Closet Refresh!

Ha! This picture is of me and my cousin and was taken yesterday from my other cousins twins' 1st birthday party! Did that make sense? I am not quite awake yet so I'm not positive on that :) Anywho I can never get enough photo booth fun!

One of my weekly wishes has already come true for this week! HOLLAAA!!! I have a 3 day work week!! I took off work Thursday and Friday and plan to have a little staycation at home. Life has been so fast recently that I just want to take a few days to slow it down a little and smell the roses! There are some things I hope to get done around my house too. Things that I never get to because I just get the bare minimum cleaning done on my short short weekends!

1- I want to clean up my back patio. For the size of my condo I have a fairly big patio area and right now the plants are all overgrown and it's a mess back there. My ultimate goal is to get some herbs & veggies planted back there one day. Maybe by Spring I will have it all cleaned up and ready to plant! Spring is when you do that sort of thing right? I guess I should do some investigating on that process too before then ;)

2- Clean out my closets & drawers. This is something that makes me giddy! I am pretty much the opposite of a hoarder.. I love love love to get rid of the old and bring in the new! I love organizing and simplifying. Since my body is rapidly changing with my new way of eating in place (see story Part 1 and Part 2) I have a ton of clothes that don't fit me anymore.. in a good way!! Every morning when I go to get ready for work I try on at least 2 things that don't fit me anymore that need to be given away.. Then I always end up choosing one of the 5 outfits I have that still actually fit me (you know - one for each day of the week). Don't get me wrong this is an awesome problem to have! Which is one reason I am so excited to refresh my closet. I have worked hard for this moment and I can't wait to dive in! Which leads me to my next goal for this week...

3- Shopping! I don't have much money to spend on clothes right now but since I desperately need things that fit me I want  to stock up on some basics. I have been a pinning fool lately pinning clothes that I want in my closet.. Here are a few of my inspiration pictures!!

Need these pants!

Basics Rule!

I'm on a mission to find an awesome flannel for the winter!

Anything cozy and I am IN!

Don't know if I can pull this one off but I love it!

So basically I have some really awesome wishes to get to this week. This should get me through the grueling days of work ahead of me. What are your weekly wishes this week? Do link up and share!
xoxo
Katie

The Crazier The Better

Hey! Happy Thursday! The weekend is almost here and I am more than ready!! I feel like life has been on fast forward lately and it just needs to SLOOWWWWW down a bit! I am always running here or doing this or cleaning that. And then I decide "hey maybe I should write a blog too?".. Yup that's how I roll. The crazier the better is the motto these days 'round here. Today I am going to share with you some of my strategies for managing the crazy and not losing my mind in the process!

1- Make a to-do list! I am a huge fan of lists. Even if the list is 3 items long, I write it down so that I don't forget that one extra thing I need at Target that will cause me to have to go back (like the light bulb for my front porch that has been out for a month). As soon as its in my head I jot it down - usually on my iPhone note pad- and viola! Its there for when i need it and clears up some brain space for some other things. My iPhone note pad is FULL of things I want to get done at some point... Like "kitchen gadgets I want one day".. or "things from Pinterest I want to make like almond cheese or coconut butter". I know you are just getting to know me but YES I am wild & crazy like that! :)

2- Prioritize your to-do list. whether its meeting up with friends, going to the gym, family time, cleaning the grout or shining your shoes (do people still do that?) you can make time for it all. Find the items that are most important and that make you the happiest and make sure to leave time for these. Otherwise you will have a life that is organized and neat but NOT happy. And nobody wants that. Sometimes we have to take a step back and look at what we fill our time with and ask ourselves "do we really WANT to be doing____?". If you don't know if that answer is YES! then take some time to think about what that activity brings to your life and if you want to keep doing it. Do you feel happier with this? Then go from there! I have felt so much more peace once I started looking at things in this light. I know that the things I spend my time doing now are things I love doing and want to be doing and it is great! Obviously no one loves cleaning their toilet but having a clean toilet is worth doing it in my opinion ;) Be protective of your time!

3- Multitask like its your job. This is one thing I am amazing at. If there were a multitasking Olympics Id be all over that. But anyways.. Multitask. Take a second to look at your to-do items and group them together. For example..."Items to take care of at home".... You may have sore muscles that you need to stretch, but need to update your iPhone, take a shower, bake a sweet potato and squeegee your carpet all in a small window of time. This is how I would tackle this..... drum roll please...... do them all AT ONCE (well sort of)!!! Shocking I know! :) I would turn on my oven to pre-heat, plug in my iPhone to update so it was running while I'm in the shower and therefore don't miss any calls anyways, hop out of the shower <get dressed>, throw my sweet potato in the oven, grab my squeegee and sit on my carpet, and in between stretches I would rake up a little pet hair off the carpet. And within an hour BAM all of your list is taken care of!

4- Let things go! Sometimes things just wont get done! And things wont always turn out perfectly. And you can't always please everyone no matter how hard you try. So letting things go is sometimes a must. I always put people first and then let the rest of the stuff sort itself out! Its hard for people like me to "let go" sometimes but if you are actively practicing it gets easier and easier!

5- PRAY! "You've got to pray just to make it today"- Ok am I dating myself there??? Anyways this is by far the most important item. Ask God each morning to give you abundant grace for the day. Ask him for wisdom on how to best tackle your day. Pray for help if you need it (thats ok!!). Hand over your anxieties, stresses and worries to God and he WILL step in! (more on this in future blogs!)


These tips can be applied to any life activity that you are looking to fit in. Errands, shopping, working out (get it in where it fits in!!), cooking, visiting with family & friends, relaxing!, work life and so much more. And an extra bonus is that with so much energy being spent you will probably sleep like a rock at night! I know I do!

I hope these little tidbits will help you to take a breath and know that there IS enough time for it all. And everything is going to be alright! Hope you all are having a fabulous week so far!!!

xoxo, Katie