Major Summer Project - Reorganize Our Home!! Part 1

I ended school in May very very frustrated with the lack of organization in our home.  Now, I'm not a naturally organized person.  I learned to organize my school-work very early, but even through high school, my parents' home was what I like to call "organized chaos."  BUT I have learned in every living situation I have been in that the best way to feel relaxed is when everything has a place to go and stay when not in use and when you have a set routine and a plan for getting it all done.  Truthfully, my hubby and I have not always lived this way, and I still struggle keeping up with all of it all the time.  Mr. Berry is slowly coming to recognize the importance of this in our home.  He has always been the "Well, when it needs to get done, it'll get done" kind of guy.  And I didn't know how to get it all going...I was guilty of trying to do too much too soon.  It took us a few years of living together to even develop a clear routine for the basic household tasks.

Starting the first week of June, I was determined to completely overhaul our guestroom/office/storage room.  Our desk (not really a desk, just a leftover long, side table that accompanied a big desk we used to have) was a mess, just piles of junk.  So I decided to figure out a way to keep things from getting that crazy again.

ENTER... Dollar store and Target!  I got some little organizer drawers for the office supplies we keep (since our table doesn't have drawers like a regular desk) for (no joke) $2.50 at Dollar General.  And the best purchase -- a hanging file box with a compartment on top.  We can keep all of our important papers, and I do mean ALL, easily organized and protected.  There's a couple of files for owner's manuals for just about everything we've bought in the last few years, a file for all of Mikey's insurance stuff, a file for my insurance stuff, a file for Aislinn's daycare information, a file for current tax year documents/receipts...etc.  The compartment on top has some envelopes and stamps, a calculator, and the checkbook (Yay!  I was so sick of never being able to find the checkbook on daycare check day)  The extra expanding file is for our previous tax documents (you know, the last 5 years thing).

I'm pretty sure this bin was under $15 at Target.  13-something?  Anyway, it is awesome.

I would make labels, but then I'd have to change them every year, bleh.

I made these with Mailing labels.  You kind of can't tell with the flash of the camera but there's a cool background on them that I just put right on the Avery template.

I. love. circles.

This is a shelf that I re-purposed from the closet in that room.  It was part of an organizer system that we decided to dismantle so that we could make shelves all the way across.  It is PERFECT for the big binders and folders we keep around... and the puppy stuff, and Aislinn's daycare artwork... you get the idea.  Since we don't have a real desk with drawers, this works!  Plus, I got my brooms and mops hung up right inside the door with the 3M hooks!

It's a work in progress.  I want to put some shelves or bins under the table for books and such that we need hidden away.  And some day down the road, that ugly wood panelling will go away.

Let's Begin...

Welcome to my whirlwind world.  I am sometimes painfully self-critical and overwhelm myself unnecessarily.  I know some mommies with a lot more kids and busier schedules probably look at my life and think "Sheesh, walk in the park..." and my reponse is to pose a question.  "Do you remember that adjustment period after your first year of teaching and first child?"  Well, I went through the ringer, getting pregnant during my first year of teaching (sick, sick, sick) and having to travel between buildings every day that year.  Three years into teaching and 2 years of mommyhood later, I still feel like I'm adjusting!  Our home and family life has become an ever-evolving organism that overwhelms me from time to time.
I hope on this blog to share a lot of different things:

First, I hope to think through and write out some mommy and wifey struggles and triumphs.  I want to share what is working and what isn't working because I do my best thinking when I verbalize it to someone else.  At this point in time, we are struggling with the transition from toddler-hood to early childhood and all of the communication changes that ensue.  My hubby and I are also making big changes in the way we run this place financially and operationally.

Also, I want to share my teaching struggles and triumphs.  Even though I am a mommy and a wifey first, my school kids are my musical works-in-progress, and I love the opportunity to reflect on what we are accomplishing (or not accomplishing).  I should probably preface this with the fact that I LOVE MY SCHOOL.  Don't get me wrong, just like any other public school, I face a lot of bumps in the road and your occasional road-block.  But, I have the great basis of kids that I love and that love me, and fellow teachers that I can turn to for help and advice.

For sanity time, I am also involved in musical groups at church and Singing Quaker Alumni Choir (the alumni group of my college choir).  I don't know if I will have much to say about them, as these are my creative outlets and I commit to them with a very relaxed and happy spirit :)  And my involvement in them is one of the few things I do for just God and me.
I hope that this blog helps me to think through more difficult situations and share some successes in my lfie!  Thanks for reading and sharing with me.