End of Summer

Dear Summer,

Well it's the end of you for my kin and me.  I will be going back to work on Monday, August 13th and Dalton will be starting 1st grade on Wednesday, August 15th.  I can't believe it; it seems so surreal.  Thank you for being so hot this summer that it forced me to get some things done that I needed to inside my house, along with taking a trip to get away from the heat.  Even though I did a lot of things I was only able to cross off 2 more things on my 20 goals for 2012.  Now if I can just finish the others before December that would be awesome.  I've even started a new list of things that I need to get done, so we will see each other again.  Always have new projects in my head, but I have to just write those down and finish the old ones I've started.  Memories I've had this summer!!!!!!

My clean, and might I add, functional office

view from doorway of treadmill

view of desk from doorway

view of very full bookshelf

 

view of my sewing table/desk- LOVE IT!!!!

Trip to Minnesota

Day 1- Driving!!!!!  Although it was a short trip, we packed a lot of fun into those five days and some never forgettable memories!!!!

Day 2- Nickelodeon Universe.  All 5 of us had a blast, spent about 10 hours there riding everything we could possibly ride over and over again, with a lunch break at Rainforest Cafe.

Day 3- Sea Life Aquarium.  I'm sorry KC, but I like the aquarium in Minnesota so much better than yours.  More for your money.  Spent all morning watching the sharks swimming overhead.  The kids loved it.

Day 4- Mini Golf.  So much fun to watch a 2, 5, & 6 year old try to hit a golf ball into a hole.  It was a blast except for the annoying girls behind us.  Sometimes I just can't keep my mouth shut and ended up saying something to them.  Ooops, my bad!!

Day 4b- Minnesota Zoo.  So much to look at and so many things happening.  Poor Chloe had a run in with the floor and got a fat lip and bump on the head.  Dalton was complaining that his feet hurt from all the walking and both boys were enthralled with the dinosaur exhibit.

Day 4c- Dinner @ Dicks Last Resort.  What a fun and great way to end our time in Minnesota.  This place was a blast and as you can see from this picture the kids were having so much fun dancing with the manager and other servers that walked by during their dance party!!!

Day 5- 3am Rushed poor miss Chloe to the hospital because she was having trouble breathing.  Returned back to the hotel for a few hours of shut eye before heading back home to KC.  Three very tired kiddos in the backseat on the way home!!!!!

Coach Pitch Baseball Camp

 Last game of the summer

 

A Clean living room

So happy to put Dalton's art station down in the basement

Even cleaned Dalton's old office corner and was able to finally close the closet doors

Finally Not Afraid of the pool

Dalton got a new, big boy, desk for his bedroom

It was supposed to be here for his birthday at the end of August, but I got it 3 days after ordering.  It was on sale and free shipping to my home, so I went for it.

Started working on it soon after it was put together

Constantly finding him sitting here coloring, writing, drawing, and cutting things out

Everything put away and his cork boards up

So as you can see Summer, we packed a lot of things into you and now we must say adieu, but I know we will see each other again; so much fun it's been.

Love, 

Crystal

Love Cute Ideas

I so love finding cool ideas on Pinterest.  Pinterest is like a shopping mall for my creativity, but I don't have to pay for it all.  I found this a long time ago, but haven't really had a lot of time to do things that I've pinned, so I was glad that I finally forced myself to make this one; easy and extremely cheap, but can be more expensive if that is what you want.  I went to the dollar store today, you know the place where absolutely everything is a dollar.  That place can be the devil for a creative person like me because I can go nuts finding things and then my jaw drops when I get to the register and find out how many items I've actually put in my cart.  Back to the subject!!

I bought an 8x10 picture frame with a black frame.  Only $1, can't believe it and best of all it doesn't necessarily look cheap.  I then came home and made a little template on my computer in word using tables and changed the borders to something more fun then straight lines.  Here is the template:

Weekly-Dinner-Menu

I really hope that link works.  I'm a little disappointed that I can't get the template to actually view on the blog.  If you know how to do this, please enlighten me; I'm still learning about this blog thing.  

