Change is Good

Change is a good thing.  It's good for the soul and it promotes growth.  Pruning is difficult but it's what's best for the branch.  

This is the mantra I have had for myself for the last few weeks.  There has been lots of change going on within my life and at times it has been overwhelming.  I will just give you the "Cliff-Notes."

- Chris changed shifts at work.

- I'm still in my walking boot.

- I started a new job.

- I quit my old job.

- We are making some big changes at home!!

 Back before my foot surgery Chris switched shifts to be more convenient with my healing process and ensuring Alex was well taken care of.   Well that change has been incredibly difficult and finally he was able to go back to his previous shift and life is back to normal once more. 

I had a follow up appointment for my surgeon and there is improvement but not enough.  So he ordered a bone stimulator for the next 4 weeks and then come back for repeat x-rays and hoepfully kicking the boot once and for all!

I started a new job!! What the what?!?! I never thought I would say that!  When I started NICU nursing I thought I had found my forever job!  And this is definitely still the case!  So what the new job?  Well I have never been one to get "comfortable."  In fact there is nothing that makes me more anxious as a nurse.  It is often when you are comfortable that mistakes happen.  While I was off for recovering from surgery I was approached for this opportunity and to say the least it had me shaking in my boots but so excited.  It provides me with an opportunity to still care for babies but also help more people across a greater area.  I started last week and I don't have a single bad thing to say about it so far.  Let's just say it's so nice to feel wanted.

I quit my old job?!?!  What the what?!?!  My original plan was to stay on a optional basis with my old job but as things happen between life and trying to manage 2 jobs it got hectic.  So Chris and I prayed about it and spoke at great length about what to do and it was decided I would drop the optional job while I could still leave on good terms.  

We are also beginning the final stages of making some big changes at home.  Our kitchen has been "torn-up" for over a year.  I had a spur of the moment idea and my loving husband went straight to work.  So we began this project with one goal in mind, to make ourselves more counter space.  So we moved our fridge to the other side of the kitchen and took the counters that were there and placed them where the fridge once was.  In doing this we created over 10ft of consecutive counter space and an area for our trashcan to be hidden. Well we are in the homestretch.  We will be completing our project next month and I could not be more excited to share it with you!  I will be drafting several posts with my inspiration and our plans over the next few days.

I am so excited to be back to the blog, and I can't wait to share to you everything that is going on.

Our Mommy & Son Date to Barnes & Noble

The other night Alex and I had a super fun date night.  Alex has been loving reading books lately, wanting us to read 5-6 books a night before he goes to sleep.  Now if you know me I hate reading the same thing over and over again so I thought we would take a trip to the bookstore.

Now when I was growing up I was an avid reader, I would be up into all hours of the night reading just to read "one more chapter."  But something in me changed after I had Alex and now I can't keep my eyes open for more than 10 pages in a book.  But one thing I have noticed while looking for a bookstore is that there are less than half of the bookstores in our city than there used to be.  That was super depressing for me!  When we would go to the mall my mom would drop me off at the bookstore and come check on me between each store she needed to go to and I loved it.  There are even less libraries than there used to be. 

SOOO Alex and I set out to the bookstore which was about a 20 minute drive from our house and all the while Alex was so excited and talking about all the different kinds of books he wanted.  He wanted a "Star Wars book, a stinky face book, a truck book, a light saber book, a colors book and a Minions book."  I had no idea he would be so excited about books.  Until about 2 or 3 weeks ago Alex absolutely hated reading, Chris and I would sit down to read with him every night and and about 2 pages in Alex would shut the book and say, "All done."

I am loving this stage he is in and I hope it continues for a long time.  So many of my childhood memories revolve around books and playing outside.  I had a super avid imagination and I brought my characters to life, and I would play outside for hours.  So I have made a few resolutions for Alex this year.

