This is real.

When I began blogging I did it as a stress reliever to cope with rough times. I started following other bloggers and I tried to join in this vast internet community. But after awhile it became too much. I got sick of trying to portray a perfect life, in a clean house, where all attempts at cooking and crafts turned out perfect. Well, guess what? That isn't real life.
It is hard to keep up with everyone. Ninety percent of the bloggers I followed always looked nice in their pictures having perfect hair and wore perfect outfits, their houses were always clean and free of clutter, their recipes produced delicious end products, crafts looked professionally done...at least in pictures. Is that real?
Well, I am about to show you what is real for me and my life.

This is my dining room. My husband throws his clothes on the table, we both leave random clutter thrown about...usually remnants of craft projects. We have 6 bags of pop bottles to take back. I still have Christmas decorations up in my china cabinet. 

This is real.

In my family room (pictured above) there are random papers laying around, I have animals that shed and cause fur tumbleweeds to roll around, there's clutter everywhere, homework and papers and...stuff.

This...is real.

This is my kitchen. There's dirty dishes in the sink. There's random crap everywhere. And guess what? This is real life. Real life is busy and I don't always have time to clean. I am in school. I work full time. And sometimes, I don't want to spend my days off putting away every little thing that is laying around. I wish I was that person who puts everything away everyday but...I'm not. My yard is a mess. The house needs quite a bit of fixing up. But I don't have the money to do it right now. My crafts don't always turn out perfect every time. I don't do my hair every day. I don't even put make up on every day. This is real life. This is me. And this is happiness.

Clean, De-Clutter & Organize 2014

I don't believe in making new years resolutions. After 20 years of making resolutions, I have realized that I never keep them. I also realized that you don't need a new year, to start over. You don't even need a new week or a new day. Starting over, or starting anything really, can happen the moment you make the decision. Anyways, what is my point? My point is I don't make resolutions, but I have been thinking a lot lately about projects that I want to do around the house. I am hoping that 2014 brings about more financial stability since both Bob and I have full-time jobs. So, this has me wanting to fix up the house, clean and be more organized. Here are the projects I want to work on:
De-Clutter and Organize Room by Room I want to clean, get rid of clutter (we have a LOT of clutter) and organize each room in the house. Where I fail in this endeavor, is I always try to do too much at once. I am going to try to do a room a month.

I hope this is the year I make it happen!! 

Day #264: Spring Cleaning

It's that time of year again. Time to "spring clean". I tend to do a super deep clean and "de-junk" my house at every major change of season. With that being said, here are some spring cleaning tips:

One. De-clutter your wardrobe. I have tons of clothes. I like to go through them each change of season to get rid of the stuff I don't wear anymore, have never worn and don't plan on wearing, as well as stuff that is worn-out or doesn't fit. Donate your gently worn items, or sell them. I plan on doing a "shop my closet" post soon. So, if you wear a size 10 shoe and are a plus-size, then stay-tuned!
Two. Change your shower liner. Those things get disgusting. And I can't lie, I almost always forget to buy a new one and change it out! Also, send your shower curtain (if it's fabric) through the wash and hang outside to dry. It gives it a nice fresh smell.
Three. Clean one room at a time. This helps to avoid leaving unfinished jobs. I usually clean this way...otherwise my ADD kicks in and the cleaning remains half complete.
Four. Work from the top down. Clean the fans, then dust the tables and shelves, then vacuum. Makes sense right?
Five. Once your house is completely clean, make a cleaning schedule and try to stick to it! I am still trying to do this. It's not working so well yet! Here's the cleaning schedule I made:

Do you "spring clean"? Any tips you'd like to add??


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Day #27: Cleaning Calendars/Newsroom

Here I go, late again! Gah! I actually had a day off today (YAY!) and it was fairly productive I must say. I cleaned the living room, kitchen and dining room...sort of. I cleaned some junk out of the dining room to make room for the buffet table and china cabinet. Before and after photos to follow soon (hopefully!). I also went to my grandpa's house and helped my parents and aunt clean. Hubby and I are currently working on catching up the laundry. All in all productive.

I found some more chore lists on Pinterest that I may start using. Here they are:

Not entirely sure which one I will implement yet, but regardless I want to have a more organized and well-run home. Especially if we plan on bringing a child into the mix one day. Any other ideas are welcomed readers, I'd love to hear from you!

Hubby is trying to introduce me to a new show: Newsroom. I've only seen part of one episode but it's pretty good so far. I especially like Jeff Daniels opening speech:

"It's not the greatest country in the world, professor, that's my answer.

Fine. [to the liberal panelist] Sharon, the NEA is a loser. Yeah, it accounts for a penny out of our paychecks, but he [gesturing to the conservative panelist] gets to hit you with it anytime he wants. It doesn't cost money, it costs votes. It costs airtime and column inches. You know why people don't like liberals? Because they lose. If liberals are so fuckin' smart, how come they lose so GODDAM ALWAYS!

And [to the conservative panelist] with a straight face, you're going to tell students that America's so starspangled awesome that we're the only ones in the world who have freedom? Canada has freedom, Japan has freedom, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Australia, Belgium has freedom. Two hundred seven sovereign states in the world, like 180 of them have freedom.

And you—sorority girl—yeah—just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there are some things you should know, and one of them is that there is absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're seventh in literacy, twenty-seventh in math, twenty-second in science, forty-ninth in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, third in median household income, number four in labor force, and number four in exports. We lead the world in only three categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next twenty-six countries combined, twenty-five of whom are allies. None of this is the fault of a 20-year-old college student, but you, nonetheless, are without a doubt, a member of the WORST-period-GENERATION-period-EVER-period, so when you ask what makes us the greatest country in the world, I don't know what the fuck you're talking about?! Yosemite?!!!

We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right! We fought for moral reasons, we passed and struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors, we put our money where our mouths were, and we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and cultivated the world's greatest artists and the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, and we acted like men. We aspired to intelligence; we didn't belittle it; it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in the last election, and we didn't scare so easy. And we were able to be all these things and do all these things because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. The first step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one—America is not the greatest country in the world anymore."

I've got to say...I agree.

Until tomorrow,

Big, Beautiful & Broke... Chelsea