Category Archives: Uncategorized
Faking a Clean House Part 2
A little while back, I shared how breaking down weekly cleaning tasks into short blocks of time helps me stay on top of things and fake a clean house at a moment’s notice.
I also have things I do less frequently that contribute to the clean house aura. {These are all set to recur automatically on my google calendar. My mind is more of a loose noodle than a steel trap, so I try not to leave things to chance.} Sometimes I choose not to do a particular task, but knowing that it will come around sooner or later puts my mind at ease and keeps our house looking cleaner than it is.
Do you have cleaning tasks you do on a less frequent basis? How do you remember them?
PS If you want a handy printable of the graphic above, click here: GTR Bi-weekly, Monthly, & Bi-monthly Tasks.
The House of Hope
Ni hao!
Troy and I had such a good time in China, but it feels great to be back! My absolute favorite part was getting to visit The House of Hope in person.
My mother-in-law has spent time volunteering in different ways with The House of Hope and Maria’s House of Hope since they’ve lived in China. She sent me the book for Christmas a couple of years ago, and my heart was captured by the way God turned Robin and Joyce’s lives upside down to care for the abandoned orphans of China. They care for and provide treatment for babies with physical handicaps as if they were their own children- many of whom go on to be adopted. It’s the most beautiful picture of Christ’s hands and feet in action. They are living and breathing examples of what He calls us to be and to do:
“Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen:
to loose the chains of injustice
and untie the cords of the yoke,
to set the oppressed free
and break every yoke?
Is it not to share your food with the hungry
and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter—
when you see the naked, to clothe them,
and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood?
Then your light will break forth like the dawn,
and your healing will quickly appear;
then your righteousness will go before you,
and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.
Then you will call, and the Lord will answer;
you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.
If you do away with the yoke of oppression,
with the pointing finger and malicious talk,
and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry
and satisfy the needs of the oppressed,
then your light will rise in the darkness,
and your night will become like the noonday.
The Lord will guide you always;
he will satisfy your needs in a sun-scorched land
and will strengthen your frame.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
like a spring whose waters never fail.
Your people will rebuild the ancient ruins
and will raise up the age-old foundations;
you will be called Repairer of Broken Walls,
Restorer of Streets with Dwellings.
{From Isaiah 58}
ni hao, china!
well, we’re off to china!
i’m feeling totally prepared with my nine pieces, two whole words of chinese {ni hao/hello}, and one handsome husband. so.excited.!!!!.
if you want to follow our adventures, you can tag along via instagram. {that is, as long as my phone works over there in airplane mode. fingers crossed!}
see y’all in a week!
repurposing social media
social media is a slippery slope. because everyone {tends to} post the best parts of their lives, it can be easy to feel bad about yours, even if you love it. {i’m not alone in this, right?}
my job requires me to be on social media, so there’s no cutting it out. i’ve been brainstorming a few ways to change how i look at it, and here’s what i’ve come up with:
- seek out {and give} encouragement. there’s a group i’m a part of on facebook where ladies post the things God is teaching them, verses that spoke to them, prayer requests, etc. getting notifications from that is one of my favorite things.
- take a break. lately, i’ve been staying {mostly} off social media during the weekends. when i do, it’s easier to be present, and i tend to feel more rested on mondays.
- stop being a consumer and be a giver. in the past, i’ve tended not to comment on anything, but i’ve begun to find that i get more joy out of cheering and encouraging the good things my friends and family are doing.
