Three Day Weekend Productivity

Oh, y'all. I love a three day weekend. They're such a treat. They allow for some relaxation and lots of productivity.

On Saturday, I stayed in my pajamas until 6pm. At which point, I decided to take a shower before I cooked dinner. For some reason, pajamas allow me to be super productive. Honestly, it's probably the lack of shower taking that helps. I loathe the process of getting ready. It takes way too long, and I feel like I'm a quick get ready-er. (I shower much quicker than Husby.) But then it's the hair drying and styling, finding something to wear, hunting for a pair of black tights, getting side-tracked by my iPhone because I'm so bored with the process, then getting frustrated because I've been too active after drying my hair so my bangs are a little sweaty, which causes a slight wave. So avoiding a shower on a day that I won't leave the house allows for so much more productivity.

Saturday's domestic productivity included: making pancakes, washing clothes (which I dislike more than the getting-ready process), organizing the pantry, starting Sunday's short ribs, making a pound cake, reading, and making tuna casserole for dinner.

(Don't turn up your nose as I did. I'd never had it, but Husby said he had a "hankering" for it. Being a good wife, I found a recipe and made it. And enjoyed it. It wasn't overly tuna-y. Probably because it had almost three cups of cheese in it and potato chips on top. I'd eat pretty much anything with that description.)

I doubt several of those things would have happened if I'd gotten ready for the day. I just hate when my clean hair gets sweaty after too much house-cleaning/organizing.

I did get ready for church on Sunday. We took snacks for our class; I made sausage-cheese muffins, and they were a hit. After church and lunch, we enjoyed our afternoon three monthiversary celebration. Since we had a friend over for dinner, I didn't feel that returning to pajamas would be in good taste. I opted for jeans. With my wool house boots. So cozy!

Monday was nothing but productivity. And a little facebook and Pandora radio. I rearranged all of our clothes. Mine moved to a new closet, which is closer to our room, so hopefully, I'll hang my clothes every night rather than one time a week. I assembled a shoe rack which will serve as a sweater rack for Husby. Bins and baskets are strategically placed to make our lives easier.

And by lives made easier, I'm referring to the putting away of laundry and my getting ready process.

I can't wait for President's Day. Come on, February!

Too much, perhaps...

I may have come across the most disturbing thing on the internet. Ever. And I didn't even mean to find it. I still shiver when I remember it.

I find said item disturbing for a few reasons:

1. I'm a low-discloser, and secretly wish that more people fell into this category. (Sure, I have a blog, but I tell my 10 readers what I'd tell most of my friends. I mean, y'all are great and all, but I'm pretty cautious with my life details. No one ever new who I "liked" until college. Seriously.)

2. I know it's natural and ultra-healthy, but I don't want to know about it. (I won't share when I'm doing it.)

3. I'll think about this way too often. And I don't want to think about it.

4. It could get to the point where CPS needs a phone call. And I'm not afraid to call. (Just ask the family who got a little visit from the officials after I followed them through WalMart for an hour and then to their car so that the police could run a license plate number.)

Disclaimer: this is not my ticker. I don't care how long anyone does this. Well, until it crosses the line of inappropriate.

Three Monthiversary

Today marks three months of marriage. And three great months at that!

Once we were done eating lunch, I declared that I didn't want to go home. We both love spending time at home, and given the option, we'll usually stay in. But today, I wanted to do something different; I just didn't know what the something different was. Husby thanked me for my ambiguity as I gave him the challenge of coming up with an activity.

(I really think that it helped spur him to come up with something once I mentioned I was in the mood for shopping.)

Since it was such a beautiful day, he suggested that we go to Tyler State Park. I agreed. Once we arrived and walked around for a bit, we decided that it would have been a great idea to change out of our church clothes. About an hour later, we arrived once again in jeans and tennis shoes with books, chairs and Crickett.

The three of us walked through the woods for about an hour. Of course, Crickett, being a hound, led the way with her nose to the ground. And she stayed on the trail the whole time. (She's just so smart!)

After our walk, we found the perfect spot of sunshine where we set our chairs and began reading. Currently, I'm set to finish Three Cups of Tea. The school where I work is doing an All-School Read with this book.

(I've wanted to read it for a while, but now that it's an "assignment", I don't want to read it.)

(And honestly, if it weren't required, I would have stopped reading it. It's just not well written. I think the contents would have been adequately written in 180 pages, not over 300.)

We read for quite a while, until it began to cool off, and we decided to head home. We ended our afternoon with a trip to Sonic.

Now, I'm about to start dinner. A friend is coming over, and we're having root beer short ribs with mashed sweet potatoes. I hope it tastes as good as it sounds!

Meal Planning 101

I really enjoy cooking. I come from a long line of good cooks. I'm pretty sure that I somehow received a gene for cooking. And it's pretty decent, too.

However, since getting married, it's really tough to cook. I come home and need to clean, workout, do laundry, pick up around the house and cook. I still haven't figured out how to get all of these things done. I fear that one day I'll wind up on Biggest Loser for neglecting my workouts or as a news story for the clutter and laundry that's piled up and prevented my kids from attending school for three years.

