Setting Goals: Organizing Your Mind

It's been awhile since I've wrote on my blog.  My home is not paradise yet, so I need to keep up with it.  For  the next chapter in my life, I will be following the book, "Organize Now".  I really need to get a grip on my clutter and unorganized areas in my home and life.

So to start, this week I will be Organizing my mind.  Join me if you'd like by following my daily posts and/or grab a copy of  Jennifer Ford Berry's book Organize Now!

My goals for this week:

1.  Get at least 7 hours of sleep.  (I already do this, so not a problem)
2.  Start everyday with a short to-do list.
3.  Start a journal.  Well, this will be my blog.
4.  Limit the amount of television you watch.  TV is not a problem for me, it's the computer, so that will be my goal.
5.  Schedule a 2 minute break 2-3 times a day alone.  Hmmm, this is going to be a challenge.
6.  Practice Meditating
7.  Exercise
8.  Schedule more "Me Time"
9.  Eliminate energy drainers.
10.  Take control of your time.


Let's see how this will go!

Getting Control

I really need to get control of the clutter in my home.  It is taking over and I feel like it's swallowing me and my family whole!  It's in my kitchen, in my living room, in my bathroom, in the kids rooms, in my bedroom, on the front porch and on the back porch.  I can't get away from it anywhere!!!

So this month, I'm doing a decluttering challenge.  This means getting rid of everything that I don't use, don't need or don't want anymore.  This week I'm going to concentrate on my kitchen.  I have always started, but just never finish the process.  I'm giving myself a week to declutter everything in this one room.  The quicker I get it done, the sooner I'll be able to start the next room and so on and so on.  Hopefully by the end of April I will have all the clutter gone!!!

Join me for the challenge!  Today I will be going through 5 of my kitchen cabinets.  If I still feeling doing more after those 5, I will do 5 more!  I will update later today on what I have accomplished!!!

Pantry Help

Yesterday, I went to Goodwill (LOVE THAT PLACE), and found this cool storage unit....

It was only $3.99!  I thought of using it for my Scrapbooking, but when I got home, I said this would be perfect for my pantry.  This is what my pantry looked like before I organized it....

AHHH!  I know, it's a terrible mess.  I went to Costco's yesterday too, and just threw everything in the pantry.  When I saw my pantry looking like this, that's when I made the decision to use the new storage unit for my pantry.  The drawer part would work great for all my snacks!  So after about an hour of cleaning, and rearranging, this is what my pantry looks like now!!!

I love it!!!!

This Is What Happens When You Get Off Routine!

I have completely got off of routine with Flylady.  I am so disappointed with myself.  How could I let myself just stop.  Well, to be completely honest, I stopped caring.  Things were going wrong in my house, and I totally just threw the towel in.  Of course, there are consequences when you do that.  Piles of clutter everywhere!  Nothing is where is should be, dishes piled up to the ceiling (exaggerating just a tad), and making yourself feel even more discouraged!

Well, it looks like it's time for me to dig out my Control Journal (if I can find it that is), and start my babysteps again.  Of course I have been sick for the past 4 days, I'm slowly getting better, and today I'm pulling all the bed sheets off all the beds today.  It's really draining me, as I make the beds up (4 beds).

Another thing I did today, was clean my purse out.  I know, this is suppose to be done every Friday!   I actually had bought a new purse over a month ago, and wanted to switch but never did.  I also clean though my baby's diaper bag, which I tend to throw items in there that don't belong.  I then restocked everything in the diaper bag, and is all ready for the next time we go out!

So here is my first 2013 before and after photo.  Ugh..not to pretty, but on plus side, it only took my about 20 minutes to clean and put away as much of the stuff that I could on my bar.

I have no place to put my scrapbooking stuff for right now.

So I neatly put what I'm using in this box.

Hopefully it won't be it's permanent place.

Tuesday Blog Hops!

Welcome to Tuesday Blog Hops!  Below are the Hops I'm participating today!

Please feel free to follow my blog and you can find From Pigpen To Paradise on Facebook too!

My First DIY Project!

My youngest son, who is 3 is in need of a twin size bed.  He's been sleeping on a toddler bed for a while now, and I can tell he's not enjoying it anymore!  Hubby and I have been discussing about buying a new bed for him, but I knew we could do better and save a few bucks!

I went to my parents house and took a look in the basement.  There was my old twin bed that I use to sleep in just sitting there.  Mattress, head board, foot board and a wooden board to lay on the bed frames and hold the mattress.  It use to be part of a bunk bed set, but it's one of those that can be used as two beds as well.

Well, the head and foot board needs a coat of paint and the wooden board needs new batting and new material to be put over it.  So I decided, I can fix it and make it look GREAT!

First, I brought out all the pieces...

Here's the wooden board.

The mattress.

Finally the rails, head board and foot board!

The first thing I did was tear off the fabric and batting off the wooden support board.

Then I decided to paint.  

Now I don't paint much, but I think I did pretty good.

I painted the head and the foot board.

Defiantly looks better then it did before!

I then replaced the old cardboard with new cardboard.

I then laid the batting down.

I then laid the fabric over the batting and stapled gun a few piece to hold in place.

I then flipped it over...

and stapled all around the edges.

After I was done, I placed it on the bed rails and put the head & foot
boards on to see how it would look!

Here is my 3 year old trying out the bed!
Can't wait to bring it home and add the mattress to it!

