{Organized.....Or Not}

I want to be more organized yet I get frustrated & overwhelmed when I dwell on my disorganization for too long.  I know that if the clutter around me disappears so will some of the clutter in my head, but unfortunately it just doesn’t seem to be that easy.

We have probably all heard the saying “A place for everything and everything in its place!”   Well, that’s great in theory… but what if you don’t have the “place for everything” to start with?  (Yes, I hear all you super organized woman out there chanting “Purge, purge, purge!”)  

I feel like when I get that burst of energy and ambition to start organizing, it usually ends up meaning the mess was simply shuffled to a different area of the house.  Don’t get me wrong, I do purge quite a bit – there are always substantial trash & Goodwill piles, but it never seems like enough.  

Maybe I’m simply lacking some serious organizational-knowhow.  

Take decorative baskets for example.  Keep, or toss?   I was going to get rid of them, but there have been several times over the past couple years that I have gone to my stash to claim one and have been so glad they’re there.  So I keep them…and use them.  But where in the world should I store them?  

My solution has been a large Rubbermaid tub and it is getting tossed into the basement.  

We ripped our CD collection into iTunes but now where do we put all the CD’s?  Keep, sell?  Oh I know, how about stacking them in a Rubbermaid tub and putting them in the basement!  

I scour Pinterest and blogs for ideas on practical organizing (“practical”, meaning for REAL people, who actually LIVE in their house), and I usually come away uninspired.  There are times when I literally feel like I could spend a few days on each room of the house before it was cleaned/purged/organized to perfection….but who has that kind of time?  Not me. 

 One step at a time, I know…but where do I begin?

Anybody have secrets to share? 
What’s the first thing to do when you tackle full-on room organization?  

{Home Lover}

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Do you love your home?

Is it your haven; your happy place?

Is it a place you can run to, shut the door, and know you're safe? 

Is it filled with love, harmony, and peace?

This is what I want for our home, and pray often that God will continue to make these things true within our four walls.  I feel so blessed that it is a haven, because I know there are many people who don't have that luxury within their walls. 

Part of having that haven at home is the time & effort we put into it, and the praying done on it's behalf.  These are the things that I pray for in our home:

• That God's peace will reign in our home, and in our hearts. 
• That we can create a joyful atmosphere, and remember to praise God no matter our circumstances.
• That we love each other despite our faults, as Christ has loved us. 
• That we surround ourselves with beautiful things as a reminder to appreciate the beauty that our Creator God has surrounded us with.

I only have three years under my belt as a homemaker, but I am so thankful for the example that was set for me all the years growing up by my mother.  She made our home a haven, and that is my desire now.  

I never really liked the word "homemaker," so I had to laugh when I read this quote below, by Elizabeth George.

I don't know about you, but I had an aversion to the word "homemakers" -- until I discovered what God had in mind.

Before that, it sounded like dull labor and mundane chores.

But...I learned that...I am simply to be a "home lover."

Any woman who carries in her mind and heart the thoughts "home, sweet home!" qualifies as a home lover.

Can any of you relate to that?  Now home lover, I can handle! 

How I enjoy learning to be a home lover!  As the months slip by, there are always more things I am learning to do, and always edges to be refined.  But there is great joy in this process, and I feel blessed that God has called me to be wife and a keeper at home. 

If home is supposed to be a wonderful place, there has to be character built within its walls.  

Truth. Purity. Loveliness.   

Sounds familiar?

Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.  (Philippians 4:8)

Making My World Go-Round

It’s Monday morning and all is right with the world.

Not because it’s Monday mind you, but because my dear husband is back home safe. 

He was gone eight days at a training seminar for work, and let me tell you, I’m not use to him being so far away!  (yes, I'm spoiled...and in love.) We have never gone more than a couple days without seeing each other since we were engaged so this was a new experience for me.  (and not one I was completely fond of either. Ahem.)

{Made me think of all your military wives out there who do that for months on end.  Hats off to you girls!} 

In the midst of his trip, I was reminded how important it is to cherish the little moments in life.  I was surprised to realize it was the little things that I missed the most… hearing his car pull in the driveway, or hearing his key in the door.  How he sneaks up behind me while I’m doing dishes just to put his arms around me and kiss my cheek, or when he randomly bursts into song. 

The little moments in life that are so easy to take for granted but are truly what makes the world go-round. 

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At least my world.   

“Home” is wherever we’re together.  Simple concept, but definitely reinforced to me this past week.  Without him in it, the house felt like just a house.  But yesterday, it was home again. 