1. Start going to story time at the library.

2.  Spend at least 30 minutes outside everyday, no matter the weather.  He can play on the porch or in the garage.

3.  Make one major outing a week, to the zoo, the museum center or the bounce house.

 

I am so excited for Mommy & Son dates!

Movie Review: War Room (No Spoilers)

I went to my church group this past Sunday and this movie was brought up and highly recommended Chris and I watch.  They also told us that we should buy it and not rent it because it is that great.  So when I left that night I stopped at Target and picked it up along with some snacks.  I told Chris to get Alex to sleep and we would have a makeshift date night.  

This movie did not disappoint!! I laughed, I cried and I got goosebumps all multiple times throughout the movie.  

I felt as though the plot line was fluid and not predictable.  I found myself trying to guess at what was going to happen and each time I was wrong.  But the message and theme were incredible.  I feel as though it was a good family movie and it was a very relate-able movie and hits home with many families.   I know at least in our family Chris & I have had times in our lives when our careers have become more important than each other and our relationship fell by the wayside.  

But I also love that it reiterates the power of prayer and it encourages developing an intimate relationship with Christ.  My life and the life of my family has drastically changed since we developed our new and renewed relationship with Jesus Christ.  

On a scale of 0 to 5, with 5 being great and 0 being terrible, I would definitely give this movie a 5.  It is for sure a movie I will watch multiple times and I will definitely beginning to put into practice a few of the techniques mentioned in the movie.

What I'm Loving Right Now

I would classify myself as one of those people who likes a lot of things but doesn't love as many things.  So today I thought it would be fun to share with you some of the things I use on a daily basis that I absolutely love.

1.  My iPhone

I switched to Android for about 9 months this past year, and it was a mistake!  I hated it! I quickly went back to an iPhone and I don't think I will ever make that mistake again.

2.  Hulu

Prior to my surgery Chris and I made the decision to get rid of cable and just keep our wifi and use Hulu and Netflix to keep up on shows, but whatever is not on those 2 things we can buy through the iTunes store.  But I have found that it is amazing, I like Hulu so much more than Netflix because it doesn't judge with the stupid, "Are you still watching?"  I binge watched Scandal on it and I am in the middle of Brothers and Sisters.

3.  Cherry Coke Zero

 

I am a soda lover!  There is no question about it, and I love that there are no extra's in it but also no harmful things that diet soda carries.  

4.  Canon 70D

This is my DSLR that I purchased last year when I upgraded from my Canon Rebel T3i.  I love this camera and all of the features that come along with it, my ultimate favorite being the wifi capabilities.  I love it so much so that when I added my sister onto my "team" I purchased another one for her to use. It's awesome!

5.  Target

OMG OMG OMG where to begin?!?! If Target was open 24/7 and served wine you would probably never get out of there. I used to favor Walmart thinking Target was so much more expensive, but it's not terribly more expensive and the customer service is generally 100% better and they have more checkout lanes open on a consistent base.  In fact when I went to Walmart a few weeks ago with my Grandma, I couldn't remember the last time I had been there and was appalled that it looked dark, dingy and dirty.  And lets not even talk about how long I was waiting in line.

Now I don't go to Target on a daily basis, but I would say I am there at least weekly...

6.  Kroger's Click and Pick Up Shopping

Praise God Hallelujah!  Can I say how much I hate grocery shopping!  This has made my life!  It's incredible, when you load your shoppers reward card it will populate all of your most recent and frequent purchases so that you don't have to go searching for anything. But it also saves an incredible amount of time & money.  I can place my order at 12am one night and pick it up in the afternoon the next day.  I can be as hungry as a wild tiger and not spend the superfluous money on crap food, I can make a list and stick to it, and I find it so much easier to make sure I use my coupons and budget wisely because I can see the total adding up on the bottom right hand of the screen.   It takes less than 10 minutes from the time you pull in the parking spot until the time you back out.  It was amazing!  I find it hard to not justify the $5 charge when you add in the time and money saved.

What are some things you are loving right now?  Share them with me in the comments below!

