Since I plan on keeping track of my three goals this year - Home, Healthy snack foods and Me - I decided to go back to using an old blog address I set up YEARS ago for my scrapbooking posts. I don't scrap anymore (although I'd love to do some more) and I thought my updates would 'fit' there better, The link is here joannslittlethings
Friday, January 2, 2015
Thursday, January 1, 2015
Page number one.
Happy New Year!
It's so hard to believe it's 2015. Everyone says time goes faster as you age and it certainly feels that way.
Although we didn't really do anything too productive w.r.t to our yearly goals, we did have a family discussion and my DH surprised the kids with adding a weekly financial incentive to their responsibilities - their rooms, their bathrooms and the basement. Let's hope their love of cash helps keeps the house in better condition this year.
My focus will be the kitchen this month and I did discuss some of my plans with DH and got his okay on a few things - which is half the battle. I found some nice goal sheets but want to think them through a bit more before printing out. I'll share once I do so.
As for eating healthy snacks - that didn't really happen - we had leftovers from the party last night so didn't have a need for snacking.
For 'treating' myself, I purchased a few too many things on Zulily.com. I've been feeling that some of my casual, hang out at home clothes, needed replacing and I really don't like clothes shopping. My 12 yo DD acted as my shopping stylist and we found 9 casual tops that should work well. I don't think I've ever bought 9 items of clothing at once before!!
Hope everyone else had a great start to the year!!
joann
It's so hard to believe it's 2015. Everyone says time goes faster as you age and it certainly feels that way.
Although we didn't really do anything too productive w.r.t to our yearly goals, we did have a family discussion and my DH surprised the kids with adding a weekly financial incentive to their responsibilities - their rooms, their bathrooms and the basement. Let's hope their love of cash helps keeps the house in better condition this year.
My focus will be the kitchen this month and I did discuss some of my plans with DH and got his okay on a few things - which is half the battle. I found some nice goal sheets but want to think them through a bit more before printing out. I'll share once I do so.
As for eating healthy snacks - that didn't really happen - we had leftovers from the party last night so didn't have a need for snacking.
For 'treating' myself, I purchased a few too many things on Zulily.com. I've been feeling that some of my casual, hang out at home clothes, needed replacing and I really don't like clothes shopping. My 12 yo DD acted as my shopping stylist and we found 9 casual tops that should work well. I don't think I've ever bought 9 items of clothing at once before!!
Hope everyone else had a great start to the year!!
joann
Wednesday, December 31, 2014
Tomorrow, the beginning
"Tomorrow is the first blank page of a 365 page book. Write a good one."
I love Brad Paisley, and this is one of his many great quotes.
Tuesday, December 30, 2014
It's been awhile .....
Life gets crazy.
I think I have ADD.
I'm also lazy.
I've completely neglected blogging. I did complete a few more home organization projects, I just didn't blog about them. I even went so far as taking the pictures in some cases, I just didn't finish. That pretty much sums up why my house is frequently chaotic - I start a lot of things but don't finish!!
Yes, that's pretty much me!
I'm going to try to get back at it, but this time I'm going to post about a few other things as well.
As a family, we are sitting down on January 1st to record our New Year's Resolutions. We haven't done this in the past but as the kids have gotten older (almost 18, 14 & 12) we want them to get involved in setting family goals. I'd like to use this blog to keep track of our progress, share some projects and links, and hopefully brag about what all we've accomplished.
As a family we are declaring 2015 the "Year of our Home". Doing some home repairs, decorating, and keeping things more 'presentable' on a regular basis. I've got a lot of PINS ready, followed quite a few other blogs and have a list of areas we'll tackle in 2015. I've decided we'll start in the kitchen. Not only is it the most used and loved area of the home, it's also an easy start since we don't have any big projects to do there.
In addition, I want to continue on my goal of removing as many processed foods from our diet as possible. I can't expect teens to give up junk food completely, but I'm planning on concentrating on keeping healthier snacks available to them (and my husband and myself too). Since I'm still the one who does all - well 90% - of the cooking, I know they eat healthy main courses, but I want to be sure to have some healthy snack options around to grab and go, or munch on while doing homework or in front of the TV. I've got a few recipes printed off and I'll be searching for some healthier store-bought alternatives too. I found a Canadian subscription box, Little LIFE box that I just ordered that should give us a good start.
