A Busy March and April's Goals

I feel like each month brings its own challenges somehow.  March has been a busy month.  The rest of the spring as far as I can tell is going to be pretty busy, but for some reason March felt especially so.  I was talking to a friend/co-worker of mine the other day about busy-ness (business? I never know how to spell it so feel free to weigh in, all of you word people. I intend for that word to be that act of being busy and NOT an organization involved in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers.  Anyway, it seems as though each season, I start planning and putting important dates and things we want to make time for and other obligations that we know about in advance in our calendar.  And then I start planning dates for dinners and lunches with people (sometimes up to a month in advance because our schedule is already quite busy).  And then, as we were discussing, I think to myself, "Ok, calendar is planned.  Looks good! Not to busy!"  And then things come up, and that is when it gets busy.  And that is what I did to us this spring.

In January I feel especially eager to plan (a bit of a problem for me in general but especially in January).  I want everything neatly in our calendar and planned out for us.  I think this is amplified since I am pregnant too.  On top of the normal obligations, things we want to do/make time for, events, there is a list of extra things that we need to do-birthing and breastfeeding classes, showers, and projects, and on top of that there is a list of extra things that I want to do.  I have been super reflective lately and really just enjoying this season of life-the last season of just the two of us.  It is the first season that we have had that has felt like it has a tangible deadline.  I guess in a sense college and engagement fall into that category as well, but I never enjoyed college and was never sentimental about it and quite frankly engagement felt hard and stressful and I was just ready to be married.  And while I am super excited about the next season-parenthood- I have really loved this season, the almost four years as just a married couple.  I've enjoyed being together and the freedom that comes with it and all of the time we have for each other and the adventures we've had and the projects we've done, and I've especially loved how much we have grown and changed.  I want to soak in every moment of this season before it ends- and thus ensues plans like weekends away and a day date with our closest friends who are also pregnant (this was originally going to be a weekend camping trip, but then neither of us had any weekends left) and the such!

But anyway, back to where I was going with this, this spring is busy! March has been really busy!  We have done projects- painting part of the laundry room (so that I feel a little more sane while I am back in that ugly, messy space), painting a dresser, end table, and bookshelf for baby boy's room (which I am super excited about since we purchased the dresser from a friend and had the other two pieces sitting around since they were given to us when our neighbors moved-I love making old things pretty), crocheting baby blankets (for the many pregnant ladies in my life), caulking nail holes in trim (a task I have been putting off for far too long), finally finishing the end table Ryan made me 2 years ago (he routed the edges and I sander-sealed and polyurethaned it), creating a year book from engagement until our 3rd anniversary (I plan to start doing this yearly from anniversary to anniversary, an idea I gleaned from this blog), and most importantly finishing the stairs (a task I have been encouraging-okay let's be honest it verged on nagging most of the time-Ryan to do since at least 2 October's ago).  We watched a friend/co-workers kids for a few days while they were gone, and Ryan was gone for a few nights to Vegas for work, and we celebrated Ryan's birthday and went on a weekend away just the two of us, and we are heading to St. Louis this weekend to visit my sister, and we went to a breastfeeding class.  Add in lunches and dates with friends, and the normal small group and church activities, and family activities, and showers (again for all of the pregnant ladies in my life), and graduations, and increased Dr.'s appointments, and making baby registries, and finding pediatricians, and blah, blah, blah.  All good things, and things that need to be done or that we wanted to squeeze in some time before baby, but still just a lot of things.

Baby Room Furniture

Stairs Before and After

This busy month has led to a loosening of some of my normal routines.  I had gotten out of these routines in the fall because I had been sick with some weird undiagnosed illness for a couple of months, and then just about the time I was starting to feel better I found out we were pregnant and the morning sickness set in, and then the Holidays hit us with all of their craziness, so when January arrived, and I was done being sick and pregnancy sick, I was pumped to get back to routines. 

