I DID IT! Finally! It took a lot of guts to finally tell our local cable company that I QUIT, but I did it! And on the first Monday of the New Year to boot! A great way to start out 2011 is cutting out that ridiculous expense. To add to the bonus, we still get a ton of channels FOR FREE just through our HD tuner on our HD TV. We just plugged the cable in the wall and bam! Free TV! We still have internet through the company but our bill will be more than cut in half. Very awesome.
I did take a picture of my cable box, but since that is not very exciting, I'll spare you.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
57/101 -- Make a Snowman in NC
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
We don't get a lot of snow here. Coming from Colorado, it was culture shock to me. Every winter I get really sad and depressed because of the lack of actual WINTER in this state. I LOVE snow. I would prefer -10 degrees and piles of snow to mild winters any day. YES, I'm serious. Then why did I move? I ask myself that too...
BUT ANYWAY. Christmas came early this year with a beautiful snowfall on December 2nd. Snow that early is unheard of in our part of NC. I didn't make it out to build a snowman and I kicked myself. When would I ever have another chance? Who knows. I may not see that good amount of accumulation for another 5 years. Seriously. It just does not snow like that here.
But then Christmas actually came. And there was snow. ON CHRISTMAS DAY! We had a white Christmas in NC. We were out of town in the mountains and when I peeked out the window at 7am Christmas morning, it was snowing. Big, white, fluffy flakes. And it was coming down hard. Not blizzard hard, but a lot at a time. I cried. I admit it. Never in a million years did I ever dream I would see snow on Christmas morning living in the South. It was the best Christmas present I could get.
We enjoyed the beautiful fluff until about 3:30 and headed home---a typical 4 hour drive. When we left there was about 5" on the ground and still coming down hard. It took us 5 hours to get home battling bad roads, but we made it. It had just started snowing at our house when we got home about 9pm. We had planned to do our family Christmas the next day (the 26th) since we got home so late. When we woke up the next morning we had at least 4" of snow and it was still coming down. TWO white Christmases!
View from our back porch
After opening presents the husband headed out for snow boots for the kids. To all of our surprise, we found some!
Keira did not want to take hers off after trying them on.
Time to bundle up and head outside to play! AND BUILD MY NORTH CAROLINA SNOWMAN!
Keira was not too pleased with the layers at first, but she had fun.
She is so stinking cute in all of that pink!
Time for a snowman! Took some time to get the balls packed down enough, but they finally came together!
Sisters
Not too shabby!
Sisters
47/101 -- Get another iPod Touch
(and not ruin it). Well, I at least have half of the goal done! I got a new iPod Touch 4 for Christmas. It has a camera so I am really excited about that. I really want an iPhone but we have Verizon. The rumor mill has been churning out leeks that they will be getting one soon, but those have been flying for a year now and I have yet to see one actually be true. They will probably get it very soon though, just because I HAD to use my upgrade on my phone on Christmas Eve because my kid broke my phone in 2 pieces. I have been holding out for the iPhone to use my upgrade on, but I didn't really have a choice. ::sigh::
But hooray for a new iTouch! Now, I vow to keep it far away from all sippy cups, which is what fried the last one.
But hooray for a new iTouch! Now, I vow to keep it far away from all sippy cups, which is what fried the last one.
40/101 -- Get an Advent Calendar for Christmas
The husband got me an advent calendar for Christmas. Was it the Pottery Barn Kids one I have been drooling over? No. But it will do the trick and it is interactive so the little girls can have something fun to do every day. They will probably fight over who gets to put the ornament on the tree, but that's ok. :)
Every day has a Peanuts character on the back of it that you hang on the tree. They are contained in little plastic pockets for easy storage and access.
Every day has a Peanuts character on the back of it that you hang on the tree. They are contained in little plastic pockets for easy storage and access.100/101 -- Organize Closet in 3rd Bedroom
To coincide with doing Chloe's new room, we did the closet for her. We added a few shelves, moved some games to the linen closet, and got rid of old lines to make room! We moved her stuff in, and here you have it---ORGANIZATION!
(Did I mention that I live for organization? I think my dream job is to be a professional organizer.)
ORGANIZED!
(Did I mention that I live for organization? I think my dream job is to be a professional organizer.)
ORGANIZED!
20/101 -- Paint 3rd Bedroom
We have been talking about moving my step daughter from her current room to our current playroom. The room is a bit bigger and has a private bathroom attached. There is a 6 year age difference between her and my daughter and we know that in years to come that Chloe will want her privacy. Some things will be changing around here in a few months and it was a good time to move. We asked her if she wanted the "big" room and she did. Little did she know that the room would be transformed without her knowing it for one of her big Christmas presents. She had no idea when she would be moving rooms and hadn't asked about it since we casually asked her if she would be interested in moving.
