Fab Five ... Week ending May 9, 2009

1. Books. I LOVE LOVE LOVE to read. So, I am always reading at least two or three books. Anyone have any good recommendations? Post in my comments ... I am always looking for something new.

2. Blogging. I think I am officially addicted. I love writing them, reading them, searching for them. For all the woes we often hear about technology, reading blogs written by other moms or pastors wives or wannabe writers or just about anyone makes me feel more connected, more normal, and more like a part of the greater community. Plus, I like that when I hit "Publish Post" I can say I am "published"! Ahh, one day, that dream will come true!!

3. Coffee. Yeah, I know this has made the list before, but I love a good cup of coffee. And I'm enjoying the last of my Auburn City Blend from Toomer's Coffee in Auburn, Alabama. Guess I need to order more or make a trip to Auburn to get some more! (And since I cannot mention the city of Auburn without doing this as well ~ WAR EAGLE!!!)

4. Spring cleaning. Yes, for an OCD type like myself, spring cleaning makes the Fab Five. I've joined the Spring Cleaning Party on Simple Mom (and dragged my sister-in-law Beth into it kicking and screaming!). It has been great! Last week I got my house decluttered and my kitchen and living room cleaned and organized. What fun! And since the party lasts two weeks, you can probably be confident that Spring Cleanign will make next week's Fab Five list too.

5. Good friends. You know the kind that you can go months without having a conversation with but when you talk it is as if no time has passed? I am blessed with many of this kind of friend in my life. Some of whom I have never actually met! God has put some amazing women in my life during this season - they are encouraging, supportive, loving, amazingly hilarious, tender, kind, godly ... and I am humbled and honored to call each a friend. The live in Alabama, Georgia, Oklahoma, Washington, Illinois, Missouri, Texas, North Dakota, and Kansas. What a joy to share this journey of life with so many fantabulous women! Thank you to ALL of you! I love you!!

Spring Cleaning - Days 3 thru 5 ...I think

Spring Cleaning Party continues at the Underwood home ... Thanks to Simple Mom for making this usually tedious and dreaded task into a big ol' party!!

So I have to confess that two weekends ago I got a cleaning urge and went ahead and did my kitchen. I didn't think to take before pictures - though, honestly, I am not sure I would have been willing to show the before pics! It was bad!!!

So, this week I took two days to do my living room and then I really did nothing in the kitchen as it was already done. So this morning, I cleaned out the two bookcases in my living room (pictures below) and then just took pics of the kitchen.



I am a little embarrassed about these pictures, honestly. I guess I just kept piling stuff on that bookcase and behind the doors of the other shelf. All those pictures are just insane! The bookcase is generally hidden as it is behind our front door which I keep open most of the time. I ended up taking all the photos out of the frames and sorting through them for scrapbooking.

There is a huge pile of books for donation. I have a hard time sometimes getting rid of books. But I made myself get rid of one for every two I kept. Someday I'll be at one kept for one donated ... but today was just not that day!

Okay ... so here are the after pics. Also included are pictures of my kitchen cabinets. My final verdict on all of this decluttering (especially in the kitchen) is this ... our reality may not be the same as anyone else's but I am accepting our reality for what it is! So, Scott's vitamins are out on the counter because that is the only way to make sure he remembers to take them. He had weight loss surgery two months ago and his health is way more important to me than completely clear counters ... so the vitamins stay out.

So, without further adieu, here are the after pictures ... followed by some thoughts I have on kitchen stuff.



Just a few ideas that have made my life easier ...

1. I have all white dishes. We do still have some plastic cups & plates but my DISHES are all white. It just looks cleaner than having mismatched sets or multiple colors in my cabinet.

2. I use the silicone bakeware. It takes up less space and is easier to store. I love it!!

3. I got rid of all my duplicate casserole dishes. Honestly, if I am making more than one it is usually to freeze or give away, so I use the aluminum pans (disposable but I wash & reuse them) for that. Keeps my cabinets way neater.

