Last, but not least

The final project I tackled for the Organizing Junkie monthly project was the pantry. It was a mess! I'm so glad I got this done. The only problem now is that I cleaned and cleaned, but none of it is stuff people will see, so the rest of my house is still kind of a mess. Oh well, I guess you can't have it all! So, here are the before pics:

I bought a couple shelf extender doo-hickeys (wire shelves that turn one shelf into 2 layers, and I bought some plastic containers (and found an old plastic bin that wasn't being used). It's so much more pleasant to open the door now. Take a look:

Next!

Next for the Organizing Roundup I bought an organizer for the pan lids. This was a little thing, but it's just so much easier to find what you're looking for now. Here are the before and after pics:

Okay, here we go...

Okay, so it's time to post what we did for this month's Organizing Roundup with the Organizing Junkie. I worked on my kitchen this month. I actually wiped down the inside and outside of each and every cupboard and drawer and attempted to organize while I was at it. I was on a roll, so I only got pictures of a few things. Here is my spice cupboard before:



I started with this, because my husband had been complaining that he couldn't find anything. He's pretty laid-back and easy-going, so we he says something is a mess, it's usually because IT IS! I bought a couple wire "shelf" devices at Target that are devised specifically to organize your spices. Here is the end result:

Organization

Well, today is the day to post our pics about organizing a cupboard or closet. Obviously I already got started on this with some earlier pics. But I really need to download pics of my pantry. It's amazing. Can't find my cord, though. When I do find it, I will post, I promise!

No Worries

No need to worry yet Kirsten. We bought a house in Weiser, so yes, it's farther away, but it'll probably be a year until we get it remodeled and livable. I promise we'll keep you posted!

Clean Dogs Wearing Sweater Vests in a New House

It's time for What I Learned this Week over at Musings of a Housewife...

Hello, my name is Tiffany, and I am a clean freak. I'm not sure that my house really demonstrates this, but when I get in a cleaning zone, I'm all about cleaning EVERYTHING in my path!

This week I learned that 3 dogs is about 2 dogs too many! We are dogsitting for my husband's parents while they are in Hawaii (dirty, rotten people didn't even invite us!). And holy cow, it's really a zoo here. And yes I said 2 dogs too many - even though we normally have 2. I've forgotten how calm life was with just 1 dog. What was I thinking?

My hubby looks hot (in that geeky sort of way I love) when wearing a sweater vest over his shirt and tie.

I hate haggling over prices. Why can't someone just put something up for sale for the price they want to sell it at? We finally came to an agreement on a price for the house we want to buy, but it took about a million counter offers. The hubby is having me do all the dealings with the real estate agent, because he wants me to learn how it's done. Quite frankly, though, if not for him I would probably have just taken the first counter-counter offer and been done with it. If I didn't like the original price and wasn't willing to pay it, I wouldn't have put an offer in on the house in the first place, now would I?

True Confessions - Monday

Okay, it's time for True Confessions Monday over at the Sisterhood. Here are mine:
1. I am no longer shredding.
2. I stopped shredding before even finishing Level 1.
3. I am going to start shredding again tomorrow.
4. But I can't seem to get it done on days I work.
5. So my new goal is going to be just shredding on my days off.
6. I also stopped logging in my calories.
7. I haven't been controlling my calories like I once was.
8. I have gained 2 pounds in that last 2 weeks.
9. I don't think I can blame this all on the fertility hormones.
10. I am going to start over again this week - I promise!

Oh, and I forgot to specify that I only work 3 days a week, so this means I can get 4 days of shredding in each week. And 2 of the days I work I have karate in the evening for an hour. So, technically if I can stick with this plan, I will be working out 6 days a week. Sounds good to me... And I'm thinking that 2 more weeks (on the 4-times-per-week plan), and I'll be ready for Level 2. Then 3-4 weeks of that should get me to Level 3, right?

Life is Funny

Okay, it's time for the weekly Life is Funny carnival. Wanna play?

My contribution this week was the image I got of myself while cleaning the bejabbers out of my kitchen this weekend. For some reason, I decided to clean the tops of my kitchen cupboards. Yes, Wendy, I am a clean freak. But seriously, you should get up there and take a look - it's really disgusting. It's an oily, greasy, dusty mess up there. It takes a lot of scrubbing to get it clean. And, no, I hadn't ever considered doing this before.... It just occurred to me quite frankly, and I can't believe I've never cleaned up there before. Gross.

