If You're Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hands

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Did anyone watch biggest loser last night?  I LOVE THAT SHOW! It's so motivating and inspiring to watch.  Last night the contestants got to go home for 1 week and they had to bike a marathon.  What a HUGE accomplishment for each of them! Everyone finished! Everyone also did really well on their weight loss, the most losing 14 pounds in just a week! AMAZING!!

Tristan has a couple new "tricks".  :-)  His cute trick is HUGGING.  He has a HUGE bear that my mom got for him, and he walks up to it and hugs it - it's adorable! His version of hugging is to lay his head down on the bear and "pat" it.  It's so funny but SO CUTE!  Yesterday he even "hugged" our cat Allie.  He's so sweet!  His 2nd trick is CLAPPING! I've been trying to get him to clap for forever! FINALLY yesterday at Best Buy he decided to clap. YAY!  Shelby and I are standing in the middle of the store cheering for him and clapping with him.  I'm sure we looked silly but we didn't care!  ha ha

Shelby and I have made a good pit of progress towards our move this week.  It was starting to get a  little overwhelming, but we've managed to move past some of that frustration.  I know some of you are reading this and probably wondering, "why are you so stressed out and overwhelmed?".  It might seem stupid to some of you.  I know that being stressed out isn't going to make the process any easier - and I'm trying really hard to stay calm and go with the flow, so to speak.  The frustrating part is that nobody has any answers.  At the beginning of the week Shelby and I were seriously clueless about alot of things.  Important things.  We're slowly finding out (well, we already knew this.. so I guess we're just being reminded) that one person doesn't know what the other person is doing.  For example: there could be 2 people working in the same office, one person tells you one thing and then the other tells you something completely different.  When you try to clarify, each person acts like they have no clue what the other is talking about.  It's really hard to get answers that way.  With most things being on a deadline, it makes it a little stressful when you can't get the answer about what you're supposed to do.  What is really frustrating is that you can't handle this stuff yourself.  You have to go thru someone else who is also clueless about what needs to be done.  It's just a big mess.  Thankfully Shelby was able to call someone himself and get some answers about our car.  We also got a call yesterday that our housing application had been received in Hawaii.  Things are slowly coming together.. it's just so nice to have ANSWERS and not wander around clueless all the time. :)

I just checked my calendar and I've gone 2.5 months with NO SODA so far.  I've passed my goal of 1 month by quite a bit :) That's a nice accomplishment!

Lists, Lists, and more Lists

I have been a list makin' machine this week.  I've made a enormous list of all the work tasks I need to complete before I leave and I also created a moving checklist which I broke down into "Phases" so that it didn't seem so overwhelming. (the list is 3 pages long..typed)  I think I see all the things I have to accomplish in just a few short months and it's sort of sending me into a small panic.  I have spent my entire week (this week) trying to organize my thoughts, my ideas, my plans, and my sanity.  Thank goodness for Organize Now! by Jennifer Ford Berry.  Girl, you're amazing!

With help from her book, I've been able to organize my mind, my schedule, my cleaning schedule, and my priorities.  This leaves me room to organize other things, which are very important - especially when you have a cross country move fastly approaching.

I organized my crazy mind - basically by coming up with a plan to get rid of CLUTTER!  Clutter drives me insane, and causes me to be very unproductive.  Clutter also just takes up too much space.  I have come up with a 6 Phase Plan (again with the Phases) to get rid of all the clutter in my house.  I know you're probably thinking, "Geez.. a freakin' 6 Phase Plan?!?"  ha ha - YEP!  If you know anything about me, you'll know this is the craziness I come up with.  Very structured and very organized.  ;-) By writing things down and coming up with these "plans" it helps me clear out my mind.  I've constantly got millions of projects and ideas running around up there.. so anytime I can get it down on paper it's good for me :)  One of the good things about this de-clutter plan, it will help me get rid of all random stuff I don't need to pack when we move! See - I'm killin' two birds with one stone!

