New Year Resolutions: 2017

Last year was a total year of growth in our household! One side of me thinks "oh hey, that is really mature, Caitlin..." and another side of me is like "F that B!" One of my favorite 2016 resolutions was "If it not a hell yeah, it's a no!" and I feel so proud to say I really stuck with that! I said 'no' way more than I said "hell yeah" which resulted in a lot of family time, which was priceless. In 2016 I was able to rid myself of some poor relationships that were fostered on complaining about others, I was better able to stand my ground when I really just wanted to be a people-pleaser, and I learned something awesome/annoying about my husband. If you tell him not to do one thing, he will do that exact thing to be a pain in the ass. This works wonderfully knowing I can now reverse psychology! (Side note: He will 'like' this post when I put it on Facebook because he is nice like that, but guarantee he will not read this!)

This year I came up with some new resolutions that physically and mentally plausible.

1. Lose half of my gained "baby weight." Which I now just call "mom weight," because it has been 19 months since I had a baby. I bit the bullet and joined Orange Theory Fitness, something I am really looking forward to. My favorite "baby hating" neighbor is going to join me on this journey and I could not be more excited! I am 30 pounds heavier now than I was before I got pregnant with Aiden. Thirty, freaking, pounds. I am setting a realistic goal of losing 15 this year, and 15 next year!

2017 Goals! Keep babies, lose baby weight!

2. Foster meaningful friendships. I have been fortunate enough in my life to meet people that really enhance life. They are fun to hang out with, whether it is shopping, drinking, or cooking together. Rather than spend my time ruminating on failed relationships, I am going to spend time with those that matter. Even though my best friend lives a few states a way, finding more scheduled time for conversations, and making her feel special when I can't be there to bring a bottle of wine and watch Netflix. Also, another best friend is pregnant with her first baby. There is something so special and fun about being a part of a friendship when babies are involved. I always need to remember, "surround yourself with cheerleaders and get rid of the vampires!" 

3. Bulk up our savings! I need to come up with a plan for this. Now that I finally have a job, I feel a little more comfortable stacking away money for savings. In 2016 we paid off all of our credit card debt and it feels so freeing. When you live on one income for so long, it was hard to hack away at our undergraduate credit card debt. Now if we could only pay off student loans, just kidding, that will likely never happen! 

4. De - freaking - clutter!! We have SO. MUCH. STUFF. I feel like Toys R Us could not hold a candle to our basement right now. We have trains and train tables, cars, and baby toys that all kids have outgrown... they need to go. Mr. Sentimental Aiden is the nay-sayer and always cries that he loves that toy when I am about to get rid of it. We have so many baby things that need to go. People always tell me how pretty my house is, which I work hard to make it pretty, but literally every drawer, cabinet, basket is jammed full of toys. Before Aiden was big enough to like toys I would daydream about the cute houses that had all of these adorable baby toys and picture my children playing with them. What was I thinking?! Baby toys procreate in the night and most are hideous. Hellooo Container Store! 

5. Re-do some house things. For the most part, all rooms are finished in our house. But, I do want to add some things. Aiden needs a headboard, and maybe a room update, we need new furniture in our master bedroom, and my goodness, Leila may move to a bed in 2017! Please, little babe, stop growing up! I might even add some curtains and window fixtures to our office this year... who knows what kind of crazy things that will bring! I hope that I will find more time to blog about our home and our life as things start to even out in our house... no little tiny babies, more stability at work, every other Friday off starting in February, and less football. Sad day, Broncos. 

What do you all have in store for 2017?! I would love to hear!

New Years Resolutions: of all kinds!

In the past, I have rarely made new years resolutions. I never follow through, and usually they are some unrealistic idea of who I should or should not be, what I should do, or how I should change the way I look. Well, not this year. Last year my husband and I did a whole financial makeover and that was our unspoken New Years resolution, and believe it or not, we stuck to our budget all year and paid down our debt. We are students, there is no way it is completely paid off, but we are slowly working toward taking the correct measures to make a reliable plan. This year, we have some house resolutions (aka. projects) and some real-life resolutions.

1. "If it isn't a HELL YEAH, it is a no." I saw this post online and it really resonated with how I feel about things. I am tired of spending my time doing things I do not want to do, only to please other people. In fact, I have spent too many years attending things I didn't want to, or helping someone when it felt like an obligation, not something I would want to do, and I am over it. I realize this probably makes me sound selfish, but it isn't about that. What it is about, when I say yes to someone else or something else, it means I am saying 'no' to my family. Those three sweet faces come before anyone, so if that is selfish of me, so be it.

2. Be more authentic. I have spent a lot of time in my life worried about looking one way, and it is not about how I look that matters. Well, maybe it matters to other people, but it doesn't matter to the people that matter in my life. I can remember a time in my life when I would spend money that I shouldn't have spent on an outfit because I was going to a party a "frenemy" would be at. No more. I wear what I wear, I shower or not, I do my hair or don't do my hair. It doesn't matter. I need to worry about being more of my true self around everyone, not just the people that are close to me. 

