Project Simplify: Master Bedroom

If my life was a movie and clutter was the villain, the master bedroom would be my arch nemesis (we won't discuss his henchmen, the guest room and basement in this post). I feel a sense of foreboding anytime I think about trying to tackle it. Like a magpie, my "nest" is where I tend to stuff all the little odds and ends that have meaning to me, but no designated spot in my home.

Lest anyone still be worrying I spend too much time cleaning and not enough enjoying motherhood, let these "before" photos put your mind at ease ; )

Check out those dressers. See that big stack of cards on the right? One is from our CPA, circa Christmas 2010. That's when you know it's time to get. a. grip.

Ah the bookshelf. The third shelf down is almost completely filled with magazines I will never ever open again, but that might have something desperately important in them. *Sigh*

Ironing board. Not just a place to heap clothes that need to be de-wrinkled, but also to hold very important sermon notes I convince myself I will read again, but never do. Please don't refer me to Hoarders.

Getting started was the hardest part (it always is). Not only was I in some additional pain from my physical therapy appointment on Monday, but it never ceases to amaze me how much debt and clutter relate to one another. Both make you feel overwhelmed and unsure of where to begin. It seems like avoiding the mess all together would be easier, but deep down, you know the mess is what's draining your energy.

I decided to get my "clutter-debt" snow ball rolling by cleaning off the top of the lingerie dresser. I tossed the calendar that hadn't been turned since October into the goodwill box, removed every item, dusted, and replaced only 2 things. As expected, doing one small project and seeing quick success gave me the motivation I needed to tack "just one more" area.

With the help of David, we "just one more" thinged our way to these after photos:

It involved a lot of asking myself these questions:

"Is this beautiful?" Then how will I display it?

"Is this useful?" Then how will I make it easily accessible?

"Is this worth the space it's taking up in my home and the time it costs to care for it?" If not, read it one last time or take a photo and then let. it. go.

Obviously, I still have a pretty big stack of papers and knick-knacks I still have to sort through, but I feel great about the progress we made on the flat-surface areas of this room. The dressers are clear, the cedar chest is accessible again and the ironing board is put away. I plan to tackle the closet and drawers during this upcoming weeks "choose your own adventure" in Project Simplify.

Project Simplify: Kitchen Edition

During our house hunting days, our Realtor would send us batches of a dozen or so listings, I'd peruse the photos, check out the neighborhoods and weed out the non-contenders before submitting the potentials to David.

Certain photos would get a listing kicked out immediately. Wet basement. Busy street. No Yard. Only one house got nixed because of the ugliest kitchen I'd ever seen. Ours. Yup, I discarded the listing for the home we currently live in because the kitchen cabinets were painted a hideous crayola green, the counter-tops and back-splashes were dated, and the oven was undersized. Kitchen renovations start at around 20K and are a huge hassle. It just wasn't something I wanted to get into.

Fortunately, David re-combed through the listings and questioned why I'd dismissed this house. After I explained my reasons, he agreed it could be a deal breaker, but sometimes the colors in photos lie. Everything else about the house seemed good and the price was right. I did a drive by and fell in love with the neighborhood. The mountains, the hills, the charm of the giant trees and streams lacing the area. I really really hoped the reality was better than the photo.

It was the first home we looked at. The cabinets were a rather dark and unflattering shade of green, but not as bad as the photo I'd seen. The counter tops and back-splash weren't my cup of tea, but they were in great condition. The rest of the house seemed perfect. After seeing the other homes the area offered in our price range, it became clear that dismissing an entire home because of the color of the kitchen cabinets was more than a bit rash.

Obviously, we decided to make an offer on the house. I've never regretted our choice. We have the best neighbors anyone could ask for, an affordable mortgage and a house that meets 95% of our wants and 100% of our needs. Really, what are ugly cabinets and slightly too-small bathrooms compared to that?

And that, my friends, is the somewhat interesting history of our kitchen. Now, onto the cleaning!

I usually plan our days so that we have an activity in the morning OR in the afternoon. This "before" photo is the result of two back-to-back days of being in and out of the house all day. In short, we spent enough time at home to eat meals and make a mess, but not enough time to clean it up.

Before

After pondering the mess for a few minutes, I decide my goal is to deep clean the counter tops and island (we're talking toothbrushes and appliance moving). I also want to wash the front of the cupboards, something that basically never happens, aside from an occasional spot clean. Obviously, to do these things, I'm going to need to wash a lot of dishes and make some choices about what does and does not deserve to live on the counter to begin with.

Close up of the crusty cabinet.

Two loads of dishes and some hand-washing later, I'm ready to begin clearing the counter tops. I start with the island. I wash the vegetable bowl, put kitchen items away, move other items to their homes in other rooms and take everything off while I give the counter a soak in some non-toxic homemade cleaner. My little helper already has his hands squishing around in it, delighted that mommy is spraying water. After a few minutes, Caleb and I scrub the counter top and I carefully consider each item I place back onto the island.

Island soaking

After. David surprised me with this beautiful bouquet when he came home from work today. The florist also sent him home with a helium balloon for Caleb. He is enchanted.

