I’m procrastinating…

I have a list of things I should be doing, but instead I decided to write something here…

I should be hanging up and putting away my laundry since I just heard the dryer buzz.

I should be starting dinner, but since I didn’t eat lunch until 2:30, I think I can wait a little longer to start marinating something.  Having a grill again is definitely nice!  I need more practice, though.

I should be working on the two returns I brought home with me since I didn’t manage my time well enough to get them done at work this week.

I should be sweeping my downstairs since I finally found my dustpan in—of all places—the floorboard of the backseat of my car.  I still don’t know how it ended up there or why I didn’t see it earlier since it was all alone back there.

I should be organizing my coupons, but I’m still frustrated from my failed CVS experience this morning.  Note to self: make sure the weekly circular you are looking at is for the actual location you are going to.  The store I went to uses a limited ad…not the full one I planned my trip around.

I shouldn’t be looking at baby things, but I am since I just talked to a sweet friend and found out the gender of her precious baby!  It’s crazy how our conversations have evolved from talking about classes and shopping to baby names and decorating houses!

I shouldn’t even be on here, so I guess I’ll wrap this up for now!

It’s ok…

I’m giving this a shot in an attempt to try to write more!

…to have really frizzy hair after a post-rain walk with Emma

…to have worked on the same project at work every day this week when I should have finished it in a day and a half—at least I’m learning! :)

…to go upstairs with Emma before 9PM—she needs lots of beauty sleep to be so cute!

…to be slightly very obsessive with my morning and evening routine—I do everything in the exact same order every day!

…to be really glad tomorrow’s Friday!

…to use my dog as an excuse to meet all my neighbors—she can’t help it if she’s cute and everyone wants to pet her!

…to try on three different pairs of pants before deciding to just wear a dress!

…to let a cute pair of shoes put a spring in my step and completely make my day!

…to be an old lady and end this now so I can lay down to bed by 10PM!

Second Wind

Why do I always seem to get a second wind late at night?  Especially on Saturday nights?  It’s not like I’m going to go do anything, but I seem to have trouble going to sleep on Saturday.  This makes things especially problematic since I prefer to go to early church services.  Right now, it’s 11PM and I’m not a bit sleepy…this could be from some medicine I’m taking, but I digress.  Anyway, I planned to go to 8:30 church on West End in the morning, but I might go to a different church at 11 if I can’t seem to get up in the morning.

I’ve already cleaned up the kitchen from dinner, unloaded the dishwasher, cleaned the counters and cleaned the sink.  My kitchen sink is porcelain and shows any and all dirt and grime.  I’ve never obsessed about the cleanliness of my sink before, but allowing this one to be dirty really annoys me…as does a dirty cooktop.  Also, I’m determined to keep the downstairs presentable (once I get it that way to start with) and this is one step towards making that happen.  If only I could find my pesky missing dustpan…

While I can’t sleep, I’m going to finish some laundry I have going and pick out some clothes for work next week.  Having a week’s worth of outfits picked out in advance should help with my morning routine.  I actually have enough closet space that I might actually move those five outfits to one of my “spare” closets!  I’ve never used the phrase “spare closet” before!  Eek! :)

If I get really ambitious, I might make Emma exceptionally mad and vacuum the upstairs as well.  My Saturday night is especially exciting, isn’t it?  It’s just so nice to have some energy for a change even if all I’m doing is housekeeping.

I’ve got a list of things to accomplish this weekend and I better get to it while I am motivated.  Motivation doesn’t last often for me, I’m afraid.

My First Place

I hope I don’t get in trouble for this blog title infringing on the name of the television show on HGTV! :)

So, I closed on my house on July 1.  I moved in on July 10.  Most of the boxes are unpacked, but it’s not photo-ready yet.  Eventually, I will post some pictures, but there are several areas that are just not ready for me to share with the world.  The main things I need are a dining room suite and a bedroom suite for my Master bedroom.  The bedroom furniture currently in my room will go to the guest room and I will use the linens from my bedroom at my condo in Auburn in the guest room.  I haven’t found the “exact right” things yet, but like I tell people, “I’ll know it when I see it!”

I feel like there are papers and random “junk” everywhere.  I don’t think my coffee table has been completely cleaned off once since I got here.  I’m trying a new system with my bills I receive in paper and also with my credit card receipts.  My paper shredder is upstairs in the third bedroom and I’m trying to figure out a better place downstairs for it so I don’t have a “things to shred” pile on the table every day.  I need to see if my coat closet has a free plug…that might just work!  I’m also getting tired of dropping my purse on the floor and putting my phone and other things on the bar in the kitchen.  I’m going to have to come up with some kind of system, but I need to be patient and not expect everything to be perfect immediately.  Easier said than done for this type-A personality.

