Getting my Buns Organized!

Warning: The "before" pictures of my disorganized house contain graphic images of messiness and chaos. Please resist the urge to un-friend me after seeing the condition I let my closets get in this past year. I promise I have reformed my ways!!

Okay, a couple months ago I posted this plea for intervention after my epic disorganization led to an embarrassing forgetful mommy moment that affected Teya at preschool. Thankfully I got some great ideas in the comments of that post and I have been putting them to use over the last few months.  Here are some results of my rehabilitation.

 You may remember this picture, the table of doom where important papers, bills and mail would get sucked into a black hole and be lost, forgotten or destroyed by the kids.

Goodbye table of doom, hello table of order! 

Several people suggested I buy filing trays to sort my mail right when it comes in. Now I grab the mail, immediately throw away the junk, then sort the mail into magazines, correspondence, invites/announcements/events and bills to be paid. I also bought a little mail holder to put my outgoing mail in so I can just grab it when I'm going out and stick it in the mail. Last of all I bought the little organizer drawers to put coupons, gift cards and important receipts in. 

 Also after forgetting Teya's roll-a-thon pretty much everyone suggested I get a big fat Calendar  to put all our family events on. I opted for the dry erase kind and have color coded the events for each person in the family. The little pockets below the calendar are where I put anything with event info on it, so b-day party invitations, letters from school about upcoming events, dr. appt reminder cards, etc... That way when I see an event on the calendar I can just check down in the pockets for additional details.  Also I've been using the calendar app on my phone when I'm not near this calendar and it has saved me!

And now I'll address my closets. This is embarrassing, but here we go. 

Despite the pictures you are about to see I actually keep a relatively tidy house. (Yeah, sure, Becca, we believe you.) Seriously! But my closets are my weakness. Out of sight out of mind, and since I was pregnant most of last year and then dealing with a new baby for most of this year my closets got seriously neglected. Anyway one day I read this post and I got inspired to just pull out the trash bags and take back my closets! I attacked them with two mantras: 

1) A place for everything and everything in it's place

2) If you don't need and and don't use it, Throw it away!

So here's how it went:

Laundry closet before: There is a radio on my dryer. There is also a box of decorations from Teya's 4th b-day party a year and a half ago on the shelf.  The pampers box had papers in I haven't' touched since we moved here. There is also a basket of socks that don't have mates but I kept holding on thinking one day they'd magically reappear. Also there is no where to put folded clothes in here.

 Laundry closet after:  I threw away the papers, threw away the socks without mates then started making a place for everything else. I stored a few things in the basement and put other things where they should go. Now I can actually fold my laundry in here. So much better!

 This closet is also in my laundry room/bathroom. I'm sure it's for linens but I use a closet upstairs for that so it's become my paper goods, party dishes, tools, batteries, lightbulbs and random junk storage. problem is, could never find things in here.

Did some more throwing away and place designating and now I can actually see the floor and find stuff I need.

It really helped to put this shoe organizer in here for little things like batteries, lighters, matches, light bulbs etc... A place for everything and everything in it's place!

Coat Closet: Sadly I did not stage this picture. 

This is honestly the horrendous state it was in when I came to work on it. This closet has been my nemesis all summer. I never got around to fully de-wintering it so it still had lots of winter gear it it and all our random bags would just get thrown in here on the floor and it was a huge mess. We also keep all our running gear in here but it didn't really fit in those drawers and everything was overflowing.

 Brought in some bigger storage drawers for the running gear and all those bags. Also put some baby gear like the snugli and Cam's beach tent in one of the drawers. Filled up a box for goodwill of old shoes that nobody wears that were taking up tons of space. Also put old jackets and winter gear in the good will box. Made a place to hang my purse and put our church bag so it's ready to grab on Sunday mornings. Threw lots of stuff away.

Me and this closet are finally friends again.

 (Brinley in the Good Will Box. She was not included in our donation ; )

 So embarrassing as it is to post those before pictures, I'm really happy to have my closets back.  My main strategy was to put things in one of three categories: trash, donate, or find a it a proper home. 

Next up: The kid's closets, my closet and the linen closet. Should go pretty quickly now that I'm on a roll : )

More Organization Info

A Couple people mentioned they were interested in hearing more about getting organized after my organization post. So here is a link to Camie's blog. She's the gal who taught the class and she posted a great handout with all the fabulous tips! CAMIE'S ORGANIZATION HANDOUT.
Enjoy!

Getting Organized!

A few weeks ago I attended the most inspiring Relief Socitey meeting where we learned how to organize our homes. The class was taught by the amazing Camie Christensen, who could seriously be the CEO of the world because that's how organized she is. Since that meeting I have been an Organizing machine! I tore through my house like a woman on a mission. I threw away 3 huge garbage bags of toys and lame stuff we never use. I sold some things on craigslist, gathered a few big boxes of clothes to ship to my sister, and took 5 huge garbage bags full of clothes and toys to Goodwill. WOW that felt GOOD!

