Hello all! I know I've been MIA for a very, very long time now....but yes, I am still alive ;) I have missed blogging tremendously and am greatly anticipating getting back in to it again. You know, it's funny...I didn't really realize how much I have missed it until I began to read other bloggers posts. So, no time like the present eh?! Let's get back up on that horse, shall we?!
What has kept me so busy from posting?...well....I got married! And moved - from the 'city' to the 'country'! And I quite like it actually. We got married the end of June, sold the house I was living in (days before the wedding it was a done deal!), looked constantly for a house to move to that would suit our new family's needs, all while packing up the 'city' house, working, adjusting to a new husband and two new 90 pound Labs! When we finally found the right place there was no doubt it was placed by God and were moving in on the August long weekend! Yet another 'new' thing to adjust to...our new family home...in the country!
August was an exhausting month. We moved basically all month long. After the 'big' move from 'the city', we still had lots of little things to get moved throughout the month - both from my house and his. Each weekend was filled with something, so when the beginning of September came, it honestly felt a little odd not to be running here or there to move something else!
As September came into full swing, there were more new things to figure out. The kids were able to stay at their Christian school for another year (thank you God), but it took a little while for a new carpooling schedule with a new carpooling group to come to fruition. Once that was in place, all was good!
Also, things changed for me with my work as well once we moved. Since I was working out of my home in town, I could arrange my day with a good amount of flexibility. However, no longer being quite as available, and trying to manage my 'trips in to town', (as I am now 'renting' some space from a girlfriend of mine in town), has made juggling my clients a bit harder. Also, taking into consideration that I have to make sure my day is arranged just so, so that I can be dropping off and picking up the kids at the carpool location - on time! All of that has been another adjustment, but we're into the swing of the routine now...yay for routine!
October and November I found myself continuing to get - or perhaps I should say trying to continue to get - the house in some kind of functioning state. Combining two houses in to one is a much bigger task that one might originally think! There were lots of 'two of this, and two of that'...several trips were made to the donation store and a few larger items were sold. I remember feeling at times so overwhelmed because it seemed like such a huge task. I wanted everything to be organized in the blink of an eye...or at least close to the somewhat organized manner I had in 'the city'. My husband would remind me "it's not going to all get done in one day!"...he was right - even though I still wished it would!
By December I had gotten quite a bit done. Still more donation store items and some headway with everyday living. Then add on the whole 'Christmas season' and the rat race is on again! It was our first Christmas together, and in our new home...I so wanted everything to look extra special. But for some reason, I just couldn't do all the 'extras' I wanted to. Sure, we had a tree up and some other 'festive' decorations...I just guess I thought I would have done a lot more for our 'first' one. Perhaps the 'less' was more and that's how it was to be! Regardless of how things looked to the eye, we had a really nice 'first' Christmas together...a new tradition was started!
Now as we've come into January of another new year (which we're almost at the end of now!) I find myself wanting to do things a little differently than before. I still want to do the things I did before, like my always happening 'to-do' lists, but I want to do them better! As a goal of mine this year, I want to make my life and the lives of my family, easier and more functional...a better use of time and energy all around. So I started to do some research...checking out how others manage their families. Which lead me to blogs of other Mom's.
As I came across different sites that had their way of doing things, I would look it over and acknowledge their good ideas, but they just didn't seem to 'fit' how I wanted to arrange my own weeks. So, I made my own 'family home management binder' :) That's right, I figured the only way I was going to get something that was truly complimentary to my style of organizing, was to make one up myself. I've been using it since the beginning of the month and am loving it! As I suspected, there have been a few tweeks here and there, but since the file is on my computer, things are easy enough to change to adapt to what works best for me. (*If you are interested in what it looks like, I'd be happy to share with you...it just might be what you're in need of too! By no means is it 'professionally done'!*)
In addition to getting my own home management binder up and running, I've also managed to get some cabinets put together and hung up in my laundry room (with much thanks to and help from my Mom!); I have managed to get under the kitchen sink organized with an 'under-the-sink' shelf - what a HUGE difference these two things have made! Also, my daughter gave me an over-the-door jewelry organizer for Christmas, so with that being on the back of the bathroom door it has inspired me to continue working at getting our fairly small bathroom organized as well! So far, I have managed to organize the cabinet under the sink with some open and some closed bins, as well as some of the drawers. There are still several boxes of 'things' still hanging around that I want to get sorted through - but those are always a work in progress, aren't they?!
Perhaps I'll post some pictures of how I've organized things in my home - so far. Who knows, maybe it will be a bit of inspiration to you! Some things have taken a fair bit of time and a bit more money, but the majority of things I've done have cost next to nothing buy researching what others have done and by repurposing items from around the house that aren't currently being used! (Hmmm, I think I may have just found a direction to be going in for this year!)
I don't expect my life to be completely perfect - that will NEVER happen - and I'm alright with that. There was, is, and only will be one perfect person - Jesus - and I can only strive to do the best I can to live out my life in somewhat of a fashion that remotely reflects Him. Some days it is easy enough to do, other days not so much. But each day I am reminded that, as the bottom of my daily dockets quotes, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me"!
I hope your year is off to a good start!
Until next time,
'K'
Thank you for posting this. It gives me some insight into what it has been like for you the past few months. Getting and keeping organized is a real struggle for some and comes more easily for others. It's a constant struggle for me but I would like to do better this year. I want to be able to have guests in my home without feeling embarrassed by the messes that seem to pile up as soon as my back is turned. I look forward to having you and Joey in sometime soon.
ReplyDeleteJennifer