Wow, I am so totally still getting used to this new format for writing posts. I hope it becomes second nature sometime soon! So, we're back for another Monday. Did anyone else's weekend go by in a flash? I could swear it was just Friday. No matter. The days change whether or not we're ready and here it is Monday again and I'm back with a new challenge.

Sadly, there will be no before/after pictures this week because to be honest, Monday snuck up on me and I forgot to take before pictures of my van to show you..so yeah, way to go me! I refuse to feel too bad though because the back of my van is now unloaded! Woo!

This week, we're all back in our living rooms (or wherever this piece of furniture exists) and we're clearing off the tops of our entertainment centers. Mine was lovely for quite a while but as I started cleaning and painting in other rooms, somehow it became the catch all again. Time to clear it off and wipe it down! Next week, I'm hoping to actually have some pictures to show you!

Until then..happy cleaning, organizing and creating yay spots in your home!



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Oh holy canoles. I went to bed and when I came back, the blog software I use to blog has gone all weird with a new look. I don't like new looks. I like old looks that I know how to do things and where to find things. Eek!

Ok, deep breath...I can do this. I can still post. Now, y'all may have noticed that we lost a couple of weeks on our challenge. I'm so sorry for that. I swear I haven't abandoned you. Life got tough and for a bit I was unable to post. I'm back now and I have a new challenge for all of you! I will confess right off the top that I wont' be doing this challenge because I have to finish handling boxes from my grandma's house. However, this challenge is for you and I know you'll get right on it!

For this week, head to wherever you store your bed linens. How many sets of sheets do you have for your bed? For me, it's 4 for each of the boys and 5 for me. We each get 2 sets of flannels (remember we have no heat in our bedrooms!) and 2 sets of regular light weight sheets. For mom (aka me), I also get one set of sexy feel really good against your skin sheets. Yep, mama gets sexy sheets (even if she's not..well..nevermind.).

If you're unsure of what to do with any extra sheets you may have, here's a quick list of places you can donate them to:

• Animal Shelter
• Goodwill, Salvation Army, etc.
• Women's Shelter
• Young person moving into their first place

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I know I say this practically every week, but where the heck did last week go? Well, for me, it went curled up in bed as much as possible. Yep, I came down with some sort of stomach bug and it laid me out. I did manage to get last week's challenge done though! Ok, it's mostly done. Let me show you the after pictures and then, I'll fill you in.


Doesn't that look so much better? I say it's not done because I have a few more things that I want to do. First, I want to put labels on those two small totes. The bottom one holds spare cables that I keep finding. Eventually, I'll get those matched up to their devices and that will only hold extra cables. The top one holds things for the cats, like combs and such.  I also want to get rid of that second misc bin. Right now, it holds tools that I find laying around the house. I do have a tool box somewhere and as soon as I track that down, it will go into the laundry room and the tools will be placed in that. The only other thing I want to do is add to that grey case there. By add to it, I mean stack other things on top of it. I have a variety of small cases that hold nails, screws, etc and I want them to be all stacked up there. That will happen as I find them.

Now, for this week's challenge..We're going back into our bedrooms and we're going to tackle one of our nightstands. Now, for you overachievers out there who tackled your nightstands when we did the top of the dresser, don't think you get an off week. Nope! Instead, I want you to go back through the 5 areas that we've already covered and make sure that they're still yay locations in your home. Easy enough, right?

Here's what I have to tackle this week..if you're squeamish at all, I suggest you stop reading right now...


Horrible, right? Yes, that's a Halloween pumpkin sitting on the night stand. I have no idea why it's there unless it's there to hold up that cereal bowl. Yeesh!

Ok all, I'm off to tackle the world, but I can't wait to read your posts and see your before/after pictures. Remember to post your links here or pop over to our Facebook group and join us there. :)


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It's Tuesday and I'm back! Did y'all miss me? It's been a rough few weeks but I'm back. I'm 100% well but I'm one heck of a lot better. This is going to be a quick post because I need to get out the door to get my kiddos. So, here we go...

Does anyone remember that we were working on cleaning out the fridge? Well, here's mine (after I filled it up with deliciousness last night):


It's not perfect but it sure is one heck of a lot better! How did you guys do on that? If you got it done, make sure you leave me a link to check out so I can give you some comment love! Plus, cleaning is more fun when you do it with friends.

