Good Evening Everyone!
I was hoping to have posted before tonight, but part 2 of the decluttering did not happen until today! Because of our crazy schedule, and an unexpected meeting I fell behind on my original plan. I had posted before that I would rest on Sunday's. Well that didn't happen! But that is ok because I feel really good about my progress!
Today I decided to declutter the kitchen. Now I will admit that this "room" is the least cluttered, but there is always room for improvement. So because I wanted it to be a more relaxing day I decided to tackle the easiest room in the house. So this post will most likely be short and sweet, but I had said that I would report on my decluttering progress, so here I go!
I started with the little cabinets above the refrigerator. I'm not the tallest person so this is the most difficult spot for me. I don't know what everyone else stores in those little cabinets but I store things that aren't used much. I love to bake, however I don't really have the time to bake. So in my little cabinets above the refrigerator I keep cookie cutters, food coloring, baking cups, candles, cookie press etc. Nothing too exciting. Sometimes a box of baking soda or a container of baking powder.
Now my kids are older so we aren't into rolling out the cookie dough and cutting out cookies anymore. My daughter likes to bake as well, but she is into cakes and cupcakes. So I tossed out the cookie cutters, and I had a few containers of them! I pitched the baking soda, baking powder and the Crisco. Haven't used any of that in a long time, it's time for new! I wiped out those little cabinets, put back a few things, and moved on!
Next was the dreaded cabinet with all of the plastic ware/Tupperware for storage. You know, the minute you open the door everything falls out! No matter how many times I've tried to organize that cabinet it doesn't stay organized for very long, days at best! This cabinet was fairly easy because I had all ready pitched containers that had no lids, lids that had no containers, etc. It was just a matter of reorganizing it, again! We will see how many days this lasts!
The next few cabinets were rather painless as well. Like I said before, my kitchen is the least cluttered room in the house so it was going to go rather quickly and it did. I did the cabinet that I store my glassware's in next. It was simple. Because it is organized it was just a matter of wiping it out and putting everything back and it was done. Next I did another small cabinet where we keep foil, Ziploc bags, extra paper napkins, cling wrap, plastic spooks, forks and knives. Once again it just needed to be wiped out and everything put back. The next four cabinets on the bottom were a little more labor intensive. Pots and pans. That too only required wiping and reorganizing it. I had no extra stuff in there to throw out.
The next cabinet was the one, actually two under the sink. It is always the cabinet that gets the dirtiest for me. Which it kind of funny because that is where I keep all of the cleaning supplies, garbage bags, sponges and any other basic household cleaning supplies. It required a little more elbow grease, but it went pretty quick. I have no extra junk stored under there so once again it was just a matter of cleaning up the spills/drips from cleaners and reorganizing everything.
The cabinets with the food/snacks went fairly quick. Because I keep up on these cabinets the most. Hard not to when I have to grocery shop every week. As I put the groceries away I pitch the snacks that aren't touched much, or if they don't seal a lid well on the Tupperware and the snack goes stale. I am always checking the expiration dates on everything so I don't have stuff just sitting around. I don't have the biggest kitchen, and with two growing kids I do keep up on all of this on a weekly basis. Even the wiping out. So there wasn't much to do in these cabinets.
I cleaned the inside and outside of the microwave, which we keep up on as well. Wiped off the outside of the all of the cabinets. I am happy that the kitchen is done. Like I have stated, it was the most uncluttered room to tackle. I didn't have much to throw out and I really just had to reorganize somethings. I am happy to have this room checked off my list! Next I think I will tackle both bathrooms and their vanities. It shouldn't be too bad, well at least mine, the kids bathroom is another story! So until next time I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend and I hope that you are making great progress in your decluttering!
Sharing thoughts, ideas, stories, recipes or tips for the everyday life. Hope to learn a little, teach someone something and make some new friends!
Sunday, March 9, 2014
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Decluttering
Hi everyone!
