Okay, so I have a confession to make: I never made it out of my PJs today, nor did I exercise. I think that sort of means I failed today’s assignment–at least when it comes to the first project on the list.
I had every intention to run and take a shower, but after reading my Bible, making a list of goals for the week, making a to-do list, blogging, homeschooling, having a radio interview, more blogging, and taking care of a bunch of little details in prep for our trip, I finally decided late in the afternoon that it just wasn’t happening today.
The good news? I had a productive day.
I told you that my house was a mess this morning.
Why yes, that’s a box of Annie’s mac & cheese on our bedroom floor. You mean you don’t store those on your bedroom floor?? Ahem. I’m not sure how it got there!
And I certainly wasn’t kidding.
But it’s clean tonight — thanks, in part, to my husband and children pitching in to get it all picked up.
So. much. better!
And I also got the silverware drawer cleaned — though it wasn’t too messy to start with since it had been cleaned out not too long ago. But I found a few things to get rid of and some crumbs to wipe out.
My 7+ items to get rid of — mostly from the silverware and utensil drawer.
Tomorrow, I promise I’ll make getting out of my PJs a priority — especially since I really want to head to Target to buy some Starbucks coffee before our store is cleaned out. 🙂
How did you do on Assignment #11? I’d love to have you share your progress and success with us so we can be inspired. Either post a link to your blog post below or leave a comment with your update.
Angie Malan says
Crystal, I love how candid you are! I’m a homeschooling mom of three little ones (6, 2, and 4 months) so I often find strange things everywhere. Always good for smiles and laughs!
Deena says
I’ll take that spatula!! 🙂
Stephanie says
Thank you! That box of Annie’s Mac N Cheese on your bedroom floor simply made my whole week! We have company coming on Saturday and weeks like this all I can see is the mess, and feel so embarrassed- as if I’m the only one on the planet with a messy house- and then I think about all that “says” about me. I just realized, it doesn’t mean I’m unproductive- it simply means that I have kids- and sometimes other things to do! Thank you thank you thank you!
KimH says
If you’re going to get rid of them, would you send those scrapers to me, please? 😉 I dont think I’ve ever had too many that I needed to get rid of one, unless it was dead from excessive use & abuse.. One of my most favorite kitchen tools..
Naomi says
woops…I’m not sure why it linked me twice – sorry!
Naomi says
Thanks for doing this Crystal! I am the type of person that gets easily overwhelmed by all that needs to be done and will often do nothing instead…yeah not exactly the right way to go about it. However, I have been VERY motivated by this challenge to take small bites at a time. It has already made a HUGE change in our home that my family can see too. And of course, a happy mama is a happy family! : )
Wendy says
Crystal,
I am embarrassed but relieved to admit that I too didn’t get a shower yesterday because of all that I had to do. Honestly, sometimes getting a shower feels like the most productive thing I do all day! I am currently in college (for the 3rd time in my life!) and have two children under the age of 5. For most of the semester I have clinicals but when I don’t I find it hard to have a productive day…like I’m making up for being so frazzled with clinicals that I start being lazy. I definitely need a routine and I’ve made up my mind to work on that. By the way, it was such an encouragement (yes, encouragement) to see a box of macaroni in your bedroom floor. I think we get so down on ourselves for not being “superwoman” that we forget we’re human. Now, enough chit chat…I’ve gotta get up off the couch and clean. Thank you for the inspiration, I needed it!
Tracey says
My five year old son walked into the room while I was looking at your before pictures and said, “What happened? Did a tornado get that?” When I replied “no” he said that it sure looked like it! (We live south of Wichita and had seen some of the damage done this weekend.) The sad thing is that your before pictures looked much better than my house! It is daily hit by natural disasters. I cleaned all day yesterday too- to the point that my muscles are sore today. I was sure to show my son the pictures of your hard work. Thanks for your inspiring segment on organizing our homes!
