...if money were no issue?

Sunday Shoutout

It's been quite a while since I've done one of these...but I thought it time to really get going again with this blog!!

Whether or not you think a woman should be a "keeper at home" I have to say that I really enjoyed reading this post by a lady who has embraced the concept of wearing an apron and being a true homemaker.

Now that we live in a house and have the space...I really want to make my own Inspiration Board like the ones described in this post. I actually have a couple large manila envelopes with clippings I cut out in anticipation of being able to have an inspiration board...one envelope of personal inspiration, and one of home ideas and inspiration.

Stumped by what to do with all your kids artwork? Here's one idea...get Snapfish to make you bound books of their work. Another is to take digital pictures of their artwork (with or without them holding them) and organize them into a folder on your hard drive or online.

I really liked this post about why it's cool to be different...to live simply, frugally, etc. I also liked how she said living simply is different for each person and to not feel bad if your definition of simple isn't the same as someone else's!!

Well, these are just a few of my favorited links...stay tuned for more Sunday Shoutouts in the future!!

My Home...

Some pictures of our house...for those of you interested!!

The entryway, looking back into the house...

The study (still needs a little work to get it just so)...

Looking into the kitchen and dining area...

Looking from the dining area back into the kitchen...

Looking into the living room from the back hallway...

The guest bath/future children's bath...

The master bath (shower just out of frame on right)...

Couple shots of the master bedroom...

The nursery so far (still needs a good bit of work)...

The pictures of the front of the house, the front and back yards, etc. will have to wait for a sunny day, as it is very stormy right now!! The guest bedroom and garage will have to wait too...as they are the only areas inside that still need a bit of organizing!!

A Room To Be Proud Of

We have been in our house for two months now and have gotten almost everything organized...with the exception of three paper sacks for my husband to sort thru, a couple plastic tubs of papers for me to sort, and a few random odds and ends. The house is neat and clean but it isn't to the point that we would love to see it in eventually.

Eventually we would love to replace all the carpeting and linoleum in the house with wood or laminate flooring in the bedrooms and study...and 18 inch tile thru the rest of the house. We'd also love to plaster the walls in the main living area, enclose our patio, build an outdoor kitchen/dining area, and redesign the master bath and closet to suit us better. But all that can and will wait...I'm sure it'll get done sometime in the next five years or so, but there's no rush!! The more important stuff is getting ready for our little one...and just having the furniture and decorative stuff to fill up empty space and walls!!

However, we do have one room that we are particularly proud of...the master bedroom!! Yes, there are still a couple things I'd like to have in there...like a comfy chair in one corner and a ficus or something in another corner...but all in all, it is a room to be proud of and a comfy haven of rest from the big hectic world!!

We decided not to put our bookshelves in our small study, but rather to wrap them around a corner in our large bedroom. My husband even worked it out to install a small stereo into the shelves. We chose a low-profile bed frame from IKEA that has a deep headboard with cabinets that slide out on each side to hide away the little odds and ends. Our paintings are the only truly "fussy" additions to the room, but with everything else being so simple and zen...it really doesn't feel overdone at all. All in all...a room to be proud of!!

It's a BOY!!

If you are a friend on Facebook or a member of Crossings or are an immediate family member, then you already know this...but for the rest of you...yes, our little Baby Bean is a boy. Edmund Robert is set to make his appearance towards the end of July, but he's already making his presence known by kicking the fire out of his mama!!

I am at 26+ weeks now and FINALLY have the nursery cleared out (as of today) of the rest of the things that needed sorting thru from our move!! Granted, there are still several large paper bags of odds and ends for Brack to deal with and a couple piles of odds and ends on the guest bed for me to deal with...but for the most part I'm finally finished.

I know I say this almost every time I post after a long break, but I really and truly am gonna try to keep up with my blogging on a more consistent basis...even if that is only once a week. Truthfully, when summer comes and I'm not nannying anymore...I really won't have an excuse for not blogging!!

Well, it's getting late, I'm sleepy, and my psycho cat is attacking shadows on the wall...so I will close this out. But don't anyone have a heart attack if I surprise you and blog again in a couple days!!

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

Well, it's been several months since my last post, and if you recall I was planning on really getting going with this blog. I had a lot of ideas for posts with themed days and everything!! So much for that, aye?!!

