Hoarders and Spring Cleaning

On Monday night I watched a Hoarders marathon...Have you seen this show? I really feel for these people who are dealing with major issues. It made me realize that I have a tendency toward hoarding and at the same time I crave organization. I feel so invigorated when I clean out a closet or cabinet. In fact, organizing is probably one of my favorite things to do. I love to take my vacation days off just to organize. Cleaning, on the other hand, is a whole other story...Thank goodness for Claudia! Anyway, watching the marathon also made me start thinking about why I hold onto things. I seem to have an emotional attachment to things and I am highly sentimental. I save cards, letters, pictures, and other stuff. I have plastic tubs full of these things going all the way back to when I was in kindergarten. I still have my first scrapbook that I started when I was probably in first grade. I think this goes back to the fact that my mom died when I was 2 and I don't have any of these things of hers. I have always saved stuff thinking that my kids might want that piece of me, but I know that it is a bunch of clutter that will be thrown away one day. I need to go through it and either put it in a scrapbook or throw it away myself. I think this is also the reason I scrapbook and blog. I know that these hobbies are allowing me to document my story for my children and their children. That is the piece of me they will enjoy when I am gone, not plastic tubs full of crap.

I also think I need to be prepared for anything. I think I need a stocked pantry and freezer just in case I have surprise company or so I can whip up a special meal for Sutton. I still end up going to the grocery store and very rarely do we just have folks stop by without calling first. This habit comes from growing up in the country and not being able to just run to the store if we needed something. Sutton has reminded me many times that we only live 5 minutes from the grocery store. Since I have been home the past few months and cooking most nights, I have been cleaning out my freezer and pantry and trying to use all of the stuff I have stored up and now I am realizing that some of it has gone bad because I had forgotten about it. I also hoard toiletries and save those little bottles of hotel shampoo and soap so I have them for my guests. I have enough scrapbook supplies to make at least 5000 pages (I wish I was exaggerating, but I am not) or possibly open my own little store. Since Miss Q arrived I am starting to see that less truly is more and life is much easier without so much stuff. I also see that I have wasted a ton of money.

So this week I am purging the house. I just cleaned out my spice cabinet and freezer. From now on I am only going to buy small bottles of spices for recipes because they go bad before I can use the whole bottle and today I threw out alot. I have cleaned out all of the little hotel bottles and a lot of Quincy's clothes she has outgrown and the baby toiletries she can't use because of her sensitive skin. I am also working on my closet. I have always taken stuff to Goodwill, but I just learned that the Family Shelter is in need of clothes, toiletries, and baby items. I am going to take stuff there from now on. I was overwhelmed today when I talked to them. Here I am blessed with too much and so many people don't have enough.

One thing I am preparing to throw out and I have known for years it needed to be done, but I just could not bring myself to do it, is a box of old letters from junior high and high school. I used to have several pen pals and I have saved all of those old letters. I am going to keep a few but for the most part that needs to go...I need to live here in the present. All of this stuff is just taking up space. I have been thinking of all of these things lately and it is so nice to just put it out there and own it. I am really ready to let some things go and move ahead. Wow, writing this post has been good therapy for me!

If you are like me and in the mood to do some spring cleaning, I thought I would share with you a few resources to get you inspired. Watching Hoarders and Clean Sweep usually does the trick for me, but I have also been reading a couple of great organizing books lately. I love Throw Out Fifty Things by Gail Blanke and I am really enjoying One Year to an Organized Life by Regina Leeds. Another favorite book of mine is It's All Too Much by Peter Walsh. My favorite organizing blog is Creative Organizing by Aby Garvey. I love Aby and I am so impressed with her ideas. I have taken a couple of her online classes and I highly recommend them. I also get inspired each month when I get Real Simple magazine in the mail. Do you have any favorite organizing tips or inspiration? If so, please leave a comment.

