I cannot believe it has been nearly five months since we've been married. Where has the time gone? What have I been DOING?
People ask me this question often and I never really know how to answer. Obviously, we got married and went on our honeymoon right away. The next few weeks were spent putting away gifts, finding homes for my stuff that was just moving in, and writing thank yous. Not to mention doing all the random tasks of a newly married couple - name changing, organizing bank accounts, insurance, etc. I kept busy enough. I've always preferred a busy schedule, but I can honestly say I was never miserably bored. It's not like I was laying by the pool every day.
Since I finished my internship right before our wedding, the next step was to take my RD exam. This was big to do. I tried to spend a few hours each day on this and had planned to take the exam mid July. I ended up pushing that back to early August, but thankfully passed on the first try! Again, this was another thing filling up my time.
Up until then, I had been keeping an eye on job postings, but wasn't in a big rush to find something. I wanted to find a job that I loved and would be happy doing for a long time. Plus I knew it would be more difficult to get hired before being officially licensed anyway. Thankfully, I was offered a PRN job at my local hospital in mid August, helping out when their dietitian is out of the office. I got started with orientation and a week of coverage within just a few weeks. Again, this filled some time.
We had a boat load of personal things going on, too: my sister was sick, we took a trip to the Bahamas, drove to Ohio for Andy's brother's wedding. It was a blessing that I wasn't working. Other than that, my time is spent doing everyday things, like grocery shopping, laundry, cleaning, cooking, and just putting together the house. I probably spend an hour every day making dinner, and probably another half hour cleaning up. This is what I do. It's very rare that the TV is on before 4 pm.
It was probably late September that things started to slow down and I started to get the itch to work - just in time for me to get hired part time doing nutritional counseling at a doctor's office in Bloomington. I'm currently working two days a week, but my hours will hopefully steadily increase from here on out. I'm really enjoying it.
The chaos has died down and we are pretty settled into the house (although it's a constant work in progress). This past month has been harvest season and I see very little of Andy, so I am ready to have time with him back. Being in the house alone all the time isn't always so much fun. I am settling into my own schedule and am loving my current routine, but am ready to be working more. This week I've been in a particularly blissful mood. I'm very content with life - it's the best feeling ever.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Master Bath Drawer Makeover
I am someone who enjoys order, almost at an unhealthy level. As I said before, I'm sort of on a roll with organizing projects. I thought a good place to focus this energy would be in our master bath drawers.
When I showed our master bathroom here, you saw that we have plenty of storage. However, having a good amount of space doesn't automatically mean you use it well. I wanted to get things ordered before we accumulate too much junk and organizing becomes more difficult. I started with two drawers - the main one I use and the main one Andy uses.
Let me show you what we started with. Someone get me a DSLR..
This was my drawer, not bad at all. You can get to everything, but I didn't like that each time I open and shut it everything would slide toward the back. And it isn't super appealing.
Remember that cardboard box full of Andy's meds? Yeah, there was a boatload of teeth/mouth products in there too. All of that needed to find a home.
Next, remove everything from the drawer and wipe it clean. After separating your goodies, you can file them away oh so nicely...
The back bin is entirely for floss - wow. Andy and I can both floss three times a day for the next five years and we'll still have some left over. I would've tossed some of this, but we had the space to spare. See my little nail polish bin? I can see all my colors!
Also in excess: toothpaste. I think we're good on travel bottles for the next five years, too.
My random makeup items were placed in their own bin. The back corner holds my make-up brush travel case and large compact. I don't keep my brushes in the case unless I'm traveling so this set up is perfect.
When I showed our master bathroom here, you saw that we have plenty of storage. However, having a good amount of space doesn't automatically mean you use it well. I wanted to get things ordered before we accumulate too much junk and organizing becomes more difficult. I started with two drawers - the main one I use and the main one Andy uses.
Let me show you what we started with. Someone get me a DSLR..
This was my drawer, not bad at all. You can get to everything, but I didn't like that each time I open and shut it everything would slide toward the back. And it isn't super appealing.
Remember that cardboard box full of Andy's meds? Yeah, there was a boatload of teeth/mouth products in there too. All of that needed to find a home.
And here is Andy's drawer. You can see everything, but again things slid around and it just looks messy.
Now that I had a starting point, I was on a hunt for drawer dividers..
