One Simple Thing That Will Make a Big Difference in Your Day

Do you struggle with keeping things neat and tidy and home?  I have always struggled in this area, ever since I was a little girl.  I have learned a lot since I've been married, and I feel like I surely must have improved some.  My house looks just as clean now with three small children as it did when I was first married.  Surely that must be an improvement, right?  (I'm not saying it looks perfect; it just hasn't gotten worse as I've added children!)

There is something I do every morning that takes 5 minutes or less, but makes an incredible difference in how my day goes.

When I do this, I get myself in gear right away to keep things tidy. I see a visual difference right away, and it helps me realize that things aren't as messy as they look.

Would you like to know what it is?

Making my bed.

I'm talking about first thing.  If I allow room for the smallest excuse to wait, somehow it never gets done.  Whether my bed is made or not sets the tone for the whole day.

If it doesn't get made, I feel like I'm behind on all the housework, and I spend the day frustrated.

When the bed is made (and clothes put away if they weren't the night before), I have a peaceful sanctuary where I can go if I'm feeling the stress of the day.

I'm going to show you the view from the rocking chair in my room.

When you're stressed and need a minute to relax, would you rather look at this?

Or this?

That's what  I thought.

Now, if you're not already in the habit of making your bed first thing every day, I challenge you to consciously work on that habit for a month.  I can almost guarantee that you will automatically start working on the rest of your housework because it will put you right in gear!  Then, if your day isn't going like you planned, you'll have a refreshing place where everything is tidy where you can go to think, pray, and regroup.

Don’t Miss This: 90% Off Healthy Living E-Books!

There's an awesome deal available that you'll want to get in on if you're interested in healthy living!

(My e-books are downloading as I type this!  Can't wait to read them!)

This week only, April 17-23, you can purchase a bundle of 30 healthy living ebooks for $39.

These ebooks have a combined value of $479!

Here are a few that caught my eye:

DIY Natural Household Cleaners

Matt & Betsy Jabs of DIY Natural

Learn how to make all your own homemade cleaning products using simple, natural ingredients. These green cleaning recipes take the guesswork out of using essential oils so you can finally utilize their beneficial cleaning properties. Over 60 natural cleaning recipes for every room in your home!

Diet Recovery 2 (Completely Revised)

Matt Stone of 180 Degree Health

Can “eating healthy” make you sick? Diet Recovery 2 is the completely revised guide to breaking free from the empty hunt for the perfect diet and the counterproductive pursuit of losing weight. Learn how to ditch dieting, relax and “eat the food” — and balance your metabolism and get healthy.

Note:  Have any of you heard of this guy?  He says a lot of things that are completely opposite of what we're used to hearing about health.  Is he crazy or is he right?  I'm anxious to read this and see what I think!

Real Food For Real Life

Emily Benfit of Butter Believer

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the “food rules” out there, you'll love this brand new book about eating healthy, without letting food take over your life. Real food is supposed to be simple! Get back to the basics and check perfectionism at the door, while learning the hows and whys of feeding yourself and your family healthy, whole nutritious foods.

Toxic Free: 70 Recipes for a
Toxic-free Home

Robin Konie of Thank Your Body

Many of the ingredients found in commercial cleaning and personal care products have been linked to health problems. From infertility to cancer, the toxic chemicals that threaten our health are some of the most common things we put directly on our skin! Are you ready to ditch the toxic garbage for good?

There are several book about living grain-free that of course caught my eye as well, but I need to quit or I'll end up listing every book they have!

There is so much here to learn, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime deal, so head over and check it out!

One final note:  I'll be writing an entire post on this subject soon, but I want to make it clear that I do not believe we can control our own health by how perfectly we eat or how many toxins we remove from our homes.  Sickness and disease is a result of the curse of sin on this world.  While we have a responsibility to be good stewards of our bodies and take care of them the best we can, we can still get sick even if we do everything “right”.  Good health is given by God, and he can take it away if he so desires.  We must trust him with our lives and not be so prideful as to think we can control what happens to our health because we make “right” choices.  Many of these ebooks may convey that type of an attitude, and I try to take the good information from them and leave the attitude behind.  I hope you'll do the same.

