Master Bathroom Makeover

Hi! It’s Jilly. With all the craziness that surrounded our move I forgot to show you guys some of the awesome stuff we did to our house in Arizona!

The room we are probably the most proud of is the Master Bath. We did a TON of work in there!

Before:

And After:

 

What do you think?!

Let’s see those side-by-side, shall we?



Looks like a totally different bathroom, doesn’t it?!

So, what did we do?

* removed the tile and replaced it with new travertine
* refinished the cabinet and added new hardware
* framed the mirror
* replaced the faucets
* put in new baseboards
* painted the walls
* replaced the towel rods
* changed out the light fixture

Phew!! But, it looks sooooo much better! I wish we’d gotten it done while we lived there, rather than finishing it up right before we moved. *sad face*

Oh, well. I hope the new owners appreciate it! (Well, once we find a buyer, that is!)

Linking up here.

Weekend Blog Walk: Week #12 - Link up your blog!!

I'm so excited to be participating again in the Weekend Blog Walk. I loved seeing all the awesome blogs linked up! If it's your first time here be sure to say "Hi!" in the comments. Let's start this party and see what Jessica from At Home Take 2 has to say!

Welcome to Week # 12 of Weekend Blog Walk.  It was great to check out what everyone was posting last week.  I'm still trying to catch up!  We're looking forward to more amazing blogs linking up and another great weekend of sitting back and relaxing...in between everything else that our busy lives have us doing.

Come join in the fun for Weekend Blog Walk. 

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.athometake2.blogspot.com" title="At Home Take 2" target="_blank"><img src="http://i1075.photobucket.com/albums/w433/athometake2/Weekendblogwalk400.jpg" alt="At Home Take 2" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Rules for the Weekend Blog Walk are simple:

1)  Follow your Co-Hosts (1-4 on the Linky) via GFC, and Facebook, Twitter or Email and please leave a comment on their blog if you are a new follower.  

Jessica from At Home Take 2 
Jillian from Hi! It's Jilly. 
 Jenna from Call Her Happy 
 Hayley from Hayley's World.

  We love to see who is checking out our blogs and to check out as many of your blogs as we can.  

2) Please check back next week to see if you are a Featured Blogger.  This week's Featured Bloggers are: Like Mama Like Daughter and Our Everyday Harvest. Check them out! 

3) Try to visit at least 4 blogs and show some comment luv.

 4) Not required, but it would be great if you would spread the word about our Weekend Blog Walk via your blog, tweeting or posting on Facebook.  Thanks!

Have fun, and here's to a fun and fabulous weekend! 

Wordless Wednesday- Visiting the Library

Monday Morning Musings

Hi! It's Jilly. The first weekend of co-hosting the Weekend Blog Walk was so fun! I got SO many great comments and there were links to SO many great sites! I still need to respond to more comments and visit more blogs. I'll get there, I promise!

This morning I just thought I'd share a few random things that have happened lately, or things I've been thinking about.

• A few minutes ago Girl B was in the bathroom singing "Part of Your World" at the top of her lungs. I especially love the songs she makes up. They are hilarious.
• Things not hilarious? Kids with bad attitudes. Is it just my house, or have your kids been fighting like crazy lately?! It must be cabin fever.
• Whenever I hear the words "cabin fever" it makes me think of Muppet Treasure Island. "I've got it toooo!!"

• Right now I am car-less, which has been frustrating. My hubby's car registration expired right before we moved from Arizona and we haven't been able to get his car registered in NY. Why? Well, to register the car we have to have a special insurance ID card proving we have NY auto insurance...which I can't get until I switch over my auto insurance...which I can't do until I know what's covered by our new health insurance...which we haven't signed up for yet, because we don't know if we need to add the kids onto our plan or if they'll qualify for the reduced rate Child Health Plus through the state. I feel like I'm training to be a tiger in the circus! "You want me to jump through ANOTHER hoop?!" 
• Being car-less hasn't been all bad, though. It has forced me to explore our new town on bike if I want to take the kids to the park. 

