A Change is Gonna Come

Well HELLO!  I have been terrible at keeping up with this little blog these past couple of years.  Look, I've even had another kid and he's not even on the side bar over there yet. #momfail  But then again, let's be honest.  He's absolutely the main reason that I haven't kept up with this blog very well.  So I guess that's an even trade (I want to put the raised arms/"oh well" emoji right here).  I digress.  Here's what's going on...

A few years ago, a friend of mine told me that when she turned 30, something changed in her.  Like all of a sudden she realized she didn't have to put up with other's people's crap; she stood her ground and stood up for herself; she just felt good.  That always stuck with me.  And let me tell you--I turned 30 last year...she was right ;)

It took a little while for me, closer to 31.  And although I do feel a little more sure in my own footing and care a little less when people get their feathers flustered, I more so found the umph to quit putting up with my own crap.  So here are some changes we've been making in this household lately:

1.  In May, something clicked and I decided that at 31 (aka, a grown ass woman...insert eyeroll emoji), it was time for me to start making my bed.  This is not a habit that ever ever stuck with me  My mom makes hers religiously, but never required it of us; and I had no interest in extra "work".  I'm just going to crawl back in it tonight anyway! Which is still true...but it is so much nicer to crawl into a made bed than have to figure all the covers back out.  But mostly, it just looks pretty.  My room automatically feels cleaner and bigger and more welcoming to me.  It took a couple of weeks of making myself do it (my husband telling me every night how much he loved the bed being made definitely helped).  But as they say, 21 days makes a habit--and so it was.  By week three, it was a breeze.  And now I'm to the point that I can't stand to walk back in my room if it's not made.  Literally less than a minute to make my whole day feel better--winning.

(This also made me decide to make my kids make their beds every morning.  Right now, that's just Arabella--Kaplan tries sometimes, but not regularly.  She knows she has to have it made/be dressed/teeth brushed before she comes in for breakfast.  It's lovely...and she likes the way it looks too!)

2.  I decided in March-ish that I was going to set a goal this year to read a book a month.  I would love for it to be a book a week, but that's just not realistic for me right now in this phase of life.  But I felt like a book a month was very achievable.  I love to read, but I had slacked off BIG time.  And the major culprit aside from my children?  The TV...  ugh.  I'm going to write a whole post about what all I've been reading so far, but I am happy to say that (thanks to the Harry Potter series!) I have smashed my one/month goal so far!  I'm on number 14 :)  I still watch TV some, but mostly just the shows that Hunter and I watch together.  If I have a chunk of time, now I reach for my book instead of the remote.  Beautiful.

3.  As we hunkered down for school to start up again, my sister told me she was making a schedule for their family to follow each week as far as chores and exercise and such.  Simultaneously--and without knowing my sister and I had talked about this--one of my best friends started asking what my schedule was for laundry and chores (it was "whenever whatever needs to be done").  The more I thought about it, the more I loved the idea of having a schedule and a defined routine.  So I took a look at the examples that had been commented on the book of faces, and I set out to make our own chore chart.

For some reference, Arabella is almost 7, Kaplan is almost 4, and Landry is almost 2.  My husband works full time and I stay at home.  And Rosie is our robot vacuum ;)  Pet care will be added eventually for the kids (we have an outside lab, so right now, daddy does all of her care taking).

Most of these are things I was already doing, inconsistently and irregularly (besides mopping--I mean hello.  That's hell with a handle).  This was fine, but it also meant I was doing it all.  And it's about dang time these kids started doing some chores!  We really started following this schedule this week, and so far they are asking me (excitedly) what their chore is.  Today they folded towels (Bella the big towels, Kaplan the rags and hand towels)...  This was a big "let go" one for me because a) they sat in a pile on my bed until Bella got home and I really wanted to fold them myself and get them out of the way; and b) I mean they're not great at folding towels...so the fact that I put them up the way they folded them (with a little help--it was their first time solo so I was showing them how as they went), well that's just huge.  Deep breaths, mama.

I tried to pick chores that needed to be done on a regular basis that were also age appropriate (Landry was tough, but he's learning as we go).  I also added in some things we weren't doing often enough (ahem mopping...and also ceiling fans, changing sheets, bathrooms, and cleaning out the van...I don't like to clean...).

Hopefully with a laundry "schedule", the clothes we need will always be clean.  And if I don't have SO much to fold at a time, maybe I'll actually just fold it once it dries...hmmm.  But seriously--I have found now that I make my bed, if I'll bring my pile of laundry in there to fold, it gives me a chance to listen to a podcast away from as much children noise...and I'll fold it that same day because it's on my bed.  The pile on the couch used to sit there for daaaaaays on end because I just didn't want to fold it. And then we were wrinkly and it was an actual mountain of clothes and we were digging through the pile for what we needed and I just hated it.