My house is actually a townhouse, so every unit looks almost identical from the front.  My unit does not have much personality since the previous owners didn’t do much, if any, landscaping beyond what is included in the Homeowner’s Association fees.  It’s too hot to plant anything right now, but I’m planning on putting a large pot of my Grandmother’s on the front porch and maybe some mums for the fall.  I also have a large pot of curly ivy of my Grandmother’s that I plan to put on the back deck.  I do have hanging baskets on the deck now, but only the sweet potato vine is seemingly happy.  There is lantana in each basket, but this is the third year I have planted it and it just doesn’t seem to like me.  My favorite plant on the deck, however, is my moon plant.  I’ve had it for three years since Grams gave it to me as a cutting from one of her plants.  Unfortunately, it has never bloomed despite growing like a weed.  I have “threatened” it for the last two years that each year was it’s last chance and if it didn’t bloom, I would throw it away.  Although I am frustrated that it hasn’t bloomed yet, I don’t think I will actually get rid of it.  For a simple green plant, it is pretty and looks very happy growing along my fence. 

I’m planning on putting in some perennials in the back in future.  I would like rose bushes, but I don’t think there is enough direct sunlight for them to be happy.  I would also like traditional hydrangeas, but they wouldn’t bloom as well with indirect light.  I think I’m going to go with oak-leaf hydrangea, but I’m not 100% sure yet.  I have plenty of time to come up with a good plan for both the front and the back since I’m not going to do anything major until the spring.

Sorry this is so disjointed.  I’m trying to do better about blogging, but there are some things going on right now that I’m just not comfortable sharing about.  I might try linking up to some other blogs and doing something fun like “What I’m Loving Wednesdays” to break up the monotony.  I need to get my camera out as well…pictures would definitely help with making this more interesting! :)

A Good Day

Today was a good day!

I attended three different church services today...an all-time record, I believe. I sat in the congregation for early church, sang in the choir for late church and sang again for the evening service. Besides worship, of course, the day was so good because I had the opportunity to visit with my church family-many of whom I consider to truly be family. I haven't laughed and smiled so much in so long! Those special people that I have spent so much time with over many, many years truly made my day, helped to bring me out of my recent "funk" and remind me that I am so blessed to have so many people that care about me!

Sometimes, everyone needs to be reminded they are loved...I can't doubt the truth in that after today! :)

It's been a while...

I think I (finally) figured out how to blog from Mom's iPad. We'll see how it works!

I cut too my cable and internet back in late May after a billing disagreement with Comcast. They wanted me to pay much more per month and I wanted to pay less. ;)

Anyway, I didn't have Internet access at my apartment for a while and then I had issues getting service set up at my new HOUSE (more on that later). I finally have that all straightened out and squared away...knock on wood!

Today is my birthday. I don't feel any different, but 24 seems old. I have done major things in the last year like finish my Master's, moving to Nashville, starting a new job and BUYING A HOUSE!!! I don't know what 24 will bring, but I hope this year is better than the last 6 months...and let's just leave it at that. I do know there are exciting things ahead like decorating my house and a dear friend's wedding to look forward to. I think I'm going to jump on Bill and Giuliana Rancic's boat and declare this the "Year of Fun"! Goodness knows I need to be less serious and have more fun from time to time!

Gotta go...cake time!

House Hunting

I started “officially” looking at houses last Saturday.  Although I have been doing online research for many, many months, I resisted going to open houses or talking to a realtor until recently.  I went to two open houses right at the very end of busy season.  I spoke with a few realtors and a few bankers during the week after busy season ended on Monday.  I decided on a realtor last Monday and saw my first 6 properties on Saturday.  Kinda a whirlwind, right?

So, I was able to quickly eliminate three different floorplans at three different developments.  I’m still going to show at least one of them to the parents for comparison’s sake, but I know without a doubt that I don’t want to buy this one floorplan in particular…too much wasted space.

I’m left with a floorplan I really like and two different townhomes.  They both have good and bad things about them and are different despite identical floorplans. 

Mom and Dad (and Emma) are coming this weekend to look with me and I feel like I’ll be ready to make an offer by the end of the weekend.  I really value their opinions, so it will be quite interesting to see if they feel like I do after they see the properties in person rather than in pictures.

I feel like I should be saying “I’m a grow-up now” a la “I’m a big kid now” from the pull-ups commercials!  I don’t know if this is completely a good thing though since I’ve learned in the last 9 months that being “grown up” is so much harder than you ever think it is. 

Who knows…next time you hear from me, I might be under contract!