Furniture!

Every time I walk into the living room I squeal and do a little happy dance.


I'm not joking. Nor am I exaggerating.


When we moved to Raleigh we gave our kitchen table and chairs to my sister, Elise.  We gave our couch away to one of the guys who were moving us.  Before this, we had sold our other, fancier couch to Lance's sister.

We put my old desk by the dumpster.  I really liked that desk, but it had been put together, taken apart, and moved so many times it was on its last leg.

We also gave our bed, and dresser to my sister, Elise.


We got a new bed and dresser first thing, when we moved to Kissimmee.  We slept on a crappy futon for a couple weeks and it was horrible, so, purchasing a nice bed was easily justifiable.

Before the actual purchase, I did a bit of searching online for the perfect, beautiful, black bedroom set, and set my mind and heart on the Ashley Shay collection.

Since our room was tiny, we only went for the bed, the dresser and the mirror, and of course a mattress and box spring set.

I'm using stock photos because my house is messy, and I'm not about to clean, just to take pictures.

I'm still in love with this set, and I do not regret this purchase even a teensy bit.


I feel like I became a real adult when I purchased an actual bedroom set.


We bought an old desk at a thrift shop in Raleigh, right before we moved down here.  That desk was $25 and it served me well for our life at our previous apartment.  But, it fell apart in the move to our current place.  Lance is still using it, but, he was nice and let me get a new desk.  I also had to replace my chair, because the back fell off my old one.  So I'm rockin' a brand new set up over here! Loving it!

My chair looks nothing like that.

Two weeks ago, we finally got a table, chairs, a couch, a coffee table, and end tables!


Yay!

I love the table and chairs. The couch isn't exactly what I wanted, but it was the best option available at the store. And the coffee table and end tables were basically free.

Why yes, yes I do like black. Why do you ask?

Perfect... NOW!

I really identify with this Type 4/3 expert.

2 minutes into this video, she said something that I had never really realized about myself, but it's true. And I need to take her advice.


I'm at home all day with a toddler. The house has a tendency to get messy throughout the day.  Laundry piles up, dishes pile up... but I want my house perfect, and I want it perfect NOW. Or even better, I want it perfect 5 minutes ago!  I tend to get really anxious and stressed out, and then I completely shut down, and I end up getting nothing accomplished. Then I wind up feeling like a failure, and getting really down on myself.

I need to choose one thing to focus on, and focus on perfecting that so I can be comfortable with my surroundings, as well as comfortable with myself.  Perfect one thing at a time.

By the time I'm done perfecting the second of 10 items, the first item will be out of place again. But that's besides the point.



This 4/3 combination is actually really, really great for my job.  I want to be perfect at each and every possible task that my company provides to clients. And I have to say, I've been quite successful at that. (Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.) But not only that, I can have deliverables perfect and perfect quickly.

Perfect now.  That's me.  That's why I get so down on myself. That's why I have anxiety issues.

Sowing and Reaping

Anyone familiar with the law of sowing and reaping?


2 Corinthians 9:6
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.


Galatians 6:8
For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.


D&C 6:33
Fear not to do good, my sons, for whatsoever ye sow, that shall ye also reap; therefore, if ye sow good ye shall also reap good for your reward.


Alma 3:26
And in one year were thousands and tens of thousands of souls sent to the eternal world, that they might reap their rewards according to their works, whether they were good or whether they were bad, to reap eternal happiness or eternal misery, according to the spirit which they listed to obey, whether it be a good spirit or a bad one.


Alma 9:28
Therefore, prepare ye the way of the Lord, for the time is at hand that all men shall reap a reward of their works, according to that which they have been—if they have been righteous they shall reap the salvation of their souls, according to the power and deliverance of Jesus Christ; and if they have been evil they shall reap the damnation of their souls, according to the power and captivation of the devil.



It's simple really.

If you plant tomatoes, you don't get squash growing up in its place.




I went to a training seminar, years ago, that took a weird religious turn, but there are quite a few lessons I learned from it that have helped me throughout the past few years.  This is one of them.


The speaker pointed out that this law is how you get what you want in life.


Do you want a more supportive spouse?  Be more supportive of THEM first.  They'll see the change in you, and they'll start being more supportive.



