Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Organize the Kitchen? Why, yes, I think I will...

This will not be very interesting to anyone but me, but I do enjoy a good day of organization.  Any time I find myself feeling annoyed with the amount of space (or lack thereof) in our house, I try to think about how to reuse the space in better ways. If you need some organization inspiration, head over to I Heart Organizing . Check out her project gallery for some ideas...I love that website!

I made a list of all the areas in our house that I wanted to work on over the break and funnily enough, the kitchen did not make that list. However,  somehow I ended up spending a couple of hours cleaning and reorganizing our kitchen yesterday.

I always felt like we did not have enough cabinet space in our kitchen, but after snapping some pictures of the cabinets, it was easy to see that space was not the issue; they were just messy and disorganized.

This is one of the problems in our house, things start out organized but when we are in a hurry, we tend to just throw things wherever and over time, that clutters everything up.

We have a huge cabinet over our kitchen sink that was not being used well.  There was too much stuff in it and some items, like to-go coffee mugs, had to be crammed wherever I could find a space.

Before

Before

After

For this cabinet, I moved less used items to a different cabinet or to the highest shelf. Since we use tupperware everyday for lunches, I moved them from a slide out cabinet (picture below) in our pantry to this easy-access cabinet. Like! Before, our tupperware lids were taking over the world.  Now they are tucked inside a container inside the cabinet and are much more contained.

We have a huge, deep cabinet above our refrigerator.  I hardly ever go in it and it can be hard to access things in the back (I may need to invest in a foldable step stool).  Pretty much the only time I used this cabinet was to get out a vase every now and again. It was a huge waste not to be using this cabinet for storage in a more effective way. 

Before                                         

After

First I cleaned the cabinet out and then moved less used items to it, like baking pans and serving ware. This is a good cabinet for those bulky items that I don't use as often. It's not a very dramatic "after" shot, but it does reflect more thoughtful organizing in terms of what is stored there now!

We also have a large cabinet above the microwave that was in need of attention. Again, I took everything out of the cabinet and gave it a good scrub down.

Before

One of the problems with this cabinet was that I couldn't see everything easily. Because the cabinet is not at eye-level, it was often hard to see all the canned goods. Also, there was a hodgepodge of overflow tupperware in this cabinet and miscellaneous boxes of tea.

After

We have two cabinet shelves from IKEA that were not being used effectively before. Now, I moved them both to the top shelf to help display items that are very high up. Now that I can see everything, I won't be buying repeat items by mistake anymore!

The last cabinet that I reorganized was pretty atrocious.  People usually have a "junk drawer". This was the equivalent to a junk cabinet.   

This cabinet held some meds, lint rollers, some cleaning supplies, lunch boxes, and paper plates. And they were all out of control. This was the cabinet that you would open and hope that nothing fell out onto your head. 

Before

After

I pretty much got a whole empty shelf out of this one! I moved all the cleaning products to our cleaning caddy in the laundry room, so that freed up a lot of space. Garbage bags went under the sink. All plastic  cups, plates, and utensils went up together on the top shelf.  I can breathe again...

Reorganizing the kitchen cabinets was mostly about being more thoughtful about where things were placed. High-use items needed to go to more easily accessed cabinets. Lesser used items got moved to the storage shelves in the basement, a different cabinet, or the Goodwill pile.

Little changes like this make me so much happier to live in our house.  Have a happy Friday!

                                     

A Day to Catch Up...

Nothin' much new here. I'm just finishing up my 8th grad class this week and I'll be happy to be done with it! Only two more classes to go, plus a Capstone project and I'll be officially done with my Masters program.

This week I've been busy working on my final for class and trying to get things done for the holidays. This morning I woke up, showered, and started getting ready for work. Around 6:30, I checked my phone only to find that we have no school because of a power outage. I'm pretty grateful to have an extra day to get things done this week! I have a list of things to knock out before the weekend.

On Sunday, we went to the Lions game and this is a picture I took on my phone as we were walking to Hockeytown. I don't know what the plan is for this building, but only the front of the building is standing...made for a cool picture.

13 Hours Left!!!!

There are only 13 hours left until my Donors Choose project expires...and we don't want that to happen, now do we??

Livin' Loud with a New Listening Center

Check out my project at the above link...and then please donate! Every little bit helps!

U of M vs Ohio State

Gil & I headed to Ann Arbor on Saturday for the big game. We were about 20 minutes away from campus when we realized we had forgotten the tickets. Ouch. Drove all the way home, grabbed them, and then headed back to U of M. We tailgated with some of Gil's coworkers before heading to the stadium.