4.  Hunter and I have talked regularly for the past year+ about needing to be healthier.  We are both the heaviest and most out of shape we've ever been (let's face it, I've never been in shape)...but yet all we ever did was talk.  Well when I made the chore chart, I also told him I wanted to start getting up early to exercise (who the heck am I??) every morning.  WUT.  So for the past two weeks we've been exercising, and since school started, we've been getting up at 5:30 to do so.  Help me, Jesus...it is so early.

He enjoys running (I absolutely do not...  He convinced me to run with him way back in the day before children, and it quickly got to the point that I didn't want him to come home from work because it meant we had to run.  The worst.  He however loved it and took the dog every morning to RUN 3 miles...the whole way.  I can't breathe just thinking about it.  But then he broke the tip of his toe the week before we had Arabella and that was that; hasn't run much since.)  So now, once again, he wakes up in the morning and goes for a run.

I really enjoy my CU24 Advocare video.  I did it consistently the first time I did the 24 day challenge several years ago and enjoyed it then (and could tell a difference).  So I wake up friggin early and do my video.  My schedule:  MWF are actual workouts and TR are core stretch exercises.  The weekends can be whatever.  Each video is only 24 minutes (so manageable) and are broken into 9-12 different exercises that they repeat.  There's also a beginner/intermediate/difficult pose for each exercise as well as a beginner/intermediate/difficult time limit.  So you do what you're able for as long as you're able and don't feel like a failure when you can't keep up.  Plus I turn down the volume on the video and turn up my pumped up playlist--music really does help you get pumped!
**PS--just found out that these videos are on YouTube!  So you can check em out if you're interested.

5.  And here's the kicker...FOOD.  I mean come on.  We're from south Louisiana.  Food is everything to us (and hardly any of it is healthy).  I'm pretty good about cooking most nights...but I'm not great about making sure things aren't loaded with carbs and cholesterol and sodium and processed everything.

My sister and I were able to sneak away and go see Rachel Hollis's documentary "Made for More" last week...incredible.  I already loved her, but this attracted me to her like a moth to a flame.  And I also went home feeling ready to keep some promises to myself.  Since I was alone on the way home, I listened to one of her podcasts and she talked about going from a size 14 to a size 2 (I had NO idea she had struggled with that...she's a tiny person at only 5'1" and I've only ever seen her tiny waisted as well).  She mentioned that she had done a podcast with the nutritionist whose book changed her diet (not as in a fad, but as in the food she consumes), so I went and listened to that one too.

And it all just made a lot of sense.  Kelly Leveque wrote the book Body Love which goes into a lot more detail (it's next on my to read list!).  You can go to the "Rise" podcast and listen to her interview with Rachel for some details and an interested conversation.  She talked a lot about blood sugar, and why carbs are needed but can also be really bad...in a way that I understood basically (and I have very little knowledge about all that jazz).

So now, after our early morning workouts, we start our day with one of her fab four smoothies for breakfast.  The ones we've tried so far have actually been pretty good.  And I can guarantee you they're better for us than the pop tarts, cereal, oatmeal, or straight nothing we'd been eating...

For lunch, we've been trying to eat lighter.  He usually has leftovers; or if he goes out to eat, he's mindful of what's on the menu and balances his entree and sides.  I eat a salad for lunch almost every day (which is HUGE because I'm not a salad person).  I also keep boiled eggs on hand at all times.  Cucumbers, sweet potatoes (very little sugar, a little cinnamon), apple with peanut butter, a small scoop of chicken salad (with a green salad or cucumber)...some combination or variation of any of that.

And for dinner--that hasn't changed a ton.  I don't do rolls or bread anymore just for the sake of having them.  And most of our vegetables are fresh now instead of canned (although we do still have some green beans/peas/corn every once in a while).  I've done a lot of broccoli, zucchini, squash, and cauliflower chopped up, seasoned, and baked (in whatever combination you choose).  Also asparagus.  And salads some nights too.  But last week we had lasagna to go with it.  And tonight I made some rice a roni.  And this weekend we had macaroni as a side.  We even had key lime pie Sunday night (and it was SO good)! And I'm ok with every bit of that--because we used portion control.  And instead of having heaping helpings of all those things, we got an actual serving...and ate our vegetables first to fill us up more before we even got to the starches.

