ch-ch-ch-chaaanges

Day 5 in the new house, and things are starting to look a little different ...

Behold, the BEFORE:

Horrible. Hideous border. Dark carpet. Even worse forest green on every bit of trim.

Then, the most wonderful thing happened ... Husband scraped off that border and took down the blinds ... and it was like a Christmas miracle:

Then up came one layer of carpet:

And then another:

Isn't this the most glorious pile of trash you've ever seen?

I wonder if the neighbours are starting to talk ...?

And this is only the beginning.

financial bucket list

Do you have a financial bucket list? Things you would do when and if you could save the money? I recently started reading Give Me Back My Five Bucks, a Canadian blog about finding financial independence, and it's given me inspiration to be even more aggressive about paying down debt.

Here are a few of the things on my personal financial bucket list:

1) Pay off debt as quickly and efficiently as possible. This includes student loans, two car payments and our new mortgage.

2) Create an emergency fund. Ideally, this would be enough funds to live for six months if something unimaginable happened.

3) Increase our retirement contributions. Who doesn't want to be set up to retire comfortably?

4) Increase our investment into education savings. Hopefully our children will pursue higher education and we want to be prepared to help them as much as we can with that.

These all seem quite logical, right? What are your financial priorities?

*Another huge bonus? Give me back my five bucks is hosting a great giveaway, so pop on over to learn more.

countdown to christmas

I blogged for The Chronicle Herald on Wednesday about wanting to start a Christmas countdown tradition in our home. The idea that I liked best, of out all of the great ones I found on Pinterest, was a holiday activity for each day of December.

Here's what we're planning:

December 1: Sing Christmas songs.

December 2: Send letter to Santa here.

December 3: Bake Christmas cookies.

December 4: Watch Elf on CBC.

December 5: Colour Christmas pictures.

December 6: Make paper ornaments.

December 7: Take festive family photos.

December 8: Shop for stocking stuffers.

December 9: Send Christmas cards officially from our new address.

December 10: Deck the halls in our new home!

December 11: Watch Home Alone on CBC.

December 12: Make DIY Christmas gifts for friends.

December 13: Read Christmas stories.

December 14: Take an evening drive to look at Christmas lights.

December 15: Make paper snowflakes.

December 16: Go on a winter walk.

December 17: Do a good deed.

December 18: Build a snowman (weather permitting) or make an indoor version.

December 19: Make snow angels, inside or out.

December 20: Play outside.

December 21: Sip hot chocolate with candy cane stir sticks.

December 22: Read Christmas more stories.

December 23: Drive home for the holidays! Listen to lots of Christmas music along the way!

December 24-29: Celebrate Christmas with family.

December 30: Make a list of family plans and resolutions for 2012.

December 31: Stay up late, enjoy treats, and ring in the new year as a family.

house & home

As I leaked in my 30 by 30 post - we are now home owners! As of our December 9 closing, at least. 10 sleeps, if you're counting. I already shared a bit of the story here.

We started the search a few months ago, initially browsing MLS and ViewPoint, and then we contacted our Realtor. Our intention was to start looking to get a sense of what we liked, and then but the plan into motion after the holidays. 18 boring houses later, and we unexpectedly found ourselves standing in the living room of the house that just felt like home. The layout is exactly what we wanted, spacious and open. Three bedrooms for our little family with the potential to add a fourth in the already-finished basement. It has curb appeal and a big yard, with lots of room to play and entertain. And it's not perfect either. There's some wallpaper to strip, and floors to swap and little updates here and there, but those things might be what we're most excited for-- to make our little home our own.

With moving day less than two weeks away, we've already packed a significant amount of our current home into boxes and bins. I spend all of my free time pinning, searching and jotting notes in a lengthy Google Doc, keeping track of our to-dos and must-buys.

On the list of priorities after Dec. 10:

• Install new (just purchased!) dining room chandelier and fire place sconces.
• Strip wallpaper downstairs. Repaint.
• Work on updates to J's big boy room.
• Put a happy wreath on our new front door.

Looking forward to giving you the full tour once we're in and settled!

lovely weekend

I'm heading out of town this weekend for shopping with some of my lady relatives, and my list is longgg. I'm imagining that I could potentially complete my Christmas shopping this weekend. In October. Whoa. That would be impressive, no? I'll let you know how it goes.

I'm not actually taking the dude shopping with me,

but I saw this ridiculous image here,

and just thought it was too over the top not to share.

Thennn, on my way home, I'm stopping to visit HH and her lovely family in their dream house, and I can barely wait!

