Organizing

So I used to have it together and have things very organized and clean. As we all know that can be quite hard with 2 kids, 2 dogs and a husband around. Well needless to say my house has fallen behind in the organizing department and I am tired of it. I have recently stumbled across the blog I Heart Organizing and I am in love. She makes all of her stuff look so pretty. Just look at these photos from her site:

Go ahead and click on the photos and blow them up. ....

She even makes a to-do list look good

And these labels....Oh, these labels. I want to make them and put them on everything in my house.

So I am trying to be inspired and start organizing again. I know, I know I have said that so many times before. But you~yes you reading this post still are going to hold me to it this time. Lets set a goal for ourselves and use each other as motivation in the coming month to tackle some organizing one area at a time. What do you think? What area should we start with? I will post before-after-and during photos if you will too. Comment with the area you would like to start with and we will get to work together.

A Good Friend is hard to find.....

I came across the below blog posting and could not help but know exactly how the lady writing it feels. I moved to Tenn. when I got married and had a really hard time in the beginning. After realizing that if I didn't get over the fact that we moved and realize that this was now my home I would never be able to make new friends. Since then I have made a few lasting friendships but I can count them on one hand. Don't get me wrong I am so grateful for the women that I am able to call good friends in my life-lord knows I would not be able to make it without them. But I do still miss those girlfriends I left behind in GA. I often hear about there girls nights and get together's and its hard. I think to myself-that should be me planing and taking part in all this fun. But I need to remember that I DO HAVE FRIENDS here that would do anything for me and be grateful for what I have and not dwell on those that I have left behind by moving away.

I think in high school its much easier to make friends and keep friendships going strong. But as adults its much harder to connect with other women. We are afraid to put our selves out there most of the time-or at least I am. But being a mother esp. one that stays home you need to have a good network of women around you who you can call and cry or yell with, those who can see you at your best and at your worst. Now that I am a mother I have had the opportunity to meet new people through mom activities and moms groups. But I can honestly say I have felt at times like I am walking through target shopping for a friend. Oh, look at her-she looks like someone I could be friends with. Maybe I should try to strike up a conversation with her. But then she might think I am crazy (which I am to some extent).

So to all of my GA girls know that I still miss and think about you all the time and long for all the fun times we have had together in the past and wish that I was there to create even more memories with you all. But to my Tenn. girls know that I am so grateful for you guys and for being there for me no matter what and that I am looking forward to all the memories we will be making together.

Here is the article I was referring to:

source

I had the opportunity to meet up with an old friend from high school yesterday, sans le children. She was in town visiting her parents, taking a quick break from a hectic residency in Miami (she totally lives a Grey's Anatomy life!) I haven't seen her in several years, but when we gave each other a hug, it was like 10 years melted immediately away into a puddle on the floor of Panera Bread.

Three and a half talkative hours later (!), I left our lunch feeling as if we hadn't skipped a beat in our friendship, despite the time spent apart. My heart was happy to have had a chance to reconnect with someone who spent many high school and college hours with me shopping, hitting the movie theater, partying, gossiping, and shopping some more.

At the same time, I couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness, knowing that a good friend is hard to find. I don't normally pour my heart on the blog this way, and maybe it's a total turnoff to you.

But maybe there are other readers out there who feel the same way?

I think women are inherently programmed to seek out connections with others. I always feel a smile on my face when I meet someone who I can relate to, share with, talk about my feelings with. I love my husband, but he just doesn't get into Project Runway the way a girl friend does. He doesn't understand what it's like to be a mom, to want that pair of shoes so badly that your feet practically itch, or how I panic if I've left the house without earrings on.

I have dozens of friends. Wonderful, sweet, sassy, stylish, smart, encouraging friends. But I sometimes find myself wishing for deeper connections. Something beyond the everyday "Hi, howya doin?" type of connection.

It made me think of the lucky ladies travelling to Blissdom this week for the big bloggers' conference. Am I the only one who sometimes feels she's standing in the middle of a big, crowded conference room, surrounded by perfectly friendly, lovely people...but wishing for maybe just one person to really connect with? Someone to tell how you really feel, someone you can call to come over for a visit when you haven't vacuumed in a week, someone who will tell you that you need to stop wearing those pants because they make your butt look big.

I don't have anything wise or witty to impart today. I don't want to sound whiney or ungrateful for the wonderful women in my life.

I'm just honestly curious as to how many other ladies out there feel the same way that I do.

