Monday, July 28, 2008

Monthly Organizing Round-Up - Master Bathroom Part II




A few days ago I posted the outcome of my master bathroom organizing round-up. Laura, being the awesome Org Junkie she is, advised me to add some baskets under the sinks. Who would have known that a few simple baskets would make such a difference. The following is a synopsis of my original post, with the updated baskets under the sink pic and a few other drawers that I was happy with the outcome of.


Under the sink before...

And after...Love the baskets!!!

One of my drawers before....And after

Finally, the biggest transformation drawer...

Ahhh...and after...

QHYSA Finally Found It

So this may not seem like much to you but to me it's super cool. You see, when my sister and I were younger we used to play softball on a league through Quartz Hill Youth Sports Association. It was the greatest league ever for those wanting to just play some good old softball/baseball/t-ball and not have to worry about who was the best player out there on the field and scouts watching you. It was really just a good fun times sorta of thing. Practice was once a week and then a game on Saturday so it didn't take up too much time and still allowed for other activities. A few years ago when Taylor was three I was looking for a website or something for the league to get an idea of when Taylor would be old enough to play. Well I couldn't find anything on the league, the age requirements, or how to sign up. I got pretty bummed about it and put it in the back of mind for the last few years. This weekend though, something told me to go to the trusty old Google and see what I could find. And low and behold, I found an entire website devoted to the league now, QHYSA!!!! Not only was it a gold mine of information, but I also found out the best news ever. Taylor will be old enough to join the league and play t-ball next year. I took a stroll down memory lane as I read all about the league, looked at pictures, and the newsletters. I can still remember getting those newsletters every week hoping to find my name in the Player of the Week section. I'm so excited that Taylor will get to experience the game as I did growing up.

Skateboard birthday party

That's the theme that Cody has decided on. Ever since Taylor started dance class and Cody goes to the park and sees the "big kids" on their skateboards at the nearby skateboard park he has become obsessed with them. Of course, to top it off the other day when we were at Costco picking out which cake he wanted he picked the one with the boy on the skateboard and got all excited. So it's official now, a skateboard party he shall get for his 3rd birthday. Now I just have to figure out the invitations and set a date, August is a very busy month so this should make for some stressful times. But in the end it will all work out, simply because it always does.

Off work today but not for a good reason

Yesterday Jeremy noticed Taylor feeling a bit warm and sure enough she had a fever of about 101. We got some Motrin in her and the fever dropped but of course at time wore on the fever crept back up. We have since been keeping Tylenol and Motrin and it seems to be keeping the fever down. On top of that now I feel sick too. Not a good time to be missing work as it is crazy there with our upcoming move. The next three days in the office are going to be insanely crazy but somehow I'll manage. The good thing is that Taylor seems to be getting better and Cody has steered clear from catching whatever we have.

Monthly Organizing Round-Up - Kids Bathroom

I was so pleased with the results in the master bathroom (especially after I followed the tip from Laura on baskets for underneath the sink...more to come on that later), that instead of waiting I decided to tackle the kids bathroom right away. And boy, I had no idea that their bathroom was so bad...eek! I think they put everything in one drawer when they are done with it regardless of where it goes. No more of that though, with the baskets and organizers everything has a place.

The "junk drawer" of the kids bathroom

Ahhh..nice and clean


Under the sink a jumbled mess of stuff
And now an organized save haven for all bathroom related stuff.
I even broke out the good old label maker to give it that finished feel.


These challenges are so much fun!! It feels great to once again get some order in my hectic crazy life. Walking into a nicely organized bathroom makes me want to do the whole house. But that will have to wait as I do have homework, work, and kids to tend to.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Guess the picture...

Cody is playing with this toy right now....a pirate ship, right? Wrong...Cody has drug it from the playroom through the living room and into the family room. Here he plays with this toy watching Sesame Street On Demand.

Expecting him to say a Pirate Ship, I asked him what are you playing with Cody. Without skipping a beat he informed me this was his cruise ship. Now this wouldn't be so funny if he didn't know what a cruise ship was. But after spending a week on a real cruise ship Jeremy & I couldn't help but burst out laughing as he insisted that his pirate ship was a cruise ship.