How I Organize My Planner Supplies

This week I thought I would choose to use Wife Wednesday to share my planner supply organization system.  I know I am not the only one with this problem.  You start into a hobby and as you accumulate things you run out of space to put them, or they begin to take over a certain room in your house.  Well I have organized my "stuff" into one little cart in my bedroom.  But what I have done is organized my most used things into this bag that I can just pick up and go.

I found this bag at Hobby Lobby and waited until it went on sale since every other week things are 50% off.  It is made by The Paper Studio.  And needless to say it is grey chevron so it is perfect!  I think I scored it for $20!

Now to delve into what's inside.

I found this date stamp at Target in the Dollar Spot, before it became Bullseye's Playground.  I use it to mark on my calendar when I plan out the next week.

This is the pouch where I keep all of pens and Papermate Flairs.  It also holds my scissors and exacto knife that I use to cut out my own homemade stickers occasionally.

This is my church journal/devotional journal.  When I don't have it out on Sunday's it stays in this bag so it is easy to find since I am in it almost daily.

I also keep my Bible in this bag as well, it just goes hand in hand with my devotional. This was a gift from Chris and I absolutely love it.  He got us each one the day we were baptized.  On top of it is one of my Erin Condren bookmarks, it is an extra that I will use to mark my spot I left off at in my Bible.

Next is my planner.  I got my Christmas cover in the mail last week. I got this for free from Erin Condren with using my 5th order code!

Next I have a 31 zipper pouch I use to store all of my planner covers. I love the little collection I have accumulated and I love it even more that I only really paid for one of them, the others were bought with coupon codes or gift cards.

Next I have my accordion files I bought at Target from the dollar spot and office supply section I have them organized in a way that makes sense to my brain, I will go through that at another time. 

And in one of my side pockets I will often keep my most recent GrooveBook so that I can coil clip in some of the most recent cool memories.

In another side pocket I keep these booklets I got from Michael's.  I like to use them mainly for my monthly spreads to mark important things or full day events.

And lastly I keep a business card for one of my favorite Etsy shops Finch & Sparrow Prints.

Our First Week With Christopher Pop-In-Kins

Our elf Christopher Pop-In-Kins has returned from the North Pole!  

Let's take a recap on his shenanigans for the last week!

On the first night, 11/30, we opened our first gift from our advent calendar.  And it was our Christopher Pop-In-Kins book!  Alex loved listening to it for the first few minutes so we highlighted the important parts for him.

When Alex woke up the next morning, 12/1, Christopher had made the long journey from the North Pole!

He brought him a super nice note, which Alex carried around the whole day!  He even took it to bed with him!

The next morning, 12/2, we found Christopher in a bit of a predicament.  It appears as though he was looking for a DVD, or maybe a particular picture?  He got trapped in under this cover in my old picture storage discs.  

 

The next morning, 12/3, we found him on a zipline of Christmas lights. Our mistletoe is at the end of the line.  Maybe he was wanting a kiss?

On the morning of 12/4, we found Christopher on our tree.  On Thursday Alex and I spent the day shopping with my mom and grandma.  My mom bought me this beautiful Christmas tree topper and we got home too late to be able to put it up that night, well it seems Christopher knew how much I wanted it up so he it took it upon himself.  He can be so helpful!

On Saturday morning, 12/5, we woke up to find Christopher in this position.  He must have heard how scared Alex was of the noises the dryer was making the night before. He found my washi tape and taped the door shut but also sat and stood guard with one of Alex's mini nerf guns.  (PSA: If your son is obsessed with nerf guns like mine, he may have a massive freak out to find his elf playing with his "pow-pows.")

And Sunday morning, 12/6, as we were getting ready to walk out the door we went to pour Alex a glass of chocolate milk and found Christopher in the fridge hooked onto the chocolate milk.  I think he was thirsty.  

It has been a super fun week! We can't wait to share the next week with you!