Welcome!!

WELCOME EVERYONE!! 

To my new blog, my new venture, my new bitz of everything...

a written version of My Life In Progress pretty much!  

So whatever I'm in the mood to share on this blog will pretty much have it...so it could be a post about decorating, organizing, cooking/recipes, books I'm reading, makeup I'm loving, etc. It could be a funny story...I have LOTS of those trust me.  I live in a house with 2 teens, a husband and 8 animals (6 cats and 2 dogs) so there is always a STORY!

Also I will be sharing my journey of getting fit again...getting my muscles back to where they need to be and just to be as healthy as I can be (within reason of course...I mean I'm NOT giving up my Cherry Coke..no way...that is wayyy too much to ask right).

I have always considered myself an on-going self-improvement project.  I'm always trying new things and trying to improve areas of my life and home.  I am not necessarily changing who I am...I'm still ME but I like to try new things that help me be better.  A better friend, better wife and mom, a better cook and so on.  So this blog is all about me trying to do that with my life and doing things that I love to help me on the journey.

If along the way I make you laugh, smile or inspire you to do or try something new...then what more can I ask for!  This is a happy fun place ONLY!

So I hope you'll come along with me on this new journey...we'll have lots of fun I promise!  I'll be doing lots of work and projects so you can sit back, relax, laugh and perhaps say "better her than me"!!!

And a BIG THANK YOU to my friend Veronica of VK Design Co. for my blog design and accessories!!  She always is a delight to work with and I know I probably drive her nuts with my indecision and changes sometimes.  But in the end she always creates my VISION and I just love her for that.  Hope you like it too!!

**BLOG STILL UNDER CONSTRUCTION**

I'm working on adding things, links, pictures and such to this blog. So every time you visit there will be new things on the different pages and such.

And yes my crafty blog ScrapBitz will still be up & running as usual so you can always find my crafty projects over there!!  No worries as that's a big part of my life too! 

www.scrapbitz.blogspot.com

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This will be something I feature regularly on my blog.  I love to organize, LOVE IT...when I have the time and motivation of course.  So I have been rampaging through my house going through closets, hutches and every other nook & cranny purging and coming up with plans on how to improve them.  For 3 years I have been a traveling and working fiend and just haven't had the time to keep up with a lot of things.  BUT GUESS WHAT!!? I'm a girl on a MISSION and this house will be ship shape in no time!!  

So every now and again I will share projects that I'm either currently tackling or have finished up.  Maybe it will inspire you...maybe it won't...its all good :)

Now forgive me please because I was trying to finish taking pics yesterday and it was dark and grey raining outside so the lighting was a bit off.  If the sun is back today I will try to re-take a few of these pics for you.

Linen Closet

This is scary to show you...its the BEFORE picture of my linen closet..YIKES...shhhhh don't tell.  My linen closet is upstairs and sits between the four bedrooms.  It stores the things it should and the size is ok, I have no issue with those two things.  But I have two teens and a husband that like to shove things in there and take things out and leave messes behind.  And then you have "ME" who gets frustrated and closes the door because I don't have time to deal with it.  Until I had time...dum dum dum dummmmmm...and I tackled it all.
 Time spent total: 1 hour  Cost: $20

What Wasn't Working for Me:

-Too many old sheets and beach towels that I needed to part with

(we are talking toddler sheets and toddler beach towels...ummm I have 2 teens now)

-Cleaning Supplies Scattered around

-Everything was shoved in because there wasn't enough room

-Hated looking through piles for certain sheets and pillowcases

-Toiletries and Cosmetics falling on shelves

-not really utilizing the space at the top

AFTER:

Now I don't profess to be Martha Stewart...nor do I want to be...cuz HEY I don't have a staff or that kind of time.  I am a staff of one most days and that's ok, I just break things down into doable chunks.  And as much as I love to look at those magazines and see the pretty shelves and such...I know that those pics were styled and perfected before anyone used them right?  I live in the REAL WORLD people...I don't believe in living perfect, I just want to live the best I can.  But I'm a realist and I know what I like and what I can do and MOST IMPORTANTLY what can be maintained by the "folks" in my household..you know what I'm talkin' about yes?

So the answer is NOOOOOO I do not iron my sheets because I hate to iron (my mom is frowning) and NOOOOO I don't fold my fitted sheets like Martha does...that's just how it is in the Dean household.  But I like things neat, I like things that are easy to find and most of all it is easy to maintain.  I also have a large stack of Master Bedroom pillowcases (this pic shows only half of mine) as I put a clean pillow case on our pillows every night.  I have 8 animals (2 dogs & 6 cats)...the dogs sleep in bed with us and sometimes on our heads...yes it is true...skeered yet??  And during the night we could have a cat or two wander up on the bed too.  Funny thing is...I'm allergic to cats...yup I truly am.  But I'm fine as long as their hair is not near my face...hence the clean pillowcases every night.  Plus I am a NUTTER about skin care (more on that in another post) and I cannot fathom sleeping on my oils and yuk from the night before...I mean I could drool LOL!  Sounds like a terrible chore but its really not...I have extras and I usually do a load of wash most days so I just toss them in and they are easy to fold and put away.

 Extra Medicines along with dental supplies & lip balms

(we go thru lip balm like mad folk in our house)

(I have teens but if you have little ones make sure this in a high place in your closets)

The top shelf holds extra toiletries like toilet paper, soap, tissue and feminine products.

Things I Did:

-Went through all the sheets and towels and donated all the toddler towels to our Animal Rescue

(Animal Rescues love donations of these items)

-refolded everything to the best of my ability ;)

-created space for each family member's sheets

-Master Bedroom Sheets are in Baskets because they are King Sized and are bulkier, our pillowcases are stacked in between our two white bins

-corralled all the cleaning supplies into one bin (the blue one that has a handle)

-Put all the extra medicines/lip balm/dental supplies in one bin

-Used the top shelf for all extra toiletries we use like toilet paper, soap, tissue & feminine products.
-On the bottom shelf I folded beach towels that we use the most along with tableware like tablecloths and napkins...these things we don't use often so they can go on bottom.

-The closet goes deep on either side, on the sides I have put extra cosmetics in bins(some we receive in monthly shipments), heating pads and table pads that aren't used much.

-On the bottom are extra beach towels, our extra bathroom cleaning supplies, our humidifier and our fire extinguisher (insert: we are safety minded homeowners)

-created fun tags for everything and bought white & clear bins at Target

 Master Bedroom Baskets & Pillowcases

I found some cute labels that are free Printables online HERE that I used for my labels.  (I do believe if you take the time to Google you will find some great freebies out there to use for many things) And I'm a papercrafter so one thing I don't lack in is crafty supplies and ideas.  So I printed them out, cut them out with my Spellbinders dies and Cuttlebug...I also created a frilly mat with black cardstock and another die.  Glued 12 of them together and added labels in "my own handwriting"...shocker..yes but I didn't need to create them on my computer although you could.  I just wrote what I needed with a black Sharpie and that was that...cuz HEY no one but my family accesses this closet so I want it neat and pretty but I wasn't willing to spend the extra time on the labels period...ha!  I had a spool of gingham ribbon and tied each tag to the appropriate shelf and bin.  Easy Peasy!

Perfect?  No but it makes me happy and its neat and organized...that's what matters to me!!  I may get another white bin for my cleaning supplies who knows but other than that I won't be changing anything!

  Have an awesome day!

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