Decently and in Order Pt. 3 The Dining room

Well as you can see from the pictures there is not much to organize in my dining room. I love having a clear space! I think of Deuteronomy 11:19
" And ye shall teach them your children, speaking of them when thou sittest in thine house ...". I believe we should have a clear table to clear our thoughts and focus on what God has given us on our plate. I know some people can think clearly with a ton of things and projects all around the table. They just simply pile them up and make a place for their plate to eat, but that is not me! I have a seriously hard time getting on to the next task with clutter; even if that next task is sitting down to eat. Maybe I should see a psychologist...Anyway all we have in our dining room beside the table and chairs, is a mirror on the wall, blinds, and valences. I am thinking of putting a storage ottoman over there underneath the mirror, and getting some kind of candles and rocks centerpiece on the table =) Also since my last post of keeping all things in the cabinets, I have decided to leave the juicer on the counter just because it is constantly used, washed and drying. I have a hard time getting every little crevice dry all the way so I don't want it in a closed environment. If there is a certain thing or things that is always on your counter please don't beat yourself up about it ;)

Decently and in Order Pt. 2 The Kitchen Continued

Welcome to part two of my series on home organization read pt. 1 first here
http://logansinmo.blogspot.com/2011/12/decency-and-good-order-pt-1-kitchen.html

The Refrigerator

Our refrigerator is very nice in that it has ample storage space with 3 sliding drawers at the bottom, 3 slide out shelves and a wine rack that I use for eggs =)

The Drawers

I keep like items together, so baking things in one drawer, utensils in another, cloth items in another....you get the picture.

Can Food

This is pretty easy to organize since most cans are a similar size and shape, I put all the like food together too =)

More Drawers

to the right our "junk drawer" with flashlight, rods, tape, scissors, screwdrivers, pens, pencils, stapler, pencil sharpener and other random things that don't seem to have a category of their own. Then my "cloth drawer" where I store bibs and pot holders =)

Small appliances

I even keep most small appliance off of the counter because it looks cluttered with too many things out. Our kitchen fits everything just right, so I don't have to stare at things I only use once a month =)

Cups

I love these cups with the children's names on them so there is never the "this is not my cup, I need to dirty a new one" problem. They only drink water in these cups. The cups are one thing that is constantly on the counter because I want to encourage them to drink as much water as they want =)

Seating

All of our children eat right at the bar in the kitchen so most days I never even have to wipe my dining table =)

2012 Goals

Wow, 2011 just disappeared into thin air! The birth of our fourth child and first girl, My two sisters got saved, Chris' last half of the Afghanistan deployment, moving from Springfield Virginia back to Whiteman AFB, voluntarily separating from the Air Force, Paying for a home with 100% cash in Springfield, MO, joining a new church, Chris finding a new job as an insurance broker. We had alot of big life changes to say the least, many were unexpected but God directs our steps not me =). I have some personal goals I wanted to write down to hold myself accountable and track progress through out the year. So here they are =)

1) Read through the bible in one year

2)Read 6 books

3)Pass out a gospel tract to every store clerk

4)Eat out only once a week

5) Run 7.5 miles a week

6) In home dvd work out once a week

7)Take vitamins and juice daily

8)Reduce weight to 130 lbs.

9)Keep up with hair cuts quarterly

10) Improve home organization

Well I hope that is an encouragement to someone somewhere, this is the first year I have set goals so I am excited and know that I can do all things through Christ which strenghtheneth me =)

Decently and in Order Pt. 1 The Kitchen

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a strong believer in doing everything decently and in order. I love organization! I love staying home with the kids and being a keeper at home. I take my job very seriously and know that my home is a reflection of my family and my savior.
Marrying a military man also helped hone in on my organizing skills and taking ideas from other great keepers at home. We all know that God says things should be done decently and in order (1 Corinthians 14:40).

When people walk into our home, they almost always say something like "wow you are so organized". God gives me ideas, strength and help to keep everything together =) I know alot of ladies who are even more organized than me, but I know alot more who would like to be more organized. The truth is we all could be more organized. God is the God of Order and not of confusion, and our soul should never be at complete rest until everything is in order. I know there are times when the wife is very sick, just had a baby, is disabled or just had a week of entertaining. Those are times when we should take a rest and not be so uptight about cleanliness and order for our own good. That is not to say to quit completely and wait for your mom to come clean your house! I hope this series will give you some ideas of how to organize your own home. My home is in no way perfect and there are storms of mess from time to time but I make a conscious effort to clean up! My husband might tell you otherwise...but don't listen to him....just kidding!

Anyway here are some of the highlights from my kitchen =)

My awesome pantry organizer from Target it was $39.99!

I love love love baskets! They are usually a little more expensive than plastic but I think it adds character and more concealedness...if that is a word.

Under the sink not as pretty...I know but it keeps things organized and I know where everything is. I like the plastic show off box because it will keep water out, if there happens to be a leak, I store things like gloves and sponges in here.

No organizing materials needed here. Just put like things next to each other.

Tiered spice rack and airtight clear containers make a world of a difference!

