Out with the old, In with the new!

Posted in Finances, Goals, Holidays and Seasons, House and Home by teamtradermom

Happy New Year! Here’s to lucky number 13!

We rang in the new year in a pretty low key manner. Just the 4 of us at home, playing games, eating and being silly.

We did our official toast to the new year at 9 pm so that Isabella could participate. We mixed orange juice and Squirt and drank out of wine glasses (champagne flutes are still in storage…) to make it fancy. Then we took some more silly pictures and called it a night!

Now, let’s talk resolutions…

I started out 2012 with a long list of resolutions (30 of them! Eek!). I acknowledged at the time that it was ambitious and tried to break it down in to manageable chunks. I actually stuck with it for a good 6 months too and can say I crossed off about 50% of the items (I say “about” because some of the goals were in multiple parts or I did a resolution for the first half of the year but not the last, etc.).

I could site many excuses for not doing more (laziness, being pregnant, changing priorities, etc.) but the fact of the matter is that I’m human and can only do so much. I’m not perfect (are you shocked?) and so I think getting through half of my list is pretty darn good.

That being said, this year I’m going to come at it a bit differently. I have 2 goals (you know, other than the Big One of having a baby) and they pretty much go hand in hand:

1. Get our finances in order and pay down our debts

2. Establish and maintain organization in the household

The first one is a carry over from last year. I learned a valuable lesson in the last couple of months – no matter how much money you make, it’s all about how you manage it. To that end, you have to have a budget and a plan, neither of which we really had. I really struggled in December with our money situation and how I let us get here (I’m the CFO of the house). But “shoulds” will not solve anything and all we can do is fix it going forward.

So I took some time over the last couple weeks to come up with a budget, formulate a plan for how we’ll pay down the debt and save money and put it in to action. It’s a work in progress and I’m sure we’ll have to adjust as we go but it feels good to at least do something. Admittedly, we are not nearly as bad off as many others in America and I am truly grateful for what we do have. But it could be better and I’m determined to make it so.

In my mind, #2 will help us with #1. The more organized we are around the house, the more money we’ll save. Case in point: the other week I bought new toothpaste for Isabella because she ran out, only to discover a couple days later when rifling through the closet that we already had some for her. Also, the more diligent we are about cleaning, maintenance and upkeep of the house, the fewer ’emergencies’ we’ll have down the line with things breaking or wearing out due to improper upkeep.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s not like we’re slobs or don’t take care of things, it’s just that with the daily hustle and bustle, things tend to get dropped by the wayside, forgotten or overlooked and the next thing you know, you’re taking your car to the mechanic for a $200 job that could have been avoided had you remembered to change the oil 3 months ago (not that I’m speaking from personal experience or anything…).

So I’ve put together a Household Management Binder that will hopefully keep us on the straight and narrow. In it there are sheets for:

1. Weekly meal planning (this will save us money on groceries and help avoid eating out plus take away the daily stress of “what’s for dinner?”)

2. Weekly Cleaning Checklist – I’m using #2 (breaks up cleaning tasks out by day of the week so that we have a few small things to do each day rather than a huge list on the weekend)

3. Monthly Cleaning Zones (lists out items that need to be done on a monthly basis so they aren’t overlooked)

4. Budget (visible reminder of our budget that will help us see how we’re doing and stay on track)

5. 52 Weeks of Organization (a weekly guide to organizing so that by year end, the whole house will be organized and de-cluttered)

6. Play date Calendar (monthly look at all the play groups, story times and open gym times around town for CJ and Isabella to use)

7. Emergency Contact Information (list of emergency numbers for easy reference for us or baby-sitters)

8. Household projects (list of all the big projects / to do’s that need to be done around the house so that CJ and I can sync up and track them together)

We’ve been using it since Sunday and so far, so good. Crossing items off the weekly cleaning list feels good because it means we’ve accomplished something and that we’re doing good things for our house! And the meal planner has made the week so much easier when it comes to lunches and dinners.

