Thursday, March 8, 2012

Getting my House in Order - Kicking Butt in the Kitchen

Last week I posted about how I had just let things go in my home, and I was starting to get them back in order.

This week I have decided to focus on the kitchen.

Although there are other areas in my house that are probably even more messy, the kitchen is the one that affects the rest of the house the most. When the kitchen gets cluttered and messy, it is harder to keep the rest of the house in order too. When the kitchen stays in disarray it is really hard to get other areas in the home back to where they need to be.

And most of all, a messy kitchen shows lack of pride in the home. I really am proud of my home. I love my new home. I am so thankful to God for what He has blessed us with.

So high it's time I rolled up my pant legs, clean my kitchen and show my pride.

This is how my kitchen looked Tuesday mid-morning. Looking at this picture, it probably doesn't look that bad. There are dirtier kitchens in America (have you seen Hoarders?), but this is messy to me!!

This picture was taken after I started working on the kitchen. I had just cleaned out the mound of dishes from the sink, stuck them in the dishwasher, and cleaned the junk mail off the ledge (hey some progress). Then I remembered to take a snapshot. I still had a lot of work to do!

I also had a lot of work to do in the fridge.


My laziness in the kitchen has resulted in a rather bare and messy fridge. Don't worry we didn't starve.... we have not eaten very well either. But on the up side, an empty fridge is easier to clean! This didn't take more than 30 minutes.

I spent every spare moment I had all day Tuesday and Wednesday cleaning, and organizing the kitchen, adding a few personal touches when I could.

Wednesday I made a big pot of chili to use up the ground meat in the fridge and clean out the pantry. After the chili was done, the stove top got a good scrubbing.

After taking 15, 20, or 30 minutes here and there when I could I finally could feel good about my kitchen. This is how it looked at bedtime Wednesday night. I still have some more work to do. But my kitchen definitely looks much better, and only in two days!


It's amazing what a little elbow grease and some prayer can accomplish.

Thursday, March 1, 2012

Happy March 1st Day!

Today was a beautiful day! It was hard to believe that it was only March 1st and still technically winter. This year we are having even warmer than usual temps in the winter months, and February ended with very mild weather, leading March in like a gentle lamb.

With this weather, I wonder if March is going to do an opposite of its usual, by coming in like a lamb and roaring out like a lion. So I am determined to enjoy each day we can outside.

Today was the perfect day for the kids to:

Look for signs of honey bees among the clover

Look for snails in the water.



Play tag with the dog, running the full length of the park.

Pick a log and sit to rest.



Discover the first Daffodils of Spring



(Little Miss Daredevil may or may not of picked them when I wasn't looking.)

(But evidence strongly suggests that she did.)

Today was the perfect day for mom to:

Sit, enjoy the view, laugh with the girls, snap pictures, and work on a knitting project.

Who knows how many days like today we will have in March? But I am so glad we got to enjoy this one.