Christmas Ornament Organization

When I first moved to Newtown (and before I moved), I started reading all these blogs on how to organize, clean, etc.  Basically, I was trying to educate myself how to be a housewife (because at our old house, when it came to cleaning and organizing, my mother-in-law did it for me - and she was good at it - so I figured...why bother!).

She doesn't live so close now, so I really needed to learn to do it on my own (and I still very much struggle!).  Nonetheless, I am proud of how I learned to organize my Christmas decorations!!

Here is a photo of the tree that my mother gave us for Christmas (and my mother did most of the decorating - because I am not good at that either!).

Gotta love the pillow my mom needlepointed for me while I was in college - it is a purple pansy - to represent my favorite color and my sorority flower (Kappa Alpha Theta from Lehigh University).

When my mother gifted me the furniture from her old house, she sent along MANY plastic bins filled with stuff....and more stuff.  So, after unpacking all of it (thanks to my mother and mother-in-law who helped), I had lots of empty bins - perfect and FREE storage for my new "nice room" Christmas tree decorations.

The problem was that you cannot see inside the bins - and I have a bad memory.

 So, I used my Christmas Gift (Nikon D5100 camera) and took some nice photos (really, I snapped them as quickly as possible, didn't bother with photoshop and just hit print) of the inside of each bin.
Then, I taped the pictures to the top and side of each bin.  All I need to do is look at a photo to know what is inside!

 

This was our family room tree - not nearly as nice, but it contained our "fun" Hallmark Ornaments (I am a Hallmarkoholic - I buy at least six new ornaments per year!).  This room also has all the "fun" decorations (many of our ornaments play music and move).

  

For those "fun" decorations, I used my clear bins.  I hate taking ornaments in and out of hallmark boxes year after year - too much work!  So I lined clear bins with foam and separated the ornaments by either year and/or series.  Ornaments went into the right bin, labels were put onto the bins (even though I can see what is inside, labels are quite helpful, especially when I am seeking a specific ornament).  Likewise, these are stored in the basement and are extremely easy to access for next year's decorating!

I believe that Costco is still selling these bins.  In comparison to what is offered at other stores, these were relatively inexpensive, quite sturdy, and stack nicely.  I also like the black "hooks" on the tops because they snap into place quite nicely.

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

THANK YOU TO THOSE THAT SERVE and SERVED OUR COUNTRY!

House Organizing:
I purchased metal shelving for the garage from Home Depot.  What a great bargain!!!  For less than $180, I was able to create a lot of (somewhat) organized storage space.  I wish I had taken photos of what our garage looked like before I started my long cleaning process.  To say the least, I felt like a complete failure that within one week of moving into our new home, neither of us could park our cars in the three car garage due to lack of room! 
These photos show my progress (still have several pieces that need to be donated / given away, so there is still a lot of used space, but I am getting there).

This is where I usually park my car.  I still have a bit to move around, but it is better than before when I was stepping over skis every time I got in or out of my car.

See that backward painting that is leaning up against something?  Stuff used to be piled all the way from the wall to that point, save for about two feet of walking space.  It was clutter city.  Now that everything can be stacked on these really nice shelves, it is much easier to get from the car to the house.

This space also was filled, save for about two feet of walking area.  So happy that I now can easily walk from my car to the house.

Next up, I need to shed some more items in the garage and find a basket for Hubby's fishing stuff.  Then, we should be able to fit two cars in the garage with the third bay being used for the snowblower and lawnmower. 

On a side happy note, look what showed up in our yard:

Rocco found him during his morning walk ;-) Rocco did not like him.....and he did not like Rocco.  Hubby and I thought that it was just cool to see him. Soon after Rocco left him alone, we watched him walk back into the woods.

Kitchen Update

After a lot of hard work on Thursday, I was able to clean up the kitchen!

My favorite thing in the kitchen is the appliance garage!  I can store several appliances right now on my counter-top and pull down the shade to hide them from view when they are not in use.

