Closet Conqueror.

New house.  New problems with my closet. Oy.

This weekend, Marty took Avery for some daddy-daughter time and I got a much needed, toddler-free afternoon at home.  Normally, I would have taken that opportunity to eat potato chips (alone without a toddler begging for some) and watch a non-Disney TV show.  This weekend was a different story.  I decided to do something that I would NEVER be able to when Avery is home......clean out my closet.

When we moved in our new home, we quickly realized that our master bedroom closet was not going to be enough room to hold both mine and Marty's clothing.  Since Marty has twice (that may be a conservative figure) the amount of clothes that I do (sorry, Marty), it was a no-brainer to let him have the walk-in.  Which means I got the closet in the 3rd bedroom....a.k.a. Avery's playroom.  The room itself is an explosion of all things Avery--stuffed animals, books, Little People toys...basically just crap EVERYWHERE.  It's stressful enough just walking into the room to get my clothes.  Then I open the doors to see this: 

Ugh.  Where do I even start?  My closet was filled with clothes I basically hate.  75% of this stuff is never worn.  It's clothes that I have an emotional attachment to (i.e.  That shirt is an Ann Taylor Loft.  It's too expensive to give away....even though I NEVER wear it).  Everything hanging could be justified in my mind about why it needed to stay there, even if it hasn't been worn in a year.  All of my summer and winter clothes are mixed together in one tiny closet, creating jam-packed chaos.  

My purses are packed in a storage bin, with multiple spill-overs just sitting in the floor.  Since I have so many clothes hanging, I have no room for hangers.  So they're left to litter the closet floor and the top shelf.  It's madness, y'all.   Now you see why I chose to organize my closet instead of propping my feet up on the couch.  

I started weeding through the clothes first.  I pulled everything that I haven't worn in awhile.  I got rid of some things by telling myself that I would try to sell some of the higher priced items in a yard sale instead of sending it right to the Goodwill racks.  I removed all the winter clothes and put them in a tub to go into storage until cooler weather.  Afters!

 HUGE difference, right? 

Previous to the closet-redo, my accessories like belts and hats were in our master bathroom closet.  I finally had the room to bring them back into my closet with all their clothing friends. I put all the reusable totes I've collected (fun fact:  I'm a sucker for reusable totes.  If they're offered at a store, I'm probably gonna buy one.  I own no fewer than 4 from the Disney Store) into one big tote and put them in the corner.

 Again, before the organization, my pants and shorts were located in the master bedroom closet.  Basically, in order for me to get ready on a regular basis, I needed to visit three different places to put an outfit together.  No more!  All my pants and shorts are neatly folded at the top of my closet.  I bought some wire baskets for SUPER cheap at Ross a long, long time ago and never had a reason to use them.  Well, now they're in my closet holding my floppy purses that have no shape and would fall if I tried to stand them and all my clutches.

For my bigger and nicer purses that have shape to them, I didn't want them to be squished and just laying in the floor.  I simply took a hammer and nail and made a place for them on the wall.

My final step in organization was to make sure I don't keep a bunch of clothes I don't ever wear.  It's my goal to pare all of my clothing down and end up with only the things I really, really love.  I had multiple pep talks with myself while cleaning out this closet ("Yes, Devan.  I know that neckline is really pretty.  But you hate the way that shirt accentuates your Avery weight and never wear it.").

I'm sure you all have seen this method on Pinterest....I turned all of my hangers around backwards (drives me a little bit crazy, but I'll deal).  Anything that's still turned around the wrong way in 6 months gets donated.

 Here's to a small slice of organized heaven in an otherwise cluttered child's playroom!

One last look.  *contented sigh*

Becoming a Proverbs 31 Woman....Step 1

Last week, I made the conscious decision to be the best "Proverbs 31" woman I could be.  I am going to strive to be better in my relationships with my family, provide food, wisdom and love for my husband and daughter and become closer in my walk with Christ through this project.  Before I start this project though, there's something that needs to be done.  Before I can tie on my apron strings or start praising my husband and bring him good, not harm, I have one step I need to take that's pretty crucial.  I first need to work on loving myself. 
I've always struggled with low self-esteem...pretty much my entire life actually.  I've never felt pretty enough, cool enough, fashionable enough, funny enough.  Basically, I just have never felt like I'm good enough.  Because of that, I am constantly comparing myself to everyone around me. 

