What's for Dinner Tonight?

Today I made some "homemade" Chicken Noodle soup. 

 I didn't make my own broth.  But I cut up all the veggies! 

 I used this recipe Chunky Chicken Soup

Then my bread machine made the dough for THESE yummy roll.

I used this recipe Whole Wheat Dinner Rolls

The family really like these rolls!

I am going to start a recipe page (Tab at top of blog). 

 I hope to share my recipes I make through out the year.

Doodling

I began a doodling adventure today.  I love this site.

Stephanie is a creative and inspirational person. 

I love her doodles so I thought I would give doodling, a try. 

 She offers a “class” and I signed up.

This will totally be out of my comfort zone of perfection. 

So first she had me just color a doodle she created. 

Easy right? 

It took every ounce of energy not to look at her final

product to see how it “should” be done. 

Here is what I colored.

I thought it ironic that the title of her doodle was "Just Be". 

A young lady once said to me, “I want to JUST BE.” 

It is my prayer that one day

 she will just be all of these things in the doodle and so much more!

Under the Sinks

This is week #4 at the  

I chose to organize under our bathroom sinks. I mainly went through all the items and made sure we were still using them. Then I separated the cleaners from other items. Then I put the items in small tubs from the dollar store.

The tub system works for us. If you are cleaning the bathroom, just pull out that tub. If you need other stuff, you can just grab the other.

After

Cleaners on one side.

Extra shampoos and personal items on the right.

Before

 After

Cleaners on one side and suntan lotions and misc. stuff we use

(I gathered them ALL from around the house)

We kept buying sun lotions because we couldn’t find it when we need it. No more!

Before

This one is the worst.  I just toss things under here. 

 I went through and tossed old expired items and things that haven’t been used.

After

I love getting free samples.  I put them all on the left. 

Note to self I don’t need to buy shampoo or lotion for a long time.

The other two hold personal and hair care items

I really enjoy checking out everyone’s links each week. 

Keep up the good work! 

Happy Organizing!

Spending the Day with MY Best Friend!

We both had the day off and spent a lot of time out in the snow!

We built a snowman!

Hiked around a local lake.

To show your love for God, share your love with others.

The state of Maryland is CLOSED!

Last night we got hit with a thunder SNOW storm. 

The lightening flashed and the thunder rolled

as snow covered our neighborhood. 

Of course we had to go for a walk!

This morning we woke up to a snow covered wonderland.

The snow was heavy and many branches fell. 

We had a hard time trekking

through the trails around our house.

Our dog Blue LOVES the snow. 

He enjoys running and playing around outside.

He is old, but he turns into a young pup when he sees snow.



LINENS Busting out.....

See that Power Ranger towel sticking out.  It is worn to threads and my boys are in their 20’s.  I think it is time to purge and make this space work better for us in this century!

Questions to ponder:

1. What areas did you organize this week?


I organized my linen closet this week. I have been stuffing things in it since moving in the house four years ago. It is time to purge and share with others.


2. Where you happy with what you accomplished or disappointed?


I was happy to be able to give away the 12 SETS of German lace curtains I have been collecting for the past 26 years. I changed my FB status to read “Anyone want my lace curtains?” A friend jumped right on it and showed up at my door with in the hour. She was so happy, she had grew up in Berlin and wanted to replace some of her curtains that have worn out. I was also able to give away two sets of girl sheet/blankets and a chenille bedspread I have been hoarding since my childhood (I never used them).
Since we moved so much I have tons of curtains that I made. I went through and donated many to GW.

3. What types of piles would you like to get under control?
My craft area is covered in piles. It is on my list…..

Stop by to read about all the great organization ideas.

Now the big Reveal!!!!!!

I used Space Bags to put all the linens I am going to give

 to my son when he gets a place of his own.

Folded all my towels and organized them by color.

Put my sheets together by bed size.

Now it is a manageable area. I feel I have lightened my load if

we ever downsize to a smaller place.

The Story of LOVE

I receive a daily devotion from Internet Cafe Devotions

Parts of today’s devotion struck at my heart.  You can go Devotion to read the whole thing. Tis is written to women, but  I think many parts can be a good lesson for us all. It is based on 1 Corinthians 13: 4-13

4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.
 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part,

10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears.

11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.

12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

Sometimes it is hard to love some people, but we need to remember that the Lord loves us and we should show his love to others even if they don’t deserve it.  Thank you, God for that lesson today.

LOVE LOVE IT!

