September in a nutshell....

Sorry... I suck at blogging.... 

Here is a brief recap of my life since.... September... danggg it has been awhile...

Well lets see -- CLOSING WAS PUSHED BACK -- TWO weeks!! I was NOT happy about this. I pretty much tore up all my house TO-DO list. Pretty much any 'game plans' I came up with for painting/carpeting/moving all went out the window. My new mind set is -- FAST!!

We are scheduled to close on Wednesday.....

        We have 5 rooms that really need to be completed before we move it. Completed as in               Paint & Flooring. I am all good with living out of boxes for a week... or month.... JUST                   KIDDING!

        I have to empty the rental..... and relocated it to the new house... 

        I'm in search of a GAS dryer.... seems like when I need one they all disapper... grrr 

        Deliver others miscellaneous items... 

         &&&& this all has to be done in F-I-V-E days. Going to need to stock up on Redbull.

So in the other aspects of my life....

         BRYSON TURNED TWO!!  Andd it of course rained the entire day of his birthday party...            that was being held at a park.... && he was sick and crabby. But dispite all the set backs 

         the party went  well.. I will write a post about his birthday soon. 

          I started grad school.....I get nervous every time I walk into Concordia. But I think this 

          program is really fit for me. They coddle their students &&  give away tons of free-bees! 

   

          Wedding Planning is at a dead stop

           &&&&& my diet is a JOKE! 

Hoping once we are moved in and settled things will calm down... & I can refocus on being healthy and planning the wedding of my dreams --- or what the budget allows!

Cheers!

-Mandy :))))

      

       

BIG MONTH AHEAD...

Whoa.... Goodbye August... 

Hello September. I welcome September with much anticipation.

September is a HUGE month for our family. Nick & I will have a two year old, which is just crazy. & even crazier we will be HOMEOWNERS! Yippy! 

Needless to say my life has been a bit hectic. The count down has begun to and we have exactly EIGHT days till Bryson turns the big T-W-O and until our CLOSING, eeks!

Pictures are coming down. Rooms are being emptied. Boxes are being filled. 

Definitely having a mini freak-out. We have exactly 8 more days to focus all our attention on completing the repurposing projects, thinking of paint colors, packing up 2.5 years of crap, finishing up paperwork, & keeping everything as organized as possible. 

Add Mr. B's birthday party on top of everything -- causes me to be one strung out mess.

I cant stress too much because everything seems to be coming together nicely! Nick has taken over redoing the furniture, while I focused on B's b-day and packing. I just feel like we are in such a time crunch. The new house needs to be semi-complete and live-able by October 1st with all of our stuff in. Thank goodness the Summer festivities have slowed down and we can really focus on getting in!

Patiently waiting....& getting excited... 

-Mandy :))

Fighting Bordem: Scavenger Hunt Walk

During the day, I make the kiddies I nanny go outside both in the morning and after nap time. Usually for at least an 1-2 hours each time. & oh how they complain! 

The big boys get BORED super fast. Nothing hold their attention for long... I swear kids have no imagination anymore.

So, they expect me to keep them busy, along with pay attention/keep the little ones safe. Which wouldn't be a problem if I could clone myself! 

It was so nice yesterday that I decided that we should all take a walk. The boys weren't so happy with that idea.. "BORING!" So to spice the walk up I made up a scavenger hunt for them.

I handed over a ziplock bag, pen, and scavenger hunt checklist. I made sure to write the rule of the game on checklist.
              -Stay on the side of the roads.
              -Stay where I can see you.
              -Don't go in any ones yards
              -If you spot an item on the list that wont fit in the bag, Mandy has to initial it. 
              -First one to spot it - gets it.

 

 
Each item was worth points depending on how common it was.
The scavenger included some of the following:
                 - A wild flower
                 - A penny
                 - A garage sale sign
                 - A balloon
                 - A large leaf
                 - A yellow vehicle
                 - A acorn
                 - A bug
                 - A pebble
                 - A flat rock
                 - A house for sale
                 - A pinecone
                 - A stroller
                 - Some one on a bike ride
                 - A weed
                 - Tall blade of grass
                  ***Bonus: Litter (1 point each)
                  ***Bonus: Something odd (5 points)
 

Reading their lists to see what else they needed

 

The little ones were "helping"

 

The big guys LOVED it!  It kept them preoccupied for the entire walk.

