A Little Sanity Never Hurt Anyone

With my new busy schedule I must find small things to keep me grounded. Taking our sweet puppy on walks has certainly been a wonderful break from reality and has been a productive activity for my husband and I to do together. We usually walk him around our house, through the neighborhood and in the forest nearby.

To mix things up a bit, we have been going to an off-leash park near our home that is absolutely FABULOUS! The park is called Thousand Acre Park and it is off of 84 before you get to any of the falls, Exit 18 I believe. It is so beautiful and so vast that it would take quite some time to have explored the entire park. Sampson loves it because he gets to roam free and meet dozens of sweet dogs who can't wait to play.

In the summer we like to ride bikes on the trails. It's a little bumpy but quite the adventure. Beautiful view of Mt. Hood and a fun little tribute to the Lewis and Clark expedition. Seriously guys, check it out...especially if you're a dog owner!

It's the Small Things

My newly (somewhat) organized home and meal planning have been the only things getting us through this crazy time. I recently started Student Teaching and YIKES teachers have a hard job! The hours are long and you are on your feet most of the day, most of the time with no break. These last two weeks have been the most exhausting weeks of my life! It will all be worth it though, and I absolutely love going each and every day...even if it means I have to wake up around 4am every morning.

The meal planning has truly helped so much! Dinner is never stressful and my Husband can easily help out if need be. I have been continuing on my quest to get creative with vegetables!

This meal was beyond easy: Mesquite pork loin kebobs with roasted root vegetables (Rutabaga, Zucchini, Butternut squash and Purple onion) with sauteed Kale and Garlic. So easy, so delicious, so healthy! They leftover veggies were great in a soup the next day. Just puree, heat on the stove, add a little salt, pepper and brown sugar (especially if you didn't have any sweet veggies in the soup like Butternut squash) for flavor and you have a delicious soup on your hands - or in your tummy. If it's too thick you can add in some vegetable broth.

Soups made like this are my favorite. They taste so rich and creamy, yet they are super healthy and full of great nutrients! Perfect for this cold, wet weather. You can basically do this with any left over roasted veggies as well as potatoes!

Bedroom Organization: Closet

This was a very hard task for me, as I get incredibly attached to my clothes and have some overly optimistic reasons for holding on to them ("I WILL lose that weight"). While it's good to be positive, I threw that mind-set out the door for a day, which allowed me to get rid of TONS of clothing.

Step One: Get 3 bins/boxes; Garbage, Goodwill, Give away/Sell

Let's face it - some items you may find are beyond salvaging; stretched out, stained, ripped, or just plain icky. Throw those away. Any clothing that may have come from an upper-end store and is in great condition can be re-sold, yay for some extra money! Lastly, donate everything else to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

I went through the "get rid of" process before I began organizing my closet and dresser, and after.

Step Two: Sweaters
I know, I know, you are supposed to fold sweaters NOT hang them. I have just had a lack of space to make this possible. Since I knew I would be completely cleaning out my dresser as well, I collected all my sweaters from the closet and put them aside.

Step Three: ROY-G-BIV, and short sleeve to long sleeve.
Putting my clothing in color order makes my closet look nicer, and makes it easier for me to find what I am looking for.

Step Four: Shoes!

You can organize your shoes in the most convenient way for  you! Using shoe racks, hanging shelves or stacked shoe boxes are some ideas.

Step Five: MORE DOWNSIZING

Once I was completely finished, I noticed my closet was still a bit crammed. Because of this, I went through the second "get rid of" cycle. This time around was even harder. I got rid of clothes I have held on to and still like, but for whatever reason I do not wear very often.

Yay for clean closets!!! Do you guys have any tricks or amazing storage items that help keep your closets under control?

Mission Organization: Garage 101

Our house is fairly small, and of course my stuff takes up most of the space and I got my way when it came to decor and placement of our furniture, as well as where each item in our house calls home. The one stipulation my sweet husband had during the unpacking process when we moved in, was that he wanted control of one room: The Garage.

Unfortunately for him, his wife (that's me!), has a hard time getting rid of things and also has about ten tubs of holiday decorations. Because of this, the poor guy has now gone about nine months with virtually NO garage. I was a little bummed that I did not take before pictures, so let me paint you a picture: There was no way you could walk through the garage. When we wanted to put something in the garbage bins we had to walk outside, open the garage and access the bins from the driveway. Our dog food was located right by the door to the house and was about the only item we could easily access.

One of the reasons this project took us so long to complete is, it is a little on the expensive side. Nice shelving for garages come at a price...and not one we could afford. Lucky for us, my Husband's parents purchased him two large shelving units from Home Depot for his birthday AND helped us put them together.

In only two short hours my Husband and his Dad put the shelves together, while his Mom and I sorted through bins, threw stuff away and put bins in piles based on their contents (my Mother-in-law also took great pleasure in sweeping the place up).

Here is the finished product (still a few things that need to be done):

 He has had this metal sign FOREVER, and finally has a place to hang it. Yes, that's right, I wouldn't allow it in the house. But come on, it will look fabulous in the garage.

 This is an old desk I have had that my husband uses as a work table. The drawers are filled with tons of goodies.

Introducing...our fabulous new shelving system. The shelves on the left are home to all of our holiday decorations, as well as one shelf for sports equipment and "toys". The shelves on the left are for all of our camping equipment. I am so excited to have everything accessible and easy to find!

