Sunday, March 13, 2016

The Cart

Since my tidying-up journey, I've learned a few things about myself.  When I was tidying up the office, I realized that I RARELY used our desk in there.  Whenever I blogged, studied, etc., I would drag out everything I needed and either work at the kitchen breakfast bar, the dining room table, or the bed.  I never worked at our desk.

But I was realizing what a pain that was to drag everything out all the time to a different room.

So, I brainstormed and came up with an idea.  On my way to Nebraska last month, I stopped at Ikea in Denver.  I got everything on my list, including the wonderful Raskog cart.

I now present my lovely, portable, 'personal study - blogging - reading - coloring - etc.' cart:



It has 3 'trays'.  The top tray holds my container of colored pencils, bookmarks, etc.:



On top of that is my large study Bible.  I LOVE my large Bible.  I do all of my Bible reading out of it and make notes in the margins.


 I also set the white container with the rest of my pens and highlighters on top as well (see first picture).  This white container (also from Ikea) is actually a planter, but it was so cute I used it for my pens.  I am a pen/highlighter freak.

The middle shelf holds books.  Books that I am currently reading or want to read next (both fiction and non-fiction), my coloring book, my social anxiety workbooks, and my spiritual personal study books as well.



And finally, the bottom tray holds my computer.  Underneath my computer is a few more larger books that wouldn't fit in the middle tray.  I also keep my Professional Organizing binder in this tray.



I love, love, love this cart.  I can wheel it all around the house with ease and pick and choose what I want to study and work on.  And I love that all of my study stuff is in one spot!

When it's not in use, I park it in our closet:



If you live near an Ikea, go get one now!  I believe it was either $29.99 or $39.99.  I don't remember.  It's completely solid though and very high quality.  It also comes in white, but I preferred the fun blue.  :)

Thursday, March 10, 2016

Tidying Up - The Living Room

Hmm.  This room didn't take long.  Mostly because we don't store a lot of things in here.  

We will never have a picture-perfect-catalog worthy living room.  We LIVE in our living room.  So do the animals.  This is the room the are in the most.  So we have random blankets on the couches, bones, toys, etc. always scattered about.









We have one bookshelf in the living room, which I cleaned out.  It doesn’t store books though, just video games/gaming headphones and some photo albums.  




That's pretty much it!  It's very dog friendly....the furniture is beat up, there are toys and blankets everywhere but oh well.  It's comfortable and we like it.  :)

Tidying Up - Laundry Room




Lots of tidying up happened in here.  I went through every cabinet and got rid of what we don’t use.  Some extra sheets and curtains, lots of miscellaneous items.  Most of my candle holders.  I only buy Glade scented candles now…when they’re done, they’re done.  I kept my jar of tea light candles, because I do use those.  But the other ones went bye-bye.  I had a lot of extra little jars.  I kept just a couple to have on hand for flower clippings from our yard.  I kept only a few larger vases.  I moved everything into the cabinets above the washer and dryer.

So we have various laundry supplies, candles, the iron, etc. stored in here.



I got the fabric bins at Wal-Mart.  Then I slapped a little label on each of them and called it a day.  Candles, Cleaners, Vases and Ironing.  Kind of random, but it helps with the visual clutter.

The lower cabinets hold bedding (just for the futon and extra top blankets for our bed….all of our sheets are stored in a bench at the foot of our bed).   

The top drawers were all cleaned out.  The drawer on the left holds light bulbs and command strips (we LOVE command strips!).  It's not the neatest because everything has to remain in the packaging.  Oh well.



The drawer in the middle holds extra animal items that we use, but not frequently.



The drawer on the right is one of our two ‘Misc.’ drawers – tape, random items.



The bottom middle drawers hold board and card games.



The upper cabinets on the right hold our cat stuff.  Food, treats, syringes, alcohol wipes, etc.  



The upper cabinets on the left hold my purse when I come home.  The purse goes on the bottom shelf and on the shelf above I put anything else I need to deal with.  Mail, my Weight Watchers stuff, stuff to take into work, etc.



We made good use of the countertop in here.  I NEVER use it to fold clothes, so we put it to work.  On one side is a blanket for Howie, my old kitty.  He has a lot of health issues (diabetes, cataracts, etc.) and he LOVES sleeping up here and I just didn’t have the heart to remove his blanket.  On the right side is their food and water.

