Out with the old, in with the new.

I like lists. I'm a list-maker. I'm pretty sure I've made lists of the lists I need to make. It's probably the biggest reason I enjoy writing my goals for the year when January rolls around and this year I ended up writing 3 or 4 lists of goals. There is the list of personal goals that will happen over the course of a year (keep losing weight, learn to really use my camera and take more pictures, sew more, build more, cook more, socialize more, etc). Then there is the list of goals for our family which always includes what big "project" we want to tackle (last year was replacing all of our flooring and baseboard). A crafting goal list (skirts for me, dresses and pants for C, many more quilts, the pillowcases I bought fabric for 2 years ago...) and finally, FINALLY, the list of twelve things I want to do. This is the "12 Things To Do In 2012" list. My plan is to pick one thing to do each month so that even if I don't cross ANYTHING off of my other lists, at least these 12 simple things will happen. 

12 in 2012

1. Plant a Tree
2. Build a playhouse (or an outdoor sectional. or a kitchen table.)
3. Go on a trip (without family and without visiting family!)
4. Start and finish a quilt
5. Potty train Cora
6. Post on the blog every day for a month
7. Move C into her big girl room
8. Finally organize the office top to bottom
9. Go Camping
10. Finish caulking/sanding/painting all of the baseboard in our house
11. Change my hair color
12. Compile a proper recipe book

 

I'm off to a pretty good start I think since I finally re-started a quilt for a friend's baby girl. I'm about 80% done with the piecing and I bought material for the backing and binding today...I'm quite sure that the quilt which was meant to be a baby shower gift will be done by the end of January (only 11 or so months late) so it can be a 1st birthday gift! This year is off to a good start.

Breathing a little easier

 The end is in sight and graduation is just around the corner. Today we gave ourselves a few minutes to breathe and Gary took C on a walk to the mailbox. She loves doing this (in case you can't tell by the look on her face) and I was excited that she got to take her new winter hat out for a spin in the chilly evening air.

Just Popping In For A Shameless Plug

Hey guys. I'm taking a quick break from finals (and facebook. and tv. and pinterest.) to ask for a little help. One of my classes this semester is a blogging course. Since I wasn't allowed to use this blog for my assignments I had to create a new one. Which is cool, because I'm actually super excited about it, and while I'm pretty restricted on how/what I write, in a few weeks I will be FREE to do what I want fer realsies!!

www.OurPatchofGrass.com

Anyway, if you get a chance and want to be cool, maybe you can follow me on over there? And leave a comment if you feel so inclined? It would make me look super awesome and my teacher would probably be impressed. Thanks in advance...I'll put in a good word with the mall Santa for all of you!

My Life This Week

Sick baby.
Family member in the hospital.
Huge part of senior capstone project due (and STILL not done.)
More sick baby.
Not sleeping at night (thanks to sick baby.)
Too much caffeine. 
More homework.

Here's to officially entering "survival mode" for the next three weeks. Huzzah.

Oh, and when you are drowning in a sea of Too-Much-To-Do, you should NOT decided to redo your gallery wall...inevitably you will only get it half-done and the sick baby will want to play with/break the remaining  frames you've abandoned on the floor.

A bit of this and that.

1. I think I am turning into an 80-year-old because today I told Gary that at the top of my Christmas wish list was a really nice iron with steam settings so I can properly iron flat my seams while quilting. I also informed him that I am going to become the kind of person who wears shawls when it's cold and I'm looking forward to a post-dinner treat of ginger snap crisps with a small glass of milk. All I need now are some dentures and a walker with tennis balls on the legs.

2. I'm pretty sure I may be turning the corner on this illness! I'm not sure if I've written about it here but I tested positive for Epstein-Barr virus a few months ago...basically it just makes me tired. And not just tired but exhausted, and I feel that way all. of. the. time. Like, I'll sleep for 8 hours, wake up for an hour, nap for 2 hours, wake up for a couple hours, nap for another hour or two...going to the grocery store felt like running some kind of crazy marathon and just being up and playing with C took every bit of energy in me. Usually this is supposed to run its course in a few weeks but my fatigue has lingered...and lingered...and lingered. BUT, for the last three days I've only  needed one nap per day, which is kind of a HUGE deal.

3. All of this new-found energy is being diverted primarily into school, BUT I did get a few things done around the house! I actually got some Fall/Thanksgiving-ish decorations up on my bookshelves:

 

Candles wrapped with scrapboook paper and twine, a old junky frame strung with wire to pin on paper ephemera, and pumpkins and gourds I painted and glazed a few years ago meant I managed to decorate without spending a dime (hollah!) Also, if you're interested, the "give thanks" sign is just a canvas I wrapped in brown wrapping paper. I do this a lot with extra canvases around holidays...saves me from having to buy/make elaborate seasonal art!

SNL and Seam Rippers

Only a mother's love would compel me to stay up into the wee hours of the morning watching SNL and sewing C a new skirt for church tomorrow.

That and my inexplicable need to match outfits with my baby girl. I don't understand it, but I'm not fighting it.

Too Many Choices!

So I mentioned that C's big girl room needs to come together like, yesterday. We're moving her into a bigger room across the hall which is CRAZY exciting because:
* Um, hello! I get to decorate a whole new room. It's like Christmas has come early!
* The space is already painted with the flooring AND baseboard installed (though I do need to sand/touch-up paint/caulk half of the base still) so I pretty much just have to move in furniture and get to the fun part of decorating.
* Her nursery was painted before we knew if we were have a boy or girl so it was blue. And while I LOVE that blue, I'm excited to do something a little more girly and polished for this room, because frankly, it's only going to be a few years before she decides she is emo or into Pokemon or whatever annoying things the youths are into these days. I'm dreading the day when she gets to decide how to decorate her own space.
*There are FOUR walls!!! And three of them are big walls! Her nursery is the smallest room in the house and it has two normal walls, one wall that is all closet doors, two weird slanty walls and one wall with a window stuck on one side of it. It was a space-planning nightmare. There are so many possibilities with this new room!
* The closet doors are already painted with chalkboard paint so we can start drawing as soon as she moves in!

And also, there are about a million more reasons why this is exciting. I think about it all of the time. All. Of. The. Time.

BUT I need some help...I've been planning on a pink and aqua bedroom for a while because it feels feminine without being too girly. And then I started seeing more and more rooms that I *might* like better. Now I'm all confused. I'm like the girl on Say Yes To The Dress who can't pick a wedding dress because there may be a prettier more perfect dress out there.

So here is my starting point with the pink and aqua. Let me know what you think!  

Via Ohdeedoh

Via The Lark Blog

Via Shelterness

Via A Beautiful Mess

Via Lay Baby Lay

Source Unknown (but if you know who deserves credit PLEASE let me know!)

This post is already getting too long, so I'll be back another day with the other color options I am considering...until then, feel free to weigh in on the pink and teal. What do you think? I feel like it may be overdone and I don't want to get tired of it too fast. Is it too girly?