The 10 in 10 challenge: Day 3

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. I wrote this post BEFORE I did anything. Yup, that’s right. I planned out how my day would go before I actually did anything. This actually helped me to stay on task during the day! Go me!

I was able to get a few things done on Day 3. When I got home from work, I busted out the steam iron, ironing board, and curtain panel and got it done! Ironing is one of my least favorite things to do (it’s hereditary), so I had this curtain sitting around for two months waiting to be hung up next to its partner. I forgot that I had actually only hemmed it once (instead of folding it over for another hem like I did with the one already hanging), so I used my hew tape and did that quickly. Then I grabbed my pack of ring clips, hung it up, and stepped back to admire my handy work. After all, I did make these curtains (which I will hopefully be posting a blog about very soon).

Here they are in all their glory:

After putting away the iron supplies, I moved on to my next task – hanging a picture collage near our bedroom. We received an awesome collage frame for a wedding present (actually, we got three, but this is the only filled one so far), and I filled it with some of our favorite wedding day photos, printed in a classy black-and-white. Since we have cinder block walls, I always need to drill into the walls in order to decorate with anything. The only exception being our gallery wall, which we believe used to be a doorway. There’s no cinderblock there, hence, it was the perfect spot. But I digress…

I got out the ol’ drill & used my masonry drill bit to make a hole in the wall. Surprise to me… this wall wasn’t cinder block! There was no need to bust out the drill! Oh well. Then I used the cordless, automatic screwdriver to put a screw in the wall and hung it up! It’s so nice to start to have personality in our décor.

Here’s the before:

And here’s the after:

And a close up:

Finally, I asked my husband to help me hang up the closet doors. I had no clue what I was doing, so he took the lead and got it done. What a sweet husband. 🙂 Getting those doors hung & hanging the curtain brought the spare room a little bit closer to being organized, though it still has a long way to go.

Here’s the after Day 3 list:
1. Steam & hang other living room curtain
2. Pick up photo from Target & hang in gallery wall frame
3. Hang picture collage frame near master bedroom
4. Edge back lawn
5. Pull weeds in garden near street
6. Pull weeds in garden near neighbors
7. Pull weeds in garden near house
8. Pull weeds in garden near carport
9. Organize coupons
10. Replace dead pansies with impatiens (front garden & pots on front porch)
11. Hang closet doors
12. Organize spare room
13. Clean up carport (rocks, grass, furniture pieces)
14. Replace dead marigolds in back yard with living ones
15. Move wedding arch wood pieces to back yard
16. Paint bathroom vanity
17. Organize bathroom vanity
18. Paint dining chairs
19. Paint dining table
20. Pull/dig up weeds in backyard

7 tasks down, 3 to go, in 7 more days!

I have lots of time tomorrow, so I’m thinking I might start tackling the outdoors tomorrow, depending on how hot it gets. *checks weather* Yeesh…. high of 97 tomorrow. Well, maybe I’ll work on organizing the spare room then. We will see!

Thanks for reading!

The 10 in 10 challenge: Day 2

For Day 2, I was able to cross off one task from my list. I made it back over to Target & picked up the photo I had printed on Father’s Day. I was there printing a photo for my father-in-law, but I had to wait around for an hour to get my 8×10 for the gallery wall. After an hour of waiting, the lady finally told me the printer wasn’t working and I could pick it up later, with a $1 off coupon for my trouble. Have I mentioned that I LOVE Target? It allows me to put my growing couponing skills to work! (You can read about that here, and here.)

Here’s a shot of our in-progress gallery wall:

And here’s a close-up of the photo I just brought home & popped in the frame:

After Day 2, here’s where the list stands:
1. Steam & hang other living room curtain
2. Pick up photo from Target & hang in gallery wall frame
3. Hang picture collage frame near master bedroom
4. Edge back lawn
5. Pull weeds in garden near street
6. Pull weeds in garden near neighbors
7. Pull weeds in garden near house
8. Pull weeds in garden near carport
9. Organize coupons
10. Replace dead pansies with impatiens (front garden & pots on front porch)
11. Hang closet doors
12. Organize spare room
13. Clean up carport (rocks, grass, furniture pieces)
14. Replace dead marigolds in back yard with living ones
15. Move wedding arch wood pieces to back yard
16. Paint bathroom vanity
17. Organize bathroom vanity
18. Paint dining chairs
19. Paint dining table
20. Pull/dig up weeds in backyard

I think this weekend will be a big time for all my gardening tasks. My mom is coming over to help us move some dirt around and she’s bringing her weed eater! Yay for edging unruly lawns!