After cleaning the island, I decided the kitchen counter and cabinet deep clean will have to wait. Sometimes my chronic pain issues mean I can't do quite as much as I think I can and I'm learning to be ok with that.

At least the counters are much less cluttered!

Next up: The Master Bedroom. I've been chipping away at the clutter in our room for several months now in the typical "2 steps forward, 1.75 steps back" dance that comes with having a toddler in the house. I'm looking forward to seeing our entire room clean all at once for a change!

Project Simplify: Kid's Stuff

After spending Caleb's nap today writing a really moving post about why I decided not to do this week's project (something about having the flu, being kind to myself, blah blah blah) I got a burst of inspiration and energy and decided to tackle his closet.

We started our move towards simple living shortly before Caleb was born, so there wasn't much other work to be done in the kid department.

Caleb's Room. Not exactly going to be featured on Pinterest anytime soon, but we like it : )

His closet however, was a dumping ground for odds and ends before it became part of the nursery and never really recovered.

Before

A few of my more interesting finds:

An old shower curtain.

Unused stool and urine sample bags (extras from illnesses in his first year of life)

A dead stinkbug. Of course.

I removed all his outgrown clothes, cloth diapers, baby bibs and receiving blankets to be packed away. I also ruthlessly weeded out some "must have" baby items we never used. A pack of un-opened paci's (he was a thumb baby), waterproof mattress cover (crib mattresses are waterproof), and a few other odds and ends.

After

Caleb loves to help with these projects. Look at all that space!

On the floor we have blankets (lots and lots of blankets...maybe he'll learn to sleep under them one day), extra diapers (we use disposables at night and for travel), and a gift bag full of stroller accessories.

On the bottom shelf are toys he'll grow into in the next year, extra childproofing materials (child proofing is never finished), extra diapers and wipes and items we still need to hang on his walls. On the top shelf are my baby keepsakes and clothes he'll grow into soon.

I dusted the window and the closet shelves. I also vacuumed the floor of the closet. I even used two different handy-dandy attachments! I've never cleaned a closet so thoroughly before. I guess that's what spring cleaning is all about though. Tackling those spaces that get neglected in the week to week cleaning routine.

All in all, it took about an hour and a half and I couldn't have done it without David's willingness to chase Caleb around the house during that time. I still need to actually box up his clothes and sort through some keepsakes I found stashed in a basket, but that's for later tonight!

Coming this week: Kitchen and Pantry!

Clothing Purge

Ever since Caleb was born I've felt like I had a ton of clothes and not much to wear. It's a pretty common post-baby problem. I didn't even begin to resemble my pre-pregnancy weight until 9 months after Caleb was born and only in the past 4-5 months have I been at my college weight. I'd love to say it's because I took great care of myself, ate well and exercised, but I can thank 3 back-to-back stomach flus for shedding those last few pounds. It's not a weight loss program I recommend.

That said, I still feel like I have nothing to wear. Being a mom is hard on your clothes. Even though I'm back to my pre-baby weight, my body has totally changed. I've gained 2 cup sizes, so most of my shirts are too tight, the skin on my lower stomach still has a slight sag from carrying my precious babe (this took me a looong time to come to peace with, but I'm finally there!), and I lost numerous shirts to baby spit-up stains. Apparently, stomach acid works a bit like bleach.

Combine all that with the fact that, frankly, I haven't done much clothes shopping since before I started grad-school so most of my clothes are at least 5 years old. They are starting to fade, shrink, pill, and get weird squiggles and sags around the necklines. Since I'm not a fan of shopping, it's hard for me to motivate myself to go looking for new cloths until my wardrobe is in this sad state.

My overstuffed closet, filled with clothes that no longer fit and/or make me look like I'm in high school again, and not in a flattering way.

A few weekends ago, David and I decided to use our once-a-month date time to get some shopping done. I figured going through my closet and determining what I had, what I needed and what mistakes NOT to repeat would count as my warm up for Project Simplify.

Here are my lessons learned:

1. If it needs to be ironed, I am never going to wear it.
2. If I don't absolutely love the fit and color in the store, it doesn't matter how great a deal it is, I won't buy it.
3. If it shows my bra strap, cleavage, or is sheer I am not going to feel comfortable wearing it anywhere, ever.
4. The item must flatter my new mom body and not make me look 15 or 85.
5. I don't work outside the home anymore. Professional button down shirts are out, but some sassy looking jeans and pretty shirts are in. Patterns that hide stains well are a bonus.

Clothes to be donated are in the back pile. Clothes to be tried on are in the front pile.

Even with all this gone, I was left with a pretty full closet, which Caleb is making even fuller in this photo : ) A number of the clothes that are left are showing signs of wear, but are still passable for now.

Mistakes not-to-be-repeated fresh on my mind, it was time to make my shopping list. My wardrobe is another area of my life I'm trying to simplify. I have a dresser and a closet for clothing storage. I could probably fit all the items I actually wear into one or the other. The rest is just wasting space and adding to the things I need to clean and maintain.

That said, to make a small wardrobe really functional, each peice should be able to mix and match with several others and should reflect the stage of life I'm in (ie: no ironing, dry cleaning or handwashing required).

