How To Organize Your Electronics Cords & Cables... for $7!!

Being married to a computer engineer, having a box (or three) of jumbled electronic stuff is pretty common. I'm not sure if most households have a box of tangled wires & cords, or if my husband's love of technology is to blame... but we've always had a giant box of cords. It's as simple as needing a USB cord, and BAM! It becomes a tangled mess.

A few months ago, I saw the box of stuff and began brainstorming ways to gain control over the knotted mess... a quick trip to Target and $6 later, I found a solution!
Here's how I did it:

This is the box. The dreaded box of one giant knot. (Do you have one of these, or is this just the side-effects of having a husband in IT??)

Routers, and cables, and chargers... oh my!

I went to Target and found this plastic storage bin & lid for $4.99, and 2 cheap boxes of plastic baggies in 'portion control' & 'quart' sizes. 

Now simply place each individual cord in the appropriate sized baggie and seal. Feel free to label the baggie with a Sharpie if necessary!

Neatly place each cable-filled baggie into the storage, pop the lid on, and voila! A clean, tidy, organized electronics storage system.

Easy peasy. 

Happy organizing!

DIY How To Make Your Own Neverending Dryer Sheets, for cheap!

Okay, confession time: when I got married, my domestic skills consisted of knowing how to make Ramen noodles, and how to sweep the floors. I knew NOTHING about cooking or cleaning or household chores. I started at ground zero... and boy have I come a long way!

On my journey of learning how to do laundry, I ruined exactly 1 dryer and countless tshirts & clothes... I was clueless, truly the daughter of a Mom who did everything. It didn't take me long to realize I needed to separate colors, keep towels away from sweaters, and for goodness sake-- check all the pockets for ink pens!

One thing I didn't catch onto for a few years is how to keep clothing feeling soft and comfy. My family wore rough rigid clothing without complaint for quite awhile, until I discovered the beauty of fabric softener.

Now, I never really understood how liquid fabric softener worked... when the heck are you supposed to use it? Am I supposed to pour it into the washing machine mid-cycle? Who pays THAT much attention to the rinse & spin process? I had a better idea, here's how I did it.

...the best part: it cost me $3.48! AND lasts for a LONGGG time (and come on, anything is better than those pesky dryer sheets you find on your pants-leg walking through the Target parking lot).

Here's what you need:

 

Old washcloths, new washcloths, baby washcloths... even little sponges would work!

 

An airtight spillproof container. I got this from the chinese place down the street, my hot & sour soup came in it lol

Any brand of fabric softener will do, this was $3.48 at Target. BOOM!

Step 1. Measure 1 cup of water + 1/2 cup of fabric softener. The recipe is 1 part softener, 2 parts water... so adjust the amounts according to your container size.

Step 2. Pour water & fabric softener in container, seal lid, and shake shake shake!

Step 3. Put washcloths in container. You can also cut up a couple cloths so you have different sizes (if you're doing a small load).

Step 4. Voila! Your dryer sheets are ready to use! Pop one in the dryer, turn it on, and feel the difference in your linens.

Simply store your container with your other laundry products, and refill when needed. 

...and I did this all with items I already had in my house. Never buying dryer sheets AGAIN.

My husband surprised me with... !!!

I really try to limit how much I talk about my husband, I really do. I think of myself as a strong woman with my own hobbies & interests & goals... but there is no denying that I'm head-over-heels for my other half. I love who he is, and find myself wanting to tell the world how much I admire him. I think he is the greatest man in the universe, he is everything I dreamed of in a man and more, and so to get me to shut-up bragging about him is... really tough!

But I can't filter myself with this one...

Yesterday morning I woke up to a text message from Ryan (he is in Europe this week), not just a regular "good morning" text... he asked if I wanted to go on a cruise!!! And that we should book it that day!!! Talk about a happy wife! There isn't a person on this Earth who treats me as well as Ryan does, he loves to spoil me & Delilah... he is so good to us.