I did have to cut the edges of the paper after I printed it off to fit in the frame.  If you wanted to you could buy the next size up frame and it would work better and you wouldn't have to cut the paper.  After the template is secured in the frame, just take an expo marker and write on the glass.  This idea could be used for anything, chore chart, things to do for the week, etc.  I like that I can write on the glass and then erase it with a Kleenex.  The only thing I regret is not putting a place for the date, but I had enough trouble trying to fit it all on one page. 

Here is a picture (because I know how to do that), of the finished project.  

Still Cleaning and Organizing

This task of cleaning and organizing seems to be getting bigger and bigger.  Good news is that my bedroom after almost a month is still clean and Dalton's is going on two weeks still clean.  The problem areas lie in the living room, kitchen and my office. 

 

 

Dalton's writing/drawing supplies organized

 

So I started cleaning my living room last week.  Got everything picked up off the floor, re-organized all of Dalton's writing/drawing supplies and even exchanged Dalton's 3 drawer organizer for the old 7 drawer bathroom organizer so I could separate more things and he could easily find what he needed.  I even vacuumed the floor, which I used to be religious about and vacuumed almost every evening.  The living room was clean and now after a week it's back to being messy because I started cleaning more out of Dalton's room which is now on the living room floor.  I cleaned off my kitchen table which has now resulted in stuff lying on the floor in my living room and my couch now houses the plethora of magazines that I still need to go through.  So what is my thought process.  Get one room clean, start on another one, everything moves to that clean room resulting in it being messy again, start over on that room and clean, then move on to another one, everything moves to... wait STOP, you get the picture.  So how do I fix this?

Sewing table I made back in April

This morning I started my day in a very angry mood, and I either clean or eat when I'm angry.  Since I'm trying to lose weight, cleaning was my only option.  My office is the worst room in the house, but my new checks are missing and they have to be in there, so I started in on it.  I also really miss sewing because that was one of my stress relievers and I haven't seen my sewing table since I put it together back in April.  I'm not exaggerating either!  So my first intention is to clean off my table and re-organize things because I bought some nifty little lock together boxes and now I have places to store things.  Presto, 40 minutes later, sewing table is clean, but at the price of a stack of papers in the living room to go through, and a hallway cluttered with stuff that was on the desk.  Man, I'm going about this the wrong way.


I am getting rid of things as I go, but for instance the stack of papers; I didn't feel like sitting there going through all the papers at that moment, so they were stacked and put on the living room floor to go through later.  I didn't have anywhere to put them in my office.  Many of them need to be filed, many of them I'm sure can be thrown away, but I just didn't want to go through them right then and there.  Big mistake! That's why other places in my house get messy again; I put it off. 

Oh wise ones, my strategies are all wrong.  I'm almost beginning to wonder if I do this to myself on purpose because I always feel the need to clean.  If I have a clean house what will I do with my time?  Reading this back to myself makes me sound like I have a sickness.  So, is there really a disease called Cleaningfreakatotis, because if so I have it, most definitely. 

Now that I've declared I have a sickness, I must go back and clean!!!! :)

Cleaning House

One of my biggest problems with my house is that I have too much stuff for the space I have available.  I've had to get creative with how I organize things, but really what I need to do is purge stuff.  With my best friend Courtney's help and my mothers help I have been able to start getting rid of stuff. 

First there are 7 rooms in my house (my bedroom, Dalton's room, bathroom, my office, living room, kitchen/dining area and laundry room).  So I want to go through each room, purge stuff and literally just clean the whole room. (I'm starting with my bedroom, however Dalton's room and my office will be last.)

I've now been home for 2 full weeks and I haven't gotten much done.  So I was thankful today that my mom came over and pretty much forced/helped me clean.  My best friend Courtney came over the other day after I had gone through my clothes once and took stuff so I couldn't put it back in my dresser and then today if it didn't fit or have a spot it either got donated or thrown away.  I will admit that I am a clothes/shoes hoarder, but in my defense I don't like wearing the same thing within a 2 week span and I don't wear the same pair of shoes everyday.  (I don't do laundry very often, I actually hate putting it away so it just sits in the dryer or worse I've accidentally left clothes in the washing machine).  I was able to get the shoe rack off the back of my bedroom door and if the shoes didn't fit my foot or fit in the space I had shoes, then it got donated. 