28 Random Things About Me

In honor of my 28th birthday, I thought I would give you a list of 28 random things about me.  I've seen others bloggers do something similar, and I always enjoy getting to know the person behind the blog a little better.  I have written these in no particular order; I just wrote whatever I happened to think of at the moment.

My hubby and I

1. I am the youngest of 4 children, and the only girl in my family.

2. My favorite pastime is playing the piano; I started learning when I was 4 years old.

3. I once had a dog named named Buster whose favorite food was corn on the cob.  (I told you these were random!)

4. I consider chocolate to be its own food group.

5. I am left-handed.

6. I am very, very, very un-artistic and uncoordinated.  Successful crafts definitely have to posted to my blog because they are such a huge accomplishment.

7. My least favorite chore is cleaning the kitchen.

8. I can't stand the feel of cotton balls (think fingernails on chalkboard.)

9. My favorite food is chocolate.

10. I think coffee is disgusting.

11. During the warmer months, I usually wear a comfy top with a skirt and flip flops.

12. During the winter I wear my PJ's all day and don't go anywhere unless I have to.

13. I like jewelry, but I only wear it a couple times a year.  I'm just that forgetful.

14. Have I mentioned yet that I love chocolate?

15. I'm typically a tough-it-out kind of girl when I have a headache.  Medicine is a very last resort.

16.  I choose practicality over beauty nearly every time.

17. I have owned (and worn regularly) several articles of clothing for over 15 years.  I do not wear 15-year-old clothing in public; I only wear things in public that are 10 years old or newer!  🙂

18. I do not like to cook.

19. A lot of people think I'm snobby when they first meet me.  They don't realize that I'm really just shy and don't know what to say when I don't know someone.

20. Once I get to know you, you'll probably wish I would quit talking so much!

21. I have three kids – ages 1, 3, and 5.

22. I'm in my first year of homeschooling my 5-year-old, and it's harder than I thought it would be.

23.  I grew up near Atlanta, GA.

24. I currently live in North Carolina.

25. My husband and I both grew up in Christian homes.  (What a blessing!)

26. Besides the piano, I have also learned to play clarinet and a tiny bit of violin, but they have both been in the closet since I graduated from college.

27. Blogging is my very favorite hobby, and hearing from my readers brings a huge smile to my face!

28.  If you ever want to make my day, just bring me some chocolate.

I hope you enjoyed getting to know a little bit more about me, and I hope you all have a great weekend with your families!

15 Minute Tasks for the Week

This week we'll work on disinfecting the living room.

Monday

Take down and wash curtains and other linens.

Tuesday

Clean the ceiling fan and knock down any cobwebs from the ceiling.

*Helpful tips for cleaning ceiling fans*

1. Use an old pillowcase to clean the fan blades.  Just slip it over the blade, grip it tightly, and slide it back off of the blade.  The dust will be contained inside the pillowcase instead of floating around in the air.
2. Clean the rest of the fan with a swiffer duster or a damp rag.
3. Keep a spray bottle of water handy, and spray the air around the fan as you dust.  The mist will help the dust particles fall to the floor instead of floating around in your face and making you sneeze.  (I tried this for the first time this week, and was amazed that I had no problems with sneezing, itchy eyes, sore throat, etc. like I almost always do when I’m around dust.)

Wednesday

Mist walls with a non-toxic disinfectant.  Scrub any smudges, crayon drawings, etc. off with a rag.

Thursday 

Move furniture out from the wall.  Dust the baseboards and spray with disinfectant.  Vacuum the entire floor, including underneath of the furniture.  If you have a wood floor, sweep and spray the entire floor with disinfectant.

Friday

Spray all furniture with a non-toxic disinfectant and wipe down with a rag.

Saturday

Remove any items that do not belong there.  Place them in the correct places in the house, throw away trash, and get rid of things you no longer use.

Be sure to subscribe to free email updates or follow me on Facebook or Pinterest if you’re interested in more cleaning and organizing inspiration!

Spring Children’s Craft: Coffee Filter Butterflies

The following is a post from our contributor, Andrea.