I cut the cokes out again (not that hard since I wasn't drinking them often, and he hasn't had one in like 13 years).  We cut back on the wine/beer.  And I cut back on the sweet tea :(  He switched to half and half a couple years ago, and now actually enjoys straight unsweet tea (gag me with a spoon).  I however am a proper southern lady and want my tea as thick as my accent and sweet as I am too ;)  I don't ever keep it at home--it's that urge to stop at Sonic that's harder to break...but I've done well!

It's been harder at some times than others, but we already feel better.  I went into this food thing refusing to do Paleo or Keto or Atkins or whatever named diet there is...I also refused to count micros or macros and anything (I don't do numbers and that crap confuses me).  I really just wanted this whole experience to be about making better choices for our bodies.  We're not that far from 40 (eeeesh) and that's kinda when you're body can start working against you more than for you.  And I don't want to be in a bad place then and have to do a major overhaul...so we're trying to just be better to our bodies and ourselves in general.  Plus, we want these changes to be something that we keep up with, not a phase we go through.  Learning to make good choices is something we can keep.



Phew, that was a lot!  I know this seems like a ton of change, but it's happened semi-gradually for us.  And none of it is so major that it's hard to manage.  I just wanted to share what was working for us in case you might be interested in making some changes too, but just don't know exactly what you want to do yet.  Change is never easy, but it can be so so good!  You really can do it ;)

xoxo, angie

My 2013 Planner!

I am a loyal follower of Jen at IHeartOrganizing!  I stumbled across her blog through Pinterest--she was actually the first blog other than my friends' that I started following--and boy am I glad I did!  Her habits and home are ones over which I swoon...  She does such a great job at not only organizing spaces (and keeping them that way), but also making them all visually appealing and just so much fun!

At the beginning of the month, she posted her planner that she created, and I immediately fell in love.  Enough so the I ordered the planner kit from her, as well as the similar system she used to hold the pages.  Well, it all came in today and I am SO pleased with it so far! 

(If you go look at hers, which I strongly encourage you to do, I will warn you that it is SO much prettier than mine!  The girl has skill--perfect, beautiful, Midas Touch of Organization skill.)

I loved the planner documents so much (purchased electronic files) that I visited her Etsy shop and got a few more organizational documents that I could use in our family planner.  Oh, the color and coordination and personalization is almost too much for me to take in!  I just love it.

*The pictures are horrible because the lighting in my house is horrible--but I went ahead and took them without any natural light because I have time to blog and I'm just that excited about it!*

I ordered the Discbound System (by Martha Stewart) from Staples.  I loved this pattern; although, the one Jen got was the Discbound System also, her cover is a different material and offers other features (pocket and pen holder) that mine doesn't.  Had I known that, I might have swayed my choice; but regardless I still love the pattern!  Mine is also a soft cover so it bends like a notebook would. (she got the textured cover--offered in Black or Blue Wave--and I got the smooth)

There she is!  I love the cover sheet (well, I actually just love all of the pages SO much!) as the first thing I see when I open it.  All of my little tab labels off to the side add a bit of character while keeping things in order.

Each month gets a full page calendar like this one...

and also a full spread per week like this one (LOVE this feature).

The full spread includes a space to write out the meals you have planned for that day, making it super easy to get a glance at your complete day.  Each page also has a space for notes--we all have to have those little reminders--and that quote that I have come to love as such a fun reminder: 

"It's a FABULOUS day to have a FABULOUS day!"

The year, month, and week's end are also written at the top of the left page of the week at a glance.

While a full month's view of the past, current, and future months and a space for the weeks goals are on the right page.

I also have coordinating "Notes" pages at the back for those random lists that I always find myself writing; a Special Dates page where I have important birthdays and anniversaries are written out in one easy to see format; an idea sheet for blogging (personalized); and a media inventory list (I'm a bit of a movie fiend--and the worst is being at the store and not remembering if I already have the movie I'm thinking about getting--especially in a series...).

I've only had it for 5 hours and I already LOVE it!  Who wouldn't want to look at all those fabulous colors and layouts on a daily basis?  So pretty and yet so functional!

I started a family binder last year (again, after following Pinterest to a blog of ideas...).  I've seen multiple variations since and will probably use this more and more as our family grows.  However, since I was already on a spree, I went ahead and gave it some sprucing!  Since I am a sucker for all things chevron, this cover design had me at first sight.  And now all of the colors and patterns blend between it and my planner which makes me super happy :)

I had a flimsy planner in the front of this last year and it was my main family calendar.  It worked well except carrying around a hard binder all the time or to go grocery shopping or on trips was just annoying.  It was too bulky, and I didn't need to tote around all of the information in the other tabs all the time.  So I printed out the same calendar that's in my planner (only the whole month views).  So I still have a calendar here that gives me a reference, but it's no longer my main source of schedule organization.

