Things I Learned from Moving and a tour of our New Place

I HATE moving!!! Where my haters at?? The process is so stressful and tedious and expensive one way or another its no wonder hiring a moving company can cost an arm and a leg and maybe even an eye lol! Our lease at our previous address was over July 1st and we had planned to do a few more months but our landlords had other plans for their son to move in so we were forced to find a short-term place (less than a year hopefully) until we are able to purchase our forever home. We had in mind the place my husband and I lived in our BC days.. (Before Children, that is lol) and luckily they has one opening just in time for us to move in! They are luxury townhouses and we LOVE being here!! It is a gated community, with a pool, playground, gym, lounge, and its very family oriented. The kids are over the moon about being here because of the amenities of course.
Our moving experience definitely taught me a few things though and I would love to share some tips that will hopefully help anyone else out there who may be moving.

1. Plan Ahead
We had about 2 months notice to find a place and plan our move. We had to quickly find a place and begin making calls to see if there was availability, we also called our utilities and notified them of our move-out date and the post office was notified of our new address and transfer date. This way, everything was ready in time for us without having to worry about it while moving. Ask friends in advance if they could hep with the move, the more strong hands you have that day, the faster it will go! We had my mom watch the kids for us overnight and we had help from my uncle, cousin, and mother-in-law. We were unable to rent a truck but luckily borrowed a pick-up and flat trailer from an aunt. We did our whole move loading up the truck beds, cars, and trailer.

2. Start Saving
If you are fortunate enough to have a bit of an advance notice, start saving for your moving expenses. Consider whether you will be moving yourselves, or hiring a company, gas, truck rentals, tips for any help you get, money for fast food for a day or two while you settle in, groceries, Deposits and first month's rent, and packing materials. 

3. Use a box numbering system
Instead of labeling everything on the sides of the boxes, assign them a number and keep a paper where you list in detail all the items you place in that coordinating box number. This way, if you need to find something specific, you can look on your sheet to find which box it is in. Also, use color codes for each room it belongs in, for example, red=kitchen, blue=living room, etc.  

 

4. Pack away decor in advance
I began packing about a month and a half in advance beginning with things I knew I wouldn't need immediately such as decor. I got free boxes from local stores and my father-in-law's work. I asked family to save newspapers so that I can use them for packing delicate items.

5. Keep your plastic grocery bags!
When it comes to moving food and other small items from your kitchen or even other parts of your home, these are very handy to have!

Using re-useable bags to carry small appliances  and other items is great too!

6. Use kitchen trash bags to move your clothes from the closet
Turn the bag upside down, cut a slit in the middle (on the sealed part), and feed about 6-10 hanger hooks through the hole (with the clothes still hung on them. The tie the drawstring closed, this helps to keep the clothes together and easily hangs right up in your new place.

7. Have a "First night" box ready
Pick a box and fill with your immediate essentials. A couple bath towels, coffee maker and cups and the like, a bar of soap, shampoo and conditioner and other basic toiletries, toilet paper, pjs and an outfit for the next day, and any other items you may want to have on hand right away. You definitely don't wanna be stuck without something to wipe your bum should the urge occur know what I'm sayin? 

8. As tired as you might be, try to get as much done as quickly as possible in the first day
This isn't to say you should forget about sleep and stay up all night unpacking, but try not to take more than a 15 minute break here and there and don't forget to HYDRATE!! We moved in the heat of summer in the desert no less, and water was DESPERATELY needed! Moving heavy things in the heat Will make you sweat like a sinner in church! Just saying...

9. If you really want to get done fast, Have one person stay at the new place unpacking
I was fortunate enough to stay behind after a few runs and start unpacking. This really helped get everything done quickly and made it feel like home faster. This isn't NECESSARY but if you can do it, go for it!

10. If your new place is a downsize or temporary, live minimalistically!! 
In our case, it's both. We are not hanging anything on the walls and the very few things we will hang will be done with command hooks so that we don't do any damage to the walls. We kept a lot of decor in boxes/storage, and took out only a few things that fit where they could.

                                                             And now...The tour!!

 This is the dining area. We squeezed in our portable fireplace and entry table.

I made these mason jars right before we moved.. I was on a bit of a crafting spree almost like a pregnant mother nesting like the apocalypse!

This is the only view you will see of my sofas because I am so embarrassed of them, they are in terrible condition and we plan to replace them as soon as we have funds.

This is my relaxing corner of the living room. My late grandparents chair and a wooden crate filled with magazines and books.

this is my son's bedroom..not very thrilling and not very organized lol

my daughter's bedroom...she had her cousin over.

this is the master bedroom tour.

This is the master bath

I apologize for the bed photos :/

This is the guest bath.

This is the Kitchen.

And here's a shot of us chillin on a VERY HOT day in the pool and at the playground!

