Organization Challenge #7 The Laundry Room

Before:

My least favorite room in the house.
After:
Not that much different, took a few items out that didn't belong and sent them to the DI.
Containerized the Spray and Wash and starch. Not a hard challenge. But it still got done.

For you Krista

I told my single gal friend that my life is laundry. She doesn't believe me. I told her once that there is law of physics that Newton did not discover but we mom's did. Something to the effect that at any given time there is at least 4 loads of laundry to be one. Even when you think you have done all of the laundry. There is STILL more. It's like the Bermuda Triangle I think. Physically impossible but it still happens anyway.

This picture is just a small glimpse of what you have to look forward to my sweet single friend. And this is just 3 days worth.

Pudding Paint

Vanilla instant pudding, food coloring, and some freezer paper.
Make for one very happy girl.

and a messy table.

My friend and neighbor gave me this idea for finger painting. It was obviously a hit. And she was quiet for 1/2 hour.

Slow

Today seemed to go by in slow motion. stuck in traffic going to work. work was eternal. Stuck in traffic going home. The check out lady at the grocery store was well....slow.

I get home tonight, excited to eat my dinner that was being "slow" cooked int the crock pot.

No way .

Yes ladies and gentlemen that is BLACK , CHARRED, Swiss Chicken.

I give up. I've taking NyQuil and headed to bed.

Why phone cameras were invented.

I never thought I would use a camera phone. I don't need a camera phone. I need a phone-phone. I have a camera. A nice one. But when it was completely impossible to buy a phone-phone without a camera. I was forced.

So when I see things in this fine bee-hive state....A culture unique, described only as Redneck meets Brady Bunch. I whip out my camera phone.

My small collection of all things Utah

Really dude. 1985 was 26 years ago. Not your best look. But you move to Utah and you suddenly feel the urge to grow a mud flap.
You know....words cannot express how I feel about this awesome use of a Cricut. I wonder if he came home one day...asked his mom/girlfriend/sister whoever "can I use your paper cutter thingy--i got a great idea!"
Yes you do sir. Yes you do.
This is Abby. She was freaking out because she thought I was taking her picture. Nope sorry honey. It was only to catch a picture for my collection.
Another proud owner of a mullet. He most likely combed and hair dried it just to come into the dentist. Is this man married? If so does she like the mullet?
Does he have a family? Does anyone care about you sir?


So this is a small sampling of my collection. more to come.
What a fine state I live in. Proud to be a Utahn.
Excuse me while i go clean my shot-gun.

Organization Challenge #5- The Pantry

I told you-I'm a mess. You didn't believe me. did you.

I had you fooled, didn't I! Ha! I knew it.

I have been dreading doing this challenge. This Pantry is the bain of my existence. It's big and I can fit alot of stuff in it. Maybe that's the problem.

I've organized it 7 ways from sideways and it always ends looking like .....

THIS. a complete disaster.

After removing some of my organizers and replacing them with these plastic drawers it looks much improved. As you can see I am low on sugar. :) That is the main idea isn't it. Be able to see things at a glance- not have to go through the whole damn thing before i go shopping.

Still room for improvement. I need to get a bigger box for the platic wear. There's always something.

Organization Challenge #5-Dresser Drawers

Unorganized Chaos- Everything everywhere. I really don't know how I function.

As you can see my underthings are a complete disaster.

I saw this on someone's blog I was stalking. She had rolled her camis and undershirts. smart. so i copied

Socks and Hosiery under control thanks to these honeycomb organizers that i got at Bed Bath and Beyond.

Bras and Sports Bras and ah hem...other things... all in a row.

We will revisit this in 6 months to see if I can keep it this way. Old habits die hard. But it is nice to know where everything is and that everything has a place.

Dance Class

This is Addison's Dance Class
She calls her uniform her "dance unicorn" so funny. as you can see she dances to her own tune and rarely follows directions

Parents aren't aloud in so these pics are taken though a window. so they aren't that great. But Addi loves her little dance class. mostly she checks herself out in the mirror. Her little friend Makayla is in her dance class. I think their favorite part is the fruit snacks afterward.

Organization Challenge #4 -Under ze Sink

Isn't it amazing what I can stuff under a kitchen sink. The picture doesn't do it justice.
Hello nasty bottom of the cabinet. Yes that is an old dried up bunch of garlic.
Thank you for asking.

