What's Up Wednesday ~ January 2018

What We're Eating This Week......

Monday - Slow Cook BBQ

Tuesday - Holiday Ham 

Wednesday - church

Thursday - grilled chicken, rice and green beans

Friday - ?

Saturday - ?

Sunday - Super Bowl snacks

What I'm Reminiscing About.....

Days at home & freedom of schedule...

Part of my adjustment is showing up for work every day and having to say no to other things.

What I'm Loving.....

Time at home and with family...

Working makes me appreciate both of these so much more now.

What We've Been Up To.....

January was a cold, snowy month for us, so we have been indoors a lot and I have been adjusting to work.

What I'm Dreading.....

Missing out on events 

What I'm Working On.....

I am still thinking through and trying to adjust to new meal plan schedules and household chores with my new schedule.

What I'm Excited About.....

A day off next month for Isabella's birthday!

What I'm Watching/Reading.....

Hallmark movies on the weekend and our normal tv shows during the week....I am almost finished with my Seamless bible study book.

What I'm Listening To.....

I am listening to different podcasts on my way to work each day.  So far, I have listened to my pastor from Bogota and our former pastor here.

What I'm Wearing.....

Thankfully, the dress code is pretty casual where I work, so my wardrobe isn't going to have to change too much. 

What I'm Doing This Weekend.....

I have no plans so far, and that is great by me.

What I'm Looking Forward To Next Month.....

Celebrating Isabella's birthday!

What Else Is New.....

I am in the midst of planning our summer vacation, which is always fun to plan personal travel :)

Clearly, the theme of this month are my many adjustments to work!  Hopefully by next month I will make some progress on these.

Weekend Wrap Up

Oh, the weekends will fly by now that I am working full time.  That still feels weird to say, type and to live out each day.  But, it is Monday, and we press on with life.  Here's to making the best of it and a little weekend wrap up.

The keyboard on my laptop had not been functioning correctly with several keys not working. I took my laptop to Office Depot to see if they had any suggestions.  They suggested an external keyboard for my laptop and didn't think they could order a replacement.  They also said if I had one, it could be very expensive for labor to repair.  Well,I ordered a replacement keyboard for under $20 from Ebay and watched a You Tube video for instructions to install.  It did take 2 attempts with help from Avery, but overall, it was an easy and cheap fix.

Friday night, we went downtown for dinner and a play.  It was a nice night out after my first week of work.

We went to see Finding Neverland.  The talent, staging and special effects were so good.

While waiting on Avery to get the car for us, we saw the star at the stage door. 

Saturday morning, I went to make waffles for breakfast and realized I had ordered dark chocolate mix instead of the normal.  This has become my favorite brand to buy, but dark chocolate was an honest mistake, however, they did taste good. 

Other than 30 minutes at an open house for a neighbor, I spent Saturday indoors,cooked 3 meals, caught up on some housework, computer work,and watched a Hallmark movie and it was lovely. It was also a rainy day, so another good reason to stay indoors.

Sunday was church, a few errands and another Hallmark movie.

Happy Monday friends!

Friday Favorites

ONE

Another blogger who hosts this link up, momfessionals,  has raved about these Elfa door organizers from The Container Store.  I chose the pieces I wanted instead of the kit, and it arrived this week.  It has been a game changer for our pantry and is a favorite thing for sure.  I now understand the feeling of wanting one of these for the back of any closet door.

I was pleased that our door closed with no problems of baskets hitting the pantry shelves.  The baskets I ordered are narrow because we have a very narrow door.

You can order wire or mesh baskets, but I chose the mesh for a cleaner look and to avoid anything slipping out between wires.

You see very little of the organizer from the outside.  Since I have a very small pantry, this helps so much and now I feel like I have enough room and an organized pantry.  On a side note, I also have a pull out cabinet door to store canned goods, which is super helpful too.

TWO

Monday, I returned to a full time job after 17 years to the day.  It has been a good week overall, but so many adjustments that will take more than a week.

Until I get my badge, I wait each morning at the gate for a temporary one to enter the property. The property and buildings are very secure.

One of my adjustments is meal planning.  Monday night started off good with me meeting my family for Mexican food for dinner.  I did a slow cooker meal one night, church meal on Wednesday night, and prepped food the night before that my girls put in the oven for me last night.

