Menu Planning Part 2

I'm back with part two of how menu planning is going for me. I actually started planning for meals and cooking at home a couple weeks ago, but with blogging it seems like everything gets posted a little bit later than when it happened. So I just published a post a few days ago about how I really don't like cooking and how we eat out way too much. 

Well...

I'm happy to report that I am cooking at home a lot more now! The planning and organizing everything has helped me tremendously. I will admit we have still ate out a few times. I'm working on trying to break that habit tho!

So I shared with ya'll the printable I made for myself for meal planning and a shopping list. I really like using it a lot. Here's a picture I took of meal planning from last week. 

Today I thought I would share the meal planning system I'm working on.

I bought a really cute and colorful binder for our meal planning. I figured at least the binder would make me happy since cooking and grocery shopping isn't my favorite thing.  :)

I got some sheet protectors from Dollar Tree. I am in the process of printing out our favorite recipes to add to it. I also like the idea of a binder, because now if I see a recipe I like online or browsing Pinterest, I can print it out and stick it in there. I am going to organize the recipes a little better, maybe getting some page dividers, after I get more in there.

I've been keeping our menu plan/shopping list handy in there so I can have it all in one place. I'm keeping the whole binder in the kitchen so when I think of something to add to it I can.

This is the beginning phase of organizing our meal planning. I'm sure I will tweak things to have them work better. But as of right now, it really seems to be helping me! I am a person that needs a little organization to be productive with things. 

So now when 5 o clock rolls around, I don't have to frantically think of where I should go pick up food, I just start the meal I have wrote down. This has really helped make our house feel more like "our castle".

So how do ya'll do your meal planning? Do you have a certain system for it you love?

Enjoying the little things...

(via Pinterest, source unknown)

This quote is one of my favorites. How true that is! As part of making our house into our castle, I've been trying to enjoy the "little" things more. Just writing this series has been very reflective for me and opened my eyes to how many things I have to cherish.

And none of those things are material things. 

These precious moments we have with our families are really the important things. 

Some of our "little" things in life we have experienced this weekend:

Going to the library and reading Dr Suess books with my boys

Eating a coconut cream pie while watching football together

Seeing my five year old little boy writing a girl an I love you note {I can't believe that is already starting!}

Lots of hugs and kisses from my one year old son

Listening to the pouring rain outside while drinking my coffee

Hearing my kids play together 

Seeing my one year old climb up in his big brother's bed and cuddling with him

Finding and reading an old love note my husband wrote me when we were teenagers

It's funny all these seemingly "little" things are what makes my life so enjoyable and happy. And it is what helps make my house feel like our little castle.

I hope everyone is having a great weekend and enjoying those "little" things you have going on in your life!

Menu Planning

One area of our lives that I need to organize is our meals. I have a confession. Cooking is not really my thing. 

I like making desserts. But as far as cooking actual meals, I would rather be doing something else. 

When it comes to meal time, we eat out WAY too much. We live close to a Mexican food place that I love. I think I could eat their food every single day if my husband would let me. It is that good. When I have a soft taco or sour cream chicken enchilada craving, I just pick up their food to take home for lunch or dinner. One of the ladies there started recognizing me and pretty much knows my order. Not a good thing!

It's just so easy to eat out for me. I was raised in a family that ate out all the time. My mom never really liked to cook. So eating out just feels normal to me. 

So in my family now, there are days where I will just pick up food and bring it home. My family gets fed and I get to spend time doing things I like instead of cooking. 

But, it's time for a change. We just simply can't eat out this much anymore.

My two biggest reasons are: my family's health and our money.

At a very recent doctor visit, my husband found out his cholesterol was too high. Which made me feel horrible. When I heard the doctor say that, I took it pretty personal. I know I'm not completely responsible for it. But since I am the person that is in charge of the majority of our meals, I felt pretty bad. 

I want my family to be healthy. We do pretty well in eating healthy snacks around the house {my kids love fruits & veggies which I am thankful for}. But, I know all the take out Mexican food cannot be good for us. 

Plus the money we spend eating out is just ridiculous. It's kind of funny. I think of myself as a pretty thrifty person. I love finding good bargains. I don't splurge too much on unnecessary things. I wait to purchase big items before I do all the research I can to find the lowest price.

But eating out. It is my weakness. My kryptonite. The biggest way I waste money.

So to make this house our castle, I am going to start getting better at menu planning and cut WAY back on eating out. 

I made this little menu planning and shopping list template to help me with this.

I put it on Google docs if anyone would like to print it for free. Just click here.

It's super simple but cute at the same time. I'm hoping it will help me get organized in this area of our lives. 