• Oh! At the park last week I saw a guy there smoking a joint!! At the park!! I must live a sheltered life, 'cause I'd never seen that 'in real life' before. I smelled it first, then turned around and there he was! "Okay, kids...time to go home now."
• I have some awesome new friends who have given us rides places, like church yesterday, the splash park, and raspberry picking a couple weeks ago.  

• My phone bit the dust, so now I have to find a new-to-me, aka used, phone to tide me over until the iPhone 5 comes out. Eeeee!! I've never had a smartphone before, so I'm super duper excited!! But, until I get the replacement phone I can only send SMS messages through my Gmail account. Rawr. 
• I neeeed to get off the computer and work on getting our "storage room" organized. Aye yie yie!

What's been going on in your neck of the woods lately?

Weekend Blog Walk- I'm a Co-Host!!

Hi! It's Jilly. I am THRILLED to announce that I have been chosen to be a co-host of the Weekend Blog Walk!! I think it's going to be great fun, and I'm SO excited to be a part of it! You guys already know me (if not, go here for a quick run-down), but let's introduce you to my fellow co-hosts.

Meet Jenna from Call Her Happy

Jenna currently resides in Minnesota, but is from Michigan.  Jenn is married to Mike and is closing in on two years of marriage.  Their daughter Ellen will be the big 1 on in just a couple days!! Happy birthday Ellen!!  Before staying at home with Ellen, Jenna was an English school teacher in Michigan.  Now she is a stay-at-home mom and freelances. She loves the global relationships blogging has brought to her life, because as we all know being a stay-at-home mom can be a lonely lot in life if you let it be.  Jenna also says she is so grateful for all of her readers and their comments.  She also blogs at CatholicMom. Check out these blog posts:  Exciting Stuff from Catholic Mom, Things You Might Not Know About Me, My Day in Autotune.  Come over and say hello, and call yourself happy too!

Meet Hayley from Hayley's World

Hayley currently resides in Alaska.  She is  a military wife to her hubs for 9.5 years (together for 11.5) and momma to R, 7 and E, almost 3. Her husband has been in the Army for almost 15 years and they've been stationed in NC, TX, GA and now AK (that's Alaska, not Arkansas). They enjoy spending time together as a family, whether it be squishing in on a Saturday morning or camping in the woods for a weekend.  Hayley blogged last year but said she got caught up with the numbers and not why she started to blog, which is to not only keep track of the life and adventures of her family, but to meet other awesome ladies. She feels lucky to not only get to meet lots of people  being a military family and moving so much (and others moving in and out too) but also get to 'meet' lots of ladies via blogging'.  She also loves photography and used to have a business.  Check out these posts of Hayley's: Me Myself I and My Week Via Gram. 

Meet Jessica from @ Home Take 2

Jessica lives in Wisconsin. She has been married for 13 years to her hubby, who is an Entomologist and Training Director for a local pest control company.  He is also in the Air National Guard and former Active Duty Air Force.  She has two creative, athletic and silly kids.  Utah is 12 and goes by his middle name, which is a State.  He decided to go by that when he was going into the first grade and was tired of being one of four kids with the same name in his grade.  Now his name is as unique as he is!  Ciera is 9 for just a little bit longer and is so NOT a girly girl.  Although if you see her collection of Beiber and Taylor Lautner posters, you sure wouldn't believe it. LOL.  So... that's the family. 

Come join in the fun for Weekend Blog Walk.  

<div align="center"><a <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">href</span>="http://www.athometake2.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">blogspot</span>.com" title="At Home Take 2" target="_blank"><<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">img</span> <span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">src</span>="http://i1075.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">photobucket</span>.com/albums/w433/athometake2/Weekendblogwalk400.<span style="background: none repeat scroll 0% 0% yellow;" class="goog-spellcheck-word">jpg</span>" alt="At Home Take 2" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Rules for the Weekend Blog Walk are simple:

1)  Follow your Co-Hosts (1-4 on the Linky) via GFC, Facebook, Twitter or Email, and please leave a comment on their blog if you are a new follower.  We love to see who is checking out our blogs and to check out as many of your blogs as possible, as time permits. 