We really do love our place and will enjoy every minute while The Lord has us here. We have been truly blessed and now He has great plans for us! It was just stressful being in "Limbo" and not knowing what was ahead of us but we have really learned to trust in God through the fog and He has never failed to provide for us even in our darkest times. I hope these tips help any of you or encourage you if you plan to move and I hope you enjoyed the little tour! :)

**If you would like to see tons of ideas on how to decorate rentals, check out my board on Pinterest labeled  "Portable design for the renter"

Make-It-Monday and a Galaxy Paint Tutorial

Instagram seems to be the hot spot for all the new catch-phrase "holidays" made by its many followers; the latest I came across was "make it Monday." I thought, ooohh ya that's a great way to make Mondays a little more fun! I had already made over a few flower pots that I received for free via my aunt that I will share photos with here as well. When I get stressed or need to keep myself busy, painting objects has such a soothing effect on me, so I look around the house for things I can make over with paint..anything. I think I have gone a little crazy though, its like crack to me and I start craving it. I may have opened Pandora's box. One day my kids may even wake up painted...

So here is the flower pot BEFORE...as you can see its pretty outdated, I mean the thing screams 90's right?

I had a sample size of enamel paint laying around and all I did was paint two coats (letting dry in between) until it was completely covered.

I had three of them and after they were all painted over I had some gold paint and just experimented with it a bit on each pot. So that's that for these babies onto my next venture...

A while back I needed a way to keep my 2 year old (at the time) son occupied with a simple toy that he can put objects in and out of. All I did was grab an empty baby wipes case, and small objects like bottle caps, fake coins, etc that would fit into the slot on the top. It was quite a hit with him, he uses it to this day and loves sticking things into it and dumping it all out when its full. So I got bored and wanted to give it a little makeover so that it will be "new" to him all over again. This is a very forgiving paint process and "mistakes" can very easily be fixed/covered.

To do this you will need:
**If you want the "toy" for a toddler, an empty baby wipes case (mine was from huggies) and have it spray painted black all over. Otherwise, you can do this with just about any other object that will take to paint.
-paint brushes
-craft paints in black, gold, turquoise, lavender
-makeup sponges
-an old toothbrush (not pictured)
OPTIONAL: mod podge (to seal when done)

To start, you will be placing random little splotches of the turquoise and lavender around on one side to begin.

With one of the sponges, begin blotting and spreading around the color. WARNING: at this point it will start looking chaotic and weird and you will mildly panic and wonder what you got yourself into (if you are at all like me anyway). Just keep at it I PROMISE it will get better looking by the end!

I looked up images of galaxies from the Hubble Telescope as reference. Try to blot up as much as the paint as you can to give it that "cloudy" effect.

Next step is the gold paint. Squeeze a small amount onto the same sponge you used for the first step.

Start to dab along the edges of the places you already did with the same technique, trying to make it as "cloudy" as possible.

Next, get the black paint and squeeze a small amount onto a paper plate or something you can wash. Dip the sponge into the black and blot it out a bit before using it. Now is the time to go over any areas you may not be happy with and control the shapes a little better and soften any hard edges.

Here's the fun part; squeeze out a little bit of white paint onto an old toothbrush and using your fingers, rub it over the bristles causing it to flick specks of white "stars" all over it. (Make sure to do this step in a covered area so as not to get splatters everywhere)

You can get the paintbrush and with the tip dabbed in the white paint, dab more "stars" or "comets" as you please.

When its dry, you can coat the whole thing in mod podge to seal and protect the masterpiece you just made. ;)

And then find little things to fit in and watch your toddler keep busy while you get a chance to breathe and maybe possibly to to the bathroom without an audience.

He is 3 years old and STILL loves this thing. I tell ya, they had it right back in the day where the simplest things were the best toys. No need to spend money on expensive toys that pretty much do the same thing and leave little to the imagination.

I hope I was a help and that your galaxy painting is a success! If you use this tutorial, be sure to send me a pic so I can see how yours turned out! Make Monday fun and get creating!! :)

The Happening Collective's First Workshop

It has been a crazy couple of months! We have been busy packing and getting ready to move into our temporary home for the next 6 months and we have also had the misfortune of having our only family car break down on us which it NEVER gave us a single problem before! Thankfully we were able to replace the problem cheaply but on top of that it just seemed one expense after another that came at us and we found ourselves without a penny extra to spare. This posed a problem for me because I wanted tickets to the very first workshop by The Happening Collective! They did a chance to win tickets on Instagram but a girl I knew won instead. So I figured that would have been my only chance to attend until just last week, the girl who had won messaged me and asked if I would like to have the tickets because she was unable to attend. I said HECK YES I DO!!
The Happening Collective is done by two lovely cousins, Sara and Kalie and their aesthetic is very cool and modern and trendy. I had the pleasure of meeting these two at the Glitter and Spice Workshop last year and was so excited to hear that they collaborated to do this and could not wait to attend! This first workshop consisted of "Macrame and Succulents." We created hanging succulent planters with macrame and, in my case, a doily and mason jar. Everything was Black and white, with pops of neon green, pink, and yellow.

