Day Three- Kitchen (pantry)

My spice cabinet after I cleaned it out...Below is a picture of my kitchen pantry before I cleaned it out.
My pantry after...My hall pantry which hold the bulk of my dry groceries after I cleaned, purged, organized and labled everything.
Goal for Pantry: to be able to find my food quickly, use if efficiently, and make an inventory.
a. pantry or food/spice cupboard

• empty everything into one surface (to inventorize all you have) this will help with you weekly menu planning
• clean
• re organize and label (labeling is turning out to be a huge help, especially when Sean help with the groceries or he makes dinner...he know exactly what we have!)
  

Have Fun
xoxo
nikki

Day Two- Main Living Area (this includes my living and dining area)

My new display of photos behind our couch.
My decluttered and organized home entertainment area.
Behind the top 2 doors are the organized media, behind the bottom 2 doors and in the baskets are all of our family games.
My little pink dresser (which is now empty) and I displayed my antique coke box filled with all my scrapbook mini albums.This corner of my dining room is set up for a reading/devotional nook.The basket next to my buffet is my library book/movie area.Goal: To create a relaxed/organized/uncluttered feel so we can relax in here as a family.
a. sort toys and only keep what fits in two baskets in my entertainment center and behind closed doors of the entertainment center (as I was half way through organizing, I realized it would make more sense to have games out here, and move all the toys in the bedroom... especially since Riley and I play games when Brody is taking a nap)
b. sort and organize all media alphabetically
c. clean under couches and rugs
d. electical wiring and cords (wrap with twist ties and label if needed)
e. clean out my buffet and re evaluate the dishes I want to keep and what to give, organize all the dishes and tableclothes
f. look at all surfaces/shelves and declutter, immediately dividing into donate or keep for later (one of my favorite things to do around my house is to switch my accesssories around... it is an inexpensive way of "re decorating" and it is fun too!)

NOTE: as I do this I am reminding myself of our family principle (from our "mission statement") to live simply... allowing us to spend more time on the important stuff... each other)

g. create my zones (library book basket, reading nook with journal/devotional/pen)
h. take all my "keep for later" items and see if anything fits back into my new space

Have Fun
xoxo
nikki
PS all my inspiration came from here.

Day One- Clean Sweep

Goal: to clean the surfaces off in every room of my house, keeping me from distractions, allowing me to deep clean and organize the house much easier over the next two weeks.
Supplies: laundry basket (for the gathering) 2 bins and a garbage bag (for sorting)

a. this involves walking around your house and gathering ALL the "clutter" off the surfaces around each surface/room in your home (i used a laundry basket to gather everything).

This picture shows all the "clutter" I gathered off the surfaces in my home (this took about 1 hour)
b. On the floor is the start of my 3 piles... Trash, Donate and Keep for later (which some of the "keep for later" will get donated once I have gone through my entire home and decided what I want to use in other areas and what I really do not want/need anymore.) This took about 2 hours.
Note: Chances are you are going to regret at least one decision as you go through this decluttering process... but the peace of mind you gain greatly outweighs it.
Have fun
xoxo
nikki
PS all my inspiration came from here ... she is amazing!!

Journey to getting your home in order...

For the next ten days, I will be posting pictures, goals and tips on how to clean and organize each room in your home. If you decide to join me on this journey, your home could be your sanctuary in two short weeks.

Spring Cleaning Schedule
Week One:

• Day One: Clean Sweep (9/28)
  
• Day Two: Main Living Area (9/29)
  
• Day Three: Kitchen pantry (9/30)
  
• Day Four: Kitchen cupboards (10/1)
  
• Day Five: Foyer (10/2)
  

Week Two:

• Day Six: Bathrooms/Linen closets (10/5)
  
• Day Seven: Riley/Brody bedroom (10/6)
  
• Day Eight: Charlotte bedroom (10/7)
  
• Day Nine: Master bedroom/bathroom (10/8)
  
• Day Ten: laundry room/den (10/9)
  

Set a goal for each room before you begin.
Write down step(s) to achieve your goal.

Use one of these ways to get your home clean and organized
5S Management System
1. Sweep
2. Sort (purge/give/keep)
3. Set in order- a place for everything and everything in its place
4. Shine- in depth as well as daily
5. Sustain- ongoing improvement process

SPACE (by organizer Julie Morgenstern)
S sort like things together
P purge unused or multiple things
A assign a home for your things
C containerize
E equalize everyday

Resources and Blogs to help simplify your life:
www.simplemom.net
www.stuff2borganized.blogspot.om
www.smallnotebook.com
www.organizedhome.com
www.simplify101.com
www.organizingyourway.com
www.orgjunkie.com
www.themealplanner.blogspot.com
www.delicious.com

Hope you take this journey with me. E-mail me with any questions...the link is in my profile in the sidebar.
Have Fun and SIMPLIFY
xoxo
nikki

Cleary Mission Statement

Good Morning. For those of you coming here via my e-mail from Mom's Group...welcome. For those of you who just happened on my blog, or if you read it regularly...let me fill you in. I challenged myself and a group of women from my mom's group to write a family mission statement.
I, in no way want to take credit for the handout (the one I gave out at Mom's group) or the amazing ideas I will be sharing... I can only take credit for being organized enough to share them with you. :)
Simple Mom is the site where I got 99% of all the info I shared about the creation of a mission statement for your family. Another great site for info on writing a mission statement is here.
As you will read below... I pretty much copied the mission statement from Simple Mom blog and I tweeked it to fit my family. It is all about simplifying... not making this a complicated process.
Have fun creating yours... xoxo

Cleary Family Mission Statement
As a family we will...