My little girl loves doing crafts.  Anything that involves glitter, paint, glue, or coloring is right up her alley.  Since it has been cold, and my husband takes the car to work each day, we have been “stuck” indoors with cabin fever!  I've been trying to spice up our daily routine by sprinkling some crafts and new activities into the week.  Recently we made a very simple craft: coffee filter butterflies.  (I have an 18 month old and a 3 year old, and both were able to do this craft.  I only helped with the gluing).

Supplies:

• Coffee filters
• Food coloring
• Small bowls or Dixie cups
• Paintbrushes
• Clothespins (one for each butterfly)
• Pipe Cleaners
• Moving eyes (optional)
• Magnets (optional)

If you have older children you can use Elmer's glue or craft glue.  My kids are young and impatient, so I used a hot glue gun to put their butterflies together.  If you are pressed for time, you can use a hair dryer to speed up the drying process after the filters are “painted.”  We split our craft into two segments – one before lunch, and one after nap time.

Directions:

1.  Prepare the area.  I have a plastic table cloth I place on the table when we are crafting, and my kids wore paint smocks since we were using food coloring.  I also had a box of baby wipes and a roll of paper towel handy…which my son put to good use.

2.  Mix colors.  In each small bowl or cup add 1 Tablespoon of water.  Then add several drops of food coloring.  The more food coloring, the more vibrant the color will be on your coffee filter.

3.  Paint.  I placed a paper towel under each coffee filter to help absorb the excess water.  I flattened the coffee filter and then let my kids use the paint brushes to drop the colored water onto the filters.  Then we hung the filters up to dry.  {I used clothespins to clip them to a hanger over the bathtub}.  Let the filters dry completely.  We painted before lunch, and completed the butterflies after nap time.  You can speed up the process with a hair dryer if needed.

4.  Assemble the butterfly.  Scrunch the filter up in the center so that it will clip inside a clothespin.  The clothespin is the body of the butterfly.  You can have older children paint the clothespin if you want, but my kids were too little for that.  I added some hot glue to keep the filter inside the clothespin, because I knew my son would try to take it apart.  We cut each pipe cleaner in half, and then folded the piece into a “v” to form the antennae   We glued it onto the clothespin, along with some moving eyes.  My daughter insisted that the butterfly needed a mouth, so we added that detail with a Sharpie marker.  Add a magnet strip to the back of your butterfly if you want them to hang on the fridge.

That's it!  It's a simple craft, but my kids had fun creating a mess with the colored water, and then getting a butterfly out of it.  They also like playing with magnets on the fridge while I am working in the kitchen.

15 Minute Tasks for The Week

I'm finally back with another week of 15 minute tasks!  We'll start with Tuesday, though, since I'm a day late getting this up!

This week we'll be working in the pantry.  Mine is more like a catch-all room, so I've got a lot of work to do in there!

Tuesday

Grab a trash bag and set the timer for 15 minutes.  Go through every shelf, throwing away food that is expired, that you know you're never going to eat, or that you know you shouldn't eat!  If you're trying to take baby steps toward healthier living, don't hinder yourself by keeping food that is bad for you in your house!  If you're not sure, read the labels, google certain ingredients, and learn what things are!  I have kicked a lot of food out of my house this way.  It didn't seem so bad on the surface, but when I checked into what I was really eating, I just couldn't bring myself to eat it anymore.

Wednesday

Today you need to take a rag and a bottle of cleaner into the pantry.  (You can use my DIY non-toxic cleaner if you like.)  Set the timer for 15 minutes and start clearing off shelves and wiping them down with your cleaner and rag.  You can put the stuff back on the shelves any old way because we'll be organizing everything later.

Thursday

Head into the pantry with small baskets, jars, or bins.  Group like items together and place smaller items into baskets.  Use jars if you'd like for opened pasta, rice, beans, etc.

Friday

Finish up organizing the items on the shelves.  If you keep other items stored in your pantry, organize them in the most efficient way you can.

Saturday

Vacuum the floor, scrub the walls, doorframe, and lightswitch, and you're done!

If you want to join us for the next round of 15 minute cleaning organizing tasks, be sure to subscribe to free email updates or follow me on Facebook so you won't miss it!