Clean, organized according to use- Dish Soap, House Cleaners, and Floor Cleaners.

I feel better now, don't you..?

Are you on the challenge?

Organization Challenge #3 The Linen closet-

Day 15

Linen Closet Before-Gosh it was a mess. I have always wanted to have all my sheets folded nicely -neatly-in size order etc. But I'm not Martha Stewart and Heath folds most of the laundry around here so we end up with this.
I did put Addi in a Rubbermaid container and labeled her also. just so you know.

Linen Closed after. I kept 2 sets of sheets per bed. Organized hand towels, pillowcases in the small bins and the sheets in the big ones. Found the olive green baskets at Shopko.

Much better. i am breathing easier and feel less stressed and this is just Day 3.

Oganization

Computer Desk Before
After

Day 14

So my real computer desk did get a going over but it wasn't that horrible so i tackled another "catch all" desk that is in the kitchen. When we build this house i thought "oh this will be handy with the cubby holes and a desk in the kitchen" NO WAY" It is always messy. It attracts everything but men and money. So I emptied the whole lot of it and cleaned her out. containerized. labelized and Voila!
A somewhat organized Catch all desk.

Cruisin'

Day 13

So my boss' told us last week we are going on a cruise as an office in Jan 2012. So excited. Southern Caribean is the place they want to go-which is great because I haven't been there yet.

sorry summer i copied you. :)

look what i made

Day 12

Sorry for not posting-

I've been very sick with the flu and could not get enough energy to think of anything clever.

But before I got sick I made this little monster doll for my nephew's birthday. It is so ugly its cute.

21 days to get myself organized

Having the flu- the real flu makes for alot of time on the internet. So I found this website on my friends blog http://abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com. She has some great ideas for getting my not so organized home- well -organized. It is a one project a day system and that way I don't feel overwhelmed and anxious about it. But I am excited. For Day 1 I organized my junk drawer. I didn't take pictures but i should have. it really wasn't that bad . In the next days i will document my organization transformation.. This is huge for me. I will have to post my seriously unorganized life for all of you to see. yikes. but isn't that why we blog in the first place?

Mom's should not get sick. Period. The End.

Day 10
The flu has ravaged me. I told myself "nah-you don't need a flu shot" damnit why do I listen to myself.
So i have the flu, it sucks,.
The End

New Skill-or obsession?

My uber-talented mother learned me how to crochet. pronounced cro-shit. Because of the number of times you say "Oh Shit!" while you are doing it. So I learned, I swore, then I ended up with this pretty scarf thing. Don't you think it matches my eyes. ha ha.

In all seriousness I have wanted to learn how to crochet and knit forever and have . So as part of my "New You" resolution I wanted to get myself a new skill/ obsession.

I am now obsessed with yarn and everything like unto it. I am currently learning how to knit a trendy ear-warmer thingy. We will see how that works out. Don't you worry i will blog about it.

Jumpin' Jacks

Day 8

I don't know about you but around here it is starting to feel like the movie

"Ground hog's Day"

wake up, go to work, come home, read, sleep-repeat

Not today-we decided to shake things up a bit. Because the air is so bad and it is so cold outside we cant go out very much. So a last minute decision to go to Jumpin' Jack's in Springville is just what we needed.

Addi's cousins Peyton and Ava were along for the ride.

Ava and Addi going around on the "carousel"

Addi was a bit tentative at first....

Peyton was a seasoned professional.

Addison finally joined in and when it was time to leave I had to climb one of the "aparati" to get her down. That was pretty-I'm sure you're sad there isn't a picture of that. All in all a great way to spend a Saturday. And the 2 hour nap that followed wasn't bad either.

Date Night

Day 7

Date Night at the Dalton's

We went to Mi Ranchito-hands down the best "guess whats under the cheese" Mexican restaurant in Utah County.

Great spicy salsa and the most divine mix of Diet Coke.

If are a coinsure of Diet Coke like I am , you can appreciate the above statement.

I've never been disappointed with my food or service , never waited longer that 10 min for a table

and the cute Hispanic lady that refills your chips and salsa is adorable.

Makes me want to give her a hug. And fix her teeth.

My Mom

Day 6

This is my mom. I love her. Man she's great. I don't know anyone like her. Heath said the other day "if anyone could cross the plains in a hand-cart, marge would be the one!"