I totally revamped my cleaning schedule.  It just wasn't working - and I think i was in denial about it not working.  I wrote down the basic things we do (chore wise) day to day or week to week.  Nothing extra.  I took that list and made my revised, and actually much simpler, cleaning schedule.  I'm quite pleased with it! It's extremely practical and SIMPLE. 

As far as my priorities go, I've never really sat down and wrote them out.  I tried to be very basic - only using one or two words to describe what my priorities are.  For example, My Husband, My Son, My Job, My Family, etc.  Things like that.  After I made my list of priorities (I was supposed to come up with 10, but I have 11.. ha ha) I wrote down the things that motivate me and the things I want to accomplish in my life.  Naturally, it all kinda tied into my list of priorities.  The last thing I did was write down what activities I currently participate in and then I compared it to my list if priorities to see if there were any things that didn't match up.  I can see some areas in which I need to improve in order to give my priorities the attention they deserve, so mission accomplished!

I think Monday I'm gonna start on cleaning out my clutter, getting rid of things we no longer need or use, and start packing the things we don't need right now.  I've basically got my game plan, so now all I have to do is START. 

This week I also updated my resume.  It looks really nice! I found an awesome template and then I just filled in all my information.  Very clean, very crisp, very professional looking.  I have found a few jobs I'd like to apply for, so I think I'm gonna start doing that as well.  I just hope and pray I find a job before we move!!!

STRESS - STRESS - STRESS

Well, we’ve moved. Yesterday was a very long day. Shelby and Ryan killed themselves moving 2 houses – and the moving is still not finished. Some of our things are still at our old house and some of their things are still at the new house. I think we are all procrastinators and we didn’t plan well enough. Ha ha.

The people who own the house we just moved into are going to San Diego for a while. I’m not exactly sure for how long. It was so strange walking Holly, the wife, out of her own house last night! I felt kinda sad .. like I was kicking her out. She will be over today because she still has some things to gather – so I will see her again today. She’s so nice.

I can’t help but feel a little stressed out today. I feel like I have so much stuff to do and I don’t really know where to start! Not to mention Tristan started a new daycare today .. So that was stressful on its own. I still have to get the cable and internet turned off at the old house – clean the old house – pay our bills – unpack the new house – work full time – care for my wonderful Tristan – the list just goes on and on and on …. I’m starting to realize the toll that animals can take on a house and furniture. Our BOY cat, Satch, had a spraying problem when he was a kitten and he sprayed our house. We got our couch from the old house and it smelled like cat pee! Ugh it makes me so upset! I guess the smell is STILL there .. we just didn’t know?! I don’t even know where to start to get the smell out. I could just cry – I HATE PET SMELLS! I am so embarrassed .. Shelby said our house smells like pet smells too (the old one). I don’t know what to do  Shelby said we will probably have to replace the carpet. $$$$$$ I think once these pets are gone – I probably won’t get any more for a while. Does anyone else have this type of problem – or EVER had this type of problem? I could really use some advice!!

I feel like I want to vent – I’m so tense and stressed out! I know “this too shall pass” and we’ll get everything done and organized and we can relax, etc .. but I can’t even begin to tell you when that will be! I think I’m just tired too – that makes things harder to handle, right? I’ve gotten maybe 10 hours of sleep TOTAL the past 2 nights. I’m so exhausted. I also didn’t take my medicine last night – It was still at the old house. (see, I have to talk to myself and tell myself WHY I might be feeling a certain way .. ha ha)

ANYWAYS – I don’t want to put a damper on your day by listening to me ramble about being stressed! Once we make some progress on the new house I’ll post some pictures. I might not be online much this week just because we are so busy and the internet isn’t hooked up at the new house yet.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful week!

Ok - Moving SERIOUSLY Sucks!

OH. MY. WORD. I am completely exhausted.  I have been packing my house for the past 2 days - and I KNOW there is still more I need to do.  The thing is - I just don't care anymore!  Well, that's a lie - I'm totally stressing out about the things STILL not done .. but what can I possibly do now?!

My house is a complete disaster! So much so that I am NOT gonna post a picture - you might turn me in to the "America's Messiest House" TV show or something!