Counting up points.

Nine days till school starts, not that I am counting or anything!


-Mandy :))

Bryson's Brithday

We have SO much happening within the next month that Bryson's birthday has kinda been put on the back burner -- poor guy.

I went ALL out for B first birthday. Guest list was over 100 and I went crazy with decorations, food, and take-home goodies. His 1st birthday was SUPER memorable but it was time consuming and SUPER expensive

Well little one we cant afford that this year - I don't think he will be to heart broken..

The sad thing is I wasn't going to have anything for him besides maybe a cake at my parents. But I received a wake up call when I noticed one of my old coworkers having a birthday bash for her 2 year old. So, needless to say I felt like a horrible momma.

Well with that little push - Bryson's first birthday party is starting come together.
Park has been rented. Theme has been picked. Guest list is constructed. & menu is planned.

Lets see if I can pull this off without my right hand women, Kristen...

Man September is going to be SUPER busy.  I'm already tired just thinking about it.

-Mandy :))

Fighting Boredom -- Marshmallow Structures

This morning the big guys were getting pretty antsy.... 

I decided they needed a structured activity to keep their minds/hands busy and away from the video games. 

Marshmallow Structures:

    -Mini marshmallows

    -toothpicks 

    -fruit loops 

I couldn't find any toothpicks, but I did come a cross some skewers -eh, those will work! So I gave each guy 5 skewers. I put the marshmallows in the middle of the table. I also cut some skewers in half, just in case they needed them.

The wee ones sat around the table watching the guys create different things, while enjoying a handful of marshmallows :)  

The activity kept their attention of the older ones for a half hour or so... Hey I was happy that they were doing something other than complaining/video games/fighting. They were using their imagination - HUGE BONUS POINTS!

                                       

                                                   

                                                   

-Mandy :)) 

Sunday Funday?!?!

Today we got to go into our house and prepare it for the appraisal. 

Which you don't usually have to do but our  real-estate agent advised us to put doors on the three rooms in the basement (last owners took them) and wash down the walls in the bathroom (mold formed behind a cabinet due to no fan, stupid) -- so their will be no repairs needed to be negotiated into the price. Much rather do it ourselves. 

Well, I am still in love with the house - thank goodness!! The decorating ideas flooded my head while I was walking around my soon to be house. I really wish I has an endless amount of money, so I can completely decorate every room before we move in. KEEP DREAMING MANDY! 

As Nick and I walked around the house and closely inspected our BIG PURCHASE, we saw the half-ass the previous owners did. One thing Nick can't stand is someone being sloppy and pure lazy, when taking on a project. 

Here are some examples or the pure laziness:

          - When they FINALLY installed a fan/vent in the bathroom and added the new                              switch to the wall -- they cut a new light switch cover out of a bigger on and screwed              it in.  -- THESE THINGS COST LIKE $1 AT  MENARDS!! 

          - They did a nice back splash in the kitchen. But in ONE section they didn't line the tiles                up. And they picked a stupid stop to end the back  splash. 

           -Every corner cover was screwed on with drywall screws NOT nails. 

           -Wanes molding in the living room was pieced together and not straight. 

Just so much stupid shit that if done correctly would have looked GREAT! I just don't get how people can just not care -- it's YOUR house. Put some effort into it! 

----RANT OVER!------

Anyways, the guys worked on putting the doors in (I picked up 5 solid doors off of craigslist. 2 fit perfect. One will have to be adjusted.) I really under estimated the time needed for hanging doors. I worked on the mold... forgot masks, got bleach in my eyes, and almost past out -- but it was worth it. I also started cleaning windows and ripping off the HIDEOUS duck boarder in the main bath. We actually got pretty far considering we had no tools! Yay us!

