Getting Organized Challenge Days 6-8

Don't forget to check out A Bowl Full Of Lemons!

Day 6--Organize your dresser drawers
I did this when I went on my cleaning spree the week between Christmas and New Years, but I am currently doing laundry so I am challenging myself to get the laundry put up as soon as it is done.  Sorry no pictures!  We did take 3 bags of clothes to Goodwill on Saturday though!

Day 7--Organize the Pantry
Our apartment has exactly zero storage space.  Our "pantry" consist of three of the kitchen cabinets, our counter and the floor.  Here are some pictures--My goal was to get all of our food off the counter & kitchen floor, it almost worked!
Before:

During:

I think we have too much food!!!

Way too much food....

After:

Almost all of the food made it, I think two boxes of cereal and a basket of snacks is ok on the counter right???

Day 8--Organize the coat closet
I did this before New Years when I took down the Christmas Decorations, why?? Because it is the only storage space we have for our Christmas and Halloween Decorations!  Here is an after picture though :)

Yes we also store the dog food and dog toys in this closet, and yes I do still own a pair of roller skates and Adam bought the bowling ball at goodwill for $.75 shortly after we got married, according to a guy at the bowling lanes it is actually a really good ball.  and the TV trays are what we normally use to eat on because previously we could never find the kitchen table :)

And now I am caught up!   See you tomorrow :)

Getting Organized Challenge Days 1-5

Well, I didn't get day six done today but day six is to organize your dresser drawers which I did right before new years so I think just some basic straightening will be needed tomorrow and then we will be golden :)  A ice storm hit the area tonight so my office is closed tomorrow and I will do days 6-8 tomorrow.

Day 1--Organize your junk drawer
We don't have a "junk drawer" but junk does seem to accumulate in the area under the hutch we use for a bar so I decided to clean out it instead :)
Before (most of the alchol levels in those bottles hasn't changed in the past six months!):

 

After: 

 

Day 2--Organize your computer desk

Again, we don't actually have a desk that we use, but our Kitchen/Dining room table kind of serves as a desk when we need one and it collects the same crap my computer desk used to collect in Louisville.

Before:

After:

A bonus to clearing off the table--We can raise the leaf on this side and eat at the table now instead of the tv trays we normally use :)

Day 3--Organize your Tupperware Cabinet

I felt like I was cheating with this one--My Tupperware cabinet is the one thing I do a fairly good job of keeping organized but I did take advantage of the chance to try and organize some of the big Tupperware pieces we got for our wedding like the cake carrier etc.

Before:

After:

See much better!

Day 4--Organize your Linen Closet

We use the top of our bedroom closet for our bathroom towels, two wooden hope chest type boxes for our sheets and blankets and keep a couple of towels under the sink in the guest bath.  When I did my cleaning spree before New Years I went through and got rid of a lot of old sheets and blankets but I did need to organize better.

Before:

After:

This box will hold the blanket and pillow Adam is currently curled up with also :)

Day 5--Organize under the kitchen sink

Nothing special here.

Before:

After:

And that's my work for today :)  I'm slightly embarrassed by my before pictures but super proud of the afters!  

Feel free to join me playing catch up wasn't as hard as I expected!

21 Days to Organized

So my friend/fellow blogger/past Christmas ornament swap partner Allison at I Heart Change is taking this challenge and has inspired me to do the same!  They are on day 7 but taking Sundays off so I figure I can try to do days 1-7 today and play catch-up anyone else want to join the fun?



Here is what I am doing today.  I will post pictures tomorrow! Wish me luck--wow this is an ambitious January for me!

21 Day Organizing Challenge

• Join the Challenge (at any time)
• Day 1 - Junk Drawer
• Day 2 - Computer Desk
• Day 3 - Tupperware Cabinet
• Day 4 - Linen Closet
• Day 5 - Under kitchen sink
• Day 6 - Dresser Drawers
• Day 7 - The Pantry

New Years Resolutions

Happy New Year part two!

So Adam and I made quite a few New Years Resolutions this year.  And--made quite a few decisions that are going to make a huge impact on our life.

First for the big decision--Adam will be quitting his job within then next 2 months.  The company he works for is great and so is his job but his bosses boss is a total ass who makes a lot of business decisions that Adam has to go with that we both feel are morally wrong and when Adam has stood up for what we believe is right then he has been punished, most recently he was suspended for a week without pay for refusing to suspend one of his employees for forgetting to make a deposit (of $40) that was made before they opened the next day.  Also--They are threatening to keep his bonus from December, which is a performance based bonus when this "issue" occurred in January.  Which is illegal.  Adam doesn't want to have his name associated with morally wrong things, at the same time we can't afford for him not to have a job so he is busting ass to get out of there asap.

