Feng Shui Friday—Challenge #2 Keep doorways clear

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Hello! It's Friday, which means it is time for our next Feng Shui Friday challenge! Last week we tackled cleaning out our closets—no small task—so this week you will be happy to know we have a less-grueling challenge.

Challenge #2: Keep Doorways Clear

The book 27 Things To Feng Shui Your Home tells us that our doorways are like "mouths" to our homes in which we breathe and circulate energy. True. But if you don't want to look at it that deep, I know I don't like to walk around my house tripping over things.

I have a least one problem area in my house: the door leading from my house to the garage. I am constantly stepping over a dog bed and Tom's work clothes that seem to always land in a heap by the door, and it drives me nuts. I will tell you about my solutions to this problem (and any others I find) next Friday. I hope you will tell me about your experiences too.

Oh, and since this is a fairly simple challenge, feel free to still work on those closet projects and tell me about those too! I am hoping to tackle another closet this week also. Good luck!

a red-letter day

I almost forgot to tell you—we rolled out the red carpet! Rolled it right up and out of the house to the dump.

As much as we valued this carpet for nostalgia's sake (cough, cough), it was time for it to go. For it's aesthetics, yes, but more so because it was completely unsanitary—perpetuated by a slow leak in the toilet. Yep, sorry, this post is about a bathroom, after all. It was a dirty job to remove as it was glue-down rubber-backed carpet that had to be scraped up.

So, when we ordered our carpet for the basement, we asked the floor guy if he had a cheap piece of vinyl he could sell us. He offered this piece for $100, and we agreed sight unseen. We really didn't care what it looked like, but it didn't turn out half bad.

While we were at it we also decided to remove the lace curtains and the old glass shower doors to make sitting on the edge of the tub and bathing kids easier.

It made a huge difference in opening up the bathroom. It did leave some marks on the tub (that I can't get off despite trying vinegar, lime away, etc.) and some minor holes in the tile, but it was still worth it. I put up the shower curtain from the girl's old bathroom to keep the shower functional.

I hesitate to call these "after" pictures, because really they are just temporary. There is still a lot of work to do to improve this bathroom. It badly needs a paint job, for example (as you can see from the marks left by the old register). Tom lightly tacked up some baseboard to hide the unsightly black stuff left by the carpet base, but we didn't even glue the vinyl down.

Eventually we hope to completely redo this bathroom; new tub and sink, vanity, and tile floors and tub surround. Even though the guys are saying "whoa, one project at a time, lady!", I can't help but dream a little about someday . . .

image from Longman & Eagle.

I lost the source for this image. If you know it, please let me know. Thanks!

I especially love this bottom image. I am inspired by black and white tiled floors, lovely wood vanities (maybe even an old dresser), and unique mirrors. Does anyone miss the red carpet treatment now?

mount laundry

We get our water from a nearby river, and a couple of weeks ago the line had a leak, which happens occasionally. They had to shut the water off to fix it, so we had to rely on the water in our cistern for a few days (which we also share with my aunt and uncle down the road.) That put us in serious conservation mode, so I skipped doing laundry that week. The next week, when our cistern filled up again, I had Mount Laundry on my hands.

While I would like to say I'm one of those people who folds the clothes right out of the dryer and puts them away, I am not. I wash the whole lot, then sit down in front of a movie and fold them all later. This time I was out of laundry baskets to hold all the clean clothes, so I improvised:

Yes, we filled this ENTIRE play yard with clean clothes.

This had me wondering if there would me a more efficient way to do the laundry. I know some people like to do a little bit everyday, but I am an all-at-oncer. I keep a laundry hamper in each bedroom, and on laundry day I retrieve them and sort them by color. That way I have full loads of each color.

I am intrigued with the idea of throwing a load in every morning, though. If I did that I would probably make everyone deposit their dirty clothes in the laundry room every day instead of in the hampers in their rooms. Then I could just tackle the color that was the most full that day. How do you do your laundry? Do you have any great systems that work for you?

