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So it turns out all this “free time” I thought I would have between semesters evaporated once the semester ended! LOL! This is not to say that I haven’t had free time because I certainly have, it has just been taken up with new things! Every weekend in May has been jam packed!

When last I left you I was on a mission to reorganize our home and purge the clutter/junk!!! Here’s the deal, our house is only a little over 1300 sq ft, so this makes weeding out the junk crucial. After living here 10 years, having a cute #littlecaveboy and just acquiring the normal junk that goes along with living – we have reach critical mass.

Two weekends ago the beginnings of a major house purge happened when my neighbor and I had our semi-annual yard sale! I sold tons of baby boy clothes, household items we no longer used and some of our clothes! What didn’t sell we hauled off to Goodwill! Our closets are so much lighter now.

That was Phase 1, Phase 2 is going through the house, ruthlessly purging things we haven’t use or touched in years – i.e. throwing out the junk. So after the initial haul to Goodwill, Caveman and I naturally came straight back inside and went through our closet again! There is another bag waiting for Goodwill in the garage, with more being added every few days! We don’t have that much, but our clothing situation has really gotten to the over flow point.

While we are on the topic, let’s call out my real problem – I am a pack-rat! I keep things that the average person would never think twice about tossing out! I get crazy about hoarding papers, any papers really; school papers, college papers, old receipts, old paid bills from almost 10 years ago, etc. This drives Caveman crazy, and me too if I’m honest with myself. I have slowly been letting go….Frozen anyone? Moving on…

I have been attempting, at times more successfully than others, to purge one or two small areas each night. This week my main focus has been two tall bookcases (that I hope to better utilize soon) in our Master Bedroom. If you follow me on Pinterest you know I’ve been pinning loads of Master Bedroom ideas for a little over a year now in the hopes of making our Master Bedroom into a retreat instead of a dumping ground. So Tuesday night I attacked one of the shelves in the bookcase. It held two large 3-ring binders full of old college papers. We have the college degree, so seriously it’s time to throw it out. Thursday night it tackled another shelf that held a large stack of random papers that no longer mean anything to anyone. Tonight there will be a few ahem accordion files that I plan to tackle in a nearby closet.

Think baby steps here people! I’m not becoming overwhelmed like I have tended to do in the past and I already feel so much better. Caveman is happy the “piles” are leaving and so am I! I’m expecting Phase 2 to take a bit longer, maybe even the entire summer, but I’m committed to letting go of the junk and allowing our home to breathe!

The yard-sale weekend was also Mother’s Day! We didn’t do anything super special just hung out and spent some quality time with each other. Here are a few “faces” of my #littlecaveboy as I attempted to get a true smile. I think I like these better!

More of our May adventures next week!!

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You may have heard recently, but the Nester just released her new book last weekend! In the weeks leading up to the book’s release date the Nester has been giving away copies on various blogs around the blogosphere. I’ve entered a few of the giveaways in hopes of scoring a copy. One such blog is The Inspired Room, a blog I have enjoyed following immensely over the past few years.

I WON!!! Can you believe it?! I can’t wait to read the Nester’s book and have Caveman read it too!!

Last night I told him about winning the book, Nester’s journey in writing the book, their family’s story of moving so many times, where they are now and her vision for their new place. I’m so happy he’s interested to reading it too, even with me. I told him about her principle, It Doesn’t have to Be Perfect to Be Beautiful (#idhtbptbb) and how I want to incorporate this principle, together with him, in our home. Caveman agrees and is completely on board.

After a little over 10 years together, we’ve gotten better at communicating in general lol, but also communicating our dreams and desires for our home and lives together. Or maybe it’s that we’ve gotten better at actually listening to each other, either way I’m embracing it. I thank God every day for our family, our lives together and for the growing up I’ve certainly done in those years.

While we haven’t moved since we bought our home 10 years ago this May, we have remodeled it in different phases throughout that time. Our poor hall bath has been repainted twice so far and needs another paint job now. As Caveman said just this morning you can only pause for so long on home improvement projects before something else needs to be done or redone! My style and tastes in design have evolved and changed to such a degree that I would love to repaint the entire house now, but especially our master bedroom. Maybe this year? I hope so, but if not that’s ok too. Right now while Caveboy is little I’m trying to stay focused on this phase of our lives because he’s already 4 1/2! How does this happen? It seems like just a few months ago I was bringing him home from the hospital!

ETA: Today’s Joy Dare prompt is 3 gifts about your home for which you are thankful! How fitting!!

1.) Our home offers us protection and shelter from the elements.

2.) Our home has come a long way from the day we moved in, but I know it’s not as good as I hope we can make it!

3.) It’s small, so that just means we have to make conscious decisions about what we put in it and purge often!

What are 3 gifts about your home you are thankful?

Once I receive my copy, I’ll be sure to post a full review of the book here. I’m sure it’s going to be awesome though, I mean I’ve read her blog for years and completely love it so this book is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit too!