Do any of ya'll have the same eating out problems I do? Or do you like to cook?

Treating Family Like Friends

The other day we had some friends coming over. So of course I was doing my usual routine for when company was coming over. It pretty much consists of me cleaning like a mad woman. 

Is it just me or does it seem like your eyes get opened to everything wrong in your house the moment company is coming over?

Like you literally see every dust bunny in the house the day before they arrive. 

So while I was in my mad dash cleaning the entire house, I came to a realization.  I was treating our company better than our family. Our family had been living in that messy, dust-bunnies-in-the-corner house. 

I love our friends, I do. But I love my family so much more! They deserve to be treated better than {or at least as good as} our company. 

A couple years ago I bought some really soft, nice bath towels. I put them rolled up pretty on our bathroom shelf and told my family they were for our overnight guests to use. Then they sat there. All the while my family was using our older and rougher towels. Then I thought to myself: This is silly! We should be using those. 

So we did. And still are. We enjoy them. 

What is the point of having nice stuff in the house if it's not going to be enjoyed by the people you love the most?

I love this quote {I'm not sure who it is by}

Home - Where you treat your friends like family and your family like friends

We have some really close friends that we do think as family. When they come over they know to make themselves at home. I've been trying to make sure I treat my family as good as I treat my friends.

This is something I'm working on and that I think will help my goal of making our house feel like our castle.

I'm gonna work on:

Making sure the house is as nice and clean as it would be if someone was coming over
Having quality dinner time together, cooking yummy recipes and going the extra mile to make it special for them 
Putting their needs first and making sure they are nice and comfy at home
Being as polite to them as I would our friends {saying thank you, please, etc.}

Because if you think about it, the family living in our homes right now are the most special guests we will ever have. 

Organizing my bathroom drawer

I have a confession. I had a really really cluttered and horrible bathroom drawer. It drove me crazy. I really love the blogs that just keep things real. The ones that show the ugly truth. So I'm going to do the same and show you my dreadful before picture. Even tho it makes me want to cringe now. I look at it and wonder how did I live with it like that? Yikes!

Here is what my bathroom drawer looked like before. {Please don't judge me too hard, it's pretty bad!}

It's a crazy mixture of makeup, hair products, nail polishes and so on. It's just chaos at its best.

Like I talked about here, I've been decluttering the entire house like crazy. I'm gone through every drawer and cabinet getting ready for a yard sale and to get clutter out of here. 

After decluttering the whole house, I'm now working on organizing the whole house. I feel like having a clean, tidy, no-clutter, everything-in-it's-place home will make our house feel like our castle.

I know I won't be able to organize every single area in our house during this series. So I decided to first tackle the places that would affect us the most. The most used places in the house. The bathroom drawers are something me and my husband use every day. 

I decluttered them. I got rid of a ton of junk we didn't need in them. I cleaned them. Then I started thinking: how could I organize them? And make them pretty while being functional?

I had on hand a roll of black and white polka-dot wrapping paper I love that I got at Target. I decided to line the drawers with that. Then I found these very budget friendly hot pink bins from the Dollar Tree. I bought four in different sizes.

So after using the wrapping paper I had on hand and the bins from Dollar Tree, I got an organized drawer for 4 bucks!

  

I still have to finish my husband's drawer. His wasn't near as cluttered as mine. I decided he probably would feel the pink bins and polka-dot liner would be a little too girly so I am going for more of a manly drawer for him. I also found him some bins for his at the Dollar Tree. They have some pretty good organizing tools there! 

I love my new drawer now. It has made my mornings so much easier. It's funny how the little things really do make a difference. Everything has a place and I can find everything so easy now.

I'm really feeling like a queen in her castle right now. :)

I am or will be sharing with these Awesome Parties:

///Monday: Monday Funday Link Party @ Uncommon Designs / Made by you Monday @ Skip to my Lou / Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming by Stephanie Lynn/Take-a-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts / Get your Craft on Tuesday! @ Today's Creative Blog / Tutorials & Tips Party @ Home Stories A2Z 
///Tuesday: The Inspiration Board Link Party @ Carolyn's Homework / Share it link party @ The Winthrop Chronicles 
///Wednesday: Fall into Fall @ DIY By Design / Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style / We Did It! Wednesday @ Sew much ado / Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Creek Cottage/Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths/ Whatever goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts / Show and Share Wednesday @ Semi Homemade Mom 
///Thursday: Thursdays are your days @ 52 Mantels / Party Time @ The 36th Avenue / Live, Laugh, {Linky} Thursday @ Live Laugh Rowe/ Pinterest Power Party @ The Taylor House/Link Party Thursday @ Somewhat Simple/ Keep Calm and Link up @ Becoming Martha/Flaunt it Friday @ Chic On A Shoestring Decorating/ Shine on Fridays @ One Artsy Mama 
///Friday: Creative Inspirations Linky Party @ Embracing Change / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest / Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home / I'm Lovin' It Fridays @ Tidy Mom / {What's Shakin'} link party @ Shaken Together / Funky Junk's Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors/Weekend wrapup party @ Tatertots & Jello 
///Saturday: Spotlight Saturday Link Party @ Classy Clutter /Sundae Scoop @ I heart nap time / Overflowing with creativity @ It's overflowing /Think Pink Saturdays @ Flamingo Toes 
///Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty /Making the world Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter  /CraftOManiac Monday @ CraftOManiac / Motivate me Monday @ Keeping it Simple

