40 Bags in 40 Days-- Day 1

One of my Facebook friends shared a Lent challenge called "40 Bags in 40 Days".  The idea behind is very basic.  You fill up 40 bags of trash or charitable items in 40 days.  It is supposed to be from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday.  You can choose the sizes of your bags-- I'm not really sure that's really the purpose. The main idea is to rid your house of clutter and trash and things you don't love or use.  

Yesterday, the appraiser came so I took half the day off.  Let me remind you the house has been cleaned before she came-- but now is the perfect time to de-clutter!  Because the house is so clean, it's easy to make the progress.  I simply clean out what I'm supposed to and it's magically still nice looking!  So, now the bathroom looks great inside the cabinets and out!  I think I'm going to paint in there this Spring Break as well.

Here is a little bit about the bathroom.  I guess I'm sharing my personal stuff too, but oh well!  We're all girls!

My drawer that I keep my hair stuff in, toothbrush/toothpaste and miscellaneous stuff... 

<---- Before

I put in two baskets.  The first (yellow) is for my hair stuff (pony-tail holders, brushes, combs)

The second (blue) is make up, tootbrush/toothpaste and contact cases.

<----   After  

Under the sink in the hallway bathroom.

<---- Before

<----   After  

The bottom drawer.  Lots of panty liners that McCoy likes to 

take out and scatter throughout the house.

<---- Before

<----   After  

In addition to the hallway bathroom, I also cleaned under the kitchen sink, cleared off the hallway linen closet's floor, got rid of some pool floaties, and cleaned out the piano bench.

I have before pictures to add, but didn't get around to taking the after, so I'll post those for another time.

101....

I can't wait until I finish this list.  I want to create another one.  But if you notice, I still have a little over a year and I'm well on my way to crossing off this whole list.

Join Me in Spring Cleaning

In conjunction with February's focus: Budget and Bills, we looked into re-financing our house.  It's only been 3 years, so starting over wasn't a big deal.  We are more interested in saving money each month so we can pay off our loans and credit card debt.  If everything works out perfectly (fingers crossed) we will save nearly $250 a month!  Think of all we can do with that!

But we need to get the house appraised.  I asked several people on my Facebook status, how clean should it be and got several responses.  Some saying that it doesn't need to be that clean to repainting the baseboards!  So, Mom and Dad graciously took McCoy after church so Whit and I could "clean sweep" our house.  We got a lot done in a very short amount of time although I have to give props to Whit because his motivation and mad cleaning skills prevailed as I was whining and wanting to lay down around hour two.  Good job, Whit!

We did a lot to the house, but most of it was stuff that I just "put away" or found a spot for.  There are several areas of the house that really need some spring cleaning.

So I am extending an invitation to you!  Join me in a spring cleaning party!  I'll give you a plan for each week and then follow up on what I've accomplished (or failed to complete!).  Join me and we will get rid of clutter, clean dust and cobwebs, and enjoy living a more simple life.

I vow to get rid of stuff that I don't love or need.  I vow to clean out the "groanable" areas of my house and I will publish what they are so that I can be held accountable.  And yes, my car is a part of my house!  I don't have a deadline for this because I'm guessing it will go well into the summer months.

So here is my list (yes, a list!!!)
De-clutter:

Basement-- Computer room.  This room needs to be purged, really.  Too many books, computer stuff that I don't even know if it works, and little stuff that I've gathered throughout high school and college and the first few years of marriage.  I'm going to make that closet shine!  (As best I can).

Craft Room-- This one is tough one.  I'm thinking of getting rid of MOST of the stuff in this room and here is why.  This room is so cluttered that it will take years of throwing stuff away or donating it to get it cleared.  I want to eventually get rid of everything in here because it will most likely be our next child's bedroom.  And I want to do it before we starting trying so that when if I do get pregnant again, I won't be moving and scrambling around to get things done while I'm doing so many other things.  I want to move the table and craft stuff downstairs to the office.  That will take some figuring out though because as previously stated that room is cluttered too.  I have some stuff that I hate to give away simply because I either paid a lot of money for, or I made it.  Needless to say, the closet is stuffed full-- but at this point in time, you can walk through it, although it's tight!

My closet-- of course, getting rid of clothes I don't wear

Whit's closet-- of course, pulling teeth to get Whit to get rid of clothes he doesn't wear

Closet in hallway-- of course, getting rid of coats and *gasp* games we don't ever play!

Bathrooms-- this just needs to be purged as well-- mostly my stuff

Garage-- I feel like I just need to put this on here just because...

Van-- cleaning and getting rid of junk.

Speaking of cleaning cars (that is this month's focus), I have like four rubbermaids full of stuff that has been taken out of various cars.  Like from last summer.  I really need to de-clutter my car!

Okay, that's enough!

The Pit in Pictures

MARCH-- Clean out the car!
So in order for me to be held accountable, I am posting pictures of the Pit.  Embarrassing, you bet?  Motivating?  Even more!