The week before Christmas she went back to her mother's house and I went to work. I only had 4 days to get the project done with everything else we had to do for the holidays, so it was tough. Throw in a toddler who didn't want to nap (my only free time other than at night) and the fact I'm 6 months pregnant, and it was not so easy. First I did the ceiling. As mentioned in my master bedroom post below, our builders painted both the walls and ceilings beige. After the ceiling dried, I taped it off and started on the walls. Her favorite color is aqua and I found the perfect shade to match brand new bedding I got on Black Friday. I would link what I got her but it is no longer available. The deal was amazing!
I also tackled the adjoining bathroom and finished everything before Christmas. And yes, I did it ALL by myself. The husband? Too busy with work. This was all my doing and yes, I am proud of it. :)
The best part was surprising Chloe. This kid is not excited about anything. No excitement over anything. Not about Santa, not about Christmas morning, not about birthdays, nada. We went on a short trip out of town to see the husband's family for Christmas. We left town Thursday, picked up Chloe on the way, and stayed until mid-day Christmas and drove home. We told her she could "open" one present that night and we would do our family Christmas in the morning since we got home late. We told her to go upstairs and close her eyes and wait. We guided her to the door of the room where I hung a big red bow. She opened the door and holy smokes...
The reaction we got was amazing. She screamed, jumped up and down and totally freaked out she was so excited. This marks the first excited gift reaction out of this kid EVER. It made my day. It was worth the backbreaking work and long exhausting hours at night finishing it for her so it was just perfect for her Christmas. The fact she loves it? The best feeling ever.
(Oh and next morning on Christmas? Back to her non-reaction self---even with a new motorized pink Razor scooter sitting under the tree from Santa.)
To top it off, when her mom picked her up on Friday she asked Chloe if she had a nice Christmas. What did she say? "GUESS what I got??? A NEW ROOM!!!!!!" Bliss. :)
New room, new paint, new bedding.
The week before Christmas she went back to her mother's house and I went to work. I only had 4 days to get the project done with everything else we had to do for the holidays, so it was tough. Throw in a toddler who didn't want to nap (my only free time other than at night) and the fact I'm 6 months pregnant, and it was not so easy. First I did the ceiling. As mentioned in my master bedroom post below, our builders painted both the walls and ceilings beige. After the ceiling dried, I taped it off and started on the walls. Her favorite color is aqua and I found the perfect shade to match brand new bedding I got on Black Friday. I would link what I got her but it is no longer available. The deal was amazing!
I also tackled the adjoining bathroom and finished everything before Christmas. And yes, I did it ALL by myself. The husband? Too busy with work. This was all my doing and yes, I am proud of it. :)
The best part was surprising Chloe. This kid is not excited about anything. No excitement over anything. Not about Santa, not about Christmas morning, not about birthdays, nada. We went on a short trip out of town to see the husband's family for Christmas. We left town Thursday, picked up Chloe on the way, and stayed until mid-day Christmas and drove home. We told her she could "open" one present that night and we would do our family Christmas in the morning since we got home late. We told her to go upstairs and close her eyes and wait. We guided her to the door of the room where I hung a big red bow. She opened the door and holy smokes...
The reaction we got was amazing. She screamed, jumped up and down and totally freaked out she was so excited. This marks the first excited gift reaction out of this kid EVER. It made my day. It was worth the backbreaking work and long exhausting hours at night finishing it for her so it was just perfect for her Christmas. The fact she loves it? The best feeling ever.
(Oh and next morning on Christmas? Back to her non-reaction self---even with a new motorized pink Razor scooter sitting under the tree from Santa.)
To top it off, when her mom picked her up on Friday she asked Chloe if she had a nice Christmas. What did she say? "GUESS what I got??? A NEW ROOM!!!!!!" Bliss. :)
New room, new paint, new bedding.
Sunday, January 2, 2011
19/101, 22/101 -- Paint and get Furniture for Master Bedroom
Two posts in one since the pictures capture both projects and they went hand in hand. :)
19/101: First came the paint.
This was a HUGE project. What made it a daunting task was our massive tray ceiling. When we built our house we had one of 7 shades of white--beige to choose from. Exciting. What we didn't realize when we chose the darkest color, which was a beige, that they were not only going to use that color on the walls but also all of the ceilings. WHO DOES THAT?! Needless to say, beige ceilings don't look right, especially with certain colors. So when we paint, we also need to paint ceilings. It just adds so much more work.