I am sitting at the wonderful bench you see below.  My son, with my husbands’ guidance made this little nook in our kitchen.  We love sitting here to eat, play games, sit and read…. And some of Matthew’s friends have said it’s a great place to catch a nap.  Just thought I would share!

We plan to paint it brown but we have been using so much

I haven’t had the chance to pull it out and get that done. 

Have a great week!

Getting Organized

I have been reading a lot of organization blogs and have realized they all have this goal in common. "If it’s not useful, pretty or sentimental get rid of it. You’ll have less clutter in your storage spaces. If you haven’t used an item in a year or two, you will likely not use it again unless it has sentimental value."



I want to get our spaces working for us as effectively as possible.

Over at

 
She shared her “process” of organization.


Plan your attack

Remove items from the space

Organize stuff into piles, sort & purge

Containerize

Evaluate your plan

Solve and simplify

Smile, relax and enjoy your hard work

This weeks questions:

1. What did you organize this past week? I organized our front hall closet and the side of our fridge.

2. Did you have any difficulties with it? Stumbling blocks? Major breakthroughs? The only stumble I came across was not telling my husband that I joined this Organization Project. He thought I was going to throw all our stuff away and got upset that he was not involved. I tried to explain that I was trying to make our space more functional, while clearing out what we don’t use anymore. Lesson learned!

Here are the before and after of my projects.

BEFORE

AFTER

I plan to get a holder for my plastic bags.

I found a larger container for our owners manuals, sorted the cold weather items into scarves and gloves and put all the plastic bags together in one bag.  I also took out all the shoes in the closet and vacuumed the bottom.  Much better!

BEFORE

AFTER

While this area worked for me I wanted to make it work better. Since I am not a fan of cooking but I love to cook for my family, I needed a solution. Never ask what is for dinner, just tell me what to cook. My husband I came up with a menu board idea. I printed out all of our main courses, laminated and put a magnet on the back. Next I purchase this cheap magnetic calendar and put up on the side of the fridge. Now WE set the menu for a couple weeks and I am not stressed over what to cook every night.

I made this shopping list so I can just mark off what I need when I run out of things.  I got the idea off a craft site but I didn’t save it so I can’t give credit to the owner of this idea, sorry.  But I can give you the word document so you can adjust it to meet your family’s needs. Just email me.

Looks like grilled sandwiches tonight!



I am beginning a year long journey to declutter and organizer our household.  I am joining the The Org Junkie in a year of organizing.  She created a PDF LIST to print off and use as a guide to help keep you on track.

Each week she will post questions/prompts.  We are encouraged to take before and after pictures. 

This weeks questions:
1.  Do you have your list written?  I have the first 13 weeks and will add to it as I come up with ideas.

2. What is the first thing on it that you hope to accomplish this week?  Put all my Christmas decorations away and go through and organize each box.  Then take out and donate what we haven't used to Good Will.

3. How are you going to make it happen?  I must admit I started a few weeks ago.  I had motivation!  I opened all my Christmas boxes and went through each of them and took out old unused items and placed    all like items together.  I was able to get rid of one box of stuff.   It doesn’t look like much but it is a start.

Next week I will tackle the front hall closet.

The Butcher, The Baker and The Candlstick Maker....

When we were in Wiliamsburg, we met a variety of tradesmen and women. 

We learned that it was a lot of work to live in the1700's.

Here is who we met:

The Coffee House barista. 

 Boy that was one strong cup of Joe!

The Apothecary. 

You could walk in and get any

concoction made with out a doctor’s script.

The Wigmaker. 

Only 5% of the population could afford to wear a wig. 

They were status symbols.

The Silversmith. 

He would take your silver coins (no banks back then)

and make them into useful items such as silverware.  

The Tailor. 

The Blacksmith. 

They could make about 60 nails in an hour. 

Behind the blacksmith shop were men

creating shingles for homes they were building. 

1700’s Home Depot.

The Basket maker. 

Every woman learned how to make a basket by their mom.

The Spinner.  Made yarn from sheep wool. 

The Wheel maker. 

He constructed one wheel in about 40 hours. 

 If taken care of, they would last decades.



Williamsburg Christmas

As we walked around Williamsburg I took pictures of all the Christmas decorations.  You can click on the pictures to get a closer look at the wreaths.  Each business owner created a wreath using what they do or sell inside.  That made for some interesting wreaths. 

Coffe house

Tavern

Tavern

Most of the wreaths are made with natural items.  I learned that back in the 1700’s they would not have use all the fruit because it would have been a waste to use food as decoration. 

Tailor

Basketmaker

Come back soon and check out all the different buildings and trades that we learned about.