Sure, I might have gotten to sleep in the middle of the bed and had four pillows all to myself, but it’s lonely in the middle without my other half.   We were able to video-chat every night, but it just isn’t the same.  I was thankful for it, don’t get me wrong, but it was almost a taunt at the same time.  Being so close and yet so far at the same time is a strange feeling. 

Saturday night I went to the airport to pick him up, and seeing his face come through the gate suddenly made the past several days feel like a blur.  He was home.  My best friend, my husband…

In honor of my dearly-beloved’s homecoming, I made Cinnamon Roll Pancakes for breakfast Sunday morning.   You can view the recipe Here.   Although the pancakes turned out good, I was still slightly disappointed with the results.  Hubby thought it was the icing on top that needed a little work (maybe a thinner milk & powdered sugar drizzle would have been better?)  and I was just expecting perhaps something a little more dense overall.  All that aside however, they were quite tasty and we definitely enjoyed them!   

I loved the way they looked with the cinnamon swirl in the middle!!

Can’t believe I didn’t get a picture of the finished product, but you can check it out at the link above.

Happy Monday, ya’ll!  Hope all is well in your world!

Dirt Under My Nails

Mike & I went flower shopping, and oh what fun we had!  It had been too long since I had wandered through a greenhouse!  It's so hard picking out just a few of the many pretties on display! 

I have managed to create a bit of floral beauty in our back garden, although it’s far from perfect. I’m convinced the slow progress of the flowers is due partly to not having good soil, and partly from the many endless days of rain we’ve had in the past month. (And maybe because of a random rabbit or two that decided to nibble on some leaves, but I try not to think about that too much.)

What I realized when I started planting, is that so many of the flowers we picked out at the greenhouse were ones that I was use to seeing in my grandma's flower pots growing up.  It's nice looking out my window now and seeing that little reminder of her every day. 

I still hear her in my head as she would shake her finger and yell at the gophers: "You say out of my begonias!"  So proudly displayed on my front porch this year: a flower box of begonias.  I smile every time I pull in the driveway, and secretly hope the gophers don't discover that it's there.

One project I made time to pull together was a tiered planter for my back patio.  I had found the idea here and my idea evolved from there.

I was at Walmart and found teal & red pots in a sturdy plastic for MUCH cheaper than I could have bought the other supplies in the original pattern, so I went that direction instead.  I also ended up with two tiers instead of three, but I'm happy with how it turned out.

I put potting soil in the bottom of the large pot, and a couple soda cans in the center to elevate the base of the second pot.

I crushed a few other cans and placed them around the parameter to help with drainage and then filled the rest with dirt before placing the red (smaller) pot on top.
{No pictures of this step.}

Voila!  The finished product.

Do you have dirt under your nails this spring?

 

Fixin' to Feast

On one particular Sunday afternoon we were blessed with one of those days when you just can’t stay indoors because it’s so positively gorgeous out.  We decided to grill burgers, picked up some corn on the cob and some other picnic fixings.  I made some strawberry lemonade and we were heating up the grill, preparing it for our feast. 

I went out to put the corn on, and there were flames coming out from the front base of the grill, jumping up nearly to the lid handle.  Now I’m no grill expert, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t a great sign.  Mike came out to take a look and sure enough, the propane line had malfunctioned, the flames had melted all the front knobs, and our whole grill was a goner. 

{But, I am SO thankful we caught it early enough that the propane tank didn’t explode and blow up the house. 
Yeah, that’s wouldn’t have been so good.}

So we fired up our itty-bitty mini-grill and tried again.  Success!

And for the record, let me just tell you that corn was heavenly.  The flavor was wonderful and it was so tender and juicy.  For 19 cents an ear, I should have bought more than two…  Forget the chips & dip – I wanted more corn!

Mike made burgers to tempt any palate, perfectly seasoned, topped with bacon and fresh mozzarella.  Yummm.

Let me tell ya people, this was some seriously-good picnic food!

Have y'all started picnicking yet?

PS - fun summer giveaway at Mrs Southern Bride!!!

Wall Decor

I’ve had the urge to spice up my house a bit.

Maybe it’s all the dark & gloom we’ve had outside lately…

Or maybe it’s just the fact that I get bored looking at the same things on my wall all the time.

So I pulled out some wall decal that I bought cheap at Target awhile ago. { And when I say cheap, I mean $3.24-kind-of-cheap. }

I was feeling brave so I plastered them all over the wall in my kitchen, in a hopefully random-yet-seemingly-artsy way. 