SOOO I jumped on it, of course. I searched cruise after cruise and finally, I found the one: Carnival Conquest. It's a week-long Western Caribbean cruise hitting up four different islands, here's the scoop:

• Day 1: Debark from Miami, FL
• Day 2: at sea (don't worry... there's pools, waterparks, drinks, & entertainment!)
• Day 3: Cozumel, Mexico
• Day 4: Belize
• Day 5: Mahogany Bay, Isla Roatan, Honduras
• Day 6: Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
• Day 7: at sea (more lounging, water rides, oh!... and drinks)
• Day 8: Arrive in Miami

Oh, I forgot to mention: Not only are we going on a cruise, but instead of flying back to LA afterwards... we're going to visit my family in Georgia for a week!!!

I. AM. ECSTATIC. 

The cruise is 3 months away and I already have a list of what to pack, and have researched all the ports and scheduled excursions! 

What I love about this particular cruise is that we're visiting THE BEST snorkeling sites in the Caribbean. Last year, Ryan & I went on a Caribbean cruise and we bought snorkeling gear for the trip to try it out-- I fell in love. I could have spent ALL DAY snorkeling. He would snorkel with me for a bit, but I didn't want to get out... it feels so surreal to slowly swim through all the marine life and coral reefs, like a dream almost, so when I realized we were hitting up every single ideal-snorkeling site I was elated. Needless to say, our snorkeling gear will be the first thing that goes in our suitcase:)

I'm extra excited because Delilah gets to join us on this cruise! This will be her first time leaving the US, and Carnival is awesome for kids... they offer 'Camp Carnival' all day (like a fun daycare) if she wants to play with others kids (or if Ryan & I want some time alone), and I found a bunch of excursions she'll love. One of the islands has monkeys, one has a beach full of friendly stingrays, one has cave tubing she can go on... we're going to have a blast!

Another awesome vacation for the Thiesing family, cannot wait until November... let the countdown begin:)

Pizza pies & LAX goodbyes

Ryan is flying to Germany for his 31st birthday trip this morning. I'm so happy for him reaching his goals of "100 Countries In A Lifetime"... he will officially be at 31 after this trip. Wow! Living the dream.

We had a good "final night" last night, we went to Fresh Brother's (the BEST pizza in LA!) and got a deep dish... since we moved, the nearest Fresh Bros location is in Marina Del Rey, a neighborhood I adore. It's really cute and has a few upscale shopping centers, I love getting my hair done at Drybar off the Fiji Road square, it's lovely and always filled with beautiful people. I was filming Delilah playing by the fountain last night and a woman asked if she could take a family photo for us-- I LOVE that! Ryan isn't big on taking pictures, so this mama was more than happy to let her snap us:) She asked us to light a candle for our soldiers, I thought about that request all night and will most certainly do that. Here's a couple pics (I was not expecting to have my picture taken, so excuse my workout clothes & hair!).

We had a great time playing by the fountain, there was a statue of a little boy and terrified Delilah lol! We took our pizza home and watched "Who the [bleep] Did I Marry?!" on Netflix, packed Ryan's luggage for his flight, and stayed up late having family time:) Pure bliss.

After just a few hours of sleep, our alarms went off and we were up and out the door! Traffic wasn't bad at all (the sun was just coming up) and we were at the airport in 15 minutes. A few quick hugs & kisses and Ryan was off!

Terminal 5, Delta baby!

So... Ms. Delilah & I have a solid week of girl time! I have plenty of things to keep us busy, too. I always plan ahead for "our" weeks...

This week I'm turning our plain wooden coffee table and turning it into a game table! Oldschool Nintendo style. Here's my design:

I'll make a how-to post as I create it in case anyone else wants to try it out. Since I already have the perfect wooden rectangular table, the project shouldn't cost too much... just need a little sandpaper, some small samples of paint, and a brush!

I also stocked up on a bunch of workbooks & flash cards & school supplies yesterday since it's "back-to-school" season... here's a few things I picked up at Target:

I love playing "school" with my 3-year-old, and she loves being my "student" even more so! She is such a quick learner, her brain is like a sponge and is absolutely soaking up all the things I teach her. I picked up a pack of flash cards at Barnes & Noble last week on a whim, took them home, and Delilah FLEW through them! She has learned a mind-blowing about of words in just a few days, so I went straight for the flashcard section yesterday and bought everything they had. Hopefully she can zoom through these as well, putting us in the 'Kindergarten' level!! WOOHOO!

