ABFOL Challenge: Laundry Room

Well it took me pretty much 2 weeks to complete the Laundry Room which is crazy as this room is quit small.  I went through everything and cleaned house.  I threw out expired prescriptions and over the counter medicines as well.  I moved all the extra kitchen items I had storing in there and some went to the garage sale pile, others being donated and the rest thrown out.  It felt good and to have everything labeled is a must.  The only thing truly left to do is this room is to patch the holes from when I originally had my husband move around the shelving and paint it.  Since I cannot do these myself due to my back issues it will have to wait until my husband comes home from California which is this Saturday.  He has been working there for the last year and is gone 2 months at a time.  I feel really good about how everything looks even though all my organizers don't all match color wise, but it's what I had in my home so I didn't have to buy anything.  Eventually I am going to switch it all to white, blue and green, but that can wait for now.  Here are the before and after photos!

Before...pretty embarrassing!

The almost end result...just a few minor things like have the hubby paint, but I love it!

Big Change for me starting March 1st...

I have so many things I want to accomplish this year. First and foremost is my health!  I have been overweight for the last 10 years and I finally decided to do something about it now that I am getting closer to my 40th Birthday in just a couple of years!  When I do tell people how much I weigh they actually don't believe me as my body carries my weight all over so it doesn't appear that I could possible weigh that much!  So here we go with the honesty, I weighed in this morning at 188.2 lbs.  Now for someone that is 5'2" that is considered clinically obese I guess by medical standards!  I know it's unhealthy and I can feel it too.  For someone that has been diagnosed with Fibromyalga, Degenerative Disk Disease and Arthritis (all stemming from car accidents in the past)  that is spreading throughout my body which was only in my neck just a few years ago it can be quite painful and then to go around carrying all this extra weight just adds to the pressure I am putting on myself.  I have been slowly getting into working out with a couple of my friends when the weather cooperates and my hectic schedule with my kids and life.  I already have lost 10 lbs since January 1st which felt awesome to accomplish.  I try to use the 3 day Military Diet every few weeks and then also just cutting out all the bad food meaning junk food, sweets, fast food and lastly I need to once and for all give up my addiction, drinking Coca Cola every day practically all day.  I am slowly convincing myself that "yes water does taste good"!  I was never forced as a child to drink water regularly and my mom always bought us Calistoga's or Clearly Canadian which I loved!   I on the other hand can give myself a pat on the back for making sure my 3 kids inhale water every day as they are very active and most of the times when they are home they are outside being active.  My daughter, who is 12 years old and I decided that March 1st was our date to finally give up drinking Coca Cola for me and Sweet Tea for her and we are challenging ourselves to go without the whole month of March and I believe we can do it.  So as I am sitting here typing this I am finishing up the last soda in my home and will not purchase anymore.  The thing is over the last few days I have had 1 versus 6+ I would drink every day and I am feeling awful so I think I am just going to pour it out and here is the proof along with now I have my bottle of water with me!  

I also made a bet with my husband this past Christmas and I am suppose to lose 40 lbs and he needs to quit chewing tobacco by June 1st so I HAVE TO WIN!!!  So it's a necessity for me to make these changes and of course to beat my husband in this challenge as both of these are very difficult for us to achieve.  I LOVE food especially Mexican and Italian along with my sweets so I have been building a meal planning binder with so much help from my Tastefully Simple Business (many of the consultants have been changing our ingredients to make healthier dips, meals, etc.) as well as Pinterest which has a bazillion ideas. 

So now that I have let the cat of the bag so to speak, it's the 1st of March so let the games begin and to show my family I am serious about making this lifestyle change not only for me, but for them too!

so excited to get some goodies in the mail today!!!

So I was pointed to erincondren.com website from one of the blogs I follow!  There is so many wonderful products and she had this fabulous $20 credit so of course I wanted to take advantage of that deal and see what kind of goodies I could purchase!  I received my package in the mail and inside was my order, I placed an order for some labels to use in my Tastefully Simple business along with some more freebies.  How awesome is that?  Not only did I spend $20 FREE, but they also included another set of labels for me to use along with another $10 off my next purchase!  All's I have to say is you rock Erin Condren that's some very amazing customer service and I will be ordering for you again very soon :)

ABFOL Challenge: Bill and Filing Organization

Now as the CEO or my family as I like to call myself (I guess that just goes with being a former Accountant and C.F.O. of a family business) I needed to overhaul this process for myself!  I always find it funny that the one thing you do well whether it's your job or hobby always seems to lack in your personal life or maybe that is just me HAHA!  When I saw how beautiful Toni's system was and how easy it was to put together I was on a mission to complete it.  So I hopped in the car and drove out Nashville where my closest Container Store was, spent about 2 hours trying to decide what will work best for me and my space as I have a beautiful Computer Armoire I purchased from a couple about 6 months ago.  So I finally decided on their Bigso Boxes, came home and went to work! Although I don't have a before picture here are my after pictures and I absolutely LOVE IT!  Sometimes I just open the drawer or grab my bill paying box just to stare at it...I know that is silly, but I am just so pleased with how it looks and functions!

ABFOL Challenge: It's time to rid of the clutter and chaos

I am just in love with this challenge that Toni at  "A Bowl Full of Lemons" has been doing and now we are repeating it again!  I have always been one to want my home and life to be organized and once I had 3 babies almost back to back life seemed to over take and get in the way of that.  Now that my kids are all teenagers I know in my heart of hearts it was time to clear the clutter, organize my life for a more simple life!  I came across her blog last year and it just hit me as everything she does, teaches and discusses on her blog makes sense and it truly is easy you just have to COMMIT!  I always said I was that woman, if you have seen the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy" on how anal the husband was about how Julia Roberts character was suppose to keep everything spic and span...that was me!  Yes I have always aligned my foods according to brand and what they consisted of, my kids think I am crazy!  I have gone from a 3200 sq foot home in Southern California to a 1900 sq foot home in Middle Tennessee and my husband looked at me and said it's time you get rid of things as we cannot fit all of this stuff in a home that is over a 1000 sq feet smaller along with a 1 1/2 car garage verses our former 3 full size car garage in our former home.  So now I am on a mission to complete this as I know it will make life so much easier.  If you needed some inspiration hop on over to her blog and just look around, you too will be inspired as well!