What actually ended up happening is this... My husband and I both got second jobs for a few months to try and knock out the last of our credit card debt...and that really kept us rather busy!! Then we found out in November that a little munchkin was on the way...so I quit the second job right before Thanksgiving and ended up spending most of December on the couch dealing with morning sickness!! By the time the morning sickness was mostly gone I had to deal with a lot of nasty sinus issues, besides trying to get the apartment into a tip-top organized state so as to make our move a lot easier.

Yes, we moved!! From a 714 square foot apartment into a 1604 square foot house that seems quite huge!! Though I never really saw myself as being a suburban wife and mother, I guess I will be now, as we are planning on this being the house that our children are raised in!! Fortunately, our little suburb is still fairly close to stores so I can either drive with a minimum of gas, or if I can talk my husband into it we may be able to get a Christiana-type bicycle for hauling kiddoes and groceries around!! The suburb we are in is never gonna get too big...and we have a pond right behind our back yard!!

One really nice thing about the move is that it's a LOT easier to be organized since we have more cabinets and space to organize it in (no more propping the bed up on concrete blocks to create space under it for plastic storage tubs)!! The tub of Christmas stuff and the tree went into our little attic space and the shelves that were in our apartment storage room are now in the garage to hold the few tubs of things that we need to be able to get to more readily and for any bulk grocery purchases. We also have room for a small chest freezer so I can buy things on sale and freeze them...but we'll have to wait on that for a while.

In our kitchen, everything has a space and we'll even have empty cabinets for a while...which I'm sure will eventually get used for bigger pots and pans (when I start cooking for more than two people) and for art paper and other crafty stuff for kiddoes to do at the kitchen table!! We decided to put our bookshelves in a corner of our bedroom with a comfy seat to make a reading nook...which looks pretty awesome, if I do say so myself!!

We will fix one of the bedrooms up as a nursery very soon (once the last of our stuff gets unpacked out of there) and the other bedroom is going to be our guest bedroom/crafting room. I will work on my sewing projects in there whenever company is not staying with us. Pictures of everything will be forthcoming!!

Now that I've gotten everyone up to speed on what's been going on in my absence from blogging, I can get back to regular blogging on all sorts of interesting topics such as homemade household cleaners, freebies and giveaways to make your $$ stretch, organizing projects, and other ways to simplify and organize your life...as well as passing on some favorite links to other blogs and websites!!

It's been a LONG time!!!

So...it was the beginning of September the last time I blogged here...eesh!! A LOT has happened since then!! Let's see if I can summarize things into topics.

Babies-- Josh and Kym just had their sixth baby (a little boy named Eli) on March 2nd, Steve and Syrena are expecting their first baby (a boy) in April, and David and Danielle are expecting their third baby (a boy) in May. In our Sunday School class between October and November there were five babies born...a little boy to the Brewers, a little girl to the Pitts, a little boy to the Carpenters, and one of each to the Treats!! WOW!! Kevin and Bethany welcomed their little boy into the world in December...and I know there were several other babies born to my MWF friends in recent months as well!! So is that all the baby news? Well, not quite!! Baby St. Clair is set to make his/her appearance on July 19th!! Yep, Brack's gonna be a daddy!!

Houses--Well, I know Todd and Leah moved houses several months ago, Kevin and Bethany moved into a house from their apartment in December, and Katy~* and Marks moved into a new house in February...but we have also moved!! After spending almost 2 1/2 years of married life in apartments, we moved on Valentine's Day into our new home!! It's sure been a lot of fun moving from 714 square feet to 1604 square feet!! We are almost settled in (except for the baby room...which we are currently using as an unpacking room) and pictures will be forthcoming!!

Work--Brack and I both picked up second jobs for a while from around the end of September. I worked at Panera several mornings a week and on the weekends until the day before Thanksgiving. Brack worked at Walmart several nights a week and on the weekends until the day before Christmas Eve. We really were working hard on getting the credit cards paid off before adding a mortgage to our budget...and it sure paid off!! The last card is very close to paid off now...so it was worth the extra work and tiredness for a while!! Now we are back to just one job each and are really enjoying having our weekends and evenings free again!!

