Thursday, April 28

san antonio!

Today I've been working on a photo album of our trip to San Antonio earlier this month (a huge accomplishment since I haven't even finished my bachelorette album and that happened in September of last year). It was a wonderful trip where we spent most of our time sleeping. True story. Puppy Oliver has left us sleep deprived and we literally took a nap every day lasting at least an hour and sometimes up to three! We planned this trip before we actually knew we where bringing Oliver home with us and my mom-in-law was wonderful enough to watch him while we were gone (sleeping). Anywho, during our down time ...from sleeping... we explored this historic city. I *Heart* San Antonio. It has so much history and is so colorful and the food, oh the food!

Here are a few of my favorite shots from our much needed vacay aka sleep fest! Enjoy! 


The Crockett - where we took all those wonderful naps!  (the Alamo is to the left in this picture, our room looked into the courtyard)



St. Joseph's (the view from the Riverwalk) - This church was built so that services could be held in German. 


The Little Church at La Villita - The cornerstone was laid for the church on March 2, 1879. Several denominations have held services here. It is now an active non-denominational church and a favorite site for weddings.




The Torch of Friendship. Presented as a gift from the Mexican Government to the city of San Antonio in 2002.

The San Antonio Zoo 








And no trip to San Antonio would be complete without The Alamo!



So there's a snapshot of our much needed vacation to San Antonio! If you've never been, it's a must!



Sunday, April 24

purging clothes, shoes and accessories...

Oh, how good it feels! I made the decision before I started cleaning out our dressers and closet that I wanted items that I loved and not just stuff that I settle for when my favorites are dirty. I also started feeling very overwhelmed by the amount of clothing items I had... it really was ridiculous. I would have a pile of clothes sitting on our chair in the mornings because I would put it on and hate it and then take it off. My drawers were never organized because there was just too much stuff shoved in them. So the work began!


A couple questions that I asked my self when I wasn't sure about an item was:
1.) Does it fit? Really does it fit?
2.) When was the last time I wore it?
3.) Do I truly love it?
4.) Will I miss it if it's gone?


The Result? I have 2 extra drawers in my dresser now, 2 extra shelves in my closet that shoes sat on and I paired down two baskets of handbags and scarfs to just one basket!


I got rid of 13 dresses - this was so hard because I loved the majority of these dresses but they didn't fit anymore and I hadn't wore most of them in more the a year.

8 pairs of shoes for me and 2 pairs for the Husband!

9 handbags!

7 Scarfs (who needs that many in Houston?), 1 belt and a pair of suspenders from a Halloween costume from 2008 (yeah, I haven't used them since)

16 necklaces, 1 bracelet and 8 pairs of earrings.


And lots and lots of other items! (check out that green furniture in the background circa 1972!)



We are having a garage sale next weekend and these items will be added to the other 4-5 bags of clothing we have been storing for far too long. We are only having the garage sale for one day and everything that isn't sold will be donated to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.


This is the trash I collected during the purging... the jeans belong to the Husband... they all have holes so we are unable to sale or donate them.

The purging and spring cleaning has began in the Goodman household! What spring cleaning projects do you have?


Saturday, April 23

let's get organized!!

Here it is, THE LIST. This particular list is a game plan for getting our household organized and running efficiently. If you know me, you know me to be a clean neat freak. I don't like clutter and it's super hard for me to go to sleep if my bedroom is cluttered. We have recently added a new addition to our family, Oliver, a West Highland Terrier, who is just 10weeks old. The past month has been a tough one. Little sleep and a lot of puppy time. This is the messiest our house has ever been. I would be super embarrassed if someone "just stopped by". But having Oliver has taught me that I need to simplify my life even more. I need to de-clutter  and purge unnecessary items from our lives. Everything is fair game!

So without further ado, here is THE LIST!

*side note: items will be added often, I'm sure!


My “GET THIS HOUSE ORGANIZED” List!

MASTER BEDROOM:

1.)    Purge Clothing, Shoes and Accessories from both my items & the Husband's
2.)    Organize dresser drawers
3.)    Organize closet
a.      Shoe rack
b.      Storage for handbags
c.      Storage for “winter” clothing (it doesn’t last long here in Texas)
4.)    Clean out & organize both night stands

Wish List Items for this room:
New Furniture – currently we are using hand me down 1972 GREEN furniture that the Husband’s parents gave to him when they got a new bedroom suite.
New Curtains
New Bedding
                        Sitting Chair (Maybe with an ottoman & side table)

MASTER BATHROOM:

1.)    Purge un used toiletries
2.)    Organize all drawers & under sink cabinet
3.)    Add storage to bath area
4.)    Hang curtain – the Mom made me curtains for both bathrooms & the kitchen but I have not gotten around to buying curtain rods.

