Week in review

I feel like it has been ages since I last posted anything and so much has happened! Here are just a few of the highlights:

Sunday afternoon, our realtor came over to fill out all of the appropriate paperwork to put our house on the market and we also put in an offer on a house in Happy Valley.

Monday night after class, Rick and I both decided the timing just wasn't quite right to move- a big relief! We have a great house right now, so we're going to focus on making a few updates with appliances and the yard in order to make it a better place for us to enjoy in the next few years before we actually do move. A wise fellow-blogger had some words of wisdom about preparing a house to sell. She talked about all of the repairs and improvements we make in order to sell, yet they weren't worth making for our own family while we lived there. I am realizing how incredibly true that is!! Rick spent his spring break fixing water damage to a wall as well as other painting repairs, we had a estimate done to have the front door jam repaired, a long list of closets to clean out, and rooms to deep-clean for me to tackle in the week to come. When the decision was made not to move, we decided to move forward with the repairs and organizing- because our family deserves it!

So... Wednesday, with the kids off to daycare, I tackled four major closets in our house: Tyson's, Riley's, the linen closet, and an "extra storage" closet under the stairs in the family room. I can't explain how amazing I felt when the day was done! I finally pulled out all the clothes the kids have outgrown and divided them into "donate" and "save" and stored the "save" until we find out the gender of our growing baby. I was excited to bring the "donate" boxes to the girl who runs the daycare Riley and Tyson attend. Her husband is from a small village in the Philippines and they send boxes of clothes to the people in the village and everyone gets to pick one or two things each time the boxes arrive. I feel good knowing where the clothes will end up and that they will be needed and appreciated, rather than just dropping them off at Goodwill.

I also converted the storage space under the stairs to my crafts and wrapping closet- yahoo!! Maybe this will be the motivation I need to start documenting and organizing our lives in photo albums and scrapbooks. Maybe... :)

I apparently pushed myself a little to hard Wednesday organizing the closets and ended up with quite a bit of pain and discomfort that evening and into the next day. But I managed to get more cleaning and organizing done in the kitchen, bathrooms, and bedrooms Thursday and ran all the errands I needed to do on Friday while the kids were at daycare again.

Friday night, I started the very last class I have to take on the path to earning my Bachelor's Degree in Human Development. It is a two weekend class, so I was there all day Saturday too and we wrap up the weekend of the 17th. My graduation announcements also arrived in the mail this week, making my dream of graduating seem like such a reality! May 10th will be here before I know it!

Friday was a big day for me on the work-front too- I was officially signed out from work for maternity leave!! I know, I know, I'm only 12 weeks along, but working while pregnant for the third time just wasn't agreeing with my body. My doctor was willing to allow me the extra three months off in order to take it easy, I was looking at going out around the end of June. I feel very blessed to have the extra time at home with the kids and to take the extra pressure off of Rick that he usually feels while I'm on the road. He's coaching track for the spring season, so his plate was already pretty full.

Finally, on Saturday night Rick and I made a fun purchase towards making our bedroom feel like somewhere we can be proud of- a new bedroom set! We have never owned a dresser which makes our closet extremely full, so it is a huge step towards organizing our own bedroom and closet. After four years here, we've only hung one picture on the wall! I can't wait to have a bedroom we can really be proud of and want to spend time in.

I think the whole process of looking at houses to buy, deciding to move, then deciding not to move, has been great for us. I have a whole new appreciation for our house and the space we live in. Why should we live with clutter in our closets, damage to our walls, and a bedroom with no character? We shouldn't- so, we've made the choice to live our lives like our house is going on the market at any time. Everything has a place, purge the stuff we don't need/use, and honor the space we call home by keeping it clean and organized. At least for now... :)