Inspired

*** Warning- total nerdiness ahead. I just realized this post about cleaning/organizing my house is probably longer than most posts about my kids****

Cyndi was inspired by Lisa's posts about cleaning and organizing, and cleaned out her toyroom. That in turn inspired me to get going and organize my own house.

I know there are some amongst my readers who like to tease me for my organization and OCD about the cans in my pantry organized by type (veggies together, fruit together, etc.) and with all lables facing forward (you know who you are...) so it may come as a suprise that I needed to organize anything. Wow- that ended up sounding snotty :) awesome.

Here's the thing- I'm OCD about organizing but not when I'm pregnant or have a new baby. I just don't have the energy to do more than just shove things into closets and etc. with a vague idea of "I've got to do something about that." Side note: my cans are still organized by type and labels forward- like I said, I'm OCD and even pregnancy and newborn chaos can't shake that!

So we've been going through areas and rooms of our house and mercilessly getting rid of extra stuff and organizing places for what's left. I took Cyndi's advice and cleaned out stuff like we are moving (i.e. you look at something and say "Would I box this up and move it to another house?" if the answer is no, get rid of it). It worked. My kitchen is a million pounds lighter and my closet is on it's way to getting cleaner. A lot of it has to happen on weekends and etc. when DMP is around because I hadn't realized how hard organizing is with to big kids and one grabby boy but it's happening!

The best and most photogenic of all is my linen closet (picture above, and yes, those are labels on the shelves- I love my label maker as much as my kids). I found 3 tubes of toothpaste, 5-6 plug-in air freshner refill thingies and about 5 toothbrushes. We are set on those things forever now and I wouldn't have known it in the chaos!

So thanks Cyndi and Lisa for the inspiration to shake off my pregnancy/newborn mommy blahs and start working on getting the house back to the way I like it!

It's a brand-spankin' new month...

All right folks. It's a new month now and I'm going to take a big, deep, breath and let it out slowly and just let March go. Thanks in big part to General Conference, and the fact that I think I'm finding my mommy groove, I'm going to move forward with courage, confidence and optimism.

Because, really, I have a lot to be optimistic and confident about. DMP doesn't have a job (yet) but he is seeing a lot of positive movement on that front. He has gotten interviews for nearly everything he's applied for. He is waiting on an offer/no thanks on two positions, and he's had first interviews for two more. He is applying for new stuff all the time, so it is only a matter of time before SOMETHING happens, right?

We have been so, so blessed during this uncertain period. Thanks to a larger-than expected tax return, we have more in our bank account than we've had in over a year. Our cupboards (and freezer) are full and we are able to eat well. Thanks to the many fun, free activities at our local library and etc. and our annual passes to Thanksgiving Point and our new Pass of All Passes (Thanks Mom!) we are able to have lots of fun as a family. Coupons and Internet deal sleuthing means that I can slowly build up EJ and Bear's summer wardrobe (when will they stop growing already!).

To top it off, we have an amazing family who supports us and are praying for us. Sure things will be a whole lot rosier when we know where DMP is working and whatnot but in the meantime we are so very, very blessed!

Oh, and the picture? That's just to show off my pretty girl. I hate posts without pictures :)

So I'm learning...

... I'm really, really good at cycling the laundry from the washer to the dryer. I'm just not so good at folding it and putting it away. I think this is literally every stitch of dirty clothing/sheets in my house all clean and waiting to be folded and put away :)