Hi, I’m Lisa from Stop and Smell the Chocolates. I’m happy to be helping Sarah Mae with a guest post today. Will you send some prayers her way for her to be feeling great very soon? I’m sure she would appreciate it.

In her 31 Days To Clean posts, Sarah Mae has talked about self-discipline and why we need to keep working at the daily drudgery. I agree with her and wanted to share some of my thoughts on the subject.

Being a good keeper of the home is a big struggle with me, so I’m really talking to myself here! Before I was pregnant with my son, I was Miss Career Woman and a terrible Keeper of the Home. God started helping me to realize that I needed to make a shift at that time. Eventually, I found myself an inexperienced Stay At Home Mom.

Domesticity did not come naturally to me. I did the bare, and I mean bare minimum of cleaning and I let my husband do the cooking. I was doing good at taking care of my baby boy, at least! At some point, I realized that Keeper of the Home was a most important job and I hadn’t been treating it that way. If I was working for “pay” outside the home, I did a great job and took pride in my work. Why wouldn’t I do the same for my more important job? That way of thinking about it helped me – I created some routines, did a little better with cleaning, and took over all the cooking duties.

Later on, it all became a struggle again and it still is. I understand the concept of taking pride in my home and keeping up with things because it’s the job that I was called to do. But that isn’t enough. I realize that there is more to it. This is what God has called me to do. It’s not an employer who gives me a job description and will give me money and recognition for a job well done. It’s God. If God somehow spoke to me and told me my job description for Keeper of the Home – would I say, “You know, I’m kind of tired. Maybe I could do the dishes just when they pile up and start the dusting next month?” I think not.

Maybe knowing that God calls us to do ALL of it, not just the parts that we like, can help us with our perspective and motivation. And there is a reward – a heavenly home with our Savior. There is even recognition. It will come when we hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I’m not saying that we won’t struggle. We’re sinners after all. But maybe we can do a little better and ask God to help us grow as home makers and keepers. I pray that the Lord blesses your home keeping endeavors this week.

How to Clean While Pregnant

Three Easy Steps:

1. Get off the couch and get a phone book….no wait, just stay on the couch and dial 411 with your cell or portable phone.

2. Call a maid service (or a really good friend) and get some help.

3. Go back to watching Judge Judy while eating your chips, popcorn, crackers, bubble gum, cookies and soda (make sure other children are fed).

The “Plan”

Make sure you’ve got plenty of garbage bags (in my case, lot’s and lot’s.) It’s time to think about what to throw away, sell, keep, or donate. Also remember to purchase whatever kinds of bins, boxes, or baskets you will need to keep everything properly organized. There are so many great organizing options out there, you just have to find the one that works for you and your space.

We all have one. The “junk” drawer that everything random goes into. Mine is actually a cabinet in my kitchen (okay, I have a cabinet and a drawer!).

It’s the drawer you go to when you are looking for batteries, light bulbs, keys, and other things you need to find but don’t know where else to look. It’s the place that many have newspaper clippings, photos, recipes, and screws. Wouldn’t it be nice to have that drawer cleaned out and organized?

Today is the day to do it.

Let’s go:

• Dump out the drawer.
• Throw away everything you don’t use or realistically won’t use.
• Sort – What doesn’t belong in there? What do you want to stay?
• Get or make a drawer sorter and put things in it in an organized fashion.
• Dance a happy dance that it’s done!

Check out Home Made Simple for more great drawer organizing tips!

Drawer organizers by Space Savers.

Find anything you’ve desperately been missing?

31 Days to Clean

First and foremost, let me apologize for getting this post up so late. I have been so darn tired as of late with growing baby number three, and my brain seems to have shut down. I am going to try and work on my posts at night so that I can have them up and ready for you bright and early. Now, let’s begin, shall we?

Today’s challenge is to clean out, organize, and refill your medicine cabinet. This will actually be somewhat fun if you like rearranging and sorting. I don’t know why, but I really enjoy this sort of thing.

