Wednesday Update

So I've done well so far, for the first 2 days. I read 30 min. both days and I feel so good afterwards! It's amazing the difference when you read to find answers, than when you read to just to read. I like having a time limit instead of a chapter amount because then I can just go and go until the time runs out. 30 min. is kind of a long time because I read before I go to bed, so I'll either shorten that after the week is over to maybe 20 and then I can always extend my reading time if I'm not tired.

It's going to be hard to do this though starting on Thursday because we are going out of town for a few days. But hopefully I'll be able to continue!

2nd Week Resolution

Well I did pretty well last week, of course there were a few times I forgot about the goal, but tried to shape up and get better. It was a nice goal, just hard to track. That's why my goal this week is something I can actually do and keep track of. I'm going to try and have personal scripture study for 30 min. a day. I've been pretty good lately to read them, but I usually just read a chapter and then go to bed. But I really want to have meaningful study and spend some more time on it.

So starting tonight I will be reading 30 min. a day and I'm going to read for quality not quantity. I think next week I'll do a goal with the gym, but we're going out of town this weekend and I won't be able to make it too often this week.

Good luck to everyone else!

Lovely Phone Calls

So, as I'm sure you know, I take phone calls at work all day and help people with their investments. Many people are particular about their money and can get very upset sometimes. I usually get about 1-2 really pissed off people per day. I'm going to be honest, I wasn't very positive after a call I had today. Because of the challenge, I've tried to just let their rude remarks roll off my back, but I got really upset after I talked to this one gentleman that I couldn't let it go.

He had about $10 million, so you know right away that 95% of people with money are mad at life and they will usually be jerks to you. So I was already expecting it. Anyways, he was trying to get a hold of a certain department and I had to place him on hold and he got so angry! He said he shouldn't have to wait and because I put him on hold, his entire day was ruined. He got so upset and was practically yelling at me for being incompetant, when all I did was put him on hold. Anyways, this call reminded me of my challenge and I'm now over it.

Sometimes I just take things personally, even though I know they're not mad at me specifically, but about life in general. It makes me think that if I'm ever rich, I will try so hard to be nice, because, those people are very few and far between.

Stupid Teenagers

So in accordance with my goal, I was tested this afternoon, haha. I was driving to the gym... in a hurry I might add ( I was trying to make it to the class and I HATE being late to the aerobics classes). Anyways, there was this car in front of me, that probably noticed I was in a hurry, and just slowed down. I know it was on purpose because the car was full of teenagers and they kept looking in their mirrors and pointing and laughing. Then they stuck their middle fingers out the window and just thought it was hilarious. It started to piss me off, but then I realized, they're just immature and I didn't even care anymore. I was just calm and smiled and felt good about staying positive.

Challenge Week 1 - Be positive

So this Sunday I've decided my goal for the week would be to try to be as positive as possible. I've noticed lately that I have a negative attitude about work, cleaning the house, and things I just don't enjoy doing. So instead of being Debbie Downer and being annoyed that I have to do these things, I decided to try and find the good it in so that my day is happier.

I also decided to be positive towards other people. If people say mean things, or are rude to me, I've decided to let it bounce off and just be happy and not to worry about what others say.

So far, this morning was the first morning and I, of course after a long weekend, didn't want to come to work. But I decided to have a good day and so far so good! I'll keep you posted on any stories throughout the week!

GOOD LUCK to everyone else on their goals!

July's Challenge

Lets call this one "New Weeks Resolution"...

I was never good at a New Years Resolution, so maybe weekly goals are what I need to set!Here's how to do it:Every Sunday night, set a goal for yourself. Something you want to do or improve on all week long.

Some ideas that I have are...
- Get and Keep all the laundry done
- Work in the garden everyday (even in the 100 degree heat!)
- Spend one on one time with each of my kids daily
- Make a nice homemade meal using a new recipe ever day
- Read a book
- Say more meaningful prayers
- Read my scriptures
- Do a random act of kindness

....hmmm, I think July might need more than 4 weeks in it! I have a lot I could improve on.Anyway, blog about what your goal is by Monday and update us on your progress as often as you can! We can all cheer for each other! Good luck!

Forgot about this blog...haha

Sorry guys... even though only like 2 people look at this blog, I did have some things to post about a long time ago, and then just never did it. Here are some pictures of the last challenge of things I did to our home. What a great month we had, I absolutely loved it...

First... we got a cute bistro set for our balcony. We have since also purchased a new bbq to fill up some more of that space :)




Next... We rearranged our office. We moved the desk unit from wall to the other, and we ended up putting a futon on the other wall... here is the move of the desk unit during the transition:




After:




Lastly... I tried to be crafty and make something go above our TV. We have such high ceilings that there is so much room to cover on the wall. I'm not in love with this, but it'll do for now.

Before:



After:

Back and continuing the challenge!

So I'm back from our trip and I already starting doing some fun projects at home. I'm at work now, but will post pictures of the things I did from yesterday on here later tonight. Check back soon!

Day 10

For what I did on this day, check my regular blog... it's all there.... and I will be on hiatus while I'm gone this week. I will continue the challenge once we return! Enjoy your week!

Day 9

Today I did a little rearranging of our family room and a couple other things. There's this shelf piece of furniture that I've been meaning to put out in our family room, but I wanted to put some furniture pads on the bottom so it doesn't scratch the floor. I of course have been too lazy to put those on, so this shelf has been sitting in our office, waiting for a home. So I super glued some pads on the bottom, and dusted it all and put up some pictures. I also switched a few things around in the family room. Here's the proof

Before:






After:

Day 8

Unfortunately I was really busy yesterday and didn't have time to do a challenge :( I had to run down to Provo after work so I didn't even get home until like 7. So today was a rest day, I will do double duty today, or something on Saturday. I did clean out my garage like a week ago, so maybe that counts?