4 tasks down, 6 to go, in 8 more days!

Thanks for reading!

The 10 in 10 challenge: Day 1

Day 1 was awesome. My sister is finishing up the door painting in our house for us, and yesterday was the inside of the front door. We were SO thankful for the cool weather yesterday, as the door needed to be left open to dry. Instead of staying inside with the door open as an invitation to passer-bys, I decided to do some of my gardening outside while the door dried. In an hour and a half, I was able to tick 3 tasks off my list. I also cut back ivy, trimmed a bush, cleaned up the flower beds, and mowed the lawn…just in time for it to start raining! My plants are sooo happy!

Now, had I been thinking clearly, I would have been able to cross off a fourth task (picking up the photo from Target). I went grocery shopping later in the evening, and didn’t even think about the photo. I was thinking about getting in, getting out, staying dry, and getting home before my husband did. Oh well. I’m sure I will get back there soon enough. It’s my favorite store. J

Here’s the task list as it stands now:
1. Steam & hang other living room curtain
2. Pick up photo from Target & hang in gallery wall frame
3. Hang picture collage frame near master bedroom
4. Edge back lawn
5. Pull weeds in garden near street
6. Pull weeds in garden near neighbors
7. Pull weeds in garden near house
8. Pull weeds in garden near carport
9. Organize coupons
10. Replace dead pansies with impatiens (front garden & pots on front porch)
11. Hang closet doors
12. Organize spare room
13. Clean up carport (rocks, grass, furniture pieces)
14. Replace dead marigolds in back yard with living ones
15. Move wedding arch wood pieces to back yard
16. Paint bathroom vanity
17. Organize bathroom vanity
18. Paint dining chairs
19. Paint dining table
20. Pull/dig up weeds in backyard

3 tasks down, 7 to go, and 9 days to do them! Are you challenging yourself to a “10 Tasks in 10 Days”? What’s on your list? How do you keep yourself motivated to be productive?

Thanks for reading!

10 Tasks in 10 Days

So ever since my father in law flew back to Texas, my to-do list has been sitting around, not being checked off. We do still have a bbq party coming up, so I’m challenging myself to do 10 tasks in 10 days. I’ve made a list of 20 things, and I’m hoping to get 10 things crossed off in the next 10 days.

In no particular order:
1. Steam & hang other living room curtain
2. Pick up photo from Target & hang in gallery wall frame
3. Hang picture collage frame near master bedroom
4. Edge back lawn
5. Pull weeds in garden near street
6. Pull weeds in garden near neighbors
7. Pull weeds in garden near house
8. Pull weeds in garden near carport
9. Organize coupons
10. Replace dead pansies with impatiens (front garden & pots on front porch)
11. Hang closet doors
12. Organize spare room
13. Clean up carport (rocks, grass, furniture pieces)
14. Replace dead marigolds in back yard with living ones
15. Move wedding arch wood pieces to back yard
16. Paint bathroom vanity
17. Organize bathroom vanity
18. Paint dining chairs
19. Paint dining table
20. Pull/dig up weeds in backyard

I could keep going, but I imagine this will be more than enough to keep me busy for the next 10 days. We still haven’t set a solid date for our bbq party, but I think July 31st will be the day. We’re checking to see if everyone is free then. 🙂

To-Do List (Updated)

We washed, dried, cleaned, scrubbed, and crossed so many things off our To-Do list yesterday (and a few things this morning)! We got so much done, and I couldn’t be happier. We even added a few things onto our list that we had forgotten to add earlier.

I just found out that I will have about an hour tomorrow between work and when my father-in-law will actually come to SEE the house. This gives me just the right amount of time to finish a few last-minute decorating tasks to check off!

What we got done is crossed off. What I’m still planning to do is left on the list in red. All other items have been disregarded until our potluck party in mid-July.

