Monthly Goals for August

I need some accountability peeps. Seriously. So I'm putting up some of my goals for the month and at the end of the month, I have to tell all of YOU how I did. Maybe this will be the kick-in-the-butt that I need to get some stuff done. I think it's the summer heat. It makes me s l o w and extra tired. Gah.

Home Goals

Finish Ryan's toddler room

Organize my files

Finish emptying boxes in master bathroom

Health Goals

Drink at least 80 ounces of water per day

Find a form of cardio that DOESN'T hurt my knees

Eat more veggies!

Family Goals

Be consistent with Family Home Evening on Monday nights

Go on a "family adventure" twice a month

Marriage Goals

Go on a WEEKLY date night!

Parenting Goals

Spend more time PLAYING with Ryan

Spiritual Goals

Spend time every Sunday pondering and reflecting on my life and how I can improve

Fun Goals

Learn how to take better pictures

Learn how to edit photos in Photoshop

Garage Sale and Thrift Store Finds

On Saturday morning we decided it would be a fun family activity to hit up some garage sales and thrift stores. I, of course, am redecorating Ryan's room and Jess is excited to get some "weird" stuff for his "man cave" (the one room in the house I'll let him decorate!).

After two and half hours of secondhand shopping, we were all pretty happy with our haul!

Here is a picture of our loot:

Jess came out with: 

A "really cool" picture for his man cave. Can you guess which one? Yeah, I don't get it either. Even married I STILL don't understand guys. So weird. ($10)

Ryan got:

A cool big, blue truck that makes noises. He's OBSESSED with it. ($1)

A Dr. Seuss sound book ($1.50)

A really cute wild animals board book ($0.25)

A art easel (one side is chalkboard and the other is white board). I'm also planning on using this to help teach him letters, numbers, etc. ($4)

A table for his new room. I can't wait to paint this! ($10)

A nightstand for his new room. Ditto to the above! ($5)

A picture of Christ with a little blonde haired boy ($1)

And I bought:

A wooden box to make a library book box like Everything Etsy's ($2.50)

A small white shelf for decor ($1.50)

A picture of the Mesa temple with dedication date and dedicator's name ($8)

A shelf with hooks for my hall. I've been needing something to hook my purse, diaper bag, library book bag on when I walk in from the garage. Don't worry, I'm redoing this! ($4)

A backpack for our trip to California this October. It's the perfect size to hold snacks, diapers, camera, etc. for Disneyland, Lego Land, Sea World (whichever we decide to do...)  ($5)

Now I'm super excited for all these new projects I have! Stay tuned for the "after" photos!

Roundup...Top Ten Boy Toddler Room Ideas

It's official. Ryan can now crawl out of his own crib. This is sad news, but it's also FUN news. Why? It means I get to decorate a new room! That's right. Ry Guy is moving into a toddler bed and, with that change, we are moving him into a whole new room! Yay! 

I love toddler rooms that have a fun, kid theme, but I don't like it to be over the top. I adore fun patterns and unique decor with a touch of a theme.

I've been doing a TON of Pinterest browsing for some awesome room ideas. Here is a roundup of some of my favorites.

Airplane Room via Under the Sycamore

I'm in LOVE with the soar and the dotted lines next to it. And the orange fits it so perfectly. This room is amazing!

Sports Room via Today's Creative Blog

This one is technically for a teen, but with a few simple changes, I think it would be just as cute for a toddler! This room screams, "All boy!"

Superhero Room via Apartment Therapy

Look at the "Bam!" and the slide. A slide from the bed? Seriously cool!

Monster Room via Apartment Therapy

I love friendly monsters! Those canvasses are adorable. All the fun, bright colors here really get me!

Circus Room via Poppytalk Flickr

A ferris wheel in the bedroom for the stuffed animals? I'm thinking YES!

Space Room via Apartment Therapy

The posters are adorable! And the addition of the solar system is super cute.

Dr. Seuss Room via How Does She?

If you check out another view of this room, there are LOCKERS in there. So cool! I love the rug and the bedspreads. There are so many fun things you can do with the whimsical theme of Dr. Seuss!

Alphabet & Number Room via Teal and Lime

This one doesn't show the full room, but I love the idea of a toddler room based on numbers and letters. What a great way to incorporate learning into the decor!

Jungle Room via Project Nursery

Jungle animals are so much fun! They are probably my favorites. I love this room!

Surf Room via Project Nursery

The bright colors, the touch of chevron, and the subway art are to die for adorable!

Now check out my Ryan's Room Pinterest board!

Any guesses on what we're doing?!

Lessons Learned

1. When you can't fall asleep at night, just get up and get something productive done for a bit. There's no point in laying bed and staring at the ceiling when you can empty those last few moving boxes. You'll feel much better and it'll wear you out so when you lie back down, you'll finally drift off to dreamland!

