My 52 Weeks of Organizing

I finally sat down and drew out my plan for the 52 Weeks of Organizing Challenge. I do reserve the right to make changes and tackle items in a different order then stated here.

Here is my initial list of 52 organizing tasks:

1. Clean off/out buffet
2. My desk
3. Entry table
4. Entry bench
5. My Car
6. Living Room Tables
7. Hall Closet
8. My nightstand
9. My dresser
10. Hubby’s nightstand
11. My closet
12. Master bathroom
13. Hall Bathroom
14. Linen Closet
15. Kids Closet
16. Kids Dresser
17. Rest of kids room
18. Playroom Closet
19. Playroom shelves
20. Rest of playroom
21. Pantry
22. Refrigerator
23. Freezer
24. Kitchen Cart
25. Bakers Rack
26. Pots and Pans Cabinets
27. Kitchen Island
28. Family Cork Board
29. Spice Cabinet
30. Tea Cabinet
31. Remaining Kitchen Cabinets
32. Storage Room – Kids Clothing Tubs
33. Storage Room – Out of Season Clothing
34. Storage Room – Food Shelves
35. Storage Room – Household Items Shelves
36. Storage Room – Toiletries Shelves
37. Storage Room – Cleaning Supply Shelves
38. Storage Room – Office Supply Shelves
39. Storage Room – Laundry Shelves
40. Storage Room – Toy Shelves
41. Storage Room – Old Bar Storage Area
42. Storage Room – Under Steps Storage Area
43. Basement Bathroom
44. Laundry Sorting Area
45. Family Room Bookshelves
46. Family Room Game Shelves
47. Family Room Desk
48. Family Room – Storage Closet
49. Family Room – Everything Else
50. Playroom (Again to prepare for Christmas gifts)
51. Garage – Outside Toy Storage Area
52. My Car

You can find more information and links to other participating blogs over at Org Junkie’s 52 Weeks #1 post. From here on out I plan for my posts to be about my progress and to hopefully include pictures.

January Pantry Challenge

For the month of January Jessica at Life As Mom is hosting a Pantry Challenge. The point of the challenge is to use what you have, whatever that may mean for you.

Here are the areas I want to address for my personal Pantry Challenge:

1. Limit grocery spending to $60 a week.
2. Eliminate unhealthy foods from our pantry.
3. Inventory and organize my pantry.
4. Inventory and organize my freezer.

That may not seem like a lot, but with everything else I have going on right now it will be a stretch for me to actually complete all of this.

What about you, does your pantry need attention?

I plan to post weekly updates about my progress with this challenge. I also plan to have a wrap up post at the end of the month to see how I did and set some goals for our family’s grocery budget for the next month.

Goals for 2011 – Getting Organized

Much like everyone else, the New Year gets me to start thinking of what I want to accomplish this year. Naturally there are lots of various goals I have and I want them all accomplished NOW. I need to work on my patience and keep in mind that it takes time. To help pace myself I joined the 3 in 30 group on Facebook. The plan is to set 3 goals for yourself each month. That way you don’t overwhelm yourself by trying to change too many things at one time.

Here are my goals for January:

1. Write in my journal daily.
2. Track everything I eat and drink daily.
3. Declutter my Dining Room

To help track my progress on these I goals I am looking for an iPhone app that tracks goal progress. I had a few recommendations that I am checking out. Once I make my selection and try it out I will post a review of the app.

You can find links to other blogs participating in this challenge over at The Tuckers Take Tennessee.

Also to help me keep on track with some of my larger goals, like decluttering and organizing my whole house, I have decided to join the 52 Weeks of Organizing challenge over at Orgjunkie. The goal of this challenge is to complete one small organizing task each week for the whole year. Well, you could do a larger task if you’re so motivated, but a smaller one will work better for me. Since I want to declutter and organize my whole house this year, I definitely think this is a good fit for me. I just read about this challenge today so I will probably be a day late posting about this week’s challenge, but my goal is to post my weekly updates on this challenge every Friday from here on out.