And then, I suppose, I should work on some blogs ... both here and there. As per usual, I'm sure the weekend is going to fly by. Do you have any fun plans?

house hunters

Lovely friend H bought the house of her dreams last week. So, the fact that I've been surfing MLS non-stop for the past week or so can be squarely blamed on her.

We love where we live now, but ultimately there are restrictions to a renter's life ... no planning big renos, no building equity, no ... well, ownership. We've done little projects here and there, but I have the decorating/organizing/diy itch often, and there's only so much you can do in someone else's casa.

We're surveying our options and counting our pennies, just in preparation for the inevitability. This isn't the first time we've started on this road, but who knows, maybe it'll end differently this time.

So, I put these questions to you, dear readers, and am happily accepting any and all advice in these matters:

1) Detached vs. semi-detached? I admit that I am already very set on this matter, but I will open it to the floor anyway.

2) Fix-er-upper vs. new construction?

3) Oil heat vs. electric heat?

4) Subdivision (0.2 acre) vs. more rural (1+ acres)?

5) What are your top "red flags" when it comes to viewing houses?

Thanks, in advance.

nerd alert

Oh man, you guys, something has changed my life and I'm so excited to share.

I got a new household appliance on Friday. I hesitate to call it that though, because I'm pretty much ready to make it an honourary member of the family. It's a Black and Decker Steam Mop.

I have been in the market for a steam mop for a while, but there are so many to choose from. Just about every cleaning brand has their own version, and they're all quite similar. I knew for sure though that I wanted one that boasts the ability to kill 99% of germs on your floors. With a baby and a cat who like to lick get up close and personal with the hardwood, the idea of cleaning without chemicals was pretty appealing.

I decided on the Black and Decker mop after reading a great review by Mag Ruffman in my newspaper's Homes section. I then read several blog posts recommending it, too. I was convinced, and I'm happy to say it's everything I hoped it would be.

Pros:

- It heats up in seconds. The light on the front changes from red to blue when it's ready to go.

- It comes with three washable pads — no need to buy any expensive refills.

- It runs on water alone. No chemicals.

- The swivel head rotates so easily around edges and in corners.

- I could instantly see how much cleaner it makes the floor.

Con:

- I really can't think of anything. If I had to say something, I guess it's that I now have another appliance to store, but it's still more convenient and cleaner than a traditional mop and bucket.

Plus, listen to this:

Me: Oooo it's awesome! Husband, do you want to try it?

Husband: [thinks about having to do another chore] No ... knock yourself out.

Me: [happily steaming the floor] Ahh this is so satisfying, and easy! Look how clean the floor is!

[Five minutes later]

Husband: OK, can I try now?

Any appliance that can make Husband ask to do an extra chore is worth its weight in gold, wouldn't you agree?

a productive summer come and gone

I set a few goals for the summer months and, as far as I'm concerned, once school has started, we can pretty much consider summer officially ended. Here's a round-up of my efforts. What'd you get up to this summer?

1) Grocery shop less. I feel like I did well with this. I wasn't on a strict budget, but I tried to think about what we already had in our cupboards before going out to buy the things that I just wanted instead of needed. We got out to farmers' markets several times for fresh, local produce, which was part of this goal. Now, we're in the midst of revamping our family budget plan, so I'm trying to see how inexpensively the three of us can manage. There will be more to this as the month goes on. So far, a success!

2) Find more time to read. Enter The Litwits! Thanks to our new book club, I'm working on my second book in the past month and I also have a beach read going on the side.

3) Take Jacob to the beach and dip his toes in the ocean for the first time. Take millions of photos.

Here you go ...

4) Journey to visit family. This includes NB, CB and anywhere in between. Done and done! We had some wonderful time with family this summer and hope to visit even more this fall.

5) Go camping. This was a lofty goal with a less-than-one-year-old, and it didn't happen this summer. We're super excited to take him out as soon as it's warm enough next year, though!

6) Keep my hanging basket alive. All. Summer. I'll spare you the photographic evidence on this one. I'd lie, but I know my neighbour friend reads my blog and would rat me out. The basket is dead. Dry, crunchy, dead. Never to be revived. Maybe next year I'll fill it with artificial flowers.

7) Sleep in. Please. Just once. Jacob was a peach this summer and many times Husband and I woke up before he did, which qualifies as a sleep-in for us. Waking up on your own, naturally, and refreshed feels so good.

8) BBQ. A lot. We did. Again and again. We filled the propane tank for a second time this year and we will BBQ well into the fall.