The appraisal is tomorrow and we have our figures and toes crossed all goes well!

-Well test came back - well is up to code and water is SAFE!

-Shopped around for Home owners insurance (feeling old!) 

-Began to gather all the paper work needed for the loan... 

This house buying stuff is keeping me BUSY :)

-Mandy :))

Kitchen Remodel Ideas....

The kitchen in our new house is seriously driving me C-R-A-Z-Y and we haven't even closed yet - grrrr. 

This WAS the kitchen before the previous owners gutted it before their departure.

**Sorry so blurry -- they are from google images.. 

And this is it now......

A WHOLE lot of EMPTY

I am seriously contemplating 5 different design ideas for this one area. Of course Pinterest isn't help one bit....

1. Take out current pantry (next to stove) and relocate fridge there and make an island.. or something.

2. Fill the fridge wall with a cute county hutch:

                                       

3. Fill the fridge wall in with a computer cabinet made into a pantry:

4. Make a center island out of a dresser:

5. Build a pantry around the fridge:

Decision Decision! Sunday we are going to the house for a little bit. Nick and I are really going to put our heads together and figure out how to liven up our kitchen. That way the plans our constructed and I can stop driving myself mad with new ideas and searching craigslist to find a cheap hutch/dresser/TV cabinet to redo. 

What would I have done if Pinterest wasn't invented. Probably came up with only one plan --- but wouldn't be so creative!

Thank-You Gift...

On my last post I was complaining about how stubborn Nick is.... but I didn't explain how generous he is either. 

Nick is approved for the loan -- so technically it is his house. But lets be honest, the house is more for B and I. Nick would be happy living in a $100,000 truck -smh. I have been putting all the effort into finding a house: schedule the showings, spending HOURS of my life on Zillow, going to showings first to eliminate houses, and constantly communicating with our real-estate agent and mortgage guy. So, when I fall in love with a house (happened 3 times) he usually just agrees with signs the papers (good man <3). So, when Nick put up a fight for this house I was shocked. How could he not LOVE this house?!?! Needless to say we were butting heads a lot over this decision and neither of us were backing down. 

But Nick did. He agreed to sign off on my house :))  His biggest issue with this property was there wasn't a man cave (garage). He is going to be ECSTATIC once he gets to build his dream garage -- making every decision along the way!

Because he did such a selfless act for me, I decided to get him a gift for being (soon-to-be) homeowner. 


I thought of Nick as soon as I saw this wall art by a local crafter, Kenosha Crafts. 
& he LOVED it :)


Just a little thank-you gift to keep my man happy

-Mandy :))

House Update #2

Well lets see... The foreclosure I fell in love with has been stubborn. First off it is unfortunately listed on Hubzu.com (a horrible bidding website). I have heard nothing but horror stories by buyers from this site. Plus the selling bank we are dealing with seems horrible. They declined every offer we put out there... And then Nick was being just as stubborn declined every counter. Oh and thanks to that LOVELY website  someone else decided to out bid us by $3000. GRRRRRR!!!

So, this house seemed hopeless. I am overly frustrated at this time with this house & Nick!! So, We threw out our best and final offer to the bank to win this house $90K (5K over asking price) and started looking at other properties but guess what?!?! The bank accepted!!! Which totally took me by surprise since there was a higher bid submitted after ours.

By September 12, 2013 this will be our home :))

We close on Bryson's birthday -- hoping that is good sign!

I'm so excited. I have already been making plans in my head: colors, furniture arrangement, decorations, construction ;)

We have only until the 15th to get all of out inspections completed, eeks! Making phone calls to set up appointments Monday Morning! 

I'm overly excited! I can't wait! Pinterest App will be working overtime!! 

-Mandy :)) 

Fair Fun :))

It's fair season :)) 

Well, we went to the Racine County Fair 5/6 days. And oh man did we (Nick) go over budget. I realized I have been very frugal with our money lately. Trying to pinch every penny so that we can save more for our new house. Nick on the other hand spends like crazy.... 