Anyway, as I was almost done, I was perched on top of the newly cleaned off fridge. Yes, I was sitting on top of my refrigerator. There are cupboards to be cleaned off up there, too! It suddenly occurred to me, however, how amusing it would be if someone walked in and could see me. I mean, really, a grown woman with a sponge and a bottle of spray cleaner, sitting on top of the fridge (trying her darndest not to fall off by the way - clumsiness is something I come by honestly), and cleaning an area of the house that NO ONE will ever see - EVER! All in the name of spring cleaning or tidiness or whatever else I can think of to blame this on. Oh, and no offense to those members of my family who read this, but why oh why are we all such obsessive clean freaks? It must be genetic. And I'm the messy one in the family... go figure!

On a roll...

So, the spring cleaning continues. I am working on the the tops of the cupboards. We have lived in this house for almost 4 years now, and I've never gotten up there to clean. Yuck, yuck, yuck is all I can say! It's dusty and greasy and really quite gross and disgusting up there. I've had the thought in my head that I should get up there before, but of course that's not fun. So, I've never managed to motivate myself.

A few tips for those who plan to do this yourself. Get a good grease-cutting cleaner to spray. Also, use a sponge with a scratchy-thingy on the back side. I like the blue ones, since they don't scratch stuff up. I'm just using an old one. Trust me, you'll be throwing it out after this. It kinda helps to take a dry paper towel to the area first to scrape up the worst of it. Then spray it down and scrub, srub, srub. After this I'm gonna use a tip I saw/read somewhere (can't remember who said it). I'm gonna line the tops of the cupboards with wax paper. Then next year when I decide to clean them again, I can just throw away the wax paper and line it again. I'll let you know if that works! :)

Now if I can keep up the motivation I may get the rest of my cupboards cleaned out like I started doing a week or so ago. Or get some other cleaning done. And laundry. Oh my! How does the house get so messy when I'm not looking???

IUI Friday

So, I got the pleasure of getting up at the crack of dawn this morning to fight the traffic into Boise for an 8AM appointment with the fertility clinic. We dropped off the hubby's "sample" and grabbed breakfast, then returned at 9AM for my IUI. Boy do those things NOT feel good - yikes! Then I came home and took a nap! :) I read, played around on the internet... Can someone say lazy day? I actually started a load of laundry, but I have successfully put off housework for most of the day. We are headed down the street for dinner with friends this evening, and I promised to bring spaghetti (since I'm craving the stuff for some reason). I really need to stop by Target too, I think - it's never hard to find an excuse to go to Target!

Anyway, why is it that I feel so down after my procdure this month? I feel like I've lost hope that this is going to work. I just wanted to cry for some reason when it was done. I know I've been stressed a lot lately, and I'm sure it's probably just getting to me. That and the fact that did I mention it hurt??? So, if things don't work this month, we're to meet with the doc again. I'm sure we'll want to try IUI for at least a couple more months just to rule it out as a possibility before we move onto IVF, but really this is getting depressing. Sometimes it seems futile. Anyone else stressed out lately, or is it just me???

Thoughtful Thursday

Okay, so contemplation is the name of the game for Thursdays, I've decided. It's so hard for me to come up with something to blog about at this point in the week. I feel like typing something deep and philisophical. I don't know that I ever have thoughts of this nature, but I just love the idea of being deep and complex, don't you? :)

So, for a quick recap of today. I went to Starbuck's with a friend and helped her study for an A&P test. Then I went and sat with a couple students in my friend's 4th grade class while they took their ISATs. (Kylie and Johnathan both did very well, in case you are interested.) Then I came home and managed to get a counter-offer submitted on the house we're looking at.

This brings me to my philosophical part. Why do I get bored with where I live every few years? I don't get it. I didn't move around a lot growing up. In fact, I lived in the same house from ages 1 through 16. I switched schools every 2-4 years, but I didn't move at all. Since then, however, I've moved every year or four! :) I can't seem to stay put. I just get bored. When my life gets too extablished and calm, I need to shake it up. Why do I need to be so stressed in order to feel challenged? Between all the difficulty conceiving, mood problems associated with spring, and now the idea of remodling another house? What is wrong with me?

More Organizing

Okay, so I've been on a spring cleaning, organizing kick. Part of it is trying to keep up with all the challenges from the Organizing Junkie. This month's challenge was a cupboard or closet. The first thing I did was the hall closet upstairs. It's technically supposed to be the linen closet, but since we also have one in our bathroom and don't have any kids, it's kinda become the catchall closet. I have about a million candles (see the 2nd shelf), and I was having trouble finding what I wanted, so that's why I started with this project. Here is the before:

And here is the after. I used some baskets and boxes that I found in the cupboard to hold of the candles and keep them contained. I threw out a few things, donated some old eyeglasses and an old cell phone (okay, well they are still sitting in a pile to donate!). There is nothing left sitting on the floor. It feels like a whole different place!

