I was browsing my Pinterest boards and came across this pin from a while ago. And then I realized….I’ve already done that!! That’s always a fun discovery. 😉
Our wedding wall
Obviously this isn’t exactly like the Pin….but that’s the beauty of Pinterest. You can find inspiration and make it your own. In the shadowbox, I have two of the napkins from our wedding, our wedding invitation, and one of the fake roses we used for decor. I LOVE our wedding wall!!
-Bonnie
I have reinstated the use of to-do lists.
I go through spells in which I’ll use them. Then I get so used to them that I either burn out or forget to use them. Apparently I’m the type that needs to keep changing things up.
But for now it’s back to to-do lists! I’m loving it. I make a list for every day and it is divided into two sections…one section for things to be completed while the Wingman is awake, and one section for things to do while he’s sleeping.
My notebook
Each day I have personal goals (like memorizing a song, working on my Spanish, or playing piano), exercising, and cleaning. Some jobs I do every day (dishes and emptying the trash), and bigger jobs or jobs that don’t need to be done as frequently, I spread throughout the week. This week I had things like disinfecting trash cans, dusting the fans, and wiping down appliance doors. I use The Confident Mom’s planner for ideas. (I highly recommend her planner!!)
I am loving how much it’s been keeping me on top of things. The extra accountability is really helpful for getting things accomplished.
Do you use to-do lists? How do you best organize your time?
-Bonnie
Well…we’ve been in Del Rio for just over two weeks. Just yesterday we got the last of our furniture. Woo hoo!! Now we have to tackle the mess (and I do mean mess) left for us by the movers. Not complaining about the movers…they did a great job! But they aren’t allowed to put away anything they unpack…therefore….we have piles and piles and piles. And piles. Of stuff.
Obviously we haven’t been blogging much…but just this morning I spent some time brainstorming some ideas and hopefully we will both be back to blogging more. The Pilot keeps wanting to write some posts…hopefully with his busy schedule he can still fit some more in!
Until then…I leave you with a bit of my happiness this week.
On Wednesday when the movers unloaded our stuff from California, I was so excited to see this. I had a big old smile on my face pretty much the whole time they were wheeling it in.
Can’t wait to start playing again!! (Included in the picture is a tiny
taste of that mess I was telling you about. That was not
part of the big old smile on my face. 😉 )
I was also very happy to see this. I’ve missed you, my friend!
And now I need to head off and tackle some more piles! Have a great weekend!
-Bonnie
We’re now down to a little less than three weeks until we move. Crazy how quickly time is passing!
As we’re about to leave our first home together, I am reminded of how the ideal woman and the ideal wife is not made from a cookie cutter.
When we first got married, I compared myself to other women. I would see how they would take care of their house, how they blessed their husband, how they planned for and prepared meals, etc. I saw single women doing some things better than me. I felt like I wasn’t good enough. I couldn’t be a good enough wife.
I admit….yes, I definitely still do struggle with those thoughts. But I know that there is no such thing as THE ideal wife. God made every woman different. God made every husband different. What works in one household may not necessarily work in another. Sometimes it’s just for a season of life….sometimes it isn’t.
When our church was hosting a Home Fellowship (basically a home Bible study with a few families from church) I was so embarrassed to be taking….a salad mix for the dinner. A mix. None of the other ladies in my circle would bring a mix. They would buy their own lettuce, chop it up, and of course have other fresh vegetables to add.
But those other ladies are not me. For one thing, they don’t have a 9 x 5 kitchen with little counter and refrigerator space. For another thing….they might be gifted differently than me. It is not bad or wrong or sinful to purchase and offer a salad mix at a potluck. It does not make me less of a wife or less of a woman.
I used to think that I needed to do all these things to be the perfect wife. I needed to be able to cook proficiently (and generally speaking, enjoy it!) and have the house constantly clean.
It’s okay that I am not a gourmet chef. It’s okay that I’m not a proficient cook. It’s okay that I am not able to invent my own recipes or know the substitutes for ingredients that I don’t have.