Check back soon to see pictures of a fresh, newly cleaned, non-pitted out van!

Pretzels, Sliders, and Manners

This is one of those multi-topic posts today.  Several things I want to talk about.  So, here we go.

Pretzels
If you've noticed lately I've been really trying to be more frugal.  I've made menu plans, budgets, and shopped secondhand.  I have been doing all this in light of several things.  First and foremost, our household budget was failing.  It was absent, really.  I claimed to make a budget, but what I was really doing was writing down all the money we spent on credit card bills, the mortgage, doctor's bills, stuff like that.  I wasn't telling my money where to go.  I wrote it down, and then watched it disappear.  Secondly, Dave Ramsey has been teaching me how to be in control of our money instead of letting it control us.  That has been one of the best things that has happened to us in a long time. We are finally taking ownership.  Lastly, I'm so tired of relying on pre-made products.  I hate how easy it is to buy a bag of frozen food and throw it in a frying pan and dinner is ready in 10 minutes.  How can this be healthy for my family?  This is when I made my vow to cook with more whole foods instead of frozen, pre-made foods.  But that's another topic in itself.  (So, how is this about pretzels?!)  Anyways, I am really focusing on how to be more frugal.  I'm following blogs of frugal people and reading up on how to cheerfully live on less.  So, I got a bread machine as a wedding present from my in-laws.  I used it a few times, burnt the bread, and then put it in storage, proclaiming I couldn't cook and I didn't even know how to use a bread machine.  Well, I'm dusting it off.  Codi told me just to use it as a "kneader" and then bake the bread in my oven so I can control the temperature and time.  This weekend I'm going to give it a whirl.  I'm going to make Soft Pretzels and I'll let you know how they turn out.  I love to eat these things, but they are just so darn expensive!  Even the frozen ones at the commissary are like $8 a box.  And we can eat them all in about a day.  If I can make them, and they turn out great, maybe I'll make like a quadruple batch and freeze them for a "handy after-school snack."  According to Cozi, I have all the ingredients!!

Sliders
The sliders I made the other night were OUT-OF-THIS-WORLD delicous!  They will be going on the menu again and again!  They were so pretty and very tasteful.  They were simple to make and I enjoyed watching McCoy become excited to eat them.  Okay, that was short, but I thought I would let you know that the sliders are defiantly worth a try. (Click for the recipe).

Manners

Awwww, this story melts my heart.  This one is about my precious baby boy, who is growing up to be a fine, well-mannered young boy.  Recently, we taught McCoy how to sign "please".  Within a few days of signing it on a regular basis, he began to speak the word.  "Peeeeeees!"  He can sign and say that when we ask him to say it.

Mac: "uuh uuh" (and other whiny sounds)
Mom: "McCoy, can you say 'Please?'" (while signing)
Mac: "Peeeeeeeeess!!" (while signing)
Mom: "Good job, Buddy!  Here you go!"

Now, McCoy can say several other words clearly-- Momma, Dada, and Bubba (the dog), but his first, real, word, is "Please."  How wonderful is that?

This morning, McCoy woke up around 5:00 am (I know, right?!) and so I brought him in bed with us and nursed him for about half an hour hoping he would fall back asleep.  Alas, he did not.  He shimmed out of our bed and walked into the kitchen to the refrigerator asking for his milk cup.  So, I said what I always say, "McCoy, can you say 'Please?'"  McCoy says "Pleeeeeeesss??"

We were getting dressed and McCoy saw this stacking toy (that Whit hates!) on the top shelf of his closet.  He began to make his whiny sounds and opening and closing his hands like "gemme, gemme!"  And this time, all I said was "McCoy, what do you say?"

Then music rang out.
"Pleeeeeeesss??"

YES!!!  I didn't have to say "McCoy, say 'Please'".  No, he knew.  I love him and love watching him grow smarter everyday.  I'm so blessed that he is one smart cookie!!

The Pit

Yes, I'm referring to my car.

It's always been so dirty!  Not just the outside-- actually thankful for the rain we had on Sunday, the car is no longer dirty-dirty.  It's only partly dirty. :)

No, the inside.  It's horrid.  I claim I live out of my car.  And when I upgraded to a van this past summer, I vowed to keep this car clean!  My vow lasted all of five days.  And my excuse?  "Life happens."  "That's what you get when you have kid(s)."  "I am so busy."  "I don't want to use up my family time cleaning my car." BLAH, BLAH, BLAH!!!

FlyLady.net says you should clean out your car every Friday.  Friday is desginated to refreshed up the car, check the car seats, throw away empty soda cans and fast-food cups, and to clean out your purse.  Luckily for me, I haven't been carrying a purse for a while.  My purse is my diaper bag (or vice versa).

