Tackling the laundry beast

One of my New Year's resolutions was to get the house clean and organized, and I am off to a great start.  I decided to break the whole house up into small projects, with the first being the laundry.  My first week's project will be to get all of the laundry in the whole house washed, dried, folded/hung, and put away.  

Okay, so you're thinking, "Big deal.  A week to do all the laundry?  Easy-peasy."  Not so, my friend.  Not so.

I'm sure this will horrify some - probably most - people, but I am going to go ahead and confess anyway.  Sometimes - and by sometimes, I mean pretty much every time I do laundry - I do not put the laundry away after it comes out of the dryer.  In fact, half the time, it ends up sitting in the dryer - or if I am feeling particularly ambitious, on the ping pong table - until we need it.  Yup.  That's how bad the situation is.  And that's just the laundry.

Not to mention, there is a basket of miscellaneous socks and other random items that has been in a closet for a length of time too disgraceful to mention, simply because I have not sorted it.  In my house, doing all the laundry and getting it all put away is a huge job.

To keep me on track with this and other projects, I have decided to reward myself as I complete each phase.  I just got a new Spyro the Dragon game for my Wii - yes, for all intents and purposes, I am still 6 years old - and I am so excited to play it, so that will be my reward when I finish.  It is quite the motivator, and I actually got through most of the laundry today, with just a few items left to work through in the next few days.

Part of the reason I was able to get through so much is because my hubby was home, so he was able to help with our son.  During the week, it is very difficult to find time to do anything during the day since my son does not do a lot of napping, and when he is awake, I am spending time with him.  Showering is an accomplishment in itself, let alone cleaning or cooking something.

Even so, I am excited to be off to a good start, and I hope to continue to work towards organization in our home by setting realistic goals and continuing to reward myself when I complete a project.

2014 New Year's Resolutions

I usually completely forget to make New Year's resolutions until New Year's Day, and then I start scrambling for ideas and eventually settle on the classic "lose weight" resolution, which is nice because I never seem to lose weight, so it's good year after year.

This year, however, I have a list a mile long of things I want to accomplish in the coming year.  I talked about a few of them around the end of November, and I have been keeping track of my goals for the last month and a half and am excited to kick off the year right.

I wanted to share them on the blog so I would feel some kind of accountability, even though I think all of about 6 people read this thing. So, without further ado, here are my 2014 New Year's resolutions:

1. Get the house clean and organized.
2. Take time to be thankful for something every day.
3. Learn to sew.
4. Log 10,000 steps at least 4 days a week.
5. Finally use up my yarn stash.
6. Take better care of my skin. (I'm turning 30 this year and am already seeing the crow's feet!)
7. Read my Bible every day.
8. Lose weight.

Okay, I had to sneak that weight loss one in at the end because I am still way over where I want to be on the scales.  In my defense, not only did I have a baby, but I have been having trouble with my knees since the middle of my pregnancy, which has made exercise very difficult.  It does seem to be clearing up, though, so I am ready to get back in the saddle and start exercising - especially running - more often.

I also need to do better at taking care of my skin, especially when it comes to using anti-aging products.  I am getting so wrinkly, and I would like to prevent some of that, if possible.  The sewing and yarn goals are lofty.  I mean, really, who has time to be crafty?  I am ambitiously and unrealistically hoping that this year, I can say, "I do! I have time to be crafty."  We'll see.

Reading my Bible is important to me, and I have no excuse not to do it.  I have a Bible app on my phone, and I can always read while nursing my baby.  That one just has to happen.

So there it is.  What are your goals for the year?