Getting organizationally motivated

I love organizing. In fact, I'll buy bins to help organize my bins. The Organized & Inspired Scrapbooker by Aby Garvey and Wendy Smedley is full of fun and helpful ideas to get your craft space organized in an attractive way. And don't be fooled by the title, even a non-scrapbooker can find useful information. I'm still drooling over the pages that I've looked through a dozen times already.

A new rug

Here is the inspirational rug I wanted from here. ($150.00)

And here is my rug transformed with some good ol' painter's tape and spray paint ($2.19). I'm not thrilled that mine has the black edging but I figured it was a rug I already had that could be jazzed up a bit.

A warning would have been nice

My baby is four months old and already is getting his first tooth. I wasn't prepared. I noticed it last night when I was changing him. He has been a little fussy the past few days, which is definitely unlike him, so I knew something was up. I was thinking I had until at least 5-6 months for this to happen. While I know every new thing is supposed to be exciting, I'm still contemplating how I feel about this. Actually, I know how I feel about it. I feel cheated that he is growing up so fast! I know he is still just four months old, but still. Teeth!?! I need to sit down.

Noah has been trying his hardest to roll over. He's done it on his own once but whenever he keeps trying his chubby little arm gets in the way and he gets stuck on his side with his bottom half rolled over. He's definitely good at getting on his side though! It's like a whole new world.

I've been tagged

(thanks Carrie)

What Was I Doing 10 Years Ago?
Let's see, in 1998 I was a junior in high school with probably very little worries. I was a cheerleader, on the cross country team, driving my red Pontiac Sunbird and working as a supervisor at Bagels & Joe (nothing like getting up at 5a.m. on Saturday morning! Oh the memories I have there with Gretchen and Karley).

Five Things on your to do list:
I'm not sure 5 is enough but I'll try...
1. Give Noah a bath.
2. Make up menu for next week.
3. Watch 3:10 to YUMA with Lucas that we rented last week.
4. Clean bathrooms (do I have to!?!)
5. Sign up to win the HGTV dream home!

Five snacks I enjoy:
1. Well, they're no longer out but when Easter comes around I REALLY enjoy Cadbury Eggs. Yum! And now they come out like in February so I get months of yummy, fatty goodness.
2. Popcorn
3. Tortilla slapped with peanut butter and a banana rolled inside.
4. Walking around at Sam's Club or CostCo and eating all of the samples. Does that count???
5. Dibs

Five things I would do if I became a Billionaire:
1. Pay off my home.
2. Replace our 1993 Honda Accord that currently has over 240,000 miles on it!
3. Purchase a vacation home probably in the mountains somewhere. Definitely large enough for our friends and family to enjoy with us as well.
4. Invest it, donate to charity and help family to pay off homes/bills.
5. Invest in my own company.

Five bad habits:
1. As I admitted to our small group the other night...Hello my name is Marianne and I'm a stacker. I pile my clothes all over the bedroom and it drives Lucas crazy. I believe we've come up with a solution though that seems to be working. We put shelves in our closet so now I'm no longer required to hang the clothes up but can just fold them nicely and place them on the shelf. Genius!
2. I leave tags on things I buy. I actually had a good reason for doing this at first. I wanted to sort of take the items for a test drive. You know, make sure I really like the item before taking the tag off in case I need to return it. This good reason soon turned into forgetting about the tag and it might be a year before it gets noticed again and I take it off. Actually, it doesn't get noticed again until my mom comes and points them out. I was also told that my brother does this so I'm thinking the disease runs in the family. So, if you come over you'll probably be able to ask me where I bought the item and I can look, tell you where and how much it cost me.
3. I buy magazines. If you also do this, you understand. I told myself several months ago I would just go and look at them at Barnes & Noble or Borders or the library instead of buying them. Well, I did that, and still do, but typically there are one or two magazines that I'll find craft projects, recipes or great design ideas in that I think I'll want for a later date. Do I really ever need them at a later date...not just yet but I'm sure I will!
4. I can get passionate about something rather quickly. Typically if I'm still talking about it a month later it's something I really care about it. Otherwise, the excitement will usually dwindle down within a week. Thankfully, Lucas knows this about me and supports me in all my crazy ideas! Every day I call him or my family to tell them about my latest idea. The conversation usually begins with:
Me: "So I have this idea..."
Them: Chuckle.
5. I eat my food one item at a time. When I was younger I used to not let my food touch and would rotate the plate around as I ate each item. The drink was always saved for last. I've come a long way from those days however I still believe food should not mix, contrary to Lucas' beliefs.

Five places I've lived:
1. Jackson, Mississippi (where I was born. And I know you were all spelling it out as you read it!)
2. Columbia, Tennessee
3. Flowermound, Texas
4. Lincoln, Nebraska
5. Bear, Delaware

Five jobs I've had:
1. Detassle corn. Hard to believe I did this one summer. My mom had to get up every morning at 4a.m. to take me to meet the bus that would then take us off to a farmer's land to help detassle. Not a pretty job my friend. I still remember needing to have every inch of our body covered so we wouldn't get sunburned or get rashes from the leaves on the stalks.
2. Hostess at Farabees Restaurant. This job didn't last too long. I absolutely hated how all of the waitresses would take their smoke breaks while I worked.
3. Sales associate at County Seat clothing store at the mall. Our store was always extremely hot because we were located above the boiler room. In the winter you'd need to dress for summer or you'd sweat to death.
4. Supervisor at Bagels & Joe. I loved this job! I think I discovered it because of my good friend Gretchen who had also gotten a job there.
5. Graphic Designer.

Tag, you're it! Lindsey Jury, Amy Johnson, Alison Phillips

What a GRAND week

I'm a little behind in posting from last week with Lucas' parents visiting. We headed to the Grand Canyon which was Noah's longest road trip yet. He did great and we had a nice time. It's so beautiful there and amazing to look out over God's creation.

Noah's first time in a hotel. Having fun with Daddy!

The car ride. Noah did extremely well for all of the driving we did.

Our family of three.

In the afternoon it ended up getting really windy and cold so we had to bundle Noah up. He had two hoods and a stocking cap on. We're definitely not used to this weather!

I thought this was a great photo of Lucas' parents in the Coconino National Forest, Oak Creek Canyon Area.

3 month photos

A few of Noah's three month photos.

Note to self

Next time buckle him in.