How many??

With the help of my parents, we moved all of our furniture and several boxes yesterday. We have the majority of our stuff here with us in the new house. We also stayed at our new house last night for the first night. Layla did great in her new room, and Zach did great in ours. I, on the other hand, could not sleep because of this cold (but I am plenty glad I have it now and not Layla!).

I was laying in bed unable to sleep around 5 am, so I decided I had better try to find all of my shoes so I'd have something other than tennis shoes to wear to church this morning. While going through boxes, I decided to go ahead and unpack/put up some stuff since. Well, low and behold, I discovered realized that we have approximately 20 bath towels floating around in our house. Seriously. 20. Why in the world do we need 20 bath towels? Maybe I'm lazy. Maybe I'm a hoarder (please, no!). Either way, I'm getting rid of at least 12 of them. Yes, it's nice to have towels for when family comes to visit, but we never have more than 4 people at a time visit, so we would actually just need to keep 6 towels. So, with the help of this quick example, I've come to the conclusion that we are going to keep 8 towels.

I do realize this was a blog post strictly about my realization of my towel obsession. For that, I am sorry. I'm trying to see it in a deeper light. We really do have too much stuff. It's everywhere. Have I ever mentioned that I have 5 crock pots? Yes. I have 5. I do use each of them, but I don't think I use them enough to justify having them. Did I also mention that we got rid of our DirectTv? I am so happy about this. I'm thinking about starting a family game night, and I can guarantee that my husband will be thrilled with this idea.

This Sunday morning, I think I'm going to get the little one ready and go find some breakfast (all of our food is still at the other house) while the husband sleeps. Then we will go to church and continue our work of packing/loading/unloading/unpacking. I hope you have a beautiful day!

Simple Life

I really want a simple life. Things have been so crazy here lately. Layla has been sick. It started with a cold and ended up turning to an ear infection. Thankfully, we got her on some antibiotics, and she is now her happy little self. Z's back surgery is now on the 6th (instead of the 13th), so we are moving into the new place this weekend. My parents being the wonderful people they are, are coming tomorrow to help us move. Z got called in for a 24 hour shift this morning, so he will get off at 9 in the morning and then we move. (poor guy.) I'm trying my hardest to have everything packed up before I go to bed tonight. So...why am I blogging?? I'm just looking forward to Sunday when we wake up and know that everything is in one place.

Back to the subject of a simple life. I'm tired of the clutter and chaos. I recently downloaded the free ebook Organized Simplicity for my Nook and was thoroughly surprised. While, I admit, I have not read all of it, I really enjoy the points made. The first chapter is called "Stuff" and starts off with this quote: "Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress people they don't like." -Will Rogers.  I love it. What do I think when I think of the word simple? I think easy. I think important. I think life. When you take out all the clutter and small things that take up space in our house, what is left? It's mostly the people, obviously. It makes room for life to happen. Forts. Hide and seek. Outdoors begin to call because the house is mostly empty. There's no television beckoning your attention. There's no computer needing your surfing. Instead, there's a basketball court waiting for you. There's a park with a swing set just begging for you to come push your child. There's a kitchen aid mixer (yeah, that awesome aqua one!) waiting for you to make some cookies to share with your neighbors. So, after you take out all of the distracting things in this life, you're left with the simple things. Kindness. Fun. Active things. Fellowship. All of those things that have been tossed aside and replaced with TVs, cell phones, computers, etc.

After we move into our new house, I will be going through all of our "stuff" and ridding ourselves of it. Is there seriously a need for 15 coffee mugs? 20 plastic travel cups? 20 non-matching towels? No, I don't think so! Plus, I guarantee that there is someone else who will use them and would be grateful for them.

I'm excited about making our life into a more simple lifestyle. I may blog about it, but I may not. I haven't decided yet. At the moment though, I have a sweet little girl who is just begging for some more snacks. Keep it simple.

The simplest things are often the truest. -Richard Bach

Dreaded words

Not too long after Z and I started dating, he helped me move. It was just across down, but it was a move nonetheless. I am like my dad in every way when it comes to moving. I like to get it done and get it done quickly. I'm surprised that after two words. We'll. make. it. work. When Z says this, for some reason, I get a vision of things twisted in weird ways, stuff broken, and things just crammed in a trailer all for the sake of making it work. I know, I know. That's not what he means when he says it, but to this day, those words still terrify me. I'm not quite sure why exactly, but the do. I'm finally getting the idea that he really means we will make it work. No, things will not end up broken and twisted in the end. 

We are about to start yet another couple busy months. Timelines work best for me, so here we go. 

Feb. 1-We can officially start moving into our house off of post. 

Feb. 2nd- I'll be babysitting (yay!) two adorable kids who I met through acquiring Layla's activity cube from craigslist. 

Feb. 3rd-11th- We will work to move everything except our furniture to our new house. 

Feb. 11th-12th- Our wonderful families will be coming into town to help us move our furniture. 

Feb. 13th- Z is finally having his back surgery. (yes, prayers are needed and welcomed!)

Feb. 14th-15th- Z will be staying in the hospital during this time. I am torn between staying with him in the hospital and staying with our daughter. I've stayed away from her one night (and it was really only 8 hours), so I am pretty sure I won't be able to handle two nights away from her, but at the same time I really want to be with my husband. 

Feb. 17th- Official move out date. 

After we are moved out and Z is home from the hospital, my time will be spent unpacking, taking care of Z in his post-op stages, and working on planning the 1st birthday party for our beautiful little girl. We'll need to do a cake run through just to make sure I can do it, but I'm pretty excited about this little venture into cake baking. 

