Finallly...done...

The side patio that is.

What did we do, other than do the concrete? We added four hanging baskets filled with ivy that hopefully in time will look amazing. We also added three pots of plants to add more texture and create a more tranquil enviroment. The four light figures we got are battery operated so we can turn them on when we please.  For the three big bushes on the left side, we added white marble rocks to offset all red flooring.  I still need to tile the step but that's for when I'm on leave.  I need something to do, right? :)

Here is a photo of our outdoor living space at night (taken with my iphone hence the poor quality).

What do you think?

Project 12 - May update #2

Time for updates!

• Organize the kitchen. We did the pantry and the fridge, but the rest of it has been put off till next week.  I need something to do while I'm on leave.
• Take back the garage. Done!  HOORAY!!!  I parked in there last night for the first time in 6 months! 
• Organize KLM's Room. All done! Even got her bookshelf set up.
• Side garden area. Done.  Took about 10 minutes of bossing the hubby around and me waddling behind him to tell him where stuff goes.  I cannot tell you how good it feels to have it all in one place, organized!
• Organize our schedules. So far, still looking good.  At the moment, I'm putting together of list of meals to make or have easily ready to make for when KLM arrives.  Yes, I am a bit OCD when it comes to organizing stuff.  :) 

Milestones...

During the pregnancy there were always milestones that I enjoyed hitting.  First there were the one where I finally made it out of my first tri and was able to share the news with you.  Next was feeling KLM kick (happened during an u/s so we knew it was her).  Then we found out KLM was a girl (found out before 14w).  We moved on to when the hubby finally felt her move around, then it was when we started classes.  Now the milestones are ones that my mom set up...as to when she had us.  I have 4 older siblings and they were ALL EARLY!  Today I'm hitting milestone 1 -- my oldest sibling was born 6 weeks early.  I'm passing that one up and with each week that goes by, I pass more.  I was the only one that on time.  :) 

  Last night a friend asked me if I was nervous at all and I felt very happy and able to say no.  I'm not.  I wonder if I used up all my nervousness at the beginning when I was worried about if she was okay and healthy.  Now, I'm just excited.  I know it will be painful when the time comes but really, what's the point of worrying about it?!  The closer to D-Day the more introverted I get.  I'd rather spend these last few weeks just enjoying some peace and not deal with others.  Is that weird?  Maybe it's my subconscious getting myself ready for it all.  Who knows... but when the time comes to hit that final milestone, it will be amazing. 

The Patio redesign...

  So now that the hubby has finally gotten the stain on the concrete, we are THIS CLOSE to when I get to finally do something.  Tonight he has to seal it to give it a shine.  HOORAY!  Before I had these ideas of colors and styles but it's changed.  I finally found some photos of the patio before we even moved in.  Yes, they are screenshots of a video I took during our house inspection so they aren't the best but it's better than nothing. 

  By the photos, you can tell it's a long space.  We're moving the basketball game (it's one of those due shot games you have to make as many baskets before the timer runs out) to run parallel to the end wall.  Things we are adding... Two lounge chairs from Ikea.  One will run along the wall of the house and act as a couch with lots of pillows to lean on.  the other will run perpendicular to make it look L-shaped.

Then we bought two of these chairs, again, Ikea.  These will just fill our the space to make it more of a seating area. We bought two end tables that will be used in the middle as a coffee table, easy to move and clean.  We have one planter but I think we might need a few more to spruce up the space and not make it look so empty.

  We also have a bookcase that we used to use for our wine until we got actual wine shelves.  We are going to use these outside and for now put our weights and when KLM gets bigger, we will use it as storage for her outdoor toys.  You know me, things must have their place.  It will also be nice to have a space to put my laundry basket while I hook clothes up the the line (which is out here too but that will have to be another post on how we did it without taking up more space).  I'm not one for too many things but I think it needs more.  I still want to make more cozy so I'm on the hunt for more inspiration. 

Wednesday Ramblings

• Six or so weeks till D-Day!  YAHOO!!!!!  I can't believe the end is getting so close!  I wonder if she'll come early?  Late?  Right on time?  What do you think?
• Only two more classes till we're done with our birth class.  At first I was a bit apprehensive about taking it, thinking I wasn't going to learn anything but seriously, it was COMPLETELY worth it!  You can learn stuff in books but it's totally different when you have an instructor going through it and sharing experiences with you. 
• Brace yourself people... The Side Patio has been stained.  YES!  Now it's just a matter of getting it sealed and we're good as gold!  I hope this weekend we can get the rest of the furniture for it and complete it.  Talk about checking something HUGE off the list!  
• I almost threw the biggest fit this morning.  Yes, the kitchen is mostly clean but since I've resigned myself to being a spectator to putting stuff away nothing is in its place.  Now, I said I almost threw a fit.  I calmly made a comment to the hubby about it and tonight, operation kitchen will take effect so this fit I'm trying to keep in will not leap out of my mouth.   
• This weekend is our maternity photo shoot.  Yes, I fill finally post a few photos here once we get them.  I still don't know if I look huge yet.  Somedays I think I do, others, not so much.  I'll let you decide.  
• Looking forward to Sunday... Sunday means I can nap!  
• I love love love when they do 80's songs on Glee.  Just makes me feel like a little kid again!  Oh and Puck?  DROOL....  sigh!  :)
• Indian food today for lunch!  YEA!!!  Almost makes me as happy as 80's Glee songs!  
• The creature inside is stirring.  Lately she's been getting her feet stuck in/near my ribs.  OUCH!
• Did you know I'm actually very shy?  If I had it my way, I'd be helping in the kitchen during parties instead of mingling?
• I want to share with you my all time favorite quote and a very good way to live.
           I guess what I'm trying to say is, I don't think you can measure life in terms of years.  I think longevity doesn't necessarily have anything to do with happiness.  I mean happiness comes from facing challenges and going out on a limb and taking risks.  If you're not willing to take a risk for something you really care about, you might as well be dead.  --Northern Exposure

Project 12 - May update #1

Time for updates!

