Day 2

First of all, let me say I had ZERO time on Thursday to complete this task and to be honest I completely avoided this task yesterday...

But I was so excited to know I had some new followers and have been getting more and more comments on my blog reminding me that there actually are other people reading here - I knew I couldn't let people down, so after being in grad classes today from 8-4, I came right home and got to work on organizing the computer desk.

Ok, so our desk area is located right in our dining room and the real problem here is two fold: A) it belonged to Hubs before I met him and was his home office when I moved into this house {his home office has since been moved to the basement} and B) there are doors on it which allow the disaster to be hidden.  To be honest - it doesn't look too bad at first glance.  But let's take a closer look at the situation:

Yep - that's right friends...this is approximately 5 years of shoving.  Let's take a quick pause in this post to mention that Hubs does A.L.O.T. around this house: laundry, dishes, garbage, mouse killing...you get the picture, but organization, well that's not really his strong point.  So, while I love him to the moon and back - we need to stick to our roles in order for our home to function.  {it just so happens that he wasn't home for this overhaul!}

Behold, the organization:

No more shoving - although there is a little left to be done.  That drawer you see above, it still has lots of things in it that I'm not sure what to do with.  Ultimately I'd like to put hanging files in there {imagine that...a file drawer used for...FILES?!}, but for now I'm happy with the progress.

And as a side note, that pretty green binder in the above picture is the binder for Week 1 of the Weekly Challenge - I can't wait! 

Hope you're all having a blessed weekend!

Weekly Challenge

Ok, so because I'm late on the 21 Day Challenge, they have already started a new challenge over at Bowl Full of Lemons



And so each week I will be taking on a new challenge.  I just love this idea because it will hold me accountable in a time of the year when it's easy to become lazy because the weather is not very nice and spring cleaning is always in order in the Rokusek residence.

So, here is my challenge for you - why don't you join us?!  Hop on over to Bowl Full of Lemons {or click the button right above} and join in the fun!  We can all get organized together!  

Koozies, tape, and mouse traps, oh my...

Someone please tell me the junk drawer in our home is not the only one with such a random assortment of junk?! 

There are approximately 8 koozies, 5 grilling utensils, 4 boxes of mouse traps {hubs is continually telling me mice are normal in old houses - but they creep me out, so he is continually trying to deal with the nasty little rodents}, tape, screw drivers, rubberbands, pens, pencils, flashlights, scissors...I mean seriously, this is simply ridiculous.

It has become a joke in our home that I live with "shove-ers". 

The definition of this word is this: people who determine that "cleaning up" equals putting things out of sight, whether that's actually where the item lives or should live is of no consequence. 

It.makes.me.batty!  I cannot stand it.  But I am learning and becoming less rigid. 

So, last night when I announced to hubs that I was participating in this 21 Day Challenge, he simply took a deep breath and rolled his eyes at me.  He loves when I get these little ideas...and by loves, I mean hates.

Now for the big reveal - here is what 10 minutes did to this little drawer:

{notice the grilling utensils have been moved, no more koozies, and the extension cord has found a new home.  Everything has a home and there is still room left in the drawer - causing no need to press things down prior to shutting the door and slamming my fingers in the process.  Also, take note the mouse traps have found a new home - I can't see a reason for them to be mingling with my office supplies.}

10 minutes on a Wednesday night has made this wife a very happy lady.  Hubs is still sitting on the couch rolling his eyes at me.  Say what you will, but a happy wife makes for a happy life for everyone in the Rokusek residence. 

{probably won't make it for day 2 tomorrow because I'm busy all day and the computer desk belonged to hubs prior to my take over, so that will certainly require longer than I have in my day tomorrow...we'll see how I feel though - I'm movin' mountains this week people!}

One more time before & after!

Before:

After:

I've decided I'm up for the challenge...

I'm taking the 21 Day Challenge at Bowl Full of Lemons to get my home organized.  I'm behind because I didn't find this challenge until this week, but I've decided I'm fine with it.  I've also decided I'm fine with the fact that I simply will not be able to do these as 21 consecutive days - it's just not in the plan for my current schedule.  But, I will do it as I can and I will post the progress.  I plan to start with Day 1 tomorrow.  Anyone want to join me?!

It's also on my list to post some before/after pictures of our home and my classroom as I get things organized. 