Regular cleaning & some deep cleaning:

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Dusting
• Clean mirrors
• Clean toilet
• Scrub grout in shower
• Clean shower rod
• Clean sinks/counters
• Scrub oven hood
• Scrub & degrease oven hood
• Clean microwave
• Clean out/re-organize fridge & freezer
• Sweep floors
• Mop floors
• Clean the litter box
• Clean out vacuum filters & brush
• Vacuum carpets & rugs
• Clean front of washer & dryer
• Make bed
• Bake cookies!

Outside:

• Water plants
• Create a vegetable garden in the backyard
• Sweep front porch & walkway

Home Updates:

• Finish painting all hallway doors & trim, closet doors, cabinet doors, back door, and front door (in progress)
• Replace the oven
• Rearrange the living room

Organizing/Decorating:

• Finish entry way decorating
• Decorating the top of the piano
• De-clutter dining room
• Decorate the buffet
• Organize the basement
• Clean out the spare room & reorganize
• Finish the gallery wall in living room
• Steam iron other curtain & hang in living room
• Put random books back on the bookshelves
• Get two lampshades for dining room lamps
• Swap Spencer’s dressers so ours match & the old ones are in the spare room
• De-clutter office desk areas (Jenn & Spencer)
• Rearrange office furniture (Spencer’s desk, bookshelves, etc.)
• Decorate the top of bathroom cabinet
• File the papers in the “to file” area
• Hang some art/pictures/mirrors on the walls in the living room, dining room, and hallway

I wish you all could come and see how beautiful and sparkly clean my house is! It’s wonderful! I took some pictures along the way, so hopefully I will get to posting some more!

Thanks for reading!

Preparing for out-of-town relatives & parties

We’ve been planning on hosting a party with a group of 20+ close friends since we moved in to our home one year ago. We originally scheduled a potluck dinner party in late January, but due to the stress of not having the house ready (plus the added stress of school for me) caused us to push back our dinner party to summer (and make it a barbeque party!). We’re still deciding on a date, but it will be a Sunday afternoon in mid-July.

In addition to that, my father-in-law is coming to visit for Father’s Day weekend for the first time since the wedding. He saw the house in its bare-bones, painting-in-process, not-even-furnished state, so this is the first time he will see it as our home. Well, tomorrow’s the day he’s flying in, so I’ve got a TON to do and not much time to do it!

After making an extended to-do list for things around the house before he arrives (originally the to-do before party list), I’m glad to say that we’ve accomplished quite a lot!

Regular cleaning & some deep cleaning:

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Dusting
• Clean mirrors
• Clean toilet
• Scrub grout in shower
• Clean shower rod
• Clean sinks/counters
• Scrub & degrease oven hood
• Clean microwave
• Clean out/re-organize fridge & freezer
• Sweep floors
• Mop floors
• Clean the litter box
• Clean out vacuum filters & brush
• Vacuum carpets & rugs
• Make bed

Outside:

• Mow lawn
• Pull weeds/clean up garden
• Craigslist the dirt pile in front of the house
• Seed front lawn
• Create a vegetable garden in the backyard
• Figure out what we’re doing with the pieces of the wedding arch (rebuilding the arch? or using it for firewood?)
• Clean up garden rocks & carport area
• Edge the lawn
• Replace dead marigolds in back yard

Home Updates:

• Finish painting all hallway doors & trim, closet doors, cabinet doors, back door, and front door
• Paint the bathroom vanity & replace hardware
• Replace the oven
• Rearrange the living room
• Finish painting dining room set (I bought a paint sprayer at a yard sale for $10 but can’t afford the attachment parts right now, so this will have to wait)
• Fix broken kitchen cabinet door

Organizing/Decorating:

• Finish entry way decorating
• Decorating the top of the piano
• Upholster piano bench
  
• De-clutter dining room
• Decorate the buffet
• Organize the basement
• Clean out the spare room & reorganize
• Finish the gallery wall in living room
• Steam iron other curtain & hang in living room
• Get two lampshades for dining room lamps & cover with patterned fabric
• Swap Spencer’s dressers so ours match & the old ones are in the spare room
• Move old tall dresser to parents’ house
• De-clutter office desk areas (Jenn & Spencer)
• File the papers in the “to file” area
• Organize bathroom vanity
• Hang some art/pictures/mirrors on the walls in the living room, dining room, and hallway

That’s my list for now. There are other more time consuming things that can wait until after my father-in-law leaves, and there are things on this list that will have to wait. But, I’m happy with the amount we’ve accomplished so far.

Thanks for reading!