Here are some tricks I have done (very inconsistantly):

• Between the front two seats, using the hand rests, I have placed a Wal-mart/target bag to collect trash (Target bags are the best, they are thick!)
• Throw away loose trash every time I fill up with gas
• When going into a store or a building, throw some trash away

But right now I have in my car:

• Some of McCoy's dirty clothes
• at least two pairs of shoes (Mac)
• TOYS!  Too many toys!  My kid doesn't even need a toy while riding in the car.
• two cups from the KU Football game Whit and I went to in like November....
• Valentine's day candy
• receipts, receipts, receipts
• a wintery coat
• bed sheets
• baby wipes... lots
• notebooks
• binders
• paperwork
• programs from various piano stuff
• water bottles 

It's just plain pitted out.  I need to invest an afternoon and get it cleaned!  So, this month is dedicated to cleaning out my car and KEEPING IT THAT WAY!  And no, I'm not going to wait until March 31 to clean it out.  I'm going to do it soon.  Check back as I hope to have before and after pictures of The Pit.

The Menu

Several people have been posting on my Facebook status's or links about my menu planning.  So I thought I would blog about it.

In attempt to focus on Budgets and Bills this month (February), I have made myself a very strict rule.  I will make a menu plan.  I will stick with it.  I will shop for ONLY those items that I need for my menu plan.  There will be NO impulse shopping.  I will NOT throw things into the cart because they look delicious or I can't live with it.  

I have been making a menu plan for about 2 months now.  At first, I took very small steps-- what are we going to eat for the rest of this week?  I wrote it down on our calendar on the fridge.  Then I went out and bought the stuff I needed.  It worked!  We kept with it.  I think one of the reasons the first couple of weeks worked for us, I scheduled in a day to eat out.  We were in the habit of eating out two or three times a week-- when I didn't feel like cooking or was at a loss for what to cook.  So, without quitting that "cold turkey", I wrote it down-- we would have a "date night" once a week, usually on Fridays.  There were a couple of times that we change our date night to Tuesday or Thursday instead but that wasn't a big deal.

This past week, I decided to take another step.  Instead of menu planning for the week, I was going to plan for the two weeks and have only one shopping trip.  When I made my menu plan, I put in there the days that I knew we weren't going to be having dinner (Sunday dinners at my parents' house, etc). and then went shopping.  Since I have only been doing this menu planning/shopping plan for a couple of months, I have no idea what I spend a week on groceries.  So, I just started somewhere.  Okay, $50.00 a week-- let's try that.  So, for two weeks, that would be $100.00.  So, I went to the store this weekend, and came home with $117.00 worth of groceries.  Not bad!  I bought a few things that weren't on my list.  Some ready-to-eat meals (like Chicken Viola) and some extra hamburger and chicken (both on sale!).  So, the money wasn't spent on candy or ice cream or something else that didn't hold some nutritional value or wasn't on the menu plan.

I had 3 snow days last week.  During those snow days that I was supposedly "snowed in", I made an inventory list of all of my groceries.  Pretty much everything that is edible in our house.  I made lists on the computer (using Cozi) and separated it into different pantry lists.  I have the "Pantry Inventory", "Baking Inventory", "Fridge Inventory" and the "Freezer Inventory".  I used the Cozi website and re-titled the Shopping Lists to fit my needs.  So, from there I used subtitles (if anyone is interested, you need to type your subtitle, for example-- CANNED GOODS, all in caps, and it will create a subtitle).  

There are some awesome pros to this website and system I've created.  For starters, I know exactly what I have in my cupboards!  I even went to the extreme with the product information.  For example, one of my entries looks like this:

         tomato paste-- 4 (6 oz.) cans

The reason I wrote that information is to help me in my menu planning.  Which  brings me to my next fabulous pro about this system.  I can access this information from ANYWHERE!  And when I say, ANYWHERE, I mean A-N-Y-W-H-E-R-E!!  I can access it from my home computer (which is where I do all my cooking, duh!), I can access it from my school computer (which is where I do a lot of my menu browsing and planning), I can access it from my parents' house (which is where I do a lot of "stealing" of ingredients!) or best of all, my cell phone (which is where I look when I shop!).  Now I don't have to call Whit and ask him how many cans of Cream of Mushroom soup I have in the pantry.  Now I don't have to wait to get home to make my shopping list.

Okay, so I know there is that one horrible thing though-- keeping it updated.  I know, it will be hard to remember to take off a can of fruit cocktail after we eat, or to say that the ranch dressing is almost gone.  But if I keep up with the menu planning, I will be able to know what I have on hand and what I don't.  Even if I don't keep it 100% updated, at least I will have a starting point.

I also want to try and post what my menu will be for the two-weeks (as you see I have another page for it on my blog.).  This way, I can also access the blog from anywhere (phone, school, home) and now exactly what I'm planning on cooking.

You know me, I love organization.  And this just seems to fit me.  Stayed tuned for my Home Organizational Notebook.  I've been working on that for a couple of weeks.