There's more to-do than time

I'm feeling overwhelmed, but at the same time, not really.

I think deadlines overwhelm me. I've never liked deadlines. I wouldn't consider myself a last-minute-doer kind of person.

But these past 2 weeks I've had the exciting deadline of September, 14, 2012 (Closing Day) on my mind. I've had my house all organized, in order and "clean" (haha). And waiting for the "Go" on getting the new house painted before the flooring is installed, which is a closer deadline by about 4 days, and all the other stuff I need/want to do. Thinking about getting everything packed, cleaned, prepped, painted, all before my dreaded deadline is overwhelming.

However, I'm don't think I truly am overwhelmed, because once I got the boxes out, opened the closets, cupboards, drawers, etc and started putting things in boxes and stacking up the boxes and bins I wasn't overwhelmed at all. I've got a lot of progress made on what packing I can do 2 weeks before moving. Suprisingly we actually do use most of the stuff in our house. Making it difficult to know what I can and can't pack.

Last night I got the "key" to get into the new house. So I spent my day today pulling out nails, screws, dreadfully ugly hardware, hooks, mirrors, window treatments, and anything else the previous owners left behind.

So nice of them to give us terribly ugly drapery, nasty metal medicine cabinets, and goody toothbrush holders & soap dishes mounted to the wall. Not to mention the scary looking coat rack and shelf/cart thingy in poor condition.

I did get hours of work done today! It probably doesn't look like I did anything, sadly, except all the ugly stuff is off the walls. I got *almost* every nail, screw, and hook out of the walls and all those holes filled in.

Step one in updating/redoing/redecorating (whatever you want to call it) is always my least favorite. I'd skip it if I could. But I do know it will be well worth the hours I put in today!

Step two, isn't exactly that fun either, Primming. I don't get excited over more "prep" work like primming but I know it will make a difference, and luckily, most of the house is already painted a greyish-white color and won't need primmed. But there is still quite a bit of primming needed.

Hoping to get that done tomorrow!

I've will be taking pictures throughout all the steps of this process. And post them sometime...

It bugs me that I'm neglecting a ton of things! Like my *ahem*weed*ahem* garden, it needs some TLC and even some harvesting. I'd like to get to practice the piano some. I have a dear friend who I haven't talked to in weeks, And I have a few unfinished sewing projects that I would much rather pack finished than unfinished. But we will see if that happens or not.
And I really should start meal planning again, especially so I can clean out the freezer and pantry a bit.
Funny how life doesn't stop when stuff like moving comes up! 

Now, back to pulling out the boxes... cause the more time I think about what I have to do, rather than actually doing it the more overwhelmed I get.

Crossing things off the checklist

As I mentioned already, We are looking at buying our first house! If all goes well, we should be moving in in about a month!!

It's exciting! I've been having lots of fun thinking of all the things I'll have the freedom to do, home improvement and decorating wise.
Even though we have had a great landlord, I still fee very limited in the "home-y touches" I can make to the house.

The not so exciting part is the legal/financial/etc part of the process. But slowly, and surely things are getting done and accomplished!

We finally got all inspections done. Been talking with Mortgage companies, and mailing, signing, and faxing paper work. Wrote a big fat check and have put down Earnest Money.

And, per part of the agreed upon offer will be getting new floors throughout entire house!!
I got that finalized today! So the flooring will be ordered, and we have an install date(s) scheduled!

I bought 10 gallons of paint and am simply waiting for the "OK" to get the walls painted before the flooring is installed.

Now I'm starting to realize! I have 4 weeks before we close on the house (assuming no complications), and haven't packed a thing!

I'm gonna be a busy girl for the next month. Got to get painting done, house packed up and cleaned, all the while continuing to deal with to-do's as they come up. Such as finalizing loan/mortgage stuff, get an insurance policy, etc, etc, etc!

This is an exciting, but crazy time!!

Baby quilts

In October I will be an Aunt for the first time!!

We're all excited!
I had so much fun making my little Nephew a blanket. I can finally blog about it now too, since I gave my sister the quilt last week at her baby shower!

I thought the zig-zag/chevron pattern was a change from traditional quilts. It's seems harder and harder to find new and creative ideas!

The top is flannel, and the back is Minky! It's such a cuddly, soft quilt, I could have almost kept it myself.

Another friend is also due to have her first little boy in October. So while I was in Idaho at my sister's shower, I also gave her a blanket!

I like how the quilting turned out on this one. It gave it a nice "crinkly" look.

It's so much more fun making quilts with a specific person in mind. I feel like you can put more of yourself in the gift since I tend to think of them as I am sewing!

Glad to have the opportunity to give these little guys a comfy quilt.

This second one is all Flannel with hi-loft polyester batting so it's feels puffy and soft!

Painting!

Tonight I am preparing for tomorrow's shopping trip.

Last time I was in the "big city" I brought home some paint chips. The house we are in the process of buying will be getting new floors. So I'm hoping (crossing fingers) that the Realtors will let me paint the walls inside, which are in desperate need of some TLC, before the new floors are installed.
It would be so nice to not have to worry about making a mess on brand new carpet/vinyl/laminate.

Nonetheless, I do plan to paint inside sooner or later.
Since I'm planning a trip to the big city tomorrow I figured I might as well buy paint just in case I can start on the project in the next week or so.

I have an idea in my head of what rooms I want painted and what colors I want.
After weeks of browsing pinterest, looking at magazines, and staring at paint chips I think I might be ready to purchase paint!

I'm excited! I love this kinda stuff!!

Can't wait to have colored walls!!

Lots of Practice

Pretty much all I've been doing is quilting. Not sewing, quilting!

After quilting my friend's table runners. She has asked me to quilt 3 small-ish quilts.
Her nieces are doing quilting in 4-H and have completed quilt tops, the biggest one being Twin sized.

I have been quilting these for her, rather than her sending them to a LongArm quilter.
I am very thankful for the opportunity to practice my quilting. I've been able to play around with new designs. Also, making a little extra money on the side is nice!

However, I think I'm about done quilting. Or at least I'd like to be able to do it at my own pace. Having a deadline and being rushed is taking some of the fun out of it.

Anyways, I'm half way done with the 3rd quilt and see the end in sight. Just in time to take a break for the weekend and go to Idaho for my sister's baby shower!!

Oh! And speaking of quilting and LongArm quilters. I got my oversized queen Double Irish Chain Quilt back from the LongArm quilter. It turned out great! Will post pictures as soon as I get the binding sewn on.
My husband laughs at the fact that I paid someone to quilt my quilt, while being paid to quilt someone else's quilts. It is pretty funny! However, I don't feel quite confident enough to quilt a huge queen size quilt just yet. Maybe I'll get there someday... in the meantime, more practice!!

Exciting Changes Ahead....

For the past 3 months we have been house shopping.

Finally, we found something that is priced right, in the right size, and right location!!

If all goes as planned.... we will soon be "homeowners"

So Exciting!!!