Here was my personal shopping list for our day out:

- 3-4 Basic long sleeve shirts. Mine need to be replaced badly.

-Nice looking fleece pullover. I have one fleece, but in a color that isn't the best for my skin tone, not to mention shows every smear of baby food and piece of lint. It kills me to spend money to get something I already have, but this is such a staple of my wardrobe (as a layer in the winter and my go-to jacket in the fall and spring) that I think it's worth it to have one that really works for me.

-Ivory peep toe shoes.I'm a bridesmaid again!

-Non-sneaker everyday shoes. I'm thinking knock off Tom's.

-New slippers. Mine are falling apart.

-1 pair of jeans that fit perfectly. I currently have 3 pairs of pants (1 khaki, 1 corduroy, 1 pair of jeans) that fit me well and I find myself typically needing 1 more before laundry day.

-Cute yoga pants. Confession: I'm a huge fan of the elastic waist band. David is ok with that, as long as I still look cute in them. Meaning sweatpants are out, which is fine by me because they make me feel frumpy anyway!

I knew shopping at the mall (even an outlet mall) was going to be a challenge for me. I tend to be a bit of a tid-wad very frugal when it comes to clothing. Going through my closet, I had to own up that my frugality has actually contributed to the clutter. How many shirts were in my donate pile that I bought just because they were a good deal and looked "ok"? If I hardly ever wore that item, it wasn't a good deal.

In an ideal world, I would buy everything from thrift stores. Not only do they save money, but I like the fact that I become one more step removed from a clothing industry that tends to pay it's CEO's well and it's factory workers less than a living wage. However, since moving to a small town, I've had difficulty find clothing in thrift stores that isn't already looking pretty worn out. Baby clothes are the exception, although even those racks require quite a bit of picking through.

As it turned out, our outlet mall was having an awesome President's Day sale and I was able to find 1 long sleeve shirt, 1 short sleeve shirt, cute yoga pants, and the perfect pair of jeans for about 50% of their usual outlet price. We also found 2 pairs of much needed shoes for David and Caleb's last set of onesies ever *sniffle sniffle* (they don't make them in sizes larger than 24 months. I guess I'm supposed to start potty training or something by then ; )

Here are two articles that inspired me to have a "less is more" clothing philosophy and to be willing to pay a little bit more for clothing that is quality and really works with my body type and lifestyle:

How to Choose a Shirt

Creating a Wardrobe that Works for You

In case you're wondering if I have such severe "mess blindness" that I missed the clutter filling the rest of the closet, I'm happy to say my condition is not so severe. I'm looking forward to tackling that on week 3 of project simplify. I'm so excited to be making progress, one bite at a time!

Simplification Begins: An update on our goals

Keeping house has been a challenge for me ever since we got married. I really admire women (and men) who seem to organize naturally. For me, it's been a skill to be learned, painfully and slowly. Not only do I have chronic mess-blindness and a tendency to be lazy, but we haven't exactly had a lot of time to just...clean.

We moved into our home during the first trimester nausea, had a productive 3-4 months in mid pregnancy and then a painful and difficult last 2 months. After that, our colicky bundle of joy arrived and just as the colic ended we moved to Florida for 6 months. When we returned we were greated with scenes like this one:

A frightening view of our master bedroom. I didn't take any of the main rooms, but imagine ever surface covered in clutter and burp clothes stewn about on the floor

Although our house hasn't been at that level of disorganization in quite a while, it seemed like we were always 2 steps behind the clutter. Honestly, it was a lot like being in debt. We were already behind, so getting ahead took at least double the effort. We decided that we needed to get out of organization "debt" and make our house start working for us.

Over the month of February, David and I threw every spare minute of our time into getting the 3 main rooms of the house in order. We decluttered the kitchen island, dining room table and desk. We set up a paper mangement system to keep paper from taking over again. We (and two of David's awesome brothers) rearranged living room furniture to make the room more functional.

To do all this, while keeping up with cooking, dishes, floors, laundry and our teaching commitments at church, we sacrificed a lot of time with one another and a little sleep. We decided that for a short season the loss was worth the gain.

Boy was it ever! Having a living space that works for us is so refreshing.There are still a few small projects to tackle in each room, but our decluttering goal is well under way and our paper management goal is officially checked off! Sadly, I forgot to take "before" photos so you'll have to just imagine papers piled on every flat surface in the room.

A look at the dining room from the kitchen entrance. Note the easy access to the high chair. Nothing must delay food from reaching that destination. The hearts on the wall are from Valentine's Day

I can see my desk again! I still need to sort through the dozen binders and notebooks stacked on the right side, but this is serious progress.

The livingroom. The lighting isn't as good because I had to take these shots at night. Let's face it, with a toddler in the house, it's the only time of day the floor isn't covered in toys.

The view from the diningroom. In case anyone is wondering, the indoor slide is how you keep an active toddler from going crazy during a wet winter here in the north

You'll notice there's no photo of the kitchen island. That would be because it's gotten cluttered again. That is definitely our "catch all" spot!