Second--Resolutions
1--Lose Weight
Adam wants to lose 20 lbs by May and 40 lbs this year.  For the record he has already lost 10--I hate him...
I want to lose 20 lbs by May and then we will see if I need to lose any more.  So far I have lost 3.5--I still hate Adam...
2--Enroll in an MBA Program
There is one that is AACSB accredited that meets in this town on Saturday's.  I"m super excited I have done some research and will be applying for scholarships this week as well as applying to the program and starting to study for my GMAT.
3--Live on Adam's income alone
Obviously, this depends on how much money his new job will pay to some extent so really it's more like live on my income alone but either way our goal is for the only expenses to be coming from our second income be my MBA program and Student Loans so that we can save the rest towards buying a house/new car/etc. in the future.
4--Start a retirement plan
My retirement plan at six flags was cashed out because I didn't get it rolled over in time.  My new job offers a
(b) plan so I'm going to get started investing in it.
5--Pay off all "bad" debt
We don't have a lot but we did rack up some credit card debt when I lost my job last year then we had to take out a loan to pay for Adams car in October when he totaled the Callibur.  The goal is to have our credit cards paid off by May (hopefully our tax refund will cover most of it) and to have the car paid off by the end of the year.  We also still owe Adams mom some money from when Adam bought his Callibur in college.  We are making payments to her and our goal is to have that debt paid off by the end of 2012 as well as the $1,000 I borrowed from my mom to buy my house.  We are going to continue paying debt out of our "second" income until everything is paid off

We have a plan in place and it is very doable.  Really the only corners we are going to have to cut out of our budget are things we don't particularly need.  We eat out WAY to often and I buy a lot of groceries that end up getting thrown out.  There is never room in our cabinets for all of our canned/dried goods so I'm going to quit buying those things unless they are actually needed.  Also I have Adam on board for planning our meals bi-weekly to cut down trips to the grocery store.  I already use coupons but I'm going to try and be smarter about which ones I clip because I tend to buy a lot of stuff because it's a great deal more than because we need it.  Also we have a Sam's Club opening next month and we have a membership so that will help us cut down on the prices of paper products and cleaning supplies as long as some dried/canned goods but again--I'm not buying them if we don't need them.

Wish me luck, I'm going to need it!

Happy New Year! *warning picture heavy!*

I know I'm a horrible blogger, and for that I apologize, but in my defense I'm a pretty good tweep :) 

In my defense December was a completely nutty month. The weekend before Christmas Adam and I went to Gatlinburg and met up with a bunch of our friends from Louisville.  It was an absolute blast and will probably be repeated next year.  Many lines were crossed and I probably now know more about some of my friends than I need to but the feeling I am sure was mutual and more importantly it was fun :)  Here are some pictures of the fun:
Some of the girls in downtown Gatlinburg (I'm in the Colts scarf SHOCKER!)

 Our Best Man Andrew and his super awesome Girlfriend Crystal (they are responsible for paying the majority of my mortgage every month!)

 My Dear Dear Friend Raff who was kind enough to let me pretty much live in his dorm room my senior year between classes when I had mono and needed naps!

 One of my absolute Besties Kelly (You can check her out at Sounds Good She's pretty awesome! and far better about blogging than I am!)

 Crystal, Kelly and Me snuggling on the couch early in the morning. (as in around 3 AM)

 Sweet little McGill.  Poor boy was afraid to talk to girls when I first met him...Now girls are afraid to talk to him (wouldn't you be with that face!)

 Adam, I think this was when we realized we wouldn't get to watch the Colts game b/c Tennessee played at the same time.  We later found it on the laptop :)

 Kelly and Emily.  I didn't know Emily very well before this weekend but she is a real sweetie

 The view from the Chalet balcony isn't it beautiful!

Then we went to Louisville for Christmas.  We had a nice dinner at Adam's sisters house and my mom and her boyfriend joined us.  Santa was very kind and we were blessed to get a lot of gift certificates that will be put to good use (lots of Kroger ones!) I bought Izzy a super cute dress and Jersey had a cute sweater (I can't find any of my pics of Jersey)  Andrew was mean and made Izzy wear a had--she was not amused :)

Then for New Years we went back to Louisville because John and Sarah were in Louisville on leave from John playing boats :)
We had brunch New Years Day at 10AM we finally got to Louisville around 5:30 AM but it was fun.  We ate at Lynns Paradise Cafe.  (Google it, totally worth the five minutes I'll wait...)
Then we went to a super delicious Sushi Buffet for dinner and topped it off with drinks at a wings place where Crystal works.  All in all a great end/start to the year!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year!  I will update later about New Years Resolutions etc because this is getting a little long!

HUGS!!!
Shanon