2. There isn't much more rewarding than watching your toddler learn. Or smile. Or laugh. Or randomly run up and hug you.

3. Feeling accomplished is one of the most important things for women, and always will be.

4. When all else fails and you can't get that stain out of your brand new carpet, buy a rug. Ta-da! Problem solved!

5. When it's as hard as it was for me and Jess to be apart, you know we're meant to be together forever.

Every Day a Holiday...Grandmas and Pioneers

I love holidays and I'm fascinated with all the "little" holidays most people don't even know exist. I've always thought it would be fun to try to celebrate a holiday every single day. I mean, c'mon. How fun would that be? And Ryan would love it!

Monday I started this little tradition in hopes that every Wednesday I can post about our weekly holiday adventures. Here's what we did the past two days:

Gorgeous Grandma Day (7/23)

Monday was Gorgeous Grandma Day, so Ryan and I picked up my favorite brand of mascara and lip stain for my mom. We also decorated a card for her. Ryan LOVES crayons. 

Later, I found out that Gorgeous Grandmas is actually an organization for women over 50. My mom ISN'T 50 yet, but she IS a gorgeous grandma, so I think it still counts!

Pioneer Day (7/24)

In my church, we celebrate Pioneer Day every 24th of July. This is the day we honor the pioneers of our religion who traveled across America to Salt Lake City, Utah after being forced out of Nauvoo, Illinois in 1847.

For this holiday, we made mini handcarts out of edible items. The pioneers put all their belongings in handcarts and pulled them on their journey.

We got the idea from Secrets of a Supermommy. We made a couple small changes. She used lifesaver mints for the wheels, but we used lifesaver gummies. The mints are better because the hold up the handcart better, but my toddler can't eat mints yet, so I went with the gummies. We also used mini sticks (like toothpicks, but without the spiky ends) that we got from JoAnns instead of skewer sticks. Ryan loved this activity!

This Week's Holidays:

July 25-Carousel Day

July 26-National Blueberry Month Celebration

July 27-Talk in an Elevator Day

July 28-Double Duty: National Dance Day and National Chocolate Milk Day

July 29-National Chicken Wing Day

July 30-Paperback Book Day

July 31-Uncommon Instruments Awareness Day

Easiest Yummy Fruit Dip

It's summer, and summer means lots and lots of FRUIT! I love fruit! It's naturally sweet and delicious. And Ryan, well, he would ONLY eat fruit if I'd let him.

Even though fruit is naturally yummy, fruit dip makes it even better. Add this dip and call it dessert! It'll be sweet, yummy, and a semi-healthy treat perfect for summer nights!

Ingredients:

1 tub of cool whip

1/2 big tub of non-fat strawberry Greek yogurt (or 2 personal sized yogurts)

Yep, that's it! Just TWO ingredients!

Mix together and serve with your favorite fruit!

The best part? It's only about 25 calories per 2 tablespoons. Yay!

I personally think it's best with strawberries, pineapple, and bananas.

Reunited

This guy...

Left us...

for 10 days.

Yes, you read that right. TEN. He was in Africa with his grandpa and some cousins hunting. It was a LONG week and a half, but we are reunited once again! I am so happy! 

It's amazing how much the two hours between when he gets home and when Ry goes to bed MATTER. Just having his help for that short of time makes my life much easier! I'm so grateful that I have a hubby who WANTS to help, a husband who comes home excited to get on the floor and play with his little buddy. And now I have that help back! Yay! Not to mention the fact that I can now turn the lights off at night and actually sleep. I'm such a wimp, but when he's not home, I get hardly any sleep. It freaks me out! And, of course, I have my best friend back! Yahoo!

Jess brought Ryan and I some prizes from Africa.

Ryan is obsessed with Ryan-size chairs. Jess got him this wooden chair with elephants hand carved in it. It's beautiful and Ry Guy loves it!

1. Wooden salad spoon and fork with hand carved giraffes

2. Hand carved wooden tiki child (this is a bit of an inside joke, but cool nonetheless)

3. Hand carved wooden bracelets. These are so cute!

4. Giraffe charm for a bracelet or necklace

5. Giraffe ring. I'm obsessed!

We missed you, Jesse! Glad you're home!

Jesse's Girl is Back

Guess what?! I miss blogging on here! I miss it so much. I didn't realize just HOW much I loved this blog! So while I'm still blogging about my writing endeavors, I am reopening this blog to the public. Can I get a yeah-yeah?!

Right now I'm in the process of cleaning this blog up and getting ready for some fun posts! I'm also getting back into the swing of things and trying to visit YOUR blogs again. I haven't read them in forever and I miss all the inspiration, laughs, and smiles they brought to my life!

So watch out world...Jesse's Girl is back and ready to blog again!