Op Dream Home Update

Posted in Goals, House and Home by teamtradermom

One of my NY resolutions was to get the house de-cluttered and organized, in preparation for moving this summer. I got a couple more projects done this week.

Monday, after I had officially signed off from the computer and called it “a day” in terms of work, I decided the first order of business was to clean up my work area.

As I was sitting at the desk all day working, I started looking around at how cluttered it was. And it was getting to me. I don’t normally spend a full 8 hours at this desk so it’s easier to overlook it. But yesterday I decided it was time to tackle the desk as my next Operation Dream Home project.

Here are the before shots (I’m actually embarrassed to share these because it was bad.):

The full desk

(The Spiderman mask is a purchase CJ made in Cancun. It’s a Mexican wrestling mask. He thought it might be a good way to spice up our sex life. He thought wrong.)

The Drawer

(That file thingy on top is used to sharpen charcoal pencils. I bought it in college for one of my art classes. Not sure why I still have it because I literally haven’t used it since graduation. It’s gone now!)

The shelves

(Notice the Guinness stress pint in the front middle. I bought that when we were in Dublin and toured the Guinness factory. I had to put my initials on it because the guys at my old job always threatened to steal it. As if it wouldn’t be obvious that someone else suddenly had a Guinness Stress Pint.)

The desk

(Files, files everywhere!)

Gag. How embarrassing. This embodies the epitome of clutter in my mind. And it drives. me. crazy.

I started with the shelves. On the right side you can see a whole gaggle of CDs and pictures piled up and stuffed in there. I went through those and determined what should be kept and what should be tossed. Most all the pics got tossed because they were doubles of ones I’ve already scrapbooked. Many of the CDs were tossed too as they contained old computer backups or programs which I no longer needed. The remaining CDs got consolidated into one of the black sleeves that can hold multiples (we have 2 cases – one holds 36 CD/DVDs and the other holds 24). At some point I’ll probably take the data that’s on those and transfer it to one of our external hard drives. But that will have to be another project.

Better, right?

I then consolidated the bills/files (which is the middle area). Instead of having them stacked hither and yon, I gave them designated cubicles/slots. I also shredded a TON of stuff (I don’t think I need to keep my pay stubs from 2007…). From there, I started filing away the user manuals/warranties that we need to keep. They were previously stuck up on the left side of the top shelf. I put them in expandable files and all of those got place in the large open area on the left side.

Then I tackled the drawer. Most of the stuff in there was random little things that we don’t need. A lot got tossed. The rest got sorted and organized into containers. Then the desk itself got arranged a little neater.

That’s pretty much it! I think it looks much better. While there is still a lot of stuff there, it’s all organized and tidy now, which makes me feel much better.

Here is the after shot:

Full desk

CJ said he didn’t notice much difference (until I kicked him in the shin and then he suddenly noticed), but I can see it and feel much better.

Then last night I decided to organized the play area in the living room.

Here is the before:

Stuff everywhere and it was driving. me. crazy. Target had organizers on sale so I ran out and got one for $30. I put it together and got everything organized in about 2 hours.

Here’s the after:

Much better right? The little OCD girl inside of me was squealing with delight last night. It’s not only organized but it’s cute too (Isabella loves the “hippo” bin)! Don’t worry, I know that it won’t stay this neat and tidy and I’m totally cool with that. So long as everything has a place to go back to at the end of the day, I’m a happy camper.

Note: I put the shelves together last night after Munchkin went to bed and it involved a lot of hammering. CJ was vacuuming at the same time. She slept through all of it and the woke up 15 min. after we were done because she couldn’t find her woobie.

I love to see progress and am really happy that these projects are getting done slowly but surely. Go me!

8Jan2011

Look out Martha!

Posted in House and Home by teamtradermom

Last night I was in the mood to do some creative stuff. Call me crazy but sometimes I just get the itch to make something. So, I tried a new technique for baking a cake and I made a new journal!

Pampered Chef Deep Dish Covered Baker Cake:

I bought the Pampered Chef Deep Dish Covered Baker several years ago because it’s really versatile and you can make all kinds of dinners with it. Last week I discovered a recipe that allows you to bake cakes with it too! And it’s super easy!