I've also promised myself that I'm going to make a point of treating myself a little more often than I have in the past. I'm fortunate to have the majority of the school hours to myself to get things accomplished and I'm going to try my best to squeeze in a little ME time everyday before the craziness of our evenings start. I've got big holes in my wardrobe that need filling, old makeup that needs to be tossed and replenished, dry skin that needs hydrating, muscles that need toning, craft projects that need finishing, and the list goes on ....... Too many things that are easily pushed to the back burner when we are busy.
I hope to look back at this a year from now and see all I've/we've accomplished. Hopefully, there will be someone out there in the blogging world that will enjoy our journey.
joann
I think I have ADD.
I'm also lazy.
I've completely neglected blogging. I did complete a few more home organization projects, I just didn't blog about them. I even went so far as taking the pictures in some cases, I just didn't finish. That pretty much sums up why my house is frequently chaotic - I start a lot of things but don't finish!!
Yes, that's pretty much me!
I'm going to try to get back at it, but this time I'm going to post about a few other things as well.
As a family, we are sitting down on January 1st to record our New Year's Resolutions. We haven't done this in the past but as the kids have gotten older (almost 18, 14 & 12) we want them to get involved in setting family goals. I'd like to use this blog to keep track of our progress, share some projects and links, and hopefully brag about what all we've accomplished.
As a family we are declaring 2015 the "Year of our Home". Doing some home repairs, decorating, and keeping things more 'presentable' on a regular basis. I've got a lot of PINS ready, followed quite a few other blogs and have a list of areas we'll tackle in 2015. I've decided we'll start in the kitchen. Not only is it the most used and loved area of the home, it's also an easy start since we don't have any big projects to do there.
In addition, I want to continue on my goal of removing as many processed foods from our diet as possible. I can't expect teens to give up junk food completely, but I'm planning on concentrating on keeping healthier snacks available to them (and my husband and myself too). Since I'm still the one who does all - well 90% - of the cooking, I know they eat healthy main courses, but I want to be sure to have some healthy snack options around to grab and go, or munch on while doing homework or in front of the TV. I've got a few recipes printed off and I'll be searching for some healthier store-bought alternatives too. I found a Canadian subscription box, Little LIFE box that I just ordered that should give us a good start.
I've also promised myself that I'm going to make a point of treating myself a little more often than I have in the past. I'm fortunate to have the majority of the school hours to myself to get things accomplished and I'm going to try my best to squeeze in a little ME time everyday before the craziness of our evenings start. I've got big holes in my wardrobe that need filling, old makeup that needs to be tossed and replenished, dry skin that needs hydrating, muscles that need toning, craft projects that need finishing, and the list goes on ....... Too many things that are easily pushed to the back burner when we are busy.
I hope to look back at this a year from now and see all I've/we've accomplished. Hopefully, there will be someone out there in the blogging world that will enjoy our journey.
joann
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Interior Fridge Make-over
A few weeks ago, I saw some wonderful posts from crafty ladies who were using fridge liners, bins, etc. to make their fridge look pretty.
I've been using bins a bit, but unless I was the only one who used the fridge, trying to make it too organized would just cause me stress. If I can get my teenagers to put the food back into the fridge, I'm happy. Expecting them to only put it in it's proper place might be asking a bit much.
So, maybe fancy containers and labels, etc. was a bit too much but there's no reason why I couldn't make it look prettier than this:
For the upper shelves I just set the placements on them, adding a little strip to cover the entire surface. Since the bottom drawers is constantly being pulled in and out, I was worried the place mats may slip around so I first put down a slightly used, non-slip drawer liner cut to fit.
After all of the shelves and drawers were done, unfortunately I was about 3" short. I left the gap on the upper shelf so it's not noticeable.
It's very difficult to get good photos of the interior of the fridge. These may not look great, but I'm happy with the look when I open the doors. It should also be a lot easier for quick spill clean ups.
Joann
I've been using bins a bit, but unless I was the only one who used the fridge, trying to make it too organized would just cause me stress. If I can get my teenagers to put the food back into the fridge, I'm happy. Expecting them to only put it in it's proper place might be asking a bit much.
So, maybe fancy containers and labels, etc. was a bit too much but there's no reason why I couldn't make it look prettier than this:
Last week I found some plastic placements in a summer clearance for $0.49 each. I bought 16 of them for this project. I started with the door,s cutting the placements to fit the bottom of each shelf/bucket. They fit perfectly width wise, so there was very little cutting required.
After all of the shelves and drawers were done, unfortunately I was about 3" short. I left the gap on the upper shelf so it's not noticeable.
