Starting the New Year Right....

....with ORGANIZATION!

And although this post will be on organizing my life...I also just want to say that I am also organizing my heart. I am praying and really asking God to clean out my heart. I want to get out the ol' cobwebs and dirt that is in there. The song that plays through my head to God constantly is:

Create in me a clean heart, O God....And renew a right spirit within me.....

The beginning of a new year (and a new decade for that matter) gives me hope for fresh beginnings...on eating right and getting to a healthier weight....on getting rid of negative thoughts and things in my heart and mind.....and on getting my home and life in *better* functioning order.

Now, don't get me wrong....my life isn't chaos by any means. I have always kept a planner and will happily admit that one of my favorite words is "organization"! :) However, I have areas that can always use tweaking, improvements and refreshening. How about you? :)

The picture at the top of this post is of my old planner. I have now started a new one....I don't usually start a new one at the beginning of the year...however, I wanted to start one in a different way. I used to purchase planners (I love that section of a store!) and would use one till it was finished. However, some ideas suggested in the book, The Gentle Ways of the Beautiful Woman by Anne Ortlund, inspired me to try something different!

So...I purchased a small binder. The only place I could find one this size (around 7x5) was at Staples. Walmart doesn't carry them and neither did any other store I looked at. I bought calendar/planner inserts to put in my binder. I like the little ruler/bookmark that I can place in it to keep me on the right page! I also like the tabbed months on the right side!

I also got some paper to put in my binder as well as small folder/dividers as well (also all found at Staples). I write notes in there...from sermons and from my own personal Bible study/quiet times at home.


Then...after I have notes written...I put them into a *Books of the Bible* file that I made. (I got the box at Walmart...I actually need to get another one...so I can keep Old Testament in one and New Testament in the other...that way I will have plenty of room). That way...I always have them at hand when I want to use and read any of the notes I have written on things in the past. Also...I will always know right where they are if I need to pass anything along! :)


I have still been recording things in my Memory Journal as well. Fun things, simple things, meals, weather, doodles and such are all being written in. It's fun to look back on older pages as well to see what we were doing and what the weather was like. We always *think* we will remember stuff...but usually...we end up forgetting...don't we? ;) That's why I like to record it!

Yesterday, on New Year's Eve, I had a terrible head cold. I slept alot of the day on and off with the kids snoozing or playing right near me. We didn't do anything exciting for the night....Chris gave me medicine and sent me to bed. I awoke around 11:50pm though...and Chris was laying in bed beside me and had the TV on with the New Year's festivities in New York. I didn't bother putting my glasses on to watch...I just held Chris's hand and then he kissed my cheek at midnight. :)

I am happy to say, though, today I am feeling a lot better. Still a few sniffles but that Tylenol Cold medicine has helped me immensely! :) So since not much got done around here yesterday....I decided today would be a great day to straighten up and reorganize in the schoolroom a bit. So I cleaned off my desk (notice my binder sitting there).

Although I already had the children's schooling books pretty well organized...I did some moving and tweaking and such as well....

Some of the books we use in our days....

Madelyn's *2nd grade* schoolbooks......


Xavier's *Kgarten* schoolbooks and binders.....

And Jaxson's *Preschool* books....

And an overall look at our shelves.....

I also decided to clean out the freezer and also read in an organizing book I am reading that it helps to make a list of what you have in there....so I did that! :)

It's been a busy but rewarding day getting things done! :) Chris had the day off from work and spent some of it getting wood for our outdoor wood stove and then he has been resting the rest of the afternoon. I gotta go get supper started soon....and maybe we will all play some games as a family tonight. The kids got the CARS Monopoly game for Christmas from one of my aunts and uncles....so maybe we will break that out! :) Either way...it will be an enjoyable evening because we are all together. We are suppose to be getting 6-12" of snow on top of all the snow we already have....so maybe we'll get snowed in! ;)

Hope you all had a wonderful beginning to your New Year 2010!

*Our good friends~Chris and Heather just had their first child on Dec. 30th!! They had a baby boy! We are so thrilled for them! What a way to start the new year! :)

Thanks so much for stopping by....if I don't get going...supper will never get done! ;) Happy New Year! :)