I know, I know

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know Wendy. New post already.... sheesh!

So, I joined up with the Organizing Junkie and am participating in the monthly organizing challenge. I started a few months late, so I'm trying to catch up. I did January's project which was organizing the filing. Here are the "before" pics:

Here is the after:

I know it might not look like much, but here is the pile of stuff that I pulled out to throw away and/or shred. A pretty good evening's worth of work, wouldn't you say? :)

Yes, I'm alive!

Oh my! Spend one day not checking your blog, and then you get out of the habit. Before you know it, a week has gone by! Now I just feel darn lazy - gotta catch up! Maybe while watching American Idol tonight. Certainly it won't happen while eating the pizza my hubby just told me came out of the oven. :) Gotta love pizza... mmmmmmm! I'll post more later today or tomorrow - I promise!

Tuesday

Okay, so I know my life is funny. I know this, because Wendy tells me it is. Sometimes I have trouble realizing this, but just see my last post if you need proof! I just asked my husband however if anything funny happened this week, and he said, "Not that I know of..." Really, helpful, isn't he? But in the spirit of getting together with the family for Easter, I thought it would be appropriate to tell a Grammie story. Grammie is 85-ish and totally hysterical. It's even more amusing that she doesn't KNOW she's funny - she's just being Grammie. Also, I'd like to preface this by saying that, no, she doesn't have dementia. She's just always been a little looney.

First, let me just assure you that she no longer has a driver's license. Part of the reason for that is illustrated here. She was driving to visit my in-law's (her daughter and family). She came up to a busy intersection on the way there. Now, I don't know where everyone else lives who might be reading this, but we have a LOT of 4 way stops in Idaho. They are extremely frustrating, because half the people here don't know whose turn it is. They either just decide to go whenever they feel like it or they wave for you to go ahead of them, when really they should just take the right-of-way that they deserve. Well, Grammie was talking about the drive over, and stated about that intersection, "Why, I just never knew when it got to be my turn, so I just went." The thing that makes this so funny and that had the jaws dropping on all those in the room, was that this intersection was actually only a 2 way variety. Yes, she just forced her way into traffic and darted across the intersection if front of who knows how many cars! It's amazing she was ever able to get a driver's license in the first place!

What I Learned This Week

Well, it's that time of week again to figure out what we learned for the carnival over at Musings. So this week I learned that it's not a good idea to let small children "play" with your stuff. Our friends were over for dinner, andd their 2 little girls (ages 5 and 6) decided to do my hair. I was too lazy to go upstairs and get a brush and hairclips. I gave them specific instructions on where to find the implements. They happily marched upstairs and came back with some "ponies" and a few bobby pins along with a brush and comb. They proceeded to give me a very stylish hair-do (or maybe a hair-don't in this case). When I went upstairs later that evening to get ready for bed, I found a surprise. Apparently they had some difficulty opening the container of bobby pins. There were pins strewn from one end of the bathroom floor to the other. I got to play a modified version of 52 card pickup. So, the moral of the story is - get off your lazy butt and get stuff yourself!!! :)

It's the Weekend!

I love weekends! Doesn't everybody? I love getting to sleep in and not having any major responsibilities (at least not today anyway).

I went shopping with my friend Kelly, and we didn't have any hurry. It seems like I'm always rushing somewhere these days, and I never get to take my time and just explore the stores as I'm running errands. That's so not like me, because I LOVE shopping. It's so much fun. I don't even have to buy much. I could be shopping for groceries or deodorant or toothpaste, and it's still fun.

We went to Target first where, funny enough, I actually did need deodorant. And I got to help Kelly pick out stuff for her kids' Easter baskets. I also found a few things for my SIL's b-day in the dollar bins - gotta love that. Then we went to Bed, Bath, and Beyond where I bought this clock my MIL was looking at for the cabin.

I feel great this year about gift shopping. I'm trying to buy things as I see them or as someone points out that they like them. Then I shove them in the closet (which is now labeled the "gift closet") and hopefully don't forget when the occassion arrives that I've already bought them something. I just felt so rushed at Christmas this last year trying to get all my shopping done. I'm usually so organized with that, but this past year it was all last minute. I used to be finished with my Christmas shopping by the end of November every year. What happened to me???

Anyway, we went to World Market next where I had to get some wine. You can't go in that place without buying some. Come on, I know you can't, so don't even lie about it! :) They had a wine tasting going on too, which was even more fun.

We hit the mall on the way back home. We had to take a picture of the Easter bunny to show Kelly's kids. Then we hit Hallmark and B. Dalton.