And in the middle is my husband’s ‘drop’ area.  When he comes home from work he usually has his laptop bag, phone, ipad, misc. papers, etc.  Before, this all went on the kitchen counter.  No more!  So I moved his little ‘station’ over here.  He can charge his phone, iPad, etc., drop his wallet and other items into the little baskets and have a space for all of his misc. stuff.  A space that won’t drive his wife crazy!  Ha.



On the walls I have just a couple of things…mostly found at Target over the years.  One of my favorite things is this:



I got this at Target a while ago, but I believe they still have it.  It is perfect for holding incoming mail.  I love it!  Each day I check the mail and put anything of my husband’s in here.  And he checks it first thing when he gets home.  It’s not really large enough for things to pile up, which is great.  Plus, it’s cute!



And that is our hard-working little laundry room.

Tidying Up - The Kitchen

HUGE difference after tidying up:




I cleared our countertops of things that don't get used every day.  What remains is our Kuerig coffee maker, our basket full of extra K-cups, the paper towels, the white bowls that we use every day and the dog treat jar.

I'm not going to share every cabinet and drawer, just a few.

I got rid of a lot.  Including all of my plastic Tupperware.  Over the past couple of years I've switched over to glass.  I LOVE my Pyrex containers with the lids!



This same cabinet also holds the dog/cat dishes:



The rest of the cabinets are simple.



On the other side of the kitchen, we have a couple more upper cabinets.  This one holds dog food and treats:



This one holds misc. baking items, tea, and ziplock and foil:



I cleaned out each of our drawers.  We actually have a lot of storage in this kitchen, which is surprising because it’s not a large kitchen.  But there is plenty of space! 

The top drawer is our cooking utensils.



The drawer dividers are wonderful!

Here are my kitchen towels, folded and stood up just like my clothing:


I also cleaned out our silverware drawer.  I ditched the bulky knife block that used to take up counter space and put all of our sharp knives together in the drawer.   I also lined the dividers with cloth napkins.  I HATE the sound of silverware clanging each time the drawer was open and closed.  Problem solved:


It’s important that the only things that are kept out on your counter are items that you use EVERY SINGLE DAY.  If they are not used every day (or 3 or 4 times a week at least), stow them away!  And if you say you don’t have room, then it’s time to clean out those cabinets and cupboards and make the room.  I even have items stored in here that we hardly EVER use but there’s no way I’m getting rid of (like my Great Grandmother’s depression glass).  I have room to store them safely in here because there’s room in the cabinets.



I think that orderliness in the kitchen is just as important as orderliness in the bedroom.  When your countertops are messy, what is your desire to do food prep or cook dinner?  When your kitchen cabinets are stuffed full, do you really want to empty the dishwasher?  If things are neat and orderly and CLEANED OUT, these things won’t even seem like chores.  I used to get so frustrated with putting away dishes because I would open the cabinets and a Tupperware lid would come flying out at me or I’d be stuffing travel mugs and cat dishes wherever they would fit.  Sooooo frustrating!  And completely unnecessary.  Now I can unload the dishwasher with ease and know that everything has a home.  It doesn’t take me long and I don’t have to worry about getting hurt ha ha.  I can also wipe down the countertops in just a few seconds because there’s not much up there blocking my way.  There is plenty of space for cooking (and I HATE cooking), preparing lunches and snacks for the week, etc.

After the bedroom, the kitchen should be the main focus of neatness in your house!

Sunday, March 6, 2016

Mississippi Pot Roast

Have you heard of the pot roast recipe that's sweeping the Internet and Pinterest?

It's called Mississippi Pot Roast.

I don't post recipes here because I do not enjoy cooking.  But this is one of the easiest things I have ever made and it was DELICIOUS.  And...I normally hate pot roast.  But this is so tender and just doesn't taste like 'regular' pot roast.

Here it is:

Mississippi Pot Roast:

1 chuck roast (I got mine at Sam's Club)
1 packet dry Ranch dressing mix
1 packet au jus mix (found with the gravy mixes)
1 stick butter
5 pepperoncini peppers (these are jarred)

Add all ingredients in a slow cooker; cook on low for 8-10 hours.  Shred and serve with your favorite sides.

SO.  GOOD.  And so easy!!!  Try it!!


