Moving!!!

We are moving!!!

Been in Oregon for two years and it is time we bought a house.  We have a couple rentals up in Washington and we are missing home ownership.  Now that we have a closing date it is time to get our stuff together!!

So we are five weeks out from moving.  I have moved every two years since 2001 and have learned a few things.


First, start early.  It can suck to live in a house that isn't decorated or not have all of your stuff accessible but it really pays off when you get closer to the move date.  Nothing sucks more than leaving it all till the end and having to scramble to get out of your house.  Then comes the mad dash to clean everything. 

If you start packing in advance, a little bit everyday and the week before knock out the rest; you can spend the right amount of time cleaning out your old space and preparing yourself to move everything into your new spot.

Also, always remember that once moved in and unpacked you are going to have a lot of waste to deal with.  Boxes, packing peanuts or packing paper are always abundant after a move.  To limit the amount of waste that you are creating take that into account when backing.  For example, use extra sheets and towels as packing stuffing.




This limits waste while at the same time condensing the number of boxes you will need (no need for an additional box to pack your linens in).

DIY Table Rehab

Side table for $10...WWHHHAATTT!!!

I don’t know if my husband and I have ever purchased furniture new.  Well actually we have, two pieces were purchased new: bed and couch.  Everything else is garage sell, thrift store, or free.  This is one such project.

We purchased a house on a short sell and it was full of old stuff.  One of the left over goods was a side table.

Simply sand off the top layer of stain or poly urethane.  This specific piece of furniture is not solid.  It is a plywood of some sort.  That being said, I was not able to sand it down as far as I might have liked.  I started with 80 grit to get that layer of polyurethane off and then when up from there.

Then simply add the stain.  Make sure to go the direction of the grain, let stain sit, and then wipe off.

If you have some residual polyurethane you will see immediately where the stain isn’t taking.  Since this isn’t a show piece and just a simple side table I wont re-sand it.  However that would be the next step if we wanted a more consistent stain.  Re-sand and then re-stain.

 

 

Project is done!  It is a easy one, little bit of elbow grease but can make a huge difference!  For me, this total investment was $10!!  Not too shabby! 

ps don't mind the dirt in all the pictures.  My husband was doing some potting and didn't clean up :)

Afternoon Adventure

Just a fun note about a fun day!!

It is always fun to indulge your whims every now and again.  It can help keep things young and fresh. 

This past weekend my husband and I took a little adventure up the mountain.  Now we weren't able to actually get out and enjoy the outdoors like we wanted too (freezing on top of Mount Hood in May) but we still had and adventure.


The drive out was a fun time for us to chat and re-connect.  With the hustle and bustle of our weekly lives, it is incredibly hard to make time for each other and really connect.  So this is why taking time to do things fun will enliven your spirit.

All work and no play makes Sarah a dull dull girl!!

Make time to have fun everyone!!

Health Quest Update

Healthy living update.

So I have been keeping up the discipline on eating...whahoo.  Well I did go a little off the ranch with candy over Easter, but all in all I am doing good.  I have a vegetable juice for breakfast and a snack throughout the day.  This really does great things for my energy.

I haven’t found a really great way to incorporate exercise now that I am back at work.  I am not getting 3 runs in a week.  When I am off work, all I want to do is spend time with my son.  Then when he is asleep, it is 8pm or later and I don’t want to go for a run.  So I have started just doing push-ups and situps and the strength training routine.  I have to do something, but right now I can’t figure out how to get carido in.  I could do it in the morning, however Remy is not sleeping all the way through the night so I need every last minute in the morning that I can get.

However I am still making progress.  Slow progress, but progress nonetheless.  Since the middle of February I have lost 7lbs, three inches off of my waist and 1 inch off of my thighs.  A little bit more exercise and activity and I think I can speed up the pounds per week.  (Can you tell I have no patience!!!)

Anyone out there have their own tricks of the trade when it comes to losing weight while breastfeeding a four month old?

Compartmentalize!!

Keeping your cool and keeping the right attitude.

Compartmentalize!!  My husband and I chat all the time about how we want our son to perceive us.  How will he view us as parents and people and how will he feel we treated him.  Just like every parent out there, we want him to be proud we are his parents, we want him to to feel loved, and feel that we were full of joy when we were with him.  However life has a way of getting in the way.

A bad day at work, getting your teeth pulled, argument with friends/family, etc etc.  Anything can turn a positive attitude into a negative one.  But what do we do to prevent that negative attitude from seeping into our relationships with our childern?  The same thing that keeps it from seeping into other relationships, compartmentalize.

When we have a burned, say a bad day at work, treat it almost like a thing and living entity.  When we come home, take that burden and put it down for a while.  Don’t forget it, just set it down for a couple hours.  Even put a time limit, I will smile play and forget for 1 hour.  I then can pick up the issues of the bad day, share with my husband etc.  I try to make sure when my son sees me, he sees a smile.  My husband has a great technique.

Whenever Rudy is feeling down, but needs to provide care and love for our son, he just smiles.  It starts out as a creepy forced smile and then turns into a genuine smile.  FAKE IT WILL YOU MAKE IT!!

I don’t ever try to forget my problems or negative feelings.  I just do my best to remember that I don’t always have to feel bad, sad, frustrated etc.  When I am with my son that is the perfect time to put down the burden of negative feelings just for a moment.  Share a smile with him, play and laugh.  Then, after some time, I can pick up my burden again.  Sometimes I feel that I can leave that burden and don’t have to come back to it which is great.  Other times, I do have to come back to it pick it up and address.  The most important part is that it becomes my option and my baby will always look at me and see a smile.

Health Quest Update: Juicing!!!

Juice juice juice!  My health quest is still under way.  In total I  have lost  40 lbs.  Just another 12 to go and I will be at my weight prior to getting pregnant.  Yeah.  It isn’t happening as fast as I would like but it is rolling along and I can see progress every week.  This week I want to see if I can give my weight lost a  little bit of a boost and am doing a juice fast.  Hold the negative thinking, I am only going to do it for 3 days, and I am going to be getting nuts to make sure I am getting all the essential fatty acids  that I need for good milk production.  We purchased a Cuisinart Juicer from Best Buy and so far have been extremely happy with it.  We messed around with it last night and today.  After I use it a bit longer I will do a review.

Well I took off a pound in 3 days.  I did need to supplement my diet with nuts, however I felt great.  All those vegetables boosted my energy through the roof.  I would recommend it to anyone and will continue juicing myself!

 

The Cuisinart is working great.  I do think it isn't going to last a year with regular juicing.  I don't think that it was built for daily juicing over a long period of time.  I think this because even now, every now and again it struggles with some of the vegetables.  However, for the price and the performance we are getting out of it right now, I couldn't be happier!

 

Pack-n-Play Review

Handy tools for traveling!!

As I had said before, we took our first family adventure this past weekend.  One tool we couldn’t live without is our Pack & Play:

This is our exact version.  The Pack-n-Play breaks down into a handy duffle bag size.  It easily compresses and the internal parts act as the carrying case.  You can carry it with one hand.  It disassembles and assembles quickly.  It cleans up easily, the sides wipe down and you can put a sheet over the bassinet part.  Finally, there is a diaper changing station.  I don’t like using that though.  Remy doesn’t fit comfortably in that portion.  I prefer just to change Remy on a bed or on the floor.  The sleeping portion is awesome though!

This was exceptionally handy for us because Remy slept well and comfortably.  I would recommend the Pack-nPlay to all new moms.