34 Weeks of Clean: Rinse and Repeat Week 34

When we started 34 Weeks of Clean- Rinse and Repeat 34 weeks ago, it was truly not a challenge just for you.  It was was for me as well.  I knew that the timing was perfect for cleaning and organizing after just being in our house a year.  It also gave me a chance to connect with new friends along the way, locally and on the web.  And while the clean and organized house makes me want to cheer, it is the community of friends I have made along the way that have blessed me the most!  You all have made this journey fun and have encouraged me along the way and I THANK YOU from the bottom of my heart!

In addition to the simple art of cleaning and organizing, I hope these are some takeaways you also got from this journey-

• Our stuff does not make us who we are!
• Memories are best held in our hearts, not in our things!
• Everything has a home!  If not, get rid of it!
• Before you buy something, ask yourself, is it useful and do I really need it?
• If you love it, use it, and would buy it again, keep it.  If not, out it goes!
• One person's trash is another person's treasure!  Be willing to share!
• Five minutes of pick up a day will keep your house cleaner than you think!
• The less you have, the easier it is to be organized.  Declutter!
• Buying more containers does not amount to less stuff!

So where do we go from here?  Now that you should have a relatively clean and organized house, I am going to let you in on a little secret.

 It will not stay that way without a little effort!

So what's a girl to do?  Rinse and repeat!


Maybe you do not need to start again tomorrow, but you will probably need to start again at some point, sooner than later.  I already know several areas in my own home that need some attention!

A clean and organized house does not just happen.  It takes commitment and a little effort.  You can do!

A BIG thank you to all who participated!  It has been so much fun to interact with you and to see your successes.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

A BIG thank you also to my friends at 62 Gifts and Redeemed for their generous prize donations!

And speaking of prizes- our GRAND PRIZE winner is....

Kelly J   

Despite some pretty serious health struggles and even a surgery, along the way, Kelly submitted a picture every week of our challenge!  Way to hang in there, my friend.  Be checking your mail for your goodies!

Thank you again, friends.  I hope you will stick with us here at Family, Faith and Fridays!  We would love to have you!

Blessings,

34 Weeks of Clean Rinse and Repeat- Week 5: Recipes

OK friends, we are going to take a week's detour from hard cleaning - week 3 for Kitchen cabinets and drawers took me about 5 hours and week 4 of fridge, freezer, and floors was hard (and cold) work and I need a break!  Next week, we will be finishing up the kitchen and moving deeper into our houses, so be ready!

But real quick, let me answer a few questions I have been asked recently.

Why schedule one space a week and why so slow?  Here are my thoughts.  A few of them anyway.  Consider it kind of a spring cleaning project that you can do once a year.  Yes, we should be cleaning more often than that, but if we are all being honest with ourselves, some things simply do not get done as often as they should.  Things like blinds, ovens, and behind furniture.  Anyone else?  By concentrating on just one area each week, we run less of a chance of burnout- ask me how I know this!  It is easy to start strong and be excited, hence all of the amazing pictures you all have been sharing, but then real life sets in, we get a little lazy, and all of a sudden time has gone by and something else has demanded our attention.  I get it, because I can be guilty of it.  Accountability, and in my case checklists, have a great way of motivating people.

And so why the checklists?  For your ease and motivation!  To help you think outside the box and to help hold you accountable.  Just pretend each time you check something off I am standing there nodding my head and smiling.  Especially on those hard projects.

And let's face it, everyone's definition of hard project will be different.  That being said, NO AVOIDING the hard projects.  If we get to one you REALLY do not want to do, I am willing to bet it is the one you need to do the most! ;)  Just do it, and then enjoy the weeks you are excited about.  Not all will be exciting, but all will get you one step closer to taking your house back!

Let's do this!

So this week is a simpler project - recipes! 


Ok, maybe not simpler, but at least no scrubbing is involved.  More organizing, and I LOVE organizing, remember?  But, be forewarned that this is a little more than just straightening things up a bit.  This projects took me about 3 hours total!