As for the inside of the cabinets, organization is not a word I would use.  Like items are grouped together, so I am off to a good start.  But I need to buy baskets, bins, etc to ensure that everything has a place and can be found easily.

And, then I shopped for food (with a beautiful grocery list done for me - see blog below) and cooked a dinner entree ;-) 

I am not a cook. 

When Hubby and I lived in our old home, we ALWAYS ate take-out.  We rarely cooked our own food, especially over the past two years.  I never learned to cook, so while I am reading organizing and cleaning blogs, I also happened to find the blog that spoke right to me:
http://www.5dinners1hour.blogspot.com/

She offers 5 dinner menus each week for the cost of $1.25 per week.  Her pdf files include a list of meals, preparation directions, and even a handy grocery list!  Her meals are great, especially for me because this is the first time that I am truly making an effort at cooking my own food (and enjoying the idea of how much money I will save over takeout!).

Thursday dinner - breaded pork chops.  Side dish was ready made mashed potatoes by Bob Evans (they are the cheapest in the grocery store and the best tasting!).  Thank you to my mother-in-law who taught me about Bob Evans.

Friday, I went to court / work.  I had a great time tag teaming with my replacement, Ashley.  We were able to help several clients with PFA and Visitation issues.

After work, I shopped a lot in Delaware because everything is less expensive down there (and there is no tax)!  I found these incredible dog beds at Costco for under $18 a piece.

On Saturday, I took pictures of the laundry room - my Sunday project (tonight is Mrs. New Jersey International, so there will not be a lot of work done today). 

I also had to ensure that my husband had food, so I made meatloaf from my free dinner menu.  I cooked this and already ate one mini meatloaf.  OH MY GOSH - SO GOOD!

I did substitute regular beef for buffalo meat.  Buffalo is less fattening than regular hamburger meat.

New Home and Kitchen Organization

Yesterday, March 7, 2011, I purchased my first home with my husband (it is probably his 5th house!).

We are both extremely excited as this is the first home that we both own together.  We both shopped with a realtor (JoAnn Reinard from Weidel in New Hope, PA) for a long time (6+ months).  We looked at many houses!!!  This is not a process I care to repeat (and when my husband asks to purchase a beach house 10 years from now, I will tell him NO).

I will not forget though the first time that Hubby and I looked at our current home.  We saw it one time and made an offer!  I remember walking into the foyer and sitting on the steps while my husband and JoAnn were elsewhere in the house.  The house was empty as the prior owners had moved out (and up, as the prior owner got a better job).  There was an echo in the house because of its emptiness.  There was also a sense of peace and calm.  I could see the sun shining into the home through the window above the front door.  I knew, sitting on those steps, that this was going to be my home. 

A few trials and tribulations later, it became our home.  I have to say a special thank you to my father (aka - our mortgage bank).  Without his generosity, Hubby and I would not own this house!

Leading up to getting a new home, I have been reading, listening, and learning to organize a lot.  MANY people in blog land provide motivation, ideas, and inspiration.  I spring boarded into leaving my messy self behind and becoming organized after listening to the audiobook the Clear and Simple Method by Marla Dee (http://clearsimple.com/).  I often re-listen to portions of it in my car.  Now that I am in a new house - that is beyond unorganized, I am ready to truly make a change.

The hardest part about starting to organize is the overwhelming feeling of how much there is to do (especially in a brand new house where NOTHING has a real place).

Hopefully pregnancy will be in our future, so if we are blessed with a bundle of joy, I want to bring him (Dear God - please - we really want a son - but will take whatever is in your will....but we really want a son - please) home to a peaceful home where he will every opportunity to grow and prosper.

Our house - right after we purchased it!

Dogs in the kitchen last night - can you see what a mess we are creating - even BEFORE the movers arrived!

I took this shot about a month ago using a 360 app on my IPhone - this is the family room, which is open with the dinette area and the kitchen.

This photo also was taken about a month ago - I love this kitchen! 