The weather was unbelievable for late November. I, of course, was still a bit freezing but was thankful for the sunshine! I did watch the entire game without a coat on!

The game itself was fun, although I'm pretty bad at live sporting events. We stood pretty much the entire game, so my back was getting sore. When we did get to sit, we were all smooshed together, so I spent a lot of time trying to keep my crazily long legs out of other people's personal space. Pretty much I just kneed people in the back. Oh well, what can 'ya do?

The end of the game was pretty exciting and all the fans rushed the field. We were pretty content to watch from our seats!

Now I'm anxiously awaiting our first good snowfall...bring on winter!

Thanksgiving!

We had a quick overnight trip to GR for Thanksgiving and then it was back to our side of the state. Gil's parents are awesome cooks, so of course we ate a ton for Thanksgiving dinner last night. Soooo good! They sent us back with lots of left overs, which I'm pretty excited to eat.

I also had a nice visit over at my mom's. She gave me a box and scrapbook of my old school stuff, which have been in her basement forever. It cracked me up to read some of my old stories from kindergarten and first grade. I will have to share later. One of the funnier stories was called "Princess Susan", in which I got a guinea pig named Cocoa (true story) and then referred to it as the "Royal Guinea Pig". Oh geez...

Tonight I (sadly) have a paper to write, which is due tomorrow. Since the college was closed for Thanksgiving, I'm pretty bitter that I still have homework and a paper due for my online class. I don't think that's fair at all!

Tomorrow we are going to tailgate at U of M and then we're going to the game (hence, I have to get the paper done tonight).

On another note, I can't believe how awesome the weather was today. It was so pretty in West Michigan and the temp was amazing. Laila was also happy on the way home...

I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for! Enjoy the long weekend! :)

A Cool Link...

This woman celebrated her 38th birthday by doing 38 random acts of kindness...what a good idea!

How I Celebrated My Birthday

On a Run on Sunday...

I was finishing up a run on Sunday and noticed the awesome fall colors, so I snapped a few pictures while I was walking...

I made Laila come out for a photo shoot when I got back to the house...such a cute pup!

Have a great week!

Not Missin' Meat...

Well it's a week later & I haven't been missing meat. In fact, being a veg is going great! Last night we went out to eat & I thought that for the first time, I might be tempted to eat something w/meat in it. But I have to say, I haven't felt like I'm keeping myself from eating something I want yet. I had an awesome grilled veggie foccacia sandwich...it was so yummy!

I've tried some really good veg recipes for dinner & it's been really nice not having to prepare meat! We do have some meat left in the fridge, so this morning I made pancakes and made Gil

eat the bacon that was left. I thought for sure I'd miss having bacon, but...nope, not really. So this tells me that maybe I really am meant to be a veg! It helps that Gil is willing to try all the recipes I've made so far!

I have to say, although I think I'm eating more veggies and fruits lately, I feel like I've been eating extremely badly. Can you say Halloween Candy!?!? Get me away from the chocolate...I can't control myself!!

This week I made sweet potato and lentil chili, using the recipe from Daily Garnish.

It was pretty good! I made it in the pumpkin bowls from this recipe. The pumpkin gets roasted in the oven and you're supposed to be able to eat the insides. Mine didn't go that well, but it was still cute!

On another note, we made our poor pup dress up again this year. Needless to say, her costume does not fit like it did last year. This was Laila last year:

This was Laila this year! She definitely has fluffy Newf elbows and paws now!

We could barely fit her ears through the hat this year. I think she was pretty mad at us again. The trick or treaters thought she was cute though!

P.S. I'm getting prematurely excited about being finished with my Masters program in May. I forgot what it's like to have free time!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have a great week!

Healthy Un-Fried Rice from Daily Garnish

Tonight I made this for dinner. It was quick, it was easy, and it was good! I also added diced onion and a red bell pepper. I thought the stir fry needed a little kick...Gil & I always prefer a little spice to our food. I would've added red pepper flakes, but we were out. Next time I make this, I'll be sure to add some spice.

Roasted Butternut Squash & Black Bean Enchiladas

dailygarnish.com

I tried this recipe from Daily Garnish today. You can find the recipe here. I also made the enchilada sauce that Emily Malone included. I thought the recipe was great...Gil gave it 4 out of 5 stars. The enchilada filling is a combo of roasted butternut squash, sauteed onions, and black beans. The spices were really great in this recipe, with some nutmeg, cumin, and cinnamon. The enchilada sauce was great and had a little zip. You should try it!

