Still waiting for internet…

I’m STILL waiting for internet.  We should have it fixed at home tomorrow, so hopefully I’ll be blogging again by Wednesday!  I miss it!  Hope everyone is doing well.

Having internet issues…

So as you have noticed, I haven’t posted in several days.  Why?  B/c my internet company sucks.  We have had so many issues with them and this is the last straw!  Our ‘net’ went down on Thursday.  I called on Friday and after an HOUR of talking to the girl (who I really don’t think knew a THING about what she was doing…she was obviously reading everything off a card!) and trying all kinds of silly things, she scheduled a time for a repairman to come out and check it out.  She told me they would be there on MONDAY at 11 am.  So, on Monday, 11 am came.  No repairman.  1 pm came, no repairman.  5 pm came, no repairman.  SO…I called back and another girl told me that someone would be there either by the end of the day, or the next day (way to narrow it down, huh?)  Okay.  Well, guess what?  No one came on Tuesday either.  By this point, we had already decided that we were going to switch internet providers b/d this wasn’t the first time this type of thing has happned.  Well, today I got a call from yet another lady (however, this one seemed like she really cared and wanted to get this fixed, unlike the other two), and she said that it showed that our original appointment was for today at 11 am.  I told her no, that was absolutely not what I was told.  She apologized and said she would make sure they got there today.  So, we’ll see.  I’m just so tired of this crap from this company!  That’s why we are getting a new provider next week!  I am not looking forward to having to change my email and all, but I am so ready to be away from our current company.

So anyway, it may be a few more days before I can get back online and post regularly again (I’m at the library now), and I just wanted to let everyone know.  Thanks for being patient!

God is so good! We have great news…

My son accepted Jesus into his heart last week and he will be baptized this Sunday!  Isn’t that exciting?  I am so happy for him.  It has made me look at our family and our home-life in a whole new way.  I can’t put into words how it made me feel to find out that he understands that Christ died for him and that He now lives in my son’s heart.  I’m about to cry just typing this out.  We are having a big get together here on Sunday after church to celebrate, I can’t wait.    I’m going to be switching up my menu plan a bit, moving meals around to accomodate the party…I think I’m going to do Taco Soup on Sunday b/c I can throw everything in the crock pot that morning and it will be ready in time for lunch.  Easy peasy.

Anyway, I just wanted to share our excitement! Have a blessed day!

Menu Plan Monday – Sept. 15

Here’s my menu for the week.  Hop on over to Organized Junkie’s Blog for more menus and recipes!

**I’ve been so busy since the move, I just haven’t found time to type up the recipes for the past 2 week’s menus, but I will get them done as soon as possible!

MONDAY: Pepperoni Calzones

TUESDAY: Garlic Creamed Chicken, Sweet Carrots, Green Beans

WEDNESDAY: Ranch Chicken, Sweet Potato Casserole, Homemade Knot Rolls, Brownies

THURSDAY: Baked Fish, Sliced Baked Potatoes, Homemade Knot Rolls, Peach Sorbet

FRIDAY: Taco Soup

SATURDAY: Spaghetti, Garlic Bread

SUNDAY: Potato Soup w/ homemade croutons

 

Happy Eating!

Bathroom Organization in a small space

I’m participating in an organization challenge on a Mothering.com organizing forum and this month’s room is the bathroom.  Well as you know, we just moved into a smaller home – almost half the size of our last home.  Overall, it’s not been a huge adjustment for us, most the rooms are decent size (although significantly smaller than what we had before), with one exception – our bathroom.  We went from a large master bathroom with 8 good sized cabinets and plenty of floor space to this:

As you can see, we now have the ‘hotel style’ bathroom with the vanity in the center and the VERY SMALL bathroom on the right.    We now only have 4 tiny cabinets and 2 little drawers.  In the bathroom there is a cabinet above the potty as well. 

So, needless to say, it was a challenge getting all our things organized in this small space.  But, here’s how I did it.  containers, containers, containers.  And a few labels (I still have a few to make…our label maker died).  Here is a full shot of the cabinets:

It may look crowded and ‘crammed’ to you, but it really isn’t bad, and it is working so far.   In the far left cabinet is a drawer system that holds our eyeglass cleaner, tweezers, prescription meds and other little ‘odd items’ you need in a bathroom.  On top of the drawers, in the back, is my hubby’s travel bag.  In the front is a container that holds extra items – cotton balls, new packages of makeup (right now there is some mascara and eyeliner in there.

In the center cabinet, on the left is our first aid drawer which has an assortment of bandages, neosporin, super glue (for minor cuts – works great!), cloth tape, etc, and on top is a container with the larger first aid items – peroxide, alchohol,saline etc.  To the right of that is little square containers with medicine’s in them.  The one in the back is children’s med’s and the one in the front is adult med’s.  I need to reorganize the meds though…maybe in larger containers, b/c they are beginning to overflow!

In the cabinet on the right is my hair products/accesories basket (the pink one) that has my hair products in it and a ssmall bucket of hair clip, ponytails bands, etc. And my makeup box (white case).  Behind these things is a basket with my hubby’s hair clippers/hose (the hose connects to the vaccum so that there are no hairs left all over the floor!).