I bought a bunch of plastic trays, bins and containers and starting organizing my junk drawers, bathroom drawers, desk drawers and closets. I also did a pretty good number on my pantry. She told us to Find a home for everything you own, and every night, return everything to its home. That advice has saved my life! My house is so much easier to clean, keep clean, and navigate. I used to be the ONLY person around here who knew where anything was because we didn't have proper homes for everything. Well now I can confidently leave anyone in charge and know they'll have no problem finding what they need : )


I present you, the drawer of organization (formerly known as the black hole or junk drawer) No more digging around to find what I need, everything's in its home, right where I can find it.

My Pantry used to be a nightmare too. Boxes would sit on the shelves totally empty, and I wouldn't even realize it. Camie suggested buying some clear sterilite plastic containers to put kid snacks like granola bars, fruit snacks, chips, etc.. in. That way they are accessible and easy to keep track of when the inventory is getting low.

I Also like that they're down on Teya's level so she can just open the pantry and get what she needs. The best part is those containers are only 97 cents each at Wal-mart. Easy and cheap.

Finally found a home for our shoes that pile up by the back door. I have one of these by the front door but we never come in that way. Bought one to go in the closet by our back door and our entry way is no longer clogged up with shoes!

I've had so much fun purging and organizing my closets and drawers that now I'm ready to hit my filing cabinets! Camie told us that 80% of what we file is never looked at again. A couple days ago I bought this bad boy, time to get rid of that extra 80%!!

Crock Pot Fever!

There are a lot of things I love about my job, but cooking isn't one of them. Dinner time is usually very stressful for me. I never know what to make, and then I put it off until the last minute so at 5 o'clock I'm stressing out in the kitchen trying to throw something half decent together. I'm usually starving though and fried from my day and the kids are grouchy and hungry too, so most the time I just bag the idea of cooking and call Taber to tell him to bring home take out. Yeah, not good for our diets, or our budget, or poor Taber's sanity. He's had a long day too and I'm sure the last thing he wants to do is wait in line for take out (or eat Ramen, which is the other alternative.)

So anyway, long story short, I went to a fireside where Julie Beck was speaking, and SHE said that she puts her dinner on as soon as she cleans up breakfast. Genius!! Mornings are much more sane than late afternoons. If I could get my dinner on early it would make everything so smooth and easy. So I asked my friends for their crock pot recipes and got to work. We had a fabulous week of tasty meals, and best of all, it was soooo EASY!! And made my afternoons so much more calm and peaceful. I'm going to try some more but here are 4 that I loved from last week.

Savory Whole Chicken:
This chicken was out of this world delicious!! Click here for the recipe. After you make the rub you spread it all over the chicken and then just stick it in the pot, no water or anything. The chicken makes it's own juices as it cooks and OH MAN!! That broth is mouth watering! Next time I'll throw some carrots and potatoes in the broth an hour before it finishes. I also pulled the chicken out of the crock pot and put it in the oven on broil for 5 minutes to crisp the skin. (oh yeah, and I only used half a tsp of cayenne pepper and it still had a little kick)

Chicken in the fabulous broth after cooking all day.

Chicken after crisping the skin in the oven.

Chicken Tortilla Soup:

Another tasty one. I've actually done this one twice it was so good! (also makes GREAT leftovers!)
4 chicken breast halves (mine were still frozen)
2 15 oz cans of black beans, undrained
2 15 oz cans of Mexican stewed tomatoes, or Rotel Tomatoes (I used the mild rotel ones)
1 cup salsa (mild, medium, or hot, whichever you prefer) I used pace picante mild.
4 oz can chopped green chilies
14 1/2 oz can tomato sace
Tortilla chips
2 cups grated cheese

1)combine all ingreidents except chips and cheese in large slow cooker
2)Cover, cook on low 8 hours
3) Just before serving, remove chicken breasts and slice into bite size pieces. Stir into soup.
4) Serve with Chips and cheese on top.

Tortilla soup in the pot and below with chips and cheese.

Nicole's Creamy Chicken
I didn't know what to call this one so I named it after my friend who gave me the recipe! It's super easy. Just combine an 8oz brick of cream cheese, 1 packet of lipton onion soup, and one can of cream of chicken soup (I used a hand mixer to blend them) Then put the mixture on top of 4 frozen chicken breasts in the crock pot and cook on low for about 5 hours. Shred the chicken and serve with rice. The flavor is rich and my KIDS LOVED IT!! Teya had seconds both times I made this and ate the leftovers the next day. Taber loved this too and seriously ate like 5 servings worth.


Salsa Chicken
Another super easy one. Just dump a jar of salsa on top of 3 or 4 frozen chicken breasts. Cook on low for 5 hours or so. Shred the chicken and serve on tortillas with all the fixins!

Salsa chicken in the pot and with the fixin's below!

Hope you enjoy the recipes and that they help make your dinner time a more relaxing part of your day! (p.s. I'm always looking for more crock pot recipes, if you have a good one please send it my way!)