Daddy's Birthday

Sutton celebrated his 36th birthday this past week. He was so busy that day, so he just wanted to relax when he got home that night. I made dinner and an amaretto cake (his favorite flavor) and we just hung out. It is amazing how much things have changed in one year...Last year his birthday wish was for a baby...We were both a little down then because I think we both thought we would be parents by the time he was 35 and it just was not happening...When he blew out his birthday candles that day we just seemed to be missing something. God has a perfect plan, and 2 weeks later we found out we were pregnant with Miss Q! We always joke that she was his belated birthday present. This year she was here to help him blow out his candles and we feel complete. It was a happy day for all of us. I love this man more and more as the years go by and that love has deepened even more now that I have seen him become a daddy. My prayer for Quincy is that one day she will find a man to marry who is as good and sweet as her father. He works so hard and juggles so much so that he can provide and care for us. I am so proud of him and feel blessed that he chose me! Here are my 2 favorite people in this world on Sutton's birthday...

February 2010

Wow- February flew by! We started the month with Sutton out of town for work. This was the first time Q and I had stayed home alone and we had a great time, but we were so glad when he got back. Most of our days were spent warm and cozy at home, but we did travel to Stamford for our church's bi-annual Smorgasbord and for a Sip and See for Quincy. We especially enjoyed watching the Winter Olympics! This was our third Winter Olympics since we met in 2001 and it is one of our favorite things in this world! Each night, I would cook dinner, we would put Q to bed, and then stay up way too late watching all of the action. I think we have been going through withdrawals since they ended. We also had Quincy's pictures taken this month, but I will share those in another post. Here is what we were up to the month of February...
9 weeks old
While Sutton was out of town, we enjoyed a quick visit from Gigi!
We also went for Q's 2 month checkup. Here she is with Dr. Sawyer.
She had to get shots and she was not a fan, but she was tough.
She loves bathtime...
Talking with Daddy after her bath.
We met our sweet friend Laura for lunch on the Friday before Valentine's Day. We had a great time catching up!
Laura took this one of Q and me.


Q in her cute "first Valentine's Day" outfit.
Daddy surprised me with roses for Valentine's Day. We enjoyed a very low key day and it was perfect because I got to spend time with the two great loves of my life! We went to church, had lunch at Carino's, spent the afternoon relaxing, and we ate appetizers for dinner in front of the fire while watching the Olympics.
On the 18th, we went to the Tom Green County Farm Bureau Office for a hamburger lunch and to support Daddy at the Food Checkout Day. It was a great event and they served almost 1,000 hamburgers with the proceeds going to support the local food bank! Daddy also got interviewed on live tv.

That night, Q and I attended Aggie Happy Hour while Sutton had to work. Here Q is with our cute friend, Roxie, who is Class of 2008 I think...Man I feel old...Crazy to think Q will be Class of 2031!

Papa went to church with us on the 21st and then treated us to lunch at the Country Club.
We enjoyed a snow day on the
23rd and loved having Daddy work from home. We made smores in the fireplace and made soup...
And Daddy and Q got to cuddle. I love how she has her hand on his while he is giving her a bottle. She does this to me when she is nursing and it is almost like she wants to make sure the food isn't going anywhere!











I have enjoyed playing with my big camera...It is amazing how much better the pictures are with a DSLR.

Here Q is dressed up in a cute onesie from Aunt Chels that says, "All because two people fell in love", and a cute flower from Aunt Ingrid. Q is a lucky girl to have so many sweet aunts to spoil her. This was the first picture I took, but I kept thinking I could get a better one and this is what happened...
She hung in there for a while and then it was all too much and she let me know about it! Even when she is mad, she is cute.
The last weekend in February, we went home to Stamford to see Mor Mor and Pop and for a Sip and See diaper shower for Q. We had such a great time catching up with old friends and loved ones. Patsy, Clara, and Lisa hosted the fun party.

Here Quincy is with her Great-Grandma at the party. My camera died right after this so these were the only pictures I was able to take.
I am amazed at how much Quincy developed during the month of February. Here she is on her playmat working on trying to roll over. She loves her playmat and spends alot of time on it.

