Solutions for entryway

This is what our entryway looks like right now:

We have a closet and hooks, plus the little book shelf. But because 1)we are lazy,
b) we are always in a hurry and
choo-choo train) we have no organizational system
it ends up looking like this:

YIKES! Wow I am super embarrassed... but this is really how it ends up looking. Well, with maybe the exception of the pile of small boxes and junk in the bottom left corner; I had just dumped them out of a bag that I needed to put donated clothes in when I was cleaning out my closet.  However in its place are normally 5-6 or more pairs of shoes that come off as soon as I walk in the house.  

I need some creative and Very Thrifty solutions.  I need somewhere for the hats, scarves and other little wintery accessories to go.  

I need some system for sorting mail: Not a trash can.

Maybe a notepad for reminders or notes for Jason and I.

I'd like it to look nice too if at all possible. I've seen some great ideas from Martha Stewart, and from the Container Store and IKEA but am interested in what you think and what works for keeping you organized.

What I have learned in 3 days

    Today I got out of the house with makeup and deodorant applied and teeth brushed.
 Even better I made it to work on time.

Last night I almost made my 1:00 a.m. bedtime.  I was a little late getting off the computer (12:40ish) and I wanted to make sure to continue my habit of 20-30 minutes of  tidying up and prep for the next day before bed. I finished up some laundry, put some away. Picked up the living room, straightened my bathroom a bit and was in bed by 1:20ish.  I read for a while finishing the first two chapters of The Blessed Life by Robert Morris.  Which probably put me asleep by 2:30ish. 

I woke up this morning at 11:00 (getting 8.5 hours of sleep) and started getting ready for work.  Quick shower, Iron clothes, dressed, makeup, teeth, deodorant, Hair and grab something for lunch and supper and out the door.

On the way to work this morning I listened to a podcast lesson by Preacher Bob Coy on Finding favor with God.

I had a great day at work, talked with Jason on the way home and discovered that he had made supper (Pork roast, mashed potatoes and green beans) he had straightened and cleaned the living room, moved the internet router to the bedroom, and he was thinking about rearranging our bedroom.

Two hazards in the way of my journey to a more productive, less cluttered, more organized pleasant existence are 1. Having my laptop in the living room which keeps me up later at night and 2. Reclining sofa.  For whatever reason my reclining sofa is like that black hole of laziness that sucks my butt into it.  There is a reason there a brand of recliners called Lazyboys; just saying.


After helping J rearrange the bedroom to accommodate my computer desk which I am at right now, we also switched sides of the bed, mainly because I like being closest to the door.  How important is it to you to sleep on a certain side of the bed, and furthermore is it a certain side of the room or is it the side of the bed that matters, just curious?

Lastly I ate my supper at the kitchen table, continued my nightly laundry/pickup prep routine and ready now to play a little longer on the computer and read a little before bed.

Hours in a week.

Day Two of the transformed life and it went... okay. I didn't get up on time, that may be because I stayed up til 3 this morning working on some of my other goals and so I have set a bedtime for myself. It is currently set at 1:00 am and I want to eventually get it back to midnight and maybe even 11:00 but its about baby steps people.


I did a little bit of math today and figured that there are 168 hours in a week: 7 x 24 = 168
If I sleep 8 hours a night 6 days a week and give myself one "sleep-in day" a week at 10 hours I get,
6 x 8 = 48 & 48 + 10 = 58 I spend 58 hours a week sleeping.

For each work week I am required to work a minimum of 45 hours and usually average around 50.

I spend 5 hours and 15 minutes a week on personal care and hygiene.

Meals at home = 4 hours
Grocery Shopping = 2 hours
Chores/Errands = 5 hours
Commuting = 7 hours

Jason time = 14 hours
Family / Friend = 3 hours
Church = 7 hours
Youth Group Prep = 5 hours
Prayer/Study = 4 hours
Exercise = 3 hours

Add all these hours up and you get... 167.25.
Which leaves me 45 minutes a week for fun and leisure!!!

That is not gonna be okay.
Granted I can multitask some of this stuff. For example I do a lot of praying and listening to the word preached or praise during my commute and usually spend the drive home from work talking to Jason, so there is some overlapping there. But where else am I going wrong? Any thoughts?

Here we Go

I am determined to blog the truth about this transformation as it happens. I am not happy with how my life is going and am excited to make changes necessary to get things in order.