Now, for this week, I'm keeping it simple. I want you to do one drawer. For me, it's going to be this kitchen drawer here:

It's not really a junk drawer. It's all kitchen items. I just don't remember what the heck is in there anymore. That means it's time for a clean out and most likely a serious purge. If I don't remember having it in there, chances are I haven't used it in the 2 years or so since I put it in there!

That's it for me for today. It's another crazy busy day and I need to scoot! Let me know how y'all do! You know I care!



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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Ok, I have a confession. I was still sick all last week! Can you believe it? This thing has lingered on and on and on. I am finally on the mend and so thankful for that. I hate being sick but it's worse when it's in the lungs and the slightest amount of movement gets your heart rate up.

So, since I seriously lost to the battle of illness last week, I decided to break the fridge challenge into two parts: the door & the shelves. I figured since not a single one of you posted your challenge, maybe y'all needed another week too. I'm warning you though. This is your last week to tackle this alongside me.

Ready to see my fridge door? I took everything out, threw away old food (Can you say salad dressing that expired in 2007, anyone?), wiped out the bins and then put everything back in. Drumroll please.....


Doesn't that look so nice? Plus, there is actually room for more items if I find them as I clean out the rest of the fridge! I love it! Ahh...Organization makes me happy...



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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Hey all! I'm so sorry for not getting on here and posting this sooner. I know all of you came by to check on this week's project and to post your links for last week and here I didn't even come on all day.

I'm sick. There, I finally admitted it outloud. I've been sick for 2 weeks now and it's not getting better. It's getting worse. I kept thinking if I kept going and pushed tons of water that it'd just flush itself out but it hasn't. It started out a sore throat and a bit of a stuffy head and it has settled itself fully in my chest. I'm not sleeping well at night because of the coughing. I'm propped up but still I cough. I've tried vics and it's not helping. Tomorrow, I'm giving in and getting some cough medicine. I know I should go to the doctor and I promise, if it's not better by the weekend, I'll call and make an appointment. I don't know how I'll get there (my doctor is an hour away & I have to pick the boys up at 3:25 every day which is 30 minutes in the opposite direction) but if I have to, I'll figure out a way.

For now though, I'm going to go curl up with my teddy bear and pray for one night's sleep. Enjoy your extra week to tackle that fridge. I expect to see you all back here next week with lots of links and photos!



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Welcome to week 5, everyone! How are all of you doing on your weekly challenges? Are you keeping up? Don't worry if you've missed a couple. Every little bit helps.

This week was a tougher week for me and instead of being ahead of y'all, I'm right where you are. Lots of life changes happening around here and on top of that I've been battling some sort of cold for about a week now. It comes and goes but it always seems to come on the days when I need to get tons of stuff done!

I did get my laundry area done though.  Ok, I got the shelving done. There are still a bunch of boxes in there waiting for me to sort so that I can start packing up packed boxes in there. One project at a time though, right?  Here are my finished laundry shelves:



So much nicer. It doesn't stress me out to have to find something on them or to empty the lint trap anymore! The basket is a bit too big but it holds some odds and ends, like Mr Clean Magic Erasers and such. I ended up finding a bunch of change up there too so that was a bonus!

Now, for this week's challenge. Does your fridge look like mine? Is it an ongoing collecting area for future science experiments? When was the last time you cleared it out and wiped it down inside? I confess that it's been about ...umm...well, never since we moved in here. Ouch! Oh wait, let me add to that...Yuck! Let's get that space cleared out so that we don't stress out just opening up the door to find a snack.

My space:



I can't wait to see all of your shining refrigerators next week! If we start getting enough participants, I'll add an official linky here. For now, if I say link up, I just mean to make sure you leave a comment each week showing the previous week's challenge. :)



New to Tackle It Tuesday - Clean House, Clean Life 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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Happy Tuesday, everyone! I hope that everyone had a good and productive week. I know that I actually did. I didn't get as much house type things done as I would have liked but every day, I did a little bit and I'm making good and healthy changes around here. Starting next week, there are going to be some major scheduling changes in my life but the challenges here will go on!

So, how did everyone do last week? Do you have clean and pretty entertainment center tops now? I won't even remind you how bad mine looked. Instead, let me show you how mine looks now:


Doesn't that look so much better? The pig is actually a new edition and I'm not sure that she's going to stay there. She was actually my February Design Team project over on CropChocolate.com. I also have to say that I love love love love love the Do It Afraid canvas. It was sent to be by the lovely Corinna. If you guys follow Sunday Shutterbugs, you'll be familiar with her. She saw all of the changes that were/are happening in my life and sent that to me. I put it up on top there because it's a view I see probably a million times a day and it keeps me going.