Not surprisingly, all this sucess has left me even more motivated to keep chipping away at the clutter. Next month, I'll be continuing the process with Project Simplify. If you'd like to join me, just click the button on the side bar : )

Welcoming 2012

It's hard for me to believe February is here already. I've kind of been in denial that 2012 is underway. Last year we rang in the new year with an at-home date where we talked about our hopes and dreams for our family in 2011. We crafted a family mission statement and my guiding word was "routine". It was all very purposeful and refreshing.

This year, we hung out with family, shared a quick kiss and midnight and then hopped into bed since our toddler would still be up at the crack of dawn the next morning. As soon as we got back to Pennsylvania, we hit the ground running with new commitments like leading our small group on Weds. night, preparing for another 10 hour trip, and (David) teaching Sunday school for 2 weeks. Not to mention taking down Christmas decorations, unpacking and reclaiming order in the house.

So perhaps it's not surprising that January was almost over before I felt like we had a chance to step back and evaluate how last year went and beginning planning for this year. David and I tend to use our long drive to DC for pain clinic appointments as an opportunity to catch up, regroup and plan. Last week, we carved out some time in between preparing our lessons to discuss family life. Here's what we found:

Recaping 2011
Developing a routine with a new baby and a 1000 mile move was no easy task. In fact, when our conversation first began, I thought we had made very little progress at all. However, as David guided my memories back to what life was like in our very first months of parenting, I could see a huge difference. The growth of a family rhythm is like the growth of child, it's something you're immersed in, and it's hard to see without looking waaay back for perspective. It would probably bore you to list all the teeny tiny goals our family reached, but it was so encouraging for me to hear David's perspective on how I've grown as a home manager in the past year.

While we still have much we want to improve upon this year it's nice to have figured out ways to minimize dishes, keep the clutter from completely taking over, cook healthy meals almost every night and still have lots of time to spend with Caleb.

Moving forward in 2012
Although 2012 has had a very busy start, David and I are both so thankful for the way our commitments have forced us to put down our books, turn off the TV and spend concentrated time reading the Bible and praying. I've seen a huge difference in how much I talk to God throughout my day and my attitude towards disappointments and frustrations. Less time spent with entertainment and more time spent with God is definitely a trend we'd like to see continue this year.

Now that I've developed a pretty good routine for keeping the basic household tasks up-to-date (who knew rinsing dishes immediately could be so helpful?) we have 3 major home-related goals this year:

1. Declutter and deep clean the house. As we began to learn last year, a house with fewer things is a house that is easier to enjoy and maintain. We are planning (as in, need to pick dates on the calendar) a room-by-room declutter and deep clean as our spring cleaning this year. I'm dreading the effort required, but know the results will be worth it!

2. Develop a paper management system. My desk is supposed to be our home management hub. With no system to organize the receipt, bill, file and shred piles though, you can imagine the pile of paper that has resulted. Not to mention all the little stacks of paper shoved in various corners of the house before company comes over...I'm nervous about this goal because it's going to involve building a new habit, which is always a challenge, but I can't wait to not worry if I've misplaced a bill or wonder where a receipt is!

3. Make our home "ours". There are so many decorating projects David and I have had on the back burner because we felt overwhelmed just trying to keep the house clean. Our reward for taking care of these not-so-fun tasks will be to finally get to do some of these long awaited projects.

I can't wait to post before and after pictures : )

Finally, a personal goal of mine is to make David and I's marriage my biggest priority after my relationship with Christ. I must confess that all too often, we put our time together and cultivating our friendship behind other obligations. Interestingly, the focus on cleaning our home is a big part of that goal because David especially needs the peace and calm of organization to relax. I enjoy it too, but not in the same way. Just as he gives me the gift of long conversations, I want to give him the gift of service this year. Neither comes easily for us, but what could be worth more effort than truly speaking to our spouses heart?

I've never been big on making new year's resolutions, but the start of a new year has become a great time for us to take a step back, assess what worked well last year and what needs some tweaking and plan to live more purposefully with the time we are given. I hope 2012 is off to a great start for each one of you!

More Adventure than We Planned For

Our "relaxing 4-day weekend" turned out to be, um, not so relaxing as we had hoped. I think that's pretty typical for life after baby unless you are super-intentional about taking down time, because there is always something more that "needs" to be done. Even for our usual hectic pace though, this weekend was unusual.

Saturday was supposed to be the adventurous day of our long weekend (or at least of David's). David went on a men's canoe trip and got to tackle some small rapids in a canoe for the first time. I had a few of the women whose husbands were also out canoeing over for lunch and we had a great time catching up. David got home just in time to put the wee one to bed.

We love doing things together, so it's rare we spend an entire day apart voluntarily. However, I know it refreshed David to tackle something challenging like this and I certainly enjoyed my time with Susan and Maureen. Although we've been back for 3 months now, I feel like I'm still catching up with everyone after our 6 month stay in Florida.

Sunday began so typically. Our son awoke at the crack of dawn. We lingered over iced coffee and warm egg sandwiches before taking turns getting ready. We got out on time for church (ok so, not so typical...)

When we arrived, David and I split up so I could put Caleb down to sleep in the nursery, which is pretty empty during Sunday school. Today, we were the only ones. As I was listening to him cry, debating if he needed consolation or to be left alone I looked out the window and saw a few clusters of people running from the hotel next door. I barely had time to think, "maybe there's a fire" when a blue caught my eye.

