"Oh my!" is all I have to say about my closets. I have cleaned out and organized three of them and have three more to go. Here's the life lessons I learned about closet mess...
1) Hiding your mess behind a closed door only works for so long. Eventually, you will have to deal with it, so why not tackle it today?
2) Closet mess is not as intimidating as it seems. Once you get started, the hugeness of the task begins to diminish. Although, there are those times within the process where you think the closet mess will win and it is tempting to give up. But if you keep going, you will overcome!
3) Throwing away things is difficult but after you choose to do it, you will experience a great sense of freedom.
4) Mess begets more mess.
This is what my closets have taught me so far. Hopefully, I will remember these lessons and keep my closets clean from now on!
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Saturday, February 6, 2010
My Husband the Cook
This week I focused on my kitchen. Every day I tackled a small project...the top of the microwave, then the junk drawer, the top of the table, the top of the fridge, and on and on. I am amazed at the progress and the organization that is now mine to enjoy! But I couldn't have done it without my husband, "Mr. Cook". Let me explain...
Mike decided that he was going to cook this week. It's important to note that he has never truly cooked an entire meal in the eight years we've been married but he felt confident he could handle the task. His motivation was to prove to me that we could live off of $50 of groceries for the week. I didn't want to dash his dreams with the reality of how expensive food is so I went along.
(Thanks to his cooking challenge, I was able to focus on organizing the kitchen this week instead of planning meals which helped a lot).
With a clean kitchen as his playground and me as his handy kitchen aid ( I washed all the dishes he used and gave my tidbits of wisdom only when asked :), my dear husband pulled out a stellar performance in the kitchen and only spent $50. His secret was to make everything from scratch...yeah, I know who has time to do that? Well apparently he did while working a full time job. I tell myself that it was possible because he had me as his kitchen aid but I have to say, I was impressed and a little intimidated.
You might be wondering about some of the meals/foods that he made... well, here's a few: Whole Wheat bread, almond butter, Vegetable-Tofu Stir Fry, Chili, Lentils, Salads, Sandwiches (made with bread he made), oatmeal, fruit smoothies, and Pumpkin bread.
Although he did an amazing job this week, he didn't let it go to his head. He humbly realized how difficult it is for one person to think of healthy meals, prepare them, clean up, and then do it again and again and again. All that to say, I think I will have more help around the kitchen from now on :)
So my kitchen is clean. My husband is a cook and I lost 2 lbs as a result. Can I ask for anything else?
Mike decided that he was going to cook this week. It's important to note that he has never truly cooked an entire meal in the eight years we've been married but he felt confident he could handle the task. His motivation was to prove to me that we could live off of $50 of groceries for the week. I didn't want to dash his dreams with the reality of how expensive food is so I went along.
(Thanks to his cooking challenge, I was able to focus on organizing the kitchen this week instead of planning meals which helped a lot).
With a clean kitchen as his playground and me as his handy kitchen aid ( I washed all the dishes he used and gave my tidbits of wisdom only when asked :), my dear husband pulled out a stellar performance in the kitchen and only spent $50. His secret was to make everything from scratch...yeah, I know who has time to do that? Well apparently he did while working a full time job. I tell myself that it was possible because he had me as his kitchen aid but I have to say, I was impressed and a little intimidated.
You might be wondering about some of the meals/foods that he made... well, here's a few: Whole Wheat bread, almond butter, Vegetable-Tofu Stir Fry, Chili, Lentils, Salads, Sandwiches (made with bread he made), oatmeal, fruit smoothies, and Pumpkin bread.
Although he did an amazing job this week, he didn't let it go to his head. He humbly realized how difficult it is for one person to think of healthy meals, prepare them, clean up, and then do it again and again and again. All that to say, I think I will have more help around the kitchen from now on :)
So my kitchen is clean. My husband is a cook and I lost 2 lbs as a result. Can I ask for anything else?
Monday, February 1, 2010
Clutter Be Gone!!!
The month of February will be about cleaning out all the clutter in my house. I am for the most part a fairly organized person and like to live in a space that is clean and free of clutter. This of course does not always happen, especially in the spaces that have doors or coverings of some kind. If I can't easily see it, then I don't tend to worry if it's messy. There are days though, that I think about all the hidden clutter in my house and I get bothered. What does all this hidden clutter say about me? According to my good friend Oprah,it says a lot. She says that our homes are a reflection of our souls. If that is true, then my soul is in need of some work.
