messy monday....

Sometimes a little is enough.  I have to believe that.  Although I have a small family, and my girls are grown, much of my time is dedicated to what they need from me.  I know someday they won't need much, so for now I'm grateful I can help out.  The only problem is, this leaves me little time to do big projects.
For example, my kitchen is cluttered but not filthy...If I had a couple of uninterrupted hours I could totally make the whole room sparkle...BUT, I don't always have that much time.  This morning I knew my day would be filled with running errands and preparing for a family reunion.  So, instead of stressing out about my cluttered kitchen, I quickly focused on what really needed to be 'cleaned' right now.  It was my sink!  I took 15 minutes to unload the dishwasher, re-load it with the dirty dishes and then scrub my sink out and make it sparkle.  I felt SO much better and was happy I got SOMETHING done today :]

24 hours, unattended, is all it takes for my sink to get to this point! 

Better!!!  Shiny and ready for more....bring it on!

"Celebrate the little things!"  I just stole this saying from a Peanuts Cartoon.  I think everyone needs to enjoy the little things they accomplish just a little more.  We would all be so much happier!  A baseball player doesn't hit a homer every time he bats.  Sometimes he only gets to first base, and that is progress!  One day my kitchen will be spotless, I know it will!  But for now, I think my clean sink is just awesome - I made it to first base :]

COUSINS!

When I was little I was super close to my cousins.  They were my best friends all the way through high school.  Tonight we held our 5th annual 'cousins reunion' and it was a blast!  The old days were the best!

Some of us....
Me, Ben (my brother), Mark, Stephen, Kathryn, Liz (my sister),
Amy, Kelly, Christine, Brian and Scott (always more like a big brother than a cousin!)

Family...it never goes away, it's always there...ya just can't get rid of it :]  We are all so old now and even our kids are big!  Crazy how fast time flies!!  I love my cousins.

Peace out and smile!!!!!!!!

spontaneous saturday :]

Spontaneous Saturday...A spontaneous action is a result of a sudden inner impulse...I seem to have these 'impulses' all the time! For example, on friday morning I had a 'sudden impulse' to get to work on the closet cleaning project I did not accomplish on monday.  It took me most of the day friday and a couple more hours this morning.  Now, it's FINISHED!  I didn't get a before picture of my closet, but I should have because it was incredibly messed and cluttered.  So, enjoy the end result...

The result of too many unnecessary articles of clothing
just chillin' and taking up valuable space in my closet!
That's a lot of sad, empty hangers :[

MY HOODIES HAVE A DECENT HOME!
No longer shoved into oblivion, they can now see the light of day

Not in a large pile, but on shelves.
Much better, now everyone is actually living with their mate ;]

It feels so DIVINE to have that project over and done with.  "Less is more"...a concept I have a very hard time with when it comes to clothes and shoes.  I have come up with a new goal, it goes a little something like this...'DO NOT purchase an article of clothing unless it's quality, a necessary accessory or I can't possibly live without it.'  I still have too many cardigans, t-shirts and shoes...but I am happy with my closet now and can easily deal with what is in it!  Oh, Happy Day :]

On it's way to charity!
I literally ended up with 14 bags FULL of clothes and shoes
to share with those who need them more than I do :] 

Peace out!

messy monday AND tasty tuesday

Sometimes we wake up in the morning with full intentions of doing exactly what we have planned to do for that day!  Sometimes it just doesn't happen ;]

Monday was taken over by a baby shower...that I forgot about!  So I botched up my plans, grabbed Sadie and went shopping for a dang cute baby gift.  We found one at Carters which is right next to the building my Caitlyn works in.  Seizing the opportunity, we stopped by & luckily she was just getting off work so we went to lunch.  It was fun and I'm grateful for that time my girls and I spent together.

I was going to clean and organize my closet for messy monday...but instead...I made an attempt to fix a few little messes today to make up for yesterday.  After putting away some groceries, I realized a couple of my drawers were a mess....so I took 3 minutes to get those messy drawers cleaned up and organized.  Still felt good even though the projects were small.

BEFORE:  messy.....

AFTER:  clean & organized...

I never took a 'before' pic....but, I'm sure you can imagine!
it's much better!

"Great things are done by a series of small things brought together."  Vincent Van Gogh


Tuesday (today) turned out about the same!  I spent most of my day making up for what I didn't get done yesterday....bank, grocery store and laundry.   I had a really delicious recipe I wanted to try and I was super excited about it....HOWEVER, on my way to take Sadie to her friends house, we saw CJ and stopped to say "hi!"  He said it was time he took me out on a date!  Um....OK!  So, we went to see a movie.  It was fun, and I'm so glad we took the time for a date ;]  So my tasty tuesday didn't turn out so tasty.  When I opened my box of pepperoni pizza I actually laughed out loud...HA! how ironic...it's tasty tuesday and this couldn't look any less appetizing!!  It wasn't bad and the popcorn and milk duds that accompanied it we pretty good too ;]

who made this one...it looks terrible!

I love my CJ and being with him is my favorite thing!  Isn't he just the cutest?  Well, I think so!

yay....DATE NIGHT with this guy!

we picked this movie...very entertaining!!  

"I think of dieting, then I eat pizza"  Lara Stone ... SO True!

So, the moral of the blog is this....sometimes we get distracted from our goal, but, it's ok because we can take joy in the smaller, and sometimes greater, things that blessed us with the distraction.  It's hard for me to enjoy the distractions...but I'm learning and breathing, so I'm going to be ok ;]

Peace out and chill :]

messy monday

Today is the day...As part of my Happiness Project, every day of the week I'm going to do something different that, I feel, will build my creative energy, peace of mind and skills in general ;]  I have big ideas, like ALL the time, that keep me up at night, turn me ADD and make me anxious!  I have kind of suppressed the urge, for the last 5-ish years, to even try any of my ideas.  Just didn't have the time or the energy, but I do now!

My idea is to have messy monday, tasty tuesday, whimsy wednesday, thoughtful thursday, fashion friday, spontaneous saturday and scripture sunday.  We'll see how it all goes down, I may not post everyday because I'm slightly flighty and a little free spirited...but that's ok :]

MESSY MONDAY: (pick a mess, clean it up and rejoice in your efforts!)

I have had a pile of "stuff" in the corner of my bedroom forever!  My daughter said the other day "Mom, I don't think I've seen the carpet in that corner since we moved here?"  We moved into this house 8 years ago.  This pile has not actually been there for 8 years, but it does seem like something has always been stored in this particular area?!   And then last night, the same daughter, says to me "Mom, I think you might be a hoarder?"  I responded "You are probably right."  It was at that point I was grateful that I had a plan to blow through and get rid of it!  It's true, I hate to throw away something that can be used but I do not believe I am quite to "hoarder" status yet and I plan to never get there ;]

BEFORE
the corner the carpet could not be seen!

AFTER
yep...I still have carpet

I still have some things that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them?  However, they are all organized in a storage box and ready to be moved into the storage room (which is already organized and has plenty of space!).  I will now rejoice in my efforts and drink the rest of my diet coke while I gaze at my carpet ;]

Peace Out!