Long time no blog! It's been about a year, give or take, since the last time I have logged in to blog. A lot has happened in a year, especially when you are raising children. My son is a senior this year, we are in his final semester, the home stretch of his senior year. Looking forward to him going to college and seeing what he does with his life. My daughter is a sophomore this year. She is growing up to be a beautiful young lady. Hard to believe that I am old enough to have both a senior and a sophomore in high school! LOL
With both kids in high school, in a very active year round magnet program time just flies!! I lose track of time, the days just run together. Both of my children are in a music magnet program. They spend lots and lots of hours a week practicing and they spend their weekends performing and competing. Because of all of the back and forth, oh I forgot to mention that their high school is an hour away. So back to the fact that because of their crazy busy schedule other things is life take a back seat. In the two years we have been in this program things start to pile up in the house.
Yes, it's amazing how fast stuff/junk can accumulate. Before the Holidays I kept telling myself that I would start going through the rooms and cleaning out junk that we didn't need and just reorganizing all of our stuff. Well we had a crazy busy Holiday season so that didn't happen, needless to say. So while on Facebook I came across a blog that was titled "40 Bags in 40 Days". It caught my eye so I shared it. Like I do so many things on FB with the intentions of going back and actually reading it, but because of our schedule that usually does not happen. So the whole idea is to spend 40 days decluttering your life. As you probably know, Lent has started and while people give up meat, or junk food or vow not to be negative for those 40 days I decided that I would do something a little different, I would spend those 40 days decluttering my house, making things simple and I started the process tonight!
Yes, I can be last minute with stuff like this. If I think about it too much it won't happen. I start to really dread the process when I think about it too much. And lets face it, I know that once I start to dread it too much it won't happen, which is what happened back during the Holiday time. So I picked a room, the messiest room, the one that was really starting to get to me, my office. Now my office isn't huge, personally I really like it. It's small and warm and can be very inviting. Yes can be, if it wasn't for all of the clutter that had built up. Between the laundry rack, books for my husbands school, the kids school stuff, computer and cameras and everything else that seems to end up in here, well it was going to be quite a chore!
I decided to start at the top and work my way down. I also gave myself a time frame so I wouldn't drag it out any longer then I had to. And trust me, I would. My son had practice tonight, until 9pm. I sent my husband to go get him. That way I didn't have an excuse to not start and I knew that they wouldn't be back for 2 1/2 hours! I was on a mission!!! I started in the cabinets up top and went through them all. Lots of college books and papers, cook books, manuals, extra household supplies being stored, lots of school supplies etc.. I found stuff that I had been saving for five or six years and for no apparent reason! I did a lot of shredding tonight! Once I got moving it went really fast and wasn't so bad. It felt really good to get rid of stuff that I had been holding onto for whatever reason.
I feel like I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, I simplified my life to some degree. This room is officially done and isn't staring me in the face anymore, and I am no longer dreading the process for the other rooms! I was impressed at how well it went and how much I was able to get done in a limited amount of time.
It's not too late to start decluttering your home! You have 40 days to go through all of the rooms in your house. Start off with one room one day as to not overwhelm yourself too much. I intend on taking Sunday's off. It's like Spring cleaning. Get rid of the clutter in your life, donate what you can, yes pass the clutter on!! I will continue on my decluttering quest and I will be posting my progress. If you decide to give it a try please comment and let me know! Good Luck and Happy Decluttering!
Long time no blog! It's been about a year, give or take, since the last time I have logged in to blog. A lot has happened in a year, especially when you are raising children. My son is a senior this year, we are in his final semester, the home stretch of his senior year. Looking forward to him going to college and seeing what he does with his life. My daughter is a sophomore this year. She is growing up to be a beautiful young lady. Hard to believe that I am old enough to have both a senior and a sophomore in high school! LOL
With both kids in high school, in a very active year round magnet program time just flies!! I lose track of time, the days just run together. Both of my children are in a music magnet program. They spend lots and lots of hours a week practicing and they spend their weekends performing and competing. Because of all of the back and forth, oh I forgot to mention that their high school is an hour away. So back to the fact that because of their crazy busy schedule other things is life take a back seat. In the two years we have been in this program things start to pile up in the house.