Now I'm just sitting down haning out. We are having some friends over for an informal dinner, so I am going to pick up the house a little before they get here, but I know that they don't care what it looks like. That's always a nice thing. Anyway, tomorrow is Easter. Then it's back to work on Monday. But all in all, it's not a bad way to spend the weekend...

Thoughtful Thursday

Okay, so I keep wanting to start a new weekly blog idea or carnival that people can chime in on. Any ideas? I've been at a loss for what to do in this area, so if anyone thinks of anything brilliant, please let me know! :)

Unfortunately, Tiffany...

Okay, so if you Google "Unfortunately, __________(insert name here)" - in quotes - you come up with some pretty interesting stuff. Here's what I came up with (minus the info on Tiffany jewelry).

Unfortunately Tiffany is a Little pretentious because she’s not growing as nicely as I’d like her to.

Unfortunately, Tiffany Evans has to mature. As a child, she just is not THAT gifted!

Unfortunately Tiffany became increasingly unruly.

Unfortunately, Tiffany lost most of her upper snout in the process.

Unfortunately Tiffany reacted defensively instead of accepting the criticism.

Unfortunately Tiffany's actual offerings fell a little short of my expectations.

Unfortunately Tiffany was unable to see through this illusion and allowed herself to be totally psyched out.

Unfortunately Tiffany does not use treated stones often.

Unfortunately, Tiffany's job experience is a little less than the status quo for a woman her age.

Unfortunately Tiffany has heartworms and will have to undergo treatment to get rid of them.

Unfortunately Tiffany (who is usually sensible and practical) disregards Miss Treason's instructions not to move during the dance.

Unfortunately, Tiffany was followed when she left the Chalk country.

Unfortunately Tiffany does NOT appreciate her fans.

Weigh in Wednesday

Time to share with all the girls at the Sisterhood how I've done this week. And amazingly after losing 0.0 pounds last week, I lost 1.6 pounds this week!!! I'm down to 136.2 - only 11.2 more pounds to go! Or at least 6.2. I'd be happy with that!

Exercise Stinks!!!

So I've been thinking hard about What I Learned This Week, and it's been difficult to come up with something. I know that I learn something everyday, but usually it's so insignificant that I don't notice it! But what I learned most this week was that if you really want to lose weight and/or get in shape, you can't take the easy way out. Yes, I know. I've been saying this for practically forever. I know this. It's been drilled into my head. But I'm getting to experience it firsthand. I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred DVD, and boy it's kicking my butt! It's 3 levels. Each workout is 22 minutes each, including warm up and cool down. You do 22 minutes EVERY DAY! Yes, every day! You do Level 1 for the 1st 10 days, Level 2 for the 2nd 10 days, and Level 3 for the 3rd 10 days. So I learned that you have to workout HARD to see results.

30 Day Shred

Okay, so I went to Target today and bought Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Why, oh why didn't somebody tell me that it started off with pushups? I can't think of an exercise that I like LESS! And quite honestly she says that you can't take breaks, because there's "no phoning it in" since it's only a 20 minute workout. But I hit pause a million times to catch my breath. That sucker kicked my boo-tay!!! And now it's 8:30. I'm trying to clean the house, since I need to leave in less than an hour and a half to pick the hubby up at the airport. But I'm exhausted! Holy cow - I think I'm gonna be in some serious shape at the end of 30 days!

Negative, Negative, Negative...

Ugh! I got my Beta-Hcg drawn yesterday, and it's negative - yet again! I'm not pregnant. This is getting old. If you look at the ticker on my sidebar you can see that we've been trying for 2 years and 1 month. This was our 5th month of fertility treatments. It's onto IUI (intra-uterine insemination) next month. And they are going to have me do a double dose of the FSH (folicle stimulating hormone) shots in the first couple days to increase my chances of producing an egg from each follicle to help increase the odds (which, yes mom, also increases the chance of twins - but I don't really think that would be a bad thing). Keep your fingers crossed and say a prayer that it'll work soon - I'm getting awfully discouraged.

And it's not like I have anything against adopting. In fact I think it would be fine. I just really want to know what if feels like to be pregnant. And yes I know I'm crazy, but I even want to know what it feels like to deliver a baby. And isn't it irritating when you see all these people who didn't want babies or shouldn't have them, and they're able to get pregnant at the drop of a hat??? Unfair!

Okay, I'm done venting now. It's on to Target to buy Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred workout video, so I can kick some butt and hopefully lose a few pounds before the next pregnancy question. And I think I might have to buy myself that skirt I've been looking at as a prize!

Weighing In

It's weigh in Wednesday, and the good news is that I didn't gain any weight this week. The bad news is that I didn't LOSE any weight this week. Still 137.8 pounds.