4. I was going to buy new drawer dividers for my utensil drawer. But when I cleaned out all my plastic storage stuff, I realized I had some pieces without lids that would work. So I repurposed those and it has worked great.

This has been a great experience so far! I am looking forward to next week ... bedrooms & bathrooms!! I know I have MUCH MUCH MUCH work to do in those areas! But I am taking the weekend off - too much going on to do any spring cleaning anyway.

Thanks Tsh ... this has been a great experience! Oh & check out my sister-in-law's blog for her progress - she is a pastor's wife who homeschools her seven children (all ages 10 and under) ... truly if she can do this, I can't imagine anyone who can't!! And I have so enjoyed reading others' blogs and seeing their progress. What a wonderful encouraging week this has been!!!

Pirate-y Fun!!

Casiday was in her first school musical tonight!! She was great! The whole thing was awesome!!

She is in the Satilla Singers at her school and we are so proud of her for being a part of this group. Several of her friends are in the Singers also and so that has made it more fun for her.



Here are the pictures from tonight's performance of "Pirates!"

Spring Cleaning - the Living Room ... ugh!

Okay, so it's Day Three of the Spring Cleaning Party on Simple Mom. I'm on my second day since I went with Casiday on a field trip yesterday. (Check out these guys! Pianafiddle was amazing!)

Days 2 & 3 are the living room ... and so I did about half of mine today. Cleaned out the drawers and cleaned off the shelves beside the TV. We have a lot of gaming system paraphenalia. A LOT! There was not a lot to throw away as I had already decluttered this room on Monday. But it took awhile to organize and clean.

Ultimately, I made the following decisions about the "stuff" in this room:

1. We use our gaming systems regularly so it's okay for the Wii Fit balance board and the Guitar Hero drums and guitars to be out. They are not in the center of the floor but we use them often enough that it makes no sense to give up valuable closet space for them. Plus, it is much easier to put them back where they belong when it is in the same room where we play with them. So, as you can see in the pictures, they are placed near the TV & gaming systems.

2. I have a basket by my end of the couch. It is not a very big basket but it holds my computer, a few books, note cards, etc. As long as it doesn't overflow, I am not too worried about what is in it. When it gets full, I'll go through it and toss the magazines, etc. and put away what I'm done using.

3. Scott's space is just that ... Scott's! As long as I can find the phone and the remotes when I need them, it is not worth my energy (and potential frustration!) to go through his stuff and figure out what he needs. He, too, has a basket by his chair and has agreed to try to keep his "stuff" in that basket and not all around his chair.

4. I don't mind dusting the things we love. So, the pipe collection, Norman Rockwell stuff, and the other things that are out are okay with me. It might be cluttered to others, but it is HOME for us and we like it that way.


So, those are my big conclusions for the day. Tomorrow I will be volunteering at Care Net so I will be another day behind on the Party. But Friday I plan to go through the books inside the cabinet and on the bookshelf behind the front door. That will be a HUGE project so I am not starting until I know I have time to finish the same day.

Below are the pictures from today. Happy Cleaning to all!!

Menu Plan Monday ~ My first effort!

I have long been a menu-maker and am typically a menu-follower; but, this week I am just at a loss. So I went to MPM and was so inspired! And then decided to give it a go myself!!


Monday ~ Teriyaki chicken (baked or grilled, not sure which yet) & stir fry veggies

Tuesday ~ Hamburger steaks & green beans

Wednesday ~ (church night so it's gotta be easy!) Soup & sandwiches

Thursday ~ (Casiday has dance & a program at school) Eat out

Friday ~ Pink Pancakes (from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook) with turkey bacon

Saturday ~ Scott is singing at an event so we will probably end up eating out that night too.

Sunday ~ Pork chops with cranberry glaze & veggie of some sort

Springing into Spring!! Day 1 of Spring Cleaning Party ...

Oh yeah! Decluttering ... I love this task. And we have lots of clutter to de... With only three of us one would imagine that it is pretty easy to keep things tidy and clean. Ummm, no ... must be our personality types that work against us. :) Scott is a pack rat ... he keeps everything. Casiday is a hoarder ... she keeps everything. I am a perfectionist ... I let it all pile up until it's overwhelming and then kill myself to get it all put back in order. None of these personality types are useful in daily household tidying.