Saturday, July 26, 2008

Monthly Organizing Round-Up - Master Bathroom

I've always been a bit anal when it comes to cleaning and have always had a clean room, apartment, and house. I can still remember the best thing to ever happen to me during my childhood, we moved to a bigger house and I no longer had to share a room with my sister. It was the best thing to have a clean organized room all the time. And quite funny I might add to watch my sister pull something from her closet only to have half her room end up on her head. Ahhh....Sister, somethings never change.

However, it seems things are really changing. As my life continues to get more and more busy; work, school, two very active young ones the challenge to keep it all balanced is taking a toll on me and the part that has been neglected is the house. Now don't get me wrong, the house is still clean, but not clean and organized to the standards that I like. Which brings me to the point of this blog. I have been lurking for a few months on a blog I stumbled upon, The Org Junkie, and have been watching people participate in the Monthly Organizing Round-Up. I enjoy seeing the before and after pictures of the spaces and how much better things look.



It was like a light bulb went off in my head as I was reading her blog one day and I realized that The Org Junkie and her Monthly Round-Up is my way to get things back in order in my house. So here I sit, with my first challenge complete. (Well for the most part, I still want to do the kids bathroom and I need to now get some new baskets for under the sink now that I know what's left after I purged stuff that I no longer need or use). And now for your viewing pleasure, the before and after pictures of my master bathroom under the sink and the drawers.










If I had to pick a favorite drawer outcome this one wins...

Busy busy week

Work and school this week have kept me pretty busy. School wise...well you all know what I've been doing there, still trudging through these last few weeks of statistics looking forward to the end of this class...August 18th!!

Work wise things have been crazy. One of my co-workers was out on vacation so I had to play double duty and handle some things for her in addition to my current insane workload. The only saving grace for me to make it through last week was knowing that Friday I would be (seriously, how would I survive without Summer Fridays??). I had a good Thursday afternoon though and finished up a lot of staffing open ends. As soon as all of these open jobs are closed I think things should slow down some.

The challenge however of filling these positions is our pending move. Yup, you heard that right our offices are finally moving....Thursday!!! We will be moving from the historical NBC lot of Burbank to the huge, giant, did I say monstrous Universal Lot. I went by the space this week to check it out and they have really done a great job and it looks super nice. It's still tough simply because it's change and change is rarely easy in the beginning. Each time my office moves I always have a hard time and end up walking to my old office a couple of days during the first few weeks. This is my first time moving my office across town though so I'm hoping that doesn't happen this time.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

The grades are in

The instructor just posted the grades for Statistics and I got....a B!!! Woo-hoo!!! While it completely messed up my GPA, which is now down to a 3.86, it is still a decent grade for such a tough class. Therefore, I will take it with a smile and continue my trudge through Statistics Part Deux.

Saturday, July 19, 2008

Cody's birthday wish list

Cody is sitting here right by my side flipping through a catalog picking out things for his birthday. I love that he is getting to the age where he can tell me what he wants and likes. The only catch, the catalog he is looking at the Sears Craftsman Tool catalog. His wish list right now is a big tool box (like Papa's) and a lawn mower. Only my son will birthday shop in the Tool Catalog for his 3rd birthday.

Date Night -- Rock wall climbing

Taylor had been looking forward to last night's date night for a while now. She has been wanting to go on the rock climbing wall at the mall for a while now, but every time we have been at the mall she has been in sandals. All week Taylor kept reminding me that on Friday she needed to wear tennis shoes to school so she could climb "the rock".
Of course since Taylor was going to climb the rock Cody wanted to follow suit and be just like his big sister. Taylor did really good climbing the rock, but once she got too high up she scared herself a bit and wanted to come back down. Cody did awesome for such a little guy, but I had no worries about him since he is such a boy.









Friday, July 18, 2008

Bucket List

My updated list
Bucket List

Club 33 - Complete
Visit The Kerby Family in Texas
Bachelor's degree
Take the kids to Disney World
Keep my blog, posting once every few days, for one year

Ok, so really my bucket list is not like some others might be as these seem like simple things to accomplish but deep down I'm just a simple girl with simple wants....for now at least.