3. Read EVERY night. We were really good at this for a long time. Good at it until Leila was born. Then pure exhaustion set in and we were still trying to figure out bed time with three children and nursing. No more excuses. We have been reading every night and I can just tell the boys appreciate that time so much, and I am happy that this is one that we have figured out the nuts and bolts, even if it is before showers and baths, to make it happen. 

4. Take more action. This was Berto's goal. When the "change oil" light goes on, get the oil changed that week. When the "low tire pressure" alert happens, put air in the tires. He has decided to be more proactive with things that come up in life with kids, cars, and work. 

5. Purge. This is not to be confused with bulimia. We have TOO MUCH STUFF. We went through the basement toys over Christmas Break and sold a lot of things. We need to get rid of so much more in order to live a life with less things and more memories. Our basement is so much cleaner, organized, and the boys are having so much more fun down there now. It feels refreshing to get rid of things you no longer need or use. 

6. Have a reasonable bed time. I am usually up until one in the morning. It is ridiculous and I am tired and grumpy with my kids the following day. During the week, we have set an "upstairs by 10, in bed by 10:30" rule and we have actually been going to bed before that time! 

7. Re-do our fireplace. I have plans for this, but you will just have to stay tuned to the blog to see where it goes! Hint: Joanna Gaines. 

There will certainly be more home projects this year including finishing Luke's room, adding more "Aiden" to Aiden's room, and some other smaller things. I am hoping that using this blog as my sounding board it provides some accountability for my resolutions. So, if I am up Sunday-Thursday and you see me online, tell me to go to bed! :) 

Laundry Room Mood Board.

I am going to make this room a bit girly since I am pretty much the only one who ever goes in here, and I am pretty excited since everything else in my life is surrounded by boys! This room is LITTLE. Like, six feet by six feet, if that. So I have to have a very functional room. 

My amazing sister-in-law gave me some adorable cathedral cabinets that I plan on painting London Fog by Benjamin Moore, it is a light gray color. I want to do the walls in a smooth sage. I am also going to add open shelves on one side of the cabinet. 

Here is what it looked like for our walk-through...

And here is what it looked like last time I showed you....

And here are some inspiration photos that can all be found on this board. 

I am SO excited about the project and cannot wait to get it started. The floors may be done in the fall because the tile I want is almost $12 a square foot, so I need to do some major shopping around because that just isn't happening! Keep an eye on my instagram for updates! 

Friday favorites.

As I slowly work on the kitchen, I think browsing Pinterest for some fun finds will help me make it through the misery.

Cabinet hardware went in great, looks wonderful and I cannot wait to share the results with you all. When my dad went to go install the new pendant lights, we found there is NO electricity to our pre-wired spots. Um, okay. Call goes into Richmond, and conveniently enough the lady who needs to help us is on vacation. Call Delmark Electric and they cannot help because Richmond needs to place a work order. Oh, the hoops we have to jump through for a new build. So, I am stuck in the middle until our lovely representative gets back from vacation. At least we did this before our year warranty was gone.

So here are some pretty farmhouse finds that I love! 

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I love this style of home. One day, when I have the money, I am going to be an old southern home and live there in the summers and renovate it like crazy. For now, I will live in my "mountain" house, okay - suburbs of Denver house, and dream. I love all of the neutral tones and how they are used together to create something that looks historic and beautiful. 

What are your favorite looks right now?

Ode to the end of August.

Being that it is the last day in August, I wanted to share some of my favorite fall photos to prepare you for the wonderful September that is to come! If I were in a house right now, I would be pulling out all of my fall decor and getting ready to put it up tomorrow! Even though "fall" weather does not hit Colorado until mid to late October, I pretend that I am still living in New York. In New York, September means fall foliage, start of school, apple festivals, craft fairs, and cooler weather. Not so much in Colorado - but hey! - I can pretend!

Here are some of the lovely fall photos that can help you ease into September!

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I love a good neutral fall decor! You never seem to get irritated, you don't have to worry about orange clashing with the other colors in your home, and it just looks classy! Now that I know we will be in our home for fall (October 18!!) I will now be able to start jumping on some of these projects before we move in! What fall decors do you love?

And... these couches have officially been ordered! It is going to take 6-8 weeks to be made, then we can chose our shipping date! They told us on or before October 24, so hopefully it is slightly before!

I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

Rocking chair & front porch.

I think the new thing to do on a front porch is put two rocking chairs and some pretty pillows. Our new house has a fabulous front porch that I am oh so excited to decorate. I have been constantly on Pinterest looking for from porch ideas that I love and here are a few things I came across:

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I also came across this gem from RemodelAholic that talks about things you can do to make your front porch more welcoming! Our last house had a very odd shaped front porch and I never really liked the way it looked when it was decorated. Last December we did give it a fresh paint job and add numbers from this Etsy dealer.

We also spray painted the lock and door handle before we moved out to a satin nickel finish. I don't have any close up pictures because we don't have one without the gross storm door. I am SO happy our new house does not have a storm door. Although, I am fairly sure my husband will try to convince me to get one! 

Master bedroom inspiration.

Our bedroom has been painted, the bedding has been bought, but no joke, it is the biggest room in the house, and it still looks so empty. We sort of have a timeline to get things 'together' looking before my little brothers' wedding on July 28th. I put together an inspiration board to try and get things rolling. Let me know what you think!