9) Wash both cars inside and out. We did clean both cars already, and just recently gave the Kia a second vacuum and wipe down. Being down to one-car family, for a while made it simpler, but we're a two-car household once again and I'm making it my mission to keep "my" car spotless.

12) Purge. Success as shown here.

13) Fix the DIY curtains I made for the front door. I haven't done this yet, mainly because I still don't know what I want to do. Must hit Pinterest for ideas.

14) Do a few little home-improvement projects, like touch up some paint, etc. This was so easy. In less than an hour, we patched holes in the Gyp-rock and re-painted some spots. Plus, we exchanged our kitchen hardware, which made a huge difference.

15) Scrapbook (or come up with a reasonable alternative). Even though I still have lots of scrapbooking supplies, I've put them aside in favour of organized photo albums for now. Rather than doing a rushed job on our scrapbooks, our albums will serve to keep our memories until I have enough downtime to do it properly. I also cashed in Pampers Gift to Grow points for a free Shutterfly photo book of J's first year, which may be my forever alternative to scrapbooking — it's so easy!

What are your most important to-dos for fall?

what are you hoarding?

If you were a hoarder, based on your personality … what would you hoard? (better yet, ask someone who knows you well, what they think you would hoard).

I am probably the furthest thing from a hoarder. Yes, we have our storage struggles, and yes, we have tons o' stuff, but I'm not afraid to purge anything that isn't useful. If I had to choose though, based on my personality, my stockpile would probably include books, stationary and greeting cards, craft supplies, fun stuff for entertaining guests and home decor items. Hmm, why is this starting to sound like a good idea?

I also asked a few of the regulars for their opinions.

Mum's thoughts: cookbooks (I now have 29), coupons (I do have a designated coupon wallet), and lists (or rather books for lists since there's one in every. single. drawer. in our house).

Sister-in-law C suggested canned goods due to my slightly-weird love for grocery shopping. This might be true about kitchen staples in general. I'm certain we could go a month without buying groceries and still have plenty to eat. Her self-confessed hoards? Purses, shoes and magazines.

Grammie says books. Both my vice and hers. She makes great effort to pass along books once she's read them, to her credit. Often that means those books end up at my house though! For some reason, I'm holding on to many that I'm sure I'll never open again. Hmm ... maybe a donation to the library is in order.

What kinds of things are you holding on to at home?

Thanks, as always, to Mama Kat for the writer's prompt.

vacation from my vacation

Am I the only one who has a love-hate relationship with vacation?

I anticipate time off for weeks, sometimes months, in advance. Planning, organizing, packing. As the time approaches, I'm filled with a mixture of excitement and apprehension ... What do I need to remember? What have I already forgotten? Then, after hours in the car, I fall into that magical bubble of family, swimming, smores, and sunbathing. Then, when it's time to drive home, I'm filled again with the same mix of stress, but in reverse. Decompressing, unpacking, cleaning and regaining some semblance of routine.

Having a baby adds a unique element to the situation. I anticipate time with family in a different way -- I was thrilled to introduce Jacob to my fun relatives. I worked to make sure conditions are perfect -- that Jacob had what he needs to be in the best mood possible for being passed around by people he still (somewhat) considers strangers. And he didn't disappoint. Despite some obvious teething discomfort, Jacob was cheerful and fun the whole time we were away. Love.

But in the end, summer vacation is always wonderful. Each year, I'm sad to leave my family and return to real life. Thanks to all of you who helped make our whirlwind vacay pretty great. xo

all growed up

A moment you realized your child is growing up.

Look at those bangs ...

Four days shy of being 10 months old, I finally caved to Husband's suggestions and we decided to take Jacob to get his hair trimmed.

Not without giving him a full-fledged mohawk first ...

Much better! So handsome!

Somehow my baby is turning into a little boy. When did that happen?

***

Thanks, as always, to Mama Kat for the writer's prompt.

coming to an email near you

Don't you hate it when you're anxious for a new blog post to read, you click to one of your favourite writers, and there's nothing new. Lame-o. So to make life easier, there's a new feature in the good ol' right-hand nav that allows you to subscribe to like a hamster on a wheel via email. Be the first to know when new posts are added!

As always, thanks for reading!

resolutions revisited

1. Drink more water. I could say I'm doing this, but I'm not. Does coffee count?

2. Run a 5k race. Not yet, but definitely will. I swear. Really.

3. Save more money. Or spend less money. I started out with this goal by preparing a detailed monthly budget for Husband and I to track our spending. It worked for a while, but then we got lazy about it. Now that I'm working again, our finances have changed, so this is a great reminder to adjust the budget and keep working at it for the next six months.