• Organize the kitchen. UGGH... I have to do this one.  At least the counter tops are clean, but the cupboards... not so much. Maybe next week when our schedules cool down a bit.  :S
• Take back the garage. We put up more shelves and cleaned out a lot of the stuff we needed to send to Good Will. We have about 4 boxes that we need to put back up in the storage space and then I can park in it!  HOORAY!!!
• Organize KLM's Room. All done!  There is one shelf that is a little unorganized but everything is easy to find on it.  I think I might have to leave it this way until I figure it out.
• Side garden area. Haven't touched this area.  I think I might tackle it on Sunday.
• Organize our schedules. I feel like we are going from one meeting to the next.  Today, we carpooled because there was just no point to wait around for each other if we were going to go to the same places after work.  Schedule is packed but it's all set up on my google calendar.  PHEW!

Wednesday Ramblings...

• I didn't blog yesterday... well, more like I didn't publish anything yesterday.  I wrote two posts but they didn't make sense so I didn't post anything.  Oh well, at least I attempted it so to me that isn't breaking this streak I'm on.  :)
• I have two more thank you cards to write from last weekend's shower.  Why is it the last few are the hardest to get the motivation to write?
• So we finally made a HUGE dent on the garage.  After the last few boxes go up in the rafters I can park my car in it.  HOORAY!  It feels so good to have it organized (aside from that set of shelves with random nuts and bolts on it).  
• We got all of KLM's stuff washed.  All her newborn clothes, all her diapers and wipes.  If she came tmw, she have stuff to wear!  HOORAY!
• Don't tell anyone but I have this new fascination with getting coffee in the morning at 7-11 now.  It's decaf so don't be all "you shouldn't have coffee."  It's so tasty.  Maybe it's cause I drink it out of a straw?! 
• Another Wednesday another appt.  This one should be interesting.  Have lots of questions and from what I read, everything is going fine.  Just need to make doc aware of it all.  Not to worry, nothing scary or yucky... just home stretch pg stuff.  Oh the joy.
• Speaking of home stretch... how CRAZY is it that I'll be full term in 30 days?  WHOA!
• We're as menacing as Muppet Babies... LOL... love Glee more than words!!!
• I need to garden... Lettuce is ready to start harvesting.  My tomato bush never grew... boo!
• May was suppose filled with slow weekends... nope, every weekend is COMPLETELY FILLED AGAIN!  Uggh... Hopefully June will have at least one quiet weekend.  Fingers crossed!

The hated chores...

Am I the only one that has a chore they dispise? 

I hate clothes chores.  From the washing to the transferring to the dryer to the folding to the putting away.  Any portion of these chores make me just want to keel over and fake a migraine.  I'd rather be on my hands and knees scrubbing our bathroom floors to washing windows.  Anything!  Now, it isn't like I have to do all these chores.  In fact, the only part of this whole clothing chore process I have to do is put my clothes away.  I'm lucky enough to have found someone that is willing to do the laundry.  Someone who's loves me that much that I won't have to touch dirty shirts or smelly socks.  You'd think that if I got out of the most of it, I'd be happy with folding and putting away my clothes, but I'm not.  Case in point, I had a pile of CLEAN clothes sitting on my bedside table, mocking me for the past week.  This morning I realized I need something from this pile and finally folded everything (sorta).  Now the agony of putting it away when I get home is taunting me.  I know, silly me, it will only take five minutes but still.  I hate it that much.  

I sometimes wonder if I'm the only one that HATES some random thing you always have to do.  Do you have a chore you hate? 

Seventh Generation Giveaway WINNER!!!

The winner of all these free goodies is:

         Karissa said...

I would like to try the wipes.

April 25, 2010 2:54 PM

Congrats Karissa!!! 


Thanks again to everyone who entered and especially to Seventh Generation for giving me the opportunity to share these great products with someone!!! Contest here.

Project 12 - May

New month, new project. This month is all about organization. Time to simplify your life by cleaning out your closets and drawers, tossing 9 year old bills that you had in the back of the shelves.

• Organize the kitchen. I hate to admit but my lovely clean panty is not longer lovely and clean. Don't even ask about me about the cabinet near the sink...it's where big items get tossed. Time to change all this!


• Take back the garage. Since the holiday season I haven't been able to park in the garage. This needs to change. It once was nice and clean. Now... not so much.


• Organize KLM's Room. I have this feeling with all the clothes she's gotten by loved ones, she probably won't wear anything twice. With that being said, she has a TON of clothes and it's time to figure out how to organize that. Her closet is now getting filled with stuff and before she comes I'd feel a lot better knowing things have a place and not just stuffed in there.


• Side garden area. There is an area on the side of the house where we kinda toss all the gardening tools, dirt, supplies. It's a mess and it needs to change.


• Organize our schedules. The hubby and I have about a million appts now, either it being doctor appts or fitness classes, work trips or dinners. Time to figure out what we are really doing and not play the game, "what did we just forget to do?"

Do you have any area in your life that needs some organizing?