San Antonio Summer

More photos from our vacation! I love going through these memories, like Audrey's first slushie and her tiny Mexican sandals we bought at the market.








San Antonio summers are slushies from the vending carts, hot sunny days, visits to the Alamo, and matching Mexican dresses.

xoxo
Talia Christine

Home At Last

Our trip is over and we are home at last. Visiting my family went by too quickly and the time we spent hanging out in airports felt like a lifetime.

Saying goodbye to my family again was hard. Really hard. I miss them so much and wish we lived closer. My heart needs them. But it is SO GOOD being home. Audrey is still really jet lagged (poor baby!) and is totally out of sorts, but I think she likes being home too.

And I've missed YOU guys! We had hardly any downtime while we were away so I chose to spend any little time we did have with my family, but I missed my little blog!

I have lots planned, lots of photos from our trip, and lots to share with you!

YAY! Home is a good thing.

xo
Talia Christine

Away We Go

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In just a few short hours we will be leaving to head to the airport. We're flying all the way to Texas to see my family! Audrey will get to meet my parents and family for the first time, and I'm really really really really really excited. (understatement)

We'll be traveling for 22+ hours, which I'm not wildly looking forward to. But seeing my family greatly outweighs the traveling woes!

So, any last minute tips for traveling with a 1 year old?

See you on the flip side!

xo

Getting The Hang Of Things

It's been well over a year since we moved into our house, but I can finally say that after living here for a year and struggling with housework it's all finally under control.

We had just become pregnant while we were on our hunt for a house over a year ago. I was deathly ill and couldn't go anywhere without threatening to puke on the driveway. I often did. I was sick and tired and tired and sick and couldn't manage to do any housework or unpacking when we finally moved in. I mostly just slept and stayed near the bathroom.

Fast forward into the pregnancy and I was finally feeling good when my hips started to hurt. I thought it was just normal pregnancy aches and pains but the pain progressed. Because of my car accident years ago, it's difficult for me to carry around the extra weight without the help of a pregnancy support brace. I was put on bedrest and told not do a lot of walking. The housework fell to the wayside.

Fast forward to having a newborn baby. Housework? What's that?

A whole year flew by! Bad habits formed and the house has always been a constant mess in one way or another. And I hate that! Having messy surroundings stresses me out! I needed help.

I needed an action plan!

I created a "chore schedule" for myself to help me keep track of what needs to be done and it's worked beeeaaaauutifully! After a few weeks, I can say that I've been able to keep up with it. I've only assigned a few things each day so that it doesn't feel overwhelming. And it doesn't! It feels totally doable and I feel so... accomplished when I've ticked off everything for the day.

Mondays I bake the bread, vacuum, and dust the house. Tuesday I do laundry. Wednesday I clean the bathrooms. And so on.

It's a beautiful system and I feel in control! I feel accomplished. And I feel like the organized person that I knew I could be with a little help.





Here are a few tips for creating a schedule for yourself:

1) Keep it simple.: I've only added a couple things each day to my schedule to allow time for mishaps and crazy days. I have a 5 month old with reflux. So my crazy days are basically every day!

2) Know your limits!: It's okay to have limits! Embrace them and don't burn yourself out. Think for the long haul.

3) Assess and Reassess: After you've created a schedule and have worked in it for awhile, reassess to see if it's working for you! Does one area of work take longer than you anticipated? Don't be afraid to rearrange to better suit your needs.

4) Be flexible: So you weren't able to finish folding the laundry yesterday... Don't be too hard on yourself. Give yourself a pat on the back for the things you were able to accomplish and carry on!

5) Rest: Resting is important. I've created Thursday to be my "free" day or rest day. It allows me to mentally relax a bit and work on some "fun" projects around the house that I've been wanting to get to. I also use Thursday as a catch up day if I've gotten a bit behind. It feels good to be all caught up.


Do you use a similar system in your home? What works for you?

xoxo
Talia Christine

Home and Happy and Safe

Just a quick note to say hello! I am back home in New Zealand safe and sound. I had no problems with immigration and I am so glad to be home with my husband. I had an amazing time with my family, but three weeks is a heck of a long time to be away from your love. That's what I think anyway. I'll never leave that long again without taking him with me.

On my little vacation I took a break from the blogging world to soak up time with my family but I have so much to tell you!! I'll be back very soon with some updates and some funny photos.

xoxo
Talia Christine

Seriously though, did I mention how ridiculously happy I am to be back home??

Today is the big day!

Today we finally close on our house! We will officially be proud owners of a house and a mortgage in a matter of a few hours. Sadly, we won't be moving in until Tuesday when the new carpet is laid, though I'm finding it hard to complain about new carpet. ;)

I'm beyond excited. I'm over the moon. I can't wait to decorate our new house and make it our home. I have lots of ideas for simple decorating and can't wait to start pulling it together piece by piece.

We both had Fuji Instax cameras and have a big stack of instant photos that we can't wait to display. We were thinking a big display wall of all the photos we love.


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Between the two of us, the mister and I have a lot of cameras. I'd really like to figure out a way to make a cute camera display!


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Tying vintage books with a ribbon is a simple and effective way to give them a polished look and appear more like a display than a stack of books. So cute!


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Over time, I plan on hand making a lot of things for our house. I would love to make some rugs, curtains, pillows, towels and other things for the house. This will be an ongoing process for years to come. Love!


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I can't wait to get into that house and make it our own! I'm going to take a million pictures. This is a milestone in our lives I want to capture it!

xoxo
Talia Christine

Making a garage a home.

I moved into my parents' garage this weekend. It's a finished half-sized garage that I now call home. My cave, my domain, my own little corner <3. For the first time in 6 years, I'll be living with my parents again under one roof (to save some dough). I have a wonderful relationship with my parents so I think things will turn out juuuuuust fine :) I'm pretty blessed in that regard.











My craft space













My reading space







My "closet"







My Home <3





It's a work in progress trying to downsize to a single room, but it's super cozy and perfect for me.



xoxo

Talia Christine