Nebraska

A few weeks ago I got home from a trip to Nebraska.  I went to visit my family and to meet my new nephew, who is already 4 months old!

I had to drive through Kansas because portions of the interstate were still closed in Nebraska.  

Folks, this is Kansas:


I finally got to my parents’ house around 9:30 that night.

The next morning my mom made me breakfast.  



Then we headed over to my brother’s house so I could see the kiddos.  They are getting so big!  We played and played.



Then mom and I went to go have lunch with my niece at school.  She goes to the same school that I went to.



After that we headed back to my brother’s place for some more playing.  Then we all headed to back to the school to attend a book fair.  And we finally wrapped up the evening by having Taco Inn for dinner.

Friday morning, me, mom, dad and Grandma went to breakfast and then drove around Lincoln.  We drove around the Haymarket and saw the new Pinnacle Bank arena.  It’s huge!  Downtown Lincoln has changed a lot since I’ve last been there.  Then we went to Von Maur.  We don’t have a Von Maur in New Mexico.  I wanted to check out the shoe room and the sale handbags.  I almost bought a pair of boots, but I didn’t love them.  I only liked them.  And for me to buy anything these days, I have to LOVE it.

So then I ventured over to the handbags.  I didn’t even look at the regular priced handbags.  I headed straight to the sale racks.  They had 3 racks full of bags on sale.  I avoided Coach completely because we have a Coach outlet in Santa Fe that pretty much beats regular sale prices on any given day.  I rifled through some Dooney and Burkes (nothing stuck out at me), some Michael Kors, and then a couple of other brands that I can’t remember….and then I saw it.  The bag.  I was drawn to it even before I saw that kind it was.  And when I saw what kind it was I squealed (internally of course).  Kate Spade!  I’ve been wanting a Kate Spade bag.  I love all of her stuff! And it was on sale.  Win-win!

We left Von Maur and I spent the rest of the afternoon formatting my Grandma’s iPad and downloading all of the JW stuff for her.  

Then my sister came back to town (yay!) and we and my parents went to Outback for dinner.

Then my Dad gave us a tour of where he works now, which was really nice.  It was so nice to see his building and everything that he is responsible for.

Saturday morning after breakfast Amy and I ran a few errands and went to see Grandma again and then came back to the house to help mom get ready for our dinner that night. 


 It was so nice!  The whole family was together - minus Josh :(.  Micah entertained us by playing the guitar.



And before I knew it, my trip was over.  And I headed back to New Mexico. 


 I left around 4:00 a.m. and got home around 4:00 p.m.  It was a long drive, but not terrible.  My husband and one of his friends unloaded my car, then my mother-in-law came over and we watched the Superbowl.  And I went to bed and slept like a rock!

Planning

I thought I would write a post about planning.  Not planning anything specific, just planning for everyday life.

I have tried every planner out there.  Daily, weekly, monthly, large, small, electronic, you name it.  I always go back to the same type.  A large monthly planner.  I don't like the weekly planners or the daily planners.  I like to see my entire month at a time.

This is the planner I am using right now:


I got it at Barnes & Noble for $10.  It is simply an 18-month monthly planner with some notes pages in the back.   Nothing fancy.  I love it!

This is why I need a planner:


This is our life this month.  

Here's what I put on my monthly planner pages:

Spiritual stuff (meeting parts, meeting times, etc.)
Bills to be paid
Work meetings
DVDs to get
Travel
Paydays
Misc. other:  hair appointments, date nights, other plans

I color code each item.  Pink is for spiritual.  Red is for bills to be paid.  Orange is work stuff.  Purple is movies.  Blue is for travel.  Green is for paydays.  It may be a bit OCD but it helps a LOT.

I typically only fill out one month at a time (the current month) with the spiritual stuff and bills.  But if I know of other things coming up, I will add them.

Here is April:


During the last week of March I will fill out the bills and the rest of the spiritual stuff.

The Notes pages in the back are very helpful too.  I keep lists back here, like for blog topics:


And that is how I plan and keep track of our life.  I can't believe how much it helps and I can't believe there are people out there who don't use any type of calendar at all. This thing is my lifesaver!

20 Years of Reading

20 years.  TWENTY YEARS OF READING. Okay, so technically this isn’t true.  I’ve been reading since I was 5.  So (here’s my age)…I’ve been re...