Yes, it's amazing how fast stuff/junk can accumulate. Before the Holidays I kept telling myself that I would start going through the rooms and cleaning out junk that we didn't need and just reorganizing all of our stuff. Well we had a crazy busy Holiday season so that didn't happen, needless to say. So while on Facebook I came across a blog that was titled "40 Bags in 40 Days". It caught my eye so I shared it. Like I do so many things on FB with the intentions of going back and actually reading it, but because of our schedule that usually does not happen. So the whole idea is to spend 40 days decluttering your life. As you probably know, Lent has started and while people give up meat, or junk food or vow not to be negative for those 40 days I decided that I would do something a little different, I would spend those 40 days decluttering my house, making things simple and I started the process tonight!
Yes, I can be last minute with stuff like this. If I think about it too much it won't happen. I start to really dread the process when I think about it too much. And lets face it, I know that once I start to dread it too much it won't happen, which is what happened back during the Holiday time. So I picked a room, the messiest room, the one that was really starting to get to me, my office. Now my office isn't huge, personally I really like it. It's small and warm and can be very inviting. Yes can be, if it wasn't for all of the clutter that had built up. Between the laundry rack, books for my husbands school, the kids school stuff, computer and cameras and everything else that seems to end up in here, well it was going to be quite a chore!
I decided to start at the top and work my way down. I also gave myself a time frame so I wouldn't drag it out any longer then I had to. And trust me, I would. My son had practice tonight, until 9pm. I sent my husband to go get him. That way I didn't have an excuse to not start and I knew that they wouldn't be back for 2 1/2 hours! I was on a mission!!! I started in the cabinets up top and went through them all. Lots of college books and papers, cook books, manuals, extra household supplies being stored, lots of school supplies etc.. I found stuff that I had been saving for five or six years and for no apparent reason! I did a lot of shredding tonight! Once I got moving it went really fast and wasn't so bad. It felt really good to get rid of stuff that I had been holding onto for whatever reason.
I feel like I accomplished a lot in a short amount of time, I simplified my life to some degree. This room is officially done and isn't staring me in the face anymore, and I am no longer dreading the process for the other rooms! I was impressed at how well it went and how much I was able to get done in a limited amount of time.
It's not too late to start decluttering your home! You have 40 days to go through all of the rooms in your house. Start off with one room one day as to not overwhelm yourself too much. I intend on taking Sunday's off. It's like Spring cleaning. Get rid of the clutter in your life, donate what you can, yes pass the clutter on!! I will continue on my decluttering quest and I will be posting my progress. If you decide to give it a try please comment and let me know! Good Luck and Happy Decluttering!
Friday, March 1, 2013
Where Have I Been?
Happy Friday Everyone!
It has been a long time since I have logged in. Well you know the ole saying, time flies when you are having fun! A lot has changed in this past year. The big change is I have relocated my children to a new school, an hour north of where we live. I (we) decided that we didn't like what was going on in their lives. Too much negative and not enough positive. So instead of leaving them here in Seminole, which would be so easy to do, we moved them to Tarpon Springs. They are in a magnet program, The Conservatory for the Arts. What an amazing program!!! My nieces were in this program about nine years ago, so I was very familiar with what it had to offer. This move means early mornings, we are up after 4am five days a week, and late nights, home at 10pm at night, sometimes later, and they are at school on Saturday's for about 12 hours. They are kept busy in a positive way. They have had some great experiences this past school year because of this program.
The Conservatory for the Arts is a music program, marching band, jazz band, wind ensembles, etc. It has been a HUGE change for the whole family.
It started off with the icebreaker at the end of May last year. Icebreaker is where all the incoming freshman and any other students new to the program come to the school for the day and meet everyone that is still in the program or has graduated and moved on. They get to mix and mingle, get a feel for the program and get to play music for the show for the very first time. It's neat to see them all come together at the end of the day and play for the very first time with each other and for their families.