Crystal says
Too funny!
anon says
Ha ha, that mac and cheese box is hilarious. The first thing I thought when you mentioned finding it, was: Silas!
Ashley D says
We have that same little violin at our house! My two year old has pretty much worn it out. 🙂
Katie H says
Honestly I still haven’t gotten to the “Find stuff to toss, sell or donate” challenge, other than once.
Unless you want to count the seventy-times-seven thistles that I pulled out of the backyard yesterday…
Ariel says
The Annie’s Mac and Cheese box is hysterical. There were two of those floating around our house yesterday too. They traveled from the pantry to the coffee table to the bedroom and only one came back to the pantry. At least they were a good toy for awhile! 🙂
Lisa says
That’s really funny. I had that exact same spatula which I got rid of because it stinks! Worst spatula I ever bought.
Jennifer says
You had a box of mac & cheese in your bedroom because you have little kids LOL. I sometimes miss those days. Yesterday I ran around like a crazy woman and barely got anything done around the house – too busy with the kids I guess. Today I won’t be leaving the house until 2:00 and will have 5 hours with all the kids at school so I should certainly get some cleaning done.
Camille says
I’d love a printable template too! It would make a great schedule to refer back to and would also be a great gift to a new homemaker.
Emma K says
Can you make this into a printable template? I’d love to try to do a lot of these monthly and just go off of a chart.
Krysten says
Ooh! I like this idea!
Shelly @Frugal Family Home says
Our day was a little off as I needed to spend a little more time blogging today than I usually do. But I was able to get most things done today.
We tend to run out of forks more often than spoons around here. I like your silverware tray, mine is getting pretty old and worn I will have to look for one like yours. It looks like a nice wooden one.
AMY says
I’ve read the assignments everyday even though I haven’t gotten to them. I did take 15 mins to pick up my living room, clean the glass tables, and vaccuum. Thanks for reminding us how much we can accomplish in just 15 minutes!
Krysten says
I’ve been enjoying reading these every day, though I haven’t been able to join the bandwagon since I just had a baby 6 days ago! Maybe in a few weeks I’ll have enough energy and enough of a schedule to go back to your archives and go through all of the tasks. Will there be a link on the side or the top so I can find them easily?
Amy says
That’s a great idea! My baby girl is 4 days old and I was just thinking how my kids and I can do this over the summer!
Jessica says
I’ll take that Cuisinart spatula. It’s great for scraping out the food processor bowl. 😉
Jess says
We have a newborn and I’m so sleep deprived right now that I can’t see straight… plus nursing isn’t going well…. Anyway I’ve got this series bookmarked for sometime in the future. For now I’m following along while I attempt to nurse and I’m getting rid of 7 things each day. Today I cleared out 4 shopping bags of outgrown clothes. Small steps…
Kimberly says
I’m with you there, Jess? I have a newborn too…3 weeks old today. Got the sleep deprived thing happening here too. I’m gonna play catch up on these challenges in a few weeks when hopefully life is settled down!
Anna says
Have you used cabbage leaves for the nursing? It is amazing! Check it out! Hope you feel better soon! I had a difficult time nursing my first 3 children, but the 3rd was lots easier after I found out about cabbage. I have another baby on the way and will be buying that veggie early!
Julie says
Um… did you do TOO good of a job and clean out all your spoons?!? That’s that the middle slot in the silverware organizer is for – spoons! 🙂 Great work, girl! Keep it up!!
Crystal says
They were all in the dishwasher. I realized I should have mentioned that on the post! 🙂
Katie H says
All MY spoons (at least, all my baby spoons) have been annexed by my three-year-old to become dashboard dials for his pretend car. He REALLY is obsessed with them and loves to play “spedometer/tachometer.”
Jessie@ Mumsy Musings says
Semi productive morning but a very un productive afternoon. Must be a Monday thing.