You basically make up any cake mix (I did Devil’s Food) and pour it in to the DDCB. You then take your frosting (chocolate of course!) and scoop it out (I used a cookie dough scoop but you could use an ice cream scoop or even a melon baller, or even a spoon), placing about 12 scoops on top of the batter (without mixing it in):

From there you just pop it in the microwave and cook for 10-12 minutes (uncovered). That’s it!

Here’s what it looks like straight out of the microwave:

Looks like a normal cake huh? Only the kicker is that the frosting has sunk down to the bottom and basically frosted itself! So it’s like a chocolate upside down cake or something.

Now, here’s where Martha Stewart has a leg up on me. The recipe I had didn’t say whether to flip it out of the DDCB right away or wait until it cooled. Because I’m Ms. Impatient, I flipped it right away and ended up with a big mess as frosting oozed all over the place. I was able to salvage it and the cake tastes AWESOME, it just doesn’t look very pretty, so I didn’t take a picture. But you get the idea. Next time, I’ll let it cool before I flip it.

Calendar Journal:

Once that was done, I popped “Tron” into the DVD player and started making my Calendar Journal. I saw this idea earlier in the week while Design Sponge and it really stuck with me. See, I’ve always wanted to be a journaler and every year I start out strong but then fade as I get busy and don’t have time to write paragraphs about my day. So I end up writing one liners. Well, this journal is designed just for that and it can last forever!

See, it’s basically a bunch of index cards placed in a basket with the date written on top (just the month and day, not the year). Then, each year, you write the year on one line along with a quick note about what happened that day. There’s no pressure to write a novel, and you can start to see over the years how your life has changed ( or not ) as you compare events from the past. It’s super easy to make too!

I got all my supplies at the Dollar Store and it cost me $5 (granted, I had some on hand already). You basically need:

A basket of some type – could be as simple or fancy as you want!
Enough index cards for the year, and maybe some extra (I just bought 4 packages of 100)
larger index cards or thicker paper for dividers
Markers
Decorative stuff (I used ribbon) – optional
Scissors and maybe tape

All you do it write (or stamp) the date on top of each index card and put them in the basket. If it was a holiday, I wrote the name of the holiday on red at the top, to distinguish it. Then you take the paper you got for dividers and cut/fold them to size. I used scrapbook paper that I already have and folded it to be thicker, then cut the edges to the right size. The dividers should be a bit taller than the index cards. I also chose paper to correspond with the month, to make it more fun (snowy paper for January, Valentine’s paper for February, etc). Put a divider before the index cards of each month (you can write the month on top if you want) and you’re done! You can then decorate the basket or leave it as is. I weaved a ribbon around mine and called it good.

Here’s the end result!

And here’s how you’d write on an index card:

Other things you could do with this:

Decorate special days with stickers
Put small keepsakes in the basket (if you have room)
Add small pictures that are meaningful for a special day or at the beginning of the month

I put mine in the bedroom (thought about the kitchen counter but don’t want to clutter it up after I just de-cluttered it) and plan to write my one-liner each night before I go to bed!

Samson even helped me:

He really wanted to help me with the cake by eating it all but, alas, all he got was a lick of my finger.

Both projects were super easy and fun! Took me 20 minutes to make the cake (from start to finish and I didn’t have to frost it!) and 2 hours to do the journal. Normally I’m not “Sarah Stewart” but like I said, once in a while I get an itch that I have to scratch!

Today, CJ and I are going on a date to see “Tron: Legacy” and then we have a surprise party tonight. Should be a fun day and give me plenty to write about on my card tonight!

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4Jan2011

Obligatory Resolutions Post

Posted in Finances, Goals, Health and Weightloss, House and Home by teamtradermom

I’ve noticed a theme this year when it comes to resolutions. Seems like everyone I’ve talked to (or read) has said the same thing – they don’t normally do resolutions but this year is different. Why is this year so different for everyone? While I can’t speak for humanity as a whole, I can tell you my position. For me, I’m making resolutions because I feel stronger this year than I ever have about setting and hitting certain goals. In previous years I had some vague notions of what I wanted in my life, but nothing specific. This year, I’m getting down to brass tacks and making things happen!