A man with a sniper rifle ducked down behind the shed just outside the nursery window. A surge of involuntary fear ran through me before I could register that he was a police officer. My fear subsided momentarily, but I knew something must be very very wrong. Just as I scooped Caleb up and opened the door to go find David, another officer came in the back door and told us all to get out of the church because a man at the hotel had a machine gun.

They sent us into the field next to the church and we eventually made our way to a gas station outside the police blockade where friends with a car-seat were able to come pick us up. We ended up having a wonderful afternoon of fellowship as we waited for the stand off to end so we could retrieve our car. The gun ended up being a toy, and all ended well.

I wish I could say I handled the situation with confidence, trusting in the goodness and sovereignty of God no matter what the outcome. In reality, I struggled to push down an icy fear that made my thoughts numb and my movements mechanical as we walked away from the church.

It wasn't until one of the evacuees from the hotel, a girl about my age with some type of mental disability, organized us in prayer that I felt the fear recede. Oh how humbling, oh how I shouldn't be surprised. This is one reason I choose the field of special education in the first place: my students show me time and time again the things I am blind to, especially when it comes to what really matters.

So that was Sunday's big adventure and certainly something I've been reflecting on often this week. We ended the day by stopping by Target for a 1/2 gallon of ice cream that was *gasp* not on sale. Talk about a celebration of life ; )

The next two days were much less eventful, but definitely busy! We've been saving up for a few items around the house including an area rug for the living room and patio furniture. We found a table that seats six, half-off at Target (chairs will have to wait until next year, as the color I wanted was sold out) and got the carpet we've had our eye on for about a year now. I am loving having a soft place to sit while I play on the floor with Caleb! We also got some cube storage that doubles as a window seat. Hopefully the livingroom will soon look less like a play room after bed time and we will have more space for company too : )

We did take a break from working around the house to go watch the fireworks. With Caleb safely locked in the house, we stood at the top of the hill and watched both the Chambersburg and Letterkenny firework displays simultaneously. It doesn't get much more awesome than that. Caleb even slept through our neighbors extremely loud mortars (they'd already talked to us before hand, because we have the best neighbors EVER) but I figured if he didn't he could just come watch too. What's one night of interrupted sleep?

I'll be posting photos of our updates along with our big project: Decluttering and Cleaning the Master Bedroom. However, as personal motivation, blogging will be on hold until that clean up is complete! It's the last room in our home that hasn't received some serious TLC since we've been back and it's definitely making David and I's evenings less peaceful just looking at all that clutter before bed each night.

It's great to have our house feeling more like home! Hopefully the master bedroom project will be complete after this weekend...

Is It Worth It?

One of my favorite bloggers, Kara, over at Simple Kids likes to say, "My family's simple may be your family's complicated." Can I just say this is so true?

When I meet new people I often get questions about why I do one thing or another, which I have no problem sharing about. In fact, part of why I write about the things I'm leaning on our blog is because someone told me about it, I tried it, loved it and figure someone else might too!

However at the end of the explanation, I'm often asked if I think ________(insert one of the following: cloth diapering, yogurt making, veggie growing, baby food making, etc.) is "worth it"?

There is no other question I find so difficult to answer! For our family some of the above have been worth it, others have not. I have no idea if any of them will be worth it for your family.

I can however, answer the question: How do you (Sarah) decide if something is "worth it"?

To be worth doing, a task has to meet several criteria for me, and I think the final one is the most important:

1. It benefits our family in some way
2. The time required does not exceed the value added
3. The type of challenges involved feed my soul, not drain it dry

For instance, cloth diapering is probably the thing I get asked about the most. To me, it benefits our family by saving us money, only adds two loads of laundry to my week and I love laundry. It's out there. I said it. Doing laundry, hanging clothes out to dry all bring peace to my heart. Not having to worry about running out of diapers simplifies my life. It's worth it.

Making my own baby food however, turned out to be another story. I was hoping this would be another money saver, but it turned out that a bag of organic frozen veggies combined with a handful of organic meat costs only pennies less than the same amount of organic jarred baby food. And then I had to wash the food processor. I hate dishes. It's out there. I said it. Seeing dishes piled up on my counter top, cluttering my food preparation area drains me. It wasn't worth it.

I think however, that all the things we learn and try, whether we stick with them or not, benefit us. I still make homemade baby food in a pinch (aka: Caleb ate faster than my subscribe and save shipment from Amazon could travel).

There are lots of wonderful things other families do that make me wonder "would that be worth it for our family?" Sometimes the answer is yes, sometimes it's no. Either way, I love looking at parenting as something I can learn from others about and be encouraged in, not as something that's a competition. That can be hard when you really admire something someone else has said "Yes" to.

There are several things I've seen friends try that have made me feel this way. Should I be doing that too? It seems to save them so much money. But for each money saver, there is usually a small time investment. And there are only so many chunks of time in our day to give away. And that's why I only choose money savers that also give me joy.

First Week Back

We've officially been back in Pennsylvania just over one week. I'm astounded by how much we've accomplished in that short time!