In total, this meal probably took about an hour and a half to make. I made it today since I tend to have more time on the weekend. There are also a lot of quick and easy recipes on Daily Garnish that would be easier to make during the week. We will be trying this and this later in the week. I'll let you know how those go!

A Change in Diet

I have had a like-hate relationship with meat for a while. I have long been picky about what meat I eat and I always have a "discard pile" on my plate for meat that looks questionable. When we have meat in the fridge, it usually grosses me out to think of having to prepare it.

I was watching the documentary Forks Over Knives last week and then we went to the movies last night and the movie showed a dead pig. I've toyed with the idea of being a vegetarian here and there, but when the choice to eat meat came up, I always ate it. Something about that dead pig in the movie clicked the "vegetarian button" in my head.

Last night after the movie, we went out to eat and I ate a meatless dinner. This morning we got breakfast sandwiches from Bruegger (yes, we eat out too much) and I didn't get meat on mine.

So I think I have started Day 1 of being a veg. For lunch, I had half of a whole wheat pita with falafel and carrots on the side. And it was delish.

My best friend, Erin, and her husband have been vegetarians for over a year now and she described being a veg as so much less stressful. I have to say, I get what she's saying. I devote a lot of time and energy to worrying over the meat I am eating- if it is questionable, if it looks okay, etc.

Erin told me about the website Daily Garnish for finding veg recipes. I spent some time on the website today planning meals for this week. And I have to say, I found some really yummy looking things that I am looking forward to making!

Now, I tend to get excited about things prematurely and then end up abandoning them (á la the Detroit half-marathon) but I'm hoping this sticks.

Also, I have to say, Gil is totally on board (not that he's becoming a veg) but he has okayed me trying vegetarian recipes for us for dinner & he's okay with me not making meat. We really didn't tend to eat a lot of meat anyways- we mostly ate it when we went out to eat.

I'm also cutting out or at least cutting way down on cheese consumption. I like cheese and mozzarella, tomatoes, and basil is pretty much my favorite flavor combo ever, but I pretty much get a stomachache every time I eat cheese. When we get pizza, we always ask them to go light on the cheese. We don't drink milk from cows anymore either, we always buy almond milk (which is great).

So wish me luck on my new journey as a vegetarian...let's hope it lasts for more than a day!

Blah

I'm feeling burnt out. And it's only October. Ah! My class of 28 has been reduced to 23 and it has made a world of difference. I'm making progress with my kids & I enjoy spending the day with them. But...I feel so strapped for time. Constantly. I try to get to school early to prep things and I also end up staying late until 5:30 or so and I'm still feeling behind. I need a full day to organize/plan/prep to get me back on my feet. Our school day is so long- 8 hours with kids and it's making me crazy!

Having homework when I get home does not help! Our poor house is so neglected because when I do have a down moment, I do not feel like cleaning! I can't wait until May when I'll be done with my Masters!

Any words of encouragement would be appreciated!!

Little Bumblebee...

Short & Sweet

I've been neglecting my blog. All I do is stuff for school and for my Masters lately, so there's nothing exciting to update and I don't have time anyways!

I'm excited for fall.

Gil is dragging me to a haunted house tonight.

I heard exciting news yesterday (twice).

I'm excited for a vacation sometime in the near-ish future.

That's all for now!

Ex.haust.ed.

That is what I am! Tomorrow is a Professional Development day, so no students. Hallelujah...I need these precious three days to build up energy for next week!

Made it Through Week 2...

27 kindergarteners who miss their mommies + never having been to school before + a cramped classroom + a cold = a tough week.

But I survived week 2! Barely!

OMG

This school year is getting off to a rough start! That's all. I just need a pep talk. Feel free to leave comments!!

Summer Storm

Yesterday our friends, Erin & Matt, came over to hang out and grill. They brought their dog Wrigley (otherwise known as Laila's BF). We watched football, let the dogs play outside, and later we grilled pizzas on the grill. Those were delicious by the way!

Later on in the evening, it started getting rainy and then began storming. We knew some severe storms were coming through and the weather channel wasn't lyin'. There were some ridiculously heavy winds going on, which is always worrisome because we have such huge trees in our area. Erin and I were in the living room in the front of the house when all of a sudden we heard something large hit the house. We ran screaming from the room, of course. A big branch had fallen and knocked our gutter partially off. Luckily it didn't seem to damage my car, which was parked right near where the branch fell.

The branch that hit our gutter

Lots of leaf debris going on!

Lots of branches down in the backyard

Luckily nothing came down that's too big for us to handle!