2) Please check back next week to see if you are a Featured Blogger.  This week's Featured Bloggers are: The Thriftiness Miss and Musings of an im-Perfect Mom. Check them out!

3) Not required, but it would be great if you would blog, tweet or post on Facebook

Have fun, and I hope you find some fabulous new blogs to read!  Link up below to Weekend Blog Walk... and enjoy a wonderful weekend!

How lovely!

Hi! It's Jilly. Carrie, from My Favorite Finds, nominated me for two blogger awards- the One Lovely Blog award, AND the Very Inspiring Blog award!! She is one of my new blog buddies, and I'm grateful to her for nominating me! Us multiples mamas gotta stick together! ;)

    

So, I get to nominate 15 other bloggers and share 7 random things about myself. I had to come up with  7 random things last week, so hopefully I can come up with 7 more!

But first, the nominees...
*If you were nominated, all you have to do is post seven random things about yourself on your blog, link back to the person who nominated you, and choose fifteen others you admire to nominate. Easy peasy!*

1.  2.  3. 
4.  5.  6.

7.  8.  9. 
10.  11. A Resident's Wife 12. 
13.  14.  15.



Be sure to check out these fun blogs!


And now, the randomness....


1. I have never broken a bone or gotten stitches (unless you count the stitches from my c-section, which I don't).


2. I had never been to Disneyland or Disneyworld before I married my husband. We went with his family a couple months after we were married. Yes, there were a few awkward moments. That's all I'm gonna say about THAT. Ha ha ha! 

3. I am constantly bumping my head on things! Open cabinet doors, the lid to my trunk, the bottom of sinks, my car door... Just the other day I sneezed and banged my head on a door frame and got a nice little goose egg. YesI'mAwesome! (Remember Home Star Runner?! Lol!)


4. Painted fingernails freak me out. I'm fine with them on other people, but I just can't handle it when my own nails are painted. I think they look reeeally dumb. I dunno. Weird.


5. I'm a HUGE Harry Potter fan! Like, a big, big fan. I've read the whole series several times, own all the movies, and even had a party before the midnight showing of Deathly Hallows, Part 1. We dressed up, played trivia games, ate 'magical' treats, and made butterbeer. Then we went to the midnight showing. "Yeah, it's so cool. Yeah, it's totally awesome!"

Posing with our bags of Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans before the movie. I know I look psycho, but that was the best pic I could find! In my defense, it's almost midnight.

6. I'm not a big make-up wearer. On a normal day all I wear is moisturizer, mascara, and chapstick...if anything at all. I usually try to do my make-up for church on Sundays and the occasional special event, though.

7. Movies that make me cry every.stinkin'.time: Up, It's a Wonderful Life, Charlie St. Cloud, The Testaments of One Fold & One Shepherd, Meet the Robinsons,... I even got teary during The Sound of Music yesterday. I'm such a sap! And I thought my Mom was crazy when she cried at the end of Aladdin. Sheesh.

Thanks for reading! It was fun sharing these things with you...even if some of them were slightly embarrassing. To see more randomness and possibly embarrassing things, follow me here on the blog, on Facebook, or on Pinterest!

 Nominees...I look forward to seeing your posts. Leave me a comment when your post goes up so I can check it out!

Moving Tips- Part 4

HI! It's Jilly. It's finally the post you thought would never come...Part 4 of our Moving Tips Series! We moved from Arizona to New York, and now that I'm getting a bit more settled I have just a few more things to share with you. Hopefully it will help some of you out!