Anyway, Bryson LOVED the fair! He was in heaven being around all the tractors and farm animals. Such a country bumpkin :)) 

My little country boy :))

Staying out late watching Tractor Pulls! 

Playing on the lawnmowers...

@ the concert! 

This weekend confirmed Bryson's new room theme -- tractors & trucks! 

Fearful I'm raising my boy to be a hillbilly :-/

-Mandy :))) 

House Buying Update

Short Sale OUT.... Foreclosure in.

We were SICK of waiting for our offer to be looked at by the bank and let alone be accepted, so Nick signed the paper work and closed the contract on that house.

It really was a hard decision, because the thought of house shopping again was horrible.

FORTUNITLY we found a cute house in Bristol (my home town) that was priced 12,000 less than our offer we put in on the short sale. Yippy!!

We are currently negotiating the price with the bank and hopefully we can call it home real soon!!

I am starting to look up ideas for the kitchen and how to fix that up because the layout is HORRIBLE!

I will update you as soon as we hear back from the bank!

-Mandy :))

Wedding Binder :)

My wedding binder is assembled!

This week I was determined to start planning my wedding, so that means putting together my wedding bible.

Instead of picking on up from Hobby Lobby, the cute pink binder that I've been tempted to buy YEARS before getting engaged, I went the cheap route and made my own.

While searching through Wedding Binder DIY ideas on Pinterest I noticed many brides have used the same template, so I jumped on the band wagon.

Russell and Hazel offers free wedding templates on their website. So, I printed out all 57 pages :)

Luckily I had a three ring binder lying around -- even though it isn't the prettiest binder around it was the cheapest - FREE! It was filled the 3-hole clear gloss covers, BONUS!

The wedding templates are numbered and I am assuming they are suppose to be filed in order -- but I put them in the order that made the most sense me to -- checklists, bridal party attire, vendor information with the planning worksheet....

I made a cover complete with a picture of us. I gave the binder the title 'becoming mrs. blum', in the font - I love what you do (DOWNLOAD HERE!)


I went to Target and grabbed some colorful side tabs to divide all the categories and smaller side tabs for the sub categories.

Needless to say I am in L.O.V.E with the finished result :)

Happy Planning!

-Mandy :))

Four Days Left....

The final count down begins.... the bank has until Thursday to counter or accept our offer for the Short sale in Paddock Lake. I am getting a bit nervous because I was actually able to see myself in this house and could picture how I wanted to set up every room, the repairs, and add-on we were going to do.

Short Sales really SUCK. We have wasted a month waiting around for this house, so I am going to be VERY upset if we loose out on this because the bank is being a pokey puppy. I am getting aggravated with our realtor because I feel she isn't being assertive enough with this whole process. Everything I have researched on short sales recommends badgering the bank to get the ball rolling. I feel like she is sitting back enjoying the time she isn't showing us any listings. I should contact the bank myself :)

We went back out on the hunt last night and let me tell you there are SLIM pickings!!
Let's just hope we see some activity from the bank so we don't have to pull out and look at more houses.


-Mandy :))

#shortsaleproblems

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMERICA :))))

Well its a hot one out there!! Jeans were a bad choice!

Today we went to the Union Grove Parade. Bryson didn't like all the horns and sirens from the fire trucks. BUT got over that fast when he saw the tractors. Funny thing is he ONLY recognized the red tractors -- made his daddy proud!

We all had a GREAT time!!

 

We chilled out (enjoyed the AC) at Nicks parents for awhile, since we don't have central air and are trying to keep electric bills down -- haven't installed our windows units. I have almost broke down and had Nick pull them from the basement but our $96.00 energy bill is a constant reminder to NOT GIVE IN!

 

Unfortunately, fireworks got cancelled not because of the weather. Bryson ruined our fun night out by being extremely over tired and crabby. I was super bummed, I love FIREWORKS, but I couldn't reward bad behavior -- parenting's hard :(

 

HOPE YOU ENJOYED YOUR HOLIDAY! STAY SAFE AMERICA!

