Joy in the Ordinary

 Some ordinary, yet joyful moments from my week. 

One of many snow piles along the driveway. 

It's been super cold and instead of complaining I am choosing to find joy in the sun that sparkles on the fresh snow. As long as I'm in the warm house, it's beautiful.  

Adding leftover taco meat to my lunch salad. I'm trying to eat more protein for lunch. 

I pulled out the Valentine decor which led to some creating. 

Megan has is teaching herself all about sourdough. I admit, I don't mind being he taste tester!

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in the every day, joy in the ordinary.  

It's been a pretty slow week around here and you'll hear no complaints from me! 

Wendi 

An Organized Home #4: Here, There, and Everywhere

Another week and another organized area or two or more. Since I've been snowed in and now that we are having windchills close to -25 it seems like a good time to wipe some organizing task off my list.

This closet is in our third bedroom. As I've been organizing other areas it had become a catch all. Things I knew that needed a new home, but the question was where. 

Shelf by shelf things were taken down, sorted and a home was found for every thing. Yes, every thing in the above pictures now has a place. Nothing was shifted to another area to be delt with later. 

 Chuck said, "Oh, you're doing an order of operation." I said no, just good home keeping! Women were keeping organized homes well before the business world put a name to it. *smile*

I don't know about you, but I really don't everyone who passes through my home to see all of my storage. The solution was to add a curtain. 

I know that a closet door would be idea. Years ago when desk top computers were the thing, this space was used as a small office space. Hence, no door. 

Also in this room is this cube shelf. It holds a variety of items. 

Things were put in their proper place and labels were made for the photo boxes. These boxes hold craft/sewing items. 

A curtain was also added to this area. The jury is still out as to if this will stay. We're not sure if it will be a hinderance since this area is accessed often. We'll see. 

Not every space needs a complete over haul. Some times the organization works, it's the execution that is the issue. *smile*  

This space only needed to be straightened. 

This space is under the sink in the bath. 

I was able to move a bunch of things to the closet. I cut my hair several years ago and there were things like hot rollers, regular rollers, and bun wraps. Things I no longer use. To the left of the drawer unit are items that Chuck uses that were in a drawer. 

Megan had all of her things in one drawer of the vanity. She is a young woman and really needed more space. Chuck was fine with his items moving here. They are extras, so he doesn't need to access them daily. 

This is another space where the organizational system works. I needed to only put the items back into the their proper space. 

Same thing with this drawer. I had thrown new items into the drawer without taking the time put them away properly. 

After taking care of these spaces I can see that our weakness is not necessarily having a place for every thing, but actually putting things in their place neatly. 

I'm enjoying working toward an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next place I tackle.

Wendi 

Snow Day

 Like most of country, yesterday was a snow day. Come along and see how I spend my day. 

Sleeping in is how I started my day. Chuck was clearing snow when I woke up. We thought Megan would have to work. While he was clearing snow there was a text saying the business she works for was closed for the day.

Snow, nor cold can come between a man and his Blackstone!

We enjoyed a great brunch!

I then got dinner started. Next it was time to putter around my home. I started by doing a little sewing. I was working on something for another area I've been organizing. 

What is a snow day  without some baking. Getting my dough rising was first on my list. 

Then it was time to catch up with some of my favorite Youtube channels while I did a little crafting. 

I then decided it was time to venture outside. 

At this point we had 10 inches of snow. I'm not sure what the final total is, as it snowed at least four more hours after I was out. 

Once inside there was more baking. Fresh chocolate chip cookies for the win!

There was also books to be read. I received this series for my birthday from my mother-in-law. There are eleven books in the series. I thought they might last me the entire winter. At this rate, nope. 

Snow days call for stick to ribs kind of dinner. 

After dinner we found out that our county had declared a state of emergency and there is only essential travel until at least noon Monday. That means I get to this all over again tomorrow. Pure bliss for this home and family loving girl!

This has been a monster of a storm. I hope all of you are safe.

Wendi 

The Frugal Homemaker #2

This is the place where I share how I've stretched a penny, saved a penny, and in many cases spent no pennies.

I graciously accepted a bag of oranges from my mom. 

Boy am I glad that I did! They are sweet, juicy, and delicious. Yum!

Chuck received an e-mail from work. It was a notice that one of the programs he works with had given him a bonus.

An unexpected blessing that allowed us to pay off our first debt. Praise! Praise! 

I recently tried a new recipe for a sheet pan chicken with green beans and potatoes. We all agreed it was not a keeper. In fact, I ended up with quite a bit of leftover chicken.

Even though we were not a fan I knew I had to find a way to use it up. Meat is too expensive to waste. 

I put some of the chicken into the crock pot along with BBQ sauce. 

The rest of the chicken was diced and used to make a pot pie. 

I was recently watching. Ms. Leona from Ebony Ivy and Thyme along with Ms. Denise from Homemaking with Denise . They have a series called The Home Economist. Using this chicken reminded me of one of the things Ms. Leona speaks about which is making a protein and stretching it for round two and round three. 

If you watch them, let me know. I think they share some good tips. 

Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished: but he that gathereth by labour shall increase. Proverbs 13:11

It's a great reminder that steady, diligent, hard and honest work is the best way to tackle our financial goals. 

Wendi 

An Organized Home #3: Laundry Area

Another week and another area organized. This time we're in my laundry area. This space is in my garage. The thing about a laundry in the garage is that it's hard to keep clean. Dirty cars in and out,

plus a ton of projects take place in this space.

With that said, it doesn't mean I don't want this area to be clean, organized, and pretty.  Right after Christmas I mentioned that we (meaning Chuck!) had to repair the dryer. That started this whole project. 

I took one look at the mess left after the dryer was pulled out and knew that I was going to clean, which lead to a reset of the entire area. 

  

I started at the top and worked my way down. Every thing was taken off of the top of the cabinets. The containers were cleaned and labeled. 

 

Like I said I wanted this area to be pretty. Well, as pretty as a space in a garage can be. Honestly, the containers and stuff on top of the cabinets was anything but pretty.  The solution was to purchase some fabric and make a curtain to cover this area. 

The curtain serves two purposes. It hides the stored items and it will cut down and the dust and dirt. Is it perfect? No. Does it serve its purpose? Yes. 

Next it was time to tackle the inside of the cabinets. 

Once I had removed all of the items I decided to use some peel and stick wallpaper I had on hand to add to the back of the cabinets. 

I love how it turned out!

Next I purged and organized the items returning to the cabinets. Even Megan said, "Wow!' when she opened the cabinet. 

Here is the area complete.

Now, let me be honest... I live in a working home. So this is a picture a few minutes after the finished picture. 

You'll notice the empty hangers

that have been gathered from the closets. The cardboard box for donations. I hate it in this location, but I live in a small home and this is the best place for it. You know, real life. Oh, and most days the laundry baskets are in use and sitting on the floor in front of the washer and dryer. 

There is a ton of disillusion on social media of perfection. I want my spaces to be pretty and organized, but honestly a perfect space every second is not realistic when you actually use your home. It's a great reminder for myself, as I sometimes play the comparison game when watching YouTube or viewing social media. It's great to glean ideas, as long as we realize we have working homes. *smile*

I'm enjoying working toward an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next space I tackle.

Wendi 

Joy in the Ordinary

 Some ordinary, yet joyful moments from my week. 

Megan made delicious rolls to accompany our dinner. They were wonderful! 

Ben was gifted a Spiderman tent for Christmas. It ended up at my house and he loves it!

I needed new a small non-stick skillet. I use it almost every day to make eggs for breakfast. I mentioned that I didn't want Teflon and wanted to try ceramic. I put a small skillet on my list to try. Imagine my surprise I opened a package on Christmas morning with an entire set of skillets and cookie sheets!

I love them! The food literally slides right out of the pan and the clean up is super easy.  

As part of my organizational journey I pulled out the sewing machine. 

I'm not sure how much joy I can I found in this! I'm not the best at sewing, but sometimes it must be done in order to get what you want at a reasonable price. The project is complete, and that brings me joy!

On Monday I celebrated another birthday. 

Fifty-five trips around the sun for this girl! I slept in, had breakfast brought in, took a nap, was given way too many gifts, was taken out for dinner, and ended the evening with cake. I was spoiled by my family!

Look around, really look around and you will find joy... joy in the every day, joy in the ordinary.

Wendi 

An Organized Home #2: Living Room Closet

Another week and another area organized. I think everyone is excited about this project. Years ago we put shelves to the side of the closet to hold games.  As Megan has grown the games have been downsized. We only had a handful left and honestly we weren't playing them much. 

 

I removed my novels from the top shelf and moved the games to that area. Sorry, no pictures of that as it's a tight space that doesn't photograph well.  Anyway, that cleared up space on the shelves. 

As you know I watch my great-nephew. A little guy in the house means toys. I gathered up some containers to sort them. I then had no place to store them. They ended up either hanging out in our third bedroom or in the garage. Frankly, we were all tired of the toys containers being in the way. 

The perfect solution was to store the toys in this closet. I had some unutilized space, plus it's in the room where we spend most of our time.

Is it just me or does it seem like things go from bad to worse while cleaning and organizing?

Ben is two (official 31 months) and has a speech delay. He is barely putting two words together. A therapist comes to my home each Friday. One of the things she recommended is to limit toys. I have a small amount of toys that are out everyday and then I store the rest away. I pull out bins for specific play and then rotate a small amount of toys to stay out all the time. 

I had most of the bins on hand. I did have to purchase four bins to replace the ones on this shelf. These held some home decor and will be relocated. 

Although I will encourage him to have permission to open the closet to retrieve toys I know that two years old often get into things they shouldn't. *smile*

I put things I definitely don't want him into on this shelf. Books (he is rough), puzzles, craft items and some toys that didn't fit elsewhere. 

The rest of the toys are on bins on the side shelf. 

There are only a few things that wouldn't fit in here. A shopping cart, car, and two balls. I will continue to store those in our third bedroom. 

I've extremely pleased with how this turned out. The bonus is that I was able to move out some toys he's outgrown to store in the barn. 

I'm looking forward to having an organized home. I'll be back next week to share the next area I tackle. 

Wendi