We have some large branches down, but nothing too bad- luckily! After the storm died down yesterday, we went out to get ice cream. There were some really large branches down in and around our neighborhood. I'm sure everyone will be out cleaning up their yards today!

Ready or Not...

School is back in full swing on Tuesday. There is a lot left to do and some things won't get done by Tuesday, but I'm feeling okay with that right now. My room isn't perfect, but it's good enough for now. I've definitely made some progress in there.

Before:

After:

Pictures are a bit dark, I was getting ready to leave & had already turned the lights off!

Little classroom library area in progress

Blurry, but paper & borders are finally up.

Math materials organized & labeled

Calendar , easel, and Polyvision board area. I'm excited because I'm going to be using calendar notebooks with my kids this year and using the Smart board for Calendar time. I was able to embed days of the week, ABC songs, etc. into the calendar program. Fun!

The first day is always so stressful- having new kids enroll & get added to the class list throughout the morning, making sure I know how kids are getting home, making sure no one pees their pants...

I will be glad when the first month of school is over and we're into a good routine! As of now, I'm excited to meet all my kinders!

Lions Game

Last night we went to the Lions pre-season game...and believe it or not, they actual beat the Patriots. Go Lions! Can I just say, it's pretty fun watching the games when they actually win!

We have casino club cards (or whatever you call them) because we stayed at the Greektown Casino Hotel when our basement was being worked on two years ago, so we get to park for free in their parking structure. It's nice saving $20 whenever we go downtown for an event. I told Gil yesterday that the free parking might be the only silver lining to that whole basement fiasco!

We were planning to eat at Pegasus in Greektown but ended up running kind of late and the wait was too long. We ended up eating at Bistro 555 in the Greektown Hotel. It was pretty good and ended up being cheaper than we expected, too.

Today we're hanging around the house getting things done (aside from me writing this post!). Gil's mowing the lawn and I'm about to go vacuum and steam the floors, do a couple loads of laundry and plan meals for the week. Better get going!

Small Progress...

I worked in my room for a few hours yesterday & while the room doesn't look very finished, I got tons organized. I basically took everything out of my closet and organized supplies into labeled tubs so I could actually see what I have in there. I only got paper up on a couple of walls and I haven't even bought border yet, so I still have tons to do! But at least the student tables are cleared off!

Pardon the bad iPhone pics!!

My classroom looks like this...

I went in to school yesterday to work on my classroom. It's funny how "working in my classroom" usually equates to creating a disaster area for me. People kept coming in my room yesterday with raised eyebrows which secretly said "Wow, your room looks terrible & you probably won't get it done in time. Glad this isn't my problem!!" But in the end I don't stress out too much because I know this is how I work. I like to reorganize pretty much everything and rearrange my room. Last year I really didn't have much set up time and I had moved to a new room, so this year I really needed to get things organized!

One change I'm pretty excited about this year is that I'm getting rid of my teacher desk! The thing was a huge clunker that took up a huge chunk of the room. Instead, I'm going to use my reading table and the counter & shelves behind it to organize my desk supplies. I think my room will look so much bigger without the desk.

But here's how I left my room last night:

Here's my former big ol' desk. It used to be in that corner. Now it's waiting to be removed from my room...yay! My student computers are now set up along the wall, under the blue bulletin board. If you notice, all my alphabet charts were still up in the room because my class had summer school. Luckily, I had some help taking everything off the walls yesterday!

Organized chaos? Nope, just chaos for now.

My room has to be ready for parents by tomorrow. Hahaha. No really. I foresee a long day of work ahead of me...Wish me luck!

Charlevoix & Mackinac Island

On our way from Traverse City to Mackinac Island, we made a stop in Charlevoix. I had never been there before and it was quite gorgeous! We totally randomly ran into one of my friends and her family while we were walking around (Hi, Jill!).

On the way over to Mackinac!

Houses up on the hill

I liked the color of the library...right on the water. Pretty!

Mission Point Resort where we stayed

View from Arch Rock

Arch Rock

Pretending to climb at Sugar Loaf

At Fort Holmes, the highest point of the island

View from Fort Holmes

Mackinac Bridge

Rock Cairns along the island perimeter

Cairns out in the water

Mackinac Island was really fun. We stayed for two nights & it was the perfect amount of time. I'm not big on the shops and Main Street was always sooo congested with people so we didn't spend tons of time there because it's overwhelming during the day! My favorite part was biking around and throughout the island. There are some gorgeous houses along the perimeter...probably pretty pricey too!

In summary, Michigan is beautiful & the best state!