We also got one item checked off the household projects list – putting the storage cabinet together and organizing it!

In our old house, we had this cabinet in Samson’s Room and used it for storing gift wrapping supplies, games, scrapbooking stuff, and miscellaneous small décor items (like candles). We had to take it apart when we moved and it never got reassembled – until this weekend!

The basement went from this:

To this!

Pretty awesome, huh? I was able to unpack and toss about 7 big boxes, freeing up so much more space.

Here’s what the inside looks like:

On the left is the gift wrapping station (ribbons and accessories on top, bags and tissue on the hangers, and wrapping paper and boxes on the bottom). On the right we have games, memory boxes, extra baskets/art supplies and candles (in the top drawer). Bottom drawer is empty which means there’s room for more!

Feels so good to have that done and I smile every time I go in the basement and see that area!

Cheers to a good year!

5Jul2012

June Bug

Posted in Family, Goals by teamtradermom

The year is half over. We’re in to July and that means summer will be done before we know it. Excuse me for a moment…

*SOB*

Ok, I feel better now.

This also means that I should be halfway done with my goals right? Mmm, maybe. Many of them are ongoing but I do feel pressure to be making more progress on other ones. Let’s take a look-see.

Family and Home:

1. Do at least one family outing a month. We were VERY busy this month.

We went to Sand in the City

(shout out to my friend Jay who designed this one and won an award for it!)

And Taste of Omaha.

We spent a rainy afternoon playing at the indoor kids area in the mall.

And we checked out the Architects of Air Luminaria exhibit.

We also stopped to see the big swimmer dude coming up out of the ground, in honor of the Olympics Swim Trials.

Which leads us to our next family event – last but not least – the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials

Isabella thought it was too noisy…

I’d say we did pretty darn good!!

2. Tackle the following home projects this year:

Buy and hang curtains on all the windows. Nope, didn’t do anything. The only room we have left to do is the living room and I’m not in a huge hurry.

Unpack the remaining boxes in the basement. I actually got rid of 2 more boxes! I found great ways to use a lot of the stuff I found too.

Create a sitting room within the master bedroom. I’ve been on the lookout for stuff but haven’t found exactly what I’m looking for yet.

Add built in shelves to the living room by the end of the year. This will be a big project and we haven’t had the time or money to tackle it yet. Sometime before the end of the year though for sure!

3. Have Isabella potty trained by her 3rd birthday (September 30). We started and she is clearly not ready. She has no interest in sitting on the potty nor does she seem to mind wearing a dirty diaper. We’ll give her some more time, then try again.

4. Research pre-schools and enroll Isabella in one to start in the fall of 2012. I’m thinking more and more that she won’t be ready for pre-school in the fall. Mentally I think she could handle it but in terms of potty training, no (as mentioned above).

Financial and career:

5. Attend one career professional event a month. Yep, I attended one even this month.

6. Spend less money. Well we try. It’s a daily/weekly battle. Some weeks are better than others, depending on what comes up. But overall I think we’re doing quite well.

Physical and health:

7. Adopt one new healthy habit each month. I’ve given up on this one. I don’t seem to have enough discipline to do anything healthy except for exercise. I’ll keep fighting the good fight but I’m going to stop with the monthly habits. I’m tired of disappointing myself.

Social and cultural:

8. Attend at least 4 cultural events this year (e.g. Broadway shows, concerts, museum exhibitions). As you can see from the list above, we did many things, including the Luminaria exhibit and the Fremont Dinner Train.