She is tough as nails, she can build-sew-craft-knit-weld-scout-doctor- just about anything ,you name it. She's a pretty great teacher too. I've learned from my mom the best reward is a job well done. Do it and don't do it half-assed.

She says that too-wonder where i get that?

She has been the young men's presidents wife, the scout masters wife, the elder quorums pres wife. the bishops wife. all with a smile and not a complaint that i ever heard.

I gave my mother alot of grief as a teenager. I was wild. not too wild. but just enough to make her hair grey. She loved me through it. Gently and sometimes not so gently guiding me in the right direction. I don't know what i would do without my mom. She is always helping me. Whether helping me finish sew a dress for Addi or baby sitting in a pinch. She is always there and never makes me feel like an inconvenience.

I love you mom.

Santa at the Riverwoods

Day 5

the "Santa visit' did not go as planned this year.

Addison was scared to death of this nice but slightly scary looking man. Hid behind Heath's legs and said "i don't want to go"

I'm thinking "oh yes you will-I need a Santa picture. I don't know why i was so hell bent on getting this picture. But I was. After 2 trial visits and letting her ride the pony at Brikenstaffs. It was achieved.

Just for the record the Santa at Riverwoods shopping complex is the BEST. No lines, no annoying teenager trying to make me buy a mediocre picture of my daughter and Santa. No commercialism. It was great. Just us and- the scary man in the red suit.

I hope you all had a very Merry Christmas.

For the Birds

Day 4

The last two years we have placed a bird-feeder in our back yard. It is right by the widow and is for some pretty spectacular bird-watching. Tux our cat is very intrigued by the feeder and spends hours watching every move these feathered friends make.

Every once in a while I will hear a loud "BONK" which is a poor bird running into the glass.

I catch myself just starring out at it when the birds are feeding. Pretty entertaining to watch them fight for the best seeds. The little winter birds are so delicate, their feathers are amazing colors. If you don't have a bird-feeder for the winter, may I suggest you try it out. Fun for adults and kids get a kick out of it too.

Unstoppable

Day 3

While I was at Target a few weeks ago, I was in need of new eyeliner.

A must have in my arsenal of make up essentials. The Almay eyeliner i was using was smudging and making me crazy

...so I was on the hunt.

I stumbled upon this neat little number.

Maybeline Unstoppable Eyeliner- in Espresso

wonderful

no smudges, it's waterproof,

it never needs to be sharpened

the best part

It's $5

I love Target.

Jesus wants Addi for a Sunbeam

Day 2

Addison is officially a Sunbeam. sniff, sniff.

She looked so grown up today. sniff, sniff

She has an awesome teacher Brother and Sister Gallop.

By the looks of the classroom scattered with crayons and whatnot it seems they had a great time together.

Hopefully this Sunbeam will shine reverently in Primary.

We will see.

Laundr-o-mat

In my sheltered and spoiled life. I have never been to a laundr-o-mat. I have always had my own washer and dryer right down the hall, stairs, etc. Until last night.
It was a strange experience.
First of all I feel I need to explain
Addi's comforter will not fit in the front-loader washer. we tried. didn't work.
SO we loaded up said wet,soggy, throw up covered comforter and headed up to the nearest laundromat. Its about a mile from my home.
Leaving my home with detergent in hand and a half empty bottle of Clorox felt surreal.
Entering the business i was confused. "what do i do now?" and there is no-one there. aside from the kid who was maybe 16, the place was vacant. how does this place stay in business, i wondered.
So i found a large washer- which was really a dryer- Heath and i look at each other and say "is this a washer or dryer" you think it would be easy to tell but, i say it is not.
Take the soggy, heavy, throw-up covered comforter out of the dryer (not washer) and try again.
Finally found a large washer- with no help but out own intelligence. Load the yucky thing in again and "what now." At home we push a button. The washer asks us what water temp, and it is smart enough to know when and what to add to the load of clothes. it a smart washer
This Laundromat washer was not smart. i didn't feel smart either.
after deciphering the code of symbols on the washer and dumping detergent and bleach in the correct spots ( well i think it was the correct spots) We were on our way.
Well then we had to do simple math to figure out how many quarters are needed.
$5 dollars. $5 to do one load of comforter. Rip Off
But the comforter is clean-for today.
How did you spend your New Years