New Years Resolutions: of all kinds!

In the past, I have rarely made new years resolutions. I never follow through, and usually they are some unrealistic idea of who I should or should not be, what I should do, or how I should change the way I look. Well, not this year. Last year my husband and I did a whole financial makeover and that was our unspoken New Years resolution, and believe it or not, we stuck to our budget all year and paid down our debt. We are students, there is no way it is completely paid off, but we are slowly working toward taking the correct measures to make a reliable plan. This year, we have some house resolutions (aka. projects) and some real-life resolutions.

1. "If it isn't a HELL YEAH, it is a no." I saw this post online and it really resonated with how I feel about things. I am tired of spending my time doing things I do not want to do, only to please other people. In fact, I have spent too many years attending things I didn't want to, or helping someone when it felt like an obligation, not something I would want to do, and I am over it. I realize this probably makes me sound selfish, but it isn't about that. What it is about, when I say yes to someone else or something else, it means I am saying 'no' to my family. Those three sweet faces come before anyone, so if that is selfish of me, so be it.

2. Be more authentic. I have spent a lot of time in my life worried about looking one way, and it is not about how I look that matters. Well, maybe it matters to other people, but it doesn't matter to the people that matter in my life. I can remember a time in my life when I would spend money that I shouldn't have spent on an outfit because I was going to a party a "frenemy" would be at. No more. I wear what I wear, I shower or not, I do my hair or don't do my hair. It doesn't matter. I need to worry about being more of my true self around everyone, not just the people that are close to me. 

3. Read EVERY night. We were really good at this for a long time. Good at it until Leila was born. Then pure exhaustion set in and we were still trying to figure out bed time with three children and nursing. No more excuses. We have been reading every night and I can just tell the boys appreciate that time so much, and I am happy that this is one that we have figured out the nuts and bolts, even if it is before showers and baths, to make it happen. 

4. Take more action. This was Berto's goal. When the "change oil" light goes on, get the oil changed that week. When the "low tire pressure" alert happens, put air in the tires. He has decided to be more proactive with things that come up in life with kids, cars, and work. 

5. Purge. This is not to be confused with bulimia. We have TOO MUCH STUFF. We went through the basement toys over Christmas Break and sold a lot of things. We need to get rid of so much more in order to live a life with less things and more memories. Our basement is so much cleaner, organized, and the boys are having so much more fun down there now. It feels refreshing to get rid of things you no longer need or use. 

6. Have a reasonable bed time. I am usually up until one in the morning. It is ridiculous and I am tired and grumpy with my kids the following day. During the week, we have set an "upstairs by 10, in bed by 10:30" rule and we have actually been going to bed before that time! 

7. Re-do our fireplace. I have plans for this, but you will just have to stay tuned to the blog to see where it goes! Hint: Joanna Gaines. 

There will certainly be more home projects this year including finishing Luke's room, adding more "Aiden" to Aiden's room, and some other smaller things. I am hoping that using this blog as my sounding board it provides some accountability for my resolutions. So, if I am up Sunday-Thursday and you see me online, tell me to go to bed! :) 

Pinterest Challenge: Matchbox Car rack

We have serious problems with toy organization in our house. If you have ever seen the play area in our basement, you already know this. I am always looking for fun and unique ways to organize our toys. When Aiden was using Pinterest he came across this project and asked if we could do it for his room - it seemed simple enough so we went for it one week when my husband was out of town.

Supplies:

• Two cans of spray paint (paint and primer) 
• 2 packages shoe racks from Bed, Bath, and Beyond
• Drop cloth
• L Brackets with two holes on each side (6)
• Screws and Molly's to hang the racks

First, you have to lay your drop cloth and spray paint these racks. You can throw all of the extra wood pieces away, just keep the rack part.

After letting them dry, stack them two wide and use L brackets to screw them together. Drill pilot holes so the wood does not split, then use a screw driver. 

Lastly, attach the three separate pieces to the wall using a molly and screw. We attached them close together so it looks like there is one solid piece. 

So far it has kept the cars organized and clean! 

The skeletons in our closet!

Everyone has those areas in their house that are left messy because they are hidden. I am guilty of that too, and I want to make my life easier by organizing those areas so I am not scrambling and things falling every time I go to grab things. I decided to start a 12 months of ORGANIZATION idea. I will be documenting each month a different area that has been hidden disastrous. In my house there are a lot of those areas, and you will see shortly!

Here are my month to month "to-do" lists in order to declare 2014 "The Year of Organization!" It will also help me de-clutter because we have collected so much stuff in our 9 (NINE!) years of being together!

1. February - under the kitchen sink.

2. March - linen closet.

3. April - pantry.

4. May - coat closet.

5. June - Separate things in basement for garage sale.

(The back side is the work out room - it is actually put together - not like this hot mess!)

6. July - master bathroom under sink.

7. August - under the boys' bathroom sink.

8. September - guest room closet.

9. October - craft area.

10. November - Organize basement bins.

11. December - Aiden's closet.

This is going to be half closet, half fort. I have see some cute things on Pinterest about making the closet into a reading nook, and I am going to do that for Aiden. He has 10 gazillion books (even though he only ever wants to read his baby book!)... He needs a cozy place to read them.

12. January - Luke's closet.

After this past move, and being in grad school full time, I had NO time to organize anything. It makes me cringe looking at these and I am somewhat surprised I had the guts to post this. But everyone has secrets in closets.... if you don't believe that OCD people can have stashes in closets - just check this out! 

Pantry Semi-organization

Our pantry is rather large. When saying this, I mean my 85 pound labrador can fit in it comfortably below the shelves. We have our trash can in there too because little baby hands love to get into the trash (talk about some not so fun times!) Since we have moved in, our pantry was our go to junk spot/food spot. The food was just put in there randomly and you could never find anything. I need to get a few more baskets for Aiden's snacks, and maybe some magazine racks for the fruits and vegetables, but for now, it is much more organized! And, I even threw out some graham crackers that expired in 2010! Gross - did you even know they expire, well they do!

Before

During

After

It is a little better! Stuff that can be smooshed on top, fruits, veggies, and cooking stuff, then Aiden stuff.... Bottom shelf practically empty because of baby hands! :)