First, did you know you can price match your moving truck?! All the big companies- U-Haul, Budget & Penske- want your business and are willing to beat their competitor's prices to get it. So, you can get a written quote from one company, take it to another company, and they will match or beat the other company's quote!

source

Some people like the fact that U-Haul has the lower truck bed, so you can get a quote from Penske or Budget, then take it to U-Haul and they will beat it. This is a great way to save yourself some moola on your move.

source

You can also save money on the truck rental by booking online. Most places give you a 10-20% discount. Plus, they usually have discounts for students, military, AAA, AARP, and other things. Look for promo codes online. Be sure to explore all your options and all the ways YOU can get a discount. Moving is not cheap, my friends!

image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

We got our truck from Penske this time. They didn't have our truck the day we reserved it for (grrrr...). But, they gave us a huge discount as an apology, plus gave us an extra day, since we had to move our truck-loading help back when they didn't have our truck on time. So, in a way, not having the truck on the day we reserved it may have been a blessing in disguise, because it saved us even more money on our ridiculously expensive move cross-country.

source

Another way to save money on your move? Get boxes from local grocery stores. Some of the best boxes come from the produce department. Get apple and orange boxes, because they come with lids and are nice and sturdy. Check your local health store, because they usually have more produce boxes. In the Phoenix area we have Sprout's and Whole Foods. 

We got some great boxes from Albertson's. At the stores in Phoenix they call them "Ponca" boxes, because they are shipped from Ponca City, OK. The boxes come with hair & body products in them, and other non-food items. They store them flat in the back near the baler. 

Ponca boxes are great because a) they give them to you flat, so you can fit more of them in your car when you pick them up, and they take up less space in your house while you are packing, b) they are all the same size, so the stack well together in the truck and in your house, c) they are nice, sturdy boxes, and d) they are free. Mwahaha!

My friend, Pam, suggested making a schedule when preparing to move, i.e. Monday- Master Bedroom, Tuesday- Office, Wednesday- Kitchen, etc. This is a great idea, as long as you stick to your schedule. I am terrible at keeping myself on track. Hence, one of the reasons we left FOUR DAYS LATE! Granted, we left a little later because we had a lot of little projects to finish up on our house before we sell it, but still... If I'd stayed on schedule we would have been a LOT better off! Then I might not have looked like this because I was sleep-deprived and running on Dr. Pepper.

As a comparison, this is me at the park with my kiddos the other day, not sleep-deprived and running on Dr. Pepper. Ok, well maybe a little sleep-deprived. I am a Mom, after all. ;)

The last tip is good for anyone, but is especially helpful when preparing for a move. Do you have a pile of stuff you want to get rid of & donate, but don't want to/can't/don't have time to take it somewhere? Well, many of the places that take donations- like Goodwill, Deseret Industries, and The Salvation Army- will come out to your house and pick-up your donations. You just call them, schedule a pick-up date & time, then put your stuff out in front of your house. Everything from clothes, housewares, and toys, to bigger items like furniture, they will accept. Then you know your stuff is going to help people in your community, not just going in the trash. Plus, it's a tax write-off! 

source

We had DI (Deseret Industries) come out TWICE to pick-up a huge pile of stuff. SO easy!

That's the end of our Moving Tips Series. I hope at least one of these tips will help your move go a little smoother. If you missed the rest of the series, follow the links below.



And, I feel like I need to add a disclaimer here...just because I'm giving you all these tips does NOT mean I am a pro! I felt like I was in WAY over my head! Not everything I wanted to get done before I left got done. Not every road-trip activity I envisioned was made. Not every box was perfectly marked. (That's Ethernet cable, btw. Yeah...)

So, when trying to move don't let yourself get discouraged if things aren't going according to plan. Life happens. Unexpected road-bumps get in your way. Just go with the flow and do what you can to make it go smoothly, then just let the rest go. It will all work out somehow, I promise!

Sometimes I link up with THESE parties.

Check out the rest of the series!