Flogging Molly!!!

I'm a couple days late on this, but I promised to blog about the concert I went to on Thursday. It was my first ever. We had a great time.

We got down to the cities about three hours early (intentionally- we wanted to check out the downtown area). Stopped off at the base quick and headed downtown. Once we found First Ave (the club), we went in search of parking. Somehow we managed to find something (cheap) nearby. How that happened is beyond me since parking in downtown Minneapolis is notoriously expensive.

As we were walking around downtown, Pat pointed out a Lush shop (for any of you who have never been to Lush, go! http://www.lushusa.com/ ). I asked Crystal if she had ever been in Lush before and she said no. Evil giggle and I dragged her away from Barnes and Noble (where she was about to go) and into the shop. The sales girl was bored out of her mind. She hadn't had a customer in more than an hour. Poor Crystal is now addicted to Lush. Which was all part of my evil plan when I brought her in there. hehe

After Lush (and a quick trip to Barnes and Noble), we stopped at the car to drop off our purchases and then headed to the Irish pub across the street from First Ave. Guess what they were playing on the radio. lol We weren't the only people who had gone to the pub before going to see the show. We sat outside (in the beautiful weather) and had supper. But not until after forcing Crystal to drink a Car Bomb. lol

After supper, it was off to the show to suffer through the opening act. They weren't horrible, but I would never choose to listen to them. The longest sentence I could understand from the singer was "Flogging Molly is up after us." Otherwise, it was a bunch of garbled crap. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime (especially with how excited and impatient I was getting), Flogging Molly took the stage. omfg. It was such an amazing show. I don't think I can accurately describe it. Suffice to say that I had a good time. lol I'll add pictures as soon as Crystal comes over with her camera. I forgot to bring mine. lol

I'm making progress

I really am. The pictures make it look like it's still a mess, but it's really so much better than it was before.

What I see when I walk in the door.

Living room. There's a lot of stuff on my hope chest/makeshift coffee table.

The vacuum cleaner hasn't found a home yet, but look! I have a floor!

The view from my computer.

Amazing. Only a handful of dirty dishes waiting to be washed.

I have a hallway!

My craft area. This was taken a couple days ago, so now it's even cleaner. Imagine that!

Here's the mess

For more than a year after I moved in to this apartment, I had paths through stacks of boxes filled with the crap I couldn't make myself throw away. Now, most of the boxes are gone (along with several dumpsters worth of stuff- I worked slowly, box by box and made myself throw things away). What's left is the stuff I couldn't make myself throw away or that I have accumulated since the purge. I'm doing much better than I was, but I still have a long way to go.

This is what I see when I walk in the door.

Bedroom closet (sorry these are out of order)

Hallway closet/linen closet

Bedroom

My desk. Since I have trouble moving sometimes, I typically spend a lot of time here.

The entryway

More entryway.

Bathroom shelves. I don't have any storage area in my bathroom (it's tiny), so I had to buy some of these cheap shelves. Unfortunately, they've accumulated a lot of junk.

More hallway/linen closet.

Livingroom.

The official craft area, but rarely used. I use the entire apartment for my art.

Livingroom.

Livingroom, kitchen.

Reviewing my goals

Now that I've made my goals, what do I need to do to accomplish them?

1. Go back to school-
The school I want to go to is in Minneapolis, about 2 hours away from me. I need to move to go (otherwise, I won't have time to go to school, work and get homework done). First I have to save up money for the move. This goal will probably not be accomplished any time soon.

2. Get the apartment cleaned and my hoarding under control-
Here's where I need my fiance's help. He's not very good at cleaning (ok, he's a slob- that's all there is to it). I can't do it all by myself though. So, I'm working on setting up a schedule and doing a bit of the FLYLady thing. http://www.flylady.net/ I'm definately getting better with my hoarding. I'm learning to throw things away.

3. Find a better job-
I think I need to devote 15 minutes a day (or more) to filling out applications and checking the job listings. I kind of doubt I'll actually find a job in this economy, but atleast I'm doing something.

4. Get in shape-
This is another tough one. Here's my problem- I want to exercise, but I don't have the energy and I'm always in pain. For those of you who have never been sick for a long period of time, you have no idea how frustrating and depressing it is. I can't run. I can't do aerobics. I have trouble walking, for goodness sake!

5. Finish all of the blankets I'm making as gifts-
Finally, an easy goal. This one doesn't cost me pain or much money (a lot less than some of my goals at least). If I devote a couple hours every night, I should be done in no time. I'm almost done with my brother's blanket as it is.

6. Catch up on my reading-
Same as above.

7. Save enough money to get married-
We've already decided to do a courthouse wedding. We definately don't have enough for a real wedding and there are so many things we'd rather spend our money on before then. I think it's about $200 when everything's said and done (for the marriage lisence, the clerk of court and all the id's and stuff that I need to change when I change my name).

8. Finish writing my book-
I've run out of steam on this one. Hopefully, I'll get inspired again. I have so many things to get caught up on first. I'm ok with putting this off until the new year.

Goals

The big ones
1. Go back to school
2. Get the apartment cleaned and my hoarding under control.
3. Find a better job.
4. Get in shape.
　
Short term
1. Finish all the blankets I'm making as gifts.
2. Catch up on my reading.
3. Save enough money to get married.
4. Finish all current art projects.

Other goals
1. Finish writing my book.

This is what I have come up with so far. I'll continue adding as I come up with more.

Time for a change

I really don't like how my life is right now. I'm miserable more often than not. I really don't have it all that bad, when I think about it. The stress just piles up and makes me feel horrible. So, it's time for a change. I can't change everything (like my horrible job), but there are other things I can work on. So here it is. This is no longer my ranting, raving, cat and craft blog (although, those things are part of my life and will most likely make their way here anyhow). From today on, I will be documenting my progress in changing my life.

Next post- Goals (to be posted later tonight or tomorrow, depending on time)

Decorating- Work in Progress

Just some pictures of what I'm working on. Still far from being done (as you can tell).