Getting My House Back (Bedroom Closet Part 2)

 I've been thinking about this blog a lot lately. Cleaning out my closet was a success and I've managed to get the floor cleaned and the clothes on their hangers. 

I found tons of clothes that I haven't worn in a long time, many of them were brand new. Needless to say, I purged. There were so many boxes of clothes that went to goodwill and our teen group here in town. I had a small bag that were too old or holey to go anywhere but the trash. 

Then there were the boxes of "other" items. Bags, stuffed animals and papers that had to be disposed of. Again, most went to goodwill or the teen group in town. 

I loved purging. 

I'd love to hear if you have cleaned out your closet. 

Getting My House Back (Bedroom Closet part 1)

I can't believe I am saying this but it is time for me to take my bedroom closet back. My sweet man has most of his dress clothes in the closet. I have a few of my clothes in there too. Mine aren't nearly as neat as his, hey! I take pride in the way I hang his up. But the hanging the clothes part up isn't the problem.

The problem is that LOTS of stuff has been stuffed on the floor and it is spilling out. So, hang in there with me and Friday I will post on how I conquered the floor and made it a place where we can store what needs to be stored INSIDE the closet and not out in the floor in front of it.

Getting My House Back (List making)

If you have been following this series, you know that I'm working on getting my house in order.

List Making

I've always been a list maker. I have notebooks all over my house with lists, How To Lists, Grocery Lists, Christmas Lists, Card Swap Lists, To Do Lists and etc...  Did you notice I said "all over my house"? I'll address those in another post.

During my first visit with Michelle, I noticed she had a composition notebook. She showed me her notebook and how she plans what she's going to do during the day, when the pages are all filled, she starts a new book. I have LOTS of composition notebooks, so when I got home I pulled out a brand new composition notebook, because I have misplaced my favorite notebook, and started back to list making.

I am doing my morning routine, then taking care of my list, then onto evening routine.

This was my first list.

Date:
Straighten whole house
Put away all the Christmas stuff (yes, it was still out and cluttering up the house)
Clean one drawer out in the kitchen
Write 20 minutes
Exercise 20 minutes
Do one load of laundry
Make 2 cards

Do you see anything wrong with this list?

This is what I accomplished:
Straighten the kitchen (dishes washed, counters wiped, things put away)
Cleaned one drawer out in the kitchen
Wrote 20 minutes
Exercised 20 minutes
Did one load of laundry
Attempted 2 cards but was too tired and made lots of mistakes

I was unable to straighten the whole house... WHOLE house I ran from room to room... sad story.
That really was an unrealistic chore. The house didn't get messy in one day, so it's going to take more than one day to straighten the whole house. Don't be like me, be realistic when making your list.

Also, Christmas was all over the house, I gathered what I could but couldn't seem to get it all together and find space for it all, closet needed cleaning out because I'd already filled my Christmas space with other things. This too seemed overwhelming and I had other things on my list that I wanted to accomplish before my evening routine kicked in. My advice, don't use the words ALL or WHOLE when making your lists.

Many things enter our lives throughout the day. Our lists get set to the side and life happens. That first day, I was disappointed and upset that I didn't get everything done on my list. But, after sleeping on it, I started the next day by moving the uncompleted things to my new list.

I'm now creating lists that are doable. My friend Kathryn Velarde once told me she only puts 5 things on her to accomplish list and when they are done, she adds 5 more. Whatever doesn't get done that day, she moves to the next. Smart woman, I'm stealing that page from her book and putting it in mine.

I hope you are learning how to get your house back as we travel through this process together.

Until next time, Rhonda

Getting My House Back (Getting Started)

Day 1

I needed help getting my house back in order. Sometimes we all need help. My go to person for help was Michelle Matney. She is a super friend and a wonderful organizer, planner and overall "getter done" gal. She is creating a blog about all kinds of things to do with living on a farm and keeping a home in shape. I'll post her information as soon as she launches her blog. With her help, we came up with tools to help me get my act together. We talked about the Sidetracked Home Executives and The Fly Lady methods then came up with the following steps to get me started.  

