Winter Cleaning

Ahhhhh...a clean room.

It's sadly something I hadn't experienced for quite some time.  At least not a thoroughly cleaned room.

You know when life gets so busy that you don't even have time to do the simple things?  Okay, probably not. Any mom reading this blog is most likely thinking, "just wait, kid."  I know, I'm pathetic.

Well, whether I'm pathetic or not, I decided that today, in the midst of my week off work, would be cleaning day.  And, like usual, it paid off.  Here is the finished result.  (Notice, the black sky outside.  Yes, it took all day.)

Pictured below are the baskets full of clothes, shoes, purses and other miscellaneous items that I purged and am giving to Goodwill.

And, the picture that inspired this post.  I found out that I have 31 scarves.  Yes, 31 scarves, one for each day of the month.  I don't know about you but I think I'm set.

Really.  I truly do think that a scarf is a nice gift, and if you've given me one in the past, I'm much appreciative.  But please.  No more!

Below are the ones I am keeping, in order by color, which kinda fizzled at the end there.

And the rejects.  I'm very sorry if you see one that you gave me.  I just don't have room!

Cleaning your room can be profitable.  I found a ten dollar gift card to In-n-Out and my favorite nail polish!  A gold star for you if you can guess the name of the shade.  ;)  If you have really good eyes, you may be able to read it.

Wow, I found a desk in my room!  Now I can sit down and write someone a note with the notecards I received for Christmas.  (And a side note: that box you see on the left is filled with recipes.  I found it at a garage sale and I can't wait to try some of them out.  They sound really good.)

This next pic isn't too thrilling but I am happy that those drawers are organized!

And while I'm at it, the super cute camera bag that Em got me for Christmas, with fun houndstooth lining!

And below, an organized mess of books.  They are waiting for a new, taller bookcase...

...that will replace this one.  I mainly took this pic to show off the poster Em also gave me for Christmas.  And in the background you can see the door to my closet.  I am the most happy about that part of my room.  The floor is home to mainly just my shoes now!  And they are in order.  The clothes have been weeded through and even though the shelf looks a bit cluttered, I know where everything is.

Mmmm...another contented sigh.  I recommend winter cleaning for anyone!

Christmas 2011

It was a pretty simple Christmas this year.  Just the three of us at home after church in the morning.  I always love when Christmas is on Sunday.  We opened presents and then met up with my Aunt and Uncle to go see War Horse.  A tad more serious of a movie than I expected.  It was kind of weird seeing a movie on Christmas, but we had our main Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve since Jeremy was at Karli's on Christmas Day.  Our friend, Jenn, came too so that was fun.  

Emily's mysterious present to me turned out to be a poster that I had pinned on Pinterest!  "Yooooouuuuu sneeeaaakky moooommm!"

Just an attempt at being artsy with the Christmas tree.

And a cute dog that would be an excellent Christmas gift.  Actually, this one already has an owner but there is one more available.  :)

Mad About... (Christmas Edition)

The Nutcracker!

I think I can safely say that this year, I am obsessed with The Nutcracker.  I have listened to the whole thing in my car probably around ten times this Christmas season.  Everytime track #10 is about to end, I think, "Okay, it's time to take a break." But then it just moves on to track #1 and before I know it, I've listened to the whole thing again!  I just can't get enough of it!  The music is beautiful and I am just amazed that anyone could compose something like that!  Is it totally nerdy that sometimes I get a little teary eyed listening to it?  Um yeah, thought so.  #9 gets me every time.

But what is better than listening to the music in my car?  Why, going to see the ballet of course!  I've seen the ballet a number of times but the best performance I witnessed was done by the Moscow Ballet at some theater in L.A. 

We had balcony seats...not really expensive ones, but a great view nonetheless.  The setup of the stage was amazing.  It wasn't just a single curtain that they kept changing with little room for the dancers.  It was huge and open with props and real set design.  And there was a live orchestra!

I don't think we'll be able to go this year because it's turned into an extremely busy season.  (We can't even find a whole open day to go to Disneyland.)  So I'll just keep listening to the music in my car...and imagine visions of sugar-plums dancing in my head.  ;)

The Wauhop's

Can I just say how much I love this family? I had the privilege of working with Ashley at GTY for just over a year before she left to have baby Maggie! In all honesty one of the cutest little babies I have ever met. Both Robert and Ashley are funny, sweet, down to earth and fun to hang out with! I loved taking these pictures and I am so happy for them. And I'm happy that little Maggie has such wonderful parents. ;)

While I love blogspot, the format on my blog isn't great for picture showing, so I started a new one just for photogpraphy. Not much yet, but here's the link: http://amandataylorphotography.wordpress.com/

I don't think I've ever heard a friend praise her husband as much as Ashley praises Robert. She told me that they have never gotten in a fight. Their love for each other is sweet to see!

The other thing that Ashley talked most about at GTY was how much she couldn't wait to be a mom someday. It was fun to see the whole processs!

I was able to get a few of Maggie's face. ;)

She looks a lot like her beautiful mama!

Looking at her daddy.

She may have gotten a bit chilly at the end. Little tears. :(

These two aren't afraid of PDA.

I know. I took a lot.

Look at those eyes!

Happy family!