study break

As I continue to take inspiration from Cortney and Megan, I'm going to list out some projects I'd like to tackle, in hopes that it will make me continue to take study breaks to accomplish them. Since I've scored As on both of my exams thus far, I feel as if I deserve some fun. And by fun, I mean home improvement projects.

1) Upload and organize pictures from both of my cameras, then delete said pictures from both cameras so I have room to take more.

2) Reorganize my closet. I HATE how it looks.

3) Clean out the junk cabinet in the kitchen (most of it is my art/craft supplies, old school supplies, etc).

4) Finish redecorating our bathroom.

5) Organize my stationary box (yes, I have a box set aside specifically for stationary), and then use some of that stationary to write to my lovely friends.


I'll start with those 5 for now. I know I have more ideas, but I have a limited amount of time and it'll probably take me 5 months to do all of those things. Boo.




BY THE WAY, if you hop on over to Our Fishy Family, make sure to say CONGRATS! Because those two crazy kids are gettin hitched! :) So glad I got to celebrate with you, Cort!

inspiration for organization

I'm taking a study break (ok I also took an  hour nap earlier) to watch Glee!, and since I'm doing that, I decided to upload some of my own organization pictures! Our Fishy Family and Mrs. Tgo Says both posted some great pictures the other day, and it motivated me to finish a couple of projects I've been working on.

This earring holder is something I borrowed from Smart and Sassy with Sprinkles. It was super easy to make with some mesh craft wire super glued to the back of an old picture frame. I put earrings with studs on it too because it's easy to take on and off the wall.

 Also sort of from the same blog...Allison's is a lot cuter, and I have plans to upgrade some day when school isn't kicking my butt. I am also planning on putting push pins in the map as a guide of "places I want to go" kind of thing. On the far left are all of my hair accessories, and then obviously I just used push pins to hang my necklaces on all the way across. A little tacky, but functional!

 This is the top shelf of my armoire. I was having trouble fitting everything, so I added a black shelf I found in the kitchen aisle at Wal-Mart for $2 a few years ago.

 The top shelf hold all of my fancy jewelry with another little cube for medicine and candy (now that I live with my brothers, I have to get creative about hiding things for my sweet tooth).

My jewelry chest has all of my childhood jewelry...rings I've outgrown, but can't bear to get rid of.

I also stacked some childhood jewelry boxes that I will never be able to part with on top of it. 

The tray in the middle has a couple of bowls holding bracelets, which wouldn't stay on the push pins, and then all of my sunglasses/rings etc.

This is my "desk"...I don't have space in my room for a desk, so I'm making do with what I do have room for.

This, however, wasn't working. as you can see, it was super full and I couldn't find ANYTHING when I needed it.

I found 4 more pairs of scissors after this picture was taken.

Loooove my permanent marker collection :)

This is an old Fossil watch tin masquerading as a binder clip holder.

I'm sort of out of control with post-it notes. I am not allowed to buy them anymore.

Finished product!

And here is my desk. The other drawer has electronics (cords, old ipods/cellphones, etc) but it is NOT organized so that'll have to be saved for another day!

The end. I hope I provide you guys with a little inspiration just like Cortney and Megan did for me! :)

a week in review

Ahh. At this weekend last time I was blissfully unaware how busy my life would become in just 3 days time. It was a better time indeed.

My first week of school was fine. I didn't answer anything wrong in front of the class (in fact, I got two questions right!), I didn't forget any assignments (at least none that I know of..), I didn't oversleep (which I had nightmares about). I did however get severely bruised up during a "team building" exercise, which consisted of each of us being hauled over a 15 foot wall, and I did trip up the same stair twice, resulting in a couple of severely damaged toes (those shoes will not be worn on anything but flat surfaces for a loooong time).

Some little gems from my teachers this week:

"This year is going to be hell, and you'll probably hit rock bottom during some point...maybe even a couple of weeks from now, but it's worth it."

"You may not feel like you have weekends for the next year...but it's worth it."

"I hope none of you lose any friends over this...although that has happened...but it's worth it."

"It's okay to cry, I know all of you will do it at some point. Even you, boys. But it's worth it."