4. Correspond with friends and family more often via snail mail. I did this a bit, but definitely not as often as I'd like. Can I blame it on the mail strike? Luckily, I already have a few stamped cards ready to be dropped in the mailbox.

5. Write in Baby J's journal more often and keep his scrapbook up to date. Oh man, this is just getting depressing. Have I accomplished anything in the first six months of the year? I haven't event touched this one.

6. Read 26 books. Fail. Fail. Fail.

7. Be adventurous in the kitchen. Make recipes I've been too afraid (or lazy) to try. Experiment with new ingredients. OK, I think I'm doing well with this one. I even tried some new muffins today. I've also made a few new salads, baked some tofu and enjoyed some tasty desserts.

8. Focus on the amazing joys in my life and make a serious effort to keep all kinds of stress at bay. Ah, my favourite resolution. This is such a great reminder. Deep breath in ... and out.

Just like all those people out there who hit the gym in January, never to return, I am really slacking on my resolutions. What have you been avoiding/forgetting on your to do list lately?

that's a load off

Among my summer, and specifically my Canada Day weekend to dos, was a plan to purge all previously-intended-for-yard-sale stuff from our spare bedroom.

And I may have mentioned this plan to lovely friend A who has, shall we say, a fondness for cleaning.

And that may have resulted in a Wednesday-night, pre-Canada-Day, mega purge.

And, oh man, it felt so good.

summer to dos

Seeing as how it's actually summer, despite what the weather may have you believe, it's time to make a trusty list of seasonal to dos. They're not all exactly summer related, but all projects/initatives that are in desperate need of tackling.

1) Grocery shop less. I love to buy groceries. Yes, I know it's weird, but I love browsing the aisles, thinking up recipes and getting a good bargain. And the fact that my new office is within a five-minute drive of a massive store that not only has groceries, but clothes and housewares, too ... you see where this is going. Well, enough. I'm cutting my shopping trips down to twice a month. As part of this, I would like to visit the farmers' market at least once a month to stock up on fresh, local produce.

2) Find more time to read. Complete at least six books before Labour Day. Seriously, this shouldn't be that hard. I am embarrassingly far from my 26 books in 52 weeks goal. Time to step up.

3) Take Jacob to the beach and dip his toes in the ocean for the first time. Take millions of photos.

4) Journey to visit family. This includes NB, CB and anywhere in between.

5) Go camping. OK, this is ambitious with a nine-month-old. And it may just be in the backyard, but hey, that still counts.

6) Keep my hanging basket alive. All. Summer.

7) Sleep in. Please. Just once.

8) BBQ. A lot.

11) Wash both cars inside and out. Golf clubs = mud and grass. Guess this one is Husband's job.

12) Purge. I abandoned my yard sale dreams in favour of getting crap outta here. I've filled one bag of clothes and one bag of miscellaneous items. There's still an overflowing walk-in closet, among other crazy spaces, to be dealt with. ASAP.

13) Fix the DIY curtains I made for the front door. I'll post more about this later to give you a little context.

14) Do a few little home-improvement projects, like touch up some paint, etc.

15) Scrapbook (or come up with a reasonable alternative).

OK. That's enough. There's more, but I really need to be realistic, and if I get some of this done, I'll be pretty pleased.

What are you up to this summer?

the first of many

Dear Husband,

Since the moment we knew we were expecting, you have been an amazing dad. In the days we waited for Jacob to arrive, when we spent late nights reading pages of baby books aloud to each other and when you started learning lullabies on your guitar, I knew that this is a job you are meant to have.

Once he was finally in our arms, everything changed. Our love for him is indescribable, and the love I have for you is forever changed in the very best way.

I love standing just outside Jacob's bedroom door, listening to you two talk, laugh and play. It is the sweetest sound.

You're already teaching him so much — to catch and throw, to say new words, to love and be loved.

Thank you for being the best Dada for Jacob and the most wonderful husband for me.

Always remember there is nothing worth sharing

like the love that lets us share our name.

*

lagging behind

Now that I'm back to work, my free time seems to be devoted to the sheer upkeep of the rest of my life -- housework, keeping (somewhat) up with correspondence/social commitments, grocery shopping/cooking/packing lunches, and maximizing snuggle time with my boys.

Among the things gnawing at the back of my mind, besides having more time to read, opportunites for date nights with Husband, and keeping up el bloggo, is Jacob's scrapbook.



I have one scrapbook filled (a couple dozen completed pages) -- but I'm pretty sure he was wearing still wearing size 1 diapers in the last photos I included. He's now in size 4s.