Also take about a month ago, the master bedroom closet (also taken with the 360 app).  My husband said that he knew that this was our house when he saw the closet - guess that he was right ;-)

And thank goodness that I started reading http://www.abowlfulloflemons.blogspot.com/. Thanks to this blogger, I was reminded about Shaklee's Basic H. I moved into my new home with my Shaklee basic cleaners ready to go! I don't know what I would do without my cleaners! I am able to safely clean my new home (and wipe down drawers and cabinets quickly). At my old house, I used the degreaser and the window cleaner to remove doggy nose prints on my sliding glass doors! I can't wait to more easily keep my whole house clean with Shaklee - and at a fraction of the cost!!!

Here is what the kitchen looked like before I got started with cleaning and organizing:

According to Marla Dee, I need to SEE IT

Oh yeah, I see a big mess that makes me want to run away.  I see that nothing has a home.

Some items have already been put away, but there is no plan for my kitchen, so when I pick up stuff, I really do not know what goes where.  And I am missing my label maker - I wish I could label the drawers on the outside to get started!!

Moving to the map it stage, I should decide how I want my kitchen to function.  So, let me start with the easy moves:

I need glasses near the fridge - done.  Glasses are in the cabinet across from the fridge.

I need pots / pans / bake ware near the stove and oven.  Pots / Pans will go in the lazy susan, which is next to the stove top.  There is a thin cabinet, where I will put cookie sheets.  Under the stove, I will store larger pots that cannot fit in the lazy susan (am I spelling that right - it is a corner cabinet that spins). 

Mixing bowls should be stored under the island because when I do any cooking (the fact that I cannot cook is for another blog day), I will need access to those items.

Dishes go above the stove to the left and/or in the second cabinet above the sink to the right. 

I have two glass cabinet doors.  Those are housing my crystal glasses because I want to eventually make those pretty - for now - the one set of nice crystal glasses can be displayed.

Kitchen items are in two drawers in the island.  Eating utensils are in the drawer with the organizer for them.

Kitchen towels are in a drawer below the utensils.

So, the above will be organized today and all of the above will be run through the dishwasher (so - 15 loads of dishes for today.....).

Annapolis Walk for Her

After Richmond, VA, we drove back to Bowie, MD, picked up my car, then drove to a wonderful hotel in Annapolis, MD.

After a great dinner, we fell into bed!

The next morning, Ellie joined us for the breast and ovarian cancer walk in Annapolis!

We treated ourselves to lunch after the walk. Lunch was eaten while overlooking the water on Kent Island (we got out of Annapolis because it was so crowded and parking was a nightmare!). My mother's friend, Aunt Barbara, came and picked me up for a boat ride after lunch, while Kim, Mary, and Ellie got an early start home.



Here are the scrapbook pages that I created with photos from our adventures:

McGuire Hospital Visit in Richmond, VA

What a day, what a weekend!!

On September 22, 2007, I drove to Bowie, MD and met up with Kim and Mary. From Bowie, MD, Kim, Mary, and I rode in Kim's car to Richmond, VA, to the McGuire VA Hospital.

We visited with many patients on the spinal cord injury unit and enjoyed a lovely lunch/dinner courtesy of Chick Fil A (gosh I LOVE their sandwiches).

The best part of the day was seeing the smiles on the faces of wounded soldiers. These great men and women give so much, the least we can do is say THANK YOU!

Here are my scrapbook pages from our day:
Scrapbook Kit: Fireworks by Just So Scrappy

The following Queens visited the hospital:Mrs Virginia United States 2007 - Jennifer Phillips
Mrs. Galaxy 2008 - Darlene Deeben
Mrs. Mercer County New Jersey United States 2008 - Mary Moulds
Mrs. Glen Allen Virginia United States 2008 - Allison Hubble
Mrs. Richmond, Virginia International 2008 - Joy Phister
Mrs. Southern Chesterfield Virginia United States 2008 - Maria Beall
Mrs. D.C. International 2008 - Deanna M. Linz
Ms. American Renaissance 2007 - Marci McNair
Mrs. New Jersey International 2008 - Kimberly Meehan
Mrs. Piedmont Valley International 2008 - Rebecca Crossan