Ebay Not as Cool as Craigslist

A few weeks ago I decided I would try my hand at ebay. The craigslist responders were just a little on the slow side here in Springfield Missouri; not quite what I was used to in Springfield, VA or Las Vegas, NV. I had put some nice things on Craigslist and nobody had responded in two weeks of having it posted! A Childrens Place peacoat was among other nice things listed I had to offer bargain seekers.
I looked into ebay and thought I had it all figured out: Small flat rate shipping $5, starting your auction at $.99 is free, ebay only charges if your item sells, auctions last a week etc, etc,....So I went on and posted 5 things: 2 old camera battery chargers with batteries, 2 old modems and routers, and the Childrens Place pea coat.
Well the first item to sell was the peacoat .....for $2.25! Crazy I know somebody just got a steal of a deal. Not too excited about letting the coat go for that little but hey it is $2.25 I didn't have before right? ...Wrong we tried to get some small flat rate boxes at the post office but they were out. I notified all of my buyers via email that I would get the boxes asap and even ordered them through the USPS website (however this took a week to get them so I went back to the Post office)
Next time there are boxes at the post office and guess what... the coat does not fit in there! I already had printed out the shipping label through ebay for the small flat rate box....so I thought I could go home and cancel the first label and make a new one...Nope....more than 20 hours had passed since I originally printed it and could not cancel. Again I notify the buyer on the status of the coat. Then I go out again to the post office and of course I forget my clear packing tape at home to affix the label on the box that cost $10.95 to ship! No way am I buying the Post office tape for $4 more since I already am losing $4 to ship the coat in the first place. I take the initiative and notify the buyer again on the status of the coat. I went out to the post office again that same day and had it shipped.
The next day I get this mean email from the buyer accusing me of lying and stating that this is "absurd" and I need to "overnight" the coat and I am going to be "reported to ebay" .....and there are "freezing temperatures" ...Okay lady calm down, it has only been 9 days from the time of purchase to the time of shipment,I kept you informed the whole time and was not avoiding you at all. I wouldn't be complaining either you just got a coat for 98% off of retail value and If your baby is freezing because you are waiting for the peacoat that is not something reporting to ebay can fix.....maybe child protective services can help... I don't know?
In the meantime Craigslisters were calling and texting me nonstop and I made about $80 on craigslist! Then I found this super awesome store called Other Mothers. I took in some baby stuff there and got $46 store credit! The store credit will never expire and their kids clothes go up to size 16. Also Way better than ebay! I will say the old camera batteries most likely will not have sold on craigslist and brought in $18 of profit after shipping charges for me so that was good =) I did put gospel tracts in all my packages and pray that my delayed shipping was not a bad testimony and that God would be glorified in all that I do =)

100% down on a house

It is official My husband and I are homeowners! God has been way too good to us! Chris has voluntarily separated from the Air Force as of October 1, and God led our final PCS to Springfield, Missouri. The Lord really put it on my husband's heart to pay for a home in cash. I was at first resistant because I thought in our price range we would need a fixer upper. I am so glad we did not take out a mortgage! I love our new home so much. We found the home and 10 days later we closed and moved in! Paying with cash has some serious benefits, closing cost were only $400 ,we got 8% off the asking price, and we don't have to worry about forclosure ever! We even had enough left over in our house budget for brand new appliances!

Our reunion Story !

It is Thursday and I am Still busy thanking God for bringing Chris home from Afghanistan safe on Tuesday night! We were so excited for him to be coming home and arriving at an airport only an hour away from home. I bought Rachel a patriotic dress and hair bow, the boys wore red shirts and blue jeans, I bought a blue top, red head band and borrowed a white skirt from my sister. We made signs and brought American flags. We were ready. Camara charged, and left home 2 hours early. We got there and of course the plane had been delayed by about 2 hours. The staff at the USO was great we played in the play room, ate cup of noodles, girl scout cookies, and candy. It was getting close to his arrival and we got word that the plane had landed. We headed out to the terminal and I realized my camara was not working!!! Then Noah said he had to potty (too much Sunny D at the USO). I can just imagine what my face looked like at this point. First things first I went to take Noah to the potty back in the USO. Now onto my biggest problem no camara!!! I tried pulling the lens out with my teeth didn't work too well. I remembered passing by a very strange vending machine. It was a vending machine made by Best Buy and had nintendo video games, gps's, and of course camaras!! The problem was the cheapest camara in there was $179.99. I stood there for a minute and contemplated...Would I pay $179.99 for a picture of my children welcoming their daddy home from Afghanistan? My answer: priceless!! So I swiped my debit card and the camara came out of the shoot like a box of candy! I opened it up and put the battery in of course it didn't work b/c it was not charged. I began to scour the airport for an outlet I found one not too far from the terminal and charged it up. Then after much waiting and waiting about 20 people came out of the double doors at about 2-5 minutes apart before my husband came out. Then finally he came out. I saw him looking confused b/c Operation Welcome Home was there clapping and ringing bells and shaking hands with the service members as they came out. Very nice of them to do but I know my husband and he was not looking for any celebration from random patriots he wanted to see us =) So we walked over and exchanged kisses =) He is in Missouri now doing in processing stuff and then Lord willing he will be back here in Va in a few days!