A Desk Without Drawers

I've had this cute, albeit simple, desk from IKEA for nearly 10 years now, and it has taken me that long to come up with a solution to the fact that it doesn't have any drawers. I've used the lower part as a drawer since I got a laptop, but it doesn't have a back to it, so things fall out, all the time. I've gotten so sick of it this week that I needed to do something - and my brain finally turned on figured out that I could use this:

to create this:

Genius, I know. 

All that to say, when you see all of these clever ideas online or on Pinterest and you think to yourself, "why didn't I think of that?" Know that you may have some simple solutions staring you in the face. I just hope, for your sake, it doesn't take you as long as it took me to figure them out!

Happy Problem Solving! -N

Date Night

Dave and I have a weekly date night, which usually means we eat dinner together (which because of his work schedule only happens once or twice a week) and then we sneak Wawa coffee into Barnes and Noble and read till our hearts are content. We've been doing this for a few months, and although I really enjoy it, I wanted to incorporate a little more excitement into our date nights. Thus I have created a date-night jar.

Here are most of the ideas that we have in ours:
Random Acts of Kindness

Game Night (you pick one, I pick one) + Dominos

Dessert Only

Stay at a Bed and Breakfast

Go geocaching
Irish Theme Night

Dinner at a fancy restaurant

Fondue Night
Go for a run/work-out

Do a 1,000 piece puzzle

Chick-flick or rom-com and popcorn
Go to the mall and pick out outfits for each other - have a fashion show in the fitting room!
Go camping
Go on a scavenger hunt
Mexican Theme Night
Take a drive
Build a house of cards
Sign-up for a class together (dancing, painting, etc.)

Photo shoot
Make a Rube Goldberg machine
Fly kites
Build something with blocks or Legos

Homemade pizzas and an "Italian" movie

Laser tag 
Indoor picnic
Go to a thrift store and buy a gift for each other

Go Go-Carting
Dance
Make ice cream sundaes
At-home spa
Go see a play
Restaurant Hop: appetizers at one, entrees at another, dessert somewhere else
Have a movie marathon
Clip-coupons

Mini Golf
TV Show marathon
Volunteer together
Go to an arcade
Play card games
Go to a park and play on the play ground
Go window shopping

Go to a local museum
Greek Theme Night
Walk around town
Dollar date: order something off the dollar menu & get each other a gift from the dollar store
Shopping Spree
Go rollerskating or ice skating

$5 and 5mins each in the grocery store - whatever you get, you make and eat

Drive-In Movie date

Build a Fort

IKEA Date

Go bowling
Italian Theme Night

Coffee Date
Go to the zoo

Go to Cracker Barrel

Fast-Food Date (get one item from each local fast-food restaurant)
Breakfast for dinner, in bed.

A few tips for those interested in making their own - color coordinate the choices based on cost/planning required and make sure you mark one side of the popsicle sticks so you know which ones you've done.

Enjoy!

Please note: some of these date night ideas were adapted from here, here, and here.

Blog/Life Make-Over

I recently joined Pinterest, and in addition to giving me hundreds of really great and creative ideas, it has also given me the motivation I need to get off my butt and start living life. Not in the "jump out of a plane" sort of way, (although that is on my bucket list), but more in the "make the most of everyday" way. Currently, what that looks like for me is keeping up with the house, applying for jobs, starting to downsize for the move, being a good friend, spending time with God, and overall, not wasting time. I am tired of being tired and lazy and this is my first step toward change. I know I have said something similiar before, in my first post nearly a year ago, but this time I'm going to try harder. And, if I fail, I'll get up and try again.

One thing that I did recently, that was definitely a step in the right direction, was have a cooking date with a dear friend.

Here's a sampling of the delicious Spicy Quinoa Patties my friend Kate and I made the other day.

In addition to eating well, (which actually comes naturally to me), is working-out and getting fit. (Which certainly does not come naturally to me). So, I found this today, and got my work-out on.

I'm going to incorporate this into my daily routine, as well as going to the gym on days that I work (~3x/week). Everything counts, right?

Well, thanks for listening, and if you're still in a rut, get motivated, get inspired, and get out of it already ツ

(If you need more inspiration, check out my friend who is RUNNING across the US to encourage people to be organ donors. Yes, I said running.)

Goodnight! -N