These were "goodie bags" for us ladies who attended.

How cool is this BOXED water?! I mean seriously..I had so much fun drinking out of this!

This is what was at our table, a snack box with our names on it, our name tags, and delicious munchies inside the box.

Materials needed/gathered to get started! We had the choice between 3 different macrame styles and of course I, being in love with all things vintage like doilies and mason jars, chose this one.

Just an itty bitty adorable succulent! It was waiting for me to transplant him into his new home.

Collette Budd from BrierRose Design gave us some instruction on how to properly plant and care for our succulents and thank goodness she did because I realized why I can't seem to keep mine alive!

Welcome to your new home little guy!

Isn't it cute?? We were given natural wooden beads to use in our macrame so I painted half of them an aqua color and left the rest natural. I thought it looked kind of beachy, which my house has MUCH of and this will fit in quite easily almost anywhere in the house.

Ok and now for the GOODIE BAGS! I giggled when I looked through it, these ladies are so witty and cute and showed much of their personalities in the contents!

Gardening gloves (which I needed!), a little notebook and neon pencil, a highlighter, the spoon was from BRD, and so was the seed cup, but the squirt gun had a tag that said, "You ain't cool until you wet your plants!" I thought that was so funny and clever and I used it to water some other succulents I already had and it is definitely a LOT more fun watering them now!

Be sure to check out and follow The Happening Collective on:
instagram: @thehappeningcollective
Twitter: @whatsthehapsco
Facebook: facebook.com/thehappeningcollective
etsy.com/shop/thehappeningco

Be sure to check out this video of the workshop as well! :)

A Much Needed Date Day and Retail Therapy

Hello all! I would apologize for the distance between blogging but I'm not sure anyone noticed lol. Motherhood has been kicking my rear lately, I mean bad. I have had more bad days in the last few months than I care to count, and have many many times failed at everything it seemed.

Do you ever have times where you let your feelings completely take over to the breaking point? Ya, that's how its been for me. I even did what I swore I would never do and was getting angry with God. But God is SO patient with us, even in our anger. He humbly reminds me what I need to do to fix it all, even after I'm complaining and whining about why I have such trouble being a mother while "everyone else" sails through it so seemingly beautifully. I know that is a gross exaggeration but it sure feels like that sometimes.
So in hopes to take a breather, I asked my husband if we had the funds for a date day and praise the sweet Lord, he said we did. My sister and mom grabbed our kids while the mister and I ventured down to Victoria Gardens in Rancho Cucamonga. I would go as far as to say its my favorite place to shop that is somewhat nearby.

 It was a gorgeous warm, sunny day in Southern California and I wore a sleeveless, lacey black maxi dress with a belt and he put on his favorite short sleeve button-up and we drove down and grabbed tickets to see "Heaven is for Real" (such a good movie) and if anyone chooses to go see it, bring the tissue box.. I bawled. I literally left the theater with red eyes lol. Luckily, I had some cash on me left over from Mother's Day and was able to get mah shop ooonnnnn...

Got me 4 cute tops from Mode Plus, my favorite affordable plus size store. I would compare it to forever 21, Ross, V-genertaion.

Ok, i'm not gonna lie I have no idea what happened to this picture between me taking it and uploading it..boooo. Anywho, this was the first I grabbed, an eyelet, coral peplum top. I can't wear it until I find a matching tank to wear under it though, the bottom half is too sheer ><

Loved this tank that I almost missed as I walked out. It has a cute bow detail on the back too.

This one is so pretty, very light and sheer and I LOVE the print.

This one is a black, floral print peplum(ish) top.

And last but not least, I grabbed these sunnies that were only 9 bucks. I lost my other favorite cheapie pair that I once owned from the Target dollar section. They were cute and certainly did the job.. but these are satisfying replacements. :)

For LINNER (a combination of lunch and dinner) we ate at P.F. Changs..which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places to eat. The last time we ate there we had ordered the hot and sour soup which is something I'm pretty sure I could live off for the rest of my life. So we ordered it again..along with egg rolls, sweet and sour chicken, and Pad Tai. Oh it was good... REAL GOOD. That mustard they serve, is stinking HOT. I just dabbed a bit on my finger and tasted it and a hole almost burned through my tongue where it landed. I dared Albert to try but he was too chicken.

I cannot tell you just how MUCH I needed this day!! It was such a welcomed break from the craziness that was taking place from the kids and packing and fighting in our marriage. At the end of the day we sat on a bench for a few while an older man (in his 70's but very healthy looking) just started chatting up a storm with us. He was so sweet and just talked to us about his life and history, he is a Navajo Native American and talked about his parents marriage of 64 years before they passed and it was so neat and interesting to hear him just talk about life and before he left, he told us we will beat his current marriage record of 51 years. :) I sure hope so! <3

Now, I leave you with a question (that no one seems to ever answer when I ask them on here lol), what kinds of things do you like to do on a date? What is your most favorite date that you have taken? What did you do? I would love to hear about them in the comments :)