This is the one fridge organizing feature I would never go without again, a Rubbermaid turntable. I bought it probably 10 years ago and it stills work great for bottles of dressing and such. It's not meant for fridges, but it is very sturdy and handles the weight and the cold very well.
Now it was just putting everything back in - in a little more organized fashion. I do use one storage bucket on the top shelf for baking ingredients (chia seeds, etc.) that the kids will never need to reach for, another for the block and loose cheeses to prevent them from getting lost, and the one in the left corner labelled "For School lunches - don't touch!" I prepare as much as I can in advance and hate it when I try to make lunches and realize all of it has been eaten.
.
It's very difficult to get good photos of the interior of the fridge. These may not look great, but I'm happy with the look when I open the doors. It should also be a lot easier for quick spill clean ups.
Joann
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Water bottles and Travel mug declutter
Hilda must have heard the choice words I was saying under my breath last week regarding our water bottle drawer. Today this was her mission on day 8 of 31 Days of Easy decluttering.
I was very fortunate in that we built our own home 8 years ago. Not only did I design the floor plan, I also got to design the kitchen cabinets and such. As a result, I have drawers throughout my kitchen. Almost all bottom cabinets have large drawers rather than doors. This works great, except when they are not full, things slide around or, in the case of water bottles, fall over every time you open or close the drawer. I've envisioned creating dividers (almost like a sock drawer divider) for in these drawers, but it just hasn't happened. Today, I decided on a temporary solution that may not be as good, but still a lot better than it was:
Drawer No. 1: Water bottles and acrylic glasses
I recently purged the water bottles (yes, we had more than this two weeks ago), so I didn't have much I wanted to get rid of. I do think I could get rid of a few more so will get the kids to help pick out which ones this evening. With 3 kids in various sports and taking bottles to school each day, we do really need quite a few of them. I know there are two at school right now and one in the soccer bag, but all the rest are here. Sometimes the drawer only has a quarter of this and that's when it drives me crazy. I added a few bins so at least there will be less sliding around. We also use this drawer to store our acrylic glasses and such.
I was very fortunate in that we built our own home 8 years ago. Not only did I design the floor plan, I also got to design the kitchen cabinets and such. As a result, I have drawers throughout my kitchen. Almost all bottom cabinets have large drawers rather than doors. This works great, except when they are not full, things slide around or, in the case of water bottles, fall over every time you open or close the drawer. I've envisioned creating dividers (almost like a sock drawer divider) for in these drawers, but it just hasn't happened. Today, I decided on a temporary solution that may not be as good, but still a lot better than it was:
Drawer No. 1: Water bottles and acrylic glasses
Drawer No.2: Travel cups and large mugs
I recently purged the water bottles (yes, we had more than this two weeks ago), so I didn't have much I wanted to get rid of. I do think I could get rid of a few more so will get the kids to help pick out which ones this evening. With 3 kids in various sports and taking bottles to school each day, we do really need quite a few of them. I know there are two at school right now and one in the soccer bag, but all the rest are here. Sometimes the drawer only has a quarter of this and that's when it drives me crazy. I added a few bins so at least there will be less sliding around. We also use this drawer to store our acrylic glasses and such.
These are just inexpensive shoe box size containers I bought to use in my daughter's closet but we haven't got there yet so I'll pick up some more another day.
Drawer No. 2 houses the to-go cups and the larger coffee mugs. My son and husband take a coffee each morning, I frequently take a tea to the kid's afternoon activities and the younger ones frequently take hot chocolate to their older siblings hockey games, so we actually do tend to use quite a few of them. I'm hoping I can convince the 'men' to get rid of a couple of theirs to make some more more in this drawer so it isn't such a tight squeeze. You'll see the back corner has a special bucket for MY to-go cups. There's not many things I don't share with the family but they all know they don't dare put coffee in my tea containers!
Thanks for the push to get these drawers done, Hilda.
joann
Bedside table
Last week I posted pics of my underwear drawer and now Becky at 31 days of Spontaneous Organizing is asking me to post pics of my bedside table. Fortunately, all I have that's a secret in there is my chocolate stash that I hide from my kids. Doesn't every mom have one of those??
I did a quick 10 minute declutter - got rid of a couple of books, moved a few things to where they belong, and added a bin in the top drawer for the lotions and such I had on the top of the table. Of course, I also made the bag of chocolates slightly smaller....just to make sure they fit well.
I wonder what she has in store for me tomorrow??
Joann
I wonder what she has in store for me tomorrow??
Joann
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