When we arrived back home, I was astounded to see the house in shambles. Was it burglars? No, it was the chaos left in the wake of moving with 3 weeks notice while caring for a colicky newborn. Clutter abounded, burp rags lay strewn in nearly every room, the tub hadn't been scrubbed in...a long time. I was so thankful my mom was staying for a week and David had taken time off.

Many hands really do make light work. We scrubbed, dusted, picked up, sorted, threw out, and consigned. Yet somehow, we all managed to end the week feeling rested. David enjoyed getting to spend extra time with Caleb while mom and I had a few mommy-daughter outings. We spent the afternoon at a friend's house while pest control came, consigned clothes at my favorite shop, and went to the farmers market early Friday morning. The farmer's market was definitely my favorite. I've been wanting to go for quite a while, but wanted someone to come with me. My friend Jen goes every week and met mom and I there in the drizzly 40 degree weather. Fortunately, it's an indoor market!

I found fresh produce for well below supermarket rate, milk from a local dairy, and free-range eggs (also below supermarket price). My most exciting find was amazing looking lunch meat for half the price of what I usually pay for sandwich meat. Score! It was a light turn out day for vendors since most are Amish or Mennonite and it was Good Friday. I'm looking forward to seeing what other stands are open next week...

David wasn't the only one babysitting this week though! Mom watched Caleb 3 different nights so David and I could enjoy some couple time. Our time in Florida was so busy, I hadn't realized how much we were in need of reconnecting until we had the opportunity to do so. Our first date was to a Hibachi restraint. I had wanted to go for my birthday last year, but it just wasn't an option with a colicky one month old who nursed every 1.5 hours. David decided it would be a great time to finally have that date. We had a great time and ate 2 more meals from the left overs!

Thursday, mom watched Caleb so we could attend Maundy Thursday communion service at church. Typically, evening services fall after Caleb's bed time so being able to attend and take communion together was a tremendous blessing. Between these two wonderful dates I was more than content. However, David had something special planned. Our two year anniversary is only a couple weeks away, so he decided we should celebrate early while my mom was still here to watch over Caleb.

Friday evening, after we tucked Caleb into bed, I swapped my jeans for the skirt I was wearing the day I met David and we headed to the Melting Pot. I feel I should mention that as we were dressing Caleb was beside himself. The poor kid has grown 4 teeth in one month. The latest tooth just made it's entrance this morning. Even with pain reliever on board, it took him an hour to fall asleep. We missed most of the tears thanks to Granny Robin shooing us out the door. What a great Grandma!

Finally, we were on the road. We hadn't made reservations since we're never exactly sure when we're going to make it out of the house, but we figured an hour long drive there would be plenty of notice. Who knew Good Friday would be so packed? The first available reservation was 8:45! You know you're officially a grown-up when the idea of starting a meal at a quarter til 9 makes you feel like you're back in college again : )

We killed time wandering around the mall and we're actually seated at 8:30. Even with an early start we enjoyed lingering over our meal and didn't finish until 11pm! I've been to the Melting Pot once before on a big girls night out with my college room mates. We only did the cheese fondue and dessert so the 4 course meal was a new experience for me. David and I thoroughly enjoyed each course, but I think our dark & milk chocolate dessert fondue with Bailey's swirled in was the best. Suffice to say, it was a fantastic time of eating, reminiscing and no interruptions! We arrived home at midnight, just in time for Caleb to wake up and cry for his nightly feeding. I took off my pearls, snuggled my baby boy close and thanked God for this wonderful life I've been blessed with.

The next morning, it was time to drive mom to the airport. Both David and I were sad to see her go. I am so thankful for Dad's willingness to share her with us for so long. I can't believe how rested I feel after a break from dishes and laundry for a week, not to mention all the dusting, cleaning and child care she did during her time here. It really freed David and I up to unpack, reorganize and declutter.

At the end of the week, the room we were all most proud of was the kitchen. Just before we left for Florida, our microwave died in a shower of sparks and arcs (no, I did not put metal in it!). We replaced it, reorganized the counter top appliances and now have a much more functional work space. The best part however, was getting our kitchen island/breakfast bar. I've had my eye on this piece since we moved into our house a year ago. We don't have much counter or cabinet space, so a lot of things were living in a large bin under the kitchen window. David and I consulted the budget and decided the time was right. It's been such a joy to both of us to finally have that bin out of the room!

Our Lived-in Kitchen

Notice the stationary bouncer peaking out from behind the island. It's the only way I can get things done in the kitchen while he's awake!

Of course, there is still much more work to be done, but if feels manageable...unlike how I felt when we first walked in the door! Better still, David and I are feeling so reconnected after a week of tackling projects side-by-side and several wonderful date nights. We are looking forward to continuing our work on the house. Expect some before and after shots. Sadly, I didn't take any of the post-colic disaster we walked into, so apparently that will stay a secret only family (and our house sitters) know : )

Hot Spot #4: Pantry and Fridge

Yet again, this weeks hot spot was the perfect preparation for our upcoming move. We're less than 2 weeks away from packing all our belongings into our two cars and making the 17 hour journey home. Needless to say, with space so precious, I don't plan to take many pantry items. So we're trying to eat what we already have and will send any extras home with extended family members who are coming for a final visit/packing party next weekend.

