The Day I've Been Dreaming Of

Today is a very special day. Today I've gained a title that I've been longing for, dreaming of, and striving towards for years.

Stay-at-Home Mom.

It makes me giggly just typing it and saying it in my head. I'm so excited that I want to go meet someone new just so when they ask what I do, I can say "I'm a stay-at-home mom." <insert silly grin>

I'm sure that it's not going to be all rainbows and butterflies, but at least on those bad days - when I get nothing done, my house is a wreck, and I've been having a battle of wills with Baby Girl - I will know that I'm where I'm supposed to be. Gone will be that nagging guilt that I'm not with my baby. Gone will be that ache reminding me that I'm not living my dream.

As usual, I have big dreams of what my new life and schedule will look like. I see daily craft time and reading time, a consistently clean house, and clean laundry that doesn't stay in the basket for a week. In reality, I know that it's not going to be picture-perfect...but it will be perfect for me.

I also know that this new phase of our life is going to require a new kind of faith and trust in God. We'll be relying on Him to provide me with enough freelance work to cover our bills. We'll be trusting Him to remain faithful in sustaining Daniel's job.

But, if Daniel and I's almost-five years of marriage have taught us anything - it's that God is Faithful, Constant, and the Great Provider.

Life is definitely a journey, with ups and downs - but I'm pretty pumped about this leg of it!

A Dream Realized: My Command Center

I love organization! I love decorating! I love Christmas! So, imagine my excitement when my Christmas gift from my parents was all the pieces for my command center!

(And they say Christmas is just for children...what poppycock!)

I've seen all the command center pins on Pinterest and posts on my favorite organization blogs, and I've always dreamed of the day when I could have a built-in one. But this Christmas, when my mom ask what I wanted, I decided to seize the opportunity and make my dream come to fruition.

And here is the result:

The view from my kitchen and dining room.

The view from the entry hall.

I found the shelf at Hobby Lobby. It's perfect because it has four little wire baskets plus plenty of hooks for coats and bags. I designated each basket to hold a specific item. One for winter hats. One for gloves. One for scarves. And, one for summer accessories, such as Little One's sun hats and sunscreen. The top piece was originally a plain wood stain, but my dad painted it to match the bench.

The bulletin board also came from Hobby Lobby. I'm going to keep our family calendar on it, along with any random papers I need to keep visible  Hopefully this will help everyone stay up to date on the family schedule and nightly menu.

The paper and pen organizer was actually made to just sit on a desk, but it was easy to nail up on the wall. This is where I'm going to keep my budget/finance ledger, stamps, pens, sticky notes, and any other little things I need in my search for life organization.

Finally, we found the bench at The Rink, a really neat shop in Bethany with a wonderful assortment of antique and refurbished furniture and decor.

It started out looking like this:

But after some repainting and recovering by my dad, it pulled the whole ensemble together perfectly!

I'm still breaking in the space and getting accustomed to actually having everything I need in one, easy-to-access area. But I think it could rank as one of the best Christmas gifts I've ever received!