One of these routines is menu planning and grocery shopping.  What I like to do and what works best for our family since I work full time and we live a little ways out of town, is to plan out a monthly menu at the end of each month for the following month.  I try to plan about 3-4 meals a week or else we aren't able to keep up with all of the leftovers.  I use a fancy little template that I got somewhere on the internet (it's not really that fancy).  It has a spot for each meal (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks), a spot for items from the pantry and a spot for what I need to buy.  I do this for the entire month and make my grocery list from that (plus whatever staples we are low on).  Then I enter all of those into my google calendar, and head to the grocery store.  I cannot actually seem to find where I printed these from, but there are free printable menus all over the internet.  Mine is actually really simple and boring, so I may be on a quest for prettier ones when I run out of my current ones.

Which leads to my next routine-doing one big Aldi shopping trip the first week of the month to get all of the non-perishables and staples for the month and perishables for the first week or two.  This allows me to make 1 big stop and then I can stop wherever is most convenient the rest of the month (once a week) as we need things.  It helps our budget because I am intentionally shopping at Aldi for the bulk of our groceries, and it helps my time management-I only like to stop at a store for groceries and household items once a week or less.  In March, I ended up stopping wherever was most convenient (Walmart) to get urgent items, and our budget and meals and schedule reflected it!

Another thing I like to do is follow a cleaning schedule.  I found this great cleaning schedule that works really well for me.  It has you doing one task that theoretically takes 20 minutes each day, that way you never spend hours cleaning your house, you never have to completely deep clean, and if someone is coming over you don't have to spend the whole day prepping your house for them.  It requires some adjusting for your own preference and life (for example, we have a giant sectional and a giant woodbox in our house;  I cannot sweep underneath them every month when I deep clean the living room because it takes way more than 20 minutes and a ton of energy.  I also do not usually get around to cleaning out our cars once a month-although I hope to get there).  Much like the menu planning and grocery shopping, I got off track in the fall, but January and February I was good about following it, and then March hit and it all went out the window.  I am working on adapting this.  My rule following ways want to follow everything to a "T", and then when I get off track I have a hard time having grace on myself and picking up where I left off.  So my goal for April is not to complete my cleaning schedule perfectly, but to do it consistently and not give up doing it.

A few last things I want to stay motivated with is our Bible reading plan.  Ryan and I have been doing this together, and we got a little behind.  We were trying frantically to catch up, but much like having grace on myself with my cleaning schedule, our reading time is much more fruitful and productive if I am doing it to grow closer to God by being in His word rather than staying on top of the schedule.  If we have a couple weeks left (or a couple months) at the end of the year, that's okay.  The point of it shouldn't be to accomplish it anyway; if that's the point, I've completely lost focus on why we want to read each day anyway!  Walking or jogging 2-3 times a week.  I used to run most days and really enjoyed it, and then I got sick, and then I got morning sick, and then it got cold, and then it stayed cold.  This winter has been rough on my time outdoors.  So once April gets here I want to walk or jog at least 2-3 times each week because it's good for my body, and it's good for my spirit (this is my best quiet time or prayer time), and it's good for my mental health (believe me, some vitamin D and physical exertion do my emotions good), and it's good for my baby!  Lifting weights 2-3 times each week.  I'm not talking pumping some iron, I'm talking 10-15 lb dumbbells.  Since I don't have a gym membership and have a hard time paying for one and have a harder time making myself go before or after work in the winter, my goal was to do a short 5-10 minute weight routine several times a week through the winter especially since I was not running or walking consistently, but I have been very hit or miss with this. Some weeks I do well, and some weeks I don't do it at all.  I am not going to get ripped with this by any means, but I do notice a huge difference in my strength and tone by just 5-10 minutes a few times a week (I tend to build muscle easily so I should take advantage right).  