 

-Mandy :))

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

While I am working on my education, I have opted to become a nanny vs daycare teacher, secretary, sales associate...

Major reason I am a nanny... I get to spend quality time with my little man :)
No weekends, holidays, and cash money is nice too!

Well... I am now nannying for a house that is over ran by FIVE children, 4 boys and 1 girl. So Monday - Friday I am in charge of 6 children (including B). My first week I was ready to throw in the towel. I was being super nanny -- dishes, mopping, nerf gun fight, outside games, walks, board games.....

That came to an end real fast... the older boys are 7,8, & 10 -- they can entertain each other. I started focusing on the wee ones. Don't worry I still interact PLENTY with the big dogs too!

I have gotten us all on a pretty good schedule. I make sure we are outside twice a day for at least an hour. The wee ones are easy riding toys, plastic pool, hose, chalk = one hell of a good time! But with this all this rain... we have been stuck inside and it is driving us all a little bonkers.

So I decided I needed to step up my nannying game and come up with some activities for all 6 kids to participate in.

Activity 1:

Smore cake pops:  Chocolate chips
                            Graham crackers
                            Marshmallows
                            Sprinkles

I had  a bowl of melted the chocolate chips, smashed graham crackers, and different sprinkles. I set out the marshmallows on plates and the kids were able make there own smore cake pops -- decorating them in different sprinkles and toppings. I got in on the fun.. and they were amazingly good -bad for the diet.

Activity 2:

They had a large box sitting in the recycling bin. I grab that out, cut it open during nap time, and went on a hunt for some crayons. After snack I laid it out on the living room floor with the crayons and ALL the kids went to town drawing and coloring on it.  It kept every one entertained for a good hour -- MAJOR bonus -- TV WAS OFF!!

  Happy Rain Days :)

-Mandy :))

The house that built me....is SOLD :-(

Well today is a very emotional day for me.  As of 5PM someone else will be the new owners of my childhood house. I know I need to act like an adult and just face the fact that this is happening -- is it wrong of me for wishing some type of misfortune on the walk through and closing. Like their loan didn't go through or my parents have a change of heart at the last minute..

I can't stand the fact that a new family is going to occupy MY house and call it home. 10216 187th was my safe haven, a place I was always felt loved and just being there brought up my sprits and changed my mood. 

Even though I moved out over 4 years ago, I always considered my parents house -- home. When I was visting them I would always tell Nick I'm home, not my parents house, lake house, or Bristol -- it was always HOME! 

I felt like this house made my family closer. I am 7 and 8 years younger then my brothers --- so we were never 'close' and I would have never consider them friends. But when I got older, we became close, thanks to the summers spent on the boat, beating the heat in the water, BBQ's in the front yard, partying in the garage (gameroom). Sharing this common place and doing all of these activities together made us friends. 

Last night was my final time being in my childhood house.  I took my final walk around the house and the memories starting flooding in my mind. Isnt it weird how you can bypass the same spots for years without triggering those memories. I took pictures around the house, trying to preserve every memory of my home.

The tears really started pouring down my face when I was driving away from 'home'. It truly isn't easy driving away and leaving 20 years of memories behind...

Please disregard the mess... 

- Mandy R. :((

Support system!

Thank goodness I have a good support system! Crissy really helps get me through my cravings and turns my attitude around when I am having a hard time with my diet. 

Every dieter needs a friend who has your best interest at heart. Thanks Crissy :) 

My diet is still on track today :) 

-Mandy :)) 

DIET DAY 1: COMPLETED

I successfully completed my first day of my diet {insert happy dance}.
Hey, you have to celebrate the smallest of achievements ;)

Today went pretty smoothly.... I ate the healthy food I packed, drank water, got 30+ minutes of exercise, and even made a healthier dinner... which was bypassed for McDonalds, OOPS!