Kitchen Warriors

It may have taken us 3 1/2 hours, and I may never attempt such an ambitious recipe again, but Maria and I are claiming kitchen warrior status for the homemade lasagna we made for our men last night! Here is a link to the recipe http://mylasagnarecipe.com/ Let's just say it involved us cutting up fresh basil leaves, grating a pound a real mozzarella, and throwing in spices I've never cooked with, like fennel seed. Oh yeah, we are hard core!!! (all you REAL hard core chefs are like, "aw, cute, Becca thinks she can cook now... bless her heart") But seriously! We felt so accomplished! (Of course, I think it would've taken me 5 hours without Maria and I probably would've had a meltdown somewhere in the middle) Still, I'm patting myself on the back for trying something new. I'd also like to mention that we made homemade bread rolls, fresh green beans, and a strawberry poppyseed salad for extra credit. Our men were quite appropriately blown away, and I'm giving myself the weekend off cooking because I EARNED it! : )

Keeping it Real Campaign 2009

So I was blog surfing yesterday and came across the Let's Get Real 2009: Perfect people lie Challenge. I found it refreshing and somewhat liberating, but I didn't know if I had the guts to do it! After thinking it over, a couple of things have convinced me to be brave and snap some pictures of my house in all it's natural glory.

1) Every time anyone comes to my house unannounced I find myself bumbling out disclaimers like "oh please excuse the mess, it's normally not like this..." who am I kidding? Of course it's normally like that. I have little children. Even if I followed them around cleaning 24/7 I don't think the whole thing could ever remain tidy for longer than 15 minutes. (unless I had them in straight jackets, but that's just wrong...) So yeah, I think step 1 is for me to stop the denial and accept that my house is a house that is lived in, and therefore, messy.

2) I was talking to my friend awhile back about "The blog induced depression" That one can go into after reading about other people's "perfect" lives. Well we ALL know that NOBODY'S perfect, so here's to a little bit of imperfection!

3) And finally, I read this quote off another friend's blog who accepted the challenge and it just really hit home to me. She said, "I'm learning that I'm only going to be in this stage of my life once...and then it's going to be gone & if i don't make the most of it & try to enjoy each day...messy house or not...I'll look back and regret it...everything turns out to be okay. eventually things get put away (it may be days later), but it all gets done, eventually!"

So without further ado, I bring you, My house.

First stop is my living room. That's Teya on the couch plugged into some cartoons. Yes, I let my child watch a full length cartoon every day while Brinley naps because dog gone it! I need some quiet time too! On the floor is an empty puffs can, wipes from changing Brinley's diaper, Brinley's clothes that I stripped off her before putting her down for a nap, and a freshly drained bottle that I gave her to help her sleep because I am a soft bellied sucker who doesn't have the heart to wean her from the bottle even though she's almost 14 months old.

Next is a close up of the TV stand. Why are there 7 DVD's out of their cases? No wonder Teya's cartoons always skip...And maybe someday I'll think of a better place to keep my hand weights, but today is not that day.

Here's a closer look at our table. Ramen noodles stuck to the table top. Teya's slimy frog to accompany her for lunch. And toy shelves in my dining room because let's face it, that's where all the toys end up anyway!
Let's visit the kitchen shall we? More bottles. I really need to buckle down on the bottle weaning. I will say that the sink actually looks pretty good! (it should considering that I am constantly loading and unloading the dishwasher all day long)

Kitchen counter with a can of Slim Fast, a tribute to my futile attempts to break up with junk food. At least I'm trying...What else? Wipes, baby shoes, my purse, and the mail. Sometimes my counter doubles as a desk, but more often it's just my catch all when I walk in the door.

Here's my "desk" (a.k.a. cheap card table with all our electronic junk thrown on top) I see snacks, my empty bowl from lunch (blogging makes me hungry) the diaper bag, oh and that's a little egg timer by the computer because I'm trying this new thing where I limit my computer time. (As I've already spent an hour on this post I will say that the egg timer isn't working...yet...)

Heading upstairs (brace yourselves, it's about to get scary!) but first, the stairs themselves. Laundry that I need to take up, a bag of stinky old rags, and notice the lovely crayon markings on the wall. Thank you Brinley.

At the top of the stairs is my room. I'm only posting this little corner because you can only be so brave... Bed isn't made, my jeans never made it to the hamper, more wipes and clothes from one of Brinley's many spontaneous diaper changes. Monty's dog food bowl that he drags in our room to eat and his special monkey Zander.

Our loft. Uh... yeah. I think I pulled all that camping stuff out 2 weeks ago to make room in the guestroom for my parents. Then I just left it there because we're going camping this weekend. I guess at the time I thought, "why put it away when I'm gonna use it again in three weeks?"

And since I won't post pics of the bathrooms or my closets of shame, I give you my own crowning jewel, Teya and Brinley's room. No need to describe the beauty you see here. Although I would like to point out the lovely Dora blanket that I draped over the window to block out the light when they sleep. Someday I'll put in curtains, but once again, today is not that day.



Whew! Well it feels good to have that off my chest. Try it if your feeling brave. It's pretty liberating. Also I would like to apologize to my Mom. I know you raised me better than this, but really Mom, we can't all be superhuman cleaners like you! : ) And now I bid you farewell, I think I have a house that needs to be cleaned!