I decided to take pictures of my problem areas. I don't have all of the pics yet, but I will post the ones I have. There are six problem areas:
1) Paper, paper, paper. Junk drawer. It piles up in the kitchen table, counter, or any flat surface near the kitchen. No matter what I do, paper is always somewhere it shouldn't be. This month I WILL win the war against this annoying foe.
2) Coat closet. When we moved in a year and half ago, I put boxes in there intending to unpack them later. Well, that never happened. They are still there along with everything else I don't have a place for. When people come over and they have their coats, I don't offer to take them because I'm afraid that when I open the closet things will fall out.
3) Mike's office. I don't even know what to say about this room. It just needs some serious help.
4) The garage. I have cleaned the garage out twice since we moved in and it just keeps getting invaded by more stuff. I am not going to cast blame on why this is so, but I have a feeling it's not all me!
5) The guest room. This used to be a room free of clutter but somehow became the place where I fold laundry that never makes it upstairs to the closet or drawers. This room shouldn't take much work because all I need to do is take the clothes upstairs and put them away.
6) Family room. Toys, toys, and more toys. I need to find a good way to organize all of Matthew's toys.
I have taken pics of some of the problem areas as they are now. At the end of the month I will take pictures of the same areas and post the after shots. My hope is to see some improvement! My plan is to spend some time every day (not to exceed one hour) tackling clutter. There are several days this month when I will be out of town. To stay faithful to my resolution, I will offer my organization service to my host. In this case, it will be my mom :)
I'm excited about this month and am anxious to get started!
I decided to take pictures of my problem areas. I don't have all of the pics yet, but I will post the ones I have. There are six problem areas:
1) Paper, paper, paper. Junk drawer. It piles up in the kitchen table, counter, or any flat surface near the kitchen. No matter what I do, paper is always somewhere it shouldn't be. This month I WILL win the war against this annoying foe.
2) Coat closet. When we moved in a year and half ago, I put boxes in there intending to unpack them later. Well, that never happened. They are still there along with everything else I don't have a place for. When people come over and they have their coats, I don't offer to take them because I'm afraid that when I open the closet things will fall out.
3) Mike's office. I don't even know what to say about this room. It just needs some serious help.
4) The garage. I have cleaned the garage out twice since we moved in and it just keeps getting invaded by more stuff. I am not going to cast blame on why this is so, but I have a feeling it's not all me!
5) The guest room. This used to be a room free of clutter but somehow became the place where I fold laundry that never makes it upstairs to the closet or drawers. This room shouldn't take much work because all I need to do is take the clothes upstairs and put them away.
6) Family room. Toys, toys, and more toys. I need to find a good way to organize all of Matthew's toys.
I have taken pics of some of the problem areas as they are now. At the end of the month I will take pictures of the same areas and post the after shots. My hope is to see some improvement! My plan is to spend some time every day (not to exceed one hour) tackling clutter. There are several days this month when I will be out of town. To stay faithful to my resolution, I will offer my organization service to my host. In this case, it will be my mom :)
I'm excited about this month and am anxious to get started!
30 days complete!
My first resolution is finished. With the exception of three days, I kept to my resolution of spending 30 minutes reading the Bible every day. When I started the month, I felt somewhat disconnected to God but had a longing to come closer and to experience Him in a deeper way. The 30 days were exactly what I needed to bridge the gap that I had created. It's hard to capture everything that I experienced during the last month so I will share the highlights.
The feelings of fear I had at the beginning of the month...gone.
What I learned about Jesus....He is kind and compassionate.
Reading the Bible everyday even when you don't feel like reading it, will change you for the better...always.
My favorite gospel...Luke.
Salvation has nothing to do with sacrifice, tradition, or doing the right thing...it's all about belief (faith in Jesus) and showing compassion to others.
You can read through the four gospels in 30 days if you read 30 minutes every day.
The feelings of fear I had at the beginning of the month...gone.
What I learned about Jesus....He is kind and compassionate.
Reading the Bible everyday even when you don't feel like reading it, will change you for the better...always.
My favorite gospel...Luke.
Salvation has nothing to do with sacrifice, tradition, or doing the right thing...it's all about belief (faith in Jesus) and showing compassion to others.
You can read through the four gospels in 30 days if you read 30 minutes every day.
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