Then I went through my Armoire and my mother couldn't believe the amount of jeans I had.  I don't wear shorts so it's either capris or jeans.  I did give up 2 pairs of jeans and about 10 pairs of dress pants, which still leaves me with enough to probably go 2 weeks without washing.  Then we went through my under-the-bed storage boxes and found more t-shirts that I wanted to keep to add to my t-shirt quilt.  However, we also found a ton of pants and capris that I had saved from before I got pregnant.  Got rid of all but 4 pairs and they are my motivation pants to fit in to, but that's another blog post. 

I went through every drawer and put things back where they belonged.  I need to keep it clean because my sanity depends on it.  I hate clutter and like things organized, but I can't seem to get motivated to get things done that will reduce my stress level and anxiety.  Plus, during the school year I am not home much except for at night and I'm too exhausted to do anything!!!  

 From the doorway, you can kind of see my new dresser on the right.  It's a lot taller than I expected.

 From the doorway again, but just my bed and bedside table.

 My new dresser and old Armoire.  I do wish that they were the same color, but my Armoire is 9 years old so it's also faded a little. I also finally hung my jewelry bag up on the wall, so Twiztid will stop eating my earrings.  It's been hanging from the closet blocking clothes, so very happy that I could move it.

My neat and organized closet now.  Very happy that everything fit and has a spot.  I made sure that my hangar box was where I would use it the most. Tempted to put pretty curtains in front of the closet, but the reason the doors are gone is because I ended up never putting my clothes away because it was closed off.

Now the question my mom posed was "how long could I keep it that way?"  My response, everything now has a place, and if it doesn't have a place, it no longer gets to be in there.

Room #1- My bedroom = COMPLETE!!!!!

Summer Projects

Countdown is on for the end of school and summer vacation.  Truthfully, I think I've been in countdown mode for a couple months.  This year has been a lot better and less stressful for me.  Can't believe my son is almost finished with Kindergarten, but that's not the real reason I'm writing this blog.  

So I was thinking about how I was going to spend my summer and I have been thinking long and hard about some large outside projects that I need to finish.  Dalton will be getting his tonsils out on the 30th of May, so for about 10 days we will be stuck at home not doing much.  Then I have one week where I won't have a child during the day because he will be at day camp, and we will be taking a trip in July.  Lots of time to finish some really good projects.  So I've made a list and I unfortunately can't put them in an order to get them done because each one is equally important and needs to get done.  

Here goes....

1. Trim huge oak tree in backyard- As much as I want to save $150 and do this project on my own I don't have a ladder and the tree is well over my roof.  I have been putting this off for 4 years now, but it has to happen soon.  I could climb the tree, but again I'm not good with heights!

2. Clean out gutters- Another project I've been putting off.  When I first moved in, the gutters had a mesh net over them to prevent leaves and stuff from getting in them.  However, in the years I've been here something has happened to the nets and the gutters are overflowing with leaves and debris.  Also one of my drain pipes has come off the back of the house.  Really not excited about this task!

3. Weed flower boxes- So I hate insects and spiders and to me weeding is the worst job in the world.  I wish I could just dig it all up and start over, but I can't.  The worst flower beds are in the backyard against the house and around the deck.  They are very overgrown and full of bugs.  My neighbor told me about a product called Preen and I think I'm going to try and buy some to help keep the weeds back, but I actually have to rid of all the weeds first.  I would like to put some bushes back there to help cover the flower beds.  That's another project on my list.  

4. Plant bushes and flowers in flower gardens

5. My huge oak tree in back covers quite a bit of my backyard and a lot of grass doesn't grow under it.  I would like to make a stone bed around the tree and fill it with white rocks.  This way I won't constantly have mushy mud right off my deck.  Cost is a problem here because I want some nice large rocks to make the circle and then white stones to fill it with.  

6. Also, my deck leads right under my oak tree and I would like to lay a cement patio there to help keep the mud at bay.  I found an awesome idea on Pinterest to making a patio using a picture frame as the holder for the cement.  I really think this would be a fun project, but again expensive in purchasing the cement.  The other thing I thought about was putting down large cement tiles.  Just need to figure out what I'm doing on this project.

7. I would like to build a fire pit in my backyard where a bird bath used to be.  The bird bath was broken when I moved in and now the area is full of weeds.  I want to dig a bigger hole, place white bricks around it and burn all the kindling that is laying around in my backyard.

Man it sounds like my backyard is in desperate needs of a makeover!!!!