One of the hardest things was actually choosing a color. The husband wanted to choose our bedroom furniture first. I wanted to find the bedding and match the color to that, but he didn't want to pick bedding until we got the bed either. Round and round we went. Couldn't find furniture we liked, no bedding he liked, thus we were stuck on a color.
Let me say, we have been looking at furniture for over a year with no luck. These past few months we have hit every furniture store in the area hoping to find something we liked. Finally, last month we found a set online that we liked. Of course no one here carried it and shipping from Colorado was astronomical. So we said no to the one set we both loved and kept looking. We found a similar set online at a store located here and went to check it out. Unfortunately, they didn't have the set in the store--it was only online so we couldn't see it in person. We both liked it and were so exhausted from the hunt we were pretty sure it was a done deal. We were brave, read reviews, and a few weeks after finding it we placed the order.
On Black Friday I found THIS bedding at Macy's and knew it was the set. It also was a killer deal I could not pass it up. I think the man was also tired of bedding shopping so he consented to the purchase. I was then able to find the paint and so the adventure began. It took 2 days but we got the paint on the walls and it looks great!
22/101: Furniture time!
Let me just say I have been waiting for bedroom furniture for YEARS. Not just NEW furniture, but ANY furniture. That is right. No dresser, night stands, bed frame. Nada. My socks have been in a laundry basket for 5 years. IT WAS TIME. I was dying for a dresser and sick of hanging everything and shoving clothes on shelves. Having the furniture delivered was awesome and organization heaven for me. Our closet is finally organized and not over-stuffed. Laundry baskets are now only for laundry and my clothes are now folded and in their proper place. :) As an OCD organizational freak, this day brought me much relief!
Behold, our new paint, new furniture, and new bedding! Yippie!
19/101: First came the paint.
This was a HUGE project. What made it a daunting task was our massive tray ceiling. When we built our house we had one of 7 shades of white--beige to choose from. Exciting. What we didn't realize when we chose the darkest color, which was a beige, that they were not only going to use that color on the walls but also all of the ceilings. WHO DOES THAT?! Needless to say, beige ceilings don't look right, especially with certain colors. So when we paint, we also need to paint ceilings. It just adds so much more work.
One of the hardest things was actually choosing a color. The husband wanted to choose our bedroom furniture first. I wanted to find the bedding and match the color to that, but he didn't want to pick bedding until we got the bed either. Round and round we went. Couldn't find furniture we liked, no bedding he liked, thus we were stuck on a color.
Let me say, we have been looking at furniture for over a year with no luck. These past few months we have hit every furniture store in the area hoping to find something we liked. Finally, last month we found a set online that we liked. Of course no one here carried it and shipping from Colorado was astronomical. So we said no to the one set we both loved and kept looking. We found a similar set online at a store located here and went to check it out. Unfortunately, they didn't have the set in the store--it was only online so we couldn't see it in person. We both liked it and were so exhausted from the hunt we were pretty sure it was a done deal. We were brave, read reviews, and a few weeks after finding it we placed the order.
On Black Friday I found THIS bedding at Macy's and knew it was the set. It also was a killer deal I could not pass it up. I think the man was also tired of bedding shopping so he consented to the purchase. I was then able to find the paint and so the adventure began. It took 2 days but we got the paint on the walls and it looks great!
22/101: Furniture time!
Let me just say I have been waiting for bedroom furniture for YEARS. Not just NEW furniture, but ANY furniture. That is right. No dresser, night stands, bed frame. Nada. My socks have been in a laundry basket for 5 years. IT WAS TIME. I was dying for a dresser and sick of hanging everything and shoving clothes on shelves. Having the furniture delivered was awesome and organization heaven for me. Our closet is finally organized and not over-stuffed. Laundry baskets are now only for laundry and my clothes are now folded and in their proper place. :) As an OCD organizational freak, this day brought me much relief!
Behold, our new paint, new furniture, and new bedding! Yippie!
This bed is actually a canopy bed, but they didn't send the right knobs for the top and the bolt was too short to attach the canopy to the posts. :( We are waiting on the correct pieces.
My dresser. My new best friend.
My dresser. My new best friend.75/101 -- Go to the Movies With My Husband
This post has been a long time coming but I have been a bit preoccupied. A friend from my MOPS group volunteered to watch Keira for me so the husband and I could finally get to a movie. Our movie of choice? Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 of course! It was a fantastic movie and we both enjoyed it very much.
Ideally we would have liked to go to lunch and a movie but the timing didn't work out. To improvise we got sandwiches from the Target snack bar across the street from the movies. It was ghetto, but at least we got to eat and have a date. :)
Ideally we would have liked to go to lunch and a movie but the timing didn't work out. To improvise we got sandwiches from the Target snack bar across the street from the movies. It was ghetto, but at least we got to eat and have a date. :)
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