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some clothes to fold.

a few of my favorite things (in my closet)

While we are on the subject of closets, I thought I would share a few of my favorite things in mine. Why keep the best things to myself?

First up, the Banana Republic Timeless Tank. I have many of them in several different colors and wear them almost every day. They are the softest, stretchiest knit and they hold up brilliantly.

Gap Always Skinny jeans for the not-so-skinny mommy. These are my go-to jeans for the winter because they are perfect boot-tuckers. They do not fit as tight as it looks in the photo and they cover the hiney nicely.

 

Smartwool socks. BEST. SOCKS. EVER. Enough said.

Heels from a boutique shoe store in London. I have no idea what it was called or where in London it was. Sorry I can't help you there. But I love these shoes and I had to include them in my list.

My Frye boots. This style is the Mildred Engineer (what a name!) and they don't carry it anymore. But I spotted these in the store, tried them on, then went home and found a barely worn pair on eBay for cheaper. It was meant to be. I also own the Veronica Slouch and love them too. Frye boots last forever.

This sweater was one of the first things I ever purchased from Anthropoligie and it started my love affair with their clothes. I love buying shoes and tights from them also. They are a little pricey for my budget, but this is what I do: I go online and browse occasionally and add the things I love to my wish list. Then I watch for them to go on sale. If they don't sell out first, they are almost always discounted to half off.

So there you have it—the wardrobe items I would not want to live without! What are yours?

Feng Shui Friday—Challenge #1 Closet Cleanout

Click here to find out how you can join the Feng Shui My Way Challenge!

Happy Friday, my friends! Last week I wrote about the first Feng Shui My Way Challenge—Cleaning out your closet. Any closet. I picked my bedroom closet. (And its a good thing I had a deadline for this project, because I waited until yesterday to start it. I think this challenge is going good motivation to tackle some projects that I would otherwise put off indefinitely!)

This is what I started with:

I had 2 bins of clothes on my bedroom floor that I hadn't completely emptied when we moved. Much of it was winter clothes, so I was often digging through it to find things. (Please try to ignore the white dog hair all over these clothes. It is driving me nutso!)

My closet itself wasn't terrible, but it was overfull and still contained a lot of summer clothes.

When I was done it was so much better; much less crowded, and seasonally appropriate. One little trick to share with you: see my boot collection up on top? This Christmas I collected all my empty wrapping paper rolls, cut them in half, and stuffed them inside my tall boots to help them stand up and keep their shape. Something beefier would work better, but for now, this helps tremendously.

Here is the cupboard next to my closet:

I also cleaned out the drawers below it and even emptied an extra drawer for Tom to use.

This project seemd like torture. Not the work itself—that was relatively easy—but the getting rid of things. I have to admit I wasn't as strict as I wish I would have been on purging. When I acquired most of these clothes I had a professional desk job that paid me well, and I wanted to look the part. I spent good money on them, so it made it harder to part with them—even though heels, dress pants, and fancy work clothes no longer fit my lifestyle. I cut myself some slack and will get rid of more things over time.

This is how I tackled the project:

I completely cleared the closet first. See? Here it is looking completely bare.

My intention was to replace those clip thingies with a traditional closet rod. But then I discovered the rods we bought were too long and would need to be cut down. So, the clips remain until my hubby has time to cut the bar and install it.

I sorted all the clothes into piles on my bed:

What didn't go in my closet ended up here:

The bin on the left is full of clothes that don't fit right now. I know you aren't supposed to do this, but I'm sorry—I paid good money for these and I intend to wear them again! My post-baby nursing-momma body can't wear them, but it isn't like I have to lose 50 pounds. Its attainable, and so I will store them until I accomplish this goal. At least they aren't taking space in my closet and making me feel bad every day whe I look at them.

The second bin is summer clothes to store in another closet. I have them all on hangers so they can be swapped out easily in warmer weather.