Step one: Create a plan.
                My plan was to get my house in order while still writing, launching my card making business and making time to read. I didn't want to be focused so hard on cleaning my house that I forgot to do the other things. I am a Christian and so wanted to make sure that God was in my plan. The verse, Philippians 4:13 "I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me." KJV, is the scripture I am focusing on. That's the Plan. Focus on Christ while focusing on my life.

Step two: Routines
                 I like the idea of morning and evening routines. So looked at both my mornings and evenings and created the routines that work best for me. My routines are simple and needed. They are short, 4 things to do in the morning and then 4 in the evening.

Step three: Don't forget to add my writing, cardmaking and other activities into my day.

So far so good. I've done my routines for 3 days now and I'm loving it.

Getting My House Back Series

Good morning everyone. I've been getting my act together. Writing, cardmaking and sewing take a lot of time. My poor house was suffering greatly. Oh and reading, I love to read and it takes time too.

So I sat down and went back to my roots. Years ago, Mom introduced me to a book called Sidetracked Home Executives by Pam Young and Peggy Jones. They used a card system to get your house in order. I liked that system but when we moved to New Mexico, I lost control of my home again so went with another program called, Fly Lady by Marla Cilley. Great program also, she uses  notebooks.

I LOVE notebooks and began to use her system. Only it overwhelmed me. It may not overwhelm you, so please feel free to give it a try if you are looking for a way to get your home in order.

I created my own morning and evening routines I'm working on getting my house back together by purging stuff we don't need and organizing what we do need.

I'm starting a series of blogs to document how I'm taking care of my home. Please feel free to follow along.

CATCHING UP

Hi Everyone!

I am happy to let you know that we have a new grandbaby! He is my daughters and he is beautiful. His name is Jericho Ray. Jericho was born on January 4th and weighed in at 8lbs 3oz. He was 19 3/4 inches long at the time of his birth. He's already growing like a weed.

Last year I joined Stampin Up as a hobby demonstrator. I'm not a good sales person as far as selling their products go but I have discovered I love cardmaking! I enjoy it so much that I have started a small business called, Cards for Christ. I've been selling them for several months now and have two categories that I'm building on... Pet owner Cards, for my local groomer and Christian Cards using the KJV version of the Bible for my scriptures. You do not have to have scriptures in your cards. See the page Cards For Christ to see pictures of the cards I'm working on now. Feel free to order a few :) 

You maybe wondering about the writing. Yes, I am still writing. I'm working on a couple of historical novellas both due out in 2019 and a contemporary cozy mystery. I'm hoping to finish one of the romances by the end of next month. I want to take this opportunity to thank each of you who read my books. You are the reason I continue to write.

Until next time,
Rhonda

Happy News!

A couple of days ago, my daughter texted me and asked if her dad and I had already eaten dinner. I told her yes and asked why? She simply said. "Oh, Ok."

This is not unusual. We often don't answer a question if we're in a rush, so I  just figured they were planning on eating with us but since we'd eaten moved on with their plans.

About an hour later, they showed up at our house. This was unusual. We live in a small community and they live in "town" and don't normally come out. So, you can imagine my surprise at their sudden visit. My eleven year old grand daughter, I call her Miss Bee, came to my cottage and said Mom and Dad want you to come to the house. Still, I'm not catching on. I know something is up but had no idea what.

My daughter gave me a card and said,  "read this out loud Mom." Now my daughter is a great writer, so I read.

Roses are Red
Violets are Blue
It's been eleven years...
But now we have
Something NEW!!!!!

Yes, I am going to be Mimi to another beautiful grandbaby! I am over the moon happy for my children. It's been 11 years since they had their first baby, my beautiful Miss Bee.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and relive those exciting moments with me.