"Gosh, she's so witty.  Why can't I think of funny things to say like that?" 

 

"Her child is so well-behaved.  What have I done wrong that Avery isn't perfect like her little girl?" 

 

"Man.  Her blog has 150 followers.  What am I doing wrong that I can't get that many?" 

And on and on and on the cycle continues.  Instead of thanking my Heavenly Father for giving me friends that are funny or great moms or good bloggers, I envy their life.  I compare them to me and always come up with the conclusion that I fall short.  But who's to say that their life is the standard for how things should be?  Why does my friend with the perfect child embody a perfect mom to me?  So my kid cries when she's hungry and has learned how to stomp her foot when things don't go her way....does that make me a bad mom?  So what if my friend's blog has more followers than mine?  I should be excited for her successes and thankful for the readers I do have.  Instead of always comparing myself to others, I need to be thankful for what I've been given.  Judging myself compared to the people around me is always going to make me feel inadequate.  This quote has now become my life motto.  I'm writing it down and carrying it in my car, pocket, wallet, purse so I can see it wherever I go. 

 

"Someone will always be prettier.  Someone

will always be smarter.  Someone

will always be younger.

But they will never be you."

 

How true is this?? She may have better clothes or a more successful blog, but she isn't ME!  She isn't a 5'4" brunette married to Marty, mother of Avery, daughter of Dennis and Lisa.  She can't spout out Disney quotes like it's her personal information and she didn't grow up with the best cousins a girl could ask for.  She doesn't have a small scar on her left hand from a curling iron burn right before her ballet recital.  She isn't the big sister of Dayna and Kristen. She's never had my Granny's fried chicken or watched golf with my Papaw.  She doesn't know what it's like to be rocked by my Meemaw or have memories of my Peepaw.    She isn't me.  I'm me...and I'm the only me there is.  God made me special...and HE loves me.  So what if I don't have her life or her looks or her cooking skills?  I do have a plethora of skills and abilities that God DID bless me with.  While I was brainstorming about this post, I was trying to think of my best features.  Sadly, it took me awhile to come up with more than 5 things that I currently like about myself.  There's something so wrong with that!  How can I ever expect Avery to respect me or Marty to love the unique things about me if I can't be confident and love myself?  How can I ever teach my daughter to have self-respect and self-worth if I don't embody that belief myself?  So, every morning (and hopefully multiple times a day), I'm going to start giving myself praises.  During my lather, rinse, repeat routine, I'm going to name 5 things that I like about myself.  And they can't be the same every day.  Five DIFFERENT things that I like about myself or think that I do well.  Or maybe I'll just repeat the mantra from The Help daily: 

"You is kind.  You is smart.  You is important."



The Proverbs 31 Project

Recently, I finished reading a book called "My So-Called Life as a Proverbs 31 wife" for a church book club (nevermind that the club met back last winter and I'm just now finishing the book....that's completely irrelevant) and it had a profound impact on my view of my status as a wife and mother. 
Basically, the book is about one woman's journey to be the perfect "Proverbs 31" wife.  In the book of Proverbs in the Bible, in chapter 31, is a description of a wife of noble character--the wife we are all supposed to strive to be on a daily basis:

^{10 [b]}A wife of noble character who can find?
She is worth far more than rubies.
¹¹ Her husband has full confidence in her
and lacks nothing of value.
¹² She brings him good, not harm,
all the days of her life.
¹³ She selects wool and flax
and works with eager hands.
¹⁴ She is like the merchant ships,
bringing her food from afar.
¹⁵ She gets up while it is still night;
she provides food for her family
and portions for her female servants.
¹⁶ She considers a field and buys it;
out of her earnings she plants a vineyard.
¹⁷ She sets about her work vigorously;
her arms are strong for her tasks.
¹⁸ She sees that her trading is profitable,
and her lamp does not go out at night.
¹⁹ In her hand she holds the distaff
and grasps the spindle with her fingers.
²⁰ She opens her arms to the poor
and extends her hands to the needy.
²¹ When it snows, she has no fear for her household;
for all of them are clothed in scarlet.
²² She makes coverings for her bed;
she is clothed in fine linen and purple.
²³ Her husband is respected at the city gate,
where he takes his seat among the elders of the land.
²⁴ She makes linen garments and sells them,
and supplies the merchants with sashes.
²⁵ She is clothed with strength and dignity;
she can laugh at the days to come.
²⁶ She speaks with wisdom,
and faithful instruction is on her tongue.
²⁷ She watches over the affairs of her household
and does not eat the bread of idleness.
²⁸ Her children arise and call her blessed;
her husband also, and he praises her:
²⁹ “Many women do noble things,
but you surpass them all.”
³⁰ Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting;
but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
³¹ Honor her for all that her hands have done,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.

 

Seriously?  Who are you kidding, book of Proverbs??  "She gets up while it is still night and provides food for her family"??  "She selects wool and flax and works with eager hands"??  Where's the verse about the husband rising up at night to see to the affairs of the household?  Or the husband doing his part to raise a family?  Why is it all about the woman's duties and things she should be doing?  When I first analyzed this verse, I was really miffed...to be completely honest.  I didn't see why it all fell on the woman's shoulders to keep the family fed, clothed, clean and happy.  This is the 21st century, for goodness sake!!  But after my self-rightous thoughts subsided, I was ashamed.  Does my husband "rise up and call me blessed and praise me?"  Do I always "speak with wisdom with faithful instruction on my tongue?"  Unfortunately, I know the answer without having to dig very deep.  So that inspired me to start my own "Proverbs 31 Project" to become the wife, mother, homemaker and daughter of God that I am supposed to be--that I NEED to be.  I have got to get out of this lazy mindset that the wash can wait until tomorrow and that it won't kill us to eat fast food just one more day this week until I can make it to the grocery.  Today, I'm going to start striving to be a "Proverbs 31" wife of the 21st century and I'm going to show you how you can too.  It doesn't mean that we have to make our family's clothing from scratch or wake up in the morning before the sun rises to ensure we get everything done.  It is about taking responsibility and realizing that the home and our family's happiness does depend on us--like it or not.  I don't expect to become June Cleaver by the end of this project, but I do expect to be a darn good wife, mother and Christian when it's over.  So......day 1 initiated.  

 



Planning to Organize

Wednesday--it's time to organize just one thing in my life to make it a little less cluttered.  Today, I'm focusing on my planner.  Every year, I buy the same kind of planner from Wal-Mart.  Same brand, just a different pattern every year:

Studio C, by Carolina Pad.  It's the size of a standard school notebook with spaces big enough to write all your things in day-by-day.  I hate monthly calendars.  I can't fit all my stuff into a tiny box! 
My day job is working as a legislative assistant for my dad, who serves as a Kentucky State Senator.  When I took the job, one of the requirements is to keep up with his schedule.  Which can get hectic, especially this time of year.  Parades every weekend, fundraisers, picnics, etc.  Needless to say, "my" calendar has filled up with my dad's appointments.  In the beginning, I tried keeping our things separate by highlighting things in a different color.  Dad's stuff was green, my stuff was pink, blogging stuff was blue.  And it worked.....for a little while.  Until the green began to take over the days. 

See the green?  That's dad's stuff.  Just dad's stuff.  And it always grows.  It starts as one or two things and ends up being several things a day.  It just gets confusing for me.  I'm the type that writes EVERYTHING down.  If I need to put chicken in the fridge to thaw out for tomorrow's dinner, it needs to be written down on a to-do list, or I'll forget it.  Make fun of me, if you will, but dad's calendar wasn't leaving enough room for my obsessive step-by-step calendar for everyday.  Enter the Dollar General store.  Enter a "student" planner for $2.

I can have all of my things in here....and color-coded.  Red is that night's dinner menu.  Dark blue is to-do things (laundry, put ground beef out to thaw, take Minnie Mouse doll back for return).  Green is appointments and events.  Light blue is blogging ideas.  This works.  I can have all of my stuff in one place and all dad's in another.  I'm not searching through the green highlights to see what I need to do that day.  I've organized one thing in my life today and it feels pretty darn good (and looks pretty good too). 