Tomorrow I have to go back to work, but Shelby and Ryan (our new landlord) are gonna be moving.  Ryan and his wife Holly are going to be moving their things OUT of their house, then they are coming to OUR house to move our things into THEIR house - does this make sense?  ha ha.  I think Holly is working tomorrow too - so it's just gonna be the guys.  I feel sooo bad for them! I think I'm gonna bring them some lunch or dinner tomorrow.  I hate to say it - but I'm kinda glad I'm working.  (is that selfish?!)

OK - enough about moving .. today I was at Target and they have their WONDERFUL FALL snack cakes in stock!  My favorites are the Pumpkin Face cakes.  I call them Pumpkin Face cakes, I know that's not their "real name" , but that's OK.  ha ha.  

Ok -I HAVE to go to bed.  I will post more tomorrow and catch up on what everyone blogged about this weekend.  I hope everyone had a WONDERFUL SUNDAY!  

P.S. - Lyndsay - I'm sad we're moving away from you guys!  Tell Lucca that Tristan will miss him, but will see him often (hopefully).

Night all!! :)

Not Making Much Progress

Well - 2 more FULL days until we move and we have maybe 25% of our house packed.  Ahh! Tonight I'm going to hit it hard.  My parents will be here tomorrow evening, so they can play with Tristan while I finish up.  Shelby is working tonight, but when he gets home I think he's gonna help me.  He leaves tomorrow to go out of town for one night, so he'll be back on Sunday.  Then, MONDAY we move!

Our Dining Room is now full of boxes ...

So is the main hallway ...

But have no fear, Molly is here to help!!

One of my favorite rooms in our house is our kitchen.  The cabinets are HUGE and have so much storage space. I also have a wonderful pantry :)  I can't remember what the kitchen is like in our new house - I'm thinking it's a little smaller.  That's OK though - I don't use all the room I have now anyways.  

What's YOUR favorite room in your house?

Tuesday Ramblings :)

I wanted to thank everyone who thought of us and prayed for us about the babysitter situation for Tristan. We were able to secure a spot for him with a day care provider (in home) on base. He starts Monday. :) I'm trying SO hard not to feel nervous and stressed. It's hard leaving your baby with someone you don't know. I want to be there with him every second of the day and I just can't. This week he is staying with my friend and he seems to be doing fine. It's only been one day though. Hopefully today goes well too. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!!

We cleaned out the attic yesterday in preparation for the move. I didn't realize we had so many RANDOM empty boxes. I was like, "Why didn't we throw this crap away?!" We have empty boxes for our apple computer, our trash can, our fan .. just random stuff. The totally hilarious thing is (can you sense my sarcasm) that we have NO MOVING BOXES! They have managed to disappear. Ha ha ha ha ha .. hilarious, huh? I'm hoping we just stashed them somewhere else. I will have to see :)

So I'm looking for a sugar free iced coffee that I can drink - that actually tastes good. I like the Iced Caramel Coffee from McDonalds and I LOVE Caramel Fraps from Starbucks. But, they are loaded with sugar. I tried a Skinny Iced Vanilla Latte this morning and it was OK. (From Starbucks). It's not as sweet as I'd like, so I had to put some splenda in it. I could probably handle it but I'd like to have something that tastes a little better. Any suggestions?!

My husband gave me a "honey do" list for today. ha ha! My assignments are as follows:

1. Call JEA and change our service from the OLD house to the NEW house starting 9-1-09
2. Contact Direct TV and see if we can cancel our service. IF NOT, have it moved to the new house.
3. Contact Comcast and do the same thing
4. Reserve a UHaul Truck - DONE

Only three more things to do and the list is DONE! woohoo! ;)

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Super Sunday :)

One more week left until the big MOVE! I will be relying on my trusty TO DO list. We have so much work to do - we haven't even started packing yet! That will be my assignment during the evenings this week. It shouldn't be too hard - the hard part will be not hanging out with Tristan all evening. I love my little guy!

I told you I was a list maker, right?!