Flannery O'Connor wrote a short story in the 1950s called "A Good Man is Hard to Find." I think she might have had it wrong!

Cte Tote

I just found this cute tote! And there is even a how to tutorial: Here

Trying for less stress in my life.

Last night my son spent the night with my in-laws. It was our first night in ages without our son, so I was hoping for a nice romantic night with my hubby. Yeah, right. I knew that wasn't going to happen. So I ordered myself a pizza from my new favorite pizza place in town (Jets Pizza-so YUMMY) and tried to get some of my to-do list done. One of the big things I needed to do was get my hubby's help with taking all of the rubber tubs up to the attic that our Christmas decorations were in. They have been in our guest room since Thanksgiving weekend just waiting on him to take them back up. I have tried not to nag him about it or stress out too much about them being in there!~after all, that door does stay closed most of the time. Well with the holidays approaching my parents will be coming into town on Sunday so they will need a place to sleep. So I made sure to get the tubs all ready to go up along with some of our sons baby clothes. My dear hubby did end up taking them to the attic last night but not without putting me in a bad mood first. He just doesn't seem to understand why all of the tubs have to go to the attic only to be brought back down in a week or so. His question is this "why make more work for ourselves?" which most of the time is a good question. But seriously, if he had of taken them up to the attic a few Weeks ago when I first asked then he wouldn't be bringing them back down so soon.

So fast forward to this morning. I should have been relaxing and enjoying the little time I had to myself before my son came home. But instead I decided to try and tackle a few chours so I would have more time to spend with him when he got home and this weekend. So I started by getting all of the extra trash out since it was trash day. Then I came upstairs and started to vacuum our bonus room which is the room we spend the most time in. Only to find hidden dog pee all over and sticky goo in the carpet from the dogs having bones. So after spending 45 mins cleaning up the spots and finishing vacuuming. So I moved onto the guest room, which I found more pee in. Imagine my frustration. So going with my husbands motto "why create more work or stress for ourselves?" I decided on a new house rule~NO DOGS ALLOWED ON THE CARPET! For those who have not been to our home the bedrooms & bonus rooms are the only areas with carpet. So that leaves the dogs with a lot of play areas that have hardwood. So I was proud of myself for making this rule. As I lugged the vacuum down stairs I found a puddle of pee in the foyer hallway. So I cleaned it up-not as big of a deal since its hardwood. I go to the master bedroom to find our Boxer(who is not allowed on the furniture) laying up in the middle of the pillows on our bed like a princess. Yes, she knows how to open doors. So our little dog also followed her into our bedroom and decided to pee and poop in there. Seriously, I am over it the dogs are 3 & 5 years old. So needless to say I have had a rough morning. But my son is home and down for a nap and the dogs are no longer allowed on the carpet. We will see how this new rule works in our home.

So as I was looking thru some blogs tonight I found the following article over at How to Be a Housewife. I must say this is a perfect article. I am fairly new to blogging and must admit to spending hours some days looking thru blogs. Its very addiciting to look at other peoples lives that you have never met. My most favorite part of the article has to be the photo of the dog in the dishwasher, I could so see Chloe (our boxer) doing this. After all she knows how to get out of her cage, open the baby gate, open the doors in our house and even get ice or water out of the door of our fridge (yes, no exadurating, she can do all of these). The photos didnt copy with the article so be sure to visit this blog to check them out. I promise they are worth it!

Here the article:

So you sat down at the computer at 8:00 AM right after your husband left for work this morning, and thought you'd read a few blogs, write a bit on your own - you know - catch up. You sip your coffee, get up and make a sandwich, knowing full well in just a minute you'll get up from the computer and get going on your housework and things you need to get done that day. You casually look up at the clock and GASP! it's 4:45! Your husband is due home from work in 15 minutes! He's going to see the messy house, the unmade bed, the piles on the counter, the dirty laundry and ohmygawd, he's going to know -- he's going to know you did nothing all day - he's going to think you're addicted to the computer -- he's going to think you're (gasp!) a terrible housewife! Oh, he might not say it -- but you know he's going to think it. You can practically hear the gavel of the Divorce Court judge banging on the desk!
What would June Cleaver do? Nothing -- June Cleaver had a full time housekeeper. But that's OK - Relaaaxxxxx... piece 'o cake. I'm here to rescue you.