Closet Nightmares No Longer

Tonight, I declared war on my closet. 
I'm tired of being depressed every single time I pick out an outfit to wear in the mornings.  I'm tired of wishing I had different clothes that make me feel good about myself.  I'm tired of having to use brute force anytime I want to put laundry away because my hangers are jam packed full of clothes--probably over half of which I never even wear.  No, I'm not at my goal weight or size.  But does that mean I shouldn't get to wear clothes that I feel amazing in?  Why should every morning because a struggle between "That doesn't fit anymore" and "I still feel kind of pregnant in that."??  Too many times, I've fought my closet, and it won.  Tonight, I'd had enough.  I tossed and purged and weeded and threw.  And this was the result:

Helping Hand and/or Goodwill is going to be getting a visit from me tomorrow.  It was more than a little ridiculous how many clothes I had that were rarely worn.  Some probably never saw the light of day after I added them to my closet.  I'm a sucker for sales and clearance racks.  If I see a shirt that's even halfway presentable, I'll talk myself into buying it.  You know the dialog: "If I put this shirt with just the right pair of shoes, it'll look really cute." or "If I find a tan cardigan to wear with this dress, it'll hide the sleeves and it'll be adorable."  Problem was, I never had the right pair of shoes or found a tan cardigan.  So those pieces lived in my closet, never to come back out.  Ridiculous.

The second pile is clothes that make me feel terrible about myself right now.  The ones that I remember wearing in my skinner lifetime and want to be able to wear again and cannot bring myself to throw away.  The ones that were torturing me.  I may never be able to wear them again, and that's okay.  I'm just not ready to part with them just yet.

The third pile, I'm a little embarrassed about.  Okay, really embarrassed about.  I'm guilty of keeping (and still wearing) a lot of my maternity tops in my closet.  When I lost a lot of weight when I was still nursing Avery, I put a lot of my maternity clothes away for my next pregnancy.  For some reason or another, I still held onto a choice few of my shirts that I really liked or thought I could pull of as looking non-maternity.  Truth is, I couldn't.  Truth is, I was probably hanging onto them as a type of security blanket to slip back into in case I ever had a "fat day."  No more of that.  They're safe and sound in a tote with the rest of my maternity clothes.

 

There's nothing like a good-old closet purge.  I highly recommend one.  Now, I'm going to (very slowly) build it back up with clothes of quality that I feel really good about.  Great pieces that make me feel just as great.  Tonight, I fought the closet.....and I won. 

Organize One Thing...Interrupted.

I interrupt this regularly scheduled "Organize One Thing Wednesday" to bring you.......my kitchen. 

Holy party throw-up Batman.  Avery's 1st birthday party was this weekend and, as you can see, I'm still recovering.  Am I the only one that gets an after-huge-event hangover?  Not the alcohol kind, but the "I planned my rear off for months and spent the week of hot-gluing and decorating and obsessing over every single detail so now I feel like doing absolutely nothing but sit on my couch and watch the Olympics" kind.  I literally have done nothing domestically related since Saturday.  Well, that's a lie--I unloaded and reloaded my dishwasher....once.  And that was only because Avery needed clean bottles.  After her party, I told Marty to just dump everything in the kitchen one night and I would pick it up the next day.  Well, here it is, Wednesday already, and I've done nothing.  But my kitchen is starting to smell and Avery wants to rip up every bag that's laying in the floor.  Not to mention the fact that I want to have a panic attack every time I come into my home.  So, as much as I would love to share my organizing tip for the week, I've got to do a little personal home organizing of my own.  I promise though, next week's project is going to rock your socks off. :)

Organize One Thing Wednesday: Jewels on Display

It's Wednesday!  We're organizing!  Yipee!Today I'm tackling the mess that is your jewelry drawer.  I used to have one tiny drawer in my dresser that held ALL of my jewelry.  As my collection grew, I thought I might try to make it more organized by purchasing one of those small drawer sorters.  That corralled the problem...for a little while.  Soon, my earrings were everywhere, my bracelets were bungled and my necklaces were in knots.  And it drove me crazy.  Then, one day as I was going through pictures and items that were in my apartment in college, I came across a corkboard with ribbons that I hung pictures on.  You know the kind:

I really had nowhere to put it and thought it was a tad juvenile for our house, but I didn't want to throw it out.  And that's when it came to me.....jewelry holder!

