Office Pictures

I have my pictures for my Office! I am very pleased with what I have right now and I'm working on my next project! We share an office, so the pictures are only of my side:

 The book shelf contains different school books and notebooks, books I've checked out from the library, some paperwork folders and books that I am currently reading. As well as pictures and trinkets on the top. It also has our wedding binder that I am still working on:

 On my desk, I try to keep as few items on a day-to-day basis. I can pull stuff out while I am working (obviously), but I make sure it is all put away before I leave the room. I have my desktop and laptop out, and my iPad is tucked in between the monitor and the wall. I keep a glass of water on my desk while I'm working. I also keep my daily planner, which you can see is on the edge of the desk (the black notebook).

I have several pictures and trinkets on the top of my desk. I enjoy being in this room and the space that has been created!

One of My Favorite Things

I love, love, love (!) to organize!! I organize to reorganize to reorganize. I am constantly thinking of new ideas for how things should be placed and new ways for things to look. I am starting to let this side of my flourish (mostly because we now have a house with more room) and I am having so much fun with it! The office area has been completely finished, pictures of it will be in the next post, and that was the last big area to do! Sorry if this post gets a little long!

Over the past two days, I have been helping a friend organize a couple areas of her house. She had one closet that she was unsure of and then they have a FROG that is being made a man cave. They have recently moved into their home (it may not be too recent) and these were the last area's to finalize.

For this project it wasn't necessarily a throw most of this stuff away, it was more of a lets make it look aesthetically pleasing so that the process can continue to be ongoing. A lot of it was collectible things, childhood memories, and work items. Now, we did go through and sort everything, I don't ever just take one box and put it in another just so that it looks nicer. There are certain times that you just can't go through everything (the relevant people aren't there, the particular boxes have memories attached that are not ready to be revisited, the items already have a place to go and have been sorted in a way that already works, etc). In those cases, I tend to go for what is the best place/way to showcase/store said items.

For the closet space, it was just a rearrangement to get the maximum use out of the space. For me it was a relatively straightforward project. I looked at what was there, pulled it all out, and found a couple things that we rehomed to another area. Then everything went back in in a way that guaranteed the most space would be available.

The FROG was a larger project (and not as straightforward). They have a great space up there! The space lends itself to entertaining people (there whole house really does) and media. We started by sorting and emptying all of the cardboard boxes. We placed the items into different piles by where the item belonged (e.g. desk, display, games, collectables, photos, childhood, etc.). Once everything was separated into the piles, we placed the furniture in the room just off of the main entertaining area in the FROG. We had to place a small desk and sectional in the room. My friend actually came up with the final placement of the furniture.

Once that was done we started sorting through the items in the piles. One of the largest piles (and one that we thought we could actually go through ourselves for the most part) was desktop. We separated the desk items out again into piles of what they were (loose leaf items to go through, hard drives, supplies, computer software, etc.). They had a couple of nice milk crates to use as well as a couple of "file box" looking boxes that we were able to use. Once that was done we placed them in the office/desk area. We placed some items under the desk towards the back, some were more open due to what was in them.

The collectibles went into a large plastic bin to be sorted and displayed at a later date. Shelves are going to be added to that small room so that items can be displayed. The childhood memories and other toys were put into bins as well and into an eave off of the main area. These items will be used later on when they have children. The cords all went together in a milk crate type box and all of the gaming items were placed next to the tv to be set up.

The photo's and different memory items that they have were sorted through and what was kept is now in a box that will be put in a safe place for storage. You cannot always display all the photos that you would like to (and sometimes you keep photos and other items as a nostalgia and don't want to display them at all), a box area is good for those because they can be kept out of the way. The only way I would put photo's and memory items in photo albums is if you were going to display them. They do keep pictures in good condition however I feel that a photo album is just begging to be displayed.

The last items for them to go through are what we categorized as "display" items. They were posters, pictures, frat items, dart boards, etc. That was something that they will have to go through and decide on a placement. I can only say where things should go on my personal opinion and what I think would work out best.

