Twist On Home Sanctuary Challenge

Well today's Home Sanctuary Challenge was to clean up your dresser. My dresser was cleaned off very recently, because it's where my hamster habitat sits. So I took it to my closet. I finished organizing my shoes, hung up all the clothes that I had unpacked, but not yet hung up, and finished organizing my accessories. Okay, so I love accessories. Don't be fooled by appearances though. It looks like I spend a ridiculous amount of money on purses, scarves, hats, & shoes...the reality? I love thrift stores. I never understood people who raved about spending $250 on a pair of jeans. I rave about finding a pair of jeans for $2.50. So, here's the proof my completed challenge. (Oh, and for the other half of the challenge, instead of lounging in my robe today, I got up, got dressed, put on a pretty sweater, threw in some earrings, and did my makeup. It gave me an excuse to test out the new Avon makeup I got in anyways. :) )

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Standing On the Promises

Wow...today has been a mess! And it was busy....so much for nesting, lol. I had to go deliver a batch of Avon goods (still hoping for more customers!), so while I was out and about, I figured I'd run by the store & grab some things I've been needing. Mostly office supplies..stapler, paperclips, etc. I wanted to buy a trashcan for the kitchen, and for the bathroom, but of course they were out of the size I needed for the bathroom, and somehow they had no lids for the kitchen trashcan I liked. Go figure!

I got paid by check, but my bank is in San Antonio. The store wouldn't cash personal checks, but I found out my bank has a nifty feature, where you scan the check, and tell them the balance of the check. Later they'll verify it by the picture you scanned, but the money was in the account immediately. Sweet!

I started printing out pictures for my new frames ($2.50 a piece!!), and in the process was inspired to rearrange the fireplace pictures, to the shrunk shelving, and put the new frames on the fireplace.


Then as if this wasn't a long enough day, running around all over the place, and rearranging things, but it was exhausting mentally. There's a situation we've been praying over. Yesterday a lady from my church called and prayed over it with me. She warned me to hang in there, and said that the enemy would be trying really hard for the next few weeks to convince me that things wouldn't work in our favor. Today was a big test. I was called by an antagonist in the situation, not once, not twice, but 3 times. It absolutely wore me out. So for grins, and to relax I decided to finally read my library books. I read the one about pastels, and even tried my hand at it. Behold...the masterpiece!

Okay, maybe not so much...art is not my forte...looks a bit like a child's crayon drawing...lol. Oh well, I felt much better once it was done. :)

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Yay! Lots done!!!

Okay, again today wasn't very exciting for visual stimuli, but I'm pleased with what I got done. I've had boxes sort of half unpacked in various rooms of the house. I got the living room cleaned up, the kitchen cleaned up, the dining room cleaned up, and the hallway. And let me tell you, each of those rooms brought their own challenge.

In cleaning the living room, I noticed how dirty the fireplace was, so I cleaned it out. I got ash all over my arms, and all over my clothes, lol. My first time cleaning out a fireplace, but it's done now!

When I cleaned up the dining room I found out that 2 of the plastic pegs holding up shelves in my shrunk, had broken, so now I need to evaluate the shelving and determine if I need to have less items on the shelves, or if I need to replace them with metal pegs. Or both, lol.

The kitchen I discovered that there were dishes that needed to be done, and my sink was in need of a good scrub. Now even Flylady would be impressed with my sink, lol. That was about as far as I ever made it with her anyway.

And then there's the hallway...okay so the hallway didn't really challenge me much. I just found out that I have more laundry to do..yay! Not. Oh well, on the bright side, I've done nearly everything left to do on the house, yesterday I did a massive laundry run. Now at nearly 36 weeks, I plan to nest. Chill at my house, and only my house. Except for those nuisance doctor appointments of course. :)

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My pocket for today

So, looking around this house, I have a lot of pockets I could do. After all, I'm still moving in. However, on top of the general weariness of moving, I've got a baby coming soon, and I've been sick. Yuck! So obviously, some days are better than others. Today is a not day.
I took some nighttime cold/sinus stuff last night, and when I woke up (coughing up everything that had been chilling while I slept) at 5 something in the morning, I felt so lousy I took another dose. Then my phone went off a few times early in the am, my doorbell rang with an unexpected package, and my husband called when he got back to his dorm in Korea. all that meant my sleep cycle was severely thrown off, so I didn't wake up until after noon sometime.
So today, I'm looking around, and I realize that even though it's one of the smallest pockets, one of the things that annoys me the most right now, is my Avon stash. I have several boxes of supplies, all of which are laying in my dining room floor, half of which are partly or fully emptied on to said floor. So today's project is to clean up that disaster, so that should someone need to make a purchase, or request a brochure, I can actually figure out where those items are. Pictures will be posted later.

As promised, the photos:
This is what it looked like before...scattered all over my dining room floor.

















This is afterwards, when I neatly organized everything in my shrunk. Still in the dining room, but much neater. Now I just need customers. Speaking of customers, I was very excited...no more had I finished this project than my phone rang, with my first (non-family) customer!!! And because I had just organized this, I knew exactly where the correct brochure was, and was able to get this taken care of simply and easily.

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Goal Setting

So today was my "figuring things out" day. I've been feeling icky today, and had a lot on my mind. I did sit down and figure out a room-by-room account of what needs done. While I go through the rooms, I'm going to figure out what small items need purchased for those rooms. I don't even mean decorative items, but necessary items that will improve quality of life, as well as make it easier to keep the room cleaned.

So for accountability, I've included the list of what needs done below. Then starting tomorrow, I'll attack the list, and I'll try to remember to take before/after pictures.

Jade's Room:
Unpack the boxes & put her clothes in the dresser.
Put the sheets on her bed.
Hang whatever decorations we currently have for her.

Baby's Room:
Unpack the boxes.
Set up the swing.

Living Room:
Clear the floor, especially the edges where clutter has collected.
Move the mirrors to the garage for now.
Declutter the shelves.
Take pictures of the fairies & put them up for sale.

Dining Room:
Clear the floor.
Move the boots from the shrunk, and put our pics/certificates on it.

Kitchen:
Go through the last of the boxes.
Clear off the counters & clean them up.
Clean the fridge & microwave.
Rearrange the pantry.

Laundry Room:
Go through the big box of misc stuff.
Wipe down the washer/dryer.

Master Bedroom:
Fold/unpack/wash etc. the rest of the clothes, and put them away.
Clean up the desk, and bed shelves.
Take a picture of the bed, attempt to drain it, and put it up for sale.

Then I need to go through the house and mop all the hard floors, and vacuum all the carpet.

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