Project Goal Update and a few more goals

I'm happy to report that I have crossed several things off of my To-Do list! Here is an updated list, plus a few more goals for the month of February.

Take down the Christmas tree
Put away Christmas decorations
Go through stuff and make another trip to Good Will
Organize coat closet (This should probably be done before the Good Will trip)
Reorganize 2 of our kitchen cabinets and find homes for everything (just about everything) that has been living on the countertop for the past month
Go through my file drawer
Move my desk contents over to Tom's our desk (we consolidated to 1 computer)
Decorate for Valentine's Day
Plan and cook meals for February vacation
Inventory the freezer contents
Plan meals for upcoming busy week nights
Do our taxes
Apply for promotion at work
Apply for Early Intervention credentialing in the state of Illinois

And here's a pic of my "splurge" at Home Goods last month. I LOVE it. I think maybe because we don't really ever have any red in our decor, it just looks so pretty in the hallway. The pic is a little blurry because it's from my phone.

Photo Update: Snow, Bars, iPhone, JoePa, Dad

Last Friday we got several inches of snow. Bailey had a blast, as always. She loves "attacking" Tom and trying to steal his gloves.Friday night we ventured out in the snow to Beckett's Public House to celebrate our neighbor's birthday. We had a good time hanging out with the neighbors and swapping stories...I'm sure going to miss them when they move!

I broke down and ordered a new iphone cover a few weeks ago. I've been wanting it for a while but have resisted buying it....until now. It came in the mail this weekend and I love it!!

And of course, we've been in mourning since the passing of JoePa. Regardless of what he did or didn't do, it's still a shame that the last few weeks of his life had to play out like they did. My heart breaks for SuePa.

When facebook flooded with Joe Paterno and Penn State comments, I thought it only fitting to change my profile picture to this one of me and my dad (circa 1984ish I think??)

Wordless Wednesday

Project Goal Update: Kitchen Cabinets

So far, so good! Here are some before (brace yourself) and after pics of re-organizing the kitchen cabinets. I actually forgot to take a before picture of the main cabinet...which is a shame because it was a mess and that was the biggest project. I'm so glad I was able to get some of the STUFF off of the countertops. I LOVE how it looks so neat and clean. We'll see how long that lasts ;)

Some Project Goals

So I feel as though I'm a pretty goal oriented person, however I have kind of been slacking on my monthly goals for the past, oh I don't know, year and a half! I think I've been a little hesitant to keep up with my monthy goals because I have a tendency to put too much on my plate and then stress out when I don't accomplish all of it, even if there aren't "real" deadlines associated with it.

With the new year comes my rejuvination for being organized and productive, and with being organized and productive comes (my favorite) lists! I thought about making a weekly post with one project goal that I would like to accomplish each weekend, but again I don't want to put any time constraints on this and the last thing I need to do is stress out over it. So here is my list of weekend projects that I hope to complete over the next few months (some obviously sooner than others).

• Take down the Christmas tree


• Put away Christmas decorations


• Go through stuff and make another trip to Good Will


• Organize coat closet (This should probably be done before the Good Will trip)


• Reorganize 2 of our kitchen cabinets and find homes for everything (just about everything) that has been living on the countertop for the past month


• Go through my file drawer


• Move my desk contents over to Tom's our desk (we consolidated to 1 computer)


• Decorate for Valentine's Day


• Plan and cook meals for February vacation


• Inventory the freezer contents


• Plan meals for upcoming busy week nights

2011: Year in Review!

January

Matt comes to visit

February

The Blizzaster strikes Chicago Bham Reunion in Milwaukee

March

We became Chi-rish New couches

April

Matt visits again We experience burger bliss

May

Brie & Margaret come to visit Penny comes to visit Grilling out with the neighbors

June

5 Year Anniversary and Trip to Michiana Shores

July

Birthday Week and Bailey's 1st trip to the lake Jess's 4th of July Party Mini Family Reunion in Chicago

August

Paw Paw Vacation

September

Milwaukee trip New Furniture

October

Penn State/Northwestern Game Halloween with the neighbors

November

10 Years Together

December

Holiday Party Jess's Party Christkindle Market Sweatpants NYE & Paige visits

Sweatpants NYE & Paige's visit

Happy New Year!! Here's hoping 2012 is an amazing year for everyone! We've had a fun NYE Weekend so far. Our friend Paige and her fiance were in town Friday night so we took the train down to meet up with them. They were staying at The W, so we figured we would go have a drink in the lobby while we waited for them to arrive. It was an interesting experience, to say the least. Here's a pic of the giant lamps and disco ball themed lobby.
After they got settled, we went to Rosebud Prime for dinner. Everything was delicious and we couldn't believe the restaurant was practically empty on the Friday night of NYE weekend. We ate and drank and talked and laughed and it was so so good to see Paige again!! I can't wait until she moves to Ohio and can be our halfway stop on the drive home for Christmas next year!! (And Bailey can finally be reunited with her BFF Jack!!)
A few weeks ago we had the ingenious idea of celebrating NYE with our neighbors and thus the idea of Progressive Sweatpants New Year's Eve was born. What can be better than hanging out with friends, not having to leave the building, AND getting to wear sweatpants all night?! We started out the night at our place for appetizers. For the main course (homemade tomato soup and some amazing grilled cheese) we went downstairs to Catherine and Brad's apartment, and for dessert we went to the "Party Room" which is attached to Michael and Leslie's apartment. We went back to Catherine and Brad's to ring in the new year because we didn't want to wake Micahel and Leslie's baby. Good thing we did or else we would have missed the classy people ringing in the New Year on our sidewalk jamming to the music they were blasting out of their car. I'm not sure why we thought it was a good idea to go outside and Cheers them, but I don't think they minded us crashing their "party." We had a great night and I am so thankful we have such great neighbors living in our building!!

Today and tomorrow are going to be spent watching football and lounging on the couch. I can't think of a better way to kick off 2012!