And here’s hubby’s drawer on the left, and my drawer on the right.  In his, he has his toothpaste, his daily med’s, deodorant, and his razor/blades.  In mine, I have my hairbrushes and hairdryer, my toothbrush, my daily meds, deodorant, eye makeup remover (so I don’t have to drag out the whole makeup box just for this one little thing!) and a small dish to hold my change, chapstick, etc.

  

And here’s my vanity counter looking all pretty…

 

Now, on to the little cabinet over the potty. 

 Open:

I keep extra shampoo, lotions, etc in here.  And in the little brown lidded boxes…one holds cotton swabs and the other?  Well…

It’s my little concealed stash of FHP’s (feminine hygiene products!).    This way, if a guest needs to use our bathroom, they wont’ have to look at a bag of FHP’s while they’re in there.  They’re neatly disguised in this little container!

So, that’s our bathroom…small but efficient.  Wanna share your’s?  Leave me your blog addy in a comment and I’ll pop by and visit ya!

Sneak Peeks of our new home!

We have settled in to our new home nicely, and are really enjoying it!  Although I don’t have everything decorated or all the little projects done that I want to do to make this house “mine”, we have the basics put in place and it’s starting to look cozy and comfy already.  But since it’s not “finished” I’m not ready to share the full photos just yet…So, for our friends and family who read my blog (by the way…make yourself known, please!  Leave me a comment!) and want to know what our new house looks like, and for my “blog friends”, here are some SNEAK PEEKS.  But here’s a fun little twist…I want you to *guess* which room each picture is from!    Doesn’t that sound fun?  THERE IS A PRIZE INVOLVED!!!  I will create a personalized Monogram Frame for one lucky winner!  Each person who leaves me a comment with their guess will get their name in the drawing once.  If you guess RIGHT, you get your name in twice!  Are you ready for all this fun?  Most of them are pretty easy, but a couple might make you think!    Okay, here we go…

ROOM #1

ROOM #2

ROOM #3

ROOM #4

ROOM #5

ROOM #6

So, don’t forget to leave a comment with your guesses to be entered in the drawing!  I will do the drawing on MONDAY, September 15th!

Now I have ONE more sneak peek for you!  This one is of a DIY project I tackled today.  I can’t share the final product just yet though, b/c I still have a couple finishing touches to do (and get DH to get out the drill and hammer).  So, for now, here’s yet another peek…can you guess what project these two sneak peeks are a part of???? 

 

Meal Plan Monday

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to be late this week with my Meal Plan…but we moved to our new house over the weekend and didn’t get our phone/internet service until late last night.  And, when I went to set up our computer last night, we realized that we left all the cords at the other house!  So, I went and got the cords this morning and now we’re good to go!

So, here’s this week’s menu, recipes will be up tonight.  And be sure to check out Organized Junkie’s Blog for more meal plans!

Monday – Tuscan Grilled Steak w/ Parmesan Potato Wedges (or Wedgies as my DD says!)

Tuesday – Pork Chops w/ Lima Beans and Breadsticks

Wednesday – Cheddar Bacon Chicken w/ Steamed Broccoli

Thursday (we’re having company) – Lasagne w/ Homemade Focaccia Bread – My SIL is bringing dessert!

Friday – BBQ Chicken w/ Twice Baked Potatoes and Green Beans

Saturday – Tacos/Taco Salad w/ Mexican Rice

Sunday – Herb Grilled Chicken Breast w/ Cheesy Broccoli & Cauliflower

How to Make Your Own Monogram Frames

It seems that these cute little frames are pretty popular right now…here’s one I made for a friend’s new baby:

So would you like to know how to make your own?  They’re really easy!  All you need is some scrapbook paper, chipboard letter, an old picture frame and some of your favorite embellishments.

Step One:  Cover your letter in scrapbook paper and ink the edges - I even added some fibers for some texture:

Next you need to measure your frame and cut your background paper to match the size.  Then adhere the letter to the paper (I also added a cute strip of ribbon along the top).

Add some embellishments – here I added some brads and some flowers.

Now just stick the entire thing in your frame and you’re ready to go!

 

In the first one I showed, I even painted the frame to match the colors better.  I would’ve done the same to this one, but I did it quickly and just didn’t have time for it to dry and all, so I just left it as is.

Have you ever done one of these?  If so, I’d love to see your versions!  And if you make one after seeing this…I want to see those too!

 

Happy Scrapping!

P.S.  We will be moving tomorrow and may not have internet access until Monday evening due to the changing of the phone/internet service.  I will be back on as soon as I can, with our Meal Plan for the week, and hopefully some photos of the new house! 

Tips for Organizing Your Move

With us right smack dab in the middle of moving, I thought I’d give y’all some tips on how to make it go smoothly…things that are working for us.

