This isn't a new picture but it's one of my favorite ones right now. These three are my family and I don't know what I would do without them. I love them so much. I took this outside of Cracker Barrel on the day we took Justin back to the airport. This was the first time we took the boys along with us and watching their tears broke my heart just that much more. I am so glad though that we all love each other so much. We really are a family.







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Ahhh! Double digits week! How can we possibly be this far into the year already? This means that, in theory, we have tackled 9 different areas in our homes. I don't know about you, but seeing those yay areas still make me smile just a little bit when I walk into a room and see them. They still motivate me to work on the next area because I know that by the end of this year, I'm going to have the spaces and rooms that I want to have. I'm creating a better and healthier space for both me and the boys.

I don't have after pictures for last week's challenge because it was simply getting rid of old/expired medications and it turns out that I didn't really have much to get rid of. However, I do have a before picture for this week!

My laundry supplies shelf..wow! How did a pillow end up there?

This week, we're headed back into our laundry areas. I want you to take a look at the area where you store your laundry supplies. I honestly thought this wasn't going to be an area I needed to tackle. After all, I'm pretty good about throwing out empty bottles of laundry soap and things like that...Surprise! Look at that cluttered mess. I don't remember the last time I actually wiped down the shelf. I know what I'll be doing this week! Time to see just what else has moved in without me realizing or remembering that it's there. Time to clear it off, clean it out and wipe it down.

How many of you will be joining me?



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Wordless Wednesday, or in my case (almost) Wordless Wednesday has always been one of my favorite posts each week. It's one that I really want to get back to doing. I haven't been using my camera near enough the last few months. In fact, I somehow even forgot to take it to Thanksgiving. I was so upset! I'd have loved to have gotten some pictures of our family, our table and even some of our Black Friday adventures. Sadly, I didn't though. What I did do was to wander outside tonight to put down some ice melt and decided to share with all of you the wonder that met my eyes...




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This is my grandmother. I think this picture is about 3 years old now but it's the most recent one of her that I could find in my files. I need to take a few more. You see, my grandmother has cancer and it's inoperable. Nobody knows how much time we have left with her...so I'll be enjoying every moment that we do have....






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It's Tuesday and it's already shaping up to be one of those days. It turns out that Peter is home and so I don't have to go into town today. I feel a bit at a loss. I've gotten pretty used to not spending my day at home. That's ok though. I'm going to take the chance to put together a new bookshelf that I purchased and continue with my goal of organization and simplification for this year. Nothing like an organizational project to put a smile on this girls' face. :) See? There it is...right there...a smile...hehe

So, how did all of you do on last week's project? It was a fairly simple one. You just had to find that junk/miscellaneous stuff drawer that we all tend to have and get it cleaned and sorted. I did mine this morning and ended up tossing out a bunch of stuff and tossing a bunch of other stuff into a freecycle bag. Now I can actually open and close the drawer without anything getting stuck!


Look at all that free space! The only thing missing from it is the other turkey hook (I have no idea where that wandered off to.) and my mandolin (which last time I tried using, I couldn't get it to work. It's probably user error though.). Those will both fit easily in there with plenty of room to spare. I love it!

This week's challenge is going to be just as easy. We're going to go back through the 7 weeks and make sure those areas are still looking nice and spiffy. If you've kept up on them, this challenge shouldn't take you more than 15-20 minutes throughout the course of the week.  Just in case you've forgotten or if you're brand new here, here are the areas we've tackled so far:

Week 1: Kitchen table or other dumping ground
Week 2: Bedside Table
Week 3: Top of the Entertainment Center
Week 4: Laundry Area (not the entire room, just your washer/dryer & any shelves above)
Week 5: Fridge Door (Interior)
Week 6: Fridge Shelves
Week 7: Junk Drawer

Don't forget, I'll be doing these right along with you. I know a couple of mine are going to need a wipe down and pick me up. That's ok. That's part of regular maintenance. Our goal is to declutter and reclaim space, not perfection. Now, let's get to it!



New to Tackle It Tuesday - Clean Life, Clean Home Challenge? Don't worry! Just jump into this week's challenge. Be sure to come back and post your blog links to celebrate your progress and achievement!

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Ahh...Wednesday..the middle of the work week for most and the middle of my picking kids up from school week. I love being able to do that now but wow, it has goofed up my schedule and I am still working at putting it back together. It probably doesn't help that I've now become a bit of a workout junkie (trust me, on a small scale) and have gone from working out once or twice a week to up to five times. In fact, once I hit publish on this post, that's right where I'm headed. Insane, isn't it?

Now, one of the bonuses of driving into town every day is that for the past few weeks, every time I've passed this one section of road, there have been anywhere from 6 to 20 deer eating in this field. Sadly, now that the snow has melted, I haven't really seen them. One day, I couldn't resist and I stood by the side of the road taking pictures. They're not the best because you can only get so close to deer before they bolt.  However, I did take this picture and I think it works great for the nature theme over at Sunday Shutterbugs.


Have a great Wednesday all! I'm off to see what EA Sports Active 2 has in store for me today.



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Ahh, Wednesday...The middle of the week...and as usual, a day that I feel a bit meh about. I'm so much more of a Monday or Friday kinda gal. Wednesday's rarely bring anything special or exciting. Of course, now that I've said that, we all know that from now on Wednesdays will start being frantic or something along those lines.

Oh wait, Wednesdays always bring this post so how can I complain? This is actually one of my favorite posts of the week and every since the girls announced that the February theme was Red, I've been seeing red everywhere! In fact, I actually stopped on the side of the road, yesterday, to take this picture:


Have a great Wednesday, everyone! Find something that makes you smile!