9. Regularly participate in events put on by the social clubs I belong to (speakers events, parties, happy hours, etc). Again, very busy month. I attended several FACs (Friday Afternoon Club) get togethers through work, a baseball game, Luminaria, the Fremont Dinner Train, and a spontaneous neighborhood beer night

10. Go on a date night with CJ once a month. The Fremont Dinner Train was one of our date nights. The Warrior Dash was another. Ok maybe that doesn’t count? But this does – we went to a wedding, sans the Munchkin. I know this will sound awful and crazy to some people but I prefer to attend weddings without children. They take over the dance floor and many parents use the wedding as their personal baby-sitter. Not cool. So we almost always leave the little one at home when we go to weddings and instead use the time for us!

There you have it, another month in the books. While all the things we did in June were fun, I’m hoping that July is a little more calm. Although it’s not starting off that way. Already this week we’ve gone to 2 movies, a baseball game/fireworks show and a neighborhood block party. What can I say – you gotta grab life by the horns because it’s just too darn short to sit around and let it pass you by!

If you liked this, you might also like:

May Flowers | April Showers Bring | March – How’d I do?

2Jun2012

May Flowers

Posted in Goals by teamtradermom

Can you believe we’re already in June? Half the year is nearly gone! Where does the time go? Fortunately, by keeping track of my goals and resolutions, I have seen how much I’ve been able to accomplish – and I know what I have left.

Family and Home:

1. Do at least one family outing a month. Our big family outing for the month was a 3 day trip down to Kansas City. It was nice to take a quick getaway that was fun for all and didn’t break the bank.

We went to the Plaza, where Isabella rubbed the nose of a lucky swine.

Isabella was an awesome traveler. She really got in to it too, insisting on pulling her own suitcase, while wearing her shades and new hat.

We checked out the newly opened LEGOland where Isabella built this giant tower.

And also stopped by the new aquarium (though not as good as the one at the Henry Doorly Zoo here in Omaha, it was still pretty neat).

CJ enjoyed himself too.

TIP! For both the SEAlife aquarium and LEGOland, buy your tickets online ahead of time. You save money AND it allows you to jump to the front of the line when you get there!

On our last day, we went to see the “Fairy Houses and Forts” at the KC Botanical Gardens. Very very cool, though a lot of walking.

I have a TON more pics to share but I’ll save those for another post.

2. Tackle the following home projects this year:

Buy and hang curtains on all the windows. We finally got the master bedroom done!
Unpack the remaining boxes in the basement. Not much more progress on this one.
Create a sitting room within the master bedroom. No progress here.
Add built in shelves to the living room by the end of the year. CJ and I talked about it today and we’ll probably get started some time this month. At least, that’s my plan…

3. Have Isabella potty trained by her 3rd birthday (September 30). We had bought a potty way back in March and finally busted it out for her to try. We have her sit on it first thing in the morning and then again before bed, just to get used to it. She’s actually tinkled in it twice! We’re not in full blown potty training mode yet but every little bit of progress helps!

4. Research pre-schools and enroll Isabella in one to start in the fall of 2012. I WILL get her enrolled in a school by the end of the month, no ‘ands’, ‘ifs’, or ‘buts’!

Financial and career:

5. Attend one career professional event a month. I skipped out in May but have already signed up for one in June.

6. Spend less money. We finally got our federal tax refund check and I put it all toward the credit card. Now we only have about $1000 left until that card is paid in full. So close!

Physical and health:

7. Adopt one new healthy habit each month:

May – Make a daily gratitude list. I failed miserably at this one. I didn’t even make an attempt. *sigh*

Social and cultural:

8. Attend at least 4 cultural events this year (e.g. Broadway shows, concerts, museum exhibitions). Does “The Avengers” count as a cultural event?

Yes, we’re wearing Avengers shirts. But hey, we make nerdiness look cool…

9. Regularly participate in events put on by the social clubs I belong to (speakers events, parties, happy hours, etc). I participated in a happy hour for work and I volunteered at the Special Olympics (which was super duper awesome).

10. Go on a date night with CJ once a month. Ok so The Avengers probably falls more in to the date night category.

That was our only date night too.

