Post-its

Babystep #4 - Write these things down on post-its ("these things" = baby steps #1 -3)

This was...easy? I'm not ahuge fan of writing things down to remind myself. I don't know why. I think it might be because if I see the note but don't do it I feel guilty. However, I did write the notes and have been doing the things on them so no guilt yet.

Today's babystep (#5) is to write down the negative things that my head tells me. Then, turn the bad thing into a good thing and re-write that down. I've been pretty positive so far today. I'm not a very negative person in general and I usually talk myself out of the mean things I say. So I'm gona try to do this one for the next couple of days just to get an accurate list of mean things I tell myself. Its funny that this is part of a cleaning/organizing program. I mean, how little must we think of ourselves that in order to clean a house you have to do self-affirmations?

It speaks to our society and all the horrible things it instills. You're not good enough, pretty enough, clean enough, etc. I know in the past I've gotten myself to the point of tears just because I am so depressed about the state of my house. I fin myself depressed and beaten down my my own thoughts so much that I can't get myself to clean, do homework or in any be productive. And in this way my mind would tell me how useess I was being. It's a horrible cycle. I'm glad FLYlady recognized it as a problem. This is just another reason I'm really excited about this. It's not just about cleaning. Its about owning yourself and loving you as you are.

I did my first home blessing today! Essentially it's an hour of cleaning or "blessing". You spend 10 minutes (or less) on a variety of different tasks to keep the house clean. So today I vacuumed, dusted, mopped, emptied the trash, wiped down the doors, polished the mirrors, shook out the rugs (entrances and bathrooms). And it only took me an hour. The key was to stop at 10 minutes and not be a perfectionist about it. Anything missed or in the corners would be cleaned another scheduled time. Easy. And the house looks good! It smells good! I havea shiny sink!

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~

Babystep #3

Well today's babystep was even easier than the first two. All I had to do was do the first two again. No prob. I almost forgot mysocks, but remembered when i hit the cold kitchen floor. Brrr!

So today was fun. Since I went to bed at 11 last night I was awake nice and early (9am). So I did babystep #3 and got downstairs and had some breakfast. After that I was just antsy since I didn't do much of anything on Friday. So I im'd Mya and Kayleigh for some fun outside.

We decided on a hike, which was great! We went to this river near town and just follwed the path. It was the perfect day for hiking, warm enough for short sleeves, but not too warm that wearing jeans (a must during tick season...ew) was uncomfortable. We saw at least 3 falls and were able to walk down near the bottom and feel the spray...aaaamaaazing! I love water. Its so powerful. Expecially when its moving like that. I mean this stuff was just chuggin' along. I can't wait until the lake water warms up just a tad more so I can go swimming again. That's a ways off though yet since it's been so darn chilly lately. Ugh, I can't wait for summer to get here.

In other news:
1) I went whitewater rafting. See above notes about loving water + getting tossed out of a boat and going down a falls on my but = awesome!
2) I lost my cell phone, and guess who has no insurance...me! This is a sucky thing no matter how I spin it. I'll have to extende my plan, lus pay a bunch for a phone and yada yada yada.
3) I'm taking my first summer classes. Pro Cook II and Intro to Film. Both are awesome, with awesome profs. I've had both professors before and they are awesome. Deb I had for Cook I. Austin was my professor way back when I was a freshman for Mythology. Its hard to believe, but its the summer before my senior year at college..eee! Anyway, I'm uber stoked for both of them.
4) Paul and I are happy. We had a fight on our rafting trip that resulted in me telling him that he needed to look into getting some professional help about his "talking/opening up" issues. It kills me that he would rather push all the bad feelings about whatever he's in the middle of, down into himself. I know its not healthy. I also know that I just cause him to feel them more often than he would like. So far he hasn't even looked into it, but eventually. I don't want to nag...but I'm getting fed up with being shut out. He either talks to me, or he talks to someone else, but he's gotta talk to someone.

Well that's my life in a nutshell right now. Daily updates to come!

Lots of Love,
~*ery*~

FLYing

Yesterday I started turning a page in my life. It all started with giving my kitchen sink a good shine.

Lately quite a few things have changed in my life. I'm down to one job for the first time in 2 years. I'm expecting a large overage check to come to me from the school (that will be used for bills). I've found that I have large amounts of time in my day that need to be filled up with doing something besides watching T.V. Which leads me to turning a page.

Since I have tons of time and tons of mess in my house I decided that the thing to do with my time is to really get organized and clean up my act. It's time to stop lying to myself about the house-cleaning. I've got to do it. I'm not upset about that. I've got time and I've got the ability. The only problem was that I didn't know where to start. The daunting thing about organizing a one bedroom, one and ahalf bath apartment is that I have no idea where to start. I mean, the kitchen is filthy. The dining area is cluttered. The living room is cluttered and as efficient as I can make it. The bedroom is disorganized and covered with clothes. And then the internet saved me! Yesterday I found this site.

It's a site about decluttering and cleaning the house. Which sounds kind of silly on its own, but I need the help. FLY stands for Finally Loving Yourself. Its cheesy. I love it. I feel like crap everytime I see the inside of my apartment. It's messy. I'm better than that. So I joined the site and am taking my first baby steps towards really loving myself and the home that I'm making. Its all about making a routine one day and one step at a time. I intend to make this a part of that experience. I need to have a place to let all my good and bad feelings about the routine. I always forget how easy this is when you've got something to talk about (or even when you don't)

So the page turning started last night around 11:30 with my sink.

Babystep #1 - Go Shine your Sink.

I've never felt so good about a sink my life. I bleached it (now it is draining better than ever!) and then scrubbed with baking powder (who knew!) then windex it and finished it off with a tiny bit of olive oil. It was so clean and shiny. I almost took a picture of it! Now all I have to do is wipe it out after I use it. Easy. And I felt so good this morning when I came downstairs and saw the clean sink that I did. There were dirty dishes everywhere and the garbage smelled, but the sink was clean! Such a little thing really did make me feel good.

Baby Step #2 - "Get Dressed to Lace up Shoes"

This is easier than the sink business. I got up, got in the shower and got dressed. I didn't sit around in jammies for hours. I'm completely ready to go. Socks and everything. I even put a little make-up on and did my hair. All before I did anything. Then I came downstairs and saw that sink. It was GREAT! I've already accomplished so much and its only the 2nd day. I was inspired. I made myself eggs for breakfast (with toast and jelly!).

Then I did some of the dishes. Except I only spent 15 minutes on them. Then I took a break. Then I spent another 15 minutes taking out all the garbages. Nice and de-cluttered.

Well this wasn't the most interesting of posts, but hopefully they'll get a little shorter as I do one each day. I'm so excited to see what Babystep #3 is!

Lots of Love,
~*Ery*~