8. Clear all the weed plants that are growing around the fence.  Any suggestions to figure out how to keep them from coming back?  I also need to re-seed my backyard because I have an entire corner covered in clovers.  I have a big tree in another corner that I really want to cut, but the tree trunk is not in my yard so I'm not sure what the policy is for cutting a tree that isn't technically yours, but I hate how it hangs down over my yard and now many of the branches lie on the ground.  

9. Clean off the stairs leading to my basement.  This is in preparation of covering my stairs and making it actually part of my house so that we can go to the basement without going outside.  I want to turn my basement into a playroom, but I have a lot of work to do on the cement stairs that are completely covered in leaves.  I also have a door sitting at the bottom of the steps that needs to go to the dumpster. 

10. Tear down my front porch fence and rebuild it.  This needs to be done asap.  I found wood rot and many of the beams are broken.  I started chipping off the paint back in February when we had warm weather intending to just repaint it.  Then I found the wood rot and decided that it wasn't worth repainting, it needed to completely be torn down and rebuilt.  I'm pretty sure I can do this, I'm good with a hammer and nails, but again it's figuring out the cost.  I found a porch fence at Home Depot for $80 something, but don't know enough about it to know if it will work.  Need to do some exploring and see what I can do!!!

So these are the projects that I would like to finish on the outside.  I need a whole other blog to make a list of the things I need to do on the inside.  Why have I let some of these things get so bad?  I like to be outside, but I really don't like to be eaten alive and there are snakes and spiders in my yard.  Not a big fan!!!!!

Any suggestions would be awesome, I want to prove that I can be handy, and not spend a lot of money.  Now that I've made the list I really wish there was a Home Makeover- Backyard Edition that would come and make my backyard pretty and safe to be in.  LOL!!!!  Need help, desperately!!!!!!!!!!!

Signing off!!!!!

Goodbye Civic, Hello CR-V

Category #3 Goal Number 4 complete!!!!!

It all started last February when we had the terrible snowstorm during Parent Teacher Conferences.  Luckily my mother had come and picked up Dalton in the morning before all the weather started, but because it was Thursday of conferences I was stuck until 6.  Bad thing was I was also in charge of our book fair and therefore didn't officially leave until 7.  By then the snow was pretty thick on the ground and you couldn't see the lines on the street.  I froze my feet trying to clean off my car because of course I had worn flats that day with no socks.  That was stupid of me.  I was able to get onto 23rd street and head back to KC, but was going about 10 mph.  I hit the bend and my car started sliding which scared me to death.  Long story short, it's only 8 miles from Lawrence to Eudora and it usually takes me 5 minutes and that night it took me an hour and by then I just pulled off and spent the night in Eudora with a teacher friend after having a panic attack.  So it was decided then that I needed a safer more reliable car for my long drives from my home to work.  From then on I had my heart set on a Honda CR-V. 

I knew that it wasn't necessary to get immediately so I wasn't too worried.  However, over the summer when I wanted to take a road trip I had to rent a car to drive the route because my car wouldn't have made it the 2,500 miles I drove.  Another check as to why I needed a safer more reliable car.  Then came the winter and I began praying for no snow because I was still trying to avoid getting a new car because I was worried about the finances.  Luckily we had one snowstorm that really didn't put much on the ground and I went really slow on the highway.  Made it through January with no problems or snow.  Now it's February and I started freaking out again (not really, but need the exaggeration for effect).  Parent teacher conferences are coming up again and I'm still driving my front wheel drive Honda Civic.  Front wheel drive good-bye, hello AWD.

My dad helped me put some feelers out for a new car and we hit a big one at Independence Honda.  The gentleman was giving me an awesome quote.  I had scheduled a meeting with Don Franklin Sr. for February 11 and was prepared to go in and discuss what it would take for me to get a car (that had not been introduced to the public yet.)  I didn't clean out my car- kicking myself for not doing that; it wasn't really dirty, but had a lot in the trunk and headed out to Independence.  I got there and was introduced to Don Franklin Sr. who immediately told me that the car I wanted had just arrived on Friday and in the color I wanted.  He knew I wanted blue, but I had my heart set on the midnight blue.  I was shocked!!! 