Catastrophizing? Perhaps. But it's still an issue for me.

I usually meal plan for a week in advance. But last week during meal planning, I was very ambitious. I planned for the entire month of January. I figure that if I only have to plan 12 times a year instead of 52, it will work much better. And we can deviate from the original plan, if needed.

I'm so visual that seeing everything in a one month block is nice! I have simple meals during the week with more complicated meals on [some] weekends. Dinners for the month of January include: chicken and dumplings, grilled chicken by Chez Husby, bruschetta, hamburgers, pancakes and enchiladas. I think it's going to be a good month, at least a good month of dinners.

P.S. I'd love, love feedback on easy meals!

P.P.S I'm so thankful to have a husband who'll eat pretty much anything, especially leftovers.

A Little Ridculous

The house we rent was built in 1920. It's quaint and has lots of character, great moulding, beautiful wood floors, and tons of windows (that are properly covered, which is non-negotiable for me). But one thing didn't exist in 1920: insulation. And that makes our house cold.

Okay, maybe insulation did exist. I really don't know, but I'm pretty certain that there is none in our house.

At two stories, with high ceilings downstairs, it's impossible for our house to be a consistent temperature. Our thermostat is set at a brisk 62 degrees. It's a little warmer upstairs--like 65, but if the thermostat is set any higher, we'll sweat profusely while upstairs. And the dining room? Well, it's all windows and about 10 degrees cooler than anywhere else in the house. On New Years Eve, I think our guests were frozen by the end of dinner. They were just too nice to complain.

What have we learned?

1. The house we eventually buy will have double-paned windows.

2. We're blowing extra insulation into the walls of our someday home.

3. A pier-and-beam foundation, although attractive, doesn't create for a warm home.

4. We'll continue to carry our little space heater with us, wherever we go. (Currently, I'm typing at the bar, and it's sitting on the stool next to me.)

So, after complaining about the super hot days during the summer and yearning for cooler days, I'm over them. I can't wait to have my breath taken away because the interior of the car is so stinkin' hot. Come on, summer!

Book List 2009

I love to read. I always have. At the beginning of 2009, I made a list of books to read. Over the year, the list changed. For instance, I began reading one recommendation, Epicenter, but thought it was only days before Iraq and Russia joined forces to conquer Tyler, Texas. I had to put it down.

(Thanks to college roommate, Adriane, I now know that news and current events can be harmful for me to watch and read. I have bad dreams and anxiety that just isn't normal. Now I know when to stop. It was a sad day when I could no longer be a news junkie.)

I didn't read everything on the list, but I added quite a few books. I'm proud to say that even with a wedding, I read 18 books. I'll put a little star by those that I really enjoyed.

Here's to Hindsight by Tara Leigh Cobble*

Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell

Blue Like Jazz by Donald Miller

I Dared to Call Him Father by Bilquis Sheikh

The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffennegger*

The Year of Living Biblically by A.J. Jacobs*

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Hosseini

At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon

Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

A Light in the Window by Jan Karon

Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert

Cold Tangerines by Shauna Niequist*

These High, Green Hills by Jan Karon

The Pilot's Wife by Anita Shreve

The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold*

Out to Canaan by Jan Karon

The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver*

Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen

My 2010 list is in full swing. Already in the works: Anne of Green Gables, Meet the Austins, and Three Cups of Tea. And maybe, just maybe, I'll convince myself to finish Lord of the Rings that I began over two years ago.

Creating a Home

After almost three months of marriage, I feel like we're--well, I'm--developing a style for our home. I've always loved tons of styles, and still do, but I've felt that you have to pick one style for your home. I feel like I like I'm drawn to lots of different styles: traditional, modern, vintage, rustic, shabby chic. You name it, I'll find something about it that I like. I also love lots of colors: red, blue, green, orange, yellow, purple, black, brown, white. Oh, and also lots of patterns: stripes, plaids, argyle, animal print, polka dots. I now think it's okay to mix styles, patterns and colors--within reason--to create a house that we'll love.

While registering, it was so hard to find something in two days. I need time to make a decision. Sometimes lots of time. My go-to was neutrals. I decided that we could live with them without tiring as quickly. Our bedding is this white set with a blue quilt. With walls painted Latte from Sherwin Williams, our bedroom is nice and calming. But I think I found the bedding. I love this from Macy's! It's a little modern, but neutral. There's also this from Pottery Barn. With a little color thrown in to a neutral background, I really like it a lot. (If I had my way, I'd have multiple sets of bedding to change throughout the year. Oh, the choices!)

We recently ordered this new couch for our living room. Again, I went with a neutral. But with the intent of having a colorful throw pillows. We currently have a green rug, which works nicely, but what I'd really like is this zebra rug. And then maybe these red pillows. I think I could love it! And hopefully, Husby would, too.

It's so much fun designing a home. Although it takes some time since we do live on a budget, because I'm such a slow decision maker, I think it works nicely. I'd love feedback on mixing styles, colors and patterns!