house - Ground Control to Major Mom

Blue Apron: No, They Didn’t Pay Me to Say What I’ve Been Saying

22 September 16 by Major Mom

This was my family's favorite Blue Apron meal so far. — This was my family’s favorite Blue Apron meal so far. The chicken was flavorful, the potatoes were delicious, and that’s a homemade honey-mustard dipping sauce!

I know you’ve been seeing the numerous Instagram posts about our family’s Blue Apron meals. Unlike many of the other reviews out there, Blue Apron did not send me a bunch of free meals in return for the publicity.

However, I did take advantage of a promotion they often offer to new customers: your first four meals are delivered for the price of one.

I’ve been getting their meal boxes periodically for 2 months now and I wanted to summarize my thoughts on the program. This is a data dump of the features our family likes, as well as the things our family doesn’t like. I’ll try to organize the thoughts so it can be useful to someone.

Cleaning Things Up a Little

02 August 1601 August 16 by Major Mom

Cleaning up a big mess... — Cleaning up a big mess…

I’m doing a little housekeeping in my blog world this week. One of the things I was trying to straighten out turned into a monumental mess last week, for which I apologize.

I’m trying my hand at a capability called “IFTTT.” Which stands for “If This, Then That”…it’s a website where you can connect social media, blogging, mobile apps, and even smart home apparati together and you can have things work together pretty seamlessly. I like the idea of it, but I’m still learning here.

(Mostly) DIY Kitchen Transformation

22 April 1519 April 15 by Major Mom

Ignore the mess, it's a big-enough task to keep that center island clean. Jacob was off to the side waiting to put some balsa glider parts on it. — Our kitchen as of April 2015. Ignore the mess, every time we prepare a meal things just seem to explode. Jacob was off to the side waiting to put some balsa glider parts on the clean island.

We are embarking on our next DIY project over the next few months. Our plan is to make phased improvements to our kitchen between now and the end of 2015. We’re taking our time on this, in part so we can save up money and pay cash for each phase, but also because we have to fit the DIY tasks in between our busy work schedules.

Oh Baby It’s Cold Outside: Christmas Preparations and a Flooded Basement

20 December 1320 December 13 by Major Mom

I'll bet you want to put on a coat just looking at this, don't you? — I’ll bet you want to put on a coat just looking at this, don’t you?

The picture above is what we awakened to this morning, with 19F temperature. This came on the heels of several pleasant days: the kids could walk to/from school and I enjoyed an outside run.

A far departure from the Florida temperate conditions we had every Christmas.

You won’t be seeing as many “Colorado Discoveries” posts this time of year, mainly because it’s been colder here. We aren’t spending as much time outside.

The Basement Home Stretch!

07 November 13 by Major Mom

We’re in the final stages of our basement remodel! Over the past couple weeks we finished out the trim work (baseboards, doors), installed the bar and bath cabinets, and finished up the electrical and HVAC work. We are currently waiting for the cabinet countertops to be installed, and it won’t happen till the 18th. So … Read more

Where Have You Been, Major Mom?

09 September 1309 September 13 by Major Mom

The endless fields of wild sunflowers helped keep me company on my drive to Nebraska in August. The profuse rains in eastern CO this summer have really made the area bloom. As you can see, otherwise I have nothing to look at.

Yep, we’ve been busy! For most of the month of August, I’ve been playing hostess to a litany of contractors as we are aggressively trying to complete our basement. At the end of the month I went to Nebraska for 1 1/2 weeks of work. While I was there I completed (and passed!) one of my numerous Air War College essay tests.

House Shopping in Colorado

07 June 13 by Major Mom

It was a tough decision, but we decided to bring the whole family on this particular househunting trip. We found a gap in the boys’ baseball schedule in early May that would allow us to take a long weekend and fly the family to Colorado; we would all shop for the next house together.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? — What to Do With School Papers?

13 May 12 by Major Mom

As the school year wraps up around here (my boys finish on June 8th) I’ve started thinking about sorting and storage of the boys’ school papers. I’m sure other school systems are similar in that the kids bring home volumes of paperwork: completed worksheets, tests, readings, PTO newsletters, classroom newsletters, announcements about summer camps, sports, … Read more

Photos of Our Completed Painted House

17 April 12 by Major Mom

I realized that I posted an incomplete paint job picture in that last post. So here are some pictures of the finished walls. Please note that every. single. wall. in this house was WHITE beforehand. BEFORE: AFTER:

Painting Progress

04 April 12 by Major Mom

This week we’ve been painting the great room and kitchen of our house. Yes, it’s a rental, but all this time it’s been sterile white in color…EVERYWHERE and frankly it was getting on my nerves. For starters, it shows EVERYTHING. Every smudge, every scuff, every bump by a backpack, piece of furniture, etc. Secondly, I … Read more