Now, for this week's challenge. I want you to go someplace that might be scary. It might be terrifying. It might even be well...disgusting, but I know that all of you can do it. I want you to go into your laundry area..*covers her ears against the screams of horror* ....Ok, deep breaths folks. You can do this. I want you to go in there and tackle your shelving. If you don't have shelving, tackle wherever it is that you keep your laundry soap, dryer sheets and that sort of thing. Remember, you're not alone in this. I'm doing it right along side you.




Yuck, right? Don't worry, it won't stay like this, I promise you! Make sure you pop in next week to link up your challenge posts and to find out where we head to next! I can't wait to read all of your posts and see your bright, shining areas! Remember, we're getting rid of what we don't love and simplifying our lives!



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It's Tuesday again! Can you believe it? I cannot believe how fast time seems to move these days! Another week is gone and it's already time for a new challenge! But, before we do that....How did everyone do last week? Are your nightstands all spiffy looking? I hope so because we're tackling our homes one little area at a time! I know it doesn't seem like much but think of it this way, if we get one section spot on clean each week and we maintain the others, before we know it, our houses will be making us smile instead of groaning in frustration!

So, let me show you my results from the nightstand challenge:


There it is. It makes me smile every time I walk into my room and see it. While I was working on it, I packed up some of those books so they're ready for the move and left only ones on my nightstand that I want to read before I pack them away. I still need to finish packing up the rest of that righthand stack but I need to get a box first. While I was at it, I completely "re-wired" that area and for the first time in months, my lamp actually got plugged in! Please ignore that cord going up the side of my bed. That's my cell phone charger cord which usually lays up on top of the night stand.

Now, this week's challenge.........Entertainment Cabinet! For the past 18 months, I have been staring at the top of my cabinet thinking, "You really need to clean that off. What a mess!" and you know what? For the past 18 months, I haven't done it. So, this week, that's what we're doing. We're clearing it off, wiping it down and only leaving what we love on top. If you don't have a tall cabinet like I do, how about a bookshelf? If not that, I challenge you to find any object that has a flat surface and get it cleaned off. Ready to see mine? 


Can you tell that I love candles and Scarborough Lane? And can you spot the Christmas item that I missed? Don't ask me why there are all of those bells up there. Those actually belong in my gifting box. We give one to my grandmother every year for Christmas and a couple of years ago, I found a good sale and stocked up. Clearly this is an area that I've ignored for way too long! I can guarantee it won't look like this next week!



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Welcome back to another challenge week! I hope that some of you stopped by and saw last week's challenge to tackle a dumping ground spot in your house. I am happy to say that I have a nice, clean table and I'm hoping that my boys and I will be able to sit down at it this weekend and enjoy dinners together. If so, it will be the first time in 4 years since we've sat down at a table and enjoyed a meal together.

Now, part of the fun of all of this is that I get to share my after picture with all of you.  This is good because it holds me accountable to actually tackle my own challenge! So, here we go, one cleaned off table:

Yuck, right? Books stacked taller than the stand, wrappers, more books, kids' water bottle and yes, that is a box of cookies. That poor teddy bear looks like he's hanging on for dear life! I guess not only am I going to clean, I'm going on a teddy bear rescue mission! Who will join me?



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Hey everyone! It's another Tuesday and since I did get a few responses saying they would be interested, today will start our first of many, many cleaning and organizing challenges. Since I have to prepare for a move, I will certainly be doing this right along side all of you.  I do need to mention that these challenges are in no related to the fabulous ladies over at 5minutesformom.com. These are all me.  I'm posting them on Tuesdays because well, these are all areas I need to tackle each week and as I prepare to start packing.

This week's challenge is one that I know all of us can tackle! We're going to find one space in our house where everything just seems to get dumped. Ok, if your house is like my house, that can be two or three places, but this week, I just want you to choose one.  I chose my kitchen table:


Now, I suspect you might be thinking that it doesn't look too bad. Well, I will confess that last night, I decided to go out and remove all of the holiday decorations that had been adding to the clutter. Yes, I am still putting away holiday decorations, but that's another challenge.  In fact, I'm going to share that challenge with you. If you have not gotten all your decorations down and put away yet, get to it! Clear out the space in your home to make room for other things that make you smile!  My goal is to have all of mine out into the barn by the end of the weekend. It should be sooner but I have to take the weather into account.