It makes me feel really good knowing that I get to stay home and teach her things, rather than sending her to daycare... it's important to take advantage of this time, and use it as wisely as possible. I think she is doing exceedingly well and saying "I'm proud of her" is a total understatement. 

We have a lot of exciting things planned for 'fun', too, including nail painting, scrapbooking, and a little home decorating. 

Speaking of nail painting, I am trying to think of a new design to try on my nails... I started watching Youtube videos of nail design how-to's and got so sucked in! Before I knew it, I was researching acrylic nails and gathering supplies to try my hand at it...I totally dove in head-first and before I knew it, I had a new favorite hobby-- nails! Silly as it may seem, it's really relaxing for me and let's me channel some inner creativity. I just got this huge pack of fimo canes last week, which I'm crazy about:

Look at the all the creative opportunities! Hearts, and leaves, and kiwi... oh my!

That's a whole blog post in itself though, I'll start posting my designs... maybe even some how-to's if I can. 

That's all for now, I need to head over to Home Depot for my paints and start this table! Woot!

 

More birthdays in Europe...

Sorry I've been slacking lately! I have so many projects going on, I sometimes forget to update...

So my husband is turning THIRTY-ONE this weekend! Eeek! We do birthdays big, as I toured Europe in February for my 29th, so he's leaving for Germany on Friday and staying a week traveling Europe. Very exciting! Since we have a 3 year old, and no family here to help out with babysitting, I'm staying home with Delilah while Ryan travels (don't worry, we already have a few family trips lined up through the rest of the year!). I think Ryan will be hitting up his 30th, 31st, 32nd, & 34th countries on this trip -- his goal is 100 and he's doing extraordinarily well meeting that goal!

Last weekend I talked to my Dad in Georgia and we confirmed that we'd be spending Thanksgiving in Georgia! Woohoo! Which to me means I need to kick my workouts up a few notches... I've lost 70 lbs since I moved from Georgia (Los Angeles will do that for you!) but I've been hovering around this size for awhile and it's time to get serious again. Sooo I've been keeping my treadmill in motion and trying out vegan & gluten free recipes.

Delilah has been really interested in flash cards & Minecraft this week. She most certainly has her Daddy's brain, as she is obsessed with technology, so it's interesting for me to think of parenting her like that. Her brain is wired different than mine (in SUCH a good way!!!), her attention span is incredible, her ability to solve is amazing, her ability to just process and learn is far greater than mine... I never imagined she'd get Ryan's way of thinking (way over my head) but I'm beyond grateful and think this will be an exciting learning experience for us both.

My hair is growing soooo fast! Thank you Jesus! I had the worst haircut of my life in February, and I'm still recovering (mentally) lol!! It was chopped off like a boy, but here's how long it is now:

Still really short, but I'm just glad it's touching my shoulders. I have some pretty pricey real-hair extensions that I love using and it's so hard to blend them with short hair.

Anyway! Time to go put on the active wear, grab the jogging stroller, and see where we end up... :)

BIG NEWS!!!

The perks of (my husband) working at Google are amazing, but when you work your way up the ladder... sometimes the only place to go is to their headquarters. This is the pretty much where we are now.
Although we have put in a request to transfer to Austin, Texas... it looks like we're either staying put in Los Angeles, or move up to headquarters in Mountain View, CA. Oh, woe is me.

We are interested in Austin for several reasons:

#1. Ryan's family lives there. I LOVE being near family, the more the merrier, and since you couldn't pay me to move back near my family in Rome, GA (or any small town with nothing to do)... Austin would be it.

#2. Austin has Google Fiber. We're internet people. Enough said.

#3. We can build a giant humongous house for under $400K in Austin. With a pool. That is crazy-talk here in LA, a 2-bedroom built in 1970 can start around $400K here, that's ludicrous... I'm kinda sorta into the whole 'more bang for your buck' idea.

The truth is, if the option of moving to Austin actually does open up... we would seriously consider it. But the state laws and conservative people that make up Austin aren't exactly my cup of tea... I feel like if I'm not a conservative right-wing anti-Obama Christian with a garage full of guns, then I would be outcasted... and that's not where we want to raise our family. Those aren't my people.