So now I had to not act all giddy and find out exactly what he wanted for it.  Needless to say I was there from 10:10 to 12:15 before we finally had all the paperwork laid out and I was ready to make a deal.  With my dad's smooth talking and my adorable son winning Mr. Franklin's heart I knew I was walking away with the best deal in the state.  No one would have offered me what he did.  So after another hour of waiting on the paperwork to be completed and my cleaning out my Civic and moving all my stuff over to the CR-V (which this needs to be said)- another couple came over and was looking at the car while I was putting my stuff in it and wanted to buy it.  Thank god that my paperwork was done and the car was officially mine; so sorry and keep moving!! 

I was finally walking out of Independence Honda at 1:40 after having written the biggest check I've ever written.  Now I am the proud owner of the first out of the store 2012 Honda CR-V.  And I couldn't be happier!!!!  Features include a back-up camera, AWD, bluetooth capabilities, foldable backseat, more compartments than I could ever need, and ECON for high fuel efficiency.  Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Attempt at Listing Some Pretty Big Goals

So a friend of mine posted a blog the other day about 12 goals she wanted to complete in 2012.  I've been thinking long and hard about this.  At first I was reluctant to do it because I didn't want to just list my goals without some sort of method into my madness, but I think now I've figure out how to not only make a goal, but to say how I'm going to accomplish each one of them or at least get them out there so I know what I need to do (at first, some of them didn't seem possible).  I also couldn't set a number for how many goals I wanted to list and some of them I know are going to probably keep going into 2013. 

So lets get the ball rolling and start making this list.  I've also decided to divide them into categories and they are ranked in importance.  Can you tell how crazy I am yet, if not keep reading?

Category #1- My House
1) Making my bathroom a little bigger: There is a wall in my bathroom that needs to come down.  (And yes as I'm writing this right now the wall is already down, but I had to write it because it goes hand in hand with the other things I'm about to say).  My bathroom is very small and this wall made it almost impossible to do anything, plus I have no storage in there.  Technically there was a storage closet inside this wall, but my exhaust pipe was also in this closet so if I put anything in there it could have possibly melted, exploded, or caused real damage to my stuff and the house.  Also already finished was re-tiling the floor.  So now is the next step, buying/making a bathroom cabinet that has plenty of storage room for toiletries, towels and even a tilted cabinet for a laundry basket.  I also need to re-paint the bathroom from a puke green to a soft blueberry and brown and install new towel racks, toilet paper holder and shower curtain.  Also plan on purchasing new towels and a bath mat which will be nice.
2) My office: My office needs a complete makeover.  It's the 3rd bedroom in my house and I'm sorry, but I don't know how anyone could live in there it's so tiny.  Currently it is filled with all the crap that fits no where else in my house.  I would like to turn it back into my office/sewing room/workout room.  I want to clear everything out and start over.  I need to get a smaller desk for my computer and put shelves on the wall for all my little knick knacks.  I need to clean out my bookshelves and get rid of things that I don't need anymore.  I would also like to get two 3-foot bookshelves and place a board over them to make a sewing table, and then I can get everything off my kitchen table.  Lastly I want to make room for my treadmill because it's too hard to move it back and forth into my living room.
3) Kitchen table: My kitchen table needs to be sanded again and then re-stained.  I'm looking to have this project finished as soon as I make my sewing table so that I can get all my sewing stuff off the kitchen table.  This also can't be done until it is a little warmer outside so that I can use my garage to allow the table to dry.
4) Basement: This summer when it gets warmer I want to go down and re-organize my basement.  I want to go through all my rubbermaid tubs and label them and get rid of things that I don't need or want anymore.  I don't like my basement, but it desperately needs to be cleaned and re-organized. 
5) DECLUTTER/organize: This includes every room in the house, but unfortunately I can't really start this until I get the above project completed.  I've already mentioned above to get rid of things that I don't need or want, but this includes going through every room with a fine tooth comb and purging/donating everything that is no longer of significance.  Then I need to find new ways to organize the things I need to keep.  I've been saving lots of ideas on Pinterest and hope that I can make a couple of them to help with storage in some of my most cluttered parts of the house. 
6) Purchases for the house: dresser and vanity for my bedroom; bed frame and mattress for my bedroom; dresser for Dalton's room; bookshelves and board for sewing desk; new porch fence; shelving and hooks for garage