The first step is to measure your drawers. I have gone to the store without doing this before and it becomes a big guessing game. Just do a little prep first and you can get the most out of the process, but I've learned that you will probably never find the perfect size. Be prepared to play divider Tetris. I ended up at Wal-Mart (my absolute least favorite place in the world). They did not have much variety at all, but the one kind they had worked for me. I ended up with two different size Rubbermaid dividers. I like them because they connect to each other, are lined with rubber, and also have stoppers on the bottom so nothing slides whatsoever. They are sort of expensive ($5 for the 6"x9" and $4 for the 3"x9") but I think they are well worth it.
Next, remove everything from the drawer and wipe it clean. After separating your goodies, you can file them away oh so nicely...
So. Much. Better. I fit twice as much stuff in the drawer and it looks even better. And now it is more of a shared space.
The back bin is entirely for floss - wow. Andy and I can both floss three times a day for the next five years and we'll still have some left over. I would've tossed some of this, but we had the space to spare. See my little nail polish bin? I can see all my colors!
Also in excess: toothpaste. I think we're good on travel bottles for the next five years, too.
My random makeup items were placed in their own bin. The back corner holds my make-up brush travel case and large compact. I don't keep my brushes in the case unless I'm traveling so this set up is perfect.
Last but not least, Andy's drawer. Can you smell the Axe through the computer? He's a pretty fresh guy.
Total cost of this project came to approximately $30 - all bins. The bins should last a long time and I'm giddy over the organization. It's all about baby steps with this home stuff..
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Medicine/First Aid Organization
Lately I have really been itching to do more organizing. I don't know what gave me the motivation to start, but I decided we needed to streamline our medicine storage.
When we planned the house we had a pretty good idea of where we thought things (like medications) would be kept. Andy had a big box of random medications and personal care items when we moved in that landed in the laundry room cabinets. It has stayed there without being touched ever since. Most of my first aid items were placed in the kitchen above the microwave (this has become sort of a catch-all cabinet). It was a convenient place, but all the bottles and boxes were disorganized and difficult to get to. The space just wasn't living up to its potential. It's really deep, so the back half was pretty much empty, wasted space. It's above eye level so you can really only see the things in the front anyway, and I almost always get a step stool even for those items. With some storage bins and organizing, I knew it would be a much more functional place to hold all of our first aid items..
I jumped the gun a little bit and removed all the bottles and boxes before I remembered to snap a picture. Basically, just picture random items strewn across that bottom shelf. Ignore the other shelves, I plan to get to those next.
First I piled up all of the items and separated them by category (cold/cough, allergy, Band Aids/first aid and so on and so forth). Next I ditched anything that was expired or anything we had too much of. Here is maybe a third of the stuff that was tucked away in the laundry room. It wasn't doing us any good in there!
Then I made a trip to the Dollar Tree. It is becoming my new favorite store and has an entire wall dedicated to plastic bins and boxes. I got all this for 8 bucks and change and didn't even use it all for this project!
I used four of the green bins and both of the blue buckets. The first green bin contains all items one would need if you get a cut or scrape: rubbing alcohol, Neosporin, every size Band-Aid possible, and bandage tape.
The next bin contains anything you'd need when you have a cold. We literally had SIX boxes of Sudafed. I downsized to two. This bin also has couch syrup, throat lozenges, and Mucinex. I hope we never have to use this bin..
The third contains everyday pills such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and multivitamins. The fourth is entirely for allergy medications. No pictures necessary. The blue buckets came in handy for larger items. Apparently we are cough drop hoarders so one of the buckets just keeps those. The bucket in the back is really for miscellaneous items. Right now I have calcium pills (why do I have those?), and have since added an eye patch and eye wash. Don't ask.
Here is a close up of the shelf now. I like that it has a bit of color, but you can still see inside. Eventually I will label all of these but I want to live with it for a while to make sure this system works.
It's really amazing how much stuff you can fit in a small space when you are smart about storage. Plus this was an excellent way to get rid of unnecessary junk and remember all that you have. We won't have to stock up on any meds for years. Now whenever we have a need for something, we can just grab the specific bin. The shelf is tall enough that you can reach the back bins without moving anything else. You can easily see and access everything without having to make a mess. Pretty handy job completed for just $6.
When we planned the house we had a pretty good idea of where we thought things (like medications) would be kept. Andy had a big box of random medications and personal care items when we moved in that landed in the laundry room cabinets. It has stayed there without being touched ever since. Most of my first aid items were placed in the kitchen above the microwave (this has become sort of a catch-all cabinet). It was a convenient place, but all the bottles and boxes were disorganized and difficult to get to. The space just wasn't living up to its potential. It's really deep, so the back half was pretty much empty, wasted space. It's above eye level so you can really only see the things in the front anyway, and I almost always get a step stool even for those items. With some storage bins and organizing, I knew it would be a much more functional place to hold all of our first aid items..