Exciting things happening at Laughing through Life I tell you, pure excitement!

2011 Goals

A new year is always so daunting to me, and as a teacher I experience it twice - once in August and again in January.  A new school year is such a fresh start.  It always begins with wonderful plans and high aspirations to move mountains with my 27 darling children.  And then January rolls around (just around the same time as my school goals are falling off my radar left and right) and I have to do it all over again.  To be honest, I am a self-proclaimed list maker - but I am also really in need of work in follow through sometimes.

So, to add to the accountablitiy here are my goals for the year:

Health -

• drink 60-80 ozs of water/day regularly
• reduce my pop intake to one pop per day {I'm not quite ready to give it up...}
• work out 3-5 times per week
• run a half marathon {scheduled for September!}
• lose 40 lbs

Wealth -

• develop and stick to a household budget
• create and maintain a 6 month emergency fund
• reduce our household debt by 25%
• do a living will and get other such paperwork organized and filed appropriately

Personal -

• blog regularly
• take 30 minutes per day for myself
• read one "adult" book per month {I usually only read children's books during the school year}
• develop and maintain a household cleaning schedule
• get a library card for the city I live in {completed 1/21/11}

Home -

• paint our bedroom
• file all bills/statements/documents
• paint our living room
• organize coat closet
• re-organize laundry system
• paint porch
• re-do bathroom
• build out new bedroom in basement

This is not even 1/2 of the items I need to do in our home, but I figured I'd spare you the rest of the details.  And to be honest, I really need to get back to my new favorite blog and I'm dying to watch my Oprah from today.  {in addition, I need to shower and do a little work for my little side Scentsy business...it will most likely be a late night, but such is the life when my priorities are blogging and then work} 

And can I get a "YEAH KATIE" for blogging two days in a row?!

Let's Catch Up...

Ok, so evidently my two week Christmas vacation was not nearly as long as I had anticipated! This has become CRYSTAL clear after making it through my first day back at the "real life". School, Dance, the entire schedule is back in full swing!

Our break was simply fantastic! I so very much enjoyed hanging out with Kaitlyn for those extra days, sneaking some additional time with Kevin while we were both off work, spending quality time with family I don't get to spend enough time with during "real life", laughing until my stomach hurt, eating until I was certain I would burst, and just overall RELAXING. It was fabulous!


Here are the Top Five moments of my break:


5) Creating sweet goodie tins for family members with Kaitlyn4) Helping Kaitlyn make Christmas cards with her sweet stamps and handwriting3) Spending a peaceful afternoon with cherished family members whom I don't get to spend nearly enough time with! Aunt Judy was kind enough to invite all adult female members of our family to her house for lunch - it was an incredible time of fellowship, laughter, and reminiscing. I desperately wish I had been in my right mind and taken a picture, but I somehow forgot...!

2) Watching my brother in law and my boyfriend box and compete in other various sports on the Wii our family received this Christmas. (Please trust me, this picture sincerely does not do the situation justice!)

1) Being blessed with the opportunity to create a season full of magic for the children in my life - all to celebrate the birth of Jesus. :) I simply adore Christmas time!This last picture is one of Maicey's infamous "dirty looks" - yeah, I said it. She's almost a year old, and that girl gives looks that could kill! :)

Anyway, as you can see, our Christmas was just incredible and we are somewhat sad to see it go. But, we have many new and exciting things on the horizon of 2009...Perhaps I will get to New Year's Eve in my next set of free time!

Until then,

Katie :)

Operation Christmas Tree

Four days after my surgery, I decided it was time for some holiday cheer in the condo! So, here goes...
I went to sleep tired and sore, but very proud of my festive Christmas tree :)

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...

What a perfect day to be "locked" in the condo trying desperately to get over strep throat and get ready to head back to work tomorrow. The first major snowfall of the year is always so beautiful ~ from inside. Driving in it, on the other hand, is less than beautiful. In fact, I detest it. Not so much because I can't drive in it...but because of the other drivers who can't seem to remember that we live in IOWA, and it snows for at least 3, usually 4 months of the year. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly some forget the strategies of driving on the snow covered roads safely. This is a topic for another, less beautiful day. For today, I will just cuddle up with my favorite lunch and watch the beautiful white blanket cover our home.