May 2009 Challenge Journal

Day 12- 2 Week Menu

Now that my vacations are over, I actually have to cook again! Darn it!

Nothing fancy on the menu, but hopefully it will spark an interest here or there and give you all an idea or 2! Click on the link to see the recipes…

Mexican Monday:
Cheesy Chicken Quesadillas
BBQ Burritos

Take-Out Tuesday:
Turkey Stromboli
Meatball Sandwiches

What’s New Wednesday:
Caesar Pockets
Angel Chicken

3-Second Thursday:
Lettuce Wraps
Tortillini

Favorite Friday:
Meatloaf
Hamburgers

Sunrise Saturday:
(Nothing this week- Rob will be gone so I don’t have to cook!)
Breakfast Burritos

Salad Sunday:
(Nothing this week- Rob will be gone so I don’t have to cook!)
Crunchy Chicken Salad

Day 11- Unpacking

I am back from my fantastic vacation and currently busy “bettering my home” by doing my least favorite vacation chore- UNPACKING!

I never unpack my luggage- it is a bad habit of mine, but I hate it that much. I seriously start to unpack only when I need my suitcase again- it could be weeks or months before I am done unpacking from a trip. I know, call me lazy- I can handle the insults.

Anyway, today I have already finished most of the unpacking! But before you cheer for me, just know I actually am doing it because I leave for another vacation tomorrow! Once again, unpacking only because I need my suitcase! But hey, its getting done, right?

Day 10- Crunch Time

I leave tomorrow at 8:30am for our cruise and I couldn’t be more excited! With that said, I am getting anxious and also overwhelmed at all that needs to be done before I leave. I am super OCD when it comes to preparations for vacation: my house has to be spotless so I come home to a clean house and every last sock from my laundry pile has to be cleaned, folded and put away before I even start packing so that when I do pack, I know all my options.

I definitely have my work cut out for me! Needless to say this will be my last post for over a week, but I will continue my “home improvement” when I return. Good luck to the rest of you doing this challenge- keep up the good work! Until next time…

Day 9- Sweet Correspondence

Today I dove back into a project that I haven’t touched in months! I am compiling a book of all the letters Rob and I wrote to each other while dating- the 2 years he was gone on his mission and the 2 years he was at BYU without me. I am typing each letter in My Publisher and when I am finished, I will have a great book that is probably better than any journal I kept during that time. I moved all of our letters out of the garage last year and since then they have been sitting in boxes and bags in our loft closet. They are taking up space and just look messy, so today I got busy organizing them again and it doesn’t look like clutter anymore!

Day 8- Professor Plum with the Lead Pipe in the LIBRARY!

Let me preface this post by saying I think having a nursery in your house is cute, but a total waste of space! Ever since Ethan was born, we have had a nursery in our home and I love to decorate it and it is exciting when there is a new baby coming, but the practicality of it all is something I have a hard time with! Especially now that Ryan is older, he basically just sleeps in there- the room is used a couple hours during the day and then all night. The remainder of the day it is a total useless room. The plan is for Ryan to move into Ethan’s room when he is a little older, and maybe knowing that has me anxious on changing the nursery all together! I don’t know…

So, I decided to make it more useful! I moved some of our loft furniture into the nursery and I love how it looks! We now call it our “Library” and it is so nice and cozy! Me and the kids love reading books in here! I just need to hang some pictures on the wall and it will be done! And the best part of it all is now I have a ton of room in our loft which is going to be perfect to use as my preschool room in the Fall! I will take pictures of that when it is all set up. For now, enjoy these pictures my new favorite room of the house!

Day 7- Skeletons in my closet: aka Clothes I have had since High School!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE Cleaning my closet! LOVE IT!

It just feels so great to get rid of clothes that you have been hanging on to for no reason, other than it makes you look like you have more clothes!

I have some things in my closet I haven’t worn forever- it may not fit right,but maybe someday it will fit again. It may not be in fashion, but maybe someday it will come back around (ie Overalls!) Whatever the reason is, I am guilty of hanging onto things that I never wear!

BUT- I go through my closet almost monthly and toss at least a pile of items every time I do this. My closet is shrinking faster than it is growing now a days, but that is ok with me! Getting rid of clutter, clothes and crap is like my heroine! (Like I know what that feels like!)

My sister loves when I do this, as she is the first to go through my unwanted items. The rest are donated and never to be seen by me again! I love it!

Anyway, I went through my closet again and got rid of these old “beauties”. This pile actually grew a little when I folded laundry too. I was still in “junk mode” and decided I would rather toss it than fold it!

I should’ve taken a picture of my closet, but oh well. Maybe next month…

Day 6- Socks Anyone?

Today I folded socks- lots of socks.