Whenever anybody comes over, I sometimes die a little inside because our house isn’t spotless. But…it’s okay if the house isn’t constantly clean! It’s okay that oftentimes our couch has to be storage for things like books or mail because there is no other space in our house.
And guess what? It’s okay if my house and our life looks nothing like my parents. Or my in-laws. Or either of my sisters.
God has gifted people differently. God has called people to different life seasons and experiences.
This house has helped teach me hat I don’t have to live up to certain standards….because sometimes I just can’t. And that’s okay! As long as I am striving to honor the Lord and adequately take care of my husband, our house and our life is beautiful just the way it is!
-Bonnie
So we’re moving in just under 4 weeks. I am extremely excited to be finally heading off for pilot training! We both can’t wait to truly begin our Air Force life together.
But it is very bittersweet to leave our first house….our first home together. The place we will have lived in for nine months. Even though it is only 12 feet by 12 feet, we have made so many memories here. We have both laughed here and cried here. Yes, this has been a wonderful house in which to start out. Not to mention the fact that we have amazing landlords right next door!
This house has taught me several lessons, though. One of which is creativity.
When our house looks like this…
…we have had to learn to be creative as far as storage and just living life. In the above picture, you can see our bedroom, family room, and library. The Pilot’s office is just to the left of the bedroom, and the cameraman (my wonderful husband) is standing in the corner of the room. (We do have a mini kitchen and bath, not pictured.)
I will admit, that yes….at first it was very difficult to get used to. Storing bath towels in the main room and sometimes having to unpack the refrigerator every time I want to get one thing out (and then repack it just so) were not on my list of preferences for a house. It did get annoying a couple of times when cooking to get out, say, my crock pot, a cutting board and knife, only to have nowhere to place the ingredient I got out next. Then, while taking the lid off of a can, placing the lid to the crock pot on top of the only free surface (the top of the refrigerator), and using my elbow to balance a bowl I had knocked over in the small space, somehow being dexterous enough to get a meal together. It was challenging.
But somehow it all came together. And I even became bold enough to try side dishes. One night we even had two! It took a while to get the swing of things, but we definitely did. After that first week, I had only mild irritations at the space. It really has been perfect for us, suiting all our needs. Definitely not spacious….but honestly what more do we need right now? There hasn’t been anything that we realized we needed desperately in order to live but we couldn’t have it because there was no room.
We did learn to get creative, though. Like how my love’s remote controlled airplane is stored behind the TV. Cardboard boxes have served for much of the Pilot’s clothing storage. The TV screen is on top of our dresser. Our ironing board hangs on a wall in the kicthen, the vacuum cleaner is on the side of the dresser, and the Pilot’s ties are on a rack behind our bedroom door.
Together, we have made this house a home. And we love it! Four canvases of rose pictures hang above our bed, and in the picture above you can see the mirror wall set that was a wedding gift. On it are four candles and a “Liberty” sign that we got on discount at JoAnns. Even those touches aren’t what made it a home, though. It was the late nights we lay in bed talking together. The times we laughed so hard it hurt. The times we cuddled up to watch a movie. The dinners we shared. The game nights with our amazing neighbors. Everything made it the most wonderful first home we could have asked for!
-Bonnie
I don’t remember the first time I saw these posts on
Diary of a Stay at Home Mom. But I do remember
bookmarking it so that “someday” when I had my own home
I could do these posts, too! I’m so excited to finally
have my own Happy Homemaker Monday post! 😀
The weather:
Wonderfully chilly and rainy!! 😀
On my reading pile:
Firefly Blue by Jake Thoene. Only a couple chapters in
but so far it’s good!
On my TV:
The Lost and Found Family…watching while grading. 🙂
On my menu for this week:
Fresh Tomato Pasta
Mini pizzas
Chicken Tortilla Soup
On my to do list:
Grade and make lesson plans for the Jr High Composition
class I teach on Wednesday.
Write thank-you notes.
Read.
