Being Optimistic - My "I Did It" List

My husband returned home just two short months ago. During the deployment, they had made mention to be prepared to leave again in a year after they got home.

Turns out that isn't a rumor.

In one year, my husband will leave again for another 9 months. They aren't calling this a deployment but a training mission.

A 9 month training mission.

In Korea.

I could easily let this get me down. We were looking forward to the 2 years of dwell time after a deployment, but with the luck my husband has already had in his 13 years in, I'm not surprised.

I'm not exactly happy but there is nothing I can do. Instead of living in my own little pity party world, I'm changing my outlook.

I have spent the morning looking at photos of all that I accomplished during his last 9 months that he was gone. I am walking around seeing how much my house changed in those short months.

For those new readers, we bought a fixer upper with every intention to fix it up. I didn't get a whole lot on my list done, but I did get more than I could have ever imagined with all of the things Murphy's Law threw at me along the way...

Plus two toddlers.

While it's still a little early to start working on my next deployment to-do list, this is my "I did it" list.

Insert claps, whistles and whoohoos here!

The day my husband left for his deployment, I came home from dropping him off to find two beautiful things.

1. My 80s light fixture was gone and it was replaced with the light that Mat and I picked out the night before he left.

 And two. A dog door.

I can't really say that I did this, my father in law is amazing, however, I did pick them out... So that counts, right?

The first picture shows what our system for the kids shoes was. Not exactly efficient. This shelf now houses all of the kids shoes and it's right in front of the garage so that when we come in, shoes can be dropped. One day, when the kids are older, their shoes will go upstairs in their room, but for now, this works perfect as our little catch all. The board has hooks for our jackets, purses, dog leashes, etc.

This past deployment, I wanted to be a problem solver. And one of my problems was that I had all of these super cute bras and they were getting squished in a drawer. I found this DIY bra organizer and knew that I had to have it. It was simple and inexpensive.

And it works.

This project almost didn't make the cut. I had bought the paint for it, but I was running out of time. I kept saying I needed to do it, I needed to do it, and one day, I did. With just a couple of days before Mat came home, I knocked it out. And while that open spot is still renters poop brown, something will be done with it eventually.

The stair rail got a new facelift. The hand bar will eventually. I'm just dreading trying to figure out how to do it.

Whatever you do though, don't look underneath. That part isn't exactly done yet.

MY front door got a makeover. This is definitely one of my favorite changes. I love the color!

One of my goals will be to change the kick plate to match the door handle!

Even the doors inside weren't safe. All of the inside doors on the 1st floor got a makeover.

The laundry room was the greatest transformation. It got a fresh coat of paint, a new washer and dryer and a tack board that I covered in fabric.

Eventually, once we get it cleaned out, the garage will be where we come in and out of the house the most, so this will be where we put all of our memos and notes.

And let's not forget my laundry room sorter. It is perfect for small laundry rooms! And when we come in the garage, there aren't baskets of clothes on the floor that need to be washed. The doors open and close without anything in the way.

After a 9 month search, the living room got a Jaxon, Dottie and Harley approved rug.

The playroom got a nice, relaxing blue. The plan was to keep it calm in hopes that it would keep the kids calm.

Didn't work.

These are picture frame/art holders that I made with boards from Hobby Lobby and some clipboard clips. Easy and super cute. The idea in my head was that the blue was like the sky and the frames were clouds.

Before buying our house, it had been a rental so there were a lot of spots like this were neglected. I spent a lot of time fixing them. I'm pretty happy with my handiwork. You can't even tell that there was a whole chunk of wall missing at one point.

The hallways and living room also got a fresh coat of paint. There's my father in law, doing his thing!

We also found time to send lots of care packages to daddy. In this one, he requested his sports medicine books!

I am so happy with how much my house changed while Mat was gone. And now that I have actually sat down and written this post, I'm kind of antsy for him to leave again. I can only imagine what all can be done this time since the kids will be in school for most of the deployment. That leaves me almost 8 hours of uninterrupted toddlers to get stuff done.

Maybe I should start working on that list!