With the planner kit came these fabulous meal plan sheets.  I had used a variation of these last year, but they weren't near this pretty!  I love having the space for the meals and the grocery list so that all of the planning gets done at once (my other sheets also had this feature so it's already something I appreciate, but again, they were just too dull).  I have 52 of these bad boys printed out and ready to go for 2013.  My plan is to fill out my menu and grocery list as I'm able to--even weeks at a time--and then when pay day/grocery day comes around, the two weeks I'll be shopping for will get punch and put in my planner.  I plan to carry that planner most (hopefully all) of the time, so this way I won't be carrying anything extra to the store.  I tried shopping with that bulky binder a few times last year and it was terrible (especially now with trying to juggle it and a toddler).  Then I resorted to just taking the paper, but I ended up folding it and shoving it in my purse or just flat out forgetting it at home--both of which strongly annoyed me.  So hopefully this method will ease my shopping woes!

I ordered this Babysitter planning sheet to fill out when we have a sitter (especially someone who doesn't sit for us often).  Again, I already had something similar to this, but it wasn't as pretty and I liked the info spaces on this one better.  Since they're digital files that I now own, I can print out as many as I need whenever I need them! (huge score in my book...)

I love having a place that I can organize my gift ideas and what I've already bought.  Plus this design has a place to track your spending budget--all must haves in one pretty location!

Here are the party planning documents that I fell in love with!  I regularly find myself hosting some sort of shower or shindig, making so many lists in so many different places that I can't keep track of them all.  This way, I can keep all my info together, and I can always write random thoughts and tid bits on the back.  Regardless, it's all together.

I also ordered the Password Log (who doesn't need help remembering the usernames and passwords to all of those online subscriptions and memberships?!) and the Paint Color Reference (to keep track of where you used a color and what it's name was) that both live in the binder.

How pretty are all of those pages?!  She is such a great designer of all things, but here we're focusing on those printables.  Again, these are sold as digital files, so once you get them, you can print them out as you need them.  The personalization is something else that gets me giddy.  Function + Beauty + Organization = Happiness and Sanity

I'm so excited to get this year going!

What do you use as your planner/home organization system?  I'd love to hear any tips or ideas you have that work for you and your family!

love, angie

Reminder:  I bought these printables from Jen at IHeartOrganizing.  Please visit her blog and her store and show her some love for her fantastic work!  You'll fall in love quickly!

Blog

Etsy Shop

a kitchen pantry...finally

If I have one major complaint about our house--we have no extra storage!  All we have are the bedroom closets.  While they're good sized closets, things still tend to struggle to find a logical home.  We have very little bathroom storage (one under the sink cabinet in each), no coat or linen closet, and no pantry.  I've had to get very creative in placements--and things still tend to overflow.

But now that we have the baby bug, things had to change.  Especially now that she's getting old enough for us to venture into the land of rice cereal and baby food, her supplies were multiplying in my kitchen.  Without a pantry, I was already using my largest single cabinet and two double doored cabinets for food, as well as my largest double doored cabinet for appliances (crockpots, blender, George Foreman grill, toaster, etc.).  And they were bursting at the seams.  I had to do a major purge this summer to get all of that to work when we took over our previous appliance storage cabinet as an impromptu desk/office space--AJ's bedroom took over our office.  So now I needed something for all of her things.

I finally was able to get my hubs to get me a storage cabinet :)  We debated on him building one; paying a fantastic woodworker to create us a built-in desk/pantry/storage area (would have been amazing, but way out of our wise budget); buying one at a furniture store; constructing one pretty much exactly like this with shelves from IKEA (this will probably happen in our next house...or this one if we stay here long enough); or just going cheap with the little cube system.  All I really needed was a simple cabinet with doors (I have to be able to hide the cluttered look).  But we couldn't find something that seemed so simple...  Well, when Hunter went to Target (you know, that addicting store of wonderfulness?) to get the cube system we had decided to settle on, he found exactly what I had been looking for--not sure how we missed it the night before!

It fits perfectly in our skinny little corner by the windows. Nothing fancy.  And it was cheap (even better).  But it gets the job done.  Just a simple cabinet with doors.

a peek inside...