Have you set any goals for yourself this year? Did you join any online challenges to help keep yourself motivated?

Reading Challenges

It’s the end of the year and that means that I, like so many others, am spending time looking back over 2010 and making plans for 2011. One of the areas that I want to improve on is my reading. In the past I have been able to read 100+ books in a year. My children do keep me pretty busy so I don’t expect that I will hit the triple digits in 2011, but I do hope to read more in 2011 than I did in 2010. To help me with that I have decided to set some reading goals for myself and to join some reading challenges to help keep myself motivated. Right now I am still reviewing various reading challenges, so look for a post later this week detailing exactly which challenges I will be joining.

For this week, to help finish the year up in a way I can be proud of I am joining the Out With a Bang Read-A-Thon. This challenge only runs from December 29^th thru December 31^st. Since I do have to work this week I don’t expect to get a ton of reading done, but I do hope to finish up the 3 books that I’m currently reading and I would really like to complete one additional book.

Are you trying to finish up any books before the end of the year?

Menu Plan Monday – November 1st

I have gotten so tired of spening half our weekend running around. So I’ve decided to try out monthly menu planning and grocery shopping. This past weekend I sat down and made up a menu plan for our family for the whole month of November. We then hit the grocery store and Target to pick up the items we needed. I will still have to make a quick stop once a week to pick up milk and produce, but the bulk of our shopping is done for this month. 

Dinners:

• Monday: Turkey Chili
• Tuesday: Tacos
• Wednesday: Meatloaf
• Thursday: Tuna Noodle Alfredo
• Friday: Pizza
• Saturday: Burgers
• Sunday: Roast Chicken

Breakfasts:

• Lemon Blueberry Scones
• Cereal
• Saturday: Oatmeal
• Sunday: Pancakes and Bacon

Lunches:

• Sandwiches
• Leftovers

To see more great Menu Plans, head over to I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Menu Planning Monday – October 25, 2010

Menu planning makes my life so much easier, yet I still tend to let the planning slip and wing it throughout the week. I’m trying to change that and have actually setup menu planning time on my weekly schedule. Hopefully I can get the habit to stick this time. 

Dinners:

• Monday: Pizza Bagels
• Tuesday: Chicken Nuggets and Macaroni and Cheese
• Wednesday: Chicken Quesadillas
• Thursday: Grilled Cheese and Soup
• Friday: Tuna Melts
• Saturday: Lasagna
• Sunday: At a Party

Breakfasts:

• Cranberry Apple Muffins
• Cereal
• Saturday: Oatmeal
• Sunday: Pancakes and Bacon

Lunches:

• Sandwiches
• Leftovers

To see more great Menu Plans, head over to I’m An Organizing Junkie.

Review: Barbie A Fashion Fairytale

For our family movie night this weekend we watched Barbie A Fashion Fairytale. Since my daughter is just 3, this was her first Barbie movie. She is just getting into Barbie so I figured this movie would be a special treat for her.

Movie Description (from the dvd case):

Join Barbie in a colorful, modern-day fairytale filled with fashion, friends and fun!

Barbie and her dog, Sequin, jet off to visit her aunt’s amazing fashion house in Paris, and much to her surprise it’s about to be shut down forever. After she discovers three enchanting Flairies with sparkle-magic powers, Barbie comes up with a brilliant idea to save the business. She even inspires Alice, a shy fashion designer, and together they create a dazzling runway fashion show.

Barbie shows that magic happens when you believe in yourself.

The movie is 1 hour and 23 minutes long. That may seem a little long for a 3 year old, but my daughter loved it and was absorbed in the movie the whole time. Ever since we watched it she has been asking to watch it again.

This was also my first time watching a Barbie movie. I have to say that I enjoyed it more then I thought I would. I loved that the movie had a good message for kids about believing in themselves and not giving up on their dreams. This was an enjoyable movie and one I am sure we will be watching again.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this movie for free from Barbie and Mom Select in exchange for my honest review. No other compensation was provided.