This was about 2 months worth of socks that have been cycling through the laundry- worn, washed and dried over and over, but never folded.

This should help omit the digging through piles of clean clothes looking for a matching pair at least for a little while!

Day 5- Did I Even Make a Dent?

This morning I decided to tackle my absolute least favorite chore in the house…

LAUNDRY!

I stripped my bed and washed the sheets (going to bed tonight is going to feel so nice!) , I washed 1 dark load and 1 white load, hung a whole basket of mine and Rob’s clothes that needed to be hung and folded a whole basket of the kids clothes.

It felt good to just focus and get it done, but when it was time to pick up Ethan from school, I looked over my still over-flowing mounds of laundry and wondered if I would ever be able to finish this daunting tast! I still have about 2 loads to wash and probably 6 or 7 loads to fold (no, I am not kidding!)

And this is why I hate laundry so much- it is NEVER done!!!

I vote to make a new rule that all kids and husbands have to wear the same thing all week long. All those is favor???

Day 4- My Workspace can now be used as a workspace!

This morning I cleaned out our kitchen desk area. This is the catch-all for everything! It is easy to dump the armload of stuff you bring in, it is easy to empty your pockets, backpack and your purse here… anything and everything lands here!

Before:

After:

***Edited to add that the inside is fantastically clean too! I emptied out the whole left side and had a whole counter full of items to donate! The right side is Rob’s side, so I couldnt get rid of anything, but I did organize as best as I could and it looks a million times better! Thanks for mentioning that, Ema!***

Day 3- Even if no one sees it…

…the tops of my cupboards are so stinkin’ clean, I think I am going to serve dinner up there tonight!

Thats right- I dusted and sanitized the tops of my kitchen cupboards- something I have never done in this house, so it was 3 years overdue and very much needed!

First I used a wet kitchen sponge and wiped the dust off. It looked pretty good, but while I was up there, I thought I would go the extra mile and use my Clorox Kitchen Wipes to give it a good wipe down. That left the space shiny and smelling so good.

People might look at me and wonder why I am smiling as I look up at my cupboards. If they could only see it for themselves…

Day 2- Starting off

Today I hit the ground running and decided to declutter my kitchen cupboards!

The space above my cupboards is going to be the death of me! I have lived in this house for almost 4 years, I change it around every 6 months or so, and I have yet to even like what I have done. It either looks too cluttered or too bare. I most receintly decided to make it the home of some of my “entertaining pieces” … unfortunately when I have people over I use those pieces it never looks good when company is over. Today I decided I needed to find a space for all those items inside my cupboards. Also, I hate things on the counter. It looks cluttered and attracts dust. I have a bazillion cutting boards in a rack (I love cutting boards!) and I also had my toaster oven on the counter that I really wanted to hide.

So here is the way it looked before:

…and here it is after!

No more cutting boards or toaster oven, and above my cupboards is bare (again!) I still don’t love the look up there, but I put it back to how it was when I first moved in and I am pretty much starting over or giving up! (Maybe that could be another project for another day this month…)

My cutting boards are now in this drawer…

…and my toaster oven is in a new spot with all my other small appliances! This cupboard before had a modge podge of mixing bowls, mixers, blenders, collanders… it was definately in need of reorganization!

Here is my mixing bowl/ casserole pan cupboard. It was organized at one time, but you know how it is when you unload the dishwasher in a hurry- things just get shoved places!

Before:

After:

I cleaned out above my oven and it is now completely empty! It is a nice, deep cupboard that will be fantastic to use for some food storage! (That is another goal of mine- find more room to store that stuff!!!)

I think one of my favorite things about this reorganization was that I found my missing rice cooker!!! It was above the oven, pushed waaaayyyy back there and it has been missing since we moved in. I almost bought another one this month because I thought we must have lost it in the move! It too is with my other small appliances, just hanging out in its new home! Welcome back!

So look at this-

This is the pile of “Stuff” I gathered to get rid of. Its all things I was saving for who knows why, and I must say, it feels nice not to have it anymore! I was holding on to this wok that I got at our wedding that I think I used 2 times in almost 8 years- I had a plethera of missed-matched tupperware, too many plastic pitchers to count, lids for bowls I NEVER useds, so many “cool” kitchen gadgets that didn’t make my life easier as they promised to do… and the list goes on and on. Goodbye unwanted mass of junk!

So that does it for day 2. My house looks better already!

Day 1- First things first

…Fixin’ the Old Computer

Today the improvement on my home involved a 40 minute drive to Queen Creek where I then handed over my (stupid) computer to my fantastic, fix-everthing uncle. He is working on it as we speak and I am hoping my home will be a happier place when our computer is feeling better. Computers cant catch the swine flu, right?