Extreme Organizing - Entry Way

Your Entry Way is pretty important because it's usually the first thing that you and your visitors see when entering your home! I have seen beautiful entry ways on Pinterest but I never really liked mine, so I decided to change that!

Before

The image above was my entry way before organizing. I had all kinds of things that shouldn't be there. You can see the baby wipes, dog treats, and little knick knacks that I didn't really know where to put. The Baby Car Seat that should be in the car and pacifiers that I never used were also by the entry way. I took everything off of the shelf and put things that I only love on there. 

After

A mirror was a must because I like to check my appearance before leaving the house. I also placed pictures of me and my husband, candles, and some other things that I love. On the bottom right I have my baby's books because I let her play there like it's her own little reading nook! Next to the door I have a box with hooks where my husband and I can hang our keys on so we never misplace them. Now that I organized my entry way I actually love the space now! 

What do you think of the transformation?

♥ Hannah

5 Date Ideas You Haven't Thought Of

I always enjoyed getting date ideas off of Pinterest, but after awhile they seemed to have the same date ideas and I started getting tired of them. I figured I would list some of my date ideas for those who may be feeling the same way I do!

1. Visit the Planetarium

This is way cool! If there is one locally, take your loved one and visit. Besides looking at stars together is so romantic ♥

Or you could look at the stars from you back yard if you don't have a planetarium locally.


2. Dig in to your Ancestry

After we got our DNA kits from Ancestry.com we took a night to build our family tree online. It was really neat being able to find some pictures of a great great great grandmother! We had a blast looking into our heritage and where we came from. We decided to do it again and we got our family involved with this too. My grandparents had some books about their ancestry and found out we were related to some cool people! So grab your laptop and cuddle up to discover history that leads down to you!

3. Organize together

If you had read any of my other posts on my blog you can probably tell that I am big into organizing. Well when I organize I only organize things that belong to me. My husband decided to organize his clothing and he asked for my help. I loved helping him organize and as we went through each clothing we sorted out his unwanted clothing into categories of trash, donate, or give away. He would model some of his clothes and it was a lot of fun. Ha. After we organized his clothes we took the trash pile out, put some of the bags into the Goodwill donation box, and sold some items to Plato's Closet. You can organize other things too like old greeting cards or some pictures! It would be fun to look back on some old memories.

4. Watch the Storm 

It can depend on the weather and location but this was one date we loved doing. We have a pretty nice patio at our apartment and it was big enough that the rain doesn't get to you. We got alerts on our phone that there was going to be a severe thunder storm and we waited until the rain poured down like crazy. We got some sodas and sat on our balcony watching the crazy storm. It lasted a while but it was a really cool experience and we just sat and talked. You could still do this without a crazy storm going on ;)

5. Learn another language

At one point we would go to the library pretty often because our old apartment used to be near by. We were working at a warehouse job where you could listen to music and such, so we would go to the library and get audio books. While we were browsing the audio books we came across some language learning CDs. We got one to learn Korean and we had so much fun listening to it. When we would go out to do errands or whatever we were trying to learn Korean! Ha. It was a bunch of fun and we still throw out Korean words to each other at random. So whether you get a CD or take a class learn a new language together! ☺

Go out there and spend some time with your mate! ;) 
♥ Hannah 

Extreme Organizing - DVDs

DVDs have always been something that I keep organized. I organized them alphabetically, so I always thought I was on top of my game, but the challenge for me was deciding what movies to keep and what to get rid of.

Before

There are two cabinets on the TV stand, and both were full of DVDs, along with some video games. After organizing the DVDs I got them to all fit on one side. I will be putting all of the video games on the other side (keep an eye out for organizing your video games!).

My DVDs are all in alphabetical order

I took out all of my DVDs and went through each one alphabetically. Instead of the mind set of what can I get rid of, I went with the mind set of which ones do I really enjoy watching?

DVDs I decided to sell or donate

 I got rid of a bunch of teen movies that I used to enjoy when I was younger, and chick flicks that I don't really enjoy anymore. As I was clearing through, I realized how much I have matured since my teen days, and how my tastes have changed in movies. As you organize you can look back on the old days and appreciate who you have become.

I had DVDs laying around the apartment so I gathered all of them and put them in the same spot. I need to remember to put DVDs right back where they belong after I watch one.

All of the DVDs we own fit in one side of the TV stand

Here is a sample list I went by while organizing my movies. Make sure you are just organizing your own movies!

• Will I watch this movie again?
• Will my children enjoy this movie?
• Is this a movie that I enjoy watching?

Thoughts or comments?

♥ Hannah

Best Places to Get Maternity Clothes!

I am only going to list the stores that I actually got my maternity clothes from. I am not a huge fan of online clothes shopping because I am very picky and I need to try on each item to make sure it fits right. So here is a list of places I got my maternity clothes from!

Target

First of all I love Target. I go to Target for almost everything so I definitely checked out their maternity section when I was pregnant. I wouldn't say that Target is my favorite maternity clothing place because I felt like there wasn't a whole lot to choose from, but I did get some really comfy sweatshirts and basic tank tops and such! 

Macy's

I got a few things from Macy's and they have a pretty good collection. I have been to two Macy's while pregnant and they both carried brands like Jessica Simpson and Motherhood. I really like both of those brands because they are comfortable and fashionable! 

Motherhood (The actual store)

This one was hands down my favorite place to buy maternity clothes! I worked my full time job until my third trimester and had to wear business casual clothing. Motherhood had really comfy and cute work clothes that I got and it made the work day so much better! I got several maternity jeans, sweaters, and adorable tops from them too. Motherhood also sell clothing for postpartum and their nursing bras and nursing camis were the most comfortable and user friendly out of any other brands. I literally wore the nursing bra and nursing cami every single day and most of the time still do!

Old Navy

I was never a huge Old Navy fan for regular clothes but I found some really cute maternity clothes. I got several dresses, tops, and shorts from them. I really appreciated their casual style and how comfortable their clothing was! I was pretty impressed with their maternity section!

I know there are other stores that have maternity clothing but these were the stores I got mine from. I will definitely be checking out other stores for my second pregnancy :) 
What are some of your favorite maternity clothing brands?

♥ Hannah