500 days left

Ok, so I know that sounds like a lot of days but my hope is that it will go fast. Here is the way that I'm looking at it. There are 365 days in a year and we always say how fast a year goes. That leaves only 135 days and if 365 days goes by fast then 135 goes by even faster. So just what is it that happens in 500 days? I will be done with school!!!! Well at least for now, the jury is still out on whether or not I will keep going and get my Master's. But the good news is that in only 365 days + 135 days, I will have my Bachelor's degree and be an official college graduate. I don't know what's more exciting, that I will be done or that I will have my degree. :-)

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

My bucket list

These days with the movie "Bucket List" out it has seemed to spark the idea of creating a bucket list of things that you want to do in your lifetime. I never have had a bucket list, well until a few months ago. When I first found out about Club 33 I decided it had to be on my Bucket List. So there my Bucket List was with one entry. Last weekend though having complete my one item on my Bucket List and having a lot of fun doing so I decided that I need to add more to the list. What to add though?? Let me know what you think I should put on my Bucket List. I'll update it here and let you know as I complete things.

Bucket List
Club 33 - Complete

The best thing about Kindergarten

First off, what is the right way to spell Kindergarten or Kindergarden? That should be the first thing they teach you. On our way to school this morning we had our morning conversation about general stuff. Cody looks for tractors, buses, and motorcycles and Taylor informs me that when we get to school I'm not to give her kisses on the lips because it will mess up her lipstick (which is really just glitter clear chap stick). Today though Taylor was telling me how excited she was that very soon she was going to be starting Kindergarten. I asked her what she was most excited about and her response was "In Kindergarten I'll get my own desk and the top comes up on the desk so I can store my work inside of it"

Oh the joys of a child. The most exciting thing is a desk with a top that raises up. It's the little things in life.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Club 33 Recap

We got to the park at about 10:00 a.m. and met in the front of the park so we could get our tickets. Then our group, there were 12 of us went into the park and headed straight for the club entrance which is seriously just a door in the middle of some shops. Passing by it you would think it was a fake door and just for decoration. We rang the bell and they came on the speaker and asked for our parties name. They don't even come to answer the door unless you are "on the list". So they got our name, saw we were on the list and told us it would be about 10 minutes so to please wait outside and they would come get us when they had the place all set up. We hung outside the door and while standing there a bunch of people kept stopping and asking if we were going into the club. They were all curious as to how we got to go in and telling us how cool it was and for us and how they have always wanted to go into the Club. We even had a few Disney workers stop by and tell us they were jealous, they work for Disneyland and have never got to even see what the Club looks like on the inside. That is so strange to me that people that actually work for the company are not allowed to see inside.
After a few more minutes they came to the door opened it a teeny crack and asked again for our name and to verify that all 12 of us were there. Once this was confirmed they opened the door just enough for us to walk into the Club. When you walk in there is a tiny lobby and a staircase that leads to the dining upstairs. We took the stairs up and they led us to our table.
OMG!! Absolutely BEAUTIFUL the place was gorgeous. We sat down and they confirmed our orders for lunch and then informed us of the salad/seafood bar and the dessert bar. We went and got some food to start with, cold cuts, shrimp, crab, salads, soups, dried fruit, bread with vinegar and oil. It was yummy!! Then after a bit they brought our entrees, Jeremy got some roasted chicken with mac and cheese croquet. I got some type of steak, the best I've ever had, and potato truffle, which I later found out costs $1,800 a pound, WTH! $1,800 a pound for mashed potatoes. LOL!! They were delicious though!!!! Then to wrap it up we visited the dessert bar which had the best desserts ever, tiramisu, lemon stuff, raspberry stuff, chocolate stuff, pecan praline stuff, apricot stuff, mousse stuff, and yummy thin slices of chocolate rolled into cute tube looking things. I ate so much!!!!
We hung out in the Club for a little bit longer and watched the people outside at Disneyland walking around the park from the windows in the Club. After the Club we stayed at Disneyland and rode tons of rides. We also went over to California Adventure since the tickets we got from the Club were the park hopper ones.
We ended up staying at Disneyland until closing time, Midnight!!!! Whew, I was exhausted as heck on Sunday!!! But it was a day I will never ever forget!!!!