Mountain View... well, meh.
Yes it's in San Fran, which is a really awesome area... but the homes start at $2Mil. Let me repeat that-- home prices START AT TWO MILLION DOLLARS.
LOLOL.
ANYWAY!

So, Ryan & I had a serious talk over the weekend about our options. We have decided that, unless Austin opens up...
 WE MAY POSSIBLY BE BUILDING A HOUSE IN LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA!!

My life is a dream.
The idea of having a house in LA isn't exactly ideal (unless you have a few million sitting around) so I was hesitant... until recently when one of Ryan's coworkers built a 3-story townhouse in Hawthorne, for under $500K! That's seriously unheard of.
So I began researching, and have found several companies offering this option. The townhouses are built to order, modern, spacious, 3 floors, and have 4 bedrooms.
AND a 2 car garage.
AND a laundry room.
AND it's near the beach.
AND it's not in Inglewood.
(if these seem like no-big-deals, you've never visited LA).
AND of course, they are in the ever-so-awesome city of Los Angeles.

So we're thinking. We're pondering. We're making plans. Can't wait to see where we go!:)

Google Family Day and DELILAH'S BIRTHDAY!

Okay, so I swore I was going to start this blog back up and suddenly 2 weeks went by without a new post. So this is me, getting into the habit of blogging again:)

This weekend was incredible! One of the best weekends we've had, as a family, in quite awhile. Everything went very smoothly, we relaxed, we celebrated, and even though something pretty terrible happened, we had a great attitude about it and didn't let it ruin our weekend... most importantly-- we celebrated Delilah's 3rd birthday!! Ohmygosh my baby girl is THREE!

In fact, it was an extended weekend! On Thursday morning, we woke up for Google's annual 'Family Day'... they are so much fun! This year, Google paid Santa Monica to close their pier so we could party! We took Delilah on almost all the rides, ate lunch and funnel cakes, played games and won prizes... it was just an awesome day!

Me & my Delilah Kate

I love this photo! It was Delilah's first non-kiddy ride... she loved it by the end:)

So after Google Family Day, we went home and prepared for the next day: Delilah's Birthday!!!

Ryan & I spent all night decorating the house, wrapping gifts, blowing balloons... here's the final look:

Cute, huh? Notice the balloons on the door, when Delilah opened the door, they fall out on her!

She woke up and loved everything! I made her birthday pancakes, sang her 'Happy Birthday', opened presents, went for lunch at Olive Garden (her fav!), and then went to a water park. She LOVED it. The day was perfect, I couldn't have planned it better myself.

 "I'm FREE!!"

The 'bad thing' that I mentioned happened this day, we were going to Hurricane Harbor Water Park, but we got a phone call saying that Ryan's passport was stolen (and likely sold on the black market)... so we needed to be by the phone around 5:30 for an important call, and so we visited Stoner Water Park instead. It actually ended up being a blessing, because instead of spending $100, we spent $8, and instead of driving 2 hours, we drove 20 minutes:)

The passport issue is still being handled, but what an unexpected twist of events! I've never dealt with identity theft before, and hopefully this won't escalate into something terrible. The main concern is dealing with this while still traveling often, if Ryan's name gets red-flagged it would be awful... he travels throughout the year, for work and leisure. He already has an awesome trip for Europe planning in August, hopefully this mess gets straightened out by then.

Saturday was a great day because we had some good quality family time, AND BONUS: Ryan & I had some extra-good quality time together to talk about future plans!!! We talked about moving, houses, each other, and a surprise which I'm not ready to reveal... it was just really nice. I love laying together and making plans with that man, I'm beyond blessed that we get to spend our life together. We had a MAJOR SUPER IMPORTANT discussion, and I'm super stoked about it... I'll post about it in the next post, because it deserves a post of its own.

Anyway, lots of hubby-bonding & family-time this weekend, a successful birthday party for the girl, a memorable Google Family Day, and a very laid back Sunday too (we ate at a new Brazilian restaurant, it was SO good, I actually ate MEAT! Then we walked around downtown pushing the stroller).

 I love my sweet family, they are my world.

Big major announcements coming soon:)