Yeah, it's going to be a busy couple of months, but I think that's what is fun about it. This past weekend, we drove to San Antonio on Sunday night and then went to Natural Bridge Caverns on Monday. It was so relaxing and enjoyable allowing ourselves to get away (even just for a night) and experience something different. We went to Natural Bridge Caverns (my calves are still feeling this adventure) and then went down the River Walk in San Antonio. I told Z that I love going to places like that because it is overwhelmingly beautiful. It makes me feel like we aren't in the United States any more, but in some more exotic, far off land like the Summer Palace in Beijing. We walked up and down the River Walk "looking" for a place to eat lunch. It was well after 2 when we finally ate, but I was okay with that because I just wanted to take in the beauty. I didn't really care that much about how my stomach was growling. Layla was such a trooper for the whole trip. She enjoyed the caves as much as we did. 

Layla and I standing in front of "Fairy Castles"

 

Layla and Z 

Well, Layla is awake now, so no more writing. Have a blessed day! 

Random thoughts

Yes, this little girl can bring a smile to my face any day. She can scratch me one minute and make me fall in love with her all over again at the same time. She breaks my heart when I have to retrieve something from her hands that she wants and decides to stick that bottom lip out and cry, but it's adorable how the next minute she is laughing hysterically at something I do or say. 

Seriously. I've always thought God was pretty amazing, but wow, children are SUCH a blessing, and I'm constantly amazed at the love that is built between a mother and child. I hope I never grow tired of being amazed at my daughter. 

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On a different note, we are about to enter into week two of 2012. As for my new year's resolutions, well, um, I guess they're going all right. I will say that Z and I are taking some steps in the right direction when it comes to eating healthier. Layla is right there with us! She is diving into all new foods and loves them. She is a big fan of blueberry pancakes right now.

My water intake is increasing a great deal (as is my need to frequent the bathroom a bit more). I'm trying hard to get motivated and STAY motivated. I know when I wake up in the morning that if I get dressed, put my tennis shoes on, wash my face and brush my teeth, then I will have a productive day. If Layla wakes up before I do and I don't have a chance to take care of myself, then the day usually ends up being a little groggy. One of my goals this week is to go to bed early (I'm shooting for 9 pm) and get up early (we'll shoot for 7). I'm hoping I can stick with this. I always end up staying late doing the housework because I feel guilty if I do it during the day instead of playing with Layla. I'm trying really hard to get the hang of this whole "house wife" thing. I love staying home with Layla; it's just hard getting used to it.

Another thing on my list of goals for this year is to, once a month, send a package to one person a month. Even if it's just a card, I want to do something nice for someone who isn't expecting it. I recently put together a birthday gift for a dear friend using an idea I found on Pinterest. I did one gift for every hour of her birth day. So, she gets to open a present every hour! That's 24 presents! I hope she enjoys it as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Well, considering it's 11:23 pm, and we have church in the morning, I had best get to bed! Piccolo will probably wake up soon thinking she's hungry. (anyone have suggestions on how to get this not-starving-but-thinks-she-is-hungry-9-almost-10-month old girl to sleep through the night??)

Sweet dreams all.

Out with the old and in with the new

Wow. That is all I have to say for all the exciting things this past year contained. First, the birth of sweet Layla was probably the most exciting thing. 

Layla Ann Leonard
born at 2:49 pm March 25th, 2011

I then graduated (finally!) with my Bachelor in Interdisciplinary Studies. I can officially teach kindergarten-6th grade, but I'm not sure if I ever will. We are definitely leaning towards homeschooling when the time comes. 

May 14th, 2011

My sister got married on July 16th, so we got to be a part of that beautiful wedding.

Our wedding was next on September 17th, 2011! In the end, we were married and that was ALL that mattered. :-) 

We then got to move in to our cute little house. We live on post in a 2 bedroom duplex and love ever inch of it. 

As for new year resolutions, we don't have many specific ones. I'm going to list a few just because I can. 

1. Play more. I feel like the past couple months have just been crazy. We had company one weekend. We both have 9-10 months olds. We sat in Layla's room just playing, and I realized, unfortunately, that that does not happen very often. I want to PLAY more with Layla instead of worrying about the kitchen being cleaned or the laundry done. 

2. Spend more time outside. It is beautiful outside today, and after it warms up a bit, Layla and I are heading outside. I want her to remember playing outside as much as her father and I remember. I remember getting dirty and feeling "free" when I was younger. Kids don't do that enough these days, and Z and I are not being very good examples because we rarely spend time outside. 

3. Get and STAY healthy. I don't even know where to begin. I just know that every little bit helps. It also helps that my daughter thinks it is hilarious watching me workout, so that's even better. 

4. Drink less sodas. I'd like to eventually cut these out all together, but it. is. so. hard. 

5. Cook more. I want to cut out eating out. Not only will we eat healthier, but we will also save a lot of money that way. 

6. Be a better friend. I've so been lacking on the quality of being a good friend. I'm going to do better. I'm going to do things I wish people would do for me, and I'm going to love like I'd like to be loved. 

7. Write down every day something that happened. I want to remember things. I've already started this. Z got me a beautiful journal for Christmas. 

8. Read more. Oh, thank goodness for my awesome Nook from Tiane and Christian. I have already been reading more. I am going to shoot to read one non-fiction book a month (plus some of those good fictional books!) Starting with some Dave Ramsey books. 

9. Save more. We are starting the Financial Peace University at the 1st Methodist church here in Killeen Wednesday night. it's just a preview, but then the classes start on the 18th. I'm very excited about getting out of debt! 

10. Do more things as a family. We want to go camping even if it is just to Blora here on post. We want to go to the park every Saturday. As long as we are spending time together, it doesn't matter where we are.