HALL BATHROOM:

1.)    Organize linen closet
2.)    Find a place for medicine (I recently read an article that you shouldn’t store your medicine in the bathroom because of the temperature changes.)
3.)    Move cleaning supplies to linen closet (out of reach of a puppy and child(ren) in the future)
4.)    Organize drawers and under sink cabinet
5.)  Hang curtains

HALL CLOSET:

1.)    Maybe add another shelf for storage
2.)    Move “winter coats” to master bedroom closet

KITCHEN:

1.)    Organize pantry
2.)    Organize spices
3.)    Organize Tupperware cabinet
4.)    Organize refrigerator & freezer
5.)    Organize utilize drawers
6.)    Organize “junk” drawer
7.)    Create a Recipe Binder
8.)    Hang curtains

Wish List Items for this room:
            New Lighting – over the sink
            New Refrigerator ;)

DINING ROOM:

1.)    Organize cabinet space under china cabinet
2.)    Utilize storage baskets on bottom shelve in dining room
3.)    Wine storage ?

OFFICE / MUSIC ROOM:

1.)    New filing system – Binders??
2.)    Add shelving
3.)    Organize music equipment
4.)    Organize magazines, dvds, cds, records, board games
5.)    Organize crafts & wrapping supplies
6.)    Purchase a new desk & desk chair
7.)    Organize photos & photo albums

GUEST BEDROOM:

1.)    Organize closet

MISC ITEMS:

1.) Create a “Household” binder – to hold important phone numbers, bills to be paid, daily-monthly-annual checklist, grocery list, calendar, special dates (and lots of other things I can't think of right now)

*UPDATES - 4/29/11


GARAGE:


1.) Organize laundry area
2.) Organize shelving
3.) Organize recycling
4.) Organize, organize, organize
5.) Paint (something that will probably have to be done in the winter)


**UPDATES - 6/29/11


HOUSE:
New carpet in the Living Room, Hallway, Office, Guest Room, Master
New Tile in the foyer, Hall Bath, Master Bath, in front of the Vanity in the Master, Master Closet. 


MASTER BEDROOM/ BATH:
Replace mirrors in master bath. 
Paint bedroom and bathroom.
Replace linens in bathroom.
New medicine cabinet.  We painted the existing cabinet!







Thursday, April 21

an introduction of sorts


Hello! Let me start by introducing myself, I’m Rachel! I’m 29- turning the big 3-0 this year... yikes! I’m from Orlando, Florida but moved to Houston, Texas at the ripe old age of 17, that’s right my parent’s upped and moved me right before my senior year of high school because of a job transfer. I’ve been in Texas ever since and I consider myself a Texan at heart. I LOVE Texas and can’t really imagine residing anywhere else. Some of my hobbies include being outdoors, camping, swimming, chilling under a tree OR sitting on a couch with a good book, movies, shopping, ORGANIZING, the list can go on and on. I’m the oldest of my siblings (there are 5 of us) and my youngest sibling just turned 14!

I’ve wanted to start a blog for quite some time now and finally with some inspiration from Nike (JUST DO IT!) I did it!  My hope for this blog is to showcase my day to day life. The good. The bad. And. The ugly.  I’m by no means a very creative or interesting person and I’m certainly not a writer but I want this to be an outlet I can come to and share or vent (when necessary) even if no one is reading.  I’m recently married, less then a year, so this will also have tidbits of newly married life (like how we can NOT share a bathroom with one sink or how he is a morning person and how you really shouldn’t talk to me until I’ve had a cup of coffee… or two!). I’m a huge fan of DIY projects and I’m sure I will share lots of my projects here. It’s so fun to share! And who doesn’t love a good before and after photo?!  I have a long and still growing “to do” around the house list (I’m sure I will blog this list soon). My final wish for this blog is that it will be a place where our family and friends that are afar can visit and be apart of our daily lives.

So, here’s to hoping for some good blogging! Cheers!