Tristan is growing more and more every day!!!! He actually stood up on his own at church today :) He was so cute! I can't believe how interactive he has been these past few days. It's like he's changed into a BIG BOY over nite!!

Standing up like a big boy!

I was going to post some more, but my husband is in a very cranky mood this evening. I will have to do this another time. I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

You Think You Know, But You Have NO Idea

Friday my babysitter quit. It came out of NOWHERE! Now we're having to scramble and find someone to watch Tristan. We have someone lined up thru the base - we just have to jump thru all those hoops, etc. My friend Sarah is HOPEFULLY gonna be able to watch him for a few days until I can get everything worked out. She's a total lifesaver!

I'm having some trouble with my mouth again. When I was pregnant my teeth really suffered, which is something that just happens to come people, and now they are starting to bother me again. I have one tooth that is broke and probably just needs to be pulled that has been bothering me ALL DAY. Pain medicine really doesn't make it stop hurting which is so freaking annoying! My new dental insurance is supposed to be in effect starting Sept 1 - it can't come soon enough! Just P L E A S E pray that I have some relief. I keep telling God, "I'm going to the dentist - I PROMISE .. I don't need you to remind me by having my mouth hurt!" ha ha. I don't think he's heard me yet. Should I ask louder?! ha ha - just kidding ;)

Well we've got one more full week until the MOVE! Yaaaay! I have my packing and unpacking schedule already made up. Today I have been cleaning the house. It was a disaster! whew! I moved a couch that we're getting rid of out into the garage. Shelby is gonna come home and be pretty shocked that I moved it I think - ha ha. I just wanted it done and sometimes you just have to do things yourself! Am I right?? I'm sure he would have gladly moved it for me - LoL.

My little Tristan is growing like a WEED!! In the past week he's done two new tricks (as I call them .. ha ha). He can now ROLL OVER - both ways (from his stomach to his back, and to his back from his stomach). Lately he has to sleep either on his side or his stomach. I can't believe this changed happened within just a matter of days! He can also hold his bottle - if he wants to :) I think it depends on how hungry he is. He's like "GIVE ME THIS THING" and holds it himself sometimes. So grown up! He is such a happy baby - I cannot stress that enough.

Well, my break is OVER! Back to finishing up my cleaning! Goodnight everyone! :)

MOVING

Well, in a few weeks we'll be moving - again :) We're moving to Orange Park, FL .. which is closer to where Shelby and I both work. Right now we live kinda far away from EVERYTHING that we do - so this is going to be so nice for us. We will save a fortune in gas!

We've known for a few weeks now that we're going to be moving - but we haven't even started packing yet! I told Shelby I don't want to take one weekend and pack everything in those 2 days and wear ourselves out. It sucks having do cram everything into one weekend - and not very smart on our part. So, I guess we've waited long enough and THIS WEEKEND we really need to start!

We have a lot of things that we've never used. We're probably gonna be getting rid of a few things. We might try to sell some of it on Craig's List. Has anyone ever sold anything on Craig's List? Was it easy?? A yard sale would be nice, but I don't really like watching people sort through my things - it's just weird. I'd rather them look at my stuff when I'm not standing right there watching them pass judgement on everything that I own!

I'm trying to stay positive, but I'm kinda dreading the thought of packing everything and moving it. It's SUCH HARD WORK! Now we have Tristan - so I don't know how easy it will be trying to watch him and move everything. We're tough, so I'm sure we'll manage :)

Do you ever wonder why it is that you make friend with someone right before you move?? We've lived in our house ALMOST 2 years, and in the past month or so I've finally made a friend with the girl who lives across the street. Now we're moving! That tends to be my luck.. ha ha :)

I hope everyone is having a great day! It's ALMOST the weekend!!! Yay! Shelby is working tonight, tomorrow night, and Saturday night until about midnight. So, it's just gonna be me and Tristan in the evenings. Maybe I can take advantage of that time and get things ready to move? I might try and put Tristan to bed a little earlier and knock some of it out. It all depends on how tired I am by then!! :)