I'm on a Mission...

... TO DECLUTTER MY HOME AND GET IT ORGANIZED!!!

2016 is here and this is a MAJOR goal! 

We have lived in our current house for a little over 11 years now. Since we moved in, our family has grown with 5 children, and has sheltered several relatives who needed a little bit of help. With the addition of wee-ones, visitors through our revolving door, entertaining for holidays and celebrations, etc., we've had to move things from room to room to room, ending up in our dumping ground of a basement or office. Does that sound familiar??? 

It's time for me to take the bull by the horns and get it together! 

We are currently finishing our basement for more living space and storage, both of which should provide homes for our mix-match belongings. Our basement should hopefully be complete right after the New Year! YAY!!! With that said, I am already planning the decluttering process while figuring out where our personal belongs will reside.  I'm rather excited about it!

First on my list are the closets.  Closets are a great place to store items as long as they are organized.  I'll be starting off with my on closet which I share with my husband (his closet has become storage).  While decluttering my closet, I hope to clear his out as well.  Then, MAYBE we can use our respective spaces to not only house our clothing, but store some of our important memorabilia and other necessities.

My current problem with my closet is multi-level: 1) I don't hang up my clothes, 2) I put something on, then realize it doesn't fit or I'm not digging the look and drop it on the floor, 3) I have boxes of stuff on the floor so I can't reach my hangers easily to hang things back up, 4) I empty my pockets at night and just dump the contents on the dresser (ie. pens, coins, trash, toys, etc.), and 6) I'm not utilizing my space well.

I started to tidy up, before I remembered to take a "Before"photo.

That Kohl's bag is my trash bag.

I just toss the contents of my pockets onto the counter.

I already cleared out some of the boxes in front of my clothes... now I can reach my clothing.

Of course my mission to get my house under control was not a spur of the moment idea.  It is planned mission which I have been attempted to do over the past several years. I would start the process, accomplish several goals, and then get distracted or overwhelmed and just stop. And the whole cycle starts again. I'm hoping that by writing about my process, I can keep myself on task, and inspire you to keep chugging along!

Tip #1:
Set up some goals and write them down!!! A plan is just a dream... it becomes a goal when you write it down!!! One of my big goals is to get my house organized by the fall.  I'm hoping to go back to finish my master's degree, and having a chaotic home will not help me to succeed easily.

So, I have my big goal!  Now to break it down into smaller goals!  So, my first "mini" goal is to organize all the closets in my home.  By doing this, I provide more spaces to become a home for specific items.  I could go and break that down even further: 1) Remove items that do not belong in this closet, 2) throw away all trash and items that no one could use, 3) separate items to be upcycled or donated, 4) take care of clothing, 5) make the space attractive so that I would want to use it.

First step in my mission!

WRITE DOWN YOUR GOALS!!!

Tip #2:
Here is one tip that I recently read about that I think would help me: instead of completely changing the habit of someone in this decluttering process, try altering the behavior by providing a compromising solution!  For example: I tend to empty my pockets at the end of the day by dumping the contents all over my counter.  No rhyme or reason... my pockets would just vomit onto my counter.  Pleasant, I know.  

So, instead of completely changing my habit, I found compromising solutions to help me improve the habit.  So, I have placed my beloved COW piggy bank on my dresser for the flood of coins I drop; placed a small pail on the counter to collect my pens/pencils/markers; placed a decorative box for items I need to return elsewhere in the house; I just need to add a small waste basket inside of my closet.  I'm excited about the compromises!!!  At least all of those contents can be easily located when I need them again!

Cleaned off my dresser top!

Piggy bank for collected coins & mini bucket for all the pens/markers/pencils which end up in my pocket.

Collection box for pocket items which I need to distribute throughout the house.

Tip #3:

Don't be afraid to look up solutions!!!  You are not the first nor the last to run into organization issues.  Here are some resources I found about getting organized.  If you have other resources not listed here, PLEASE share!!!  One can never have too much knowledge in a particular topic!

7 Ways to Declutter You Probably Haven't Tried

Decluttering Room by Room

7 Reasons to Declutter and Live with Less

Ok, I'm not going to droll on about decluttering.  You know that it needs to be done, so let's do it together!  I'm holding myself accountable by sharing my journey with you!  Feel free to share you successes and failures.

Let's try this again, shall we???

A Stitch in Time, Saves Nine

Nine what?

I've heard the saying before and I think I got the gist of it, but never really gave it much thought.

"A stitch in time, saves nine."

Meaning: A timely effort will prevent more work later.

Origin: The 'stitch in time' is simply the sewing up of a small hole or tear in a piece of material, so saving the need for more stitching at a later date when the hole has become larger. Clearly, the first users of this expression were referring to saving nine stitches.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/a-stitch-in-time.html

It's a pain in the booty, but I'm all about finding solutions to buy me more time.