- be present. i’m bad about flicking through pinterest, facebook, words with friends, etc. on my phone, then going back again less than 5 minutes later. it’s almost become a compulsion and even happens when i’m having conversations with others. {yuck.} when i’m with people, they need to be my focus; connecting with far away friends can happen when i’m by myself. {this has been the hardest one for me. i’ve experimented with temporarily deleting the apps when i’ve been especially tuned in and need to chill out. it helps!}
what does social media look like for you? does it affect your emotions, too? and please, for the love,, tell me how you use it for good in your lives and others, so i can steal your ideas.
ps the sparkly social media icons i used are from here. carrie has 19 {free!} icons in 30 colors.
capsule wardrobe: packing edition
i’ve been working on building my timeless capsule wardrobe, and it’s coming in really handy for our upcoming vacation!
we’ll be gone for a week, and i don’t want to take half my closet, but there’s something about having lots of options that makes a vacation go better. {slash makes doing without that piece of clothing you spilled your very first meal on go better!}
my packing list includes 9 pieces plus 3 pairs of shoes and some accessories.
tops:
- black tank {old navy, similar}
- polka dotted tee {gap}
- sequin blouse {tj maxx}
- button up {old navy}
- striped lightweight sweater {forever 21, similar}
bottoms:
- yellow shorts {old navy, similar}
- black skinnies {gap, similar}
- black midi skirt {thrifted}
- pale pink trousers {the clothes mentor}
shoes:
keeping the palette mostly neutral makes it easy to remix. i also tried to pair casual and nicer pieces to give myself a wide range of options. if we get really fancy, i can pair the black tank and skirt to create the illusion of a dress.
before we take off, i’ll probably throw in another scarf and maybe a cardigan or two, just because i tend to get cold. but i’m pretty sure my suitcase will still be lighter than my husband’s!
{to be} purposeful
for several months now, i’ve been considering the list of things i want to become.
i realized that if i don’t line those things out, i will probably never become them. they’re far too easily drowned out in the flood of to do’s.
outlining my to be list has been a slow, and sometimes overwhelming process, but i love it. my mind and evernote folders are overflowing with so many possibilities! so many they actually held me hostage for a while. i wasn’t sure how to organize my thoughts and move forward in them. the process i came up with may border on crazy type a, but it’s brought order, drive, and accomplishment with it.
the main areas i’ve chosen to focus on for now are financial, health, home keeping, marriage, and spiritual. they’re organized in tiers:
- main category
- sub category (i.e.: financial includes giving, investing, learning, real estate, and saving.)
- each sub category has an overarching goal (or two), and is ordered by importance.
- sub category (i.e.: financial includes giving, investing, learning, real estate, and saving.)
because a large task feels overwhelming unless it’s broken down, i copied and pasted this hierarchy and used the individual outlines to break down action steps in order.
for example, under financial and learning, troy and i are talking about taking a real estate investment class at the local college over the summer. a few of the steps are gathering information about the class, talking about it together, and signing up for the class.
as i think of new action items, i add them where i think they fall in order of importance. every week, i review these lists and add the next action step from each category to my calendar for the week. i’ll also look at my over all goals and make sure i’m still headed toward them.
sometimes my action steps all get accomplished and sometimes it’s only one, but i’m moving forward! i think the thing i like about it most is that i know i’m moving toward the things i want my life to be about. there were so many things floating around in my head that have been lassoed and put in their place. i had no idea how much peace of mind or ability to enjoy downtime that would give me.
one small step toward organization; one giant leap toward making sure the small things aren’t holding the important ones at their mercy!
make coordinating meals a breeze
all my friends are having the most adorable little babies right now and making sure they don’t have to cook for several weeks is a must!
i tested out a couple of different meal coordinating websites and found my favorite: meal train.
favorite features:
- it’s free. {holla!}
- it’s easy to sign up, and will keep you signed in for several weeks. {no need to remember another password.}
- it doesn’t ask for the parents’ life story to start the train. {before you start, make sure you have the contact e-mail, phone, address, and any likes/dislikes, as well as their preferred time for dropping off food.}
- you make the schedule, and there’s a link to send it out to anyone who wants to join in. easy. peasy.
- you get a reminder a couple of days before that you’re slotted to bring the upcoming meal. brilliant. {i’m all about the automatic reminder!}
there is also a $10 version that allows you to coordinate additional things: appointments, rides, childcare and visitors, etc. this would be great for someone having surgery or with an ongoing medical condition…the possibilites are endless and the time saved is um, a lot!