I jumped the gun a little bit and removed all the bottles and boxes before I remembered to snap a picture. Basically, just picture random items strewn across that bottom shelf. Ignore the other shelves, I plan to get to those next.
First I piled up all of the items and separated them by category (cold/cough, allergy, Band Aids/first aid and so on and so forth). Next I ditched anything that was expired or anything we had too much of. Here is maybe a third of the stuff that was tucked away in the laundry room. It wasn't doing us any good in there!
Then I made a trip to the Dollar Tree. It is becoming my new favorite store and has an entire wall dedicated to plastic bins and boxes. I got all this for 8 bucks and change and didn't even use it all for this project!
I used four of the green bins and both of the blue buckets. The first green bin contains all items one would need if you get a cut or scrape: rubbing alcohol, Neosporin, every size Band-Aid possible, and bandage tape.
The next bin contains anything you'd need when you have a cold. We literally had SIX boxes of Sudafed. I downsized to two. This bin also has couch syrup, throat lozenges, and Mucinex. I hope we never have to use this bin..
The third contains everyday pills such as Tylenol, Ibuprofen, and multivitamins. The fourth is entirely for allergy medications. No pictures necessary. The blue buckets came in handy for larger items. Apparently we are cough drop hoarders so one of the buckets just keeps those. The bucket in the back is really for miscellaneous items. Right now I have calcium pills (why do I have those?), and have since added an eye patch and eye wash. Don't ask.
Here is a close up of the shelf now. I like that it has a bit of color, but you can still see inside. Eventually I will label all of these but I want to live with it for a while to make sure this system works.
It's really amazing how much stuff you can fit in a small space when you are smart about storage. Plus this was an excellent way to get rid of unnecessary junk and remember all that you have. We won't have to stock up on any meds for years. Now whenever we have a need for something, we can just grab the specific bin. The shelf is tall enough that you can reach the back bins without moving anything else. You can easily see and access everything without having to make a mess. Pretty handy job completed for just $6.
Next up on the organizing list, bins for the bathroom drawers and spice cabinet!
Thursday, October 10, 2013
Guest Bedroom
We have two guest bedrooms. The one closest to our bedroom is our "Monica Closet." We just put everything we don't know what to do with in there on the floor. It will be so fun clearing that out..
The second bedroom is all put together though and can actually function as a guest room!
We originally wanted to use this wall color for our living room but got scared about it being too dark for the space. It is the perfect color for this room.
The black furniture was refinished by Andy originally for our master bedroom. After a few months using it, we realized it was not very functional at all. It has cabinet doors in front of the drawers and just isn't practical for everyday use. In June we were given a furniture set, so we decided to put that in our room and down the hall these went. Aesthetically they look well in the room and are fine for guests to use if need be, but once this room is in full time use we will definitely be purchasing new dressers. I've already decided on the white Hemnes dresser from Ikea.
Andy's parents had collected several beds over the years so they let us have one. I just put the bedding I used throughout college in here since it's cute and in good condition. The zig zag canvas was made by my best friend/MOH at my bachelorette party. It just happens to go perfectly with the comforter. I would put more things on the walls if this room were ever used, but it's not.
The closets are awesome. Right now I'm using it as my gift center/craft closet. It's all pretty organized and I can get to everything I need easily. I've developed quite a stock of supplies (boxes, wrapping paper, tissue paper, bags) from the wedding/wedding showers.
Not bad for a guest room that we spent zero dollars on.
The second bedroom is all put together though and can actually function as a guest room!
We originally wanted to use this wall color for our living room but got scared about it being too dark for the space. It is the perfect color for this room.
The black furniture was refinished by Andy originally for our master bedroom. After a few months using it, we realized it was not very functional at all. It has cabinet doors in front of the drawers and just isn't practical for everyday use. In June we were given a furniture set, so we decided to put that in our room and down the hall these went. Aesthetically they look well in the room and are fine for guests to use if need be, but once this room is in full time use we will definitely be purchasing new dressers. I've already decided on the white Hemnes dresser from Ikea.
Andy's parents had collected several beds over the years so they let us have one. I just put the bedding I used throughout college in here since it's cute and in good condition. The zig zag canvas was made by my best friend/MOH at my bachelorette party. It just happens to go perfectly with the comforter. I would put more things on the walls if this room were ever used, but it's not.
The closets are awesome. Right now I'm using it as my gift center/craft closet. It's all pretty organized and I can get to everything I need easily. I've developed quite a stock of supplies (boxes, wrapping paper, tissue paper, bags) from the wedding/wedding showers.
