Preparing for out-of-town relatives & parties

We’ve been planning on hosting a party with a group of 20+ close friends since we moved in to our home one year ago. We originally scheduled a potluck dinner party in late January, but due to the stress of not having the house ready (plus the added stress of school for me) caused us to push back our dinner party to summer (and make it a barbeque party!). We’re still deciding on a date, but it will be a Sunday afternoon in mid-July.

In addition to that, my father-in-law is coming to visit for Father’s Day weekend for the first time since the wedding. He saw the house in its bare-bones, painting-in-process, not-even-furnished state, so this is the first time he will see it as our home. Well, tomorrow’s the day he’s flying in, so I’ve got a TON to do and not much time to do it!

After making an extended to-do list for things around the house before he arrives (originally the to-do before party list), I’m glad to say that we’ve accomplished quite a lot!

Regular cleaning & some deep cleaning:

• Laundry
• Dishes
• Dusting
• Clean mirrors
• Clean toilet
• Scrub grout in shower
• Clean shower rod
• Clean sinks/counters
• Scrub & degrease oven hood
• Clean microwave
• Clean out/re-organize fridge & freezer
• Sweep floors
• Mop floors
• Clean the litter box
• Clean out vacuum filters & brush
• Vacuum carpets & rugs
• Make bed

Outside:

• Mow lawn
• Pull weeds/clean up garden
• Craigslist the dirt pile in front of the house
• Seed front lawn
• Create a vegetable garden in the backyard
• Figure out what we’re doing with the pieces of the wedding arch (rebuilding the arch? or using it for firewood?)
  
• Clean up garden rocks & carport area
• Edge the lawn
• Replace dead marigolds in back yard

Home Updates:

• Finish painting all hallway doors & trim, closet doors, cabinet doors, back door, and front door
• Paint the bathroom vanity & replace hardware
• Replace the oven
• Rearrange the living room
• Finish painting dining room set (I bought a paint sprayer at a yard sale for $10 but can’t afford the attachment parts right now, so this will have to wait)
• Fix broken kitchen cabinet door

Organizing/Decorating:

• Finish entry way decorating
• Decorating the top of the piano
• Upholster piano bench
  
• De-clutter dining room
• Decorate the buffet
• Organize the basement
• Clean out the spare room & reorganize
• Finish the gallery wall in living room
• Steam iron other curtain & hang in living room
• Get two lampshades for dining room lamps & cover with patterned fabric
• Swap Spencer’s dressers so ours match & the old ones are in the spare room
• Move old tall dresser to parents’ house
• De-clutter office desk areas (Jenn & Spencer)
• File the papers in the “to file” area
• Organize bathroom vanity
• Hang some art/pictures/mirrors on the walls in the living room, dining room, and hallway

That’s my list for now. There are other more time consuming things that can wait until after my father-in-law leaves, and there are things on this list that will have to wait. But, I’m happy with the amount we’ve accomplished so far.

Thanks for reading!