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What a castle means to me, a reminder, and a free printable

I've been talking about castles lately on my blog. Like A LOT. So I thought it might be fun to explain a little more of what I think of when I refer to castle on my recent posts. 

I'm not referring to literal castles, like the ones built in different parts of Europe hundreds of years ago. Although wouldn't that be so cool to live in one? I've seen some pretty dreamy ones online but haven't yet had the pleasure to actually set foot in one. Maybe one day tho.

When I refer to a castle, I'm thinking of a place that is a peaceful retreat. It is like our fortified structure away from some of the stresses in the world. I want it to be a place that we feel completely comfortable in. No clutter. Everything in it's place. No fussing over dumb things. Put your feet up, let your hair down kind of home.

I can say that I am definitely making progress on making our house our "castle". I have been decluttering, getting ready for a yard sale and starting to organize like crazy. 

It never hurts to have a reminder of my goal tho right?

I saw this saying somewhere {sorry I don't have any idea who the author is} and I loved it.

"Any home can be a castle when the King and Queen are in love." 

I think it fits our home so good right now. I love my husband and my family so much. I want this home to be their castle. So it helps me remember the whole reason I am working hard on making our home more peaceful and comfortable. 

I decided to make a print with the saying to hang in our house.

I also made it where anyone can download this printable for free if anyone would like to. Just click here to download and print.

I can't wait to frame and hang this little reminder/art print up! 




I am or will be sharing with these Awesome Parties:
///Monday: Monday Funday Link Party @ Uncommon Designs / Made by you Monday @ Skip to my Lou / Sunday Showcase @ Under the table and dreaming by Stephanie Lynn/Take-a-Look Tuesday @ Sugar Bee Crafts / Get your Craft on Tuesday! @ Today's Creative Blog / Tutorials & Tips Party @ Home Stories A2Z 
///Tuesday: The Inspiration Board Link Party @ Carolyn's Homework / Share it link party @ The Winthrop Chronicles 
///Wednesday: Fall into Fall @ DIY By Design / Wow Us Wednesdays @ Savvy Southern Style / We Did It! Wednesday @ Sew much ado / Transformation Thursdays @ The Shabby Creek Cottage/Hookin up with HOH @ House of Hepworths/ Whatever goes Wednesday @ Someday Crafts / Show and Share Wednesday @ Semi Homemade Mom 
///Thursday: Thursdays are your days @ 52 Mantels / Party Time @ The 36th Avenue / Live, Laugh, {Linky} Thursday @ Live Laugh Rowe / Thursday's Temptation @ Two Yellow Birds Decor / Pinterest Power Party @ The Taylor House/Link Party Thursday @ Somewhat Simple/ Keep Calm and Link up @ Becoming Martha/Flaunt it Friday @ Chic On A Shoestring Decorating/ Shine on Fridays @ One Artsy Mama 
///Friday: Creative Inspirations Linky Party @ Embracing Change / Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest / Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home / I'm Lovin' It Fridays @ Tidy Mom / {What's Shakin'} link party @ Shaken Together / Funky Junk's Party Junk @ Funky Junk Interiors/Weekend wrapup party @ Tatertots & Jello 
///Saturday: Spotlight Saturday Link Party @ Classy Clutter /Sundae Scoop @ I heart nap time / Overflowing with creativity @ It's overflowing /Think Pink Saturdays @ Flamingo Toes 
///Sunday: Nifty Thrifty Sunday @ Nifty Thrifty /Making the world Cuter Monday @ Making the World Cuter  /CraftOManiac Monday @ CraftOManiac / Motivate me Monday @ Keeping it Simple

Letting things go...

(Source)

Today I wanted to share a story with y'all that I think about often. Just thinking about it helps me get in the mindset about how I can make my house to be our comfortable retreat (our castle-like home). 