I have recipes in several places.  Some places they belong, some they do not.  Let's just say I like to pull recipes out of magazine and copy them off the internet faster than I can file them. It is a bad habit of mine. Well, one of many, but who is keeping track?  Anyway, this is what happens-

Those are actually the ones I threw away.  It was time to be realistic and keep only the ones that I am really going to try, aka simple ones that my family might be willing to try.  I had numerous, (see the picture) for things that sounded good to me, but when I stopped to think about it I realized that they would only sound good to me.  There is NO reason to keep a recipe I am NEVER going to fix because my family would not eat it.  Other recipes that got the axe were ones with a million steps to them.  I know my life and I know my tolerance level- I am not a chef not do I desire to be one.  Time to trash the recipes that do not fit into my busy life.

I have two file boxes of older, tried and true recipes.  One for only desserts and one for anything else.  After careful consideration of ALL the recipes, yes one by one, I threw out half and put the rest into just one box.  I asked myself with each one I touched, do I fix this, do I like it, am I ever going to fix it?  

Quite frankly, I am tired of copying new recipes onto those tiny little cards I cannot read anymore, so last year I adopted a new-to-me system.  Hold on to your hats!

Three Ring Binder.

 Yep, that is it.  Silly easy, huh?

I divided sections into categories that make sense to me and then put the recipes in page protectors. Makes clean up easy when I have tiny helping hands, and makes it much easy to file recipes I pull out of magazines or off the internet.

So here is your assignment:

• Get those recipes organized.  If you have a system that works for you, yay!  Go through it and throw out the ones you don't use.  If not, go buy an inexpensive three ring binder and give it a try!

• Don't forget those cookbooks!  I used to have about a million more.  I even collected a series from Southern Living.  They were beautiful but I NEVER used them.  I finally took them to Goodwill several years ago.  It was time to stop carrying around (we move often remember) 15 cookbooks just because they were pretty!  Go ahead - pare down, you can do it!

Yes, this is really what I kept!

 

 

And about these little things.  You know that impulse aisle in the grocery checkout aisle?  Well, it is not the candy that gets me.  Well, that gets me too, but it's those little themed recipe booklets that call my name.  They seem fun at the time.  But I cannot tell you the last time I actually used one of those recipes.  So I went through every one, yes I did, and pulled out about 5 recipes I wanted and KNEW I would actually use.  They went into my 3 ringed binder and the rest went in the trash.  Yay me!! 

See, no cleaners or rags involved.  Til next week! ;) One more week in the kitchen, friends.  Remember, we are on a quest to take back our homes.  That means we are not only cleaning, but de-cluttering as well.  More things mean less room. More things take up space we could use otherwise - in our homes and in our heads!

Have fun and keep only what you need and will use!

Once again, I am so thrilled you are joining us! Each week more and more people join us- it is never too late to start!  Keep those pictures coming, put them HERE,  for a chance to be blessed by our friends at 621 Gifts and Redeemed!  Great friends- great prizes!

This week 621 Gifts mentioned their Salted Caramel Hot Chocolate- I am pretty sure I need some!

 

Blessings,

Getting Ready for 34 Weeks of Clean!

I cannot even begin to tell you how excited I am about officially starting this series next Monday!  Have I already said that?  Probably!  But, really, I am excited!

Already, thanks to your help with sharing these posts, several thousand people have viewed our plan and many have said they are in!

Let the fun begin, next week, January 9th!

Let me clear up a few questions we have had-

Why are you doing this again?
34 Weeks of Clean began as a project to keep me busy while my hero hubby was deployed for a year.  It worked well for us and many others who humored me and participated. ;)  But cleaning, decluttering, and organizing are not just a one time fix.  Our homes do not remain static, no matter how hard we try - thus the need to "rinse and repeat," as one friend put it!