I still feel good about this list. I’m crossing things off and making progress. Maybe not as fast as I’d like some months, but at least we’re moving forward!!

If you liked this, you might also like:

April Showers Bring | March – How’d I do? | February Check In

9May2012

Master!

Posted in Goals, House and Home by teamtradermom

Finally. FINALLY!!

We have the curtains up in the master bedroom!

You may recall that they’ve been on backorder for 2 months! Well they arrived Friday and we hung them up on Monday!

I was worried at first that the dark color would be too much for the room. In our old house it would have made the bedroom look like a matchbox. But in this house, the room is big enough to handle it. And the cool pattern gives them some added interest.

Also, these are blackout curtains. Personally, light filtering into the room doesn’t bother me. But CJ is very sensitive to it and insisted we get light-blocking drapes. I actually bought 2 other sets and took them back before landing on these. The other ones were from Target and didn’t block the light at all. These are from JCPenney and do a great job.

Here’s what the room would look like at night if we didn’t have the curtains.

I kept the lamps on because otherwise I couldn’t get a good picture.

Here’s the room with the curtains closed.

I know from the photos they don’t look all that different, but trust me, they are.

We really love them both for how they finish off the room nicely and because they make sleeping that much easier. And really, anything that does that is a winner in my book!

In other news…

I mentioned a couple weeks ago about going on a flower potting expedition with some girls from work. I had left my pot at the garden center because the owner of the shop keeps them and fertilizes/waters/etc. to make sure the flowers get over the shock of being replanted.

Well I got it back yesterday and here it is!

I took a pretty little white strawberry pot and put Begonias around the side and a Batface Cuphea in the middle.

The Begonias are already starting to fill out and grow.

The Batface Cuphea is on its regeneration phase. In other words, most of the flowers fell off and a new batch is growing in!

They are called “batface” because some people think that the flowers look like little bat faces, with the top petals being the ears and the purple fuzzy inside being the face.

I put the pot outside near the back corner, so it can be seen from the back or side of the house. I put some hanging baskets next to it to create a pretty little grouping.

Ten bonus points if you can spot the sad faced Labrador who’s sick and tired of having to wear his leash every time he goes outside. Sorry buddy, 3 more weeks…

I think as the flowers grow and fill out, this will look really pretty.

I plan to do more planting this weekend, filling in the pots out front and adding some others to the back.

That’s all for now! Time to wrap it up for bed!

If you liked this, you might also like:

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1May2012

April Showers Bring…

Posted in Goals, House and Home by teamtradermom

Happy May Day!

The start of a new month means it’s time to look back at the previous one and see how I’ve been doing with my New Year’s Resolutions.

Before we get to the specifics, let’s take a moment to look at how many I’ve crossed off completely – a whopping three (organize the front room, break Isabella of her “oobie” habit, and move Isabella to a toddler bed)! Doesn’t seem like a lot given that my original list had 15+ things on it but most of those items are ongoing, longer term habits, which is different than getting one thing forever done.

In the spirit of honesty and transparency, I have to admit something. I removed 2 of my goals. Both were in the “Spiritual” category. One was to find a church that we would go to regularly and one was to pray every day. These are both very good goals to have and important for sure, but I just cannot seem to make them a priority. Does that make me a heathen of some sort? No, I don’t think so. We do pray and we talk about spiritual things to Isabella, and someday we’ll find a church that is “us” but just not today.

Now, let’s get on to the rest of the list!

Family and Home:

1. Do at least one family outing a month. We did all kinds of things this month! We went to a couple of new playgrounds (one of which Isabella fell off of…scary!),

out to dinner at a new restaurant, and wandered around the Gene Leahy Mall downtown (granted this was for family pictures but it totally counts).