Here’s what you should be stocked up on:

The conventional list:
* two pairs of sterile gloves
* sterile dressings to stop bleeding
* cleansing agent/ soap and antibiotic towelettes to disinfect
* antibiotic ointment to prevent infection
* burn ointment to prevent infection
* adhesive bandages in a variety of sizes
* eye wash solution to flush the eyes or as a general decontaminate
* thermometer: non-glass and non-mercury
* prescription medications
* prescribed medical supplies such as glucose and blood pressure monitoring equipment and supplies
* scissors
* tweezers
* aspirin and/or non-aspirin pain reliever

Other things to have handy:
* chlorine bleach
* vinegar
* salt
* essential oils
* zinc-gluconate lozenges
* fresh garlic (go here to find out why)
* mouthwash
* elderberry extract
* ginsana
* paper masks

Thanks Laura for this list!

Have fun!

We all have things in our lives that keep us from keeping up with all our duties perfectly, or even as we’d like.

For me, right now, it’s queasiness in pregnancy. Although I am not as sick (thus far) as previous pregnancies, I am still struggling to keep my home in order while dealing with this fallen body.

Today, if you are someone struggling with pregnancy, depression, chasing after little ones, balancing job and home, etc., just do something. Make your bed, vacuum, put some flowers on your dining room table. Do one small thing to bring life to your home even if you don’t feel like you have much life in you at the moment.

“I Can Do All Things Through Christ Who Strengthens Me” Philippians 4:13

I’m going to leave you with something I wrote a while ago on one of my good days. It reminds me of what to look forward to – a future hope:

“Some days I wake up and I am so tired and I feel so gloomy…my spirit inside yearns for more, but my body halts me. Then there are days like today when I wake up and feel so fantastic-physically and mentally! My giddiness totally pushes out the darkness of the day and I hear the birds sing instead of the rain fall (although I do love the rain!) Why is this? Why can’t I wake up ready to take on the day everyday? Why is it that on days like today my coffee is only a supplement instead of a defibrillator bringing me back to life? I want my life to be a light shining for my children…I want them to see a bouncy, jolly homemaker whizzing through her tasks with all the joy of the Lord! Boy do I fall short! It’s days like today that I glimpse what heaven will be like and my body and its physical limitations and weariness will be but a shadow…”

Reminding myself that my body won’t always hold me back definitely works for me.

By the way, I’m also blogging over at Blogging Basics 101 today if you’d like to come check it out.

Today, we resume 31 Days to Clean.

What is the one thing you hate to clean the most? What is thing you put off time and time again? Whatever it is, I challenge you to take it on today.

My most dreaded job (toilet scrubbing is a very close second) is cleaning windows. In fact, I’ve never done it. You heard correctly – I have never washed a window in my whole life (pathetic, and scary, I know). I constantly put it off because it seems like such a huge job to me. Today, I am going to give you (ahem, me) some tips on cleaning your windows, just in case any of you hate to clean them as well!

Get Yourself Some Cleaner

Soap in a bucket will do – your dish soap is fine. If you want to make your own window cleaner, here’s a “how-to” from the site coupons and Refunds:

Ingredients:

½ tsp liquid soap

3 tbs vinegar, 2 cups water

spray bottle.

What to do: Combine the ingredients and put them in the spray bottle. Use like any window cleaner.

Tip: Use newspaper to dry your windows. It’s cheaper than paper towels and it leaves windows shiny and streak free. (If you’re going to use newspaper, where rubber gloves so you don’t get ink hands.)

Prepare to Scrub

Grab a wash cloth, old t-shirts (husbands have plenty, they just don’t want to admit it), or an actual squeegee. These are your tools of the trade.

The Actual Cleaning Part (evidently, this is an art)

“When scrubbing a window, start with the edges. Scrub back and forth, up and down along each edge. Then, start scrubbing from the top and work your way down to the bottom using small circular motions.” Do-it-yourself Window Cleaning

For in-depth squeegee action and tips, go here.

Don’t Forget the Window Sills

You can do this with warm, soapy water and a rag.

Apparently, “window cleaning should not be drudgery! In fact, with the right tools, it can be a relaxing and enjoyable activity!” Hmm…never thought of it that way. Still don’t.

