0 Un-hoarding My College Bedroom!

There is kind of a long back story involved in this post, so I'm just going to start with Hurricane Katrina. Well, actually, I am going to start even earlier than that. I was born in Oklahoma, where my parents are from. We moved to Louisiana when I was four, and for some reason I harbored this hard core love for Oklahoma until about high school when it wore off a bit. Once I was in high school, things were kind of rough at home between me and my mom, and like most people who grow up in a relatively small town, I just wanted to leave. Which meant that I did not want to go to LSU just 45 minutes down the interstate. So I opted to go to Oklahoma State University, since I still had friends and family in Oklahoma that would be reasonably close if I ever needed help, or was homesick, etc. It seemed like a good fit between distancing myself from my parents, but still being close to some extended family if I needed them. Off I went to OSU in the August of 2005, and during my first week of classes, Katrina ravaged my hometown. 

Six very tall Louisiana pine trees fell on top of my house, causing extensive damage to the roof. My parents got the roof fixed, but decided that it might be time to leave Mandeville since I didn't live there anymore. (My parents never cared much for Louisiana, but stayed so that I didn't have to move away from my super amazing best friend neighbors, and my friends from school.) My dad had been with his company for 15 years by this point, so he was ready for a change. They decided to look into moving back to the Tulsa area to be closer to me and their old friends, and away from coastal hurricanes. (But what about tornados, right?!) I found an awesome house on 12 acres north of Tulsa and my parents bought it in 2006. 

One of the rooms was painted like a watermelon, and since I was very much into hot pink at the time, it was designated as my room. I never really lived in this room; it was just where I stayed when I came home for weekends sometimes during my years at OSU. Once I moved to Washington, my mom ended up "decorating" it for me with lots of things I left behind from college and my old room in Louisiana. 

For those that don't know, my mom has a huge  bit of a problem with holding onto things. Every single thing she's ever bought, or her mom has bought, or I have bought, reminds her of something and basically no one is allowed to ever get rid of anything that comes through her doors. 

While I am here in my sort-of old bedroom, my goal is to redecorate and un-hoard all of the ugly and/or useless things floating around in this room. 

And now, if you are still with me after that long history lesson of the life of Amy, here is what I'm dealing with:

Don't mind the random tilted mattress. The wood on the old bed frame squeaked like a mouse on crack, and I was in the middle of taking it apart when I thought I ought to get some before pictures of this room!

The suitcase on the floor is the only thing that was not int his room prior to my arrival. Also, in my mom's defense, there wasn't that mess of clothes around my American Girl dolls on the dresser. Those are my tank tops that I piled up there while looking for a baby shoe in my suitcase. 

And there's the crooked mattress again, along with a pile of grocery bags full of various McDonald's toys my mom has saved over the last couple of years for the kids, that I have no interest in. And a box of what appears to be princess Christmas lights? I haven't looked too closely at them.

In the little alcove of the dormer we have three different comforters, my saddle on a rack, and a stroller I used with Abigail when I stayed here for a couple months in 2010. Also a night stand that was next to the bed before I started to move the mattress. 

This view shows my closet, that is pretty much full despite not really holding many clothing items. It's got lots of old shoes and my wedding dress!

And here's a close up of all the fun junk on top of the high boy. This is about 50% new things I put up there temporarily while unpacking, 49% random things my mom put up there on display, and 1% fancy Christmas Barbie that I had to take out of the kids' room so Abigail wouldn't keep asking to play with it!

That is the inside of one of the dresser drawers. This whole dresser is just a giant sized scrapbook of my life; it's just full of anything and everything my mom found of mine after I left for Washington.

The bathroom isn't bad, and actually all that clutter around the sink is mine. I will just be working on organizing my own bathroom supplies in here.

Oh yeah, and getting rid of my early 2000's headband collection....

And giving three pairs of the exact same Tar-jhay sunglasses a new home. 

So there you have it...my project for the next couple of weeks! 

2 DIY-ing a Cross Country Move!

I'm still alive!

Taking time off from the computer to take care of myself and my kids has been wonderful! BUT I am also excited to get back into blogging a bit, because I miss having the little "diary" of our lives. So here is what has been going on for the past few months:

Most importantly, my little baby had the audacity to turn ONE YEAR OLD in February. Also, it is crazy to think that he has been walking for six months already. How have I had two toddlers for six months now? Time is just going by way too fast for me. He has been working on some words for a while; we've got mama and dada down pat, he says night night, 'nana (banana), uh-oh, bless you (at the appropriate time, no less!), and probably a couple other things I'm forgetting right now. I've had some bad feelings about his huge slow down in growth (just height, his weight is fine), but an appointment with an endocrinologist eased my worry a bit. I am just keeping my fingers crossed he will have a big growth spurt soon! Or at least by the time he needs to play high school football...