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Ok, I know that technically it's Thursday but I'm blaming the snot monster for making me forget to post this yesterday. I actually had the picture all ready to go and then bam! I woke up sick and just plum forgot.

February's theme over at Sunday Shutterbugs is Red. Interesting theme, I'd say being that February has Valentine's and Heart Health Awareness and all of that good stuff. I had this picture in mind that I wanted to take but the lighting is never right when I go past the area. I'm hoping to get it though before the month is out to share with all of you.  Until then...Here is this week's Red photograph:



I snapped this on Monday in Roger's 4th grade class. They had all of their Valentine bags lined up on the chalkboard ledge. I love how this photo makes them look like they're suspended in space. Ok, off to write the post that was supposed to go up today! See you all in just a few minutes. ;)



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Oh my gosh, I am tired today! I don't know if it's because I had at least one weird, disturbing dream last night that broke up my sleep or if it's because I was so dang active yesterday! For those who don't know, I'm on a weight loss journey (blogged at Welcoming Weight Loss) and I worked out for the first time yesterday.  All I know is that man, I am tired today! I have a dozen things open that I should be working on but as soon as I get them open, I forget what I'm doing with them! Sheesh!

I did, however, remember to get my last Shapes picture taken for the Sunday Shutterbugs challenge. Believe it or not, I actually opened up the top of my bedroom window yesterday and snapped this picture. If I can remember long enough, I'm going to do the same thing today to get an after the "blizzard" shot. Blizzard is in quotes because we got a lame 14" of snow, not the 2 feet they claimed we were going to get. Granted, it blew everywhere (including in my back door) but they were all dramatic about the amounts and I totally feel let down.


Oh, one last request before I hit post and try to remember the next thing on my list....I love comments. Oh my gosh, how I love comments but please tell me how you found the blog if you're a new reader. I had a lovely lady leave me a comment on a past post and she said she was from abc (random letters inserted here) and I felt horrible because I can't figure out where she found me or what group she's from!

Thanks all!


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Another Wednesday and I've survived it. That sounds awfully dramatic, doesn't it? I had a bit of a tough day but survived is an awfully strong word. I guess it's true though, huh? I mean if I hadn't survived, it means I died or something and that certainly didn't happen.

So, what's wrong? Nothing really. Money is always a struggle and today is no different. We had a bill that came up that was unexpected and of course, comes at a bad time. Then again, when is a good time for an unexpected bill? We'll manage somehow. We always do. Someone always seems to be looking out for us.

Now, who is ready for this week's photo? The theme over at Sunday Shutterbugs is still Shapes. I think we have one more week left. I actually took this picture about 30 minutes ago and while I had a hard time getting a really good picture, I really like the concept I was going for.







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It's been a long time since I've posted one of these but I am so happy to have a photo to share. Plus, it's a photo that I actually just took. It's not an ancient archived one! This is just one of my shelves of books. I have so many and I wouldn't change that for anything. I love books. I think they're sexy. I think knowledge is sexy. I've already started packing my books and it makes me sad not to be able to see them or to just pull one from the shelf whenever I want.




On a random thought, I've been thinking a lot about bringing back the Tuesday cleaning/organizing challenges. Would anyone out there be interested? If so, please leave me a comment.


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Yet again, I'm behind over at Sunday Shutterbugs. However, today I found the perfect picture to handle both of the themes! This photo was taken over four years ago now when I visited England. Oh how badly I wish I could go back. I fell in love with the land over there and want to spend more time exploring places like this. This was taken in Hastings on a very foggy, rainy day but I never regretted getting soaked to the skin because I had the chance to see this. Oh, in case you're wondering, this week's themes are Rock and Rain. I wish we did more things like this with our resources and anyone who says to come in out of the rain has never experienced the pure joy that being in nature can bring.

Well now, the gals over at Sunday Shutterbugs didn't post a theme for this week. That's a bit frustrating but I'm sure that life just plain got in the way for this week. I know how that can go sometimes. So, keeping that in mind, I went into the archives and pulled out a random photo. I took this when Jim and I got to visit Niagara Falls. Man, part of me really misses Buffalo. I sometimes think that if it weren't for the boys, I'd consider moving back there. I wouldn't move into the basement dungeon again but I'd be a lot closer to some of my friends. I miss leaving near friends that I could see at least once a month or so. Also, is it totally random that my Amazon Associates window is showing me Fraggle Rock: Complete Series Collection? How does it know that I want that really bad? Weird, it shows it not once, but twice. Anyway, before I babble any further, here is this week's photo:

Midweek and life hasn't slowed down any. I had my show today and also got the kids bathed and laundry going at the same time. The boys and I are doing pretty good on keeping up with our daily chore list so I'm really happy and proud about that. Yesterday, I also surprised them and we went into Lansing and saw Percy Jackson & The Lightning Thief. The one local theatre company runs $1 movie specials during the summer so we took advantage of that. While we all agree that the movie is good and worth getting for our collection, we also agree that the books are way, way better.

So, that brings us to this week's photo. The theme over on Sunday Shutterbugs for this week is Long and I think we found just the picture!



This is our backyard. Ok, the picture is really misleading. This is a small section of our backyard. This year, we had the bad combination of no lawn mower, lots of rain, grass/weeds grow far too fast and then battery powered lawnmower.  It allowed our grass in the back to completely get out of control. Every dry day, I've been out there, hacking it down with the lawnmower.  We are now down to a very small segment that should be gone by tomorrow.

Happy Wednesday, everyone! I had a really good radio show. I played all Country music today and dedicated the show to Aimee. I never realized just how much I miss having her there for my shows.

Happy Wednesday and Happy Birthday to my little sister! It's amazing how fast time seems to be slipping by. She's gone from a young pain in my tush to a mother of four who is still a pain in my tush..hehe..