Nearly three and a half years ago my husband and I signed the necessary paperwork in order to get keys to the house we live in. At that time we had about two weeks until our moving day, so we looked at one another and said, “Let’s paint!” And paint we did. Only… we painted just the bedrooms. We left the rest of the house alone, which meant that the hideous shimmery pink wallpaper stayed in the bathrooms, and the kitchen and living room stayed a bland-but-functional off-white. I think you can tell where this is going…

That’s right, we have decided to repaint the entire house, beginning with the bathrooms. Who would have thought that one small half bathroom and one full bathroom would take the course of a week or more to fully prep, paint, and clean up? Well, they did. Once my husband finishes up with the bathrooms — putting up crown molding and hopefully laying down new flooring, and then installing white vanities, as our current ones have pink counters, ick — we’re moving on to the monumental task of painting the living room. It’s the largest room of the house, so fortunately it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to shuffle our living room furniture from one area of the living room to another, as we work on one wall after another. Once we finish the living room, it’ll be on to the kitchen and laundry room. After that, we’ll just need to finish up the hallways and the kids’ bedrooms. With any luck, we’ll be done in time for Christmas!

Even though I’m dreading all the work that is going to be involved with painting, I’m certainly looking forward to the results of it. Also, I don’t mind actually painting. It’s all of the prep and clean-up afterwards that is a real pain! Also, the precise trim painting and such is a real pain. I just want to go to town with a large-sized roller, you know?

If you’re planning a baby shower, the first thing you’ll want to do is pick the date, time, and place. With these details cemented, you can proceed to purchasing baby shower invitations. Or, if you’d rather give people advanced notice of the shower, purchase baby shower announcements, or even use the more traditional save-the-date cards.

Once you’ve let your guests know about the upcoming baby shower, you can proceed to picking out a theme for the shower. A theme will dictate the colors and illustrations that will make up the appearance of your baby shower. Everything from the invitations to baby shower tableware to baby shower favors will be made up with this theme, so be sure to choose wisely!

Use a checklist or planner to help you stay organized as you go along. Don’t be afraid to enlist a friend or family member to help!

My wedding ring and engagement ring are the two most important pieces of jewelry that I own — and ever will own. I have had my engagement ring since 2001, when my husband proposed to me, and the wedding ring was added in 2004, when we got married. I’d like to say that I never take them off, but the truth is that I do — whenever I shower, because the water & soap causes my rings to slip off (and now that I’m over sixty pounds lighter than I was when I first got the rings, they FLY off). I also take them off if I’m going to be using harsh chemicals or if I’m putting hair dye in my hair — I don’t want to risk damaging or discoloring the rings or the diamonds!

Because my wedding rings jewelry mean so damn much to me, you better believe I do what I can to take care of them. Here is a general list + my own tidbits on how to best care for your wedding rings, engagement rings, and general jewelry, whether you purchased your Beautiful wedding rings jewelry from a website or from a local jeweler:

• Remove your wedding rings jewelry when washing dishes or handling strong cleaning chemicals. If you don’t want to take your rings off, at least wear a thick pair of rubber gloves to keep them protected.
• Don’t use over-the-counter products to polish or clean your wedding rings. Always take your rings to an experienced jeweler for a thorough, proper cleaning.
• If you need one of your rings to be resized to a larger size, make sure the jeweler creates a slightly thicker band, so that there is plenty of support for the weight of the ring.
• If your rings are loose on your fingers, use a Ring Snuggi or even a piece of adhesive tape around the band until you can get them resized.
• Have your wedding rings jewelry inspected and cleaned by an experienced jeweler every year.

Feel free to add your own advice in the comments section of this entry!

If you’re a fan of Victoria’s Secret Squeaky Pink Fresh & Clean Shower & Shave Body Wash, then you’re no doubt as bummed as I am to discover that Victoria’s Secret is no longer carrying it. I feel like kicking myself because I noticed the stuff marked down to just $4.00 a bottle a few weeks back, and man would a great deal that would have been! Seeing as how I never pass up a good auto insurance quote, I shouldn’t have ever passed up that awesome deal either! Oh well…

As I wrote in my review of the stuff, it lathers nicely, provides plenty of rich moisture for shaving, and smells divinely. The good news is that not all hope is lost — you can find it on eBay! You’ll probably wind up paying $10-$15 per bottle of it, but if you really want it, you’ll cough up the moolah for it. I lucked out and found a seller offering four bottles of Victoria’s Secret Squeaky Pink Body Wash for $31.00 + $10 shipping. So what’s that work out to, $10.25 a bottle? Not bad… that’s about what it was when Victoria’s Secret still carried it, right?

People generally write articles for websites because they have knowledge or a passion for something that they would like to share with others. Even if some type of compensation is provided in exchange for writing articles, it’s rare that someone would go into writing an article on a subject that they know nothing about. Why? Well, just as you probably wouldn’t agree to work a job that is completely foreign to you, it would be equally difficult to write about something you know nothing about!

I love reading website articles, because they’re usually quite helpful in providing me with a solution, some tips, or just some general advice. Take the article Basic info for modern digital single lens reflex review, for example. Three years ago I was all over articles like that, because I was planning on purchasing a DSLR. This particular article falls under the Photography category, which of course interests me because I love photography. I may not be an expert on photography; in fact my knowledge is fairly “beginnerish”, but I have a major passion for it.

Website articles are also great because they can be added to directories, such as web-articles.info, or to websites that need new content. You can write articles, or ask friends or family members to write articles for you, and then add them to your website as valuable content.

With February 1st just hours away, you may want to give some thought to Valentine’s Day gifts if you haven’t already. I know that Valentine’s Day is a rather over-commercialized holiday, but I do enjoy having a special day to devote to celebrating my love for the one I love. My husband made reservations at a local restaurant for Valentine’s Day evening, but I’m not sure what else he has in mind. I want to get him something nice for Valentine’s Day… I have a few ideas in mind, but since he reads this blog, I’m obviously not going to share any of those ideas.

While a titanium watch is not first on my list as a potential Valentine’s Day gift for my husband, it’s a very nice gift, and one definitely worth considering for his birthday, or for Father’s Day. I really like BlueDial.com’s selection of watches. The watches you find in stores like Target and Walmart are common and fairly low-key, and there really isn’t a large selection to choose from. BlueDial.com, on the other hand, has a large variety of watches to make your choice from. From titanium to Fossil watches and Gucci watches, plus watches specifically for men and women, there’s definitely plenty of watches to scope out before choosing the one for your love. ♥

Bridal party gifts is a broad category that covers all of the gifts that a bride and groom present to the members of their bridal party. A bridal party (or wedding ceremony participants, according to Wikipedia) usually consists of bridesmaids, the maid of honor, groomsmen, the best man, and the flower girl and the ring bearer, as well as any other specially chosen people who have been appointed for a specific task in the wedding.

Your bridal party works hard to make sure that your wedding pulls off without a hitch, so it’s only customary that you should do something nice for them in return. ♥ Gifts are generally picked out with regard to quality and how appropriate the gift or gifts are for the occasion. It’s important to consider your budget as well when choosing bridal party gifts, so you don’t wind up overspending.

What makes a good bridal party gift? Well, you could consider embroidered tote bags for your bridesmaids, a fancy wristlet or purse for the maid of honor, engraved cufflinks for the groomsmen, a watch for the best man, and age-appropriate toys or trinkets for the flower girl and ring bearer.