Here's the blogging housewife's fast method of doing housework.
1. Calmly let go of your mouse -- flex your fingers a few times to get feeling back in them.
2. R-U-N (not walk - RUN) up the stairs to your master bedroom. Throw all bed pillows on the floor, yank up the sheets, yank up the blanket, yank up the quilt, smooth them all down, put the pillows back on.
3. Grab a laundry basket, run to the hamper (you're not walking are you?!), pull out one small load of clothes (enough so the hamper shuts). Put the basket by the door.
4. Go to your master bathroom, grab the wet washcloth, wipe down the sink surround. Then lift the toilet seat and give that a wipe. We're talking fast here - one swish - it gets what it gets.
5. Bringing the washcloth with you (ewwwwww - did you think I was going to leave it in the bathroom to be used again?), return to the laundry basket, bring it to the laundry. Put last week's half-wet wash in the dryer with two dryer sheets (maybe that musty smell will go away), turn on the dryer. Put the new load your brought downstairs in the washer and turn it on. Water temp, load size, detergent -- none of that matters -- you just want the washer and dryer going when your husband walks in the door.
5a. If you're real lucky today (and you could use some today!), there will be a load of dry clothes in the dryer that should have been folded three days ago. Grab an armload of the dry cloths and place them on the family room (or whatever room he watches TV in) couch. When the laundry basket is empty from step 5, put these clothes in the laundry basket -- and return it to the couch.
6. Go to your kitchen. Fill up your sink with about 2 inches of hot water. Dump in some lysol or equally strong smelling cleaner. Grab your kitchen dishrag and wipe down open spots on the counter and stove top.
7. Dirty dishes fast into the dishwasher if you can. Doesn't matter if there's clean dishes in there, they won't shrink if you wash them again. If you can't fit it all in, go for storage under the sink. Men never look under the sink.
8. Run into the family room, plump the cushions, grab whatever is obviously out of place and put it somewhere... cabinets are good, drawers are good, a broom closet works in a pinch. Put the remote control next to "his chair".
9. Back to the kitchen. Grab cans of food, a bag of flour, eggs and some kind of meat out of the refrigerator. Put it on the counter where you normally prepare food. It doesn't matter if that's what you're going to make for dinner -- it will look like you've got dinner thought out and ready to start cooking.
10. If you've yet to hear the car pull into the driveway, put on a pot of coffee. Put two store bought Chocolate Chip cookies on a plate and nuke them for 10 seconds as soon as you hear that car. Place them next to the coffee -- with a paper napkin.Still time left?
11. Grab a hairbrush and brush.

So what have we accomplished in under 15 minutes?

The house smells like you've been cleaning all day long (Lysol in the kitchen sink).
The house smells like you've been baking (microwaved cookies).
Your bathroom is sparkling clean (he doesn't see pee on the seat, and his coffee cup marks are gone from the sink).
You have obviously done at least three loads of laundry -- one on the couch to fold, one in the dryer, one in the washer.
The bed is made. If you don't normally do this, your husband is REALLY going to think you cleaned all day. If you do normally do it, he'll think all is right with the world.
You are neat, clean and completely unfrazzled. You are neat and clean.And if you're lucky, you still have time to come back to your computer and blog an article like this one!

The hardest job in the world

Who knew that being a mom could be so hard? Duh, anyone who is a mom already. As hard as it may be (some days harder than others) it is by far the most rewarding job there is. It doesn't pay much unless you count the poopie diapers, slobber, droll or spit up. But when your child looks at you and says "mama" or hugs you so tight you would think you won the lottery (or at least that's how I feel). My son is my world and there may be days that I feel like running away, but I know I could not make it a day without him. He is my everything.

Yummy holiday drinks

This morning when I logged on and checked out some of the blogs I follow I found the below over at Stem Parties. Dont they just look amazing. I will def. be testing them both out this season.

You can view her posting here:
Candy Cane Hot Chocolate
4 cups milk2-3 (1 ounce) squares semisweet chocolate, chopped4 peppermint candy canes, crushed to powder1 cup whipped cream4 small peppermint candy canes
In a saucepan, heat milk until hot, but not boiling. Whisk in the chocolate and the crushed peppermint candies until melted and smooth. Pour hot cocoa into four mugs, and garnish with whipped cream. Serve each with a candy cane stirring stick. (or add peppermint liqueur for a kick!)
via allrecipes.com
Peppermint Martini
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5 oz vanilla vodka2 oz white creme de menthe1/2 oz peppermint schnappsmini candy canes