Want less fighting at home?  It starts with YOU.  You're the one who notices a change needing to happen, so change yourself before you try to go around changing others.



Having money problems?  Donate money.  (When you're tight on money, never skip tithing!)  This particular speaker was NOT LDS, but she believed in donating 10% of her income to any charity she chose.



Do you want more friends?  BE a friend.



Never appreciated at work?  Show others that YOU appreciate them.  How do you feel when someone shows you appreciation?  Do you want to return the favor? Sometimes it takes more than one kind comment, one time, to get the change to happen, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try.



This works.  It really, really works. In every aspect of life that I've personally applied it to (friendship, marriage, money, my job), it has worked.  It's not instant.  It takes time. It takes effort.  But it works!  And it is so worth it!



Don't be a victim of circumstance. Get out there and fight for what you want.  You reap what you sow, so excuse me while I go sow some positive seeds.



Because I'm SICK of all the hate, and negativity, and sadness being spread everywhere.

Do You Want to Build a Snowman?

All of the hard work and late nights cleaning in the old apartment paid off!  When they walked through for the inspection, they thought that we had the oven professionally cleaned.  Nope!  Twas I!  I am very proud of myself. The oven is the kind with coils, and apparently most people don't realize you're supposed to take out the coils and the drip pans, clean the crap out of those, then lift up the top part of the oven and clean all that out as well.

Ok, honestly, our apartment in Midvale had coils as well and I didn't even know the top lifted up... So, lesson was learned there and applied at Caribbean Isle.  I'm really happy to hear it's common for people to not know that.




I've been working in my office for almost a week, and it's nice.  Lily comes in and tells me things or steals my stuff, but I like it.  It is quieter, and the dogs can just lay on the futon and stare at me until they fall asleep and start snoring.

Dogs have such a hard life.

I've got my kitchen mostly organized.  The pantry is very large, so I am loving it for those extra appliances that I hardly ever use but really would rather not get rid of...  For example, a toaster, sandwich griller thingy, hot chocolate maker, ice cream attachment, cup cake party thing...  Random stuff.

As of Sunday I've started cooking again. Actually cooking!  Not just grabbing a frozen dinner out of the freezer and popping it in the oven, but real cooking!  So far the experience has been pleasant as far as space is concerned, but, I did not miss grocery shopping or washing dishes.

The house is still a giant mess.  I have no motivation to do anything about that.


In other news, Hollywood Studios had a "Frozen" summer party over the past couple of months. We hadn't gone to that park in a while, so on a whim on a Saturday I declared we were going.  When we got to the park we found out it was the very last day for the party!  Lucky!

The line to get in Oaken's Trading Post wasn't that bad.  But as soon as we got in there, we got in another line to play in the "snow."  Lily wasn't happy about waiting in line for that.  So Lance went over to a little treat stand they had and bought a cupcake and a frozen blue drink in a souvenir cup that has Olaf on it.  Lance loves souvenir cups.  The treats kept Lily occupied for the line.  Then we were able to play in the snow.  She loved it!  But apparently we are lame parents, because she kept trying to run to the people next to us who had made an actual snow man, and put a carrot in its nose.  So then we made a snow man, without a carrot nose, and she was happier.

When our time was up (they give each group 10 minutes) she wasn't very happy about leaving.  It kind of makes me wish Lily could experience real snow, and we can build a real snowman and make snow angels.  Maybe one day we'll travel to Utah in the winter and go sledding.

Her face! It makes me giggle.

Lance has more pictures - these are just the ones he has shared with me.  Gosh, how dare he hoard his photos! :)

Other than the snow and the treat stand, they also had an ice skating rink in there. It was $10 to skate, but we skipped that.



So the cycle starts in a month.  Well, four weeks from yesterday.  So... I'm really desperate to get out of town and take a day off ONE MORE TIME before I'm not allowed to for 10 weeks. Miami?  The Keys?  Tampa?  Atlanta again?  Maybe my parents can meet us in Atlanta...  We didn't get to go to the Coke thingy when we went to Atlanta.

(Did I write about when we went to Atlanta for the fourth of July?  I don't remember.  Well, if not, we went to Atlanta to watch a Braves game.  I loved the weather. It's really hot like here, except we were there while it was dry so there was no humidity. Perfect!)

Ok, bye.