So to sum up this very lengthy post (and add to it a bit), here are a few of my goals for April:

-Menu plan for the month and actually cook meals consistently
-Make one breakfast a week for the upcoming week (muffins, cinnamon bread, coffee cake, etc-seems to help if we have 1 go to option each week)
-Make bread for sandwiches, toast, etc. as much as I can verses buying it (I have done this in the past and really enjoy making bread)

-Do one big grocery trip to Aldi at the beginning of the month (as opposed to lots of little disorganized trips to Walmart)

-Stick to my cleaning schedule (even if I don't perfectly complete it)

-Stick with our Bible reading plan (even if we never catch up)

-Walk or jog 2-3 times per week (yay vitamin D)

-5-10 minute weight routine 2-3 times per week
-Start my sewing projects for baby boy's room
-Finish the baby blanket for a dear friend
-Finish the laundry room revamp (walls are painted; I want to add some organization and decor)
-Paint the upstairs bathroom grey (I am hoping that the grey will make the room look less yellowy from the almond colored shower we got for free-poor life choice)
-Sand and paint the dining room chairs (I painted the table last spring but have been procrastinating the chairs ever since)
-Get a carpet remnant from Menards and have it bound at Carpet Land for baby boy's room

Wish me luck!

A Weekend Getaway to Celebrate 27 Years and 26 Weeks

This weekend we got away. Just a short 2(ish) hour drive away are beautiful woods and cozy cabins, so upon my request to have a weekend getaway just the two of us before there are three of us, we packed up the car, and the movie night supplies and headed for the hills.

One bonus was that one of the few weekends we had free (this weekend) before June, just so happened to be Ryan's 27th birthday, and while he doesn't care about receiving (which is one if the things I love and respect about him, and also one of the reasons I love to spoil him that much more), I really love to spoil him. But he is so hard to surprise. He already knew what I was getting him for his birthday so I let him open it early (because I am terrible at waiting), so I bought him a movie he has been wanting to see-Gravity (and checking redbox for weekly-fortunately for me it's not on red box yet), and made him his favorite cookies for the first time since we've been married (because I'm a terrible wife and don't particularly care for no-bakes so I make him other cookies that we both like), and spent the weekend eating his favorite foods (biscuits and gravy and pizza) together. It was wonderful to have a weekend without a to do list or any plans just the two of us!

And what do you know, I'm 26 weeks pregnant. 26 weeks on his 27th birthday! It has gone so fast, I can hardly believe it! Hopefully I post more about my pregnancy and the journey of getting pregnant later but for now, here is a 26 week picture of me and the baby boy!

In the beginning-the story of how we became {Mr. and Mrs.}

Hmm...where to even begin.  Ryan and I got married in August of 2010, but our story started long before that.  We have know each other since, well, as long as I can remember.

We grew up going to the same small church together, and then when I was in second grade, my parents built a house in the country right across the road from them...literally.  So we have lots of memories together including- me falling off of his horse while I road with him, him injuring my toe on our trampoline, a family vacation together when I was in 6th grade, him driving me and my sister (who was actually in his class) to school before she could drive, being in "youth group" together (this group consisted of me and my older sister and him and his younger brother (who is just a week older than me) and another girl), hanging out together with my older sister and another mutual friend Christine, and from there it got a little more romantic.

My junior year of high school, I developed a tiny little crush on him, but was convinced he, being a mature college student, was way out of my league.  Sometime after that we started talking on AIM (anyone remember instant messenger from the dark ages?), and sometime after that we started talking on AIM until like 3,4,5 in the morning.  Then he invited me to hang out with his friends on campus, to which I regretfully and embarrassingly wore my letter jacket to (oh the shame, oh the horror), but despite that major fashion blunder, he still asked me on a first date later that fall to Olive Garden and ice skating, and a short month later we went on another date to see "The Bee Movie" and spent the next day riding the snow mobile, during which he stopped and got off and nervously told me why he "liked" me and we became boyfriend and girlfriend.