Category #2-Work
1) Starting a teacher website: I have been wanting to do this for ages.  I have the know how, but am too cheap to purchase a domain name.  I think if I looked more into this I could find what I want and what I can afford.  I have so many ideas and things that I have made that I would love to be able to share my products with other teachers.  I've always believed in "Why invent the wheel, when someone else has already done it?"  I have so many games, word sorts and other things that I could put online and charge a small fee for and then people could use them.
2) Making/designing more word card games:  I've got a list of games to play, but the problem is I don't have the cards and I'm trying to make them in levels of easy, medium and hard.  I just haven't had the time to sit down and make them.  I have to type them up, print them out, laminate them and cut them out.  However the more I get this done, the more I will have to offer on my teacher website.

Category #3- Myself
1) My sanity: I don't want to sound like all I care about is me, but if you know me then you know that I rarely focus on myself.  Others always come before me and I think it is time that I set aside some time to look at my own life.  I'm still single and I really want more kids.  My time clock is ticking too.  I need to get out more and do more things.  I love my son and I really just don't want to be away from him, but I also understand that I'm not getting out and meeting people because I always want him by my side.  I also want to start reading more self-help books.  First one on my list is the book that is being referred to at Church, "Discover the Power Within You" by Eric Butterworth.
2) Financial safety: I really couldn't think of a nicer, politer way of saying this to myself because what I really want to say to myself is stop being stupid and spending money that you should be saving.  I have all these projects that I need to complete, but I also need to look at saving more money.  Now that Dalton is in Kindergarten, I'm not paying the ridiculous fees for childcare and should be saving all that money.  I even got another job to help me save more money, but I don't seem to be saving as much as I need to be.  I need to do a better job of keeping track of my finances.  I started keeping track and then things got busy and I haven't been doing a good job with it.  Now I need to get back into it and force myself to keep up with it.
3) Weight management: So I've lost 10 lbs, but unfortunately this is no where near as much as I need to lose.  I am dancing again which is a good thing, but I need to increase it to even more exercise per week.  Running on the treadmill was great, but now I don't have room for it, so the project up above needs to begin immediately so that I can get back on the treadmill.  My goal is to run a 5K this April.  I'm eating better and exercising so it's a start, but I again need to force myself to stick with it.
4) Buy a new car:  This is probably my biggest goal and yes even though #2 says save money, I have been preparing for this one.  My car is on it's last leg and it will cost me more to repair it then the car is worth so I've come to peace with knowing that I need to buy a new car.  I'm really nervous because other than my house I've never made a large purchase.  My plan is to buy a Honda CR-V, 4-wheel drive.  Due to my driving almost 80 miles a day on a highway that doesn't get cleared real well during the winter I need this car asap.  Now I just need to find time to go and test drive it.  Why am I so worried?  Why am I putting it off?  I can't answer either of those questions.  I just thought if I asked them maybe the answer would pop into my head.  (They didn't!)

So now that I have those out in the open, I need to start focusing on them and completing these projects.  I'm the type of person who makes a schedule and plans out everything, but I can't do that this time.  It's just too hard to do when you have 2 jobs, a house to take care of, a child to take care of and most importantly keeping myself sane with all that I have going on.  However, I need to start making these a priority in my thought process so that I am more likely to get them done.  As I finish things I will post about them and if I can ever figure out why my pictures aren't loading then I'll post pictures as well.  So, I've been at this for over an hour and it's time for bed.  I'm out!!!!!!

Cottonbowl Adventure

Good experiences don't come often and when they do you have to make the most of them no matter the outcome.  I had a great experience this past weekend.  I took Thursday and Friday off of work this week only after being back on Wednesday.  It was nice to be able to go without any worries.  We left Thursday morning to go and get my grandma in Manhattan.  Left at 9am and arrived in Manhattan at 10:45.  Love that the speed on the highway has changed to 75, and there wasn't much traffic on I-70 so it was really simple to get there.  After picking her up we then had to drive back to Topeka to the Topeka airport.  We got there by noon and had an hour to kill so we went to the cafe at the airport for lunch.  Not the best food, but it satisfied our hunger pangs. 