Put each other first

• diligently do our chores without complaining
• help each other as we see a need
• take each other's emotions seriously
• be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry

Cultivate deep relationships with one another

• eat almost every dinner together
• go on weekly dates as a couple
• spend one-on-one time regularly, each parent with each kid
• guard our outside commitments, and do our best to keep four nights per week unscheduled

Extend love to those around us

• keep our home tidy enough to welcome spontaneous guests
• have on family, couple or individual over for a meal per month
• regularly communicate with our friends
• cultivate a heart of grace, so that we do not judge others
• practice forbearance while parenting our 3 young kids

Live Simply

• continue working on becoming debt free
• provide enough tie for each of us to pursue one hobby
• make homemaking a priority, taking care to plan ahead of things (budgeting, meal planning, etc. )
• keep our home clutter free so it is our peaceful haven
• generally pursue excellence as we steward our time, talents and treasures

Be true to what God made us

• regularly spend time with God through a devotional, reading the Bible and in prayer
• pray for each other daily
• provide ample room for each others interest
• encourage excellence in goldly pursuits
• encourage our children to live the purpose God created for them

Take care of our health

• eat food our bodies were designed to eat
• eat most of our meals at home
• move physically at least once a day (make a fitness goal)
• spend time together actively
• vigorously protect the boundaries of bedtimes for children and adults

Be good stewards of creation

• spend time outside as a family at least once a week
• do what we can to be good stewards of the environment
• take a vacation, and make sure that much of it involves the outdoors
• enjoy nature in everyday life with things like gardening and neighborhood walks

Be lifelong learners

• regularly read quality books
• learn new things together as a family
• take care to enjoy only quality books, movies and other forms of entertainment
• understand the times in which we live, and keep abreast on what God is doing worldwide

xoxo
the Cleary Family

2009 Girls Weekend

me and kim at sunsetthe beautiful rainbow...after the summer shower on the beach
our wine from dinner on thursday night
me and trisha
enjoying the sunset after a walk on the beach
me and tomi
me and kim
robin teaching us all how to whistle (really loudly)
me
kim
elena
bethany
tomi
sherry
sherry, robin, tomi, me, trisha, elena, ashley and kim at dinner on thursday night
To say we had some laughs (till we cried)... some drama (uninvited guests)... some crazy dancing (heels breaking off of shoes)... flooding of our rooms (they had to move us to new rooms)...would be an understatement of the year! Usually our girls weekends consist of laying by the pool, drinking margaritas and getting caught up on everyone's life for the last year....that is not exactly how it played out this year. I feel like I need a vacation to recover from my vacation.
Some highlights were having my cousin Kim fly in from Wisconsin for the weekend, and having her meet my friends. Robin's hubby sent her a dozen roses, and so we wouldn't feel left out, he sent us a dozen roses too...it was so sweet!
As crazy and emotion filled as it was...I am already looking forward to next year. xoxo
nikki

Stress Free Christmas...

Do you want to save 750 dollars in the next 100 days till Christmas?? Well, check out this article and follow Andrew Housser's 9 simple steps.

Here is the link to a free holiday budget.

Do you want to be totally organized by Christmas?? Then check out this great site for tips, free downloadable forms and some great ideas for creating a Christmas notebook.

xoxo
nikki

haPpY biRthDay sEaN

Happy 38th Birthday! I love you.
xoxo
nikki

a fEw LO's i haVe beEn WorKinG On...

SPINsimplify
2 days old
baby bump
a girl
A long 9 months...worth every minute!
charlee.Pick it.
Over the last few weeks, I have felt my creative bug come BACK!! woohoo. Nothing feels better when the ideas start flowing and your mind is moving faster than your fingers can create. I got the above LO's done a week or so ago...and I am working on the 20 LO's for my kits... I have 10 of the total 40 I need to have done... Amanda, Kim, Patty and Jennie... they are turning our REALLY cute. (Most of the above papers are October Afternoon...i just love how verstatile their lines are!) TFL
dream.design.create.
nikki

cReatiVe paNdemOniuM

Creative Pandemonium is weekly blog challenge site...and guess what?! I was asked to be on their creative team. I am so excited! As you know, I am usually the one creating the sketches...so I love the challenge of creating a LO from someone else's sketch! Thanks Janelle, and the rest of the girls over at the CP blog...I look forward to creating some fun stuff and to be inspired by all of you too!
xoxo
nikki