20 Minute Mini Mission - Cleaning An End Table

This morning I decided to attack my end tables in my living room.  

Yes, another dumping ground. 

So I spent about 20 minutes taking everything off, sorting it and putting what did not belong there away!

Before

After

I place the doily my Mom made me years ago under the lamp.

It looks goo there!

I Love Changing Bed Sheets!

Every Sunday I change everyone's bed sheets!  

It's funny how I hate making the beds daily, but I love changing the bed sheets.  

Well except my oldest son's bed, he sleeps on the top bunk and I hate changing those sheets.

I also clean off our end tables, and Adam's side of the bed.

He likes to eat Reese Cups and drink his water while he watches TV.

So awhile back a gave him a small trash bucket to throw his Reese Cup wrappers in since before he would just throw them on the floor, which really irritated me.

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You will get exclusive previews of upcoming blog post!

So what are you waiting for?  Like From Pigpen To Paradise Facebook Page Now :)

Cleaning My Couch...OUCH!

Yes, I had to clean off my couch.  Why?  Well we got a new entertainment center last week, it's a little smaller than our last one and I kind of used it was a drop of station (not good).  So I had a huge pile of items that did not belong there, then it all got put on the couch!

Not a good sight!  So the first thing I did was gather some bins and boxes and marked them Keep, Trash/Recycle and Donate.  I sorted everything!

So I spent an hour sorting and putting everything in there "homes".  Well after I clean of the couch, I decided to investigate under the it, because we haven't been able to sit on the left side because some springs broke and I have been procrastinating about fixing it.  Well with a little sweat, muscle and patients I fixed it!  It's like new again!!!

Now my couch looks GREAT!  Not sure what I'm going to do tomorrow?

Starting Again...

Oh where have I been?  I actually was doing really well for awhile, and that could be why I didn't post much on my blog, but unfortunately, I have fallen off the wagon.  So it's time I get back on and start following Flylady again!  I'll be back really soon.  Just wanted to let you all know I AM BACK!

Make Cleaning Fun...Play House Cleaning Bingo!

Cleaning can be boring, tiresome, and just no fun. But who says it has to be like that. I figured out a way to do my daily chores with a little fun, by playing, House Cleaning Bingo! What I do is I generated some Bingo cards and wrote my daily chores on them, scrambled the words, print out the sheet then it's off to clean have fun. I look at my card and decided which chore I do first. Now for each Bingo I get, I reward myself with 15 minutes of computer time (you can reward yourself with what fits you), 5 across, up & down diagonal or 4 corners. After the 15 minutes is up, I work on my board again. Now once I have the board full, I reward myself with an additional 30 minutes of computer time. I take in consideration that there are somethings I have to do that are not on my card, like make lunch, dress the kids etc., so getting some BINGO's may take longer than other BINGO's!

Here is what I've done...

First, I wrote a list of all my chores.
Second, I then went to www.print-bingo.com (which is free) and typed in all my words.
Third, Once I was done, I printed out 5 copies of the boards (you can do more to have more variety).
Fourth, I picked which chore I would do then cross it off once completed.
Fifth, I reward myself for each Bingo I won!

You can do this with your children as well. Write out the childs chores, then have them scramble around to do their chores. You could reward them when the get a Bingo too. You also could print out some draw chips so the chores are more random, which can make it more fun!

Daily Cleaning Challenge - Hidden Clutter

Take a look around your living room and see what is hanging around that is really clutter but because you have become so used to it being there you don't see it as clutter. Have you purged those magazines and books lately? How about the videos, dvd's and cd's? Are they strewn in piles all over that because they belong in these rooms you don't see them anymore? Your mission for today is to set your timer for 15 minutes and go after the "hidden" clutter in these rooms. You will be amazed at how much neater the rooms look when you tackle this.

Daily Cleaning Challenge - Trash

Today we are going to go through our living room and pick up any trash that may be laying around. Be sure to look under the couch and other furniture.

Daily Cleaning Challenge - Dressers

Today's mission is to declutter the tops of our dressers. The first
thing to do when decluttering is to throw away anything that is trash.
Those receipts, post it notes, etc that are just claiming space -
toss them!. The next thing is to look at what is left on your dresser
- Do you need it? Do you love it? Do you use it? Do you have
anything on your dresser that needs to be put away someplace else?
Pick up, put away, then Pick up and put in a give away box that you
will donate later.

Menu Plan Monday - 9/20 -9/26

This Week's Menu Is:

Sunday: Strip Steaks with Mango-Peach Salsa, Twice Baked Potatoes
Monday: Moroccan Spiced Chicken with Fruited Couscous
Tuesday: Bacon Waffles, Cinnamon Apples
Wednesday: Crockpot Tortilla Stack, Skillet Corn
Thursday: Cheese Grits with Chunky Tomato Sauce, Garlic Bread
Friday: Braised Turkey Sausages, Mashed Potatoes, Side Salad
Saturday: Chili – Crispy Chicken Fingers, Mac & Cheese Cups, Oven Fried Zucchini

Head on over to I'm An Organizing Junkie for more Menu Plan Monday ideas.

Daily Cleaning Challenge - Mop

Your mission in the bathroom
is to mop the floor. Now, you can do this with
some hot soapy water and a rag or mop.

Daily Cleaning Challenge - Bathroom Sink

Let's shine our bathroom sinks and
counter tops. Scrub the sink and the faucets, wipe down with Windex.
Take time to wipe down your counter tops and give them a
shine as well.