When I first got married nine years ago, I remember my husband had certain "quirks" that would irritate the life out of me. Like leaving dirty laundry on floor, dishes on table, and things like that. (I know I might not be making him sound good here but he really is the most wonderful man!) One thing he did that really irritated me was after I made our bed, he would lay or sit on it in the middle of the day.

As silly as it sounds to me now, I remember getting so mad. I worked hard to make the bed "just right" then he would come afterwards and get a million wrinkles on it. I asked a friend around my moms age who had been married for many years if her husband ever did the same. She said he did. 

So I asked her "doesn't it bother you that he messes it up?" 

And she told me, "no not at all because I just pull the end of the bedspread a little and it's good as new. He was probably tired and it's his bed too."

Then it hit me. I had one of those a-ha moments. I could fix the bed a lot faster than nagging at him and then I could just forget about it. It would literally take two seconds out of my day to fix the bedspread! And my dear husband could relax for a moment.

I asked myself: Why was I sweating the small stuff? Why was I not letting him enjoy his house and bed? I was being way too much of a perfectionist. I was acting exactly opposite of how I want to be. I was nagging him over the dumbest of things. It really wasn't doing any of us any good. So I try to remember that story when something in the house happens that may irritate me. 

I would rather have him in my home with me making messes, than not having him at all. 
The people I share my house with are the people I love the most. They love me. It's not like they ever try to make more work for me. But now if i see something needs to be put up, instead of nagging my hard working hubby, I just do it myself. 

I would rather my family feel relaxed and comfy instead of worried about messing up something. So now if my husband or one of my kids get on the bed after I make it, I just jump right on too and chat with them. Letting go of stupid things really helps our house feel like the comfortable retreat castle-like home I want.

In the words of Jane...

This is day 6 of my 31 days series: making a house into our CASTLE. You can read more about that here.

Jane Austin really knows her stuff. This quote is from Emma, which is my favorite book. It is such a good read!

This quote sums up how I want our home to feel. 

I am spending some time with the family today. I will be back with more of my series tomorrow. I hope everyone is enjoying their weekend!!

How I don't want my house to feel

Hey ya'll! I hope everyone is having a nice Saturday. For the weekends during this series, I'm going to make my posts short and sweet. 

I've talked about how I'm trying to make my house feel like my family's castle. I want our home to feel like our comfortable retreat from the rest of the world. One way I'm doing this is by getting rid of clutter. Making it simple. Getting it as tidy as possible.

But as there is with mostly everything, balance is needed.

I don't want to have a house that is "perfect".

To strive for a perfect house would just be defeating my whole purpose. 

My purpose I want for our home is to feel like our comfortable retreat.

I want my family to feel like they can relax in our home. When our friends come over I want them to feel like they can put up their feet and chill out with us. Our home is meant to be lived in and enjoyed.

I've been to homes where I feel like I shouldn't touch anything. Or even scared to sit on the couch in fear I might mess up something. 

I don't want my home to feel like that. 

I think of that episode of "Everybody Loves Raymond" where Marie takes off the plastic couch cover. Oh my goodness I crack up laughing every time I see this! This is a prime example of how I DON'T want my house to feel. 

Hopefully you are somewhere where you can watch this video clip. It's just too good not to share!

Decluttering the house: My favorite tips and tricks

Today I thought it would be fun to share my favorite tips and tricks. I've heard a lot of different ways friends, family, and bloggers declutter and simplify their house. There are so many good ideas for decluttering out there! Here are my favorites tips and tricks that really have worked for me....

Make sure the house is already some what put together. Dishes done, laundry caught up, supper planned, toys picked up, etc. It just makes things so much easier to start in an already semi-tidy home.

Make a list. Yes like I mentioned yesterday, I am a compulsive list maker. It really does help to have an outline wrote out of how you will accomplish your decluttering mission tho. I write down the rooms in order of how I want to conquer them and some areas in the room that may have "hidden clutter" {piano bench, a certain drawer, just anywhere I don't want to overlook!}.  I also write down an estimated time I want to get it done. I tend to get sidetracked so to have a timer on and just keeping track of time in general really helps me.

Do one room at a time. Don't move room to room decluttering. If you are anything like me, you might start pulling stuff out of a drawer in the kitchen, then decluttering the TV cabinet in the living room, then sorting some clothes out of the dresser. Before you know it the house will be an overwhelming big mess. Not cool at all! I tend to get sidetracked, so I follow the one room at a time rule to keep the house free from complete chaos. I even follow it one step further, before I move on to one part of a room, I finish the area of the room I working on. 