Favorite part of my morning routine

Simple, a little eclectic and VERY effective.  All my jewelry in on display at once so I can see everything I have to choose from.  Because the board has a cork backing, it's easy to just push stud earrings into it and keep them in place.  For my drop, or "dangly" earrings, I just looped the back of the earring over one of the ribbons. 

Because no jewelry board would be complete without a Winnie the Pooh quote :)

When I first thought of this idea, I just had my earrings and brooches on the board.  I wasn't sure how to incorporate necklaces onto the board just yet.  Until I saw this idea on Pinterest (Not following me?  Check out my boards here!) :

Brilliant!  Shower curtain hooks on a towel rack to hold necklaces.  I knew that I had some shower curtain rings floating around my house somewhere from one of our wedding showers that were never used.  After locating the rings, I attached the clips to the bottom ribbons and hung my necklaces from each ring.  Problem solved. 

When I finished, I hung the board up in my bathroom where I do my morning routine.  Instead of walking back and forth from my old jewelry drawer in the dresser to the bathroom mirror, I'm right by the mirror so I can switch out earrings and necklaces with my outfit until I find what I think looks best.  Since implementing this organizing idea, my jewelry gets more wear because I can see everything in one place and I don't have to go digging for anything.  I love when organizing is functional AND pretty. :)  Have your own de-tangling jewelry solution?  Share it with me!  For the rest of you, go show your jewelry some organizing love. :) 

Organize One Thing Wednesdays {Thursday Edition!}

Since yesterday was an official holiday {Happy Birthday America!}, I didn't get to make my "Organize One Thing Wednesday" post yesterday......so let's just pretend, shall we? :) It's Wednesday again!  Time to organize just one thing to make your life easier.  Today, I'm tackling dinner time.  Since I've started my penny-pinching summer, I've been planning our dinners and making menus for the week.  I save money at the grocery because I know exactly what I need to get and I save time at home because I know that I have a meal plan for every night of the week.  As organized and as easy at this has made dinner time, there's still a little bit of tweaking that can be done to the meal time process.  I was making my weekly menu and posting it here on the blog.  So, on Monday night, I would have to get my phone or our iPad and refer back to the post to figure out what exactly I had listed to make that night.  Not only that, I had to go through the ingredient list and the pantry to gather all of the necessary items to make that dish.  Not horrible, but I saw the room for improvement.  And an idea was born.  Put all the ingredients that I needed for that night's dinner together in one place.  For this project, I'm using plastic bins (large sized are $2.50 each at Wal-Mart), index cards and binder rings. 

I got six baskets for each day of the week that I cook (on Sundays we always eat out with Marty's parents or go to my parent's house).  After I had the baskets, I labeled index cards with Monday-Friday. 

Starting with Monday, I wrote the name of the dish (and coordinating side dish) I was making on another index card.

Behind that, I wrote the ingredients that were still needed to complete the recipe (i.e.  making ranch burgers and I need ground beef, which is in the fridge thawing).  That way I would know what still needed to be grabbed out of the fridge, freezer or spice cabinet. 

If the recipe was a complicated one, or I felt like it would be one that I would make later on, I filled out a recipe card with the step by step directions.  Too many times I would have to refer back to the recipe on my Pinterest board or the link that I had provided in one of my "Supper Club" posts.  No more.  All of the directions are with the ingredients and I know exactly what to do. 
Once all of my cards were filled out, I punched a hole through each and put them on a binder ring, which I put around the basket.  Next, I filled each basket with the necessary pantry ingredients to make that recipe.  And voila!  Organized dinner preparation with little effort required.  It makes dinner time easier, quicker and more organized....not to mention how spiffy and neat it make my pantry look. 

Come back next Wednesday for more organizing tips!!