What I am crocheting, knitting, sewing, or creating:
Nothing currently
Looking around the house:
I spy my massive pile of papers to grade (thankfully,
the pile IS shrinking…slowly but surely). My book is lying
on my shelf and I look forward to being done with grading
and sitting down to read. 🙂
It’s a little dark because I have my “blackout” curtains drawn..
and it’s a rainy day outside. 🙂
From the camera:
This isn’t from today, but I thought I would post a fun
honeymoon picture. 🙂
Something fun to share:
There’s a lot of one year anniversaries going on…
a year ago yesterday my cousin got engaged..and they have
almost been married six months now.
A year ago today, my sister Melinda first came in contact with
her husband of three months now.
So exciting!
On my prayer list:
A friend of ours with cancer.
Some friends who recently lost their
seven month old son.
Protection for my sweetheart while he’s driving
to school and work in the rain.
Bible verse, devotional:
Psalm 15:1-2, “Lord, who may abide in Your
tabernacle? Who may dwell in Your holy
hill? He who walks uprightly, and works righteousness,
and speaks the truth in his heart.”
-Bonnie
Okay, I admit it. I have fallen into the Pinterest fad. It took me a while to understand it, and it took me a while to like it…but now I love it! Tonight I have been having so much fun looking at home decorating ideas! I bookmarked several that I want to remember…
Source: familycorner.blogspot.com via Theresa on Pinterest
I love candles. And I love books. This is beautiful. I would probably do a few modifications….but I love the main idea.
Source: suzyssitcom.com via Dawn on Pinterest
Faux metal hangings? Out of cardboard? It looks very time-consuming, but I like the final result. Could be that it doesn’t look so good up close, but….I like it at least from a distance. 🙂
Source: inspirationfordecoration.blogspot.com via Candace on Pinterest
Another candle!! And coffee!! Coffee is another love of mine. This is wonderful. I might just do this on our coffee table when we move to our first base.
Source: housewivesofriverton.blogspot.com via Dawn on Pinterest
I definitely want to do this. My sister, Melinda, used pages of a book on the light switch plate in her room. Love it!
Source: frenchmademoiselle.blogspot.com via Candace on Pinterest
I love the mosaic look. It’s one of my favorite things to do in scrapbooking, as well. I love the idea of doing it as a wall hanging. I’ve seen another one similar to this where the person covered styrofoam in fabric. So creative!
Source: virginiaandcharlie.blogspot.com via Dawn on Pinterest
This is simply Elmer’s glue. On canvas. So simple….totally doable!!
Source: bystephanielynn.com via Molly on Pinterest
How wonderful is this?? This blogger used these accents on gift packages, but I have seen other people turn a bunch of roses into a wreath. Now…the question is…could I actually bring myself to do this to a book?? Hmm.
Source: rufflesandstuff.com via Katie on Pinterest
Another book page idea. Printing silhouettes onto dictionary pages….
Sooo many fun and creative ideas out there! Can’t wait to try some of them someday!
-Bonnie
I have a new notebook in my possession. It’s the best thing ever.
It’s my household notebook.
So far it only has a few pages. But already it has been a big help.
I was online looking at house cleaning ideas and tips. I wanted help thinking of all the little (or big) things that you never think of cleaning but it turns out it could use a good clean. And, of course, as with most internet searches, one thing led to another, and the next thing I knew I was printing out some to do lists and menu planning sheets.
One of my favorites is the weekly chore schedule I found at The Project Girl. On that one I put regular household chores such as sweeping and vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom. Some I put on alternating days. Some things (like a general kitchen pick up) went on every day. Then twice a week I made a time to do a monthly chore. On the “Notes” section of the page I put different ideas for monthly chores….washing windows, dusting ceiling fans, washing the inside of trash cans to eliminate odors, etc.
I also like the master to-do list I found at The Organized Home. On this sheet I wrote down more “long-term” projects…or at least projects that don’t need to be done immediately. Included on my list right now are doing lesson plans for the class I’m teaching in the fall, learning how to downsize clothes, and shopping for VBS (oh! I get to check this one off! :D)
This notebook has helped me make better use of my time. I am super excited! I know I could have just written out my own to-do list…but somehow these colorful pages are more exciting and inspiring than my own handwriting reminding me of the work I have to do. 🙂
-Bonnie
Life with You 