Nesting...

There is much nesting going on in my home in the past couple of weeks. A refocus on our home instead of other things. An excuse of being too busy has been used for the past few years. Busy we are, but there is still time to take care of the home we love. Some things have been neglected and now need to be tended to.

Together a list was penned and progress has already been made on the marking off of things. Marked off things like 30 year old overgrown shrubs are now gone. New and younger looking plants are going in their well established place. Paint will soon be scraped, old and warped floors replaced, needle-crafts that decorate our home will be picked up again, things we don’t need given to those who do.

Spring and Fall are always nesting times for me.

Fall...the time to tidy up our home and make it cozy and comfortable for the coming holiday celebrations and winters snuggle in.

Spring...the time to open up, air out and pare down for the simpler summer days ahead.

As my spring and summer cleaning was deep this year, the fall work will be too.

Crossing things off the list feels good. Like Progress.

Hello, August?

Wow, it's already August and I've been so busy with my projects that I have hardly had time to breathe. The deep cleaning project is practically complete! I still have a couple of closets to purge and then it's done. I've been busy the last week finishing up some things and spending time with some people who I haven't seen for a long time...YEARS. It was great seeing them all.

So let's talk about what has come from this deep cleaning project I have undertaken. I have hauled so many bags and boxes out of our house that I'm sure our neighbors think that we are preparing to sell the house. Speaking of the neighbors...Pat, my husband and resident pack rat, has had some issues with some of the things I've been throwing out of the house. For once, he isn't trying to keep any of it, BUT, he has decided that this stuff is "just too good to take to GoodWill" and has taken it upon himself to give away (to the neighbors) the following:

• 2 lamps
• Wooden toilet paper holder
• Free standing wire shelf -which my neighbor is using as a trellis for his gourds...dang...why didn't I think of that?
• Other misc. things that I can't think of right now...

They have taken everything he's offered so I don't know if they really wanted the items or if they just feel sorry for him for having to haul out so many bags of trash to the curb the last few weeks. Whatever...the junk is out of my house! Enjoy!

So, what has come from all this cleaning and de-cluttering?

• I feel less stressed!

• My house actually feels clean!

• We know what we have!

• Everything in the house is either useful or decorative (with the exception of a few, well organized, boxes of momentos)

• Here is the best part! My brain is also less cluttered and I can now focus on some other areas in my life.

Remember I mentioned the life cleanup project? Here are some other areas where my life needs some cleaning up:

1. Management of my time!
2. My weight and why I struggle with this!
3. My creativity (or lack thereof since my kids were born)!
4. Putting more effort into my marriage and giving it the time it needs. (kids..work...you name it)
5. Doing things I enjoy - putting myself first sometimes (very cluttered here...you know...having kids and all that)!
6. Being joyful and really enjoying everyday life (this has a lot to do with time management)!
7. Money Issues - knocking out debt, learning to save more and teaching our kids good money management tools.
   

I'm sure there are other areas too but these are the main things I am focusing on.
First up is Time Management. Next time, I'll show what I've done in this area and how it's working for me. It's really cute, effective and addresses my creativity needs too.

Until Next Time...

**photo courtesy of flickr.com

Clearing the cobwebs...

Good morning...just a quick note before I head off to work.

I have been away from blogland for a week and guess what I've been doing? The Big House Cleanup Project is almost complete! What I have left to do is finishing up the laundry/storage room and I still have 4 closets to clean out and then this house is completely clutter free and deep cleaned!!

The House Cleanup has turned into a Life Cleanup Project and I'll share more on that later this week. Clearing a cluttered house leads to clearing a cluttered mind...

Talk to you soon!

Ahh...the sweet smell of ...

...Murphys Oil Soap, Vinegar, Windex, Pledge, Comet...Success!

I hope you all had a nice weekend. I had a great weekend. Really! My house is now approximately half way de-junked and deep cleaned. In fact, I think, the most challenging parts of my house are done so the rest of it shouldn't be too bad.

The best part about it is that I feel a little empowered...like I'm taking my house back. I had kind of let all the boys (hubbie included here) take it over with their toys, junk and dirt. Well, No More! You know what? The boys are thrilled with the results so far.

