Motivated!

The weather has significantly improved. It's almost like it happened overnight. And with the temperature decrease came an increased sense of motivated to pick up the pace a little with our ongoing projects. These last 3 days, I completely overhauled my hard drive and all my digi scrappin' goodies. I dropped 65+ gigs and everything is where it should be. I am so pumped to be creative...fall always has this effect on me. I just want to sit and create fun stuff all day long... But I know I can't so I squeeze it in when I can. :-)

Brynnesters (pronounced brin-sters) enjoyed her birthday last week and we celebrated a little but not fully yet. We are hoping to get some more fun in this weekend and the following weekend. Here's the front of the card I made for her. Ain't she just adorable?

Here are a few more invitations and fliers I made for other events this past year. This one below is from Tara's birthday party.

This was from the adult fall social we had just last week. We played LDS Jeopardy and I thought it went well. (Kevin says some of the other adults get a little too huffy playing the game. hee, hee)


This is from a R.S. activity we had earlier this year. This was fun to make. As you can see, it matches my bloggie. :-)

I have two groupon coupons that I need to use by next February for prints at Mixbook.com My goals is to make two photobooks for my girls for Christmas but I would need to have them done before baby boy gets here. Lofty goal? Yes! Is it a real possibility? We'll see! I'm going to give it a shot anyway. :-) Here are some layouts I made recently.



Krystal's recent Halloween kit "Scare Me Shabby" was perfect for helping get me in the mood for Halloween. Love it!

This is from last year.


My projects around the house are big ones and they are slowly getting accomplished. I know I can't kill myself trying to get it all done so I do what I can when I can. Kevin has been a huge help! He is home much earlier in the day now that his shift has changed and it's been sooo nice!
So far, this is what we've done:

*cleaned, organized, and added shelves to our pantry
*cleaned & organized the east side of the kitchen and started on the west side
*cleaned out the filing cabinet and moved extra files to storage
*cleaned out my storage shed (yes, we have hers and his and his and his and his and his storage units...I kid not!) and shredded several pounds of old files
*cleaned out the roll top desk
*filed away all papers
*started organizing in the hobby room, soon to be Porter's room
*retrieved any and all baby stuff in storage and brought it inside
*started working on insulating the trailer/hanger to make it into a temperature-controlled storage so we can put our food storage and other temperature-sensitive items in it
*got some boxes from the cannery and started putting excess items into it and labeling them for storage
*cleaned and organized the linen closet that was overrun with too much of everything
*organized the storage areas in the bathroom
*removed the shower doors and put up a shower curtain (can't bathe a baby with the rails and doors in the way)
*added some different hardware and accessory items in bathroom as well
*cleaned everything inside and outside of the refrigerator

We still need to do the following:
*paint all the rooms (except for Tara's & Brynne's since theirs is done)
*organize and clean the computer armoire and transform the armoire into our new TV armoire
*move the roll top desk where the computer armoire is and make it into our computer desk
*install a built-in storage system around the desk area
*put up curtains and simple decor in kitchen and front room after they are painted
*install new roof (big one!)
*install sprinkler system, which will perpetuate an eventual landscape and garden plan for next year
*clean out and organize our bedroom
*set up nursery once the storage is done
*deep clean carpets

I'm sure there are some things I'm forgetting but either way, we've come a long way and still have a ways to go. I figure if I shoot for the moon and don't make it, at least I'll land among the stars. Yay for progress!

P.S. I had a few more conversations with other R.S. women in our ward and now I feel even better than feeling better. I learned that some negative situations have been going on for years now and have perpetuated themselves into a dependence that never should have existed. It's relieving to know it's not me after all. This newest revelation has lifted a serious weight from my mind! Even the Savior will not do for us until after we do everything we can for ourselves. And He shouldn't otherwise it would hamper our spiritual growth. I've learned that compassion is about showing love and charity but not to the point where we are doing too much for someone else. We need to make wise sacrifices, as Pres. Uchtdorf advised, not foolish ones. Teaching people how to fish isn't easy when someone doesn't want to learn and only desires to be *given* the fish. Okay, I'm done ranting... Just thought I'd share some good conclusions and learning experiences I've had lately with this subject.