Exciting news!

Over the past few days, while out of town babysitting my nieces, I mentally planned out this blog post.  I would introduce you to my gorgeous kids and tell you how crazy I am about them.  Your screen would be bombarded with photos spanning birth to present time.  I would throw in a sweet story about my little man who melts your heart with his deep brown eyes and a comedic anecdote of my 3 year old who never fails to make me laugh harder and harder with every word that comes out of her mouth............................................ this not that blog post (but its coming, you just wait!)
I returned home Wednesday and immediately threw on my "volunteer" hat, busily tying up loose ends and preparing tissue balls and life preserver crafts for the MOPS meeting that would be held the next morning.  I momentarily considered hopping on the computer after returning from the meeting set-up that night, but decided my sweet hubby might possibly want to spend some time with his wife who had been MIA for the last 5 days.  The MOPS meeting this morning went beautifully and clean up was a cinch so I planned to start writing the aforementioned post as soon as kids were fed and in bed for nap.
And then I looked around.
Dry cereal and sippie cups adorned my kitchen table, evidence of the rush to get out the door in time.  My bedroom looked like a tornado had hit with the contents of my suitcase sprawled across my bed and spilling over to the floor below. Natalie's room looked like a tutu exploded due to the dress-up fashion show she apparently had in the middle of the night. My fridge was empty. Not just a little low. Empty. 
I scrounged together a pathetic lunch - the last 3 eggs scrambled with cheese, the leftover canned corn from the night before, a yogurt and some turkey rollups (aka, I didn't have any bread so the lunchmeat flew solo) - please don't turn me into child protective services!  After a few unsuccessful attempts at getting them down for nap together in their newly shared room, I put poor Teddy in the pack 'n play in a separate room and sat down at the computer.  I looked at my screen and then back at my mess of a house... I waged a mental battle and in the end, the need to clean outweighed my desire to write so I made a deal with myself.  I could write this post as long as I completed it during the time it took for my lunch (rice-a-roni... gosh I'm so classy) to cook and be consumed. 

So now that I've wasted a large portion of my allotted time, I can share the exciting news referenced in the title!  My new IKEA catalog came in the mail!! 


I'm a bit of a home design junkie...

My IKEA catalog joins catalogs for CB2, West Elm, Lumber Liquidators and Cabinets to Go, along with a variety of tile, carpet and hardwood samples from Build Direct.

 

...you wouldn't know it if you walked into my apartment, or even my last house, but by golly my next house is going to be fabulous!  We've been Dave Ramsey-ing it for a while (more on that later) and are finally on the homestretch... literally.  We are saving up for our down payment and I can't wait to get into a house and make it my own!

My dedication to the pursuit of home design has led me to sell my bodily fluids.  Haha that sounds much worse than it is!  We have a plasma donation center in my town and for each donation made, a deposit is made to a debit card that you are issued at your first appointment.  There is even a childcare center where my kiddos can play until I am done!  When my little guy was born he received multiple transfusions of blood and plasma in the NICU to regulate his blood production so donating not only helps my design budget, but also the recipients of the plasma product :)

 

I made my first design purchase last week.  I have been ogling the knit poufs from CB2 and when I saw a very similar product in the "Shops of Target" it was love at first site!  They are charcoal gray and wrapped in magnificent texture, and I envision them tucked under my coffee table easily accessible for use as an ottoman or seat. 

 For now, they will be stowed away up in my closet awaiting the glorious day that we purchase a house!  I have some birthday money and more on my plasma card so I will soon be adding to my collection and posting pics.  Until then, I better go because I finished my rice-a-roni awhile ago and my fridge is screaming "CLEAN ME"!