Why 34 Weeks?
It just worked out that way!  Can it be done faster?  I am sure it can.  But take it from those of us who have done this before - if you push too hard or try to work ahead you risk burnout.  This is not a race. Our homes did not get to the place they are now in a day and they will not be magically fixed in a day!  Take one week at a time, enjoy the time you have, and be ready for a new week each Monday!

What does joining us mean?
That you will follow along as we go!  No need to subscribe (although we would love for you to subscribe) and nothing to fill out.  Just hop on the blog each Monday for the week's assignment.  If you want an easy reminder, make sure to like our Facebook page- links will be posted there each Monday!

What do I do then?
How you tackle the assignment is up to you.  No one's house is quite the same and no one works in the same manner.  In addition, some projects will be harder or more time consuming than others. If you work during the week, you may find working on weekends is best for you.  If you are a busy mom of multiple children, you may enjoy enlisting their help and working as a team.  If you are a night owl, 15 minutes a night may be best for you.  Find what works for you and go for it!

Do I need to report in?
Nope!  But we would love it if you would help us encourage others by checking in occasionally!  Plus, if you post a picture on our Family, Faith and Fridays Facebook page for each week's assignment, you will be entered into a special prize drawing!

There are PRIZES?
Yes!  Our friends at 621 Gifts have offered one of our weekly participants the chance to win a $50.00 prize basket!  By posting a picture of your process for each of the 34 weeks, you will be entered into the drawing.  If you are the winner, you will get to choose $50.00 worth of products from their amazing online store.  Remind me to tell you what some of our favorites are!

What if my results don't look like yous?
OK, I made that question up.  But I want to say this - everyone's idea of clean is different.  Everyone's idea of decluttered is different.  Everyone's idea of organized is different.  We ARE ALL DIFFERENT!  This is not a competition.  It is a chance for YOU to take YOUR home back.  Enjoy YOUR results and know you are doing a GREAT job!

Get ready to take your houses back and cheer each other on!  I am so thrilled you are joining us on this adventure!  Can't wait to get to know you!

Blessings,

A Rearranged Life

OK, it took a few weeks to get this up, but here is the finish to our rearranging three rooms.  Yes, three!  Go big, or go home, right?  We had some extra furniture about that was to move out with Ashton but now that she is staying put for the time being, we needed to regroup and rearrange. We pulled cushions off, piled things along the edges, and hauled furniture into different rooms!  Ashton and I did most of it ourselves with the exception of carrying a sofa outside and around the house to the downstairs and one up.  You'd be amazed at what you can do when you are determined enough!

The best way to figure out furniture placement- lay out the cushions!  Really, it is easier than moving the furniture two or three times.  Once up the steps was hard enough!  Funny thing, none of the layouts you see is what ended up happening.  Another note- sectionals seem like a really good idea in theory because they can seat a lot of people.  BUT, if you move a lot like we do, they are not the best as they never fit into the next place the right way. Ask me how I know!  So yes, our sectional is now dismantled and sitting in three separate places.  It allows for more seating for Bible studies and company.

Then we have this large, red piece.  I love it and it is not really mine.  It belongs to Ashton but for now she is graciously allowing me to use it.  We moved it across the room thanks to those furniture mover things.  If you do not have them, go out and buy them now!  You need them!  Really!

My partner in crime

new location!

Don't worry,  a picture now hangs on that blank wall.

 

Our front sitting room now looks like this.  The piano stayed but the living room furniture came in here.  It is a little snug, but I love how cozy it is!

That grey sectional was downstairs, but now the once sitting room furniture has been swapped out.  Not as much seating, but perfect for our family nights!

  

Before-

 

 After-

 

Just a little cleaned up, but she says not done!

Because she loves to stage rooms, Ashton also took a few minutes to rearrange the bookcase stuff as well.

Other BIG changes include dismantling my school room and turning it into a sewing space for Ashton and her Ashton's Attic business.  Because she is busy sewing several hours a day, we figured she needed to be somewhere bright and cheerful, rather than in the furnace room.  True story!  We will share that on Friday!  

Blessings,

And about that clutter...