One thing I’ve learned is that it’s just as important to plan out how you are going to meet a goal as it is to define it.

So, here are my resolutions for this year (BTW, it makes it way more fun if I put catchy names to them so, bear with me and my cheesiness):

Project T&T (Tone and Tighten)

What: Lose the 3 pounds I put on over the holidays and then tone up all over. I REALLY want to get rid of this muffin top and I’d love to have more definition in my arms, legs, and abs. I’m already seeing more tone from doing the one hundred push ups program. Hoping to see even more progress as I continue. But the goal here is to maintain my weight loss so that all the work I did last year doesn’t go to waste.

How: By doing what I already know works – watching calories (I’ve found that 1400 calories a day works for my body when trying to lose weight) and steady workouts. You may have noticed that a couple of weeks ago I added a section to the right sidebar called “Today’s Workout”. In here, I will record what exercises I’ve done each day. This holds me accountable and call also give you ideas if you’re in a workout rut.

Operation Dream Home

What: Sell our current house and buy our forever home (then I can cross that off the bucket list!). To do that, we have to make sure our house is in tip-top shape so that we can sell it quickly and at our asking price (or close).

How: First off, I’m planning to go through each room and de-clutter. We’ve accumulated too much “stuff” and it needs to go. Once the extra junk is gone, I want to re-organize the remaining items. This will help keep me sane and it will present the house in a neat and tidy way. We also have various things around the house that need fixing or updating: scratched baseboards, repainting the walls, getting new sinks, etc. We have some good friends who are realtors so I want to invite them over and do a walk through of our house as it exists today. They can then tell us what we need to invest time and money into and what we can leave as is.

Here’s one project I’ve already finished – the “catch all” kitchen counter. We have an area to the left of the stove that is where we keep files, stamps, papers to shred, my purse, etc. It is always so messy and I am constantly losing stuff.

Here’s the before:

Notice the files in the back are all crammed in together, there is stuff scattered on the counter, and my purse and lunch bag are eating up a lot of space. So, I put hanging file holders on the wall and labeled them “To Shred” and “To File”. This got rid of one filing system on the counter and freed up some space there.

Here’s the after:

Doesn’t that look so much better? It was a simple fix that went a long way.

Mission Debt Diet

What: To pay off all credit card debt and pay down loans, while also creating a nest egg. To be honest, we really don’t have that bad of credit card debt when compared to the national average. But it’s still more than I’m comfortable with so this year it will be paid off. I also want to pay down as much of our mortgage and car payments as possible so that we’re in a better spot come Spring/Summer when we buy a new house.

How: Budget, budget, budget! I created a spreadsheet that lays out our fixed expenses (bills) versus variable expenses (shopping, groceries, eating out, etc) and our income. Our bank has a neat feature that shows us our spending report for 2010 (how much we spent in various categories throughout the year). So, I took that and figured out what our monthly spending was in each area. Then we came up with our new budget goals. Here’s an example:

I then created an expenses worksheet that will help us track our spending. I broke out sections for each area and included our dollar allotment at the top. As we spend, we’ll write it on the worksheet and can then see how close we’re getting to our budgeted goal. We’ll have to use it for a while and make adjustments as we go but I think it will help.

Ihave posted it in the kitchen so we remember to record our expenses:

(inside our pantry door)

(Sidenote – see the wall sconce in the background? That’s the one Isabella’s woobie got lost in way back when. Yeah.)

This one will really challenge us to get creative. We’ll have to shop smart, plan meals, and say “no”. It will definitely be an adjustment but it’s necessary and after a while, we’ll get used to it and it won’t feel so restrictive.

—

There you have it! Those are my 3 resolutions for 2011. I think they are all doable and I’m really gung-ho about them right now. By posting them here, I’m hoping this will help me stay accountable. The competitive side of me will not want to admit public defeat!!

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