What YOU Want to Know

When talking about what to blog among my friends I always get the same response:Blog about HOW you do all you do. I'm always slow to do that, though, because I never want to come across as a know-it-all, perfect mom. Those things, I AM NOT. However, I've been thinking lately about many of my new friends whom I've met at our new church. Most of them are older and more mature in their life. They've been mothers longer than I have, they've been married longer than I have, they have more experience with life than I do. I soak these ladies up as much as possible, because I want to learn from them and use their experiences to help me along MY way. It's such a blessing to get a few great tips from them, and THIS is the reason I've decided to try and share a little of how I do what I do with you all, my 3 readers...
SO, here it goes. You want to know how I do so much, and (for the most part) keep it together. I can sum it up in THREE EASY WORDS: Simplify, Organize, Maintain. Sound too good to be true. It isn't. Lets start with the first of those words.
Simplify.
When I was 16 we moved for the first time in my life. At that point I boxed up so much junk that moved with me to our new home. We moved again after I'd started college, and again, the junk(some of which was still in the boxes) moved with me. This happened one more time when the Manly Man and I got married, but soon(like before I could sleep in our bed for the first night)it ALL had to be gone through and thinned out.
Scotty and I lived in a one room shack cottage our first year of marriage, and we didn't have room for groceries, much less all of my JUNK from growing up. We're talking every letter I had ever gotten in the mail. Every greeting card that had ever been given to me. Every picture I'd ever taken or had been taken of me. I even had napkins from places I'd been on dates with guys from long long ago. Crazy, I know. ANYWAY, living in the "cottage" made Scotty and I realize that you really didn't NEED that much stuff to live. Just as long as you've got a few rolls of Scott, some chicken, and a gallon of milk your good.=) Now there were some things we really felt the need to keep in our life and those things got a special place that was there own, but we'll talk about that later. The point is Scotty and I SIMPLIFIED our life and to this day it's been the best thing we've ever done.
I think the easiest time to do this is in a move, but anytime is a good time to simplify. We've shaved more and more stuff off of our list of things we need. For instance, we don't have a TV. We don't keep things that we don't love. We aren't attached to clothes, shoes, or anything else that has a good resale value. We go through the kids toys and simplify several times a year. Probably about once a month. I never keep broken things that can't be fixed without spending money. We take stuff to the Salvation Army about once a month. We have a consignment corner in our garage for things that we'll sell at consignment sales or stores. We just don't keep things in the house very long.
When simplifying ask yourself these easy questions: Could someone else use this more than me? Could I make money on this if I sold it? Do I LOVE this? Is this something that I'd go back for at the store? Is there a better way for this to remind me of a memory? Is this taking too much of my time? After you've answered some of those questions you'll get a feel at what you really NEED. Once your home is simplified its time to organize.
Organize
You've heard it said, "A place for everything and everything in it's place." This is SO true for a well ran home. Until you have a place for everything(and everyone) you will feel like your home is never clean and like you are running yourself to death trying to keep up with your life. Take it slow. Start out with something easy like a drawer and end with your hardest room. If need be but some organizing tools, but usually you have what it takes already around your home. You just have to be creative. The biggest tip for organizing is that you HAVE to stay put. If you start taking things all over the house you'll never have an organized home. You'll just be like an ADD chicken with it's head cut off. When organizing keep a basket for putting things in that go in other places. Once you're finished with your space take your misplaced things basket and put the items where they belong. ONLY ONCE YOU'RE FINISHED with the space you were working on!! This really is the thing that trips most people up with organization. Try to keep clean and clear cabinets in bathroom and kitchen spaces. This is a big help when you have a very limited space to work with. Once everything has a place there is a VERY important step that really puts you over the top as far as being a superstar home-keeper-KEEP IT THERE! Yes, maintain an organized home be keeping things where they belong.
Maintaining is the KEY for me to be able to keep my home tidy(not always CLEAN, but it always LOOKS clean to the eye), my kids happy, and my MM thinking I'm the bomb digity. By maintaining things in an orderly fashion I am able to spend less time cleaning and working, and more time doing things like reading to my kids, taking walks, and talking to friends on Facebook. Taking an extra second to put things away where they belong instead of leaving a pile on my bed, or mail on my desk, really pays off for me. Keeping the monthly menu, ongoing grocery lists, and a growing family calendar starts to get easier as I keep at it and just get it done. Persistence is hard for a busy lady, but it's the most important thing when it comes to having a well managed home.
It really is just as easy as that! I'm going to go into much more detail on some points later, but for now, GO. Simplify. Organize. Maintain. It's your life. Soak it up.