Did you get tired of me last week?  I got tired!  Not necessarily of me, but of writing.  And more writing. Actually, the writing was not the hard part- the posting and social media thing wore me out.  I am looking forward to a quieter week on the blog this week.  Hope you don't mind!

But I also hope you were blessed by the Clearing out the Clutter posts.  If you missed them or need to catch up you can access them here-

Our Home
Our Heads
Our Hearts
Our Homeschool
Our Health

THANK YOU to all who left comments or shared your progress.  It is always fun to read what you all are doing at your homes!

While you are motivated and on a roll (you are motivated and on a roll aren't you?) I want to introduce you to a bloggy friend of mine you has been on her own journey to Clear Out the Clutter.

Meet Sanz from Meet The Mrs!  She is a fellow TOS reviewer as well, has some pretty adorable kids, and lives...well, you will have to just go and see where she lives!

She has been a mission of her own to weed out all of the non essentials out of her life.  If you follow her on Facebook (and you really should!) you would have seen her weekly, sometimes daily updates of all of the stuff she has hauled away.  It. Is. Amazing!  And motivating!  And a challenge!

Go ahead- read her journey and see her Home office changes and see if you do not want to do a little clearing out the clutter yourself!

Tell her I said hi while you are there!





Blessings,

Project Organize- The Closet

I just want to start out with- UGH!  This was a hard one!  This is one I have been avoiding for weeks.  This is one I almost did not take pictures of because, well, you know, it is embarrassing! But, as my daughter would say, for the good of the mission, I did take pictures and I did tackle the closet.  And I am glad it is over. 

Actually, we tackled the closet!  My dear husband came along for the ride.  Isn't he dear?  I think he was afraid that if he did not I would just throw all his stuff away and call it good.  (I thought it was a good idea!)  It took us hours.  Several!

Something else you need to know before we move forward- this closet is huge, but it also just about our only storage other than the garage.  So yes, it holds a lot more than just clothes.  It has files.  It has luggage.  It is my gift closet.  It holds all our family's winter clothes.  It has extra linens. (read here, tons of curtains and such that have been used in one of our 12 homes and someday may be needed again.  Let's not go there right now.)

Here is what we decided going in.  (Can you tell I am stalling showing you pictures?)
-  We have too much.
-  We are trying to downsize!
-  We should not hang on to clothes that are 20 years old. (not naming names)
-  Someone else could be blessed by the extras!
-  Sometimes it is not a matter of does it fit or is it used, but instead, how much is too much? and how much is enough?   You know, that whole justification thing we do, "yes, I like this"?  But do I need five of this?  Or ten?

So, keeping that all in mind, and knowing you all will not judge...

 

This shot shows the luggage and piles of stuff that should be put away.  What it does not show well is that the two shelves above it are packed with STUFF!

 

Did I mention the treadmill lives in there too?  This shows my side, stuff that should be put into the bins but that never quite makes it, junk, junk and more junk.  If you could really see the shelves at the end of the room, well, let's just say, they are almost out of the picture for a reason.

 

After hours of work...

 

Here is the pile of things we took to the Goodwill in town. Yes, you counted correctly, that is 11 bags of stuff plus an extra backpack and a few things on the other side you cannot see from this angle.

 

This is the stuff that was deemed complete trash and headed out the door to the trash can.  Sigh!

 

 

Here is the same shot of the suitcase area.

 

 

Here is my side.  The totes are still there, as that is the only storage place we have for them, but they are now organized and labeled better (love a labeler!)  Extra bags- gone!  Extra shoes- gone!  Extra clothes- gone!  Were some cute?  Sure!  Were they all needed- NOPE!  What you see there are my everyday clothes, church clothes and still-probably-too-many military "occasion" dresses. (again, let's don't go there right now!)  I want to talk about clothes in more detail, but we are going to save that for another post that has been rolling around in my brain for a few months.  See, even the shelves at the end look better.