I told my DH tonight about how I was feeling and he agreed wholeheartedly. We both feel that we are too lazy. I am excited to start putting effort to make changes that will improve the quality of my life. I have a lot of things that I want to change. Here are some of the ways I want to be better:
1. Get to work, church etc on time
2. Maintain a clean home
3. Maintain a neat and organized home
4. Read a book every two weeks
5. Study, pray and meditate on God's word more (ultimately getting to several hours a week) outside of church
6. Pay all bills on time.
7. Eat at home more often (at the kitchen table).
8. Have makeup applied, teeth brushed, deodorant applied every time I leave the house (I sometimes apply makeup at work and carry deodorant in my purse in case I forget.)
9. Pay down doctors bills and credit card bills
10. Exercise 3 times a week minimum.
11. Attend at least two church services a week.
12. Build the Youth Ministry at church.
13. Make my bed every day.
14. Be more frugal.
15. Properly fold a fitted sheet.
16. reupholster a couch patchwork style
17. Learn to sew to do hems and alterations
18. Walk the dogs a few times a week
19. Maintain a budget
20. Live greener

These are just a handful of all the ways that I want to improve myself.
Tonight I cleaned out my closet of all the clothes that either didn't fit or weren't fit to wear and organized it by style (casual or dressy/tops/bottoms) by fabric (knit/woven) by length or sleeve length and by color. I did three loads of laundry, even putting everything away. I set out my outfit for tomorrow and even did a SHMILY for my DH by setting out his uniform for tomorrow too. Day 1 in a day of a very long journey.

Get Up

Have you ever noticed how Jesus told people to get up? I am particularly drawn to Jesus' interaction with the man at the pool of Bethesda. He first asks the man "do you want to get well"

Well do you? do I? I think sometimes I just want to feel sorry for myself. Have you ever just wanted to be mad? You know that you are being irrational, maybe immature, maybe even wrong? But at that moment you really just want to be mad.

Well so this guy has being laying in this spot for years now just wanting to get into the pool when the Angel's dip their wings so he can be healed. How many people has he watched go into the water? How many people have pushed the old crippled man back out of the way? I see this guy and I think, "Poor guy, nobody will help you in, Bless your heart!" But not Jesus. He looks at the man and asks, "Do you want to get well?" So often we fall in love with our pain, even though it sucks it is what we are used to, it defines us, and how we operate.
In prison when a man has been inside for a long time and gets released, he often finds himself right back in jail, not because he needs to commit crime, but because he doesn't know how to be different.
I wonder what the man thought when Jesus asked him if he wanted to be well. Did he sarcastically think no I'd rather spend another 30 years laying here while others get my blessing. But instead he told the man with the followers, the man that they called Rabbi, "Yes" not really even knowing why he would put his trust in this stranger why he said it. Why after all this time did he still believe, did he still have hope. While he had not received his blessing so far he at least had attention from time to time as he told about his plight. Jesus didn't fuss over him, he said, "Get up, take up your mat and go." He told him to get up!

Were Jesus' words magic? Doubtful I bet that Jesus wasn't the first to tell him to get up, and I know that if anybody else would have said, Hey old dude, get up man. He would have thought them cruel. What about Jesus was different? Is Jesus telling you to get up? Will you? Or you can lay there for another 20 years waiting for a miracle, hoping that someone else doesn't get your blessing or you can... Get Up.

I want fancy pants and tiaras dang it!

I am admitting that I am a wanna be. I have wanted to be many things: Taller, thinner, prettier, richer, and more cultured. I have wanted to be more southern, more country or at least have a neat British accent. I have wanted to be a cow-girl, a volleyball player, a dancer, a singer and a writer.
Some days I want to be a debutante sipping champagne from crystal flutes, but instead I will slurp pepsi or grape juice out of a wine glass. I want to be a person who enjoys eating raw vegetables like broccoli and carrot sticks but I'm not. Today I want to be more Southern than my old Kentucky home allows. Don't get me wrong there are certain benefits of being a Kentuckian and being able to claim the redneck, hillbilly, sweet bluegrass girl properties of Bourban fired blood and simple sayings. However being from the deep south allows you a certain amount of Scarlett O'hara charm, and turns of phrase that I envy the opportunity to use such as "Well I Suwanee" or "popping up like yard onions"
For now though I will pour some bubbly (Pepsi) into my Home Interiors Humming Bird Wine Glass and think about the things I want.

The Rock: Rockcastle Kentucky

There is a road out there that leads to a place where dreams are made. It's winding and seemingly infinite but at the end of the journey there is a cliff that opens up to stars sleeping on water. It is so peaceful it makes you excited. It feeds and nourishes your soul, and as you hear the waves lap against the shore, it has this gentle way of caressing the emotion right out of you. Some days it coaxes out the tears and sometimes makes you laugh. Somehow this place knows you as a friend. Fortunately it won't talk back, but just lets you talk all the weariness out of your heart. The dewy night air just hugs you when its right, and the gentle breeze will wipe the tears from cheeks. I go to this place often and it feels like home. As soon as I step onto this rock and take that first breath of the summer air I know how much I have missed this feeling, this place. For some reason the air seems softer out here, the elements less harsh. Its a place to share memories and a place to make them. Sometimes it insists that you be the only one out there, just an old talk between old friend.