You need to start as soon as possible for this first step.  And you will need 3 Large Boxes for this.  Label one box KEEP, one box TRASH, and the other box DONATE.  You are going to go through each room of your home (don’t try to tackle it all in one day though!) and sort through all your things.  If the item belongs in the room you’re in and you want to keep it, just leave it where it is.  BUT, if the item doesn’t belong in that room, put it in the KEEP box (you’ll put it where it does belong later).  If you have items that are broken, don’t work, paper, etc toss ‘em in the TRASH box.  And, if you have things you no longer use or wear (If you haven’t used/worn it in 6 months you probably never will), toss those into the DONATE box.  Okay, when you’re done with that room, immediately take the items in the TRASH box to the garbage can, and put the DONATE box in your car so that you won’t be tempted to let it sit around for days…if it’s in your car, it will be so easy for you to just swing by the donation center on your way to work!

Again, do this in EVERY ROOM.  This sounds like a lot of work, I know, but this prep work will make packing up your things and UNpacking your things much, much easier – trust me!!!

Now that you’ve purged the things you no longer need, it’s time to ORGANIZE!!!  This is my favorite part!  I know that not everyone likes to organize, but again, this will make packing and unpacking much easier.  Your main goal at this point is to group like items together within the room.  In the bathroom, but all your toiletries in one cabinet, put your towels in another cabinet, etc.  In the kitchen, put all your utensils in one drawer.  Etc, etc, etc.

Now, it’s time to PACK THOSE BOXES!!!  Okay, well, actually not yet.    First you need to make labels.  Buy yourself some shipping labels and sit your little self down at your computer.  Print out SEVERAL labels for each room.  Here’s a hint…decide how many you think you’ll need for a particular room and do DOUBLE that many!  I have gone through a lot more boxes than I thought I would.   

NOW it’s time to pack the boxes…gather up 3 different colored markers, your labels, your boxes, tape and some newspaper or other packing material.  Why do you need 3 different colored markers?  To label your boxes with the numbers 1, 2 or 3 – use one color for each number (this way they are not only numbered, but color coordinated, so you can tell quickly at a glace what they are). For items that you need to unpack immediately, you will label them with a 1 , boxes that you won’t need to unpack right away, but would like to get opened within a couple weeks or so, label with a 2, and boxes that can be put into a storage area (basement, garage, workshop) until you have some time to unpack them will be labeled with a 3. 

So,  try to keep ‘like’ items or items that are used together in boxes together so that when you unpack them, everything will go into the same general place.  Now, when you get the box packed up and taped up, stick your label on – I like to put it in the upper right hand corner on the side of the box so that when they’re stacked up I can easily see what’s there – and then put your number on the label.  If you want, you can even write a rough description of what’s in the box, for example:  The label says BEDROOM, you can write below that “Sheets, Quilts, etc”.

Now, when you are unloading your boxes at your new house, go ahead and bring the ones into the house, putting them into the correct rooms.  Put your twos in the garage (or basement) where you can access them easily when you get the time, and put the threes somewhere else out of the way.  If you don’t have another place to put the threes, just seperate the 2’s and 3’s in the garage – you just want to go ahead and seperate them so that you don’t have to dig through them later to find the 2’s.

 

That’s about it for packing and moving the boxes into your new home.  I’ll have a post next week about UNPACKING those boxes and how to make that go smoothly as well!

Some fun blogs I’ve found…

I know, I know…I should be packing, or going to get my kids, but instead I’m sitting here blog surfing.  I promise I’m getting up as soon as I finish this post.  I wanted to share a few fun blogs I’ve found lately…most have something to do with organizing, home decorating or menu planning.  I’m going to add linkies in the side bar to these when I have a bit more time, but for now…check out these gals!

 

Bella Casa - she just did a “remodel” job on her blog, and is having a cool giveaway in honor of that.  And be sure to check out her home photos…BELLA, BELLA!

The Nesting Place - This gal is the Queen of “Mistreatments”, which is window treatments (or any othe fabric treatments) that are not done the ‘right way’, yet look great!   Her home is just beautiful!

Stories of a Seamstress - as you can tell from the name, this lady is a genius at sewing!  She has some awesome pics on her blog too. 

We Are THAT Family - This girl is the bomb when it comes to DIY projects…I hope my laundry room in my new house looks half as good as hers.  Love it!

The Shabby Nest - Another decorating blog, and this girly is crafty too!  You definitely want to check this one out!

A Soft Place To Land - This gal coined the term “Furniture Rehab” (Well, I don’t know if she came up with the term or not, but it’s the only time I’ve ever heard it!) and I think that is an awesome way to describe the process of turning something old or ordinary into something awesome and extraordinary.  You have GOT to take a peek at some of her rehabs!

At Home Redesigns - Another great ‘decorating without going broke’ blogs!  Those are my favorite!

 

Okay, that’s enough for now…I really HAVE to go get my kids.  They’re gonna think I’ve forgotten them!  I’ll post more when I have some extra time…Bwahahaha!  Extra time!  What’s that? 

Have fun blogging…and if you have some favorite decorating, organizing, etc blogs (how about your own??)…PLEASE SHARE THEM!!!  Leave me a comment with the links!