Today's specific task was to clear off areas and put things in their proper place or into a give/sell or trash box. We just had a huge yard sale at our church this past weekend so everything to be sold or given is already gone - one major part of this task is already complete! Yea me!! But, we seem to have a paper bunny in our house that multiplies every piece of paper exponentially. So, I'm sure the trash bags will be plentiful.

I took my before pictures in every room but Casiday's ... it's just too much! That will have to be a project unto itself. I think she's going to spend the next 10 days having her own spring cleaning party in there. If I get up the courage to let the whole blogosphere (or the three people who read my blog anyway) see how incredibly messy her room is most of the time, I will take pictures and post them. But, to be honest, that is highly unlikely!!

Right now, the main "clutter" in my house is the laundry. We were gone all weekend and so it has really piled up. So, as I declutter today, I'm going to try to tackle the laundry too. Would be nice to have that task accomplished by time to pick up the girl at 2:30 this afternoon ... we'll see.

So, here are the before pictures ...


Okay ... so I managed to get it all done within the two-hour time frame ... at least the decluttering part. LOL Laundry is the project for the remainder of the day but that is a normal Monday task.

Here are the after pictures ...


As for the question asked on Simple Mom about today's task ... well, I think I am more sentimentally attached to some things than I realized. But I am getting better about letting things go. I even put cookbooks (gasp!) in the yard sale pile last week when we were cleaning out stuff. I am very good at getting rid of Scott's and Casiday's stuff, does that count? LOL

So, I enjoyed Day 1 of the party! I had to focus on doing the task at hand and not get distracted by the other things I "should go ahead and do while I'm here" ... so I didn't dust the areas I decluttered ... because I know that I'll be CLEANING those rooms soon. But it is nice to walk through the house and it's all neat and tidy (except Casiday's room but I just closed the door!! Is that cheating?). I am looking forward to hearing everyone else's stories and seeing pictures - I think that is my favorite part of this ... finding out that everyone has the same battle with "stuff" and "piles" that I have. Makes me feel much less like a failure and much more "normal."

Party on everyone!!

Okay ... so Beth challenged me to put up the pics of Casiday's room ... I guess before pictures will make the after pictures even more impressive. I confess that I am utterly ashamed that any room in my house looks like this but even more embarrassed at the sheer quantity of STUFF my child has. Please don't judge me!! :) Keep in mind that she "cleaned" her room on Friday ... and did a pretty good job so this is the work of two days most of which we were not at home. I would like to think this is a phase she will outgrow but I am not betting on it. As I said before, she is a hoarder so I think clutter and mess are going to be in her life for the long haul. :) (But only in my house for another 10 years or so!! LOL) She's a wonderful, funny, beautiful little person and I adore my daughter ... but this makes me crazy! Can I get a witness? LOL Well, enough stalling, I'm adding the pictures and removing all question of my supposed perfection as a housekeeper. Enjoy!!

Fab Five ... Week ending May 2, 2009

Simple list this week ...

1. Good books that challenge me and cause me to think about myself and my relationship with God and with others in a way that improves those relationships.

2. Health! I am so thankful that Scott, Casiday & I are all healthy.

3. Savannah Smiles ... my dear, sweet friend has this term coined for when she feels the hand of God in her daily life. I am borrowing it and how grateful I am for the many ways God has touched me and made His presence real to me in the past week.

4. Thursday nights. Casiday has dance from 4:30 - 8:30 on Thursdays and I get to spend those four hours with my very best friend and hero - Scott Underwood! Whether it's grocery shopping, a movie, or just sitting in our living room, it is pure joy to be with the man of my dreams!

5. Long-time friends. Got to talk this week to a college friend and it was great to hear her voice (love you, Cristi!) after so many years. What a cool thing to hear how God has done great things in the lives of those who have been so important to me over the years.