Day 7

For today I did a whole smorgasbord of things to pick up the place. I first tackled the bathrooms and did a nice thorough cleaning of those. I scrubbed the bathtub, the floors, toilets, counters, wiped the mirrors down and put up clean towels. It smells so nice and clean! Can't really see a before and after because they didn't look gross, but you could tell is was a little grimey.









Next thing I did was do the dishes. They've been piling up for a couple days and I can't stand when the dishes aren't clean. That's one thing I hate to go to bed without doing, yet it still happens sometimes.





Lastly, I made our bed (which sadly to say doesn't happen very often) and I folded another load of laundry. I didn't however put those clothes away yet :) But I feel like I got a lot done and I was still able to watch the entire episode of Biggest Loser! Can't wait to see what tomorrow has in store.

Day 6 pictures

Here are the pictures of Day 6's wall hangings.

Before:




After:

Day 5 & 6

DAY 5 - For Friday's activity I was pretty busy that day so I ended up doing some of our laundry too! (Seems like it was a trend for everyone to do their laundray) Being that there are only 2 of us, we only had a couple loads including a load for our towels and sheets. I definitely think folding/putting away laundry is my least favorite chore. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's the fact that we dont' have enough dresser space for our clothes, so I dread trying to find a place for it, or what, but I HATE IT! I don't mind actually washing them, that's the easy part. You put it in the washer, dump some soap in and you're done! You just have to remember to switch the loads and dry it so it doesn't sit over night and you have to wash it again :) (Can you tell I've done that many times before).

So anyways I tackled some laundry and I'm lucky because Josh usually does the laundry, but neither of us are good at folding or putting it away. So we usually dig stuff out of the basket until we need to do another load again. So for this challenge, I actually folded the laundry and then put it away! I know it sounds so easy for many of you, but I hate doing this, so it was nice to get some clothes finally put away. Put as I write this there are 2 loads that need to be folded still... maybe I'll do that this week :)

Day 6 - For yesterday's challenge I did some more decorating and hung some pictures up in our hallway! It really makes things look nice. I took some pictures but when I tried to upload them yesterday our internet was being stupid. Or should I say our neighbors internet because we haven't signed up for our own yet, haha... soon enough. But we hung up our framed pictures of The Proclamation to the Family and The Living Christ. They look great! I'll attach pictures this evening.

Day 4

I didn't have a lot of time last night, but still wanted to keep on track and make sure I continued my challenge. I still have a lot of bare walls and decided to put something up in our guest bathroom. Things are slowly looking more like a home and more cozy. So here is what I put up:

(These are pictures Josh took awhile back, really cool, I love them)

Day 3

Well last night I had so many plans on things I could do, but we ended up tackling the rest of our floors... which is definitely something that needs to be done and fits perfectly in this challenge! We finished almost one side of the hallway, so we'll hopefully do more of that tonight. I can't believe we're finally almost done. This project is the one I'm most excited for to complete! Here are the pictures I promised... we haven't really mopped the floor yet of all the sawdust, but that will happen when we completely finish this part of the floor.

Before:



After:

Day 2

Today I decluterized some of the easy places to clutter in my house. I started with a spot on the counter that gets easily clutter, then moved to this hallway counter and lastly cleared off our office desk. It feels so nice to be clean again. While I was in the mood to clean, I even swept and mopped the floor! Here's the proof.

Day 1

For the first day of this challenge, I decided to do something simple, but that I've been putting off for awhile. Funny story before I post the pictures and tell you what I did.

When we moved into our place they had an alarm system all set up with motion sensors and everything. All we needed to do was call to activate the service. Since it's just Josh and I we decided not use the service, but keep the stuff there so when we sell later down the road, someone may want it. One feature on the main alarm box though was to have it chime every time the front door was open. So I thought that might be nice to turn on at night just in case, and that didn't require any activation, so why not. Well it got annoying so I turned it off.

So one night I went to bed and all of a sudden the alarm goes off... like full on. The noise was sooooo loud. What happened was Josh thought he was turning that chime thing on but instead accidently pushed a button on the alarm pad which activated the alarm. We didn't think that could happen because we never paid for the service, but don't worry, it was going off extremely loud late at night.

Long story a little shorter, Josh ended up ripping it from the wall and we took the back up battery out and it finally stopped. Well when we ripped it from the wall, it left some screws and a hole from where the cords went. So that was my project, put something nice on the wall to cover it up :)

Before:



After:

May Challenge

Home Improvement
Every week day this month, do something to better your home!

Some ideas could be:
- Organize and de-clutter something: a drawer, cupboard, closet, pantry, make-up bag etc.
- Touch up those dings in your walls with some touch-up paint
- Hang some pictures
- Re-arrange your furniture
- Give a good deep clean to something you don't get to regularly
- Re-decorate a room
- Wash those "decoration only" towels hanging in your bathroom
- Dust your ceiling fans, light fixtures and blinds
- Give a good scrub to those hard to reach places- behind your toilet, the corners or your grout, baseboards etc.
-Wash and polish your door knobs (who ever does that?!)
- Clean out your closet and donate unused clothing

... that was just the list I made in literally 2 minutes. If I had another 5 minutes, I could think of a ton more!

This doesnt have to be a huge "Home Rennovation", just keep it simple and you will feel great!

So who is in?!?!?