I've gotten much better at keeping the fridge organized. I realized how much food we were wasting just because it got buried and forgotten about and have since learned a few tricks that help keep moldy surprises to a minimum.

-I stack leftovers together. This way it's more obvious to me that there is a meal waiting to be eaten rather than a few random tupperwares scattered here and there.
-I put half used bags of shred cheese in the door. Other wise the new ones I bring home from the grocery tend to end up on top in the meat/cheese drawer and the old ones languish in the bottom.
-I open the veggie/fruit drawer almost every day and try to plan our dinner based on what needs to be used in there. Meat is usually being defrosted anyway so I try to let our produce guide our menu.

Actually cleaning the fridge, however...is another story. Check out these before and afters and try not to judge!

Before

After

I've been deliberately keeping our pantry on the low side for the past month knowing we'll be moving again soon. I didn't find much to throw away, but I did use take note of what dry ingredients need to be used up and planned meals for our remaining days here based on what's available. We'll be having tacos, casseroles, chili, spaghetti and soups. I'm also looking forward to "getting rid of" a few of our baking items. I mean, we can't waste those chocolate chips, right?

Before

After

I did notice several things that won't be gracing my pantry again (I hope...). We've been taking baby steps towards eliminating processed foods from our diet. We still have a long way to go, but I did find a few things in our pantry that I think we're about to get rid of for good.
-Soup in a can. I just don't like the taste any more. I make amazing soups and I have a recipe for making a white sauce (cream soup replacer) for casseroles that looks pretty simple.
-Granola bars. Don't get me wrong, I love granola bars! They are such an easy grab-and-go snack. However, the ones in the store tend to be high in sugar and have a lot of things I don't want to eat in them, particularly soy. I'm hoping to replace this beloved snack with fruits, veggies and occasionally my own homemade bars.
-Salad dressing. I love making my own dressing! It's simpler than I ever thought, tastes better and again, allows me to avoid the soy and other GMO oils in typical salad dressing.

There's another item in my pantry I'm hoping to get rid of soon...but it's a big commitment. I'd like to say goodbye to breakfast cereal or at least become much more distant acquaintances. This means actually waking up to cook my husband breakfast. It's only an extra 30 minutes of sleep to give up, but boy do I love those 30 minutes, especially since Caleb just started waking multiple times/night again. This is a more long term goal, but the idea of starting the day over a warm breakfast with my best friend does sound pretty wonderful.

Hot Spot #3: Toys and Baby Clothes

This week's hot spot challenge was to sort through toys and children's clothes. In our case, we have one 9-month-old who doesn't need much. So once again, the amount I had to sort wasn't all that exciting.

Tackling the toys was definitely the easiest. I can already fit all of Caleb's toys into one plastic bin with room to spare and he seems to enjoy all of them so I purged very little in that department.I did decide to pass on a couple things he rarely plays with to his soon-to-arrive cousin.

I decided to tackle his clothes by making "outfits". I tend to organize his drawers by type of clothing item (shirt, pants, etc.) but making them into (semi)matching outfits allowed me to see if there were gaps or a huge excess in any area. I discovered we have more outfits than he needs, but certainly not so many they don't all fit in one drawer. Since we plan to have more kids, I decided to keep almost all his clothes. I did get rid of a few things I decided didn't match anything else, weren't our style or would never fit him correctly based on his body type.

Before

After

I packed up about half his toys (mostly things that are for him when he gets a little older or things he can only use with supervision right now). I also packed a carry-on bag full of clothes in the next size up. Based on the way he's been eating these past 2 days, I'm wondering if I'll need to get some of those back out before we move!

This challenge reminded me of several things I've learned in the baby clothes/toys department since becoming a mom:

-Skinny baby=cheap clothes! Target, Walmart, etc. all cut their clothes smaller than their name brand competitors. And if I do want "name brand" for some reason, the pre-shrunk yard sale variety fit best : )

-"Halo" brand sleep sacks are amazing once baby out grows being swaddled, especially if your hubby likes to sleep with the temperature just above "arctic" like mine : ) I love the Halo brand because it's armless and can go over long sleeved PJ's easily. They are pricey new, but I picked up 2 at a consignment shop for $6 a piece.

-You're probably noticing a trend by now. I can count on one hand the number clothes we've bought brand new. We've been blessed by generous bags of hand-me-downs from friends, new outfits from grandparents, aunties and others, and have filled the rest out with yard sale/consignment. One thing I do recommend getting new: Socks. Hanes have worked great for us.

-Another bonus of hand-me-downs: you get "half-size" clothing. Whenever Caleb is leaving one size and heading to the next one up, the hand-me-downs always get used first. They've been through someone else's dryer enough times to be slightly smaller than his new clothes. Perfect for that in-between stage.