Not bad for a guest room that we spent zero dollars on.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Master Bath
It never occured to me to show our master bathroom. It's been "done" for a while. Here it is!
Someone really needs to give me a lesson on taking pictures of rooms with my iPhone.. ugh.
Here is the view from our master bedroom. This photo makes the room look dumb. We knew we wanted a light blue bathroom. In the house I rented last year, the bathroom was a very very pale light blue and I loved it. Andy wanted more of a bright turqoise, so we met somewhere in the middle. It works.
We are lucky to have a very spacious vanity - I couldn't figure out a good way to get it all in one shot head on. Everything to the left of the sink is my space (some shared), and everything to the right is Andy's. People are always surprised that we only put one sink in, but honestly we don't need two. If we did we would have virtually no counter space. Plus we are very rarely in the bathroom at the same time.
I love my upper cabinet. I can be so organized with it.
We were lucky to find LOADS of mason jars in a few of Andy's sheds/barns. I gave them a good washing and now have them here and there around the house. We ditched our traditional toothbrush holder - the jar is just as functional and much more attractive. I keep cotton balls in one and Q tips in the smallest jar. The flowers I got from Hobby Lobby. I'm thinking I'll fill the bottom of this one with some rocks or something,
Honestly the countertop looks like this most of the time. I hate things being out and since we have plenty of storage space, there is no need for things to be sitting out. However, we are still on the hunt for a place to hang the hand towel. We could put it to the right of the mirror but that is a little too close to the toilet for me.. any suggestions?
Boring corner. Down the road it would be nice to put in a tall cabinet for towels and the laundry basket to stay.
We have a fairly spacious standard walk in shower with a seat.
Someone really needs to give me a lesson on taking pictures of rooms with my iPhone.. ugh.
Here is the view from our master bedroom. This photo makes the room look dumb. We knew we wanted a light blue bathroom. In the house I rented last year, the bathroom was a very very pale light blue and I loved it. Andy wanted more of a bright turqoise, so we met somewhere in the middle. It works.
We are lucky to have a very spacious vanity - I couldn't figure out a good way to get it all in one shot head on. Everything to the left of the sink is my space (some shared), and everything to the right is Andy's. People are always surprised that we only put one sink in, but honestly we don't need two. If we did we would have virtually no counter space. Plus we are very rarely in the bathroom at the same time.
I love my upper cabinet. I can be so organized with it.
We were lucky to find LOADS of mason jars in a few of Andy's sheds/barns. I gave them a good washing and now have them here and there around the house. We ditched our traditional toothbrush holder - the jar is just as functional and much more attractive. I keep cotton balls in one and Q tips in the smallest jar. The flowers I got from Hobby Lobby. I'm thinking I'll fill the bottom of this one with some rocks or something,
Honestly the countertop looks like this most of the time. I hate things being out and since we have plenty of storage space, there is no need for things to be sitting out. However, we are still on the hunt for a place to hang the hand towel. We could put it to the right of the mirror but that is a little too close to the toilet for me.. any suggestions?
Boring corner. Down the road it would be nice to put in a tall cabinet for towels and the laundry basket to stay.
We have a fairly spacious standard walk in shower with a seat.
This space is opposite of the vanity and is as deep as the shower. We wanted to save this space in case we put in a free standing tub at some point.
To Do (for now):
-Hang hand towel bar
-Get two floor mats that actually match
-Wall art/decorative shelves
Friday, October 4, 2013
Hello, Fall!
Fall is here and it's finally our first real "season" to decorate for. The past few weeks, I've totally been bitten by the fall decorating bug and have been going a little crazy with it.
The piano is sort of our substitute fireplace mantle. I need to get something to hang on the wall, but it's progress..
I'm happy to have a less barren space. And I've been burning fall scents like a maniac so that's been pretty great, too :)
The front porch/yard is looking more adorable, but is still a work in progress. Stay tuned!
The one thing about being young is that we haven't accumlated a lot of stuff. This is good since I don't want to be a hoarder, but it also means we have to start from scratch with seasonal decor. A house just doesn't feel homey without those little touches, and since our home has had minimal decorative accents since we've moved in, I was extra ready to fill the space up. After a few trips to the pumpkin patch, local home store, and Hobby Lobby, our house is looking more like a home. (These iPhone photos are killing me.. and I really want to repaint the walls)
The piano is sort of our substitute fireplace mantle. I need to get something to hang on the wall, but it's progress..
I'm happy to have a less barren space. And I've been burning fall scents like a maniac so that's been pretty great, too :)
The front porch/yard is looking more adorable, but is still a work in progress. Stay tuned!
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