Danielle B says
Our day here was a bit “off” too, but still very productive! This starts our third week of being on a true, solid schedule. I’ve never made it more then three days, so this is a Big Deal to us. 🙂 Even though the days aren’t flowing as nicely as I’d like them to yet, we’re making serious improvements. The children are starting to get in the rythym of morning routine and chores more quickly, and I’m hopeful that this week we’ll really get the pattern down.
Today was amazingly productive, especially since I wasn’t planning on doing so much. I hurt my back on Saturday. It’s in the nerves of my lower back and over my right hip, so I’ve been trying to take it easy. This morning I woke up so discouraged, thinking “How am I ever going to make it through this day???” I poured out my heart to God in the shower, begging Him to touch me, even if not to take away all the pain but to enable me to do what I needed to today.
He answered. Loud and clear. It wasn’t until I sat down a few minutes ago that I felt the nerves in my hip twinge for the first time since praying. It wasn’t an easy day, I’ve wanted to give up and lay down on the couch so many times, but I just kept crying out in my heart to the Lord.
My oldest daughter and I were able to clean, purge, organize and rearrange almost my entire kitchen. It was wonderful time with her, and I feel so good knowing what we accomplished. I wanted to share what happened to me today, in case anyone else was feeling a little discouraged, or tired, or wanting to give up. Keep moving forward, even if you feel like you’re just shuffling in your slippers. You too might be amazed at what you accomplish with God’s grace! 🙂
Kelly Logan says
Where are your spoons?
Crystal says
In the dishwasher! 🙂
Andrea C says
LOL, I thought that exact same thing when I saw the picture!
Denise says
If my apartment looked like your dirty house I’d be breathing a sigh of relief that it is finally CLEAN! I did clean my bathroom yesterday though. (and my husband mopped it for me!) so I am taking baby steps to getting my apartment under control. I may not be doing your specific challenges but I am still being challenged and inspired so thank you!
And I would join you on getting rid of things everyday but I am already such a minimalist and have moved so many times in the last five years that I truly don’t have anything to get rid of! (Not of MY stuff at least…now my husband….he has plenty to get rid of!)
Victoria @Snail Pace Transformations says
Looks great! You do great work. I am so enjoying these daily challenges.
Tracy says
Where are all your spoons?
Crystal says
They were in the dishwasher… every single last one of them. Don’t ask me why the forks always seem to multiply and the spoons disappear.
Brooke says
Haha we have the opposite problem! Never any forks, but a million spoons!
Lea Stormhammer says
Ours do the same thing – and we even bought an extra set of spoons to go with our silverware!
What’s up with that anyway?
🙂
Lea
Crystal says
They were in the dishwasher. 🙂
Mindy says
i was wondering the same thing. haha
AD says
This is the first project I’ve tried, and it only took 15 minutes! Thanks for the inspiration.
Sandi says
I need a new set of measuring cups, and I like that yours are different colors. Where did you find them? Thanks.
Kristin says
Here’s a cool set: http://www.amazon.com/Trudeau-5-Piece-Measuring-Cup-Set/dp/B000RT85JW/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1334634475&sr=8-11
But those look like the Progressive brand in the photo!
Tabitha says
You did a great job! I just tackled under the sink today and so glad I did. It looks so much better! Tomorrow I will tackle the drawers! 🙂
Amanda says
Wow! Mine looks like that *after* I clean it most days! But you know, since I’ve been doing this challenge my kids are getting on board! My daughters have been super helpful and willing to pick up after themselves lately, and I think it’s great! My mother in law is visiting right now and keeps raving that my 2 & 5 year old do more to help me around here than her sister’s 4 teenagers combined! And they are having fun!
Ashley says
That was what I thought too! I only wish my house looked like that when it is messy.
We were out of town when this challenge started so I just recently started at the beginning and my children are getting in on it too! Ge this–they enjoy finding things to put in the garage sale box!
Amanda says
My daughter loves going to garage sales, and I’m planning our first….one of these days, but my oldest is totally excited about it.