2. Tackle the following home projects this year:

Buy and hang curtains on all the windows. Still waiting for the back-ordered drapes for the MBR to come in. They are due in on 5/3 so hopefully I’ll have a post dedicated to that finished project soon. Also need something for the LR and kitchen.
Unpack the remaining boxes in the basement. Hurray! I’ve actually made progress on this one! I was mad at myself at the end of March for saying 3 months in a row that I didn’t have an update so I got off my lazy butt and started to do something about it. Basically, I told myself that every time I went to the basement to play with Isabella (she has a whole other toy room down there), I would go through at least one box and figure out what to do with the contents. I can happily report that 3 boxes are gone for good (with the stuff either donated or tossed) and several other boxes have been reduced and combined. In fact, it was this exercise that spurred me in to doing the gallery wall.

These 2 home accents also came about as a result of digging through boxes in the basement.

This is an antique end table that was gifted to CJ. I finally brought it up and put some stuff on it.

It’s sitting in the space between the kitchen and living room:

The flower print and wooden gazelle were both Goodwill finds. The rest I found while digging around in boxes.

This tray and these mugs were also dug up from the basement. The tray used to look like this:

I changed it by cutting some scrapbook paper to fit the bottom section and glued it down! An easy change that made a big difference.

I also brought up this plant stand that had been lurking downstairs and put it to good use!

The coffee décor were other basement finds.

I tucked this at the end of our kitchen island. I originally had a plant on the island itself but it was taking up valuable space.

Moving it off to this stand has really opened up the room and made a huge difference!

Create a sitting room within the master bedroom. No progress on this one. I keep looking for just the right chair during my Goodwill and thrift store shopping adventures. Nothing has jumped out at me yet though.
Add built in shelves to the living room by the end of the year. I’m starting to get antsy about getting this one under way. Soon, my precious, soon.

3. Have Isabella potty trained by her 3rd birthday (September 30). No real progress here. I am feeling pressure like we should be doing more. Just not sure what. Ugh.

4. Research pre-schools and enroll Isabella in one to start in the fall of 2012. No progress on this one either. Need to start making appointments to visit them.

Financial and career:

5. Attend one career professional event a month. Done!

6. Spend less money. Doing pretty well at this. Am figuring out more and more ways to save which is satisfying. Also got a good chunk of the credit card paid off but then we had to turn around and charge $1000 for Samson’s surgery. 1 step forward, 1 step back.

Physical and health:

7. Adopt one new healthy habit each month:

March – Do some type of physical activity IN ADDITION to regular workouts
April – Drink at least 64 oz. each day (includes water, tea, or juice. Does NOT include pop or alcohol)
May – Make a daily gratitude list
June – Try to walk 10,000 steps every day
July – limit sweets to once a day

I’ve made a mess of this list. I switched March and April because March was too chilly for outdoor activity. So April was supposed to be about doing more physical activity in addition to daily workouts. It didn’t exactly happen. There were a few days where I went for an extra walk in the afternoon, but those were rare. I really wanted May to be about limiting sweets to once a day (which is supposed to be July’s habit).

I just can’t make up my mind. What it comes down to is this: I really think that if I drink more water and eat fewer sweets, by body will follow with more energy, fewer zits, and fewer pounds. So that’s what I’m doing for May – essentially taking a redo on one habit and adding in the other. It won’t be easy as those are both big weaknesses of mine, but it’s now or never.

Social and cultural:

8. Attend at least 4 cultural events this year (e.g. Broadway shows, concerts, museum exhibitions). I don’t think there were any this month. Though we did buy tickets to see Red Hot Chili Peppers when they come in October!

9. Regularly participate in events put on by the social clubs I belong to (speakers events, parties, happy hours, etc). I participated in a happy hour for work and in another social outing to plant flowers (wherein I bought this guy).

10. Go on a date night with CJ once a month. Ya know, I don’t think we had a date night in April. Epic fail!

All in all, I think I’m doing well. Could be better but could also be worse, so I’ll take it. Still plodding along and getting things done!

If you liked this, you might also like:

March – How’d I do? | February Check In | January Check In