Abigail is doing wonderful, and I am so proud of her! She has been fantastically potty trained since August (and I am loving not having to deal with giant toddler poop in a diaper!!), and she is (in general) so well behaved. She puts her own dishes in the sink, often without even being asked, she picks up her toys when it's time to go to bed, she listens when we ask her to do things, or stop doing things, she loves her brother so much, she is just the best little girl a mom could ask for! I just hope it continues this way, and I haven't jinxed myself! :-)

Oh yeah, Patrick is convinced she is an animal savant...we watch Go Diego Go almost every day because she loves the animals. Looking at real photos, she can tell you which one is a coati, okapi, caiman, pygmy marmoset, chinchilla, monarch butterfly, spectacled bear, scarlet macaw, and more that I can't remember right now. Along with all your other basic zoo animals that every kid learns. She also loves dinosaurs right now, and can pick out several different species.

Here are the very very few photos that turned out alright from my attempt to shoot Easter pics of the kids:

My kiddos are growing up so fast, I just can't believe it!

So onto the big move...we will be heading for Oklahoma in a couple weeks. I will fly there with the kids, while my dad and Patrick drive all our stuff in the moving van, and tow my car. Then we'll unload everything the kids and I need at my parents' and Patrick will continue on to North Carolina. I have already started packing (actually started about a month ago) but didn't realize how much stuff would have to stay out until the last minute due to the kids! We will have a busy few days ahead of us right before I leave, that's for sure. This basically sums up how I am feeling right now:

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Aside from the stress of the actual move, I am so looking forward to getting to Oklahoma and hopefully having some down time to myself while my parents help me out with the kids. And I absolutely can't wait to get strong (and fit in my clothes!) after starting Crossfit again! I loved the group I worked out with while staying with my parents for two months when Abigail was a baby, but was never able to find a Crossfit gym at home that had the same feeling. Well, that and I got pregnant again. But anyway, the next several months are hopefully going to be a time where I can be a bit selfish, get my body back, help my kids learn to be OK with me leaving for a while at times, and just relax a bit. Can y'all tell I'm excited about this?!

As for our house, we are nearing the end of the process of selling it. So I am keeping all my fingers and toes crossed that from here on out, everything goes well and we won't have to be the sad owners of a rental property thousands of miles away!

5 Taking a Break

I am officially taking a break from regular posting to concentrate on my family. I thought this would start out as a fun scrapbook, and I will still be back to post particularly memorable things my kids say, or any really cool projects I do. However, my kids really notice when I spend time on the computer. Abigail's behavior is night and day when I am on my computer, and when I'm not. Sister knows what's up. And there is just not enough time after kid bedtime to do everything I need to do with writing and photo editing, plus have some time for myself to unwind AND get my tired booty in bed at a reasonable time.

This probably isn't a big shock to anyone, but my attempt this time around to generate a little extra cash and grow a good readership with this blog wasn't 100% successful. BUT a BIG HUGE thank you goes out to those of you who do stick around and read my stuff! :-)

Once I am all moved into my parents' house, I am hoping to be able to post more DIY projects and crafts since I will finally have some help with the kids, not to mention actual sunny weather in which my kids can play all day long instead of being cooped up with me in one room here in Washington. (Have I mentioned lately how miserable Washington is?)

All that being said, this is not a good-bye, just a "hey, new posting may slow waaay down, but I'm still here!" So keep checking back from time to time, and if you like what you see, make sure to subscribe via email or feed so you can get updates again once I get back in the groove!

Happy new year everyone!

Amy

1 Juice!

So my major "resolution" for this year is to get healthy so I can be the best mom for my babies. I need to have more energy, and I need to feel better.

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Enter JUICE! I stumbled upon a super easy method to "juice" without a juicer here. I am not really interested in drinking just juice, but I AM going to try to drink juice every morning to give my digestive system a gentle "wake up call," and to take advantage of all the great vitamins and antioxidants in certain veggies and fruit!

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Don't you feel healthier just looking at that picture?!

This morning I juiced a few leaves of kale, a big handful of spinach, baby carrots, an apple, and some blueberries. 

You simply blend it all in the blender, add some water (I added two cups to a whole blender full of stuff) then pour into a paint strainer bag like this:

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Pour the contents of the blender into the bag over a bowl, then squeeze til you don't get anymore juice. It's THAT easy!

Then drink up!

I will be back soon with some packing and spring cleaning posts! Enjoy your juice y'all!