I now feel like I can tackle some of the other projects I've been wanting to do but haven't because I've been so stressed about this overwhelming cleaning project. So stressed and overwhelmed that I have just barely kept up with the basic household duties each week. Cleaning up this mess has certainly sparked my creativity again!

Someone should write a book or do a t.v. show about how therapeutic cleaning your house is. (ha..ha..)

While we're talking about cleaning, you should visit Carrie at Farming on Faith. She has some great resources for home keeping on her blog. Some great devotionals too! I'm pretty sure her post today, A Prayer For Womanhood was just for me .

Okay crew, here is the status on The Project:

Kitchen - complete
Dining Room - complete
Living Room - complete
Foyer - complete
Main Bathroom - complete
Kyler's Room - complete (3 large trash bags of junk - GONE)
Kobe's Room - complete

Plan of action for this week is:

--Master Bedroom/Bath
--Family Room
--Spare Bedroom/Office

and....

The Dreaded Laundry Room/Storage Room (Dungeon of unfinished space)...

...however, the laundry room isn't so dreaded now because Kobe has decided to take on this project to earn some money. I'm all for paying him some cold, hard cash to take this room on. He has already hauled away (to the curb) a big bin of broken race track, a little tykes desk/chair, a child's table and chair and a HUGE bag of trash. YES!!! And in case you're wondering why these were taken to the curb and not to Goodwill? We have some serious dumpster divers in our neighborhood who drive the streets each Sunday night looking for goodies. All these items are now GONE and the trash truck hasn't even arrived yet this morning. One man's trash is another mans treasure! Indeed!

Until next time...

*photo courtesy of flickr.com

What clutter causes...

I couldn't have said it better myself so I'm not going to. Go visit Laura at I'm an Organizing Junkie. She has posted a list of the negative effects of clutter in our lives. There is also a yummy strawberry bread recipe there too!

Have a great weekend.

Just call me the Queen of Clean...oh...does someone else have that title?

First let me tell you why I have let my house go.

I'm tired.

I had a baby...3 years ago...I went back to work full-time...I'm taking classes...Laundry...I have a busy 8 year old...I have garden work to do...I have this great book I'm reading...There are flowerbeds to clean out...I have to cook dinner...I live in a house with 3 boys...I have a mountain of laundry to do...I have office work to do...got to get the groceries...oh and there is this great show on HGTV that I need to watch...and...did I mention I have laundry to do?

*Excuses BeGone!

I started The Project Tuesday night and have continued whenever I have a free moment. The kitchen was the first order of business and I have to say that I can't believe how far I had let that room go. On the surface it was mostly clean, but if you spent any amount of time in there you would realize that it needed some serious attention. Let's not even talk about how disgusting it was behind the stove. When was the last time you pulled out your stove and cleaned behind it?

Wait!

Don't answer that! I know I'll feel worse when I hear that you do it every 6 months or more. I will tell some things, but I won't tell you how long it had been since the floor under the stove had seen the light of day!

The good news? We found the Shrek DVD that has been missing for months (maybe years).

It took me 5 1/2 hours to clean this room. Yes, that's right! I said 5 1/2 hours! I'm disgusted and humiliated all in one - so of course I'm posting it here for all to see.

Stay Tuned for more domestic wisdom coming your way very soon...



*Yeah, I stole this line! I'm reading a great book right now called Excuses BeGone by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

*Photo courtesy of flickr.com
I love flickr... I get great haircut ideas and gardening ideas here...Cool Resource.

Dust Bunnies Take Cover...The Troops Are Moving In...

I can't think or be creative with a dirty and cluttered house! So, I'm on a mission, folks. I'm going to spend the next two weeks deep cleaning and de-junking my house. It's LONG overdue and I can't stand it one minute longer. We have entirely too much stuff and I can't really clean the house because of all the junk. I'm talking baseboards, walls, windows, closets and the dreaded laundry/storage room. Those of you who have seen the laundry and storage room know that this room could take the whole two weeks. I'm not afraid, well, not very much anyway.


I will be doing this project before and after work AND for the next couple of weekends. Sounds like fun, right? Ummm...not so much! It won't be fun, but when the project is complete and my house is in much better shape than it is right now...I will be so glad I did it!

It will be a challenge but I'm up for it! Bring on the Junk and the Dirt!

Do you have any encouraging words for me? Please send them my way!