Thanks for praying for me and I would continue to ask for your prayers as I adjust to the commute.  I need to leave an hour before my shift begins for 45 minutes in traffic and some time to park, get into the building and be ready for work. I am doing okay with my sleep schedule and housework so far.  My girls have helped with some housework and we used Kroger click list this week to pick up groceries. I am in training for a few weeks.  Thankfully, everyone has been kind and the office is laid back, however, there is also a strong emphasis on performance.

THREE

I did a 3 day series on some home improvements we have done this past year in honor of our one year anniversary in our home this weekend.  Here is a link to part 3 of that and the other parts are on the blog from this week too if you want to see some of our before and after pictures.  I think the pictures from day 3 show the most change.

That is all for today and I am so looking forward to the weekend! Hope you enjoy yours too!

House Anniversary ~ Part 3

Today I am wrapping up the home tour and renovations since we moved into our home a year ago.  I haven't shared bedroom photos, but they have all been painted and are looking better than a year ago.

before

after

before

We replaced the carpet with hardwood floors.

after 

before of breakfast area

after

We put flooring in here, but first leveled it with the rest of the main floor and eliminated the step up eating area. We also added the window seat in the back and changed the light fixture. 

before

after

We eliminated the island, cut of some of the cabinets at the end to have a bigger walkway, added new lower cabinets to the left, painted the old cabinets, replaced countertops, sink, and added light above the sink. 

before

after

Here you can see the view of the new cabinets, new range, microwave, and refrigerator.  We also added a new light fixture and tile behind the range. We want to add a shelf here and also we need to finish painting the walls. 

before

after

We opened it up a little more into the living area and added the column. 

before

after 

By we did these things in the pictures, I mean my husband did them, along with a little help along the way.  It all looks great and we are pleased with the changes that have happened in a year.

Thanks for reading about our before and afters!

House Anniversary ~ Part 2

This is part 2 of some of our house renovations in honor of our anniversary in our home.  This house has all the space I had on my bucket list when looking for a home.  I really liked this space upstairs that is open, but provides another spot to hang out, especially for the girls.

This is the before realtor photo...

And here it is today....

We keep school supplies in this room and Brook does her school work here, so you see her books by the chair.  

This is the downstairs guest room, which has a really long, unusual shape to it for a bedroom.  One of my favorite features in this room is the closet, which has lots of storage space. We have so enjoyed having a guest room for people, and now they have their own suite with a door that closes off the hall bath.

I keep my childhood toy chest in here as a storage place for some toys and a surface for guest to put things as well.  I also have the girls old dollhouse.  These have both come in handy when we have friends with young kids come to our home. 

These are photos of the guest bath before and after which I recently shared after I painted.

Tomorrow, I will show a few more rooms.  Thanks for visiting and thanks for praying for me with my job.  It is still an adjustment to do this every day and will be for a few weeks, but I do like it so far.

House Anniversary ~ Part 1

This weekend marks the one year anniversary of us moving into our new home.  I thought I would spend a few days reflecting back on this past year in our home. Today I will share the outside and our back porch. 

We are so thankful for our home.  We moved back to the USA fall of 2016 and within a few days, I began looking at houses and looked at 19 houses in 2 weeks.  Within 6 weeks of me being back in the USA, we made an offer on this home.  The Lord made a way for us to get this house, which is a great fit for our family.  

This is the picture of our home listed on the realtor listing.

Here is the backyard from the listing.  These views look pretty much the same.

These are pictures from the back porch from the listing, with the current view pictured afterwards.

Avery removed the flower box from the before pictures and it freed up space on our porch. We also added the lights, because lights make all spaces a little better.

Sometimes, this table has been on the opposite wall, but this was the current view of the back porch for you to see.

Tomorrow, I will share some inside photos renovations we have made.  

Weekend Wrap Up

It was a busy weekend for me, but a fun one.  Friday fun began with Brook and I spending time with my niece and my greats.  So no better way to start a blog post than cute baby photos!

I love these babies so much.  My heart was full being with them.

Friday night, Brook had a spend the night birthday party for a friend at a hotel and the mom, who is a good friend of mine, asked if I would join them as an extra chaperone and to keep her company.  It was a fun night for all of us.

Saturday night, we had dinner with some good friends and church on Sunday to wrap up our weekend.

As a reminder, prayers appreciated as we begin day one of adjustments for our family as I return back to work today.  Thank you!