She prefers tummy time on the boppy and she is really holding her head up now. She is cooing and squealing and making sure her voice is heard. They are the sweetest sounds in the world to us and we cannot get enough! Her daddy can get her to laugh every now and then, but I think this is really going to start in the next month. She kicks alot and will move herself all the way down to the end of her crib. She started sleeping in her own room at 10 weeks. I think this was harder on me than it was on her, but I am so thankful for the video monitor which gives me alot of peace of mind and has saved us many trips across the house. She slept through the night for the first time in her room on Valentine's night. She has done great since then, and typically goes down around 7:30 p.m.- 8:00 p.m. and sleeps til about 7:00 a.m. Every now and then she still wakes up around 3 or 4 am. She is also taking longer naps and we have developed a bit of a schedule. It is nice to finally have some structure to our days. I know we have been very blessed to have a fairly easy baby the first time around and we are really enjoying parenthood. I am still at home and will be off until April 6th. Our proposal was not approved because our company is going through more change so they are not approving anything like that right now. Thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers...I know God will show us what we need to do. In the mean time, I will go back to work 4 days a week for the first 12 weeks and we will see how that goes. Hopefully by then they will revisit our proposal.

Here is one more of our sweet, happy girl.

A Fun Night Out with Friends

One Friday night in January we decided to get a babysitter and enjoy a grown up night out with friends. We started at In Vino Veritas, a fun wine place here in San Angelo, and then had dinner at the Cork and Pig Tavern, a new restaurant in town. CPT was so new at the time they did not even have their liquor license so we had to bring our own. Doug and I enjoyed reliving our college days by drinking Pearl Light...It was not as good as we had remembered! It had been a while since we had done something like this and we had a great time...but as always we could not wait to get home to sweet baby Q!

The Chandlers- We found out in December that they are expecting a baby in July! A few weeks ago we found out they are having a girl! I think it is neat that Q and Baby Chandler will be friends from day one unlike their moms who had to wait over 25 years to meet!
The Wildes- We love hanging out with these two!
The Lacys, the Whites, and Joe Will- We are so enjoying getting to know the Lacys and we are so glad Laura decided to move to San Angelo. If you haven't, go check out her new blog. We also found out in December that the Whites are expecting Baby #2 in August! We will find out what Ashley is having in a couple of weeks. I love that my 2 best girlfriends are going to have babies so close in age to Q...We are going to have so much fun raising them together!

January 2010

The first month of 2010 flew by! Quincy grew and changed so much and we enjoyed watching her development. Most of my days were spent here at home with her just soaking up every precious moment. It has been nice to be able to stay warm and cozy at home since it has been such a cold winter. We did get to travel a couple of times with Daddy to Dallas and Waco. Here are a few pictures and highlights from her second month of life....
5 weeks old

All dressed up for her very first church service- She is 6 weeks old here. Sutton was installed as an elder at our church on this day, so it was a special day for everyone.
In mid January we went to Dallas so Sutton could attend a training seminar. The girls had fun shopping while Daddy was learning. One special part of the trip was getting to see one of my oldest and dearest friends, Raquel. We had a great time catching up and we can't wait to do it again!
Miss Q and her Aunt Chels- We loved getting to spend time with our family.
Sutton's little brother, Ricky, and his cute girlfriend, Jessie, came in from Arkansas while we were there.
Jessie got Q this cute little duck onesie...Here she is dressed up in it before her first Aggie Happy Hour. Sutton even went with us (I think he wanted to make sure we did not start brainwashing her too early...) We had a great time and Q was the hit of the evening.

At the end of the month we traveled with Sutton to Waco. He had to be there for work so my sister Ingrid picked us up and we enjoyed spending time with she and Georgia in Reagan. She took this cute picture of Q while we were there.
We went to Crop Paper Scissors in Waco which is one of my favorite scrapbook stores...
This was Quincy's first visit to a scrapbook store so I had to document it, but as you can see she was not as excited as I was!
Still not too excited about shopping, but trying to hang in there.
After our fun 2 days with the Tusas, we met Daddy at the Farm Bureau office. Not only was this Quincy's first visit to the home office, but it was my first visit as well. I did not realize how big it is and I was very impressed! Here Q is with Daddy and Daddy's boss, Jim Nance.

Quincy is a good sleeper so far and slept through the night for the first time while we were in Dallas but I think that was a fluke because it took several weeks before she would do it again.
She really started smiling this month and is such a happy girl! I took these one morning while I was getting her ready for the day.