My son is in the front ensemble. He plays battery instruments. My daughter is in the color guard.
They have learned what it means to play in a group this big, about 170 kids, play on a higher level and on a huge stage for everyone to see. And this marching season coming up is sure to be even more exciting, we have been invited to march in the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Everyone is looking forward to this experience, a once in a life time opportunity!
While some may thinking you moved them for a music program? No, not really, it's more than that! It's what the director and his wife teach the children that goes far beyond just music. They are protective of the children in the program. They teach life lessons off the field and in the classroom. How to be the best you can be. He is a very inspiring man and the kids respect him. All schools should have at least one teacher like him!
While there was this big change with the children and their schedules, mine and my husbands schedules also had some big changes. My husband works full-time and attends school full-time and is working on getting his bachelors degree. He will be taking the summer off, a much needed break, and the fall off to help with the conservatory more and to have the time off to go to Macy's with the children. I took a part-time job at a friend's boutique. It's been fun and a learning experience. I currently work three days a week. I have the BEST boss in the world! She understands that family is first! She has been very supportive of my family!
So this has what has kept me so busy that I haven't had all the free time to keep up on my blog. This pretty much sums it up. Please check back and follow my blog as we and the Tarpon Springs Conservatory for the Arts march towards Macy's in November 2013!
It has been a long time since I have logged in. Well you know the ole saying, time flies when you are having fun! A lot has changed in this past year. The big change is I have relocated my children to a new school, an hour north of where we live. I (we) decided that we didn't like what was going on in their lives. Too much negative and not enough positive. So instead of leaving them here in Seminole, which would be so easy to do, we moved them to Tarpon Springs. They are in a magnet program, The Conservatory for the Arts. What an amazing program!!! My nieces were in this program about nine years ago, so I was very familiar with what it had to offer. This move means early mornings, we are up after 4am five days a week, and late nights, home at 10pm at night, sometimes later, and they are at school on Saturday's for about 12 hours. They are kept busy in a positive way. They have had some great experiences this past school year because of this program.
The Conservatory for the Arts is a music program, marching band, jazz band, wind ensembles, etc. It has been a HUGE change for the whole family.
It started off with the icebreaker at the end of May last year. Icebreaker is where all the incoming freshman and any other students new to the program come to the school for the day and meet everyone that is still in the program or has graduated and moved on. They get to mix and mingle, get a feel for the program and get to play music for the show for the very first time. It's neat to see them all come together at the end of the day and play for the very first time with each other and for their families.
My son is in the front ensemble. He plays battery instruments. My daughter is in the color guard.
They have learned what it means to play in a group this big, about 170 kids, play on a higher level and on a huge stage for everyone to see. And this marching season coming up is sure to be even more exciting, we have been invited to march in the 2013 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! Everyone is looking forward to this experience, a once in a life time opportunity!
While some may thinking you moved them for a music program? No, not really, it's more than that! It's what the director and his wife teach the children that goes far beyond just music. They are protective of the children in the program. They teach life lessons off the field and in the classroom. How to be the best you can be. He is a very inspiring man and the kids respect him. All schools should have at least one teacher like him!
While there was this big change with the children and their schedules, mine and my husbands schedules also had some big changes. My husband works full-time and attends school full-time and is working on getting his bachelors degree. He will be taking the summer off, a much needed break, and the fall off to help with the conservatory more and to have the time off to go to Macy's with the children. I took a part-time job at a friend's boutique. It's been fun and a learning experience. I currently work three days a week. I have the BEST boss in the world! She understands that family is first! She has been very supportive of my family!
So this has what has kept me so busy that I haven't had all the free time to keep up on my blog. This pretty much sums it up. Please check back and follow my blog as we and the Tarpon Springs Conservatory for the Arts march towards Macy's in November 2013!
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Wednesday, April 18, 2012
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
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