Jeremy and I waiting outside the Club

The Whole Group waiting for lunch to arrive

The most wonderful dessert buffet

The staircase leading up to the Club

The toilet, I couldn't resist





Monday, July 14, 2008

4th of July

What's a few weeks later, right? I still have to post something since this is my first Holiday since the new blog was created.

To my surprise Cody was not afraid of the fireworks one bit. He loved watching them and setting them off. Taylor, in true diva fashion liked doing the fireworks too but did so with style as she always had to pose when she was doing the fireworks.









Sunday, July 13, 2008

Statistics is no fun

Well all the things I've heard about statistics is true...it's hard and no fun. I'm in my last week of round 1 of Statistics and not only is my GPA shot I'm starting to wonder if I will even get the C required for my work to pay for the class. This class is by far the toughest one ever and being online without an instructor to guide me through the work has proven quite challenging. Thankfully, I found a person on my train ride home who has a Master's in Statistics so she has been tutoring me every night. I only found her Monday so this week's work will reflect my new found help and I'm hoping that it will result in something good. After tomorrow only 5 weeks of Statistics to go. Yeah!!!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Club 33 @ Disneyland

Tomorrow is the big day I've been waiting for. A group of friends, Jeremy, and I are going to Club 33 at Disneyland. Club 33 is an exclusive members only place hidden within Disneyland where club members can go eat and have a drink. It's also the only place within the entire park that serves alcohol. To give you a quick background the Club has a 14 year waiting list and it practically takes an act of God to get in so I'm gosh darn excited I'm getting a chance. I found out about this place a few months ago and ever since I first heard about it I put it on my bucket list of things to do. Never in a million years though did I actually think I would get to go. Here is a link that gives more details about the Club.

http://disneylandclub33.com/

Cherry picking fun

A few weeks ago we took the kids for a morning of picking cherries at one of the farms here. Is that what they are called, cherry farms? Anyways back to the cherry picking. The kids had so much fun picking the cherries after they got the hang of it. At first they weren't quite sure what to do or look for. But after a few trees watch out the two of them could spot a cherry bunch a mile away. Cody was not too fond of the cherries but Taylor was picking and eating at the same time.








Re-decorating the house

Actually I'm not even sure that re-decorate is the right word I should be using as we have yet to decorate our house since we moved in two years ago.
After we begun painting the family room a little bit ago I got the bug to start getting the kids rooms all nice and cute. My bug was further rushed when I found the perfect bed for Cody at a price I couldn't pass up. This led to the painting of Cody's room which then of course brought on Taylor's desire to get her "new" room. Their rooms are now painted, except for the finishing touches. I'm very happy with the colors and have tons of ideas to make the perfect rooms for them. Taylor's is going to be a pink, black, and white modern girly girl retreat while Cody is getting a grown up boys sports room.

Snow deprived son

Last night as I was reading Cody his bedtime story it hit me that my little stud is deprived of one element of weather, snow. This relevation was brought on as we were reading his book about big trucks. As Cody turned each page we would tell me what kind of truck it was and what the truck was doing. When we came upon the snow plow Cody looked at the page and then looked at me and in his most proud voice said, "Mommy, that's a big truck moving marshmallows"

Thursday, July 10, 2008

I really tried

So I really tried to make this blogging stuff work. And I must admit without patting myself too hard on the back. I did good for a few weeks. But then something happened and I got behind and the further I got behind the worse it seemed to get. It's not that life has been boring and nothing to write about, it's not that I'm ignoring it because it wasn't fun. I guess really the bottom line is that I'm just super busy. Then that begs to ask the question if I'm too busy should I just stop blogging all together. I can't really though I don't like to quit anything. So here goes attempt number 2 at blogging. Let the fun begin. And prepare to be bombarded with random thoughts from my head since I haven't talked to you all in almost a month. :-)