One of my issues has been preparing dinner.  Because I'm out and about almost most of the day, and still running around to various kid activities during the after-school hours, dinner doesn't enter my mind until an hour before... while I'm out.  To the choruses of "I'm hungryyyyyy!" I head to the drive thru.  (Blech.)

As I am on the path to getting back to healthy (losing the 60 pounds I gained over the past 10 years, becoming less dependent on blood pressure medication, regaining my stamina to keep up with the kids and be active, etc.),  I am in search of ways to eat healthier.  Not just for me, but for my entire family.  I've instilled some atrocious eating habit in my kids... time to unlearn them!

So I ran across this:

 

31 Crock Pot Freezer Meals for Back to School

I've done freezer meals in the past, but nothing for the slow cooker!  Could this be?  Could this be my salvation? 

Freezer meals in my past, had to be placed in the oven an hour before dinner time.  As much as I run around, "I got no time for dat!"

But throwing it into the slow cooker in the morning before running my errands... this could be it!

So, I became ambitious and did my "stitch in time."  Bagging, chopping, dividing, meat, produce, spices, sauces, etc into gallon size freezer bags.  That stitch took me longer than anticipated.  However, I have to say I was distracted by the minutia of kid rearing, and the grand time sucker of errands.  Luckily, my DH and MIL helped fill in during my absences from the kitchen island.  And after the joint effort, VOILA!

 

31 FREEZER MEALS FILLING THE VOID

IN THE HAUS OF BRAUS FREEZER!

Now I just need to organize it. 

I have a love/hate relationship with Pinterest.  Once finding the 31 recipes above, I'm on a mission to find more freezer friendly foods to "stitch in time."  

I get sucked into Pinterest looking for such treasures, and linger longer than I should.  I just want to put in a list of food that we like and the perfect recipes pop up, without me having to scrutinize any of them.  THAT would save me nine.  But again, I'm stitching my time... gotta do the work, to save on that work of weeding out recipes later.

As a result of my exploration, I found some great after-school snacks that I can make.  Again, this will help me save time with having to run our for scouts, dance, karate, meetings, etc.  I am currently in the process of recreating these portable, tasty concoctions.  Easy peasy, lemon squeezy!

Now THESE are Pizza Rolls!

For my Mac 'n' Cheese enthusiasts in the Haus!

(Read the reviews in the above link, you may want to doctor up the original recipe.)

Taco Cupcake Tuesday, anyone???

Hmmmmmm... do you have any favorites???  Please share in the comments!  :D

~ Chel

What Do I Do, Now???

Holy moly!  I'm free!  I'm free! Can you believe it???  I'm free!!!  Or am I?  Now that I'm free, what do I do, now???

"What is this chick talking about?"

Ladies and gentlemen, I am free.  To do what?  I'm not sure.

"What is she free, from?"

I'm not exactly sure how to articulate it, because I'm not so sure that I AM free.  And even if I am, not sure if it's something I should be happy about.

As I sit here, in my messy house, waiting for my kids' school bus to arrive I realize I have so much to do... and more time to do it now that ALL of my kiddos are in school.

"Ahhhhh... I see where she's going with this."

Do you?  Because, I don't know if I do!  :D

I started Mommy-hood back in 2001 when we took guardianship of my husband's cousin/Godson.  He was almost 12.

Got married in 2002.

Got preggers and had baby #1 in 2004.

Had baby #2 in 2006.

Had baby #3 in 2008.

Had baby #4 in 2009.

And now baby #4 is in Kindergarten... it all flew by so fast!

"Yep... I saw where she was going with this."

And now, I have a little bit more of uninterrupted time... or do I?

"Of course you do!  There's no one there but you!  You can tackle everything you've been wanting to, for years!"

Yeah, I can... and I think that's my issue.  there is so much I've been wanting to do, that I don't know where to begin!

Sure, the house needs a REAL GOOD CLEAN UP!
Sure, you can be Susie Homemaker of the year with preparing meals in advance!
Sure, you can volunteer like crazy now!
Sure, you can go to the gym!
Sure, you can get geared back up and blow your Pure Romance business out of the water.
Sure, you can hang out with your girlfriends!
Sure, you can get the laundry done and organized!
Sure, you can purge all the crap out of the house!
Sure, you can...

The list is endless.

But, what if I don't really want to do any of that right now?

I just want to... sleep.
I just want to sit here and do nothing.
I just want be still.
I just want to hear the clock tick.
I just want to get into my head, and listen to my voice... or listen to nothing.

"Well, hello there Hazel... long time no see!"

Just be.

Soooo much to do!

Just be.

Soooo much to catch up on!

Just be.

Soooo much to accomplish!

Just be.

Just be me, for a little bit.  Take off the hat, and just be.

I have plenty of hats to put on... just take them off for a bit.

Just be.

Breathe.

You'll always have something to do.

Just be... you haven't "been" in a looooong time.

Ok, self.  I've got 10 minutes to be.

Tomorrow, we can do.
Tomorrow, we can catch up.
Tomorrow, we can accomplish

9 minutes to be.

~ Chel