I was very impressed at the work that went on and what it looks like now! They are still waiting on getting the pool table put together and that will help finalize some of the other items that are still waiting.

Organization does not have to mean throw everything away (or mass amounts) it's just repurposing what you have, and finding new ways of storing items. I love doing it and love seeing how things come together in new ways. I can't wait till I can do it again!

It's Monday!

Today is yet again, Monday! It is starting to get a little cooler here which is nice. I'm glad it's not 80+ degrees here every day! What has everyone been up to? I have found the library here (the closest one is just a couple minutes away :) ) and promptly checked out 6-7 books! I am in the process of reorganizing my office, to reflect some of the new changes that I've made. I love to organize so this is a lot of fun for me (weird, right?). It's almost done and once it is, I will be posting pictures!

Today is a busy cleaning day for me as well! I have a daily cleaning schedule for chores (like bathroom and kitchen cleaning, etc.) and today I had to add a couple more things so that everything would get done.

Copper is growing like crazy everyday! She has so much energy, I'm not sure where she gets it! She is starting to listen and learn more tricks, however we are still working on potty training.

With the cooler weather comes many fall traditions! Halloween is coming up soon and Thanksgiving will be here before we know it! We will be having (hopefully) trick or treaters this year for the first time, and it will also be the first Halloween we get to spend physically together! I still have not figured anything out for Thanksgiving. Normally it is spent with family, but not sure if that will be able to happen this year! Do you have any fall traditions?

A new Week

Today is Monday. Normally it would be a day of dread; the start of a new work week, when everything would normally just go wrong. For me today symbolized a new routine (of sorts).

It's nothing really special, life still remains the same in our household. I take care of our home, our puppy, little errands here and there, and I apply for jobs. It's my outlook that I am changing.

I started my day off Smashing Dishes. I joined a local support group where we live, that meets every month and is just an encouraging group. It was such an amazing experience this morning, to stand up there and state something that I wanted to change (or "smash") and just have someone say ok. No judgment, no advice, no disrespect, just OK, I am here for you. And then in turn, be able to stand and support someone else that needed to do the same thing. A bond is formed with each and everyone of us when you have someone that will just stand with you, not pass judgment, not try to give advice, and just say OK, I am here for you.

To pick an issue to smash, it should be an issue that you can change. It shouldn't be something that you may fail at, even if it takes time to change it (as it probably will) the fact that you are acknowledging it, and taking a first step to changing the issue is a milestone. For me it was the most amazing feeling after I "smashed" the issues. It felt like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders and I know now going forward that I will be continuing to work on the issues I smashed today. I know that I can do this and that if another challenge comes up, this is such a great first step.

Not only did we smash the issues with dishes, but we made some dishes as well. There was plain white dishware available (mugs, plates, and bowls) that we could write on with permanent marker. This is seriously the coolest thing because you write on the dishes (which can be any color) and then put them in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes and it is permanently on the dishes!! If you plan on doing this, make sure you wash the dishes by hand to ensure the writing stays on the dish. But I am getting off the immediate topic. So we wrote on the dishes something that we took away from our earlier smashing. It is such a great idea, because it is something that you can look at and use everyday and keep your spirits up and mind in check.

For me personally I wrote, It's OK. You can do this. It is something that I know I need to remind myself of. That things are OK, it is OK to feel a certain way, and that things will get better.

I encourage everyone that feels like they just need to let go, to break a dish outside. Please be safe about it (where the appropriate attire, gloves, eye protection, etc.) as I cut myself breaking a smaller piece of one of my dishes this morning. We were told that if a dish wasn't possible, you can always throw eggs at a wall, or hit a water balloon with a tennis racket, something! Life can be so overwhelming that sometimes we just need to let go and this is a great way to do it and combine it with a new outlook.

I also started off with a new bible study plan this morning. I am very excited to go through this plan and I look forward to blogging through every bit of it. I will start posting those blogs here very soon, I am still working the kinks out about how it will work and when they will be posted. It is a daily reading plan that goes through part of the book of Luke.

Have you started a new routine or a new outlook? Are you going to smash something?