Over the next couple of years, we had ups and downs and God had a whole lot of grace on us and our immature, highly lacking in communication skills, selves.  God brought us through that time! In January of 2010, Ryan proposed, during a snow mobile ride, in the same spot he had defined the relationship the year before, and I said yes.  And the wedding planning began.

Sometime between saying yes and saying "I do", Ryan bought our first home, and then we decided it would be a good idea to destroy it and start over (aside from the studs and foundation), and so we started remodeling, with the naive (dare I say stupid) goal of having it finished (or done enough) by our wedding night in August later that year.  It was not finished by our wedding night; in fact it was not finished by the time we returned from our honeymoon.  We stayed in his parents camper the first night we returned and then the basement for the next few nights before we moved in to our "done enough" home (although our definition of done enough had drastically changed by that point).  We moved into dirty sub-floors, a mattress on a tarp on the dirty sub-floor, one mostly finished bathroom, and a kitchen consisting of a card table and chairs, a mini fridge, and a microwave and toaster-luxury!  It was rough, but looking back now it is fun to think about those days (and be thoroughly relieved that they are behind us).  Anyway, more on the house later!

August finally came, and our wedding was beyond hot and in an un-air conditioned chapel at a church camp Ryan had formerly worked at (our church was too small for our guest list thanks to giant families), so we began the ceremony at 7:30 hoping to avoid much of the August heat.  It was still hot, and I don't remember much from our wedding honestly; it was all a blur and super surreal.  We had a simple wedding, and while I enjoy helping other people plan their weddings, I am glad you only get married once because wedding planning and budgeting but still making things look good and serving your guests that are so generously giving of their time to support you and attend is STRESSFUL.  But, at the end of the day, we were married! Isn't that kind of crazy? For those of you who are not yet married or maybe even engaged and in the midst of the craziness of planning, this might not really make a lot of sense to you, but marriage is a crazy and miraculous gift.  We had spent 8 months planning this wedding and then after a hot, humid, 30 minute ceremony, suddenly we are husband and wife.  It didn't matter what music was played or what attire was worn or whether the flower girl made it down the aisle or what people ate, or how fancy the decorations were-we were married! Crazy!

God is good! We look back on our wedding day with thanksgiving and humor-thanksgiving for how faithful God has been despite our immaturity and ignorance and sinfulness, and humor for how young and ignorant and silly we were.  It's fun to look back and the two of us standing at the altar-20 and 23 years of age, and remember them as a faint memory.  Time flies and God changes us (hopefully), and we get to look back and think "how fun that season of life was" and at the same time "thank you God that we are not the same people who said "I do" back in 2010".  I mean, neither of us has changed to be a completely different person with completely different personalities, but by God's grace, we have changed, for the good, and I am so thankful!

Welcome to the Blog World

So, I've decided to give this blog thing a go....again.  I've gone through phases with blogging but they never last- because it ends up feeling like something else on my seemingly endless to do list and because I put a lot of pressure on myself with it.  I am not a photographer or a writer; in fact I am rather self-conscious about my photography skills AND my writing.  I am a Christian, a wife, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a bookkeeper, a friend, and soon to be a mother.

This will not be a DIY blog, although I much enjoy projects, crocheting, baking and cooking, and all things DIY; reflections on remodeling our house may even end up in this space.  It is not a parenting blog, although I will likely document lots of parenting adventures as we enter with excitement and healthy fear into this new stage of life.  It will not be a spiritual blog, although as I am a follower of Jesus it deeply affects every avenue of my life, so you can bet it will come up.  This blog will be a space to document life, to reflect on all that God has done in our little family, a place where I can look back in 5 years and laugh and cry and be thankful for memories. I may not write every week or even every month; in fact I am declaring this a pressure free zone because this blog is for me.  If someone else can read and enjoy and maybe even be encouraged I will count that as a bonus, but at the end of the day, this is my online memory book.  That is it's purpose.

Thanks for stopping by! I hope you enjoy!

Kalli