A Little Motivation

I swear to you it is not possible for our apartment to be completely clean all at the same time. Why does it have to be that way? I will tell you why. By the time I've cleaned Jadyn's room, the living room is toy mania and vice versa. The day after I clean the bathrooms they are a disaster; I won't place blame on that one because I think all three of us play a part in that. The minute I finish doing the dishes it is time for the next meal or snack and more dishes are added to the sink. Same goes for laundry; it is done and then we change our clothes. Ugh! Frustration. Admittedly I've let things go as of late. I don't feel like I can stay on top of anything! We have been busy with this and that and it just happens. How do people with more kids and an entire house do it? I applaud you.

One more thing has been distracting me from cleaning: sewing. I have been working on a few projects that I felt needed to be done before my parents come next week. One being new curtains. A lot of the Utah-Mormon stereotypes fit me--for better or, more likely, for worse. One of them being that I am cheap and frugal (again, probably to my detriment). Alas, such was the case with the curtains. We had three windows (in the dining area and master bedroom) [that absolutely needed] to be treated and everywhere I priced would cost well over US$100 for them. I have a hard time spending that kind of money when it is unlikely the curtains/blinds will fit the windows in the next place we live, so it is likely a short-term purchase. Seems like a waste to me. I decided to make them. A much more time-consuming project than I imagined. I had put it off for quite awhile (6+ months, but who's counting?), but with my parents' pending arrival, it gave me enough motivation to get them done. The total for all three windows, you ask? US$15. That is US$5 per window people! Ahhh. Yah. That feels good. Maybe even better than a clean house.

The curtains were the last improvement that I actually care to make to our short-term apartment. I'm just not seeing the benefit of throwing money at something that isn't going to last. Now that they are done though (and now that my parents also gave me the motivation to get the place cleaned), I can finally post pictures of our apartment. I honestly don't think it is much to look at--or live in, literally, there is not much space--but I do think it is fun to document the places we live, so here it goes.

Kitchen: Before
After

Living Room: Before
After

Dining Area: Before
After

Office: Before
Remember our blessed move-in day?
















After
Every single person we talk to on skype asks us if we are sitting in a closet. My reply: why yes, yes, we are. Oh, and by the way, Cody's diploma that is sitting on the desk was hanging at one point, but the walls here are concrete and they don't really get along with nails or heavy diploma frames.

Guest Bathroom: Before
After

Jade's Room: Before
After

Master Bath: Before
After

Master Bedroom: Before
After
Here is another angle just so you can see how tiny it is. Also notice *things* stuffed in every nook and cranny. That is actually how the entire apartment is, but we've made it work.