The bin on the right is clothes and shoes to donate. A good start!

And one more bonus. (Do I get extra credit?) I was on a roll so I organized Tom's closet too. (No before pictures, but trust me—it wasn't pretty.)

I didn't purge anything—I'll leave that up to him—but it is so much neater and hopefully will encourage him to put his clothes away instead of in piles in front of his closet. Yahoo!

The author of 27 Things To Feng Shui Your Home says "Clearing clutter creates space for something new to come in, and what is new can be empowering". Shopping, anyone????? I kid, but as I was going through this process I did reveal a few gaps in my wardrobe and made a list of things that I can concentrate on looking for when I do have a rare moment to shop.

I have so many closets in my home that need this treatment that I am thinking of tackling a different closet every other week (in between my other Feng Shui challenges). If I do I will share it with you.

I hope you will take the Feng Shui challenge and clean out a closet of your own! If you do, leave me a comment below. I will be back next Friday with a new challenge!

Operation Lose 10 pounds-Week 1

You might ask how I am doing since I made my big commitment. Not that great. Usually in the first week of a diet you see your biggest results. But last weekend I had a party. And it was Valentine's Day. And we had this:

and this:

and candy, and cookies, and dessert.

It wasn't really fair. I started out really good, but when I made cupcakes (twice) I had to make sure they tasted okay before I gave them to my guests. Of course. I've passed on most of the candy (except for maybe 2 tiny skittles), I passed on the cookies, and I had only a small piece of dessert after Sunday lunch (angel food cake which is practically air.)

I might have to work a little harder if I want to see any results on the scale.

I did serve this at the party too:

Don't these veggies look colorful and scrumptious? They were. Mmmmm.

So, since it will be a few more weeks before I can get my treadmill set up, I am thinking about picking up a couple of workout DVDs to try out. Do you have any suggestions? I'd love to try some basic yoga to limber up, and I'm a little intrigued with the dancing type videos (Zumba, anyone?). Although I am very uncoordinated. I really want some simple workouts that I can do in half-hour stretches since it is hard to find a stretch of time longer than that to dedicate to anything. Help?

Doing things the hard way

I've been accused more than once in my life of doing things the hard way. (My mom says I get it from my dad.)  My mom is usually the one helping me with the kids while I bury myself in a project that takes twice as long as I plan. Tom is the one urging me to go to bed when I burn the midnight oil working on something.

This time it was the cupcakes I made for my card class:

Pistachio and White Chocolate Cupcakes from scratch. The recipe is from Cupcakes, Cupcakes, and more Cupcakes, an adorable cookbook that was a gift from my in-laws for Christmas. I'd been dying to try a recipe from it, and this is the one that caught my eye. Only I couldn't find pistachio paste. (No gourmet grocery stores here!) So I had to make it. I shelled the pistachios, boiled them to release the skins, peeled them, and ran them through the blender with oil and water to make a purée. It was successful, but it took good long while. And then I discovered the recipe only made 12 cupcakes, so I had to make a second batch.

They were good. But they weren't amazing. Maybe it was just that the flavor didn't quite match up with the effort.

I also had to make cupcakes for Abby's school Valentine party. Fortunately I took an easier route and used a mix.

But I couldn't just use a mix. I found this recipe from Heather Bailey to fancy them up. I did buy the frosting. Cut me some slack.

And then, amongst much encouragement from Tom to just buy them already, I made Valentine cards with the girls. 40 of them.

We made these cute little matchbook notebooks. And for the boys pink was a bit too girlie, so we found this cool basketball and football paper in my stash. Each card had a sucker stapled to it and was hand-signed by the girls.

I'm not sure what compels me to take the hard road. Heaven knows I am busy enough and constantly complaining about not getting enough done. Is it about the glory? I hope not. I'd like to think it is about the process. Here is a photo of the girls working on the cards with me:

Both of them said the night before Valentine's day was the Best Day Ever. I think they are just like me and I wouldn't give up these memories for the world.