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I recently shared my ideas on redesigning our home, since then I’ve been reorganizing our home in the hopes of making our tasks and chores more efficient.

At the top of my list – The Kitchen!

Aside from a complete kitchen makeover, complete with a newly redesigned cabinets, I’m attempting to reorganize and even purge my kitchen. My pots and pans typically stack within each other nicely but their corresponding lids were everywhere! I took my completely unorganized and “looking like a bomb went off” pots/pans/lids cabinet to a much more organized cabinet with the help of this sweet baby!

#TargetThreshold Pot Lid Rack

I shared these photos on Instagram recently because I was beyond excited with the pot lid rack/storage I picked up from Target’s Threshold Collection.

AFTER: Organized!! Ah, much better!!

Now let’s talk cheap under the kitchen sink storage. I know there are many pricey items you can purchase or even DIY to make the space under the kitchen sink more organized, just take an afternoon stroll through Pinterst! But for now I’m not going with any of them! Instead I’ve picked up a few smaller plastic baskets and even a couple of magazine storage folders from Target’s dollar spot (BTW – this isn’t a @Target sponsored post – but I wish it was! 🙂 ) to help corral my dish-washing/cleaning supplies perihelia!

Take all your messy sponges & scrubbers and put them in a plastic freezer bag and seal so that… 1.) they last longer & 2.) they’re easier to store. After this step I also had enough room to add my rubber gloves and a pouch of cleaning wipes!

And finally my simple solution to corralling the plastic grocery bags we re-use as trash can liners. Take an empty Kleenex box (or your tissue brand of choice), fold the plastic bags neatly, and stack them inside the box. I fold mine in half, in half again and then in a zig/zag pattern by thirds from top to bottom so I can layer them. When we pull one out the next one pops up!

I’ve also put a few smaller cleaning supplies in these cute little pink plastic baskets!

I’ll be highlighting other places throughout our home and hopefully a few more in the kitchen too, that I’m slowly organizing/purging in future posts.

“The Grind” Giveaway

When it comes to office style both Caveman and I, have found that classic/neutral/basic pieces are what works best for us in terms of wearability and the speed it takes to put something together & get out the door. We are basically at a dead run from the time we get up to the time we leave.

Just about every morning our routine goes a little something like this, … the alarm clock goes off at 5:15, I spring out of bed and shut it off, and then climb back into bed to sleep/snuggle for 5-15 minutes. We then reluctantly leave our warm cocoon to start readying ourselves for the day. We both ask each other what we should wear. We generally each have our own ideas about our outfits for the day but it never hurts, especially for me, to have the other’s opinion. I’ve come up with some real winners and been extremely thankful for Caveman’s honesty. I know he’s saved me from looking like a clown more than once!

Basic pieces are easily mixed and matched, with brighter pops thrown in for interest. For Caveman these consist of basic slacks with a nice dress shirt. For me either a pencil skirt or slacks with a sweater/blouse/tank/top. These Weekday Warrior pants from Bonobos paired with their Daily Grind dress shirts make getting dressed a cinch!

Although Caveman doesn’t wear a suit to work every day, every man needs a great foundation suit. My man always looks great in black, but he would look equally amazing in this Charcoal Foundation Suit.

“The Grind” Giveaway Details

Bonobos is hosting “The Grind” Giveaway!!  To enter, visit Bonobos and enter your email.

What’s included in this prize package you ask? I’ll tell you…

Bonobos is giving away:
•5 Weekday Warriors Pants
•5 Daily Grinds – Dress Shirts
•1 Italian wool Foundation Suit

Everything your man needs to looking sharp at the office is included in this prize package, which is valued at over $1,500.

The a giveaway is open from April 21 through May 4th! So hurry on over & enter today!

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Happy Good Friday to you!!

This is been one crazy week, no make that week & a half around these parts! So let me just break down a few details for you! Last weekend Caveboy came down with a stomach bug on Saturday morning. I, thankfully, have only had one other experience with Caveboy and vomit. I would like to state here and now that neither of these experiences do I ever want to repeat again, but I also know that inevitably they will in fact repeat at some point in the future! We made it through the weekend and the week began.

Monday…Caveman came down with a milder, albeit still draining version of the stomach bug.

Then on Tuesday…I took Caveboy down to school for Kindergarten Registration!!!! My baby is going to school next year – officially! And although he’s not really a baby anymore, I’ll always…

He also went on to his preschool that Tuesday and dyed Easter Eggs, that Nana hard boiled eggs the night before (thanks Mom)!

Wednesday…was relatively quiet, thankfully!

Thursday – Caveboy had his Easter egg hunting party and had way too many sugary treats, which he kindly shared with Caveman and I!

Here we are at Friday! Good Friday to be exact! I am so very thankful for my savior who died for me! And you too!

I hope you all have a happy & safe Easter Weekend!