We headed back over to the hangar at 1:00.  Our friends were already there getting the jet ready to take off.  Dalton was super excited and really wanted to get on the jet as soon as we got there.  However, we were still about 30 minutes away from takeoff.  We finally boarded at 1:30 and were in the air shortly after that.  Anyone that knows me knows that I have high anxiety when it comes to flying.  I hate being up in the air, but because of my son I had to have a brave face.  However, this trip was actually one of my better ones, probably because I knew the pilot.  I felt safe in the air and only had to deal with my son being scared.  He was super excited until the plane started going really fast and then went up in the air.  He grabbed my leg and then was holding on to the cup holder for dear life, but he eventually relaxed and did some homework and of course talked the whole way.  Not sure where he gets it from!!!! :) 

We finally landed at Aviation Landmark in Dallas, TX around 3:10.  It was much nicer than driving there.  My parents picked us up at the airport and then took us to the hotel.  I'm not sure you can call the The Westin a hotel, it was extremely nice.  The mall was attached to it so it was huge.  I don't remember how many floors there were, but we were on the 16th floor, which was really high.  The room was gorgeous and the view was magnificent.  We didn't get to hang out at the hotel for very long because we had to head over to the Rangers Stadium for the K-State pep rally.  It was about a 30 minute drive from the hotel and of course we hit rush hour traffic.  The pep rally was filled with people, there was no where for us to sit so we had to stand.  The pep rally was good, but too long for Dalton.  The cocktails afterwards were great though.  We went to the Diamond Club in Rangers Stadium for the party.  It was awesome; they handed us Raspberry champagne as soon as we walked in the door, which of course made it purple.  There were people all over the place and buffet lines galore.  There was cheese, spinach dip, buffalo chicken, cookies, brownies, etc.  It was so good.  We got home before 10, which was nice.

The next day we had free time until 3:30.  I really wanted to go to the aquarium, however it was 14 miles from the hotel, we would have needed to take a taxi cab and unfortunately in Dallas, cabs are expensive.  It was going to cost us $60 one way, which is absolutely ridiculous.  So instead we just walked around the mall.  We only went in a few shops, but I had the most delectable ice cream (peanut butter cups, reeses pieces, and a scoop of peanut butter); blew my diet with that meal.  We went back to our room to nap and wait for 3:30 to roll around.  Then we headed over to Jerry's World aka Cowboy's Stadium!!!!

This is where the story gets exciting.  We got to the stadium and made our way down to the club level.  I've never been inside the workings of a stadium, it was awesome.  It was a long walk, but we finally made it.  There was complimentary food and drinks being served and we got to see the field right in front of us.  Dalton was in heaven.  He stood at the gate and just stared and stared.  I even got a picture of him touching the field.  He was super excited.  We got to be down there until 6:30 which was awesome because we got to see so many things.  Dalton was watching the jumbo tron above and Fox Sports News came over and starting video taping him.  They said it would air later, but no one ever saw him on the tv, which was a bummer.  Then Willie the Wildcat came over and Dalton got him to autograph his shirt.  It was awesome and we all took a picture with him.  Then a special guest by the name of Eric Stonestreet (aka Cameron on Modern Family) came over.  I had my sharpie ready for him to sign my ticket and as I got ready to hand him my sharpie he said "I have my own, would you like me to sign your pen?"  I laughed and said no, would you sign my ticket.  Funny guy.  Not only was Dalton in heaven with all the excitement, but I was too.  Never had an actor's autograph before. 

At 6:30 we had to go up to our seats which were in Section 336 and right on the 50 yd line.  We had a great view of the field and the jumbo tron.  The bad news is K-State didn't win, but to me that's only a minor problem.  The excitement of just being there was enough.  There is always next year, so I'm not worried; this was a year to build and I think they need a little more confidence in themselves.  Left the game a little early to avoid traffic which was a good plan, but didn't get home until 11:40.  Dalton was out in the car, woke him up to make it upstairs and then he was out again.  Big day with great adventures. 

We left Saturday morning after breakfast at the hotel for the airport.  We were early and had time to kill.  Wasn't long before Noel and Mary and the rest of the crew showed up and we were ready to go.  Quick flight back to Topeka and we were on our way to Manhattan to drop my grandma back off.  Then back home to KC.  Happy trails and EMAW no matter what the outcome!!!!!