No worries, I picked the healthiest items on the McDonalds menu -- a vanilla ice-cream cone (150 Calories) and a grilled chicken snack wrap (270 Calories).  Hey, I was starving and I felt like I deserved this treat. I started my hip hop abs DVD today. I did the 30 minute DVD in the sweat box I call a living room (Fiancé refused to install the AC units). I also took a 2.3 mile walk around the lake in the rain,  now that's dedication ;)

A Mcdonalds ice-cream cone was suppose to be a treat for B, who braved the rain with me without complaining, but I couldn't help from ordering 2. Oh-well I am not going to beat myself up about it, still gotta live. I was still inside my daily point allowance (W/O using activity points).

Even with my Mcdonalds relapse, I feel pretty good about day 1!

On the Brightside:: dinner is already made for tomorrow, woop-woop!!!

SIDE NOTE: I was scrolling through my 'Workin' on my fitness' board  and I came across a 5-Week-Challenge -- a weight loss challenge. Each weeks brings a new challenge (challenges are cumulative). The blogger who posted this posted the following channels:

Week 1: Hydration Nation – Drink 64oz of water per day.
Week 2: Sweet Tooth Cured – No sweets (i.e. cookies, brownies, etc.)
Week 3: Bust a Move – Work out for at least 30 minutes per day.
Week 4: On the Wagon – No wine, beer, etc.
Week 5: Clean it Up – Clean eating.  No processed foods at all.


She made it as a competition between friends, but I am using this outline as personal challenges for myself to follow! I think Week 5 is going to be the hardest one for me to follow :-//


Anyone else up for the challenge?


-Mandy R. :)))

 

Getting stuff done :)

Organizing. Cleaning. Packing.

Were the only things on my mind & to-do list this weekend.

 I am hoping we will have a house by September so I can ditch this rental and start on the road to home ownership... Scary thought! So, I want to begin the consolidating and packing up the insane amount of stuff we have. I have one room dedicated completely to storage - holiday decorations, pile & pile of baby junk, old clothes that I am longing to fit into, and soooo much more. This room is a hot mess...

During nap time on Saturday I was feeling dedicated and went though every box, bag, and bin. I organized all of the holiday decorations, movies, games, blankets -- putting them into their own labeled bins. I even sifted though the mountain of baby stuff and consolidated it to a corner of the room (before it took up at least half). 

I tossed 3 garbage bags and the rest I put outside for our garage sale (that I have been meaning to have since May) 

I made a list of 30 spots in the house that need to be cleaned and organized. So far I only completed a handful... But I plan to do a task a day. 

My weekend accomplishment:: cleaning off/putting away the boxes that were stacked on the treadmill. Now I have no excuses. It's time to kick my booty into shape for my wedding (only 800 days to go :)) 

My ULTIMATE GOAL: walk down the aisle looking &  feeling my best, and being my ideal weight.

Staring Goal: Lose 10lbs by August 24th. 

Day one of my diet starts tomorrow - NO MORE excuses 

-Mandy :))

Fish - Fish - Fishy

We have a new member of the family, a fishy.

Bryson got a pet fish!! We were going to wait to get him one until we moved into the new house but who the hell knows when that is?!?!?! 

So.. we hit up Petsmart. I already had the fish bowl, pebbles, and fun water plants, so I really expected to leave the store only spending less than 20 bucks.  I was SO wrong, our cart was full of new fun plants, rocks, signs, and a new fish tank -- one with a lid, to keep those little hands from petting the fishy! 

I think it is VERY important to allow B to make his own decisions, so he picked the fish and everything else on his own. We ended leaving with a pretty blue and red Betta fish --  its name is still to be determined. I am pretty sure his name will end up being Fish. 

-Mandy :)))

Round Two....

 Welp... Let me try this again. 

I am back to blogging. My last run at this was a WHOLE week... lets see if I can last a bit longer this time around because I have a whole lot to talk about. There is a TON of changes happening in my life....
                       
     1. I got engaged :))
     2. We are buying, well attempting to buy a house
     3. I graduated college & in search of a career
     4. My parents sold my childhood home && I'm very bitter. 


So my plan is to share my journey through these huge life changing events.... planning a wedding, buying and remolding a house, along with the other bumps and surprises that show up in my day to day life....


-Mandy :)))