Memory Lane Monday—my Valentines

This is my first Memory Lane Monday post and I'm not sure why. It was so much fun going through those old photos! Actually, I know exactly why. It is the scanning that slows me down. Anything I shot before 2004 was all film. I am thankful for digital and I am glad to have learned a little more about photography. (I have a long ways to go, as evidenced by the blurry photo at the end of this post. I had two adorable little posers and I couldn't get a clear picture of them to save my life!)

15 years ago, Valentine's Day 1996:

A couple of weeks prior to taking this photo, Tom and I were sitting in this same living room (in the swanky condo that belonged to my aunt that I had the privilege of living in for a semester.) I was a silly college Freshman and had just started dating Tom. We had been on some friendly dates together and both getting to the point where we wanted to take the relationship to the next level but still in that awkward stage where we didn't know how to make the first move. On the coffee table in front of us was a dish full of heart candies, so I reached over and grabbed one that said "kiss me" and handed it to him. So he did.

A couple of weeks later, my roomies and I prepared a Valentine's meal for our sweethearts, complete with their favorite desserts. How 6 of us managed to eat 3 desserts, I don't recall. (Freshman 15, anyone?)

A few years down the road, in 2007, we had 2 more Valentines to celebrate with:

Those same sweaters now fit Sarah and Eva:

Happy Valentine's Day!

Feng Shui Friday

The new year is filled with magazine articles about organization, sales on storage containers of all shapes and sizes, and blogs about getting your life back in order after the holidays. January is a great time to clean out the cobwebs and start afresh. Or, if you're like me, Jaunary is for recovering from the holidays, and FEBRUARY is the time to dig your heels in and start the big clean-out.

Actually, I am a big organizer (at heart) year-round. I daydream about perfectly organized closets and cupboards. In reality, I struggle to acheive it. It takes time to go through everything and get rid of things. Especially after a move and with kids to clean up after on a daily basis.

I have always been intrigued with the concepts of Feng Shui, so I decided to buy an inexpensive little book I once read about on some long-forgotton source: 27 Things to Feng Shui Your Home.

I don't prescribe to the deeper philosophies and religion behind Feng Shui, but at a very basic level, I believe that having an organized space brings peace and positive energy to your home. Having too much clutter wears me down. When I lose track of something it nags at me until I relocate it. Searching through piles to find something is time consuming and frustrating. Thus, getting organized is a mission I will be on for a long time.

I decided it would be fun to use this book as a guide to tackle projects throughout the year. Organization is only part of Feng Shui, however, so many of the items have to do with space clearing and adding positive energy to your home. Some of the 27 things are practical (clean your windows), some a bit more absract (add pink to enhance your love life?). Some I may repeat and some I may skip. In any case, I will find a way to apply them to my home in a practical manner that works for me. That is why it is Feng Shui My Way. If you want to join in, you can apply the projects in a way that suits YOU.

Every other Friday I will post a new Feng Shui My Way assignment. Each Friday in between I will share the project I chose to tackle and invite you to leave a comment about your own experience. You can post the button below on your blog if you would like to follow this project and post about your projects each week!

Use the following URL (/feng-shui-my-way/) to link the button back to the permanent Feng Shui home page on my site (accessible in the menu at the top of this site or by clicking on the Feng Shui My Way button on the right.) There I will keep the information written above and a link to all projects added to date.

And now for the first assignment:

#1: CLEAN OUT YOUR CLOSET

You can choose to clean out any closet, but you should start with the one that is most personal to you. In my case, this is my bedroom closet. That is enough for me to tackle in one week, but if you are particulary ambitious you can move on to other closets, cabinets, or drawers in your house. This is one assignment that is likely to repeated!