Holidays & Guests--We spent Thanksgiving with my family and it was nice (though I was in the middle of dealing with morning sickness). Christmas was spent in Lubbock with the whole St. Clair bunch and was a lot of fun. After New Years we were able to go out to eat at a Romanian restaurant with Steve and Syrena and visit with them some and then go to a family get-together with all of my mom's extended family that evening...which though I was starting to have a bad time of it with my sinuses was still pretty nice. John and Dayana stayed over for the night after the get-together (with little Luke), so I was glad to spend a little time with them as well. My sister Susanna spent a week with us since the move and was a BIG help with getting the last odds and ends moved, the apartment cleaned out, and the garage painted!! I loved having her around...she's so sweet!! We had our first non-family guests last weekend when David and Danielle came with their kiddoes for a short visit. We had a great time and I'm really enjoying the fact that the extra space will make it so much easier to have people over!!

Random factoids-- After homeschooling his whole life, my little brother Andrew is now going to a Christian school!! He seems to like it and is already playing football and basketball!! He sure has grown up fast!! My little sis Rebekah isn't so little anymore, I guess!! She is engaged to be married!! They are planning for a June wedding soon after she finishes her high school work. I can't believe my littlest baby sis is actually ready for such a big step...I still think of her as my little "Monkey"!!

Well, I think that pretty much brings us up to date on everything!! I will try to be more consistent from here on out with this blog...should be easier once we have internet at home again...which is supposed to happen early next week!!

Freebie Friday

Head on over to MomAdvice today for Freebie Friday. Amy's always got a lot of good stuff you can get for free. I can't even tell you how much shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, toothpaste, personal hygiene products, and food I've gotten samples of just for the asking. I can guarantee you don't wanna miss a single Freebie Friday!!

An Organized Love of Books

So, you love books...but you are trying to live simply and frugally...and want to be organized as well. Here are some ways to do that...

First of all, get what you have at home organized. Of course, you don't need to have a working knowledge of the Dewey decimal system to do this!! As was mentioned in the previously linked article, you can use an online tool like Library Thing to keep track of all the books in your personal library.

Next, take advantage of the public library. Getting a library card is as easy as bringing in a proof of residence and your ID and then you literally have thousands, if not millions, of books at your disposal!! Many libraries have an online presence so you can usually search their database, request books, and renew what you have out...all from the comfort of home!! Most libraries have at least some sort of inter-library loaning system as well...and some (like the area where I live) will actually let you get library cards at other neighboring library networks as well. I currently have three library cards...and I love it!!

Of course, if you are going to use the library as an easy source for books, you need to keep on top of things so as not to rack up fines!! I find that keeping everything library related on the shelves in my staging area by the front door helps with that. A great idea I found online was to make a special library bag to corral each library's (or each cardholder's) books...with the library card for each attached nicely to the handle!! For me, this would work great...as doing so would also help to keep what I check out down to a reasonable amount (as I could only check out what would fit into the bag)!!

Another easy way to keep track of what you've got out is to use an online tool called Library Elf to help you keep track of everything out. All you have to do is set it up with your library card numbers and how you want to be notified and you will receive a text or email when you've got books coming due!! Very cool!!

If you don't mind spending a little money and love perusing real bookshelves you should check out Half-Price Books. I've found several books on my wish list there...you just have to be patient and check back fairly often.

If you want to swap rarely read books for ones on your current wish list you should check out swapping sites like PaperBackSwap and Bookmooch. I've received a lot of great books via Paperbackswap and my only request is that if you do sign up there, that you go thru my referral link!! My username there is Texanromaniac.

If you wanna rent books, a la Netflix...you should check out Bookswim. They have several different plans based on how many you want out at one time, but seem fairly reasonably priced. I think the swapping and rental sites would both be ideal to someone who lives in remote or rural areas without a wide assortment of books readily available. Where I live and with multiple libraries to search, I just check out things from the public library and if they are ones I really want to keep then I go to Half-Price Books or Paperbackswap to get them.

If you are a bookworm with an adventurous streak...check out BookCrossing!! This is an uber-cool site where you can find out where to "treasure hunt" for books that have been left at various places...as well as post places where you have left books to be found. Each book added to the system has a unique tracking number and it is a lot of fun to see where all in the world the book has traveled!!

A couple of other resources for both getting and organizing books can be found here and here...thanks to a post on Freebies4Mom!!

Anyway...so there ya go!! I hope this has been helpful. Leave me a comment and let me know what your strategies are for anything book-related and maybe I'll put them into a future post!!