The Beginning of my Organization

So I'm looking around the room thinking to myself, my child is asleep, the cats are asleep and there isn't a sound in the house. Guess it's time to do some cleaning/organizing.

I ordered an "Under the bed shoe organizer" from Walmart.com about a week ago and picked it up on Saturday at the store. Totally worth it!!!! I decided to get off my rump and put it together. When I first opened it, it wasn't exactly what I expected because it was very flimsy. I was starting to worry, what did I spend money on and why didn't the picture on the front look like what I was looking at in front of me. I placed it up on the bed and put shoes in it, but got frustrated that my shoes weren't staying in the correct rectangles so I moved it to the floor. That meant I had to clean the floor around my bed to actually lay it on the ground, another accomplishment!!! (I'm on a roll!) Technically all that was on the floor were the said shoes I'm trying to organize.

After putting the organizer on the floor and putting one shoe in flat and the other in sideways, the bag began to fill up to it's actual size and my shoes were no longer shifting around. After I had put in all my shoes (we're talking a 16 slot shoe organizer that, naturally I fit 22 pairs in to) in the bag I thought what if I put shoe boxes in each slot to help it keep it's form, but because I try to recycle all that stuff I only had 1 shoebox which did fit perfectly in one spot. This is when I'm thanking my mother for small feet- size 7! Although after looking at it I'm not sure I could fit another box in there next to it, but at least it helps keep it's form. My goal is to get 3 more boxes and put them at each corner, but, oh wait, that means I need to buy 3 more pairs of shoes. Hehehe!!!!

The fact is I finally got my frequently worn shoes organized and off my floor. Plus, they are not only organized but will be dust and cobweb free thanks to the zippered top. Now it's time to organize all the rest of my shoes that I don't frequently wear. Hmmmm... where do I put those?

My New Toy

My new toy is a Cupcake maker that my sister gave to me for Christmas. It's absolutely awesome and I used it for the first time today. I mixed the cupcake mixture just like normal and put them into liners while I waited for the cupcake machine to warm up. This machine holds 6 cupcakes and you fill the liners like normal, although I think next time I will fill them just halfway instead of 3/4. I like the rounded tops the best and I had quite a few that cracked at the top. They cook for only 10 minutes which is awesome. I wonder though if I can refrigerate the batter and make them only when I feel like it. The batter makes a total of 24 cupcakes which would take me 40 minutes using the machine or only 22 minutes in the oven. The bad thing about the oven is I always seem to burn them on the top, they are even more coneheaded and sometimes they aren't cooked all the way through. This little machine is awesome and the color and shape of the cupcakes is perfect. Can't wait to take them tonight for my friends to feast on. Now just need to figure out how to decorate them!!! Thank you Charity for getting me this gift. I really love it!!!

New Years Eve 2011

It's New Years Eve and I'm sitting here on the couch looking around my living room thinking to myself, I've been on vacation since the 24th and I haven't accomplished half the things that I intended to have done. Why do I set such large goals, but then not finish them in a timely manner? Well I'm only human so maybe my goals are too large for me to handle.

I've decided to Declutter not only my house, but my life as well. After thinking long and hard about the things I have there are so many more important things out there and my focus needs to shift to those things. I need to think more about my health in the future for my son and my family, and my sanity for that matter. I don't work well when things are chaotic. So I guess in all my ramblings I'm trying to get to my New Years Resolutions. Well here goes:

1) Declutter my house- I will be using a declutter calendar that I found on a blog that I have printed out, will complete each days task and cross it off. I have to have the accountability to finish the tasks.
2) Spend more time with my family- Need I say more here. I know that I spend a lot of time now with my family, but to me time is of an essence. You never know when something may change and I want to take every opportunity I have to be with them.
3) Exercise more- This comes with saying that I want to complete my first 5k in April when the weather gets warmer.
4) Craft more- I really want my little side business to take off. I, first, need to build up my products. Sewing and knitting are both very relaxing to me and I need to take full advantage of it.
And last but not least...
5) Spend less, Save more money- Trying very hard to build up my savings and such. Heard a commercial the other day for a company called Rich Dad and they were saying that you shouldn't save money in today's economic crisis, but that's just crazy because when things go back to normal those people won't have a dime to their name. I'm sorry, but I'm saving and will continue.

I guess that's all for my first post of 2012. I can't believe it's a new year already!!!