 As you can see, we still have some random items that need a home, like the mirror in the back and our bikes. Sampson is very excited that he can now freely explore the garage, as he was not allowed in this area before for fear that he would get lost in the abyss.

 My cute little gardening area where we also keep our boots and some painting supplies.

I feel very good about this newly organized area in our home, even though it might mean I see my Husband a little less...

Remember These?

A couple months after my Husband and I moved into our new house, we purchased these old newspaper front pages for about $8 each. We intended on using them as art in our house, but life just seemed to get too busy and we simply never got around to it. Well...eight months later and we have finally completed this project! The frames were about $12 each from Michaels (on sale for 40% off) and they came with the matting! Quite the steal.

We topped them off with an old thermometer/weather device given to my husband by his Grandpa which I think was the perfect touch to complete the collection. I absolutely love looking at this every time I am upstairs. The newspaper pages are all features, so they are full of large photos that are all very interesting to look at and never get boring.

Meal Planning

Okay...do not judge what you are about to see. Let me just say (in my defense), that I love lists and I love color coding. So here is February's menu partially done:

I start out by getting inspired by one or two cooking magazines I received in the mail for the current month. They are usually packed full of great seasonal recipes and most of the magazines I subscribe to are for healthy cooking.

I begin by writing one or two of these new recipes on the calendar each week so we don't get in the routine of eating the same things all of the time (gets a little boring).

Next, I fill in days I know I or we will not be home. For instance, I fill in Tuesdays with either crock pot meals, or something super easy that Mike will be okay preparing. He can cook, but if it's too much work I think he would rather eat cereal...which does not bode well with his lovely wife. I end this long but super fun process, by filling in the remaining days with items we love to eat and eat on a more regular basis (tacos, pork chops, chicken salad, etc.).

The reason I color code things is because I am incredibly visual and I want to make sure we aren't eating beef everyday, although I am sure the Hubs wouldn't mind one bit. I also use this system to make sure we eat fish at least once a week and only eat starchy items such as potatoes/rice/pasta twice a week.

For some, this might be WAY too complex, but you can put your own spin on it and do what makes it easier for you. I met with one of our family friends (she also has an awesome Blog) who plans out meals in advance for her family, and she gave me lots of great tips! The main reason I find this helpful is it makes grocery shopping much easier because I can make the list in advance and do not end up buying useless items that will go bad. I also find that it makes cooking less stressful because I always know what we are having and what to take out of the freezer!

The finished product...

The Beginnings of a Little Less Chaos

Sigh...today has been quite productive and quite exhausting. Last night I was up until after midnight inspiring myself (with the help of Pinterest and a couple blogs) to get my house organized! It is a new year and I need to feel like I have everything together before I start a new journey in my life - student teaching.

After getting motivated,  here is what I did:

Step one: PURGE
This is something that has always been so hard for me. I develop attachments for things. I have so many clothes that do not fit, or despite there cuteness - I do not wear. I literally got rid of about fifty items!

There is more in the garage! I put the clothes I did not want in three piles when cleaning out my closet/drawers; garbage, Goodwill, give away/resale. I have some clothing that is damaged or just plain worn out that I opted to re-home in the garbage - I wouldn't want to pass them on to ANYONE.

Step two: Organizational Items

My husband and I are on a budget since I will be spending the next six months Student Teaching and not getting paid (but I am still very excited for this new endeavor), and let's face it - a budget is always good regardless. My point is, I wanted to bargain shop for my storage items. I hit up Big Lots and Marshals (TJ Max/Home Goods). After getting ideas online, I had a pretty good list going of the items I would need. Both of these stores have the same types of storage containers you can find anywhere, but for half the price. Be careful buying storage items at the Dollar Tree, sometimes the lids do not actually snap on.

With these items, along with items we already had sitting around - I have everything I need to get started and make our house organized!

Step three: MY PANTRY

Here is my pantry before the makeover, and I will be honest...I recently cleaned and organized it (yikes)!

Some of you may think this is outrageous, but this is actually more organization than normal around here.

My beautiful pantry after I revamped it with my amazing organizational skills:

It is so much better, and I can actually find things. The item that created the greatest difference was my over the door shelving unit. I got it for under $20 and used it to house all my spices, pasta sauces, snacks and some of my breakfast foods (syrup, pancake mix, peanut butter, etc.). It really allowed me to utilize the shelves in my pantry a lot more efficiently. 

The top shelf has cereal, chips, a bin with Sampson's treats (he has quite the assortment - growing boy and all...), and a tub for all of my cookie decorating supplies along with cookie cutters.

The bottom shelf contains our plastic wrap, tin foil, etc., along with a bin filled with easy to make breakfast foods (peaches, oatmeal, breakfast bars). Next to that is a tub filled with all our snack foods, this will make it easy to choose. I try to fill it with semi-healthy items like popcorn and nuts, although, right now ours is filled with Rice Crispy Treats from Costco (shhh, don't tell).

The floor is home to items that don't fit nicely somewhere else; Tupperware lids, salad spinner, crock pot, V8 Splash (our favorite, and somewhat of a delicacy in this house).

The other two shelves are designated for baking supplies and canned food/pasta. I put all of my baking items in containers, rather than bags, on a Lazy Susan so I have easy access to each item. Everything fits so nicely and I can quickly tell what I need from the store and what I have to work with when it is time to plan meals (which for me is quite an intense process that I will tell you about later).

Next up...Kitchen drawers/cupboards, fridge and the dreaded closet! 

Anyone have any ideas to make organizing a little less daunting?