movin' on....

I've moved!

you can find me HERE

I am still working on it and making changes, but it is up and running!

THESE......

Really crack me up.
They come in an assortment of options:
- Action Packed
- Agility (do you really see DeSean Jackson wearing these?)
- Metabolize
- Biathlon
- Sleek Fit (ummm this shoe is pretty much the antonym of sleek)
- Jump Start
- Fitness Junkie (really????)
- This particular pair is "Optimize."

And the one that really kills me: Motivation

I don't know about you, but these shoes would kill just about any motivation I had mustered up to begin with. You would have to do some serious motivation to get me to be seen in public in these.

I am waiting for SNL to do a skit on these.

Part 1 – Cleaning and Organization

So, with the New Year comes resolutions.
I am not good at keeping resolutions.
So normally I skip this whole process.
However, this year is different. Why? Because I find myself in a place where I NEED to make a change.
Or else we will disappear under the piles and piles of laundry and dishes and dust bunnies and tossed-aside-pistachio-shells, NEVER TO BE SEEN AGAIN!
Ok, so maybe it’s not that bad. But it’s still bad.

So that is where this post comes in. It is Part 1 of 4 on organization and reclaiming the chaos that has become my life :)
And so begins what I’m learning about cleaning and organization. Notice I used the present tense: LEARNING. This is an ongoing process :)

So, why do I need I need a cleaning schedule? Because between both of us working full time, friends, family, church, busy weekends, and, of course, spending invaluable time watching endless hours of Psych, there is often little to no time for cleaning or pickup. At least, not BLOCKS of time that I can devote to it. Not to mention I’ve barely cooked or cleaned AT ALL for the past 2 months :) I’m not kidding. (Mike has been a super hero - cleaning and cooking for me!) And finally, because I want to be able, when we're out with friends, to say "hey, why don't you come back to our house for a while and we can hang out?!" without feeling like I've just invited them back to Oscar the Grouch's trash can habitat.
:)

So it’s time for a change. It’s time to do just a little something every day, so my cleaning list doesn’t grow so big that it can then chase me down and eat me for dinner. And since I’m only 4 days away from my second trimester (woohoo!) I am regaining strength and courage to make this change.

So, I devised this: my cleaning schedule:
SCHEDULE

I have realized that a 2-week cleaning schedule is more than sufficient, and it gives me more time to get stuff done, so I don’t feel so rushed and overwhelmed.
As you can see, there are basics for every day. Dishes, 1 load of laundry (that’s doable, right?!), and sorting the mail. Plus just one chore per day. And I’ve purposefully left one of the Thursdays free because of Community Group. And Fridays and Saturdays and Sundays so I have time to relax and enjoy my family :)

Now, for this to work, organization is key for me. I’m very much like my father (although not as extreme. I am convinced that Dad would live in an Excel spreadsheet if it was possible) and I need a schedule and a plan. But I think most important in making this plan successful is having a place for everything. It becomes much more of a hassle to pick up and clean as I go, if there is no PLACE to PUT the items being picked up as I go :)

Here is an example: Laundry.

For clean clothes, they will often end up in piles if I don’t have a clean closet or dresser.
For messy clothes, they will often not get done if I don’t have enough drying room.
So Mike and I went to Ikea on Saturday to find some tools to fix this problem. (oh how I *love* Ikea)
1) We got stackable drawers for all my tee shirts. They are organized by long sleeve, short sleeve, embellished, basic, etc. It’s beautiful and neat.
2) We got him a much larger dresser so there is room to put his clean folded laundry.
3) We found this amazing hanger. It holds 5 pairs of pants. Without overrunning our closets. It actually gives you MORE room!



4) We got this new drying rack:

We hang probably half of our clothes, and one thing that keeps me from doing laundry is I run out of space to hang our wet clothes. This should fix that. See? Organization is key.

So, this here is my resolution to try to just do one thing each day. I have now posted this on the world-wide-web, so if I fail, I fail publicly.
Please feel free to ask me how this is going. Or to just stop in one day to make sure my house doesn't look like the trash can ate it. Or to share any helpful tips you’ve found. I need all the help I can get!!

Next up: Planning/Google Calendar, Sunday Prep for the week. How I make sure I actually DO what I've set out to do :)

Christmas 09

This year was a wonderful Christmas! For starters, we had snow on the ground, which almost never happens. Nevermind it rained Christmas night and washed it all away. Don't ruin my glee.
The Wednesday before Christmas we traveled out to Harrisburg to see Mike's grandparents. Here are the kids out in the snow. And in the background, if you look closely, you can see the neighbor's dog looking longingly at the play day wishing he could come join in on the fun.

On Christmas Eve day, there arose a game of Speed Circuit.
what is Speed Circuit you ask?
I would still like to know.
If you can't figure out what that means, it's code for "I don't get this game so I think I'll just watch and take pictures while you all knock your socks off" :)
Here we have Gary and Aaron strategizing. My spell-check says that's not a word....but I think it is. And that what the following pictures capture: strategizing.






And here is Meg hiding on the floor next to me with the Onion Pretzels. She is one smart cookie.


More strategizing.....





Meg and Mike trying to solve word puzzles. Hence their puzzled looks.



Grandma McNeill and Cyndi



Dad and daughters!



On Christmas Eve night we went over my parents for a late dinner and some exchanging of gifts. Here is their lovely tree. Now, this is in the living room, and this window faces the front yard. The perfect place for passer-bys to view such a pretty tree. Wouldn't you know, in all the 15 years they/we've been in that house, this is the first year someone had the brilliant idea to put it in front of the window. It's been in the corner, in the foyer, in the family room. Never in the window. Why did this never occur to us?????? And my parents are moving soon. This was probably the first and last Christmas for the brilliant idea :)


Ba!


Andrew tying the strings on his bomber hat in a bow. Even though no one does that.





And here is Donut Haven...

And the incredible creme-crumb-cake that is a Sharp tradition.



Christmas morning we went over the Smiths and spent the day with them.




They got Wii Fit!!!


Dan got some sort of nerf gun. And as you can see, Sean is in trouble.....


The beautiful Bow Queen :)



We played Speed Scrabble. And Meg and I tied to beat Mike and Tom. As you can see, Mike is distressed and being silly with his awesome sheepskin bomber hat.


It was a glorious Christmas. So thankful to God for such amazing families.
Next Christmas......we shall have a new addition to the Smith Family!!! Can't wait to meet him or her :)