Eeeeeeeeeeeee!
Yesterday I received my Erin Condren Life Planner.
I can’t wait to start using it!
She has such an amazing deal going on. The planners are marked down from $60 to $36. The only thing is it starts in April 2012 and only goes until December of 2012. But that is fine by me. It gives me a chance to use it for the rest of the year and then just order another one around Christmas time :)
And even though I have only had it a day...
I am in love with my new planner!
Happy Planning!
Right now the sun is shining, the birds are singing and there is a chance of storms. I thought spring would never get here. And now that it is I am eager to do some deep cleaning and get rid of things that I have been holding onto for way too long.
Every year I try to go through and spring clean my life. It’s just like actual spring cleaning, but you clean out everything not just your closet and drawers.
1. Finances
Spring means one major thing for me... TAXES! So every year I go through my files and shred everything that I don’t need. I also like to go through my monthly expenses and figure out where I can save money and start budgeting for summer vacations. I use mint.com and I also keep track of certain things in a notebook. You just have to find what works best for you.
2. Declutter Your Home
Over the next couple of weeks go through your house and get rid of things that you no longer need, are broken or you haven’t used in years.
Be honest with yourself too! I can promise that doing so will make you feel so much better. Is it really necessary to hold on to the ten pairs of size 1 jeans that you wore before you ever had kids but have been secretly holding onto hoping that one day your butt would shrink enough for you to squeeze back into or is that can opener that has been sitting in the garage for 6 months going to fix itself?
3. Donate
After you declutter, gather all the items that can be donated and donate them!
Not only can you use it as a tax write off for the next year, but your stuff will not be going to waste. I am sure there is some girl out there that needs those size 1 jeans even though I am stuck in my size 5’s.
See don’t you feel better already?
4. Deep Clean
Now is the perfect time to get your house in tip top shape. I like to open the windows, crank up the music and go to work. Start in one room and really clean it.
Examples: if you start in the kitchen... baseboards, air vents and behind the refrigerator.
bedroom... ceiling fans, baseboards, under the bed and steam clean carpets.
5. Clean Out Medicine Cabinets and Makeup Bag
Now is the time to go through your medicine cabinet and throw out old and expired medicines. There is nothing worse than having a baby with fever at midnight and when you get out his medicine realize that it has been expired 6 months.
Do the same thing with your makeup! Replace your mascara and throw out anything that looks old or is broken. Say spring with some pretty pink eyeshadow or soft pink lipstick. Here is a great chart to show you how long your makeup is good for.
6. Get a New Do
Another great way to start Spring is by scheduling that long overdo hair appointment. You know you want to! You can cut off inches or just get a trim. Either way it will be a great way to start off the season.
7. Eat Better
I know that we all say that we are going to be healthier and eat better. But do we? I am the first to admit that I am guilty of always saying I am going to eat better, but I never do. Here is the perfect opportunity. Make it a priority to eat healthier this spring. Eat more fresh vegetables. The weather will be warmer so you can grill out.
And what’s even better is with the warmer weather here and the days being longer it will be easier to get out there and go for that walk you have been longing to do or take the kids to the park or ride bikes.
How do you Spring clean your life?
I was reading one of my favorite organizing websites is iheartorganizing.com and came across her post ‘Project Purge’ and it inspired me to do my very own ‘project purge’. BTW, Jen is a flipping genius! There are so many awesome ideas and so much inspiration in her posts. She really makes me want to organize!
Looking around my house you would think that my family needs to be featured on an episode of hoarders. Okay, it’s not really that bad, but you get the idea.
Over the next 4 weeks I am going to go through each room in the house and decide what needs to be thrown away, what can be sold, and what we should keep. Right now I am in the whole “less is more” frame of mind. There is definitely a lot of the ‘more’ around my house and I need a whole lot ‘less’.
Here is my plan:
week 1 {jan.23rd-28th}: bedrooms
week 2 {jan.30-feb.4rd}: office
week 3 {feb.6th-12th}: living room/entry/kitchen/laundry room
week 4 {feb.13th-18th}: garage
Maybe I will inspire someone else to ‘purge’ around there house just as Jen has inspired me. I would love to hear from you!
This week I want to accomplish so much! I have been putting a lot of it off for a long time and now that birthday and holidays are right around the corner I need to kick it in high gear. Plus, it’s out of character for me to actually do things before they need to be done :)
Stay caught up on laundry {I only have like 3 more loads to do}
Mop all the floors in the house
Clean off cowhide rug and put in kitchen
Pull baseboards from entryway, hallway and bathroom
Wash walls to prepare for painting
Put last coat of paint on entryway and hallway walls
Paint living room walls
Detail both bathrooms {clean really really good}
Vacuum out the urban burban
Clean pedestal table in garage and move to kitchen
Move current table to office and set up as {really BIG} desk
Finish painting cupboards in laundry room
Remove tile from entryway {this one is going to be fun :)}
Make all the beds
Vacuum bedrooms
Clean boys bedroom
Be on the lookout for the perfect window treatments for the living room!
See! I told you it was a crazy list of things to do! But I am confident that I will be able to complete everything that I need to in the time I have given myself. And as soon as I get these items checked off my list… I get new hardwood floors!!!
Happy Monday Y’all!
I have been reading I Heart Organizing for a while now and I have to tell you, I have kinda fallen in love with organizing a little myself. It is so awesome to know that everything is all clean and organized, but what’s even better is that I can find it!
The first thing I decided to work on was our fridge{s} and freezer. Partly because it was the easiest, but mainly because I knew that I could get them done in one day. They was a horrible cluttered mess and I was lucky if I knew what we had half the time.
I can’t believe how much better it looks now! I can find things, and it isn’t so crammed that things go to waste because I can’t find them to use them. I am still working on some storage ideas, but it is coming along nicely.
I love storing certain foods in bins. They are easy to access and don’t get tossed around all over the fridge. Another new love is glass juice containers. I can’t wait to get some for my milk!
Next on the list was to clean my freezer. Here is a before and after. I’m not sure if it will stay exactly like this, but it is already a million times better!
I am lucky enough to still have our very first fridge that we got as a wedding present. When we bought our new one we moved the old one out into the garage for extra storage if needed. Let me tell you, it comes in handy! I keep all the beer, wine and extra juices on the bottom shelf where they stay cold. In the door is where I keep all the condiments that I use, but not on a daily basis. This way I still have them, but they are not taking up space in the fridge inside.
I hope you enjoyed the little tour of fridge{s} and freezer.
Next on my agenda is my kitchen cupboards!