“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

-William Morris

You have heard the saying above, and it is a great guideline to follow as you are cleaning out your closet. My bedroom closet is much smaller than it used to be, as I wrote about here. Half of my clothes are in bins still, and since I haven't completely swapped out my summer clothes for winter clothes, I am often digging through the bins to get what I need. What a mess. My wardrobe needs are also drastically different here on the farm than when I had a desk job. High heels and dress pants are suddenly highly impractical. I think I may have a hard time getting rid of some of the nice clothes from my past, but I certainly don't need them anymore. I am going to pull everything out of my closet and only put back the things that I really love and feel great in, and that fit my lifestyle now. I would love to pare it down enough to fit everything in my closet, but most likely I will store my summer clothes in another spot.

Here are a few links to get you started:

20 Ways to Organize Your Bedroom Closet

Organize Your Closet with 5 Simple Questions

and Dream Closets to Make you Drool!

I do hope you will join me and share your projects. I'll see you back here next Friday with the results!

card class

Saturday I am hosting a card class, and today I spent the afternoon coming up with the cards we are going to make.

All supplies are from Stampin' Up!

I decided to do this class once a quarter as a way to keep ties with my old company. It is so fun to spend the afternoon stamping, and I always end up wondering why I don't do it more often!

Anyway, if you live in the area and would like to come, let me know!

Operation Lose 10 pounds

Everyone writes about their New Year's resolutions in January, which almost always include some kind of health-related or weight loss goal. I am going to go all non-conformist on you and write about it in February.

Actually, I'm not usually one to share publicly my struggles with weight loss. But I was successful once before—after Abby was born I joined Weight Watchers and lost 35 pounds. I don't really have room in my life right now for that kind of a structured plan, however, so I've been thinking about how to duplicate that recipe of success. I've come up with 2 things: commitment and accountability.

My commitment is this:

I am going to lose 10 pounds. I definitely can stand to lose more, but 10 pounds seems like an acheivable goal for now and will do wonders for helping my clothes fit better.

I am still nursing Eva, so I need to be careful not to over-diet and affect my milk supply. (Especially since Eva refuses a bottle!) I am going to plan on it taking about 2 months.

Instead of counting calories, I'm going to make these adjustments:

1. No limits on fruits and vegetables. I can eat as much as I want.

2. Listening to my hunger cues and stopping when I'm full.

3. When dessert is served, (which is MUCH to often around here), I will only take a very small piece. When it is just our family, I won't be making dessert.

4. No sugary snacks. This is my biggest weakness. But, right here, right now, I am committing to cut them out for 2 months.

5. No bedtime snacks (ice cream)!

6. Exercise.... This one is harder. The roads outside are covered with snow and ice, so that rules out outdoor activities. I can't spend more than a few hours away from Eva, so that makes skiing difficult. Our treadmill is in pieces waiting for our basement to be finished. Maybe I need some snow shoes! My dream would be to have an indoor lap pool. Ha ha. Can you imagine?

As for the accountability—that's you. Keep me honest, my friends! Ask me how I'm doing and I'll give you a report.

blogroll is live

I am sick in bed with a yucky cold today. So while the world is watching football, I am copying and pasting links into my blogroll. You can find it here, or by clicking the link in the navigation menu bar.

This is what it says: 

Here is a list of my favorite blogs, the top dogs, the créme-de-la créme. I do read others on occasion, but these are the blogs that keep me coming back for more.

For the friends and family list I was less discerning. If I am related to you, know you, or like you, you probably made the list. Of course it helps if you have updated your blog in the last, you know... year. And if you think you should be on the list, just send me a link to your blog. I probably still like you. :)

Kids are awesome (Part III)

My aunt Marilyn, who has been cleaning out her house in preparation for their move, found this note from me that she had tucked away back when I was maybe 5 or 6. Funny stuff. I'm sure my parent's loved me clicking through one of those 4-color pens as I changed ink every letter. It is totally the thing my kids would do and it would drive Tom absolutely batty. Hee hee ;)