 

The hubby's side.  I have to hand it to him, he did great!  My husband is a "just in case we might need it" saver, but he got rid of A LOT!  I just kept saying, if we die tomorrow, do you really want our poor kids to have to deal with all this stuff?  Nice, I know, but oh so true!

OK, so how do we keep it at this level and not slide back into the old ways?

First- our No Spend January and No Spend February have helped a lot in seeing what we need and don't need!
Second- Resolve to put things away at that moment.  Don't save for later, it never comes.
Third- Repeat after me, how much is enough?
And fourth- take a look at all those things we get rid of, quickly think about how much money you spent on those things and realize how wasteful we are being.  Good stewards of our money?  I think not!  Shame on us.

Spending money just to spend money SHOULD make us feel badly.  If you need something, go get it.  If not, don't!  Just yesterday we went by Bed, Bath and Beyond and I saw that beautiful yellow clearance sign and it called my name.  Seriously!  I had to tell myself and my husband who was laughing at me, YES, I want to see what is in there and yes, I could surely find something, OK - lots of things I liked,

 BUT- NOT. ONE. THING. DID. I. NEED!

 

How about you?  Do you need to let go of junk?  Do you need to stop buying things that are not necessities?  Do you need to declutter? 
 

I challenge you to take the first step today.  Pick one small project, can I recommend NOT the closet, and get started.  You will not regret it.  And I am cheering you on!

Next week, join us in the bedroom.  To organize, that is! ;)

 

 

Project Organize- Kid's Toy Storage- Step 1 in Decluttering

Welcome to Project Organize!

 

 Let's face it, we will probably be camped out here for a while...but I hear through the grapevine that some of you have joined me on this mission.  I am thrilled to have you.  Leave a comment and tell me what you are doing and HOW you are doing so we can encourage each other!

________________________________________________________________________________

I had grand visions when my oldest was first born.  Only wood toys.  Only educational toys. Only the book classics.  Only open ended toys.

ummmmmmmmm, right!  That lasted not even the first few months.
Then came the barbies, and the plastic toys and the electronics and the stuffed aniamls and on and on and on.  No wonder the grandparents laughed at my lofty ideas.

So I tried harder to limit.  OK, then only a few themes.  Yep, that didn't work either.  Do you KNOW how many Barbies are out there.  Or American Dolls?  Or My Little Ponies?  We wouldn't want to break up a set, you know.

Do we honestly think that playing with 20 of something is better than playing with two of them?  Even this morning my five year old built a "castle" out of pegs and rubber pieces AGAIN and used his dollar store army men as the characters.  Despite the fact that he has two brand name castles upsatirs.

Don't worry, I am not throwing it all out, but I am on a mission to pare down and organize. 

 

My solution for the 5 year old...

Yep.  That's it.

Easy.  Nine cubbies, nine toys.  (come on, they play with the same things over and over again regardless of how much they have and you know it!) You can pick which nine.  The rest are out of here.  Now, before you panic, there are a few bigger pieces that 'go" with these sets.  Those are now stored in his closet on the floor where he can reach them easily.  Pull out castle stuff and need the castle?  It's in the closet.  Playing cars and need a track?  It's in the closet.  Decide to use the animals?  The jungle tree house is in the closet.  You get the idea.  The little things hanging were a simple way for him to see what is in each basket.  He's five- he can't remember.  My oldest thinks it's tacky, I think it is really smart of me!  ;)

Our one exception-

Yes, the dreaded Legos.  We have tried to keep that stash small for the little guy, because honestly, at his age it is not about the building, but just the playing.  So he has a lot of cars and people mostly.  But I found that everytime we put them away at night into one of the baskets they came out a jumbled mess, and quite frankly the 11 year old was growing weary from having to come to mom's rescue and find the missing parts.  Now they all just get parked on the shelves each night.






Ok, so 10 things.

Plus books in a basket.
And a few stuffed animals.

And a new rule- No toys bought unless it is your birthday or Christmas!

At least one of us is going to bed happier! ;)