What is your most dreaded cleaning job?

I love pantry’s – they make me so darn happy! Why you ask? I don’t know, there just fun to have!

But…

They get messy very easily. The place can get a bit crowded. Let’s talk organization, shall we?

Getting Your Pantry In Order:

Empty everything out and take an inventory

-Check for outdated items (I had a one item that had expired in ‘04!)
-Write down what you need to stock up
-Get rid of anything you know you aren’t going to use (donate them to a food bank)

Keep like items together

-For example, it is helpful to have the sugar with the flour and other baking supplies
-You will find things much more easily

Evaluate your pantry space

-Is it big enough to hold what you have? If not, you may need to consider other storage options, such as:

3-tier Cabinet Organizer: This is great for spices.
Pantry Door Organizer: Utilize that pantry space by hanging one of these on the door.
Soup/Can Rack: Keep your cans in order.
Plastic Bag Organizer: Okay, so you could just stuff them somewhere, or you could get one of these.
Kitchen Wrap Organizer: Holds your tin foil, wax paper, and cling wrap!

Put the most used items in the front

-This just makes life easier!

Want a more detailed list? Check out 10 Tips For Organizing Your Pantry - there are some great tips here, such as:

“Store all your baking items separately. Use baskets, wire or wood to contain all your baking items, everything you use to bake like your flour, sugar, vanilla, baking soda and powder and getting them to the counter and back is a snap.”

Have fun! And let’s do pictures – what do you say? Just add your pantry pics to your blog, link back to moi, and then paste the link in Mr. Linky. I can’t wait to see!

Do you want to work on getting organized and “clean?” Well then jump in here (you don’t have to go in order!) If you like what you read and don’t want to miss a day, become a subscriber here (it’s free)!

My before and after pics:

What does e-mail have to do with cleaning?

Let me ask you a question: what does your inbox look like? If it is anything like mine you have 500 e-mails just taking up space (and, incidentally, making your computer slower). Wouldn’t it feel great to have those “put away” or thrown out? Having e-mails just sitting in there is clutter – just like junk mail sitting on the table by your front door. It’s messy. Let’s straighten up.

Today challenge is to go through ALL your e-mails and either delete them or create folders for them. I tend to leave e-mails in my inbox that I want to respond to but don’t want to do it right away. The temptation is to leave them, but many times I know I just forget about them. Create a RESPOND folder so you know what you have to respond to but it doesn’t clutter your inbox. The goal is a clean and tidy inbox.

Here are some great tips for organizing your inbox!

31 Days to Clean – Jump in here!

Going digital is great.

You get to see your pictures right away; it’s like Polaroids on steroids! You can upload them and have them on your computer or a CD in no time. I have found only one problem…

I haven’t had pictures developed since 1972.

Alright, so maybe I wasn’t even born in 1972, but the point is, since going digital, I don’t develop my pictures and I can’t possibly be the only one (am I?). I have hundreds of pictures on my computer and Cd’s, and only lonely photo albums waiting to filled with life.

Why develop?

It’s great to have your pictures in albums on your computer, but what if your computer crashes and you lose everything? All those memories…gone. We’re also talking space here. The more pictures you have, the slower your computer can become. You can put your pictures on Cd’s, but then you can’t look at them on a whim. I’m all about real albums with real pictures.

Perhaps you do develop your pictures. Perhaps you still use a…a…what the heck do you call non-digital cameras anyway? Maybe you have a drawer full of pictures like I do that are in desperate need of a real home. Today is the day.

Your challenge for today is to begin to develop and organize your pictures. For some, this may be a huge job (for scrapbookers, today is surely a free day for you!). I’m not expecting that you finish today, but at least get started. If you want to save some $, here are a few sites that offer free digital prints when you first sign up:

Snapfish (50 free prints)

Clark Photo Labs (30 free prints)

My Photo Album (20 free prints)

York Photo Labs (40 free prints)

CVS (50 free prints)

Have fun strolling down memory lane – but don’t get too distracted!