Happy May Newsletter.

Hi everyone,

Hope you are having a wonderful May.

With the new privacy laws and such, I will no longer be sending out newsletters to readers. But, don't panic! I'm going to use this blog as my newsletter as well as a blog. So once a month around the 15th, you can expect a longer post than normal. If you don't want to read a longer post, feel free to skip the 15th but please come back again for my shorter blog posts.

This month is a busy one for us. My son's birthday is on the 7th, Mother's Day is this month and my anniversary is this month. Yep, I get double the gifts this month. I also get to enjoy the new flowers that are in stores and some that are blooming in my yard. For mother's day, my children bought me flowers this year to go on my little table that sits on my front porch. I love them.

I've also been in my craft cottage making cards and bookmarks. The craft cottage used to be my writing cottage but the crafts took over and my writing office is now in a bedroom. I love making cards and fun craft projects. I'll be doing a couple of craft fairs this fall but we'll chat about that another day.

In my writing world, Baby on Her Doorstep just hit the Walmart Bookshelves. I am thrilled to see my last Love Inspired Historical on the shelf. But don't worry, this is not my last book. I am working for another publisher and will have a new novella titled, A Match Made In Chocolate coming out in June. I'll have pictures of the cover in my June news letter. Until then, please enjoy this cover of Baby on Her Doorstep. If you don't see it at your Walmart's or don't feel like going to Walmart, simply click on the picture and it will take you to Amazon where you can get it in both paperback and e-book form.

Thank you all for coming by and reading my May Newsletter. I hope you return regularly and see what I'm up to. 

Until next time, 

Warmly, Rhonda

Visit me at Petticoats and Pistols

Hi Everyone!

I am happy to let you know that on September 22, that's this Friday and my birthday, I will be guest blogging over on the Petticoats & Pistols blog. Come on over and let's talk about the Harvey Girls and my birthday! I'd love to see you there.

Tell everyone I will be giving away a copy of my Pony Express book, Pony Express Special Delivery. It just came out this month.

If you mention you came over from my blog, I'll enter you in my drawing for my newest novella, The Cowboy Way. So you will have two chances to win!

Honey

I love honey on hot buttered biscuits. When I wrote A Honey of a Christmas, I did a lot of research on honey and honey beekeeping. So why not share a couple of things with you all?

 

 

Interesting Honey Facts: 

• There are over 300 unique types of honey identified in the US. The flavor of honey is derived from the nectar source the bee gathers from.
• Eating local honey is great for your allergies.
• Honey contains every substance needed to sustain human life.
• A single honeybee will only produce about 1/12 teaspoon of honey during its entire life .

Interesting Honey History:

• Honey bees are not native to the Americas but came over with some of the first colonists.
• Honey contains natural preservatives. Vats of sealed honey were found in King Tut’s tomb that still contained edible honey after being stored for over 2,000 years.

Did any of that surprise you? Do you like honey and if so, what's your favorite way to eat it?

 

 

GIVEAWAY TIME!!!!

I am giving away a copy of Claire Parker Takes The Case a cozy romantic mystery AND Pony Express Hero a western romance.

How do you enter?

I am starting a newsletter. 1.  Leave me a comment with the words "YES! Sign me up!" or "No, Thanks but I still want to win a book!"  2. Tell me if you like mysteries, western romances or both.
3. Then leave your email address.

I will be choosing two winners.

Here are the winning books:

Thankful Thursday

Today is Thankful Thursday.

I'm thankful for a husband who loves me very much and is my best friend. A mother who raised me to be the woman I am today. A brother who has known me all his life and still loves me. For children and grandchildren who brighten my world.

But above all I am thankful for a man named Jesus who came to this world and died for me so that I might live this wonderful life set before me. What makes Jesus so special? before He became flesh and blood He was God. He still is God and He loves me. Wow!
And, He loves you too.