There are many uncharted months, and literally hundreds of photos, taunting me every time I open the door to our spare room and lay my eyes on the huge pile of paper craftings supplies that is gathering dust.

My friend H recently made an adorable photobook online for her son's first birthday. It turned out so nicely, and she was able to do it all without getting scraps of paper all over the floor. I must also point out though, this is the same friend who has about 10 completely filled and beautiful scrapbooks of her son's first year already completed.

Then I consider traditional photo albums ... slide the photos in and bam, you're done. I keep a log of milestones in a Google docs with dates, times, weights, lengths, etc. I could easily format little blurbs, print them, and include them in the slots among the photos. Not really as artisitic, I know, but much more time efficient, right?

Am I letting laziness take over? How do you or how do you plan to record your childs' first year and beyond?

embracing change

So. I'm going back to work.

Tomorrow.

Whoa.

Let's rewind for a minute. If you're keeping track, I've been on maternity leave for about nine months and I still have three months left of my benefits before having to return to work. I have loved every second I've been home with Baby Jacob, and I've been dreaming up picnics and beach dates as we've waited for the weather to warm up.

Though, in mid-May, lovely friend S alerted me to an opportunity. The exact job that I held at the now-defunct Daily News became available at our city's other and primary daily newspaper, The Chronicle Herald. It just seemed too good to be true. I had to apply, knowing it might be my only real chance to re-enter the daily newspaper world.

As I'm sure you can predict at this point in the story, I interviewed a couple weeks ago and just three days ago I was offered the position. Starting tomorrow. What a bittersweet phone call. As I cheerfully chatted with the HR woman, my inner voice started to gnaw at me ... but what about Jacob?

I know I've enjoyed much more leave with my son than many women get; I do realize how fortunate I am. That doesn't change the feeling I have now, or would've had in September, about leaving my baby and returning to work. Thankfully, we are unbelievably lucky to have a network of close friends who jumped at the opportunity to take care of our boy for the first 14 days (but who's counting?) of my employment. After that, Husband will be finished teaching for the year and will spend July and August at home.

The nine-month mark is known as a time for babies to experience separation anxiety. I never would have guessed that the stress I would actually feel at this juncture would be my own.

And so, Friday was my last official day of maternity leave. I brought Jacob into bed with me in the morning and we spent extra time laughing and snuggling. We played our favourite games and went for an extra long walk with friends. We've enjoyed a relaxing weekend, and I've spent nap times making extra baby meals and organizing a diaper bag for him to take on his first day away from his Mama.

Instead of sleep training Jacob, now I'm trying to work train myself. And yes, I've had to cry it out a few times.

Now, while my sweet boy finishes his nap, I'm going to go select an outfit for tomorrow, and remind myself that this is something to be excited about — after three years of regular career changes, I'm getting to return the the job I know, the job I love. Having the opportunity to go back to work to a job that will leave me fulfilled at the end of the day is not only good for me, but it's great for my family.

not me monday

This is a doozey.

I did not get Husband's hopes up when I talked about the "treat" I was making him on Saturday.

I always re-set the timer, instead of leaving the contents to cook "a few more minutes" only to remember about them 10 or 15 minutes later.

Oh wait, that's not the best part. My slightly charred cupcakes didn't look like sunken potholes. Upon tasting them, I didn't think they seemed a little gritty. And after talking it through with my Mum on the phone, I didn't have a major "duh" moment when I realized that when the recipe called for 1 cup of coffee, it meant BREWED coffee, not a whole cup of coffee grinds.

I didn't take my mother-in-law's super tasty chocolate cake recipe and turn it into the biggest baking fail of all time.

week in review

Oh hey, remember me?

Yeah, I didn't think so.

* Holy work week, Batman. Wasn't I supposed to be on mat leave? Who am I kidding — you know that I'm uber frugal and will jump at the chance to make extra spending moolah. I had some casual-job work to accomplish, mixed in with some great new freelance writing, which equaled zero free time for blogging, crafting and the like. I know, poor me.

* Sleep has eluded me somewhat this week, too (c'est la vie when you're a mama), but hopefully we're going to get back into our nighttime rhythm now that Baby J has cut tooth No. 2! Woo!

* Oh, and do you know what the afore mentioned extra cash means? I can do things like book a trip to CHICAGO to meet OPRAH. OK, I made up that last part. But the fantastic trip stuff is totally legit. Lovely friend A and I are going to the windy city to play tourist for a few days this summer.

* I just bought The Hunger Games for my Kobo. Have you read it and is it as awesome as they say? I'm very much a read-it-before-watching-the-movie person. I'm loving Water for Elephants right now.