{ Exhibit A } 

{ Exhibit B }

It helped appease my current need to have something new on my walls...but we'll see if I come up with anything else in other places. You just never know when the mood still strike...

Do you have any cheap ways to give your house a quick facelift?



Fairytale Dreams




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Sometimes I think about how amazing it would have been to live in a medieval castle.

We have fantasized about fairy tales since we were little.

Balconies. Moats. Drawbridges. Towers.

Will you climb the tower to save me?

 Knights & Fair Maidens. Princes & Princesses.

The daring rescue of the damsel in distress! 

These tales have undoubtedly created an unrealistic picture in my head of what it was really like way back when.  Back before modern conveniences and equal opportunity.

Blood.  Poverty.  War.  Contamination.  Slave labor.

But there is no denying, those castles look mighty stunning.



 

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The castles themselves might be out of reach, but the men that guarded them...

Those heroes...

They're still around.

I live with one.

I get to spend every day with my hero. 

My prince. My knight in shining armor.

He protects his family. 

Loves me with all his heart.

Works hard to provide.

Slays my dragons.

He tries to make all my dreams come true.

So maybe I don't have any moats or drawbridges, but that doesn't mean I don't have the fairy tale.

Every day I get to be a princess, and I wouldn't trade my prince for all the castles in the world.



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A Basket of Fruit

Last fall my birthday fell during the week so I took the day off work and spent it with my mom.  She took me to Amish-country for a big breakfast and then we spent the day wandering through fun little shops and partaking of goodies at our favorite bakery.

For several months I had been on the lookout for a hanging fruit basket to put up in our kitchen.  We have very limited counter space and I am forever trying to come up with ways to go “up instead of out”, attempting to make the best use of the room we have to work with.  One of my kitchen frustrations has been the fresh produce that piles up on the counter, further taking up my already limited workspace.

One of the (many) great things about Amish-country is that if you need something for your kitchen, good chances are that you’ll find it there. 

And sure enough… I hit the fruit basket jackpot!

We found the perfect basket and I was so excited when we finally got it hung a few weeks ago! (It took awhile, but hey, don’t they always say that good things come to those who wait?)

Do you have anything hanging in your kitchen?

Wall Art

I stumbled across these prints today and thought they were adorable. 

See these, and the rest of DazeyChic's other adorable designs here!

Anybody who knows me well, knows I have an insatiable love for French Fries.
That being said, this print is absolutely perfect for me:

I loved the simplicity of this one:

I love quirky and unusual art. 

Do you have any in your house?

A Day in the Life: the Kitchen

Welcome to our little home!  Would you like a cup of tea or coffee while we chat for awhile? 

Last week I had a sudden burst of energy and decided to do some serious cleaning & reorganizing in our kitchen. Our very small kitchen. And while I was cleaning, I decided it might be fun to give y’all a tour of my happy little place. Our kitchen is small and not laid out very efficiently, but I LOVE to cook so I have learned to make the best of it.

The stove is not the ‘norm’ for the modern-day family. It is what I would guess to be a 1950-60’s style with two ovens that are so narrow half my cookie sheets won’t fit in them. That being said, I LOVE my stove because the burners heat perfectly and the ovens cook to perfection! The white beast might be an eye-sore, but it cooks like angel! Aesthetically speaking however, I think it would more appropriately belong in either Aunt Bee’s or Lucy Ricardo’s kitchen.

Our lovely avocado-green refrigerator stands at a mere 5 ft tall, making it what my mother calls “a conversation piece” because you can talk to another person while looking right across the top of it. Because our refrigerator is so short it becomes a catch-all for things much like a dining room table might: vitamins, coupons, gift-cards, mail, etc, making it a cluttered-up mess! And speaking of that, the top of the refrigerator was the first thing I tackled when I started deep-cleaning the kitchen.

BEFORE

AFTER

I also needed to jazz up the overhead of the cupboards because that is the first thing people see when they walk into the house. I just grabbed a few things from different places in the house and I thought it turned out rather cute.

There were several other adjustments made, things gotten rid of that don't get used, shelves organized, and then the counter tops were scrubbed, floor swept, dished all washed. 

Just in time for me to cook a big meal and dirty it all up again!

Tonight's Menu:

Classic Italian Lasagna

Sautéed Green Beans w/ Pecans

Cheddar Biscuits

Biscuits baking in the oven 

Pecans caramelizing on the stove

Finished Green Beans

Let's Eat!!!