As for toys, I've learned one simple rule. Mommy and Daddy's things are infinitely more interesting that Caleb's toys. He loves when we can find grown-up items he can have (tupperware, waterproof/shockproof camera, laundry basket, etc.) Check out this "stacking toy" I set up for him this week:

Another big hit:

Of course, we still have plenty of tried-and-true baby toys that he loves:

-A stack of rings
-Many many many board books. This kid probably spends 20% of his day turning pages and eating corners.
-Balls and rolling toys
-2-3 battery operated talking toys
-an unbreakable mirror
-assorted stuffies and teethers

The typical state of our living room

One emotion that kept welling up in my as I sorted through these items was gratitude. I could fit the items we've purchased for Caleb into one medium sized box. Family, friends and people we haven't even met have been so generous welcoming this little life and passing things down. The memories that go with so many of the items make our lives that much richer. Every day I feed Caleb in the booster seat that I gave snacks to by nephew- and neice-by-love in, I see him wearing clothes other special little ones have enjoyed, I give him a blanket made by a grandparent, I chase him with his favorite tiger stuffie from Uncle Brian and Aunt Amy, and I'm reminded of how much we're looked after and loved. Especially by Uncle Brian...he really wanted to keep that tiger!

Hot spot #3 is complete and I am more prepared for this move than I've ever been for those in the past. I get very overwhelmed by something as complex as "moving" or "spring cleaning". These assignments have taught me how much can be accomplished when I focus on one area at a time and keep going until it's completely finished.

Hot Spot #2: Paper Clutter

This weeks hot spot was ideal in terms of preparing for our move. As I gathered up stacks of paper from my desk, the dining room table, our dresser, and ironing board, I was actually pleasantly surprised at how well I've done at keeping junk mail in the recycling bin where it belongs. So what was in these stacks? Receipts, pieces of bills, church bulletins, 2010 tax documents, computer software, CD jackets, magazines and even *gulp* one bill that had gotten buried (fortunately discovered before being past due). What a good reminder of why a good organizational system is important in this department!

Before:

Left is my "to recycle" box and right is the "to-be sorted".

Due to the move, my personal "finished product" is having all the things to be shredded in a red folder and the rest packed neatly in a box ready to be packed into the car. All the recyclables are where they belong, the to-be sorted box is empty and I'm feeling pretty good, until I remember we will need to reorganize our filing system at home, which will show how woefully behind I really am!

I realize reading about me cleaning approximates the excitement found in clipping your toenails, but I am such a (recovering) procrastinator and this is really helping me knock out tasks that need to be done before the 11th hour. Although my stack of papers might not look very big, I wish I could have posted a photo of the 20 tiny stacks of paper on the bed as I sorted through each item. However, having a husband with his masters in information security makes me a little paranoid about who can see my very public blog, enlarge photos and have all our important information (because believe me, if it wasn't important, it did not get filed!)

I would have never taken on such a big project this week with how busy we've been around here, but found that, with a deadline looming, I can push myself further than I think.

Hot Spot #1: Our Master Closet

For those who haven't read already, over the next 5 weeks, I'll be participating in project simplify. This weeks hot spot was the master closet. I thought this would be a snap considering I only have to sort through the few clothes I brought down here with me. Then I had an unfortunate realization...the master closet is my "stash space" before company comes. Everything that doesn't quite have a home ends up on this shelf (or the guest room closet, but that's another story!)

Here are some "before" photos:

There were a couple things I knew I wouldn't be able to do anything about. The pillows and blankets cluttering the top of the closet are government issue. We replaced them with our own from home as soon as we arrived. Also, notice the box of books on the floor? We were blessed to be provided with a furnished apartment. The one thing missing? A book shelf! So, that's been our make shift "book spot" these past 5 months.

The first thing I did was pull everything off my "stash" shelf and onto the bed. Here's what I discovered:

2 purses in desperate need of being cleaned out (as in, I found cough drops in there that I know, for a fact, were given to me by someone at church in Tallahassee almost 3 years ago...)

Baseball caps

An ice scraper

3 pedometers (provided by our health insurance company as a bonus for filling out a survey. One for each insured member they proudly proclaim. I'm temped to strap one on the back of Caleb's diaper and take a picture : ) It was fun to discover we walk 2300 steps during our evening walk (or 4600 if we do 2 laps, it depends on the night).

Lots and lots of paper clutter that should have gone to the trash can instead of the closet (are you surprised?)

Probably the most interesting find was a stack of magazine articles I've saved out for my "mom notebook". My mom notebook is my attempt to keep things organized in our crazy, frequent travel, life. It has Caleb's medical records and some of mine and David's as well, the phone number for my lactation consultant, recipes I didn't want to be without and new ones to try, activity ideas for kids I loved and want to try when Caleb is ready for them. However, these things are supposed to be stuffed into plastic page protector sleeves and organized by section. In reality about 6 of them look like that, the rest are stuffed in the front or back pocket or in this stack in my closet. Seeing the stack motivated me to purchase more page protectors and actually get my notebook functioning this coming week!

This hot spot was perfect for helping me meet my goal to get our apartment ready to move one step at a time, rather than scrambling at the last minute. Because of this project I:

Got rid of a bunch of trash

Organized important papers

Packed all our winter clothes into a suit case for the return trip

packed another bag for good will

and organized all our random electronic bits into one spot

And the result of all that hard work?

I really need this accountability to stay motivated for things that don't need to be done right now. I'm looking forward to the next 4 spots!