Ok, now back to this week's challenge. Ready? I want you to find your spot, clear it off, polish it up and then keep it like that for a week. Think you can do it? I know you can! As for me, I''m going to go tackle mine right now and then next week, I'll share my after photo as well as the before one for next week's challenge! Good luck and make sure you come back and share your links with me! It's good to feel that none of us are in this alone.



PS Today is the 12 year anniversary of my son's death. I've chosen not to post about it this year, but if you're looking for the post about it, you can find it here.

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I soooo meant to post this last night and I have no idea what happened that I didn't do it. Yesterday was a good day around here. I got more cleaning done in the kitchen and started tackling the laundry monster that has been threatening to take over our house. It makes me smile and feel good inside to see things coming together and to actually accomplish things.

The big thing that I'm going to need to accomplish has started arriving. What is it? My grad school application. The department portion landed in my mailbox yesterday and it has me a little bit freaked out. I have no idea who to ask to write these recommendation letters. Ok, actually, I have ideas on who to have write them but I have to track down their contact information plus hope and pray that they remember me well enough to do these. I guess I'll know soon enough. I'm putting contacting them down on next week's to do list. At the same time as doing that, I'll need to be pulling transcripts from various schools. I need to call WMU again to find out if I should have everyone send everything to me and I'll send it all in one big packet or if it's better for everything to come directly to them. There is so much to this whole going back to school thing and honestly, it's freaking me out just a little bit. Well, little bits is how it's going to get done. They're far less overwhelming than looking at the whole thing.

But, for now, I have a washing machine that's waiting to be started and more cleaning/organizing/purging to be done!

I know! It's Monday but I want to get this up and posted because it distracts me from dealing with meltdown little boys. I know they're melting down because it's so hot but sheesh, it's hard to stay patient sometimes! It does make me proud though when they stop and realize all on their own that their behavior just isn't cool.

So, what are we tackling in Roetsville this fine, hot Tuesday? Well, since I've decided that it's time for me to go back to school, I'm going to attempt to get our printer up and running. If I manage it, I'm going to print out the application forms that I need. I'm also going to try to figure out who I can ask to write those pesky letters of references. I didn't form any tight bonds with any of my UB instructors, so it might be difficult. I do have a few ideas though.

This is our last week before school starts and once their schedule/routines change, mine will be too. I'm getting back into crafting more and there's always lots to do around the house! Of course, with a hesitant plan to move in the next 4-10 months, there's tons more to do!

Woo! It's Tuesday and it's 2 posts in a row, day! Woohoo! I'm back! Did I tackle anything? Well, not a heck of a lot. The boys and I had planned on tackling their bedroom, but the heat got to all of us. They did get under their beds cleaned out, though.  If the heat doesn't get us tomorrow, we're going to work more on their room. It's just a matter of now tidying up at the end of their bed and running the vacuum. Then, we'll be moving on to working on my bedroom. Our goal is to get the entire upstairs whipped into shape and then we'll move to the downstairs. I can't wait to have a lovely clean home that's inviting instead of chaotic. Clear spaces = Clear Mind.

It's Tuesday and the weather is wonderful! Why can't all of summer be nice like this? Today is a big tackle around here. We're pulling the tent out, setting it up and waterproofing it.  Then, once it's dry, we're camping out in it tonight! Other than that, it's just more prep work around here, trying to get things packed into the van, packed into bags and just packed in general. I feel like there's so much to get done and not near enough time to do it! We have company coming for the weekend and while this house was in good shape, being gone all last week has wreaked havoc on it and I just don't know how I'm going to get it "company" ready in time for him to get here. Oy! Well, one step at a time, I guess and this step is all about the tent.

And now it's Tuesday and I'm back sitting in the library with a crazy person across from me and a girl who really needs a shower sitting behind me. How do I manage to attract these people? Seriously.

Anyway, something else happened yesterday that I didn't mention. I got a new phone! My poor little razr is on it's last legs and since the contract was about up, we decided to switch to Verizon. It has 3 real benefits:  It's cheaper. It actually works where I live and I now have a new mulberry colored phone. It's just a plain old flip phone but someday I'll come close to catching up with technology. For now, I'm just happy to have a phone that wants to work.

So, my tackle for today? Clearing off all the photos and ringtones off of the old phone. Today is the last day it's going to work so that needed to be done today. I'm happy to say that while sitting here in the library, I got that done. The only thing left is to redo all of my contacts in the new phone. I wonder who will make the cut...hehe...