I also attached a 3M hook to the side of it to hold her eating bibs.  This gives easy access for table eating without the mess :)  Or at least without as much mess...

Since the extra cabinet is now the panty, my kitchen cabinets are filled with Bella's supplies.  They are usually more full than this, but we're packing for her weekend at Mimi and Papa's so they're a little bare. Normally, that formula shelf is full all the way across (that's after pay day at least, and then it slowly dwindles it's way across), and that big hole on the right of the shelf below it is usually full of bottles.  There's also our dishwasher basket, bottle liners, and formula containers there, as well as extra nipples and bottle lids inside the bowls (another Target find--$2 for a 2 pack of the big ones and for a 4 pack of the small ones...great deal!)  The cabinets in the bottom picture hold her sippy cups and bowls, cereal/food/snacks, and all the components to my Baby Bullet (super excited about that!  Christmas present from my madre).

I'm still making tweaks here and there as I adjust to having everything in its new home.  With the move I was able to clear off my countertops (the previous home to all of her bottles and their accessories) as well as two shelves in her closet (which held all of the formula and unopened cups/bowls/spoons and the Baby Bullet).  All in all it has been a great adjustment!  I love having everything so easily accessible :)

Oh and while I was at Target, I couldn't help but snag up these little gems.  I have no idea what I'm going to use them for yet, but they were just too beautiful for me to pass up!

I may live in organized chaos to other people, but I really do love for everything to have its place (I just don't always do the best job of making sure it gets back in it!).  Loving my new storage space!

love, angie

Cookin' Up a Storm!

I have always enjoyed cooking (it's really the cleaning up after part that detracts me from the idea...), but when you work full time, it's tough to find the energy and umph at the end of the day to plan a meal.  I know I could have been one of those responsible and organized people who would plan out a menu, or even better, cook up a large amount of a free day and freeze the extras making the work day meals so much easier.  However, that required to much energy and umph too--and the tiny little detail that we needed to be home on a weekend!

But all of that is about to change!  The past two summers I have had full intention of sitting down with my cookbooks and trying all of these new meals--yeah, that didn't go far.  BUT, since I'm not having to go to inservices or get ready for the next school year, that little goal is happening!

My favorite cookbooks are not the kind you buy in the store, but the ones that are compiled by the people you know--like church groups and communities.  So I sat down with my Feeding the Flock (from Boulevard, the church where I grew up) and Table Ties (from Surgicare, the place where my sister Mel works) cookbooks and began my list.  I read through every recipe.  Anything that sounded promising--and somewhat doable for my cooking abilities!--gotten written down on my list.  From there, I got my handy dandy weekly planner notepad and actually wrote out a menu.  It included nights that I wouldn't need to cook as we had other plans and such, along with the page numbers and cookbook where the recipe could be found.  AND the real kicker--I'm actually sticking with it!!

Last week I cooked a roast and rice and gravy--major accomplishment for me!  The first time I tried that (and it was in the crockpot...I thought those recipes couldn't be messed up...), the meat was extremely tough, the gravy was clumpy, and my rice cooker kapooped and the rice was crunchy.  Needless to say it was a disaster.  But this one was good!  This weekend we had steak, crawfish etouffee, and baked potatoes for Hunter's birthday party (we also had homemade snickerdoodles and homemade red velvet cake!).  This wasn't a new recipe, but nonetheless, I cooked!  Last night I made jambalaya, woot woot!  Granted it was a super simple recipe that you make in the rice cooker, but my boy liked it and was proud of me!

Today is Hunter's birthday so I definitely couldn't get away with not cooking.  Normally I would have tried his favorite of red, beans, and rice, but we're saving that for next week.  Tonight I'm braving chicken spaghetti and homemade beer bread (we even have this sweet cinnamon honey butter to spread on it...).  Hoping it's tasty!

Finally, one of the greatest parts of cooking--Hunter takes the leftovers to work the next day instead of going out to eat which saves us tons of money!  I've also saved money by checking my pantry and actually making a grocery list based on what I need for the recipes on my menu.  Before I would just stop at the store on my way home from work.  I'd pick up things I thought I needed (when in reality I already had it) or buy things with plans of making something specific.  But the tired and busy would kick in and the food would go to waste before I even cooked it.  No more!  I hope to be in a good habitual swing of meal and grocery planning by the time little AJ gets here--the more routine I can have taken care of, the better off I'll be!

It sounds like a pain, but it's so worth it!  Make a menu, coordinate the list.

And if you have any delicious recipes you'd like to share, please don't hesitate to pass them my way!  Happy cooking :)

love, angie