How many times did I have to hear that "it's worth it" this week? Blah.

In summation, I'm so sorry if any of you feel neglected in the next year. I'm not trying to be mean, it's not that you don't matter to me or that I don't want to see you. It's the fact that I simply am swamped. I have a test on Thursday over 12 chapters of material, 9 of which we haven't covered in class yet. YIKES.


In other news, I have had a great weekend with Sam, because I'll go crazy if I don't have at least some fun. We went and saw Bridesmaids (with Kristen Wiig and Maya Rudolph) on Friday night and I HIGHLY recommend it. It's hilarious! Yesterday we went to the Cards v. Royals game and watched the Cards win 3-0! I only felt a little traitorous not cheering on the Royals. We also had a game night with my parents and youngest brother (plus his girlfriend), which was awesome. Turns out I'm not a great speller after 4 glasses of wine. We did however win Cranium, for which I am going to give all the credit to Sam. If it had been up to me we would have came in last place.

TV update

Remember how glee was one of my "favorite things" in my first post? This is why:


"When you love someone like I loved her, they're a part of you. It's like you're attached to them by a tether. It doesn't matter how far away they are, you can always feel them."

-Sue Sylvester.

Oh em gee. Sob. Loved this episode so much.

thankful

I have been in a bit of a funk lately. I'm stressed about school, and money, and life in general. I haven't been keeping up with people like I should, I snap at my parents, and I find myself wanting to burst into tears at the littlest things ever.

I'm pretty much tired of this nonsense, so I decided to make a list of some things I'm thankful for, to remind myself that my life is awesome and there is no reason to be in such a funk.

1. I have a pretty amazing boyfriend who never tells me I'm being a pain in the you know what, even when he maybe should.

2. I have great parents who are essentially paying all of my living expenses for the next year or so so that I don't have to worry about having a job during the most stressful year of my life.

3. My friends are awesome, and even though they may all be super far away, they still check up on me and I think that's great.

4. I'm so blessed to have realized what my calling is at 23, and to have the opportunity to actually go out there and get it. If only I'd have been so blessed at 18, so I'd already be doing it :).

5. I have a super cute puppy that just has to put her paw on top of my hand and I'm in an instantly better mood.

6. I  had a great job for 9 months, which made the money worry a lot less worrisome.

7. I'm healthy, which I absolutely know not to take for granted.

8. I have a car, with unlimited gas, which has AC, which means I will be happy during these miserable Missouri summer months. 

9. The weather (I know, I know) has been amazing lately, and I don't live in an area affected by tornadoes or floods (at least right now) or hurricanes or earthquakes or tsunamis.

10. Did I mention I have a pretty amazing boyfriend, who I love a whole lot? I love that we're doing a good job at a long distance relationship.

There. 10 reasons to be so thankful that I came up with in less than 10 minutes.

No. More. Complaining.


On another note, my parents and I are in a semi-healthy competition to see who can lose the most weight. It disturbs me that my father is winning, but I'm proud to announce I have lost 4 pounds in 2 weeks, despite the cupcake and a half from Georgetown Cupcake that I scarfed, plus all of the eating out in DC. Hooray!

wishing...

I wish I had more money so I could buy things...these things...

Pink Ray-Ban Wayfarers

Some red canvas TOMS

This fun dress from Anthropologie

 

This pretty mirror from Pottery Barn

an organizer's nightmare

So I moved home this weekend. It's official, back in with the rents. It's fine, except last summer during my brief stay here, I didn't do a great job condensing. Thus, I have still been in the process of combining two fully stocked rooms of clothes, decor, bedding, etc into one. 

So for those of you interested in seeing the disaster, here are the before and after pictures.

Before:

My "walk-in" closet that I was having trouble walking in.

                                    

I'm not very neat while unpacking/cleaning.

Notice Lisa from Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Trashy reality TV is perfect cleaning background noise!

Everyone needs a helper!

Closet after. I can actually walk in and see everything!

Look how much bigger everything looks!

Don't judge all the childhood memorabilia. Some things I just can't get rid of.

So. Comfy.

It still feels a little bit cluttered to me...what do you guys think?