Boo-yah!

Day 2 cleaning done!
{and I am even blogging about it on the same day!}

This is what happens when all of my afternoon patients cancel
& I end up with a few extra hours on my hands.

{I hate the rain as much as the next person. However, old folks don't like to get out in crazy weather & I certainly do not mind a free afternoon if they want to stay at home!}

So today's task was the linen disaster...I mean, linen closet.

Before:

After:

Now nobody is allowed to shower for a little while around here for fear that my clean closet may revert back to its previous state!

{yeah, that is totally a joke}

Anybody out there playing along with us??
I know Lisa is! And so is Nubia!

Woo hoo!!

Get to it!
:)
gretchen

Day 1 cleaning...done!

OK so yesterday's post was crazy long!

This one will not be so much.

I worked on cleaning out my dresser and the top of my closet last night.

However I have no "before" pictures for you because I emptied all the drawers and stuff from the closet onto our bed before I remembered about a picture!
{and there was no way I was going to show you that disaster than I created!}

So anyway, here are my results...

I've got a bag for Hannah Home full of old t-shirts, shorts I will never wear because at 31 I am not allowed to wear them that short anymore, mid-calf socks that I have no idea why I even have them, and old sweaters that I hate to part with but have seen much better days.
I can now close all the drawers in my dresser & I found a few shirts that I forgot I had!
This little section was the biggest area of strife in my dresser.
It holds my long sleeve t-shirts & running shirts.

I could not close the door it was stuffed so full of stuff!

Now there is extra space and I can close the door easily!
{B, those shirts kind of tucked over there on the right side-that is my stash of throw away shirts for future cold runs}
:) I cleared out my sweater/sweatshirt mess that was on the top of my closet.
These were not-folded-so-much & there were a few that had fallen on the floor that I had just left there.
Now they are nicely folded and I can reach the top!

Oh and what do we have here??!
I believe I see some extra space just waiting to be filled with fun, new sweaters!
Tonight's task: the linen closet!
:)
gretchen

Monday, Monday

Now it is back to more important things.

{and hopefully some less controversial things...geez people!}

I am going to try something this week.

I am going to do some deep cleaning stuff that I have been putting off for way too long.
Virginia is doing it.

Brittney is too!

Katie is going to give it a whirl.

{so really I am just giving in to peer pressure}
_____________

Here's what we are doing:
-Make a plan each day for cleaning a particular room or for whatever cleaning/decluttering project you are going to tackle.
-Take before & after pics and post 'em on your blog each night, along with what you are doing the next day.
-Go to Virginia's blog and post your blog entry to a linky thing (this way you can check out everyone else's progress to keep ya motivated too!)

______________
Join in with us!
Even if you can only do something for 15 min. (EVERYONE can spare 15 minutes of straightening, throwing out something, cleaning up something, etc.) I bet you'll feel so much better for it!
Keep in mind that this is not a competition.
This is not going to earn your righteousness or give you the "woman (or man!) of the year award"!

This is just a chance to tackle a few projects around home with the encouragement of friends.
_____________

So my plan is to tackle 4 things:

1) Cleaning out my dresser & closet and getting rid of stuff I don't need anymore.

2) Organizing the disaster of a linen closet downstairs.

3) Organizing the world's most cluttered hall closet.

4) Cleaning out the cabinet in our bathroom.
_______________

I only picked 4 things to be realistic.

I will be at work for most of each day this week and we have plans away from home Wednesday night.

If I actually get those 4 things accomplished this week, I will be thrilled!

{and so will Lee}

______________________________________
In more crafty news, I made a couple of cards for the Focus On Baby over on the KI blog this past Friday.

If you head over there & leave a comment on this post, you will have a chance to win a cool prize pack of lace cardstock.

_______________________________________

There is a Joann's in Birmingham now.
Yesterday I graciously voluteered to return Lee's tux {from previously discussed wedding} to the store that just so happens to be right around the corner from this new Joann's.

So I got to wander aimlessly around a fun craft store and get a few extra wife points while I was at it.

But my aimless wandering was not in vain as I picked up the Fiskars apron lace border punch that I have been lusting over {at 30% off!}.

And I immediately put my new punch to work when I got home.

Completed layout to be revealed later.
{insert evil laugh here}
______________________________

Off to tackle my closet and dresser!
Let me know if you are going to play along with us.
{everyone is doing it}

Happy Monday!
:)
gretchen

Plan B

If I can't wear the lucky shirt to the wedding,
I am hoping these will work instead.

They are a little more appropriate.

Soapbox

I am getting on mine for a second.

1.
If you have lived in Alabama {or the South for that matter} for even a small amount of time you should know better than to plan your wedding on a Saturday during the months of September, October, & November.
{and not on the first Saturday in December either}
Seriously.
I know that your wedding is bigger than a mere football game.

So there are 9 other months in which you can plan yours.

We got married on a Sunday.

Everyone was happy. All our friends in the wedding still like us.

{All that to say that we will not be able to watch the highly touted match up between Alabama and LSU tomorrow because we will be at a wedding. Kick off is at 2:30. The bride walks down the aisle at 2:30. I have tried on several outfits with my lucky Bama shirt but I just can't make it work as wedding attire. So you can totally blame the McElveens if Alabama does not win. I am thinking positively but you know what happened last year.}

2.
If you are getting married on a Saturday, do not wait until the Friday before to get the wedding band.
Your friends who always come through {like my husband} would rather not spend a beautiful afternoon trouncing around all over town finding a wedding band for you when you should have taken care of that looooong ago.
If you end up with an ugly pewter one, don't blame us.

Get it yourself next time.

Dismount from soap box.

{don't worry, I will be back & in a better mood later}

:)

gretchen

Accident prone

That last post just depresses me
{yes, even though I am not the one who got broken up with}.
So a much more fun post follows
{but it is still about the same brother. ha!}!

This month I get to work with the new In Bloom line from My Little Shoebox.
Looks pretty girly, doesn't it??!

Well one night recently {when it was probably much too late & I should have just gone to bed}, I thought to myself, "Self, I wonder if you could make a boyish layout out of this girly line".

And then my night of sleep was postponed by an hour or 2 as I came up with this layout.
Supplies: Kraft cardstock; Patterned paper, die cuts, transparencies, chipboard alphas (My Little Shoebox); Pen (American Crafts); staples

Yep, a boy-ish layout with a girly product line.
It can be done!
I peeled the purple color off of the chipboard letters to get down to the raw chipboard {which I think looks cool against the kraft paper}.
I am pretty sure Stuart would not have appreciated sissy purple letters on his layout!
:)
He might get mad & fall off of something else!
{HA!}
Have a great day!
:)
gretchen

Update

Remember this layout?

Well I jinxed them.
I mean, Facebook status has been changed and everything.

Crap. I take full responsibility.
{and I don't say this often, but I am glad BHG didn't want this one-might have been a little awkward had this shown up in a magazine}
Maybe I should not be allowed to meet any other girlfriends until they are practically walking down the aisle.
:)

Happy Monday, anyway.

gretchen