When I start decluttering an area, I pull everything out and lay it on the ground. For example, I just decluttered the TV cabinet so I pulled out all the DVDs, wires, games, etc. I have my decluttering tools I mentioned yesterday handy. A laundry basket for things I need to find a good place for. An empty bin for things I to sell. A trash bag I put inside a collapsible laundry hamper for things to throw away.

Once I have these in place, I go through each item one by one. If I pick something up, I try to figure out which category it will go into right then. If it is something I will be selling, I go ahead and mark the price on it right then too. This saves me so much time and sanity when getting ready for my yard sale.

Something that has been the greatest advice I've heard for decluttering: be merciless. It's hard to get rid of things you bought. You spent money on those things. You kinda sorta like those things. You may need it one day right? Wrong! {Ok well in a lot of cases}. I have to show no mercy to my belongings when I'm decluttering. I can't keep everything and if I did....oh my what would my house look like?!

I once heard to view your house and square footage as precious. I love that. We only have so many square footage in our houses, do we really want to fill it up with clutter? Or would we rather have a house with things we truly love and need? When our closets get too full of clothes, it's sometimes impossible to find that one dress that you love. I have been guilty of looking in an overcrowded closet and thinking "I have nothing to wear!". When we fill up our houses or closets with mediocre things, we can't see the things that are most precious to us. The decorating items that truly make us smile, the clothes that we love to wear, and so on. The point of all this babbling I'm doing right now is be merciless when it comes to getting rid of clutter and think of your square footage as precious.

Some questions I love to ask myself when decluttering:

Do I use this? Do I really need this? Do I love this? 

Simple questions but the answers tell a lot. Sometimes I keep things for the wrong reasons. When I really answer those questions truthfully I get rid of so much more.

So those are the things that really help me declutter and simplify my house. I am still in the process of decluttering my home right now. I've gotten rid of so much junk by following those little tips! I really can't wait to share my progress and how my yard sale goes {I have it planned for mid-October}. 

Oh and I also found crazy things when I was decluttering that I am planning on sharing with ya'll. Because everyone has a pair of Spice-Girl-like platform shoes in their closet from 1997 right? Anyone? Ok yeah just me! 

Sharing with these awesome parties:
{What's Shakin'} link party @ Shaken Together
Flaunt It Friday @ Chic on a Shoestring Decorating 
Creative Inspirations Linky Party @ Embracing Change
 Frugal Friday @ The Shabby Nest
Lovin' It Fridays @ Tidy Mom 
Share your creativity @ It's Overflowing 
Spotlight Saturday Link Party @ Classy Clutter
Thursdays are your days @ 52 Mantels 
Live, Laugh, {Linky} Thursday @ Live Laugh Rowe 

Decluttering the house: Getting Ready

Yesterday I talked about how clutter in the home really takes away the peace and relaxation a home should offer. So today I'm taking the clutter out! But first I do a few steps to get ready.

I should start by saying I'm a big believer in Flylady. I love her cleaning systems and routines. It is something I would recommend to everyone! I think she is brilliant in doing 15 mins a day of getting rid of clutter. 

But today, I'm going to break the rules just a tad. Instead of 15 mins a day for a period of time gradually getting rid of the clutter in our home. I'm going to make a day out of it. I'm hoping after this major clutter haul I can incorporate her 15 mins decluttering a day into my schedule. But Today I'm doing this Allie style!

I've started this day with treating myself to a Starbucks hot Caffè Mocha. Put on my work clothes {which is pretty much an old shirt, jeans and sneakers}. Then I decided to put on my apron too. It's a super cute one from Flirty Aprons and when I wear it I feel so domesticated plus the big pockets come in handy! Put my hair in a messy bun. Lit an amazing smelling candle. Turned on pandora. Then got my butt in gear.

I have a confession. I live to make lists. I use them everyday. I could seriously make a list about making a list. This obsession is pretty bad. So of course I had to make a list for this. 

I just jotted down the rooms in my house in the order I wanted to tackle them. And the maximum time I wanted to spend in each room. I tend to get carried away and obsessive about small things so putting a timer on really is my lifesaver. 

I then gathered my tools for decluttering:

{This is the part the apron with big pockets comes in handy!}

Trash bags

A laundry basket {to find things I'm keeping a good home}

An empty bin {for things I'm getting rid of}

Masking tape and a sharpie {to price things for my yard sale}

A babysitter {thank goodness I live close to my mom-in-law!}

My